“Therefore, Let Us … Lay Aside”

By Jim McDonald

“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 …” (Heb. 12:1-2a).

The word “therefore” tells that the admonition which follows is tied to and issued in view of things which earlier spoken. Those preceding things were the examples of faith which had been exhibited in both those who lived before Abraham (Abel, Enoch, Noah) and the many who lived after him. Nor was this saving, obedient faith demonstrated only in Abraham’s children: Rahab the harlot -- a Gentile had demonstrated her faith by receiving the spies in peace.

Yet, strong as was the faith of all those who had preceded them, they received not the promise. They were to be perfected along with those of us in this new covenant given by our Lord Jesus Christ. We are compassed about with a great a cloud of witnesses. The idea is that Hebrews Christians were in the arena of life, playing their game as well. There were many in the “grandstands” interested in them: their struggles, their trials, their triumphs and they, by their past successes, urged Hebrews on to attain as they had also attained. Noble women were among this number of interested spectators -- Sarah and Rahab. There were kings, judges, prophets, soldiers, prime ministers, lawgivers, and many who were unnamed. Through faith they “subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouth of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, waxed mighty in war, turned to flight armies of aliens …” (Heb. 11:22f).

We are to “lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us.” Two things stand out in this phrase: weights and the besetting sin. Different burden which lay heavy upon the children of men and come in different forms and shapes. Sickness … responsibilities … debt … sorrow … old age. All these things may trouble different ones of us. Sometimes we say, “Life gets tedious,” and surely it does! Solomon said of those in old age that the “grasshopper” was a burden. Poverty is a weight for many. Their children have needs, needs they cannot supply. They exist from hand to mouth, and never seem to get their head above water. Care for children or aged loved ones is a weight for some. These forgo any thought of their own pleasure, serving, caring for their loved ones. Some are lonely. Their mates are dead. Most of their friends also have passed on. Yes, all these things can be burdensome. Release from our weights can be sweet and bring great relief.

We must lay aside the “sin which doth so easily beset us.” This sin is not, as some suppose, a different weakness in different individuals. The besetting sin is that which the writer has persistently warned against, unbelief, the besetting sin of us all! Early on the writer had warned, “Take heed, brethren, lest haply there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief” (3:12). Following on the heels of that admonition was his warning: “We see they were not able to enter in because of unbelief” (Heb. 3:19).

How hard to walk by faith, to live by faith! How difficult to live in a land of dying, of wearing out, to be part of a fast disappearing generation and yet look confidently to things unseen! But we must! We dare not look back! We must look unto to Jesus, the author (captain), the quickener of our faith, who is also the Perfecter of our faith. Let none of us grow weary but let us seek for and press unto the land that is fairer than day. &

Leaving It Behind

By Kyle Campbell

The other day, my son asked me why my elbow was a certain way, and I responded, “Because I’m old.” Although I was half kidding, it does make think. The older I get, the more I have to leave behind. Growing older is a reminder of 2 Corinthians 4:16: “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.”

Life goes on, and the body decays. God could have made a body which would never age until the time we die, but it would never remind us that life is so brief. David said, “For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding” (1 Chronicles 29:15). As you grow older, use wisdom to see that this world is not your home. Obey God and inherit a glorious home for eternity. &

The Identity of the Tempter

By Bob Myhan

The tempter is identified by Moses and Paul only as “the serpent” (Gen. 3:1; 2 Cor. 11:3). But the serpent is depicted as an intelligent being having the power of speech. Surely, he was no ordinary serpent, if he was a literal serpent, at all.

John twice refers to “that serpent of old” calling him “the Devil and Satan." (Rev. 12: 9; 20:2)

Jesus said of the devil,

“He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.” (John 8:44)

To what murder is Jesus referring if not to the murder of mankind? And the weapon of choice in that murder was a lie.

Also, Satan must have been created as an archangel, like Michael, having angels under him (Jude 9; Rev. 12:7-9), which apparently followed him in rebellion (1 John 3:8; 1 Tim. 3:6). The only alternative is that God deliberately created an evil being. But how could Satan be said to have “sinned from the beginning” if he was evil by design? If, however, he was created as a ministering spirit “sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation” (Heb. 1:14), and, from the beginning, refused to serve this intended purpose, influencing other angels to do likewise, the following verses make more sense.

For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment … then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment (2 Pet. 2:4, 9).

“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels’” (Matt. 25:41).

Thus, from the beginning, Satan has been the willing adversary of mankind; he “walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Of course, this is another figure. Satan is no more a literal lion than he is a literal serpent, though he has characteristics of each. &