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Gospel Gleanings, “…especially the parchments” Volume 34, Number 3 January 15, 2017 Faithful Witnesses Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2) In non-Biblical thinking, you will occasionally hear someone suggest that all the dead saints in heaven peer down and actually observe our present conduct, in effect cheering us on in our pilgrimage. Given the staggering, faltering, and often failing efforts of believers in this life to hold steadfastly to their faith, one must wonder. How could these saints in glory observe so much failure and remain wholly consumed in joyful contentment with the Lord in heaven? Wouldn’t they experience a strong sense of pained disappointment that you and I fall short of our faith? The idea flies far better in emotional thinking than in Biblical support. It is no more Biblical than the superstitious idea that we become angels when we die. Scripture teaches that the Lord created angels from the beginning. When we die and enter glory, we can look forward to something far better than being an angel. In the lesson of Lazarus and the rich man, we observe Lazarus, not becoming an angel at his death, but carried by the angels “…into Abraham’s bosom.” (Luke 16:22) In first century Jewish terms, heaven for the child of grace after death was described by this term, “Abraham’s bosom.” In effect, they believed that they would go into a place of intimate fellowship with the Lord and with all of His redeemed children from past ages. The word translated “witnesses” in this passage was translated from a word that refers to someone who has factual information that they can testify to, as a “Witness” in a trial. The first word in the passage, “Wherefore,” takes us back to Chapter 11. We read about a number of Old Testament saints who walked by faith when it would have been so very easy for them to have faltered. In fact, if you study the lives of any of the named Old Testament personalities in Hebrews 11, you will discover that they at times did falter, but their conduct in the events listed was marked by faith. And they testify or “Witness” to us in the named narrative of their lives to the Lord’s faithfulness and kind grace. In the unique scheme of divine grace, their appearance in Hebrews 11, along with their life story in the Old Testament, puts them on the “Witness stand,” testifying to us of the Lord’s faithfulness to His people in their trials. No trial, no adversary, however intimidating or powerful, internal to our mind or external in the world around us, can withstand our God and His “Faithful” care of us as we deal with those issues and adversaries. Our task is to tackle our problems by faith and not by our own private preferences or pride, “I’ll deal with it by myself.” That is their consistent testimony, the “Witness,” of every Old Testament person named in Hebrews 11. In Hebrews 11, the Lord takes us into the courtroom of faith in history, as it were, and calls these Old Testament saints forward one at a time to “Bear witness.” They “Testify” to us of the power and unquestioned adequacy of our God and of that miraculous link that He gives us to communicate His blessings to us, “Faith.” Their actual “Testimony” is not from heaven, but from the documented lives they lived in which they faced every trial in their lives and stood fast by faith. The emotional idea of a heavenly cheering section gets it all wrong. They don’t look out of heaven to see us. Nor in this setting do we look into heaven to see them. We actually look back into their lives when they lived here in an age far less fulfilled than our age, and show us by their lives the faithfulness of God as they faithfully faced their trials “By faith.” By Scripture’s faithful record, we now have the actual details of Jesus’ coming, sufferings, death, resurrection, and yes, victorious ascension. They had these truths in prophecy, but not yet in fulfilled historical fact. Thus, as is recorded in Hebrews 11:40b, “…that they without us should not be made perfect.” Their faith is fullfilled, “made perfect” in us because we now see their faith fulfilled in Jesus. “Preacher, you just don’t understand. I’ve faced black trials that you can’t imagine.” Contrary to the protest, I do understand that point. No two believers ever live identical lives. Each of us has faced our own unique ordeals that may well have pushed us to the edge. That your “Edge” occurred in one way and mine in another does not in any way make one believer’s trial any more fierce than another’s. So long as we focus on ourselves and our belief that our trial is worse than someone else’s, we shall falter and stumble in our faith. The testimony of faith in Hebrews 11 is not a contest of whose trial was worse than someone else’s. If we believe the Hebrews 11 testimony, we learn that our first goal in whatever our trial may be is to keep our heart’s and faith’s focus on the Lord of our faith and not obsess on the trial itself. While I cannot at all identify with your trial that is different from mine, I direct you to our Lord who is greater than any trial that any saint who ever lived faced. In Hebrews 11, we have a small sampling of people from the pages of the Old Testament who faced a broad variety of trials, including cruel martyrdom for their faith, and their testimony consistently speaks to the same truth. Our God, the object of our faith, is greater than any trial we shall ever face. So whatever your trial is, I can comfortably direct you to our Lord and Savior. I may not grasp the full weight of your trial, but He does—and more. In the end, our study passage takes us into the courtroom to hear the final and ultimate witness of faith, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He takes the witness stand and reminds us of everything that He faced, endured, and overcame to redeem us from our sins and to give us an inheritance of eternal joy in His family. And He endured it all and overcame it. When you and I face our deep and painful trials, by all means think about each of those