WITNESSES AND RUNNING -- Tomorrow:
"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. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin." (Heb 12:1-4)
Devotion 2 of 13
"Wherefore seeing we also . . . "
The Spirit has not merely provided the record of an illustrious religious heritage. He is not promoting institutional hype, or seeking to develop a wholesome respect for certain "heroes of the faith." The foregoing references (Hebrews 11:4-39) are germane to our life in Christ Jesus. There is a message here to which we must give heed – a word that must "sink down" into our ears (Lk 9:44).
We have something in common with the saints of old time. Our successful involvement in the will of God REQUIRES faith in us, just as it did in them. What God asks of us is just as difficult, if not more so, than a barren woman having a child, an aged man becoming the father of many nations, and a man building an ark to the saving of his house! What God now requires of you is just as difficult, and more so, as Israel crossing the Red Sea, the walls of Jericho falling down, or Gideon defeating the Midianites. You can no more get to heaven without faith, than David could have overcome Goliath without it, or Samson could have pulled down the pillars of the Philistine god Dagon!
I particularly like the KJV version of this verse. It is more spiritual than academic."Wherefore seeing we also . . . " Grammatically, it is true, the original Greek, word means "truly for then," i.e. "consequently: therefore, or for that very reason, then." This is, however, a moral expression, not a mere literary one. It denotes spiritual insight, suggesting that seeing the significance of what has been said will have a powerful constraining effect upon us.
Here we see the relevancy of the foregoing accounts to us. Some might call it an application, which it surely is. Elsewhere, Scripture apprizes us, "For whatever things were written before were written FOR OUR LEARNING, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope" (Rom 15:4, NKJV). That certainly is more weighty than a mere "application." The word "application" suggests that what you are doing is of the greatest importance. "Therefore seeing" suggests that what you ARE is the most important thing.
Further, while the will and activity of the individuals were involved in the matters in reference, it was all orchestrated by God in order to our instruction and encouragement. The Spirit even applies this reasoning to the record of waywardness in Israel. "Now all these things HAPPENED to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come" (1 Cor 10:11).
These are not, then, simply Bible Stories. They reveal the nature and effectiveness of faith – real faith. An imagined faith that does not react to Divine directives like the faith of the saints in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, is spurious faith. It is not faith at all, but only religious pretension. Such a faith cannot save, because it is not real.
In the accounts given in the eleventh chapter we see how deeply the saints are involved in their own deliverance. They relate to us accounts from another era, a prior dispensation, and times when advantages we enjoy had not yet been given. However, they show us how God works. They reveal the indispensability and effectiveness of faith. They also confirm it is not vain to trust the Lord! O, we must learn from these accounts. We must learn to lay our lives along the side of the ancients, and derive encouragement.
The contemporary penchant for present day examples is not bad, but it is not best! There is no more powerful incentive for a strong faith than the inspired record of people whom God confessed to be His favored ones. This generation must not allow these accounts to slip from them in preference for the record of their contemporaries. The record of Abraham's faith becoming the basis for righteousness, for example, is provided "for us also, to whom" righteousness will also be imputed, if we believe (Rom 4:23-24). The hero- mentality, so prevalent in our time, is not appropriate for believers. Abel, Enoch, Noah, and others, are not mere heroes or champions, but our examples. They show us what God can do in and through those who believe. In our case, it is not only the subjugation of adversaries and overcoming difficult circumstances that are at issue, but the appropriation of the very life and righteousness of God Almighty!
One of the chief flaws in much of the "Christianity" of our day is that it does not require a hearty and consistent faith. It relies too much on human ingenuity, "trying," and fleshly stamina. If does not require much of the Word of God, through which faith comes, and therefore there is not much faith in it. The talk is mostly about doing, not believing, and even with all of the talk about doing, there is really not much being done.
The Spirit has set before us men and women who believed God, and then set out to do what He said. They were able to accomplish great feats, endure remarkable hardship, and please God in it all. They were not super-people, but believers. They were not especially gifted in the flesh, but had faith. They are our examples of faith in action – and faith always works!
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank You for providing examples of how faith works. Deliver me from any attraction to a heady faith that is not real.