Witnesses and Saints assist us on the way to our spiritual completion and not giving up
Tried and True Hebrews 11:32-12:2 ( Evening Prayer- All Saints 28 BCP)
When I was at Princeton Seminary by the bus stop near my student apartments I was complaining to one of the students about something...( forgotten now), but I will never forget the response. " And how's that working for you?" That hit me right between the eyes. I had needed that friendly rebuke. I had kept trying to get something done and was going about it wrong. If you want to get something done the right way I would say try it by the " Tried and True method of attack ( so to speak)" " Therefore let us also.." In other words Hebrews 12:1 tells of a secret to spiritual victory instead of defeat.
" Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses..." Run the race that is set before us. This is a spiritual race to the end of our lives. We should not look to the runners on the track but to those who " have borne personal testimony to their faith." Do we stumble as we run by looking down?
Look up to the sky for it is the limit. We can achieve in the tried and true method of spiritual patience & endurance by taking our eyes off others and turning them upward & in our mind's eye to those we have known we have been true runners of victory , the witnesses to the Lord. Those in our past can be a present inspiration. They triumphed by faith! They succeeded in their lives because instead of looking down and at others they looked up and though difficult they " obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions ( Daniel 6:22).... from weakness were made strong." 11:34
2. " lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us..." 12:1 " We must ....not merely things that are wrong, but anything which impedes our progress in the Christian life." Charles Erdman The GK word is the weight or flesh that "had to removed by right training." Hebrews by Hewitt . It also could be those things that easily distract us so that we are led astray, hopefully not on the wrong road to falling away, but as we saw last week, " But , beloved, we are persuaded better things of you" Hebrews 6:9
We must have the goal in mind as we do things here , the race's end. The things are to be right and good things that enable us to be better witnesses here that some day others will call us witnessess as in 12:1 ," seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses.."
But I must say because of sin and our propensity to it.....we must renew our committment to God and His Word above anything else that can distract us from that number 1 thing. Jesus asks us to put Him first. ( would pay me now or pay me later be appropriate here?)
3. then it says Hebrews 12:1 " let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising shame, and hath set down at the right hand of the throne of God."
" perfecter of our faith" This word is the same GK word which Jesus said from the cross, " It is finished." The word means to bring something, here it is our faith to its complete conclusion, lit . a perfecter, a completer, a finisher... He brought it home to God the Father, the gift of His blood on the Cross, to reconcile all who would receive Him by faith.
We heard the same idea about how we are to live last week. 6:11 " And we desire that each one of you may show the same diligence unto the fulness of hope even to the end"
The encouraging thing is that we have witnesses that surround us with their faith and love and dare I say presence. They were faithful. They were not perfect but they died in faith . " The saints of old triumphed through faith in promises which they did not see fulfilled." Wow. We have a better covenant and Jesus is our Mediator.
And now we come back to the beginning, " And how is that working for you?" What do you and I need to lay aside so that we may focus on Jesus alone and His kingdom? What is holding us back? Who is holding us back. We must seek His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to us. So encouraging to know we have a great company of witnesses to bear the truth to us, and that we have a great Saviour. Blessed all saints day to all!
When I was at Princeton Seminary by the bus stop near my student apartments I was complaining to one of the students about something...( forgotten now), but I will never forget the response. " And how's that working for you?" That hit me right between the eyes. I had needed that friendly rebuke. I had kept trying to get something done and was going about it wrong. If you want to get something done the right way I would say try it by the " Tried and True method of attack ( so to speak)" " Therefore let us also.." In other words Hebrews 12:1 tells of a secret to spiritual victory instead of defeat.
" Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses..." Run the race that is set before us. This is a spiritual race to the end of our lives. We should not look to the runners on the track but to those who " have borne personal testimony to their faith." Do we stumble as we run by looking down?
Look up to the sky for it is the limit. We can achieve in the tried and true method of spiritual patience & endurance by taking our eyes off others and turning them upward & in our mind's eye to those we have known we have been true runners of victory , the witnesses to the Lord. Those in our past can be a present inspiration. They triumphed by faith! They succeeded in their lives because instead of looking down and at others they looked up and though difficult they " obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions ( Daniel 6:22).... from weakness were made strong." 11:34
2. " lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us..." 12:1 " We must ....not merely things that are wrong, but anything which impedes our progress in the Christian life." Charles Erdman The GK word is the weight or flesh that "had to removed by right training." Hebrews by Hewitt . It also could be those things that easily distract us so that we are led astray, hopefully not on the wrong road to falling away, but as we saw last week, " But , beloved, we are persuaded better things of you" Hebrews 6:9
We must have the goal in mind as we do things here , the race's end. The things are to be right and good things that enable us to be better witnesses here that some day others will call us witnessess as in 12:1 ," seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses.."
But I must say because of sin and our propensity to it.....we must renew our committment to God and His Word above anything else that can distract us from that number 1 thing. Jesus asks us to put Him first. ( would pay me now or pay me later be appropriate here?)
3. then it says Hebrews 12:1 " let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising shame, and hath set down at the right hand of the throne of God."
" perfecter of our faith" This word is the same GK word which Jesus said from the cross, " It is finished." The word means to bring something, here it is our faith to its complete conclusion, lit . a perfecter, a completer, a finisher... He brought it home to God the Father, the gift of His blood on the Cross, to reconcile all who would receive Him by faith.
We heard the same idea about how we are to live last week. 6:11 " And we desire that each one of you may show the same diligence unto the fulness of hope even to the end"
The encouraging thing is that we have witnesses that surround us with their faith and love and dare I say presence. They were faithful. They were not perfect but they died in faith . " The saints of old triumphed through faith in promises which they did not see fulfilled." Wow. We have a better covenant and Jesus is our Mediator.
And now we come back to the beginning, " And how is that working for you?" What do you and I need to lay aside so that we may focus on Jesus alone and His kingdom? What is holding us back? Who is holding us back. We must seek His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to us. So encouraging to know we have a great company of witnesses to bear the truth to us, and that we have a great Saviour. Blessed all saints day to all!
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