Old Testament “Witnesses,” but above all, reflect on the faith “Testimony” of Jesus Himself. “Look” off (From your troubles) and away “…unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” As you read the verses following, you are encouraged to reflect on just how deep and dark the chasm of trial was for Jesus, but He endured it all. As the “Author and finisher” of our faith, he set the greatest example of faith ever for us. Even when we stumble and fall under His loving chastening, His faith-example urges us to overcome, to endure faithfully and to hold steadfastly to fellowship with Him and with His people in faith till the dark trials pass by. In the closing lesson of Hebrews 10 we see Jewish Christians discouraged and ready to turn away, to go back to the synagogue because of their fierce persecution. Paul first urges them by both example and Biblical principle to stay the course, to not forsake the assembly of the church, a body of believers who, though they may not face the same trials of family and countrymen that these believers face, deal with their own trials, and can collectively join with them and encourage them in their struggle and in their faith walk. He then leads them through Hebrews 11 and reminds them of a large community of believers from the pages of the Old Testament who faced, endured, and overcame their trials “By faith.” He punctuates this “Faith witness” by the example of the Lord Jesus Himself. …let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us. Every sin, even the obvious sin of unbelief in this context, does not appear as it really is, black and contradictory to our Lord. Satan has a way of dressing sin up for us and making it look ever so acceptable, even desirable. (Genesis 3:6) We sometimes almost obsess over which sin in our life is our one and only besetting sin. Forget the idea. Whatever sin Satan can dress up at the moment and in your immediate situation or weakness will be your besetting sin of that moment. On another day and in another setting, he will just as easily dress up a different sin to appeal to your mind and thereby beset you with it. One of the most besetting of sins in our prideful culture today likely is the sin that urges us to rationalize trying to deal with our trial all alone, not unlike these discouraged Jewish believers to whom this letter was first written. “Man up! Dig deeper. Get it under control.” Jesus encouraged Peter that He had prayed for Peter, so when Peter realized the strength of the Lord in his life, what did Jesus tell him to do. “Strengthen thy brethren.” (Luke 22:32) Is it then a real besetting sin to try to tackle all our problems privately on our own? And Scripture resoundingly says, “Yes.” Think about the constant parade of movies that promote this idea. They have one theme in common, a super-human hero who tackles the problems—and the bad guys—all alone, and wins. Think about names such as Rambo, Indiana Jones, Crocodile Dundee (Yes, I’m dating myself), or Batman, or Superman, or Luke Skywalker. True—and Biblical—victory occurs in our spiritual lives when we tightly and faithfully join with our brothers and sister in the faith, and we jointly reach out to our Lord for help, guidance, and the wisdom and power to overcome. Satan loves the “Lone wolf” pilgrim. He easily picks them off like a skilled sharpshooter at close range. Scripture never teaches us to isolate ourselves and go off on our own to conquer our problems. It rather teaches us a better way. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. (Romans 6:13) The “Rambo” go-it-alone mindset doesn’t consult with or listen to anyone about anything. “I have to do this by myself.” The Bible way begins by seeing the Lord as the “Captain of our salvation,” and teaches us to yield to Him, becoming a member of His army, not a lone wolf. We jointly overcome to the extent we submit or “Yield” to Him in facing our trials. How do we practice this strategy in our own personal trials? First, make time for the Lord and for His people by faithfully attending the gatherings of the church. Secondly, do not attend, stick to yourself, and run out the door the minute you hear the last “Amen.” Spend personal “Fellowship” time with the people. Get to know them. Allow them to get to know you. Never sit alone in a church service. Sit with another brother or sister. Become part of that body of people who jointly serve the Lord and each other. That is all part of the “Yielding” required by the Romans 6 passage. When we isolate ourselves from other believers, we will fall prey to the old spiritual hymn’s thought, “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen. Nobody knows my sorrow.” You’ll obsess about yourself and your troubles, allowing them to become greater than you—and, in your discouraged mind, even greater than your Lord. Spend more time with Him and with His people, and you’ll develop the habit of looking to Him—what our study passage directs us to do—and less time looking at your troubles or yourselves. Read the four Gospel books of the New Testament. Did Jesus have a smooth, “Easy-street” experience in His life? How does this lesson describe His time on earth? He overcame it all and gave us an example to imitate in our own troubles. “Look off and away from your troubles to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith.” Follow Him and His example. Invest your life and heart in Him and in His people. Instead of asking what the church can do for you, try asking what you can do for the church and the people in it. Jesus did all that He did for others. That is our noble example for victory. And the more each of us gets out of our own bubble and truly invests ourselves in serving the Lord by serving His people, the smaller our problems will become. It is not weak faith that asks for help in times of deep trial. It is Biblical, a key trait of the Biblical “Community of faith.” How may I help you today? Little Zion Primitive Baptist Church 16434 Woodruff Bellflower, California Worship service each Sunday Joseph R. Holder 10:30 A. M. Pastor