LIFE & GAME CHANGER 13 OF 16

THE WITNESSES OF THE PAST TO FAITH

"Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, 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.”—HEBREWS 12:1

            The last three chapters of the letter to the Hebrews are of the nature of appeal on the basis of all the arguments that have been advanced. The subject of these chapters is in a very special way that of faith, faith in God, and therefore faith as the utmost need of human life. Thus in the final movement the underlying philosophy of life comes into clear revelation.

            In the opening sentences of the letter the writer, de­claring that God had spoken to man, divided the ages into two parts—first, that in which He had spoken to the fathers through prophets, and secondly, that in which He has spoken in His Son. The whole argument has been that of showing the superiority of the messages of the Son, and how that word of God is final.

            The purpose of the speech of God to men, whether in times past, or through the Son, is that men may exercise faith in Him. Whether He spoke through angels, through leaders—Moses, Joshua, priests or prophets, or whether He spoke through the Son, His one purpose has forever been that men may find Him, and finding Him, repose their confidence in Him.

            The whole account of revelation is that of God's approach to man, in order thus to inspire man's con­fidence in Himself. That is why, having thus massed the arguments which prove the superiority of the speech of the Son, and the finality of that speech so far as God's revelation is concerned, in this final movement the writer addresses himself to this great subject of faith.

            Whereas I have spoken of the last three chapters, the whole section begins at the close of chapter ten, where the writer quotes from the Hebrew Scriptures:

"My righteous one shall live by his faith," or as it may be rendered, and has been rendered: "The just shall live by faith."

            It is important to remember at once that this was God's answer to one of His own messengers, Habakkuk, one of those prophets through whom He had spoken to His people.
             Moreover, it was the word of God when he was confronted with difficulty as he looked upon the circum­stances in the midst of which he was living. So per­plexed was he that for the moment he was an agnostic as to the government of God. Looking out on things as he saw them, Habakkuk said in effect, Why does not God do something? It was then that God said to him that He was doing something, but that if He told His servant what, he would not believe Him. Nevertheless He did tell him what He was doing, He was girding Cyrus. This raised a greater perplexity in the mind of the prophet, for he could not understand how God could make use of such a man as Cyrus. It was then that God gave him the secret of all life in the great declaration:

"My righteous one shall live by faith."

            Coming then to the close of the letter, making his great appeal, the writer quotes these central words.

            In reading them we usually put the emphasis on the word "just" or "righteous," and there is a sense in which that is correct. Nevertheless there are senses in which the emphasis should be on "live." That is to say, it de­clares that life in all the fullness of the term is main­tained by faith.
       Or to state it from the other side, the ultimate result of faith is full-orbed life.

            In the eleventh chapter, so full of romance, the writer surveys the human history from the Biblical standpoint, giving illustrations of the power of faith, and showing its constant triumph.
            Thus he leads up to the appeal of the first verse of chapter twelve. It is of the utmost importance that we should carefully consider the meaning of this appeal. Perhaps I may illustrate by saying that in my boyhood's days I often heard sermons on this text, which were very interesting, but not based upon true interpre­tation. The idea was that the writer was looking upon our Christian life as a race, the goal of which is heaven, and that those already having reached heaven, were watch­ing us in our running. That was the explanation of the phrase "Seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses." As a matter of fact, that is not all the meaning of the appeal. These people referred to as a cloud of witnesses are not described as watching us at all, but as speaking to us, witnessing to us. I am not now arguing as to whether or not those who have gone before see those of us who remain. I think as Bishop Bickersteth has sug­gested in his matchless poem, "Yesterday, Today, and forever," under certain circumstances they may be per­mitted to see and visit us. Leaving that subject, however, and fastening our attention upon the actual meaning of the writer, it is as we have said, that all their life witnesses to us concerning ours.

            Now let us in the briefest way look over the cloud of witnesses as referred to, all of them speaking to us of the value and power of faith in God. Having done that, we shall be able to give attention to the appeal made.

            The reference to the power of faith opens with a remark­able declaration which indeed is a cosmic one. The writer declares that the elders by their faith had witness made alive to them. It was through their faith that they received whatever revelation they did receive from God. He then declares that by faith also "we understand that the worlds have been framed." I cannot refrain from saying that that always seems to me an unfortunate translation. The word the writer employed was the Greek word which means ages. As at the opening of the letter he declared that through the Son God had fashioned the ages, so now he affirms that we understand through faith that the ages have been thus framed by the word of God. This fact is indicated in the margin of the Revised Version. In our thinking today we look back and speak of ages under mineral figures, the Stone Age, the Copper Age, the Iron Age, and also the Golden Age. This writer declares that such ages have been and are under the government of God and that through faith we understand this. It can­not be proved in any other way. This necessarily means, as the writer declares further, that things which are seen have not been made out of things which do appear. By faith we grasp the reality behind the manifestation. By faith we understand that behind phenomena there are noumena.

            Then leaving these cosmic declarations, human history is seen, and it is interesting to notice that the writer selects his illustrations from all the methods wherein God had spoken to man in the past, Angels; Leaders, Moses, Joshua; the Priests, and the Prophets. His speech through angels covers the period from Abel to Joseph, and the illustrations given are those of faith reposed in God, be­cause of such messages. Abel worshipped, Enoch walked, Noah walked and worked; and all these by faith in God.

