Good afternoon, brothers and sisters.
This time, the brothers assigned me the subject, “A Cloud of Witnesses Surrounding Us.” Let us read a few Scriptures to begin.
Hebrews 12:1-2:
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,
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 sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
I would like to underline this phrase: “so great a cloud of witnesses.” These witnesses refer to the people described in Hebrews 11.
Hebrews 11:1-2 says:
Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen.
For therein the elders had witness borne to them.
I would like to underline the words, “had witness borne to them,” or, as some translations express it, “obtained a good testimony.” The same statement appears at the end of Hebrews 11.
Hebrews 11:39-40 says:
And 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.
Both at the beginning and at the end of Hebrews 11, the author tells us that these witnesses obtained a good testimony.
Let us also read the stories of three people in Hebrews 11:4-7.
By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he had witness borne to him that he was righteous, God bearing witness in respect of his gifts: and through it he being dead yet speaketh.
Here I would like to underline this remarkable phrase: “he being dead yet speaketh.”
By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God translated him: for he hath had witness borne to him that before his translation he had been well-pleasing unto God:
and without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto Him; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that seek after Him.
Another thing concerning Enoch is that, before he was taken, he had this testimony: he pleased God.
By faith Noah, being warned of God concerning things not seen as yet, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
Here I would like to underline the remarkable statement that Noah “condemned the world.”
Let us read Hebrews 11:13-16, concerning Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac:
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
For they that say such things make it manifest that they are seeking after a country of their own.
And if indeed they had been mindful of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.
But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God; for He hath prepared for them a city.
I would like to underline this: “God is not ashamed to be called their God.”
Let us pray.
Lord, we come to You and seek Your grace. Lord, this afternoon You have words that You want to tell us. You have Your own witnesses that You want to show us, and You have lessons that You want us to learn from them.
Lord, we pray that Your Spirit would set us free, so that we may truly see them, see their preciousness in Your sight, and learn lessons from them. Lord, have mercy on us. In the name of the Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen.
Brothers and sisters, we are going to speak about a cloud of witnesses surrounding us. As we know, the theme of this conference is, “You are My witnesses.”
Hebrews 12:1 brings us to the real-life examples found in Hebrews 11. In this first session, we will look at four witnesses: Abel, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham. Hopefully, we can see why God is not ashamed to be called their God.
In the second session, we will look a little at Paul. We hope to see that God’s witnesses live under an open heaven. We pray that the Lord will help us actually to get to know them.
Brothers and sisters, these examples really deserve our attention. Hebrews 12:1 begins, “Therefore we also.” The idea is that now we have seen so many witnesses, especially their lives.
If we want to be God’s witnesses, we also should have such a life. It is not merely a matter of talking; it is a matter of living that life. I think this is what the author of Hebrews is trying to convey.
As an introduction, when we look at these witnesses, there is one thing said at the beginning of Hebrews 11: God’s true witnesses are actually God’s good testimony.
They are both witnesses and testimony. As we have read in Hebrews 11:2 and Hebrews 11:39, they obtained a good testimony. Who gave them this testimony? It was God Himself.
This is what Hebrews 11 is trying to tell us: a good witness is also a good testimony. If God does not bear good testimony to a person, then that person is not truly a witness.
Brothers and sisters, we all know that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and then God created man. How did God create man? He created man according to His own image. This is Genesis 1:27.
God did not create anything else according to His own image. He created man according to His image. This tells us that God has a high expectation for man.
God declared, “I have created them according to My image.” The idea is that when anyone sees man, they ought to see God.
When we come to Isaiah 43:7, God says that we are created for His glory. So, not only do we have His image, but we also have an expression. That expression is for His glory.
When other people see us, they ought to see God’s glory. Brothers and sisters, this is a high expectation and a high calling. This is the meaning of testimony.
When we come to the conference theme in Isaiah 43:10, God says, “Ye are My witnesses.” Why did God say that? He was speaking to the Israelites. Other people might not know Him, but they should know Him.
God’s calling to His people is both to be His testimony and to be His witness.
At the latter part of Hebrews 11, God says that He is not ashamed to be called their God. Essentially, God points to these witnesses and says, “I am not ashamed to be called their God.”
