THE GREAT CLOUD OF WITNESSES

God has given us a powerful weapon to use against any attack on our faith. “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us 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” (Hebrews 12:1).

Get your eyes off those falling around you. Instead, set your eyes on “the great cloud of witnesses” who have already made it to glory! This verse depicts an army of victorious saints of all ages hovering over us, as if seated in bleachers, cheering on the saints still left in the race! Listen to their cry: “Put away that sin; there is victory! We won! We fought to the death and did not fall—because God kept us! Our faith never wavered. Run with patience, move on, the truth works! We are overcomers!”

So a few preachers fall. So a few thousand preachers fall! So those you trust fall! Does that mean the devil is gaining power? Does that mean there will be only a few victorious ones? Look up and see a great cloud of witnesses, all dressed in white!

Was it worth it all? Ask Noah. “All my generation fell! Only eight of us kept the faith, but we held on for 120 years in spite of the violence, rampant sin and mockery. You, too, can overcome.”

Say to the devil, “If sin is so all powerful and you say everybody is a phony, then what about that great cloud? Where did that army of witnesses come from? If sin is so strong, how did so many get free? Look at that triumphant army of witnesses, waving palms, wearing crowns of righteousness. How did they make it?

“Satan, you robbed and spoiled their homes. You sent in your henchmen to throw their children in the rivers. You cut them in pieces; you cut off their heads, thrust swords through their bellies. You whipped and beat them. You cut their throats—and yet they would not bend. Their faith prevailed!”