            Then passing to the Hebrew history, he commences with the one outstanding figure of Abraham, and shows how all his life and action were based upon faith in God. He obeyed as he turned his back upon an ancient civiliza­tion; presently he offered his son; and finally he obtained the promises, not their fulfillment, but the certainty of their fulfillment. Thus in him, difficulty is transmuted into triumph by faith in God. The references to Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph present them all as men looking into the future, and uttering words of confidence concerning that future.

            Coming to the leaders, he refers first to the faith of the parents of Moses, who was hid three months by them. Then the faith of Moses himself, who made his great choice at a critical moment in his life thereby. Through his entire ministry he continued by faith, "as seeing Him Who is invisible."

            In the case of Joshua, it was by faith that the walls of Jericho fell down. At this point occurs that reference which must have been startling to a Hebrew reader, but nevertheless does show the principle of faith at work. I refer to the harlot Rahab.

            It was here that the writer, recognizing the vastness of his theme, says that the time would fail him to tell of "Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah." This is not a chronological sequence, but a collection of outstanding personalities, four of them being judges, one a king, David, and then finally the greatest of the judges, Samuel. Finally in a phrase, "the prophets," reference is made to the whole of that period of revelation.

            Passing from his reference to these personalities, he speaks of the deeds accomplished by faith:

"Subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, ob­tained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, waxed mighty in war, turned to flight armies of aliens."

And then in a minor, plaintive word:

"Women received their dead by a resurrection."

            Following on, the deeds were revealed to be accom­plished by endurance in which the men and women of faith oftentimes were found hiding in dens and caves of the earth, concerning whom the writer in a parenthesis indicts a fitting memorial to all such:

"Of whom the world was not worthy."

            In the whole of this illustrative passage we see the principle of faith at work, that faith which is the substance, the underlying reality of all things.

            Then comes the marvelous conclusion:

"These all, having had witness borne to them through their faith, received not the promise, God having provided some better thing concerning us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect."

            Some little while ago Dr. Simpson preached a sermon on the words, "And all flesh shall see the glory of the Lord together." In that sermon he distinctly showed how that the full glory of the Lord will only be revealed when men see it together. We are marching towards that goal. We are carrying on where our fathers left off. The goal is that of the city of God. The race therefore that we are called upon to run is towards that ultimate in human history, wherein will come the answer to the prayer we so constantly pray, as He taught us:

"Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."

That is the race that is set before us.

            The appeal, then, is found in the text, and its force is discovered by the repetition of the phrase twice over, "Let us," "let us." In the first section of it we are charged:

"Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us";

and in the second:

"Let us run with patience the race that is set before us."

The first appeal has to do with the preliminaries, and the second with the ultimate.

            In dealing with the matters which we have described as preliminaries, we are told what we are to lay aside in order to the fulfillment of the ultimate. The writer speaks of "weights," and "the sin which doth so easily beset us." The question may naturally arise as to what are the weights we are to lay aside; and the answer may be given inclusively and simply by stating that weights are the things that hinder our running the race. It is best for us to remember that we cannot tabulate these weights for other people. Something that may hinder me in running may not hinder my brother; and something which hinders him, may not hinder me. I venture to name one weight only, and it is the weight of trying to find out what my brother's weight is! A censorious criticism of my brother may hinder me in my devotion to the race. Indeed, too often we are hindered by endeavoring to remove the mote from the eye of another, while a beam is in our own. Peter was guilty of this very thing when on the shores of Tiberias, looking at John, he said to Jesus, "What shall this man do?" and it is best to remember that our Lord immediately told him, to put it quite bluntly, to mind his own business:

"If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou Me."

            Moreover we are to lay aside "the sin which doth so easily beset us." Perhaps there is no verse with which we are more familiar in the New Testament, and at the same time one which is so liable to a false interpretation. It is quite arresting to notice that our Revisers have sug­gested in the margin that we should read, "the sin which is admired of many." I do not hesitate to say that that is not translation, but it is true interpretation. The Greek word employed by the writer of this letter is the word euperistaton. If we take this word to pieces we find it simply means the sin in good-standing around. Perhaps it may be admitted that that is not easy of interpretation. It has been suggested that it refers to some garment that hinders running. The Revisers, however, have suggested that it is a much admired sin, and I believe have here reached the true intention. The sin of refusing to believe is not in evil standing, but rather in good standing. There are some people who seem to imagine that intellectuality demands a mixture of cynical unbelief. Let all that be as it may, the one fact abides as true, that such unbelief ever paralyses the nerve of effort. Unbelief in God invariably issues in unbelief in man, and therefore unbelief in the future. That easily besetting sin is to be laid aside.

            In conclusion let it be emphasized that the text for this meditation is incomplete. A glance at the Revised Version will show that it ends with a comma, and the words im­mediately following are necessary to final interpretation:

"Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of faith, Who for the joy that was set before Him en­dured the Cross, despising the shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

To that we come, all being well, in our next article.

            To summarize then for the moment, we see that those named were witnesses to the power of faith; and more­over, that with rare exceptions, they failed; nevertheless, because of faith made their contribution to the ultimate purpose of God.

            Moreover, as we pass over the chapter we are met by surprises. We are surprised by the absence of some names. This of course must not be over-emphasized, as the writer does not profess to name all; but at least it is worthy of careful thought that in that succession, no priest is named. We are surprised also by some names that are included: Samson, Jephthah, Rahab.

            The chapter, however, includes them all, and says that, while they witnessed to us of the power of faith, they did not reach the goal, and we are thus called upon to continue in the course toward that goal, which must eventually be reached.