Here we see that God wants us to be both His testimony and His witness. A testimony does not have to speak. Usually, a testimony does not speak; it simply stands there.
God can point to that person and tell others, “This is My testimony. I have created him for My glory. He is created according to My image. He has lived his whole life for My glory, and I am not ashamed to be called his God.”
God has a message to declare, and God has a work to do. Before the witness speaks, God’s work has already been done in him, and God’s message is already true in him.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, let us pay real attention to our lives. If our life is according to God’s will, then God can point to us and say, “This is My testimony.” I think this is what the author of Hebrews is trying to convey.
We would first like to consider three witnesses: Abel, Enoch, and Noah. They are the first witnesses recorded in the Bible. The first verses we read in Hebrews 11 tell us that their lives pleased God.
When we look into this, we find that they represent the proper relationship between a witness and God:
Worship speaks of our heart attitude toward God. Our walk speaks of our daily life before Him. Our work speaks of what we are doing for Him.
Let us consider Abel first. We need to turn to Genesis 4:4.
And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering.
Brothers and sisters, notice that the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering. There are two things: the man and the offering. In fact, the man is probably the issue; the offering simply reflects the heart of the man.
When Abel grew up, there was a beautiful garden that he could not enter. His father and mother must often have spoken of the God Who created them, yet God seemed far away.
As Abel grew up, he began to understand what had happened. He realized that God’s purpose had been compromised because of what his father and mother had done.
But something wonderful came into his heart. He wanted to say, “Lord, I am sorry.” He was sorry for his father and mother, sorry for the whole family, and sorry for his own life.
He wanted the relationship with God, which his father and mother had lost, to be restored. He wanted to live before the Lord.
In a sense, there was in his heart the thought of a sin offering and a burnt offering. The sin offering is for the past: “Lord, we are really sorry.” The burnt offering is for the present and for the future: “Lord, from now on I want to live before You.”
That is what Abel wanted to say, and he offered a lamb. The Bible says that God had respect unto Abel and his offering. The Lord saw both Abel’s heart and his gift, and that gift represented his heart.
How did the thought of offering a lamb come into Abel’s heart? The Bible is not explicit. But Revelation 13:8 reveals an eternal truth: the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world.
Before man was even created, God had already purposed to create man. Our brother said this morning that our wonderful God gave man complete freedom—the freedom to choose. But God also knew that one day man would fall.
Therefore, God had the thought of a Lamb slain, so that man could be restored to Him.
When we look at the Old Testament and then the New Testament, how can man come back to God? In Old Testament times, God told the children of Israel, “Three times a year you shall come to Me and bring your gift.”
When I was a young Christian, I thought God was poor and needed people to bring Him things. But God was never poor. I also thought perhaps God was angry, and people had to bring gifts so that He would not be angry. But that is not the case.
God gave people the lamb—the idea of a lamb. In Old Testament times it might be a lamb or another animal, but the principle was the same. God wanted people to come back to Him.
This is the deepest love of God from the very beginning. In the New Testament, the real Lamb came—the true sacrificial Lamb. Today, you and I can come to God through this Lamb.
This eternal truth—the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world—reveals God’s great love and God’s great wisdom.
When the Lord Jesus came, He offered His body as a living sacrifice. Hebrews 10:5-7 says:
Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not,
But a body didst Thou prepare for Me;
In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin Thou hadst no pleasure:
Then said I, Lo, I am come
(In the roll of the book it is written of Me)
To do Thy will, O God.
The Lord Jesus came as the Lamb of God, and He came as a Man. He said, “I have come, O God, to do Thy will.”
This is for you and me. We are familiar with Romans 12:1:
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.
Many of us, if not all of us, have offered our bodies as a living sacrifice. But we remember that offering our bodies as a living sacrifice is not easy. It takes a long time for us to understand, and often a long time to become willing.
Paul gives us the reason: it is by the mercies of God. The mercies of God are found in that Lamb. It is the Lamb that makes us willing to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice.
When I read Hebrews 11 and Abel’s story this time, the verse that struck me was this: “He being dead yet speaketh.”
When I was a young Christian, I thought Abel was saying, “Lord, my brother killed me.” If you read Genesis 4, you may get that idea. But, brothers and sisters, “being dead yet speaketh” is a very mysterious statement. What is Abel speaking?
