A Great Cloud Of Witnesses

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” [Hebrews 12:1, ESV] 

Every country esteems people who have exhibited various feats of courage and exceptional behavior as well as people who have taken selfless risks to help or save others.  They call them heroes and many like Nelson Mandela became like world heroes. Some are national and political heroes and others are sports heroes and obviously everyone knows that there are many unsung heroes like fathers and mothers who have shaped the lives of many people. Hebrews 11 however introduces us to some people who we generally call the heroes of faith where we see the likes of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all the way to Moses, David, Samuel, and the prophets among others [Hebrews 11:32]. That list also includes women like Sarah who I suppose was a housewife [Hebrews 11:11], and Rahab a former prostitute [Hebrews 11:31] as well as other women [Hebrews 11:35].

For many years of my Christian faith I grew up thinking that a martyr is someone who is killed for his or her faith and testimony about Jesus only and that was perhaps part of the story. The Lord Jesus gave the church its marching orders when He told the disciples , “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” [Acts 1:8] and though some of them eventually died for their faith, not all of them died as a result of persecution. They were persecuted alright but not all of them died as a result of it like some of the witnesses mentioned in Hebrews 11 like Abraham and Noah et al.

The word witness comes from the Greek word martus from which we get the English word martyr. The Thayer dictionary defines a martyr as, “a witness, in a legal sense or an historical sense”. It also says it is “one who is a spectator of anything, e.g. of a contest” and “in an ethical sense: those who after his example have proved the strength and genuineness of their faith in Christ by undergoing a violent death” and whenever we hear the word martyr we should think of it in a more broader sense than just one who dies for the cause of Christ. 

The writer to Hebrews says “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” [Hebrews 12:1] in a way  to encourage every believer to know that they too can be included in this list of the Heroes of faith like many others whose names are not written but must continue doing good [Galatians 6:9] knowing that God knows those who are His [2 Timothy 2:19]. 

A witness is someone who produces evidence or proof about things that he saw, heard or experienced and this is why John the apostle testifies for their joy, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.  [1 John 1:1-5, KJV]. John was not following cleverly invented fables [2 Peter 1:16] or a new fad but it is evident that he was a witness of the Lord Jesus. The way he and others witnessed the Lord Jesus was not just by way of speech alone but also by the way they lived their lives. They lived in such a way that they were the proofs of Jesus’ existence, power and salvation which comes only from Him and through Him. They all came from different walks of life but had one thing in common, they were the evidences of Jesus. 

God has given every person a talent or a gift and we see from the heroes of faith that some were shepherds like Abel and Abraham, administrators like Daniel, Prime Ministers like Joseph, court officials like Isaiah who is thought to have been royalty, farmers like Amos, fishermen like most of the disciples, physicians like Luke, and tentmakers like Paul and Apollos. All these had their professions but they did not end at that because they were more than their professions; they witnessed Christ. Even the Lord Jesus Himself was a carpenter and I am sure a very god one at that but He did not end at that. He showed the world that He was the Christ. He said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing on My own authority, but speak just as the Father taught Me” [John 8:28]. Jesus was not saying they were going to know Him as a carpenter, no. He was more than a carpenter though He was one. He was more than a “model son” to Joseph and Mary too. Though He was all these, He was much more than that; He was the Christ the Son of God and the only Savior of the world. The true Hero of heroes. 

The great cloud of witnesses of Hebrews 11 and Hebrews 12:1 were people who excelled in their day to day word and some of them were successful people in business and commerce but they did not count that success as anything to be grasped like we see some being taken over by the craftiness of the devil today. This is why Paul who in today’s terms is said to have held three PhDs said, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” [Philippians 3:10]. Now that was learned Paul but what about the less learned folks? Did they have their own testimony other than the one Paul gave? No, they had the same faith and the same testimony even before the religious leaders of the day; “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus” [Acts 4:13]. 

