Our Cloud of Witnesses

Yesterday, I attended a high school football game. It was a high-scoring game. Both teams played well, but in the end the underdog team won. Later that day, I thought about the fans in the bleachers. During the game, they cheered their team on, and the players were feeding off the energy of the crowd.

Similarly, the Bible says that “we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1a). Many of these witnesses are mentioned in the book of Hebrews, chapter 11. They are the men and women of faith who have gone before us. The biblical accounts of how they persevered and obtained a good report through their faith should encourage us during our Christian journey.

Interestingly, all of the witnesses mentioned in Hebrews, chapter 11 lived during the Old Testament era, but the book of Hebrews was written to New Testament believers. That’s because God never changes. What we learn from the experiences of faithful men and women during the Old Testament should minister to us in our walk with God. If we take the position that we will read only the New Testament because we are living in the New Testament era, we will miss out on some valuable encouragement that is recorded in the Old Testament.

To me, this whole idea is such a powerful thing. You see, when I study the Bible and come across an account of a faithful servant of God, who was tested in a way similar to the way that I am being tested, and I see how the person endured to see God’s faithfulness in the end, this encourages me. It’s as if the person is up in heaven cheering me on. Moreover, the more I study the Bible and the more I see testimony upon testimony of how people of faith endured to obtain a good report, the greater my encouragement and faith!

About 15 years ago, during my last pastorate, I went through a difficult storm in my life. I couldn’t understand why things in the ministry had gone downhill so quickly. Instead of praying for their pastor, several of the church members chose to plant the idea among fellow church members that there must be some hidden sin in my life that resulted in my being tested as I was. I must admit that I was having trouble reconciling what I was experiencing in light of my passion for God. But then I thought about God’s servant Job. He was a righteous man, but God suffered him to be terribly tested by Satan. His friends laid charge against him that he was being judged because of his sins. As I thought on this, it was as if Job had stood up among the crowd of witnesses to encourage me during my ordeal.

There are many Christians who go through life as if they have no joy. Why should that be the case when they know their sins have been forgiven, and that they have eternal life? One reason is because everybody needs to be encouraged in life—even Christians. Though we have been born again and become new creations, we are still human, subject to human emotions. Accordingly, every one of us needs to hang out among our awesome cloud of witnesses. It includes Abraham, Moses, David, Joshua, etc. Their lives pour into ours as we study the Word of God faithfully. Yesterday at the game, the high school teams fed off their fans in the bleachers. Let us feed off our crowd of witnesses in heaven.

Study to Show Yourself Approved

We have coined the phrase, “You are what you eat.” Not only does this apply to the natural foods we consume, but also this is true about the spiritual food that we eat. Just because someone attends a Christian church will not guarantee him that he will be fed sound doctrine. Those who minister the Word of God must meet certain qualifications. Hence, Paul the apostle instructed Timothy, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15, KJV).

Timothy was a church pastor, and Paul wrote to advise him on a number of matters in the church. Note the phrase “rightly dividing.” This comes from the Greek word orthotomeo, meaning to cut straight. You see, God does not speak in vague but specific terms. If we are not careful to rightly divide what He says, we can totally change the meaning of the Scriptures, thereby causing those who listen to be fed error and not truth. A number of errant church doctrines has occurred this way.

If you needed surgery on your body and it required some cutting, you would want a surgeon who is skilled in what he does, and one who has a steady pair of hands so he can make incisions with precision. Similarly, when churchgoers attend a service during which the Word of God is ministered, they should expect nothing less than one who is skilled in the Scriptures, and one who can properly divide the text. And not only must the person be ABLE to properly divide the Word of God, but he must be WILLING to. My point is that there are some who know how to do so, but choose not to so as to make the Bible say what they want it to.

Though Timothy was a pastor, and we refer to Paul’s letters to him as Pastoral Epistles, the requirement to study and rightly divide the Word of God is not limited to pastors and preachers. For instance, churches often use other church members to teach Sunday school and lead small study groups. Again, those who do so should be regarded as qualified. This does not mean that everyone involved in ministering the Bible needs to go to Bible College or seminary. But it does mean that he or she should be recognized among the mature members of the congregation as being qualified. When a congregation just throws anybody up front to teach from the Bible just because no one else is willing to, this is a disservice to the body, and that congregation as a whole will suffer.

The same thing applies to workers in the church who teach children’s church and who minister to our teens. It is imperative that we lay a good foundation during the critical years of these future leaders of the church. Those who minister to them must be willing to put forth the extra effort to impact the lives of our youths in a way that’s relevant to their world, always being careful to rightly divide the Word.

It is a privilege for us to be made stewards of God’s Word. But with it comes great responsibility. Let us take this stewardship seriously. Study the Bible faithfully. Be a stickler for searching out truth. Model it in your life, and teach the same with passion. The people of God deserve nothing less than our very best.

