On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”   Acts 1:4-8

One of the constant themes of this blog is available power in the kingdom of God. During his three years of pubic ministry, Jesus operated in power and displayed that power through healing, deliverance, raising the dead, and other miracles. When he sent his apostles and disciples out to preach, he also gave them power and authority to heal and perform miracles.   While Jesus was physically on the earth his followers were operating out of the overflow of his life and ministry and under the umbrella of his authority. As he prepared to ascend back to the Father, he clearly indicated that the same power would still be available through the Holy Spirit.

Followers of Jesus still operate under his authority because he has all authority in heaven and on earth (Mt. 28:18). But Jesus clearly stated that power would come from a source present on the earth and that would be his Spirit. The question asked of him by his followers pertained to restoring the kingdom to Israel. Jesus gave no details of that restoration but simply told them not to leave Jerusalem until they had received power through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Only them could they be adequate witnesses for the risen Lord.

That mandate reveals that adequate representation of Jesus on the earth must not only consist of words that faithfully proclaim the gospel, but must also consist of power to demonstrate the gospel. If the followers of Jesus needed to operate in power and authority (miracles) in the months immediately following the ascension of Jesus when eye witnesses of his miracles still abounded and those miracles were still fresh in the minds of those they were preaching to, how much more necessary is that demonstration 2000 years later after governments, philosophers, and educators have tried their best to destroy or discredit the Bible as a reliable record or to write Jesus off as a myth? Healing and deliverance lends immediate credibility to both Jesus and the Word of God in a world of skeptics. Even long time believers jump to an entirely different level of faith when they witness or experience authentic power in the kingdom of God.

Paul, himself spoke of that power on many occasions. To the church at Corinth he said. “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power” (1 Cor.2:4-5) and, “But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power” (1 Cor. 4:19-20).

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul also declared, “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come” (Eph.1:18-21).

Dozens of other scriptures could be sighted, proving that power is a central issue in the kingdom of God. The same power that raised Jesus from that dead is available to be exercised on our behalf and even to work within us for strength and energy to serve as well as to empower spiritual gifts. If followers of Jesus needed authority and power to fulfill their mission in the first century, then those who follow Jesus today need the same authority and power unless the mission has been changed…and no serious believer thinks that the mission has been altered.

The question then becomes, how do we receive power and authority for the mission today? Authority is ours already because we have been commissioned by Jesus to do his work…Go into all the world and make disciples. Power comes as it did to the first disciples on Pentecost – through encounters with the Holy Spirit. Those encounters come through prayer and fasting as we ask for the Spirit to fill us and refill us. They come through impartations as we ask Spirit-filled men and women to impart some gift to us by the laying on of hands. Power comes as we commit ourselves to pray in tongues for extended periods because to pray in tongues is to encounter the Spirit as we are built up in the Spirit (Jude 20). Even more than that, we may receive power when we step into opportunities for ministry that require power – praying for healing, evangelism, deliverance, and so forth. Power is essential to our calling but rarely comes without us pursuing a greater and greater experience of the Holy Spirit. In the same way that electricity is available in our homes, it does not flow until we plug into the source. “Plugging in” is our part. Releasing power to undergird our authority is his part.

Many churches today believe in the power of God to save, but for little else. In fact, those churches will discourage or even forbid the pursuit of spiritual power through miraculous gifts and encounters with the Spirit. The result has been a powerless church that offers much but delivers little more than the world can deliver and, at times, offers less. When we are sick do we call the elders or the doctor first? When we are emotionally wounded do we ask Jesus to heal our broken heart or do we seek out psychiatric professionals first who have been trained and certified by the world? When we suffer with depression, do we go to the church for prayer and deliverance first or do we seek out the newest drug therapies?

Often, today’s churches send their members to the world for answers because they have none. They have none because they do not operate in the power of the kingdom.   To seek spiritual power, in order to fulfill our assignments on the earth, is not about pride or arrogance – it is a biblical prayer and mandate. I want to encourage you not to shy away from the power of God but to pursue it even as you pursue Jesus. You will be blessed in doing so and will be a source of blessing for others.