Cooperating with the Heavenly Ministry of the Ascended Christ
Message Eight
Cooperating with Christ in His Heavenly Ministry by Running with Endurance the Race Set before Us, Looking Away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of Our Faith
Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Therefore let us also, having so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, put away every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us and run with endurance the race which is set before us—Heb. 12:1.
Word of Appetizer
In Hebrews 12:2 Paul told the Hebrew believers to look away unto Jesus. Why can we look Him with undivided attention by turning away from every other object?
Jesus is the Author of faith, the Originator, the Inaugurator, the source, and the cause of faith. The wonderful Jesus, who is enthroned in heaven and crowned with glory and honor, is the greatest attraction in the universe. He is like an immense magnet drawing all His seekers to Him. It is by being attracted by His charming beauty that we look away from all things other than Him.
Spiritual Burden
The Christian life is a race; every saved Christian must run the race to win the prize. We need to look away unto Jesus with undivided attention by turning away from every other object. Jesus is the Author of faith, the Originator, the Inaugurator, the source, and the cause of faith. As we look away unto Him continually, He will finish and complete the faith that we need for the running of the heavenly race.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
Therefore let us also, having so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, put away every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us and run with endurance the race which is set before us.
Looking away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down on the right hand of the throne of God.
The Experience of Life
The Lord is in the cloud to be with the people; the Lord is in the cloud, meaning that He is with the people of faith.
The faith by which we are saved is the precious faith that we have received from the Lord, the God-allotted faith. When we look away unto Jesus, He as the life-giving Spirit transfuses us with Himself, His believing element.
Practice and Application
All the people of faith, the church people, are the cloud; the best way to seek the Lord’s presence is to come to the church. Every saved Christian must run the race to win the prize.
Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline
Key Verses (1)
Therefore let us also, having so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, put away every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us and run with endurance the race which is set before us—Heb. 12:1.
Run with endurance the race which is set before us
I. Therefore let us also, having so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, put away every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us and run with endurance the race which is set before us:
A. The cloud is for leading people to follow the Lord, and the Lord is in the cloud to be with the people. In Greek witnesses implies the sense of martyrs.
B. The Christian life is a race; every saved Christian must run the race to win the prize, not salvation in the common sense but a reward in a special sense.
•An encumbrance is a weight, burden, or impediment. The entangling sin was the willful sin of forsaking the assembling together with the saints, of giving up the new covenant way in God’s economy, and of going back to Judaism.
C. We need to run with endurance, asking the Lord to direct our hearts into the love of God and into the endurance of Christ..
Key Verses (2)
Looking away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down on the right hand of the throne of God—Heb. 12:2.
Looking away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith
A. We need to look away unto Jesus with undivided attention by turning away from every other object; Jesus is the Author of faith, the Originator, the Inaugurator, the source, and the cause of faith:
•He is like an immense magnet drawing all His seekers to Him; It is by being attracted by His charming beauty (loveliness, pleasantness, delightfulness) that we look away from all things other than Him.
E. Jesus is the Perfecter, the Finisher, the Completer, of our faith:
•As we look away unto Him continually, He will finish and complete the faith that we need for the running of the heavenly race.
F. For the joy set before Him, Jesus endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down on the right hand of the throne of God.
Key Verses (3)
Now faith is the substantiation of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen—Heb. 11:1.
But without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to Him, for he who comes forward to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him—v. 6.
Christ Himself is our faith; Faith is to believe that God is
B. The faith of the believers is actually not their own faith but Christ entering into them to be their faith:
•Our believing is our appreciation of Christ as a reaction to His attraction. The faith by which we are saved is the precious faith that we have received from the Lord, Hence, Christ Himself is our faith.
C. Faith is a substantiating ability, a sixth sense, the sense by which we substantiate, give substance to, the things unseen or hoped for.
D. Faith is to believe that God is; Without faith