Friends we are to be pointers to something greater than our professions and careers. We are to be greater than our job titles and become witnesses of Jesus. We are to be more than engineers or teachers, or doctors and janitors, more than transporters and bank tellers, housewives and husbands, drivers and coaches; we are to be witnesses of the Christ. When our neighbors see us, do they see Jesus living in us as the Pharisees and the Scribes saw that Peter and John had been with Jesus? It reminds me about Moses who when he came down from the mountain had the glory of the Lord all over him because he had been with God. The questions we need to answer in the affirmative if true of us are; are we evidences of Jesus in our marriages, to our children, in the church, in the communities we live, and the places we work? Or are we just Sunday witnesses only? You see Jesus calls people from all walks of life so that we can be His proofs and bear testimony that He true is and the rewarder of those that diligently seek Him [Hebrews 11:6]. 

Before He ascended to the throne above, the disciples were worried about things beyond what they were supposed to and the Lord directed them to what was important and said, “… you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” [Acts 1:8]. These are our marching orders. We are to be witnesses of Jesus Christ. The world is trying to cover up that witness and say He did not rise again. “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” [1 Corinthians 15:14], “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” [1 Corinthians 15:20] and that is the testimony the apostles had and that is testimony we hold to be true as well. Now Christ is alive for a purpose and one of the purposes is to save people from their sin and from the wrath of God.

Since we have so great a cloud of witnesses, we need to lay aside every weight and sin that so easily beset us. It is not a small cloud of witnesses but a great one. Great in number and great in quality. These were quality men and women of God who testified about Jesus. Look, not even one of them testified about themselves or about the other. They all pointed to Jesus. “Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories” [1 Peter 1:10-11].  The Holy Spirit of Jesus was also testifying to the prophets of old about the “main point of history” as Max Lucado says. There are many who want to be like the heroes of faith and they are an encouragement but one thing they all do is point us all to Jesus. I love the Greeks who went to the disciples and said, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus” [John 12:21], and I say to the church leaders and every preacher and teacher of the word, let the people see Jesus and not you. Give them the evidence of Jesus.

The writer to Hebrew says we are to lay aside weights and sins that so easily beset us. These weights and sins are not congruous to the evidence of Jesus. The Lord even said His disciples shall be known by their distinct fruit [Matthew 7:15 ff] because not everyone who says Lord, Lord to Him belong to Him [Matthew 7:21]. Production of the fruit of the Spirit [Galatians 5:22] is one of the evidences of Jesus working in the life of a person.

Finally, I will finish off with three things that Tim Challies talks about. Firstly, Tim Challies in His book Run to Win says we are to “maintain our vigilance against the world” and “Those who follow the patterns of the world become obsessed with the ‘desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life" [1 John 2:16]. They eschew future rewards in favor of fleeting satisfaction, and prefer what they can have today what God promises in the future”. As evidences of Jesus we need to kill the sin of pride or the sin of pride will be killing us.

Secondly, Tim says, we must “maintain vigilance against the flesh” because we have a sinful nature which is opposed to God. Just as the fruit of the Spirit is evidence of the work of Christ in a believer, the works of the flesh are evident of His absence. Galatians 5:19-21 has a list of some of the evidences of the sinful nature which are called works of the flesh and they are contrasted with the fruit of the Spirit. “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God”.

Third and finally, Tim Challies says we must “maintain vigilance against the devil” himself. His modus operandi is to kill, steal and destroy by every means possible. He is an adversary who wants to bring accusation against us before God so, we must be “sober-minded; be watchful. [because] Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world” [1 Peter 5:8, addition mine].

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death” [Revelation 12:11]

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About The Author:

Pastor Sam Machacka is co-founder of Brink Ministries Southern Africa. A wonderful colleague and good friend. Equipping Pastors and Church leaders in Southern Africa. He grew up in Harare, Zimbabwe with his beautiful wife Mildred and they are blessed with three lovely children namely Samantha, Munashe and Joshua but they are now serving as missionaries in Malawi since August 2018

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