Grace and peace to each of you in God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
The last pronouncement Jesus left with His disciples before His ascension into glory is: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” That word translated “witnesses” is from the Greek word mártus, from which we get the word martyr in our language. While in our context, a martyr is one who sacrifices his or her life for religious beliefs, such may not be necessarily the case for Christians. But we do know that many of our brothers and sisters are paying a dear price (even the ultimate price) for their testimony about Jesus. As an example, the following link is a story on what our sibling saints in China are dealing with: China escalating persecution of Christians. Let us pray diligently for them.
The mártus (witness) has the legal idea of bearing a testimony for Christ. In bearing our testimony for the Lord, it will take courage, strength, and resolve that can only be supplied by the Holy Spirit. We’ve seen our Christian ancestry like Peter, Paul, John (even Christ) stand strong on their testimony even when it was very unpopular to do so. Hebrews 11 displays the “Hall of Faith” of our faithful forebears who, although endured much pain, “obtained a good testimony through faith” (Heb. 11:39).
I’ll admit that my introverted personality prefers a low profile, not to stand out. I can do without a lot of attention. But God’s people are being pressed upon until we have no choice but to testify. We are, however, not of those who shrink back (Heb. 10:39). What is happening around the world will eventually happen in our world. The shifting winds of our culture are facing us head-on with hurricane force strength. But just like an airplane that gets its best lift on takeoff flying into the wind, let us rise higher in the Lord—in our confidence in His sovereignty (full control) and keeping grace to see us through. Let us be encouraged, my brothers and sisters, that “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us (Rom. 8:18). Are you ready to be peculiar? Ready or not, the time is here. If God brought us to this, He will see us through this (Ex. 14:13-18). Amen!
Be encouraged,
KRL