Chapter 12: 1-2

“Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² 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 has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Our journey through the ‘Hall of Faith’ in Hebrews 11 was a long one, but a good one. We explored some of the most amazing men and women that we see in the scriptures. The thread that ties them together is their faith in God. Their trust in God and what He says He will do stayed alive in the midst of great pain, suffering, waiting, and in some of the hardest situations, yet they kept their faith in Jesus.

We all know of the life of Job and how he stayed faithful to God in the midst of great suffering. Most of us living in this time have not really suffered to the point of pain and/or imprisonment as far as the Gospel is concerned. Paul, who I think wrote this book, brings this great chapter to a sobering conclusion, and he (via the Holy Spirit) calls us to action. Please remember, there were no chapter breaks when these books were written. So, there was no break between chapters 11 and 12. Notice how the chapter begins with ‘Therefore’; this means that he is coming to a summary based on the information given to us before. So let us take a look at the things that Paul throws at us and challenges us to be and do.

• Be aware we are being watched, verse 1

I have been asked several times in my ministry if our loved ones who are dead are watching us. Now, I am not going to say that they all do, but at least these ones from Hebrews 11 are watching us. Paul says here we are ‘surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses’; they are watching how we live out our faith as well. Now, it may be that all of the saved are watching how we live out our faith down here. That is a crazy thing to consider. They are aware of what is going on down here, and we are not lost in the crowd; they know who we are.

• So, how are we living out our faith?
• Are we all in like Abraham and Moses were?
• Have we given up on our own hopes and dreams for God’s hopes for us only?
• Are we enduring the trials of life like Job and crying out ‘though He slays me’?
• Are we constantly blaming God for the tests of life, or are we actively asking God to get the glory no matter what it costs us?
• One day, if the Lord tarries, you and I will be in the crowd watching; what would we hope to see in our brothers and sisters?
• What do the witnesses see in us right now?
• Lay Aside Weight and Sin, verse 1

We focus on sin a lot, but there are a lot of things that may not be sinful, but they are in the way of us serving the Lord with all of our love, strength, and soul. These are weights; they hold us down. It could be friends, careers, dreams, and a host of other things that stop us from being completely sold out to and for the Lord.

Sadly, many of us are still sinning more often than we should be, and the weakness of the flesh is a constant battle we have to fight. For some of us, it is not the sins of the body that betray us; it is the sins of the mind. The indifference to the loss around us, the lack of care for the hurting, both physical and mental. A hardness towards those that are less fortunate and a calloused view of life. We lack mercy and compassion. We hate to forgive anyone, and we keep a very accurate record of those that sin against us. We can recall the details on a whim.

The sins of the mind and the heart are way more corrosive in our lives than the sins of the flesh (this is not to condone either). Beloved, let us seek the best for and from the Lord. Let us humble ourselves and seek to love spiritually disciplined lives so that we can be very useful to the Lord for His work.

• Run with endurance, verse 1

The Christian life is more a marathon than a sprint. We are called to patient endurance and know that each race (each life) is individually set for us by God. Stop comparing your walk to others; each person has a ‘race,’ a life set before them by God. One that is designed to live up to God, glorify God, and help us to be more and more humble and more obedient. What works for me will not work for you, and vice-versa. You run your race, and I will pray for you; please pray for me as I run mine.

Anyone can have faith in God for a short time; many do. But to have it over decades of service, decades of trials and testing, and to have our faith grown over years of service not being noticed by anyone but God, can be difficult. Keep the faith, serve the Lord, and He will lift you up when the time is ready.

1 Peter 5:6, “Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time” (NKJV).

• Look to Jesus, verse 2

Our only hope, our only strength, and our only comfort is in Jesus. He is the one who gives us the ability to get through the toughest of times. He knows our frailty, and He is there to help us. And help us He has promised…

Hebrews 4:14-16, “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (NKJV).

Hold on to Jesus; He is on your side. Trust in Jesus; He will not leave you. Call on Jesus for help; He will hear and help. Trust Jesus; He cannot lie, and He is our eternal friend and strength. We can put off the weight, sin less, and endure life until Jesus comes for us.

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

How to Connect with Us

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MississaugaMissionaryBaptistChurch
Online: https://mmbchurch.ca/
Email: seangooding@mmbchurch.ca; support@mmbchurch.ca

Chapter 11:30-40

The Famous and the Infamous

“By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. ³¹ By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace. ³² And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: ³³ who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, ³⁴ quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. ³⁵ Women received their dead raised to life again.

“Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. ³⁶ Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. ³⁷ They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— ³⁸ of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. ³⁹ And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, ⁴⁰ God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.

This journey of faith is one that changes us. As we get older and older, we understand our frailty more and more each day. We see our friends become ill, suffer from pain and die. We see how death differs from believers to non-believers. We get older, we get families, and we have to live by faith more and more. We see God’s hand in every aspect of life. We see Him working, and our faith becomes more grounded.

We see these stories, and it is easy to forget that they often cover many years in a few short verses or chapters. Abraham and Sarah waited 25 years for Isaac. Isaac was 40 when he got a wife, Jacob was working for his father-in-law for 20 years, and when Joseph ‘died,’ it was 17 years before Jacob saw him again alive in Egypt. We meet Moses, and he is a newborn; 40 years pass when he runs from Pharaoh, and another 40 until God visits him in the burning bush.

These men and women held onto God’s promises through some hard times, through their own human failures, and in times of great pain and suffering. The passage we will explore today highlights that some of the folks who lived by faith had horrible lives. Some, like Rahab, saw great miracles; others suffered great losses and saw great pain. We should be prepared for both.

• By Faith, we see great miracles, verses 30-31

I have seen great miracles in my short 56 years. No, I have not seen walls fall, but I have seen God do the impossible in my life and the life of many persons in my family and church family. I have seen him take what I figured were impossible situations and provide solutions that we know we could not have come up with on our own.

Rahab understood from the stories she had heard that God was great, God was real, and that He protected Israel. She put her faith in that God at great risk of peril to herself and her family. If she was wrong, there was certain death coming. But her faith delivered her, her family, and all who were in her house. God further honored her by putting her in the lineage of Jesus. The lesson here is that our faith can, at times, be a hedge of protection around our loved ones as well. God is good.

• By Faith, Samson is mentioned in the same breath as David, verses 32-34

David, we know, was a ‘man after God’s own heart.’ Samson was a womanizer with anger issues, yet here he is in the ‘Hall of Faith.’ He is mentioned in the same breath as Samuel, the last judge of Israel and one of the greatest spiritual leaders. The issue is not the men; it is the God they served. Even with all his failures, Samson trusted God. He had faith that God would grant him just one more moment of strength to destroy the enemy. God granted, and the Philistines died.

Samuel trusted God as a small child and served God for a lifetime. He was the judge who led Israel into the era of the kings. Gideon was a called warrior, one who was hesitant to put his faith in God, but once he did, God used him to change the world of the Israelites. David trusted God in the most impossible times while facing a giant, and even in every battle, he trusted God and had faith in Him. He was such an amazing king that Jesus is known as David’s son. David had faith to trust God when he was just a shepherd, and he had faith in Him as a king. None of these were perfect; God was perfect for them and in them.

• By Faith, many Endured Suffering, verses 35-40

One of the most amazing tributes to these people is given by God in verse 38 – ‘of whom the world is not worthy.’ Sometimes when we have faith in God, life will get hard. Death, pain, suffering, and cruel punishments by the enemies of God. Take the time to read Foxes Book of Martyrs and see for yourself the pain that God’s people can be called to endure by faith.

We live in a time when hatred toward Christians is growing and openly spoken without shame. Just recently, here, we had a school board trustee in the Waterloo Catholic School Board say something to the effect that ‘white Christian men’ are some of the most dangerous creatures. This person is on a Catholic school board. Think about that. How many Christian parents send their kids to these schools – to be taught by people who hate their parents? Now I know not all Catholics are Christians, as well as some Baptists are not saved either. The idea is the open and wanton hatred for the people of God.

We, by faith and because of our faith, may be called to endure sufferings before Jesus returns and gets us. We may see some of the things that we are told about in verses 35-40 happen to our loved ones, our children, and maybe even have it happen to us. But know this: we are surrounded by these very people we admire and revere, watching how we stand for the truth in the midst of great adversity. So let us stand, in faith, in His power, and with His help.

I leave you with this Old Testament blessing as we prepare to face uncertain times, Numbers 6:24-26 (NKJV).

“The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.”

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

How to Connect with Us

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MississaugaMissionaryBaptistChurch
Online: https://mmbchurch.ca/
Email: seangooding@mmbchurch.ca; support@mmbchurch.ca