“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:14
There are two main requirements for someone to be a witness of Christ. First is being Holy Spirit-filled. Being filled with the Holy Spirit will bring God’s presence within us continually. That is why in His last sermon before He was captured, Jesus explained the role of the Holy Spirit for the believers. One of them is that the Holy Spirit will be with the believers until the end of time. In other words, the Holy Spirit brings God’s presence in the lives of His apostles. Other people became believers of Jesus because of the gospel preached by the apostles. This is why in order to become witnesses of Christ we must continually be renewed in experiencing Christ.
Second is the power of the Holy Spirit. To become a witness of Christ, one has to be filled with power. Paul teaches that the gospel is not separated from the context of spiritual warfare. The kingdom of darkness is not willing to let go of those who are in their hands easily. Before preaching the gospel, it is important to demonstrate the power of the Holy Spirit with signs and wonders. This is to eliminate any doubts or mental/intellectual rejection from others. Often times, miracles, healing and the power of Holy Spirit are needed as an eye opener for people and/or for those who are blind to see the gospel of the glory of God.
Joel 2:28, “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.”
Prophet Joel prophesied that the experience of the Holy Spirit outpouring (the book of Revelation uses the words “filled with the Spirit”) will enable people to have supernatural power to perform signs and wonders, miracles and healing.
Let us continually ask the Lord for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our lives so that we can be a powerful tool for the greatest and last harvest of souls before Jesus’ second coming. God bless all of us.
Source: Article from GBI Gatot Subroto, Jakarta