Chapter 11 is full of difficult imageries, but the embedded message in the passage is something really powerful. It tells us what the church is called to DO before the final coming of the Kingdom of God. It calls us, the local churches, to witness to the world. This chapter gives us a picture of what an effective witness that wins the world looks like: (1) witness as repenting people; (2) witness in the power of the Holy Spirit; and (3) witness with sacrificial love and willingness to suffer and even die.

As we do so, we are not promised happiness and bliss; we are told that we will suffer, die a martyr’s death, and be humiliated. Yet, just as through the cross, Jesus made it possible for us to be reconciled to God, God will use our sacrifices to win the world for Jesus.

This means that our witness is critical. Have you heeded God’s call to be his faithful, repentant, and sacrificial witness empowered by the Holy Spirit?