“Victors in Faith”

Scripture: Hebrews 12:1-17

What is faith?
For the past 3 weeks, we’ve considered several aspects of our faith, such as belief in the cleansing power of Christ’s Blood; the power and grace that comes in Christ’s sacrifice for our sin; perseverance in the face of nearly overwhelming opposition to our walk with Christ. Each of these is an evidence of faith, a characteristic of faith, a demonstration of faith, but in and of themselves, they are not faith.
So what is faith specifically?

The author William Boggs writes:
What passes for faith in our time is not much different from that experience at the orchard. So often we stay right around the edges, not trying very hard to deepen our understanding, content to lead unexamined lives where we know ourselves very little and God even less. No wonder the fruits of religious experience taste so bitter in our mouths and bring so little nourishment to the lives of people who are otherwise quite famished and searching for something that will fulfill the deepest hunger of their souls.

How is it that a message as fresh and invigorating as the one the Bible gives us becomes more like taking a dose of castor oil than biting into a juicy, refreshing peach? Perhaps it is because we pick from the rigid, moralistic trees around the outer edges of our faith and never bother to go deeper into the truly satisfying experience of a God who deals with us in love and tender mercy. At the center of the Garden, grace brings forth fruits of judgment and mercy that blossom together.
-William Boggs, in his book, Sin Boldly: But Trust God More Boldly Still (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1990), 101-102.

So what is true faith all about? In Hebrews 11:1 we read “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Therefore, faith is confidence in knowing that Jesus Christ is the only “fruit of mercy” that can sustain our lives.

Read Hebrews 12:1-6

Don’t you love the expression “surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses”? It’s comforting to know that others are caring for you. Again, Hebrews 11 lists some 15-16 people by name – people like Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, David, and the list goes on. And we are told that there are many who are unnamed, with all having been great witnesses to the power of faith in Almighty God. And we can probably add more than a few others who we have known personally as witnesses in faith for our lives. Why do you think that they so important for us?
From my own point of view, I need to read about the faith of our Hebrew brothers and sisters who took a stand in faith that was against all reason and worldly sense. I need to hear about the early faithful who risked everything, including life itself, to spread the message that Jesus Christ is our only hope for redemption and salvation and eternal life. I needed to experience the grace and love of people who took a risk to show me there was a better way in this life than the one I was leading.

The “cloud of witnesses” is such a vital and important part of our faith, and it is only when we become part of that “cloud” for others, that our faith begins to be put into action.

This witness to the Hebrews also tells us to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles” so that we might live the life that has been laid out for us. EVERYTHING, not just those things we are willing to give up, but everything that is not of Christ Jesus! And why is this important for our faith?
Because Jesus is not only our goal, he is our example for life. He threw off the glory of heaven, because that would hinder his work here on earth. He threw off the comforts of this life so that he could live as we live and suffer as we suffer. He even threw off the certainty of life, to the point of unwarranted punishment and humiliation and death, so we might come to know the love of God and the glory of heaven for ourselves. And that is what the great cloud of witnesses does for us now – they are the evidence of both God’s victory over death and his promise of eternity for us.
And this demonstration of love is never easy. Remember that Jesus told us that “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. .. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me.” (John 15:20-21) Fear and hesitancy must also be torn away, if we are ever to become an effective witness to the world. That’s what discipline means for a disciple of Jesus Christ, that’s what correction means for a child of the King – it means that we are to throw off the expectations and demands of a world that doesn’t know the One who sent Jesus to us and for us.

Read Hebrews 12:7-13

Without a discipline of faith, we are nothing more than illegitimate children. If we aren’t disciplined, if we aren’t corrected, if we aren’t shown the difference between right and wrong, we are told that this is proof that we aren’t loved, and without love, there is no relationship. The writer also reminds us, as though we need reminding (!), that discipline almost always involves pain. My childhood is proof of that! Believe it or not, I was not exactly the most compliant child you will ever meet! We didn’t have that proverbial “woodshed” at home, but I certainly spent more than a time or two in the basement under the “corrective hand” of my Dad. But as I look back on those less than pleasant times, I am prompted to remember scripture’s admonition that the discomfort of discipline will produce a harvest of many good things. I don’t know if it brought “righteousness” into my life, but it certainly did me a lot of good for my later years!

And it is this very discipline that prepares us to put aside the encumbrances of life, and to become part of that great gathering of witnesses in Christ. Jesus was quite adamant when he told us in Matthew 6:24 that “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.” At the time, he was talking about God and money, but the saying is equally true of any other master that comes from the world. It’s a hard lesson to learn, but we can only live by one standard, and if we try to merge the two – those of God and of the world - it will certainly create quite a mess and it won’t allow us to serve either one very well.

Read Hebrews 12:14-17

It’s a terrible thing to miss out on the greatest blessing of your life, simply because you were more concerned about your physical need of today than you were about your great promise for tomorrow. (Genesis 27:1-40) Esau missed out on both his blessing and his inheritance, simply because his stomach was growling, while his twin brother Jacob, who was available and ready and focused and, of course, more than a little deceitful, gained it all.
What do we miss out on because we are more interested in living this physical and temporary life, instead of being available and ready to hear of our blessed inheritance in Christ? Just as with Jacob, it isn’t about who we are, or what we think we should receive, or how much good we do, or how secure and strong we think we are. Remember Mr. Boggs’ words -

Perhaps it is because we pick from the rigid, moralistic trees around the outer edges of our faith and never bother to go deeper into the truly satisfying experience of a God who deals with us in love and tender mercy.

We can never dance around the edges of faith and think that it’s enough. We can’t believe that a shallow faith is better than no faith at all. From John’s Revelation 3:15-16, regarding the church at Laodicea “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” A lukewarm, shallow, indecisive faith can never be sufficient, and it will only bring us failure.
Listen to the “great cloud of witnesses” that the Lord sends into our lives. Their stories of faith are about a victory that we can never achieve on our own - it is one that can only come by inheritance. When we become the children of God through Christ, everything of great worth becomes ours – not because we deserve it, or have earned it, or even expect it. It is solely through the grace and mercy of Jesus himself.
Don’t stay at the edges of faith! Get to know Christ in new and marvelous ways. And tell others about the victory that awaits them when they put their life in the Lord. Don’t ever be like Esau, thinking that another day will be soon enough to check in on your inheritance. Tomorrow may never come.

- Prayer -