Hebrews 12 gives us a clue. Hebrews 12:24 speaks of Jesus and says:
And to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better than that of Abel.
I do not believe this refers merely to Abel saying, “My brother killed me.” It speaks of something very deep and very good. The blood of Jesus speaks better things than Abel’s blood.
I believe this is what Abel is saying: “Lord, I want to worship You. I want to offer You a lamb.” Abel was already dead, but he kept saying that.
This is hard for us to understand. But when you see witnesses and martyrs throughout the ages, at the end of their lives there is a Lamb in their hearts. Nobody can take that away.
Men may persecute them. Men may put them to death. But no one can take the Lamb out of their hearts. Everyone may have a last word, and I believe the last word of many of them is, “Jesus, my Lord.”
One day we will come to the end of our lives. Is there anything that has truly captured our hearts? Is it that Lamb? What is the position of the Lamb in my heart and in your heart?
The word martyr and the word witness are the same word. If we hold to the Lamb and live faithfully unto Him, we are witnesses. If we die, we are martyrs. But there is no difference in the essential matter.
What is it that captures our hearts? For Abel, it was that Lamb. For the witnesses, it is that Lamb. For the martyrs, it is that Lamb. Brothers and sisters, for you and me, it ought to be that Lamb. This is Abel’s testimony.
Enoch was sixty-five years old when something was triggered in his life. The Bible does not tell us exactly what it was. But for the next three hundred years, he walked with God.
Along the way he had sons and daughters. Finally, God took him; he did not die. But the Bible contains this most wonderful statement: before his departure, he obtained testimony that he had pleased God.
This is found in Hebrews 11:5-6. Three hundred years is a long time. For me, walking with God for one year would already have many ups and downs. Even one month may be difficult. But Enoch walked with God for three hundred years.
The wonder is that at the end, God said, “You walked well.” At the end of Enoch’s life, God said that his walk had pleased Him.
How could Enoch walk with God for so long and so well? What was his secret? The Bible immediately tells us two things.
First, Enoch believed that God is. This does not merely mean that God exists. It means that God is what He says He is.
Some translations say, “Believe that God exists.” But that is much too weak for the sense here. Enoch had known God for a long time. The existence of God was not the question. The question was whether Enoch would believe what God revealed Himself to be.
One day God may have revealed to Enoch, “I am a holy God.” Could Enoch believe that? Another day God may have revealed, “I am love.” Could Enoch believe that? Another day God may have revealed, “I hate sin.” Could Enoch believe that?
The wonder is that Enoch believed all the way through. He did not have a Bible. He did not have brothers and sisters. He did not have preachers to tell him anything. Everything concerning God was gradually revealed to him by God Himself.
For three hundred years, he continued to believe. Because he had sons and daughters, he must have had many problems. When God revealed something to him, perhaps it was difficult for him to keep up with it.
Enoch may have been unhappy with his wife, and God may have said, “You must love her.” Enoch may have been angry with his son, and God may have said, “You should not treat your son that way.” It is very difficult to walk with God.
There must have been ups and downs in his life. But the wonder is that he did not leave God. He did not say, “Lord, this is too hard. Forget it.” He continued to walk with God for three hundred years.
Brothers and sisters, this tells us something very encouraging: it is possible to walk with God throughout our whole life, and at the end for Him to be pleased with us.
The key is that we must receive His revelations and obey them. Every week and every month, the Lord reveals something of Himself to us. We must keep our eyes open to receive it, understand it, be willing to walk in its light, and obey it. Never despise it.
That is the first secret of Enoch’s life. The second secret is that he believed God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
The expression is strong: “those who diligently seek Him.” Darby translates it, “those who seek Him out.” The sense is that when we seek God, we do not merely seek; we actually find Him.
It is a very active and positive seeking. It is an earnest desire to know God and to find Him.
Last night our brother spoke about Paul, who pursued the knowledge of the excellency of Christ in order to gain Christ. Enoch was the first one to have this kind of seeking after God.
When I was a young Christian, I admired Enoch because he did not die. But as I grew in the Christian life, I admired Enoch for a different reason: God was pleased with his life at the end.
