The Profession that is Fueled by Faith

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:6-11).

There was much that the apostles did not know about the immediate future. After witnessing the crucifixion and resurrection, they were wondering what’s next? Surely if the risen Christ strode dramatically into Jerusalem, visibly proving that He is indeed the Son of God, He would be immediately acknowledged as the rightful King of Israel, by both Jew and Roman alike! Little did they know that He would soon commission them to be the ambassadors of His kingdom through their witness in word and deed to their generation, and then He would leave them. The real question they should have been asking was, what would life be like without the comforting, compelling concrete presence of their Master and Teacher? The timing of God’s kingdom was not their business, it is God’s business. Their business was to be Christ’s persistent, persevering, and patient “witnesses” in word and deed, and for many of them, to the death. They would change the world with the profession that is fueled by faith.

Persistent witnesses trust the power of Christ’s Spirit. Jesus promised the disciples would “receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” because He knew that persistence in discerning and using every possible opportunity to be a reflection of the risen Christ in a dark and rebellious world would require supernatural power. We remember that salvation is God’s work… “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). We also believe His Holy Spirit is always at work convicting and compelling hearts to see and receive Christ… “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me” (John 15:26). When we are filled with and led by the Holy Spirit, we are empowered to be part of the glorious ministry of reconciling lost souls with their Creator through Christ… “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18).

Persevering witnesses know the passion of Christ’s suffering. The word translated “witnesses’' here (martys in Greek), also means martyrs. It is estimated that by 325 A.D. as many as 2 million Christians died as witnesses, following the example and imitating the passion of Jesus Christ… “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Philippians 3:10). The Spirit exhorts us to witness with the same passion today… “But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed” (1 Peter 4:13).

Patient witnesses anticipate the promise of Christ’s return. When we remember that we are a small part of God’s big work, we are able to wait patiently for the manifestation of the fruit of our labor. It sometimes takes years of powerful and persevering witness to prepare the heart to receive Christ, but our hearts are compelled to help others get ready to join us in welcoming Him at His sure return… “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

As we grow up into Christ, we are more earnest and effective witnesses as our testimony becomes…

The Profession that is Fueled by Faith.