Our Spiritual Fountain of Youth

Sometimes, I hear people talk about the so-called fountain of youth, this legendary spring that if a person were to partake of his youth would be restored. Of course, there is no such place, but the desire to perpetuate our youth lives on. Some people go on extreme diets, pay exorbitant amounts of money for radical cosmetic surgeries and the like to try to stay young. Eventually, we will all lose the battle against the aging process.

On the other hand, there is a way by which we who have accepted Christ as our Savior can remain young and vibrant throughout our days. In his second letter to the church at Corinth, Paul the apostle makes a profound statement. He says, “Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16). This verse acknowledges that while our physical body will age with time, on the inside can be renewed daily.

In the preceding verses, Paul discussed the persecution and trouble that were commonplace for them as they served the Lord. He said they were delivered to death for Christ’s sake so that the life of Christ might be manifested in their mortal flesh (see verse 11). Paul’s discussion of these sufferings provides the proper context for the verse I quoted above. And I submit to you that when we commit our lives to serving the Lord in a similar way, we too will experience this daily renewal of our inner man.

I have seen the truth of what Paul is sharing here in the lives of a couple of church deacons when I was just starting my Christian walk. These men were very passionate for God. The amazing thing about them is that as they got older, and their footsteps got shorter, their passion for God did not wane. That fire for God remained in their belly. Though their outward man perished with time, yet their inward man remained strong.

When I began preaching almost 30 years ago, one of the things that bothered me was the thought of making good on my calling for the rest of my life. At the time, I was only 25 years old. What if after doing this for the next 10 years, I lose my passion for the gospel ministry? The problem was that I did not know about this spiritual truth that I am now sharing. I now know that when I yield my vessel to serve the Lord, and commit myself to enduring hardness as a good soldier, He restores me daily. I am not physically as young as I was back then, but the inner person that Christ made anew 30 years ago has not aged a bit! In fact, I am more committed to and passionate about Him today than I have ever been before.

It’s important for us to note that not every Christian experiences this daily renewal of his inner being. Rather, this wonder is reserved for those of us who commit ourselves to serving Him faithfully, no matter what the challenges of life are. You see, God’s objective is that we minister in His strength and not our own. So He is faithful to supply the wherewithal for us to do what He has called us to do. The virtue He puts on the inside of us is fresh and new each day, keeping us strong and vibrant all the days of our life.

The Seasons of Our Life

Ah, the fall season is here. I was just taking it all in this weekend as I was outside washing my vehicle. Instead of the hot, muggy weather I had been dealing with the entire summer, the temperatures were now lower, and the air much drier, with a great breeze blowing. Several days earlier, my air conditioner in my car went out, but again because the weather was drier and cooler, having no air conditioning was not burdensome.

Anyway, as I basked in the wonderful weather this weekend, I thought about life and its many seasons. Sometimes, life can be warm and sunny like summertime; sometimes, it’s bitterly cold like the winter; at other times it’s very stormy; and sometimes it’s exhilarating like the newness of fall. Also, sometimes these various seasons are long and sometimes they seem too short. So what is the season of your life these days?

The seasons in our life are not happenstance. First, let me point out that some of the seasons in our life are self-induced, while some are allowed or even ordained by God. It is the latter ones that I am referring to when I say that the seasons in our life are not happenstance. “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven,” the Bible says (Ecclesiastes 3:1, NIV). The verses that follow list a number of the times and seasons that life entails. Some of them we like, and some of them we don’t.

At times, I try to figure out the rhyme or reason behind some of the seasons I find myself in and the ones I see that others are in. But to tell you the truth, this aforementioned verse and the verses that follow are way too big for me to get my arms around. The dynamics of the activities mentioned in the verses impose themselves upon our lives, some of them negatively and some positively. It would be great if we could devise a plan to implement that would guarantee us that our life would be continuous bliss wherein the weather of life was perfect every day, but we can’t because the Bible says otherwise.

But what I can tell you is that whatever difficult situation you find yourself in today; it’s only a season, not a lifelong sentence. Just as the summertime has just passed, relative to the date of this blog post, and the fall has come, your current season will pass as well. Over the years, I have known chronic illness, financial struggle, and a hellish ministry experience. Each one of these trials lasted several years. But all three of them are now history. Yes, they were long, but they were only for a season.

Also, remember that God is God in all seasons. He has not gone on strike or vacation. He is still in control. He does see what you are going through. He knows your limits, and will not subject you to any season longer than He has equipped you to weather.

Moreover, no matter what season of life we find ourselves in, let us remain faithful. God’s desire for us is that we learn to grow in all seasons. It’s easy to realize spiritual growth when everything is conducive to the same, but by God’s grace we can advance in all seasons. Finally, “Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, If we faint not” (Galatians 6:9, KJV).