Not many people did not die, but many people pleased God at the end of their lives. In Hebrews 11 we see Moses and David. As we continue to hear concerning Paul, we see this in him also. There are many more whose lives pleased God at the end.
This is a great encouragement to us. Moses died, but when the time came for him to die, God brought him to the high mountain and showed him the whole land of Canaan. Then God buried him, and no one knew where God buried him.
In effect, God was saying, “Moses is Mine.” Brothers and sisters, may that be an inspiration to us. To die or not to die is not the issue. The issue is whether, at the end of our lives, we have lived in a way pleasing to God.
Walking with God is a constant matter. In the New Testament, the Lord Jesus wants us to abide in Him, and He in us.
If we do that, the Holy Spirit will work in our lives and produce the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control.
Brothers and sisters, these things together are the character of Jesus. If we yield to the Holy Spirit and allow Him daily, hourly, to work in us, these fruits of the Spirit will be produced.
Then we become a testimony to the character of Jesus. When other people see us, they see something wonderful—something literally out of this world.
What is a testimony of the Lord Jesus? If we have these things, the fruit of the Spirit, we are naturally a testimony of the Lord Jesus.
Enoch walked with God for three hundred years. Today, we abide in Christ.
The third person is Noah. The Bible says that in Noah’s time the people of the world were wicked. It was an unbelieving world, and they despised God’s warning.
However, Noah feared God and took God’s warning seriously. God told him to build an ark in preparation for the flood that would come. God also gave him the exact details for building the ark.
Noah spent the next hundred years building the ark. The Bible says that Noah preached the righteousness of God, but people laughed at him.
They asked, “Where is the flood? Where is the rain? You are building such a big thing. One year, two years, ten years, twenty years—how foolish! Where is God’s promise?”
But Noah persisted. He trusted God and preached God’s word of righteousness. The Bible says that God counted him righteous.
When the flood came, God saved Noah’s whole household through the ark. Noah’s work is very special because the ark was built exactly according to God’s command.
Every detail was done according to God’s instruction. This reminds us of Moses building the tabernacle. Every detail of the tabernacle was according to God’s command.
Later, when we see the story of David, we find that he also did God’s work according to God’s will. When he became king, he took Jerusalem. Afterward, he brought the ark into Jerusalem.
A few years later, David had the thought to build God a house. God did not permit him to build it, but God showed him how the temple was to be built. David prepared everything and found the place for the temple.
David did exactly God’s work according to God’s will. When we come to the New Testament, we see the same thing in Paul. Especially after Christ was revealed to him, everything Paul did was according to Christ.
Why is this important? Why must we do only the work of God, and do it only according to God’s will? Why can we not simply do something for God according to our own thinking?
Hebrews 11:7 contains a remarkable statement: “Through which he condemned the world.”
Noah and his ark not only speak of God’s salvation; they also speak of God’s testimony against a wicked world, against an unbelieving world, and against the wisdom and spirit of the world.
The world mocked the whole thing. They mocked the ark, mocked Noah, and despised God. But Noah and his ark were proof that God was right and everything else was false.
God said that the flood would come, and the flood did come. God said that the ark could save Noah’s household and more, and the ark did indeed do that.
Noah seemed foolish as he built the ark for a hundred years. But finally God vindicated him. God said, “He is right.”
This testimony is according to God’s power. The world then, as well as the world today, is not only wicked but powerful. The unbelieving spirit of the world and the wisdom of the world want to tear apart whatever you say.
If what we do has a flaw, the world will come in and destroy it. But if this is God’s work, according to God’s design and according to God’s will, then the power of God is there. No one can destroy it.
We often need to ask ourselves this question. Perhaps we are teaching Sunday school. Perhaps we are having some activities. Sometimes our own beautiful ideas come to us.
But we must always ask, “Is this God’s work? Is this what God wants?” If we ask that question, we will pay attention, and the Holy Spirit will correct us.
Then we will do something right in God’s eyes. Then there is power. When the world sees this, it will give honor to God.
This is the story of Noah.
Now I would like to speak about Abraham. The wonderful thing about Abraham is the heavenly way.
