Faith The Servant of the Believer
David W Palmer
(Acts 1:6–11 NLT) So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?” {7} He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. {8} But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” {9} After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. {10} As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. {11} “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”
Jesus’s awestruck apostles wanted certainty and answers to their curiosity-motivated questions. They wanted to know what would happen, and when it would take place—just like our natural man does. However, Jesus didn’t tell them everything; he simply gave them some instructions, and sent some angels to give them a promise of his return. After that, they simply had to walk forward by faith, not knowing all the facts, but certainly knowing and needing to trust their Saviour.
Jesus had also left them with the promise: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” They simply had to wait in Jerusalem by faith for this to happen (Luke 24:49), but Jesus didn’t tell them when it would take place. Of course, we know that on the Day of Pentecost Jesus sent the Holy Spirit from heaven in great power, fire, and light to clothe them, but they didn’t know this; they had to wait by faith:
(Acts 2:1–3 NLT) On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. {2} Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. {3} Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them.
Jesus’s apostles and followers needed faith to wait for 40 days or so in the city that had just murdered their leader. They waited with no visible sign or feeling to comfort them; they simply had to trust what Jesus and the angels had said to them. Those who stayed in faith received what he promised. Now all of us are continuing in the faith they also displayed in the angels’ promise that he will return in the same way he went:
(Acts 1:9 NLT) After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him.
(Revelation 1:7 NLT) Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven. And everyone will see him—even those who pierced him. And all the nations of the world will mourn for him. Yes! Amen!
Faith is now, and always has been, God’s way of doing things. The Holy Spirit has always fulfilled the Father’s will, as expressed by the living Word, because of mutual trust. Faith operating via the covenant is God’s means of accessing the world; it is his way of doing things in man’s domain through the Holy Spirit’s power. Jesus expects us to operate by faith just as he and his Father do (Rom. 1:17, Gal. 3:11, Heb. 10:38). Jesus wants us to receive by faith what he has achieved for us in the plan of redemption. In other words, he wants us to trust him to fulfil his promises.
Believing God’s word and confessing it on earth is our responsibility. The Holy Spirit will then release his unlimited ability (because of the covenant, and because of his faith in the Father and the Living Word) to bring to pass on the earth what God says. Our faith allows God the access he needs to complete his objectives.
Jesus operated this way as the four Gospels reveal. The following Scriptures give some examples of Jesus’s amazing faith-life:
(John 6:5–6 NKJV)
