Waiting Witnesses

“And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, ‘you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’” Acts 1:4-5

The narratives of the Scriptures show Christians that there are times for waiting and times for action.  The Sabbath, itself, was a time for waiting, praying, and resting in the Lord!  Prior to His passion, our Lord prepared His disciples for His departure with His teaching and telling them to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit.  At His Ascension, Christ tells them to wait in Jerusalem until they receive power from the Holy Spirit.  After the coming of the Spirit, the waiting will be over, and they will be sent as witnesses to the end of the earth.

While the last year has been frustrating in many ways, it has also provided a time for waiting, praying, and resting in the Lord.  Time spent in traffic for some was replaced with time spent in God’s Word.  Waiting for the Lord’s time led many to turn to God in prayer.  In spite of all of the hardships and difficulties that many faced this year, our good and gracious God has heard our prayers and has kept His promise that His Word would not return to Him empty.  It would now appear that our period of waiting is coming to an end and like the Church at Pentecost, God fulfills His promise through the faithful bearing witness to Christ to the ends of the earth.

As our Lord once again sends His Church forth into action, it is good to be reminded in Acts chapters 1 and 2 of what our Lord would accomplish.  When the Church of Jerusalem was gathering in this upper room (1:13), there were about 120 who made up their company of believers.  However, just ten days later, when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, they began telling them the mighty works of God in their native languages.  Once again as promised God’s Word did not return to Him empty and about three thousand were added to their number.  Our prayer is that God would send forth His Church in these dark and latter days to bear witness to Christ wherever we live and move and have our being and by the Spirit’s action many more may be added to our number.  It is a good thing for the people of God to wait on the Lord, but we pray that God would use us as His willing instruments and work through us to bear Christ and His word to the end of the earth.

Prayer – Almighty God, grant to Your Church to witness that in Christ, You have reconciled us to Yourself.  Grant that by Your Holy Spirit, we may proclaim the good news of Your salvation so that all who hear it may receive the gift of salvation so that all who hear it may receive the gift of salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Fraternally in Christ,

President Lee Hagan