The beginning of his story is in Acts 7:2, when Stephen gave his testimony. Stephen told the story of God’s people in a way very different from Judaism’s interpretation.
At the very beginning Stephen said, “The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia.”
Brothers and sisters, pay attention to this expression: the God of glory.
Joshua 24 tells us that Abraham’s family worshiped foreign gods and idols. That was how Abraham grew up. If you had asked him about God, he might have pointed to all those idols.
But one day something else happened to him: the God of glory appeared to him. The God of glory is a holy God, totally different from idols.
The God of glory dwells in unapproachable light, while idols live in darkness. This God cannot be bribed. You cannot simply bring incense or money and ask Him to listen to you. He will not compromise.
Sin is sin, and righteousness is righteousness. There is no compromise. This God is a living God. These idols cannot speak, smell, or do anything. But this God is living.
The Bible says that the God of glory appeared to Abraham. Then Abraham went out to a place he did not know, and he never came back. All along the way, he followed one thing: the God of glory.
When he came to Canaan, things were not easy. There was famine, and there were hostile neighbors. But God provided for him and protected him.
God also said to Abraham, “I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.”
At that time Abraham was perhaps eighty-five years old. God appeared to him and said, “I will bless you.” But Abraham said, “I do not even have a son. Eliezer of Damascus will be my heir.”
The Lord said, “No, not he. One who shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.”
When God called Abraham out, He said, “I will bless thee, and thou shalt be a blessing.” This is Genesis 12. God said that all the families of the earth would be blessed through Abraham.
In Abraham’s heart there was this thought: “All the families of the earth will be blessed because of me.” Yet he could not understand how this could happen, especially because he had no son.
But God said that one from him would be his heir. Then, one night, the Lord brought Abraham outside of the tent and said, “Look now toward heaven, and number the stars, if thou be able to number them. So shall thy seed be.”
How could Abraham believe that? But the Bible says that Abraham believed God, and God counted it to him for righteousness.
How could Abraham believe? Because he knew that this God was the God of glory. This God never deceives. God is always faithful. Abraham may not have understood, but he knew that God was right and therefore he had to believe Him.
About fourteen years later, when Abraham was ninety-nine, God appeared to him again. The Lord said, “I am going to bless you.” Abraham said, “Oh that Ishmael might live before Thee!”
The Lord said, “Yes, I will bless Ishmael. But thou shalt have a son by thy wife, and his name shall be Isaac. My covenant will be with Isaac.”
Although God would bless Ishmael, His covenant was with Isaac. Ishmael later became rich and prosperous, but God had no covenant relationship with him. God recognized Isaac: “My covenant is with him.”
About twenty years later, God said to Abraham, “Offer thy son, thine only son Isaac, as a burnt offering unto Me.”
Brothers and sisters, this was very difficult for Abraham. He might have said, “Lord, You promised me this son. By Your promise I received Isaac. I love Isaac, and You love Isaac. You have made Your covenant with him. Now You want me to offer him as a burnt offering. Where is this covenant?”
It was very difficult for him. He walked three days with Isaac and the servants. Finally, they came to Mount Moriah, and Abraham and Isaac went up the mountain.
Isaac said, “The wood is here, and the fire is here; where is the lamb?” Abraham answered, “God will provide.”
When Abraham was about to offer Isaac, a voice from heaven said, “Abraham, Abraham, do not lay thine hand upon the lad.” The Lord gave Isaac back to him.
Finally, the Lord told Abraham that all nations would be blessed through this descendant, through Isaac.
Did Abraham offer Isaac? He did offer him. Did Isaac die? In a sense, he died and lived again. Where was the covenant? The covenant was still there.
This matter greatly affected Abraham. Resurrection is a difficult concept to understand, but Abraham experienced it firsthand.
Another twenty years later, when Isaac was forty years old, Abraham needed to find a wife for him. The servant wisely asked, “If the woman does not want to come to Canaan, may I bring Isaac there?”
Abraham said, “No. You cannot do that. Never bring him outside of Canaan, because God’s covenant is with him here.”
This time God did not force Abraham. It came out of Abraham himself: “My son Isaac belongs here, nowhere else. What about a wife? That is another matter. But my son belongs here.”
Through these almost sixty years, the matter of Isaac brought Abraham to walk the heavenly way. All these things were hard.
Abraham could have said again and again, “Lord, You are so hard to please. Nothing I do pleases You.” But through these very personal experiences, Abraham learned the heavenly way—the way of God.
I think Abraham learned three things.
First, spiritual life comes out of God’s promise, not out of our goodwill. Spiritual life comes only from the promise of God. This is the story of Isaac.
Brothers and sisters, the same applies to us today. Without going through the Lord Jesus Christ, without receiving that which comes from heaven, we have nothing.
Remember when Nicodemus came to see Jesus? The Lord Jesus told him, “Ye must be born anew. Ye must be born from above.”
What about our growth? The Lord has given us the Holy Spirit for the purpose that we no longer live by ourselves. There is a leading within us, a beacon that leads us forward.
We ought to be like Abraham. When the Lord leads, whether we understand or not, we follow.
Think about our spiritual growth. We must pay a price. If we do not, there will be no spiritual growth. Often, the price we pay is something we do not see, and we do not see the promise or reward with our natural eyes.
But thank the Lord, we know that it is from Him. Therefore, as Hebrews 11:1 says, by faith we experience it.
The second thing Abraham learned was the difficult lesson of resurrection. He learned that God’s covenant and sacrifice do not contradict one another.
Before, he thought these two things were contradictory: “If I offer Isaac, what will happen to the covenant?” But the wonder is that these two things are closely related.
Today, brothers and sisters, we have the new covenant. We have the Lord Jesus as the Mediator of this new covenant. God is faithful to make that covenant work, and the Lord Jesus wants to make it real in us.
But there is a requirement. If we do not cooperate, the covenant may be true in our brother’s experience but not true in ours. How can the covenant become real to us?
The Bible tells us again and again that it is by the principle of death and resurrection. We have to die with Christ, and we have to be raised with Christ. Then we can walk in newness of life, and the new covenant becomes real to us.
This is the whole meaning of baptism. This is in Romans 6 and Colossians 2.
Thank the Lord. What sometimes seems very difficult was experienced by Abraham long ago. And the Lord Jesus is here today. By His leading and by His grace, all of us can experience this, if we are willing.
The third thing Abraham learned concerns this descendant, this seed. Somehow, Abraham understood that this particular seed was very important in God’s heart.
This seed is at the center of God’s heart. All God’s promises are founded in Him. All the rewards from God are in Him. All the inheritance of God is in Him.
When we come to the New Testament, the Lord Jesus gives us a further word. In John 8:56, He says:
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day; and he saw it, and was glad.
Brothers and sisters, when Abraham walked this heavenly way, all these things seemed so difficult. The promises seemed unseen. There was one lesson after another.
Yet throughout it all, Abraham was glad. He saw that God’s whole inheritance and God’s whole thought were in this seed. Although the way was difficult, Abraham was happy, as though he had seen Christ.
The Apostle Paul tells us in Galatians 3:16 that the seed is singular, not plural. It speaks of Jesus Christ.
Brothers and sisters, the heavenly way is worthwhile.
We have only a few limited decades on this earth. We may choose simply to walk day in and day out, trying to build our own house, trying to be promoted, and then one day die. Or we may choose something else: the heavenly way.
Let the Lord lead us so that, in our very limited time, we may come to the very heart of God. Through the experiences God gives us and the revelations He brings to us, He will show us His Son.
We may walk a difficult life, even what is called the way of the cross, but at the end we will be happy, just as Abraham was.
God said to Abraham, “I will bless thee, and thou shalt be a blessing.” Everyone around us will see something different in us—something out of this world, something good that they cannot describe.
They may not know that it is Christ, but we know. Thank the Lord. This is where the heavenly way brings us.
Lord, we thank You for these wonderful witnesses before us. From their lives, we learn not because they were so good, but because You are so good.
You are the God of glory. That is why these brothers did not desire their old country. They desired a much better country, which is heavenly, where they could have the God of glory.
Lord, we thank You for having done this and for putting all these wonderful lives right in front of our eyes.
Lord, we pray that You would give us humility and a willing heart, that we also may walk with You and follow the Lamb wherever He goes.
All praise be to You. In the name of the Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen.