Will you please turn to the book of Hebrews? Hebrews Chapter 11, Verse 1.
Now faith is the substantiating of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Now turn to Hebrews Chapter 12, Verses 1–3.
Let us also, therefore, having so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, lay aside every weight and sin which so easily entangles us, and run with endurance the race that lies before us, looking steadfastly on Jesus, the Leader and Completer of faith, Who, in view of the joy lying before Him, endured the cross, having despised the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
For consider well Him Who endured so great contradiction from sinners against Himself, that ye be not weary, fainting in your minds.
Let us have a short word of prayer.
Dear Lord, we do thank Thee for gathering us again this morning. We thank Thee for Thy presence here, because Thou art faithful to Thy own Word.
Dear Lord, we do pray that Thou wilt open every heart to Thy own Word. Let Thy Word fall into good ground, that it will bear fruit a hundredfold to Thy glory.
We commit this whole time into Thy hand. Lord, take charge over this time. Say whatever Thou wantest to say to us this morning.
We are here to hear Thy Word, not only to hear, but to let Thy Word become our life, that Thy name may be honored and glorified. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
Thank God for bringing us to this last day of speaking. We hope, by the grace of God, that what we have heard in the past few days will have a deep effect upon our lives—that we are not just hearers, but also doers of the Word of God.
During this last of my own sessions, I would like to share with you how to press on, to pass on the torch of the testimony of Jesus.
Our Christian life on earth is like a relay race. The first group of people will be ready to run with the baton in hand. They run with endurance. They run with hope. They run in such a way that they overcome all obstacles and finish their part of the race.
They will pass on the baton to the next group, and the next group will continue to run. Then we find group after group running until the goal is reached.
We find that in the first century, the apostles and those of the first century ran in their lives. But because our Lord Jesus seems to have delayed His return, the next group must be raised up to continue the running.
And now we are in the twenty-first century, brothers and sisters. We have been running, and we are still running.
But if the Lord should delay—again, we want to say—it is not the desire of our Lord to delay His return, because He is most anxious to come back to receive His own to Himself.
I do not think there is anyone who can be more anxious to come back and reclaim His own than our Lord Jesus.
Again, we have to confess that it is our fault, because we are not yet ready for Him.
So, dear brothers and sisters, now we are in the twenty-first century. What is our heart attitude? Our heart attitude is that we do expect our Lord to return in our time.
Because all the prophecies in the Bible that concern the coming of the Lord, that are before His coming, have all been fulfilled. We are now not waiting for another prophecy to be fulfilled before the Lord will return.
Dear brothers and sisters, how close is the coming of the Lord? Because all the prophecies that precede the coming of the Lord have been fulfilled.
As we said before, there are still other prophecies remaining to be fulfilled, but these prophecies are concerned with the coming of the Lord and afterward—not before.
Brothers and sisters, I always feel we are in a very thrilling time, because our Lord Jesus can return at any moment.
What is our attitude? Are we waiting for Him? Are we anxious to see Him? Or is it that we are hoping that He will not come so soon because we are not ready?
So, brothers and sisters, this is a most thrilling time for each and every one of us. What are you waiting for?
Suddenly, some will be taken, but some will be left. Those taken are those who are ready, precious to our Lord. But those who are left, they have to go through great tribulation in order to be restored.
So, brothers and sisters, faith is the victory.
Now, the Bible mentions a number of things, but it does not give us any definition so far as faith is concerned. What is faith? I think the closest to the definition of faith can be found in Hebrews Chapter 11.
Now, I am reading from Darby’s translation because I find that it is a very accurate translation.
In Hebrews 11, we are told:
Faith is the substantiating of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
What is faith? Faith is the power to substantiate a substance from outside into within you.
For instance, as we come to this auditorium, I suppose everyone will notice that on the platform here there is a picture. Why do we see it? Because we have eyes wide open.
If a person who is blind should come into this auditorium, and we told him there is a picture on the platform, he does not see it. He cannot see it because he has no way to make this substance enter into himself. He does not have the power of substantiating.
Brothers and sisters, we have the thing hoped for. But thank God, if by the grace of God we have faith, we can substantiate the hoped-for thing into our very being and transform our lives. And that is what faith is.
So the Bible tells us, faith is the victory. If we have faith, if we believe, we know that what we have hoped for will become effectual.
Brothers and sisters, people in the first century were comforted by our Lord:
I go, but I will come again and receive you to Myself. I am preparing mansions for you, and afterward I will come again and receive you.
The Lord has promised, and we know that His promise is always fulfilled.
I do not know how you feel, but I do feel very deeply that our Lord Jesus may come back in my time. It is the prayer of my heart that I will see Him when I am alive.
It is not my hope to die. It is my hope, by the grace of God, to be raptured alive.
Now again, I have to remind you that many of the hymns concerning the coming of the Lord that we sing—do you ever realize that there is something not quite right? Because all the hymns concerning the coming of the Lord always tell us that the trumpet shall sound, and the angels cry, and the Lord shall return, and the dead in Christ shall be raised.
And those who still live—now notice this—in 1 Thessalonians 4, “those who still live on earth” is just a hint that there have been those who have already been raptured. But those who still live, then the dead in Christ will first be raised before they will be transformed.
And where will we be taken? Not to the throne—to the air. Why? Because the Lord has already secretly come from the throne to the air.
So 1 Thessalonians 4 is the rapture after the great tribulation. All the saints will be gathered, not in heaven, but in the air, where there will be the judgment seat of Christ to decide whether some will be rewarded with the millennium and some have to go through discipline in order to be fully restored.
So, brothers and sisters, how important it is for us to run with hope.
You remember in the first century, not only the twelve apostles but others such as Paul. How did they run?
I think we are all familiar with the story of Paul. He was Saul before he was converted. He was a pious Jew. He studied the law under Gamaliel, the greatest teacher and rabbi of his time. He became a Pharisee.
Now today we think badly of Pharisees because our Lord said, “Ye hypocrites, Pharisees.” But remember that Saul was a true Pharisee. He tried to do everything in the law according to all that he could.
He was zealous for God, but unfortunately he was blind. He did not have revelation from above. So he persecuted the followers of Jesus fiercely.
Now, I often wonder, how could a gentleman like Saul seize those who believed in Jesus—men, women, and children—and bring them to judgment, even to witness their death? How could a gentleman like Saul go through what he had seen among those believers and not be touched?
I often wonder how he could watch Stephen being stoned to death, and yet Stephen’s last cry was, “Lord, do not lay this sin upon them.” He must have been touched. However, he tried to quiet his conscience by doubling his effort in persecuting the followers of Jesus.
He was mistaken, but he was real. Thank God, He looks into the heart. Therefore, the Lord met him on the road to Damascus.
He was going there to persecute the Christians, but instead the Lord appeared to him: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”
Saul did not know the One Who was talking to him, so his first question was, “Lord, who art Thou?” In other words, he realized that the One Who was talking to him was Lord, but he did not know Him.
So our Lord Jesus said, “I am Jesus, Whom thou persecutest.” And immediately Saul capitulated himself before the Lord. His next question was, “Lord, what dost Thou want me to do?”
In other words, he put himself in the hand of the Lord Jesus. And from then on, how faithfully he ran the race until finally we find in his second letter to Timothy—written before his martyrdom—that he said, “I have run.”
Let us turn to 2 Timothy Chapter 4. We begin with Verse 6.
For I am already being poured out, and the time of my release is come.
I have combated the good combat; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.
Henceforth the crown of righteousness is laid up for me, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will render to me in that day; but not only to me, but also to all who love His appearing.
You know, our Christian life is composed of three directions. One direction is toward the enemy of God. The second direction is toward ourselves. And the third dimension is toward the Lord.
Here we find that in all these three dimensions of life, before his martyrdom, Paul could declare, “I have combated the good combat.”
Brothers and sisters, we who are the Lord’s are involved in a great combat, a great battle. It is the battle of the ages. It is the battle between God and God’s enemy, Satan. And we are involved.
The enemy will try everything to entice us back to his rule. He uses different tactics. Sometimes he will try to attract us with the world. At other times, he will try to attack us fiercely.
We are all in the combat. It is the battle of the ages. It is the battle between God and Satan, and we are the target—whether we stand with God against the enemy or whether we surrender to the enemy and become an enemy of God.
This is what our Christian life is. We have that dimension in our life. Do not think that we can live our own life as we wish, because we are not free. Either we are freed by the Lord, or we will be slaves to God’s enemy.
You know, when you read Ephesians Chapter 2, in the beginning you will find that we think we are our own master. We are doing things according to our own wishes. That is only outwardly apparent to be so.
Actually, Ephesians 2 tells us that we are under the rule of the enemy of God in the air. We are following his way, his direction.
But thank God, God in His mercy has delivered us. So we sing, “Who is on the Lord’s side?” You cannot be neutral. You are either on the Lord’s side, or you are on the enemy’s side.
Now, where are we now? Are we on the Lord’s side? Do you think that being on the Lord’s side, you will have an easy life? You will be carried on a sedan chair and be carried to heaven? Brothers and sisters, that is not true.
If you are on the Lord’s side, you will be the enemy’s target. He will try every means, every persuasion, trying to entice you, trying to bring you back under his rule. And if you are faithful to the Lord, you have a fight to fight.
Brothers and sisters, the moment we are saved, we are saved from the domination of the enemy. We are saved by the Lord. We belong to the Lord. But the moment you belong to the Lord, in that very moment, this is your side of the spiritual battle that has been going on for the ages.
Nobody can be neutral. You are either on the Lord’s side or you are on the enemy’s side. And if you are on the Lord’s side, the enemy will try every means to entice you, to attack you, to bring you back to his rule. Life is a battle.
But thank God, Paul said, “I have fought the good fight.” If you have read the life of Paul as recorded in Scripture, you find that his life was not easy. He had to pass through many trials, but thank God, he was faithful to the Lord.
He won the battle against the enemy. So before he died, he could declare, “I have fought the good fight.”
You know, even before that he would say, “I will not say that I have already arrived; I have been completed.” He said, “I am forgetting what is behind me and pressing on toward the goal.” That is in Philippians.
But now in 2 Timothy, knowing that his martyrdom was near, he could declare, “I have fought the good fight.” Dear brothers and sisters, may it be that every one of us here could say the same thing.
And then you find our life is composed of a second area: “I have finished the race.”
Madame Guyon said that as soon as a person is saved, he is put on a race. We are going through an obstacle race. Along the way there are many obstacles, but we are supposed to overcome, by the grace of God, all these obstacles and to finish our line.
And then Paul again said, “I have kept the faith.” That is toward God. He had been faithful to God. He believed to the very last, until his martyrdom.
So what a life this brother Paul had lived. But our Lord Jesus did not come at his time, so he had to pass on the torch of the testimony of Jesus.
Thank God, Paul was such a person that he not only ran himself, but he also took around himself young people.
We find how he surrounded himself with young people such as Timothy. Now, I am not going to speak on Timothy because our dear brother Dana will speak on it, and our brother will do a much better job than I can.
But we know that aside from Timothy, Paul took around himself other young people such as Titus.
I am not sure where Titus was born, but the first time we find his name mentioned was when Paul and Barnabas went to Jerusalem to settle this matter of the law: whether Christians should be circumcised, whether a Christian should keep the law just as the Jews did.
In other words, to be a Christian, you had to be a Jew first, and then you could be a Christian. That was the issue at that time.
So Paul and Barnabas went to Jerusalem to settle this question. Why did they go to Jerusalem? Because the teaching came from Jerusalem.
But when Paul went to Jerusalem, he said, “I went there by revelation.” He went there, but he took with him Titus. Why? Because Titus was a Gentile.
And he took Titus there as a test case: whether a Gentile must first become a Jew before he can become a Christian; whether he should be circumcised and keep the law before he can believe in the Lord Jesus.
Now remember, brothers and sisters, to go to Jerusalem to be a test case needs some courage.
If you have a temperament like Timothy—Timothy was a person who was timid—but not Titus. We find that the temperament of Titus was strong. In other words, he could stand all the conflict and would never give in. So that is the reason why Paul took Titus with him.
Dear brothers and sisters, I often say, what is our temperament? We are not only born with a physical body, and the wonder of it is that of the millions and billions of people, no two bodies are exactly alike.
God loves variety. So, brothers and sisters, do not try to imitate anybody. Only imitate the Lord Jesus, because you are special.
If you have a timid temperament—now I say, our temperament is the shape of our soul. God not only made us with a physical body, and of the billions of people, no two persons are exactly alike.
Sometimes we find twins. We find it very hard to know which is which, who is who, but the parents always know because, however alike they may be, they are individuals.
Dear brothers and sisters, whether your temperament is introverted, like Timothy, or whether your temperament is extroverted, like Titus, both are given by God, and both are beautiful and wonderful in God’s sight.
Do not try to change, but put your temperament in the hand of God, and He can use whatever temperament He has given to you.
So here you find Titus. He was a brave person. He was an extrovert, and Paul took him to Jerusalem to be a test case.
And when you look into the life of Titus, how Paul took him with him, how Paul trained him, how Paul sent him out and used him.
You remember when Corinth had problems, the first one he sent was not Titus. He first sent Timothy there, but Timothy could not solve that problem. He was too timid. He was frightened by the conditions of the Corinthians.
So Paul sent Titus there, trying to solve that problem. You know, the problem in Corinth was the most difficult problem. There were people who opposed Paul. They would not even listen to Paul.
Paul not only wrote them; he went there himself, but he was rejected. So, in this difficult situation that Timothy could not help, Paul sent Titus.
And he agreed with Titus that they would meet together at Troas. You find that when Paul arrived in Troas and found Titus was not there, even though the Lord had opened the door of the gospel, he did not have the heart to remain there. He left.
Until finally he met Titus in Macedonia, and Titus came back with a rosy report: how eventually those who opposed Paul—not all, but many—turned to the Lord; how they repented; how they were thinking of Paul.
In other words, Titus was successful in his task.
So, dear brothers and sisters, thank God, we have different temperaments. Do not try to be another person. Be yourself, but give yourself totally to the Lord, and He is able to use you in His way.
What Timothy could not do, Titus could, and vice versa. Everyone in the hand of God, whatever temperament you may have, can be used by God.
And you know, Paul in his lifetime trained the second generation. Not only do we find people like Timothy and Titus, we find another person. Now, you pay attention.
Evidently, when Paul was in Ephesus, he was there for three years declaring the gospel. Evidently, Epaphras got saved, and after he was saved, he was zealous for the Lord.
And the Lord used him to help raise up the churches around Colossae and Hierapolis. The Lord was using that person.
But not because the Lord was using him did he become proud and independent. You find that when he began to realize there were problems beyond his ability, he was sent by the brethren to Rome to see Paul—not only to support him physically, but also to lay their problems before Paul.
And that is where you find the letter to the Colossians. So, brothers and sisters, here is another illustration: another young man used by God.
And because he went to supply Paul and also to report the problem to Paul, he got sick—sick almost to death—but he was faithful to the end. And you find in the Bible he became a fellow prisoner of Paul.
This young man was faithful to the Lord. So when Paul passed away, it does not mean the testimony was gone. You find that these young people who had been trained rose up and continued on with the testimony of Jesus.
So, dear brothers and sisters, we have a double problem here. One problem is this: we in this generation, should the Lord delay His return, have we been faithful to the Lord?
And not only ourselves: are we being used by God? When we see young people with hope, are we willing to spend time with them? Are we willing to share with them and help them to grow up spiritually?
Then, when we are gone, they may receive the torch of the testimony of Jesus.
This does not affect our hope that the Lord will come in our lifetime. Brothers and sisters, here you have two problems.
One problem is about ourselves: have we been faithful to the Lord ourselves?
The other problem is: have we been used of God to help train young people, that they may continue on with the torch of the testimony when we are gone, should the Lord tarry?
So, dear brothers and sisters, these two problems are upon us.
So may the Lord have mercy upon us. Shall we pray?
Dear Lord, how we praise Thee and thank Thee, because Thy ways are higher than our ways, and Thy thoughts are higher than our thoughts.
We do not know what is in Thy mind, but we do know that Thou wantest to see Thy testimony being fulfilled. We thank Thee for calling us to bear the testimony of Jesus.
Lord, it is the prayer of our heart that we may be considered by Thee as faithful.
Lord, we want to declare that, by Thy grace, we have fought the good fight, we have finished the race, and we have kept the faith.
But Lord, that is not enough. We are thinking of our young people. Our hearts go out to them, that they will also be raised by Thee, that should Thy return be delayed, they will carry on the torch of the testimony.
So it is the prayer of our hearts this day: make us faithful, and enable us to help the young people to go on, to go forward with the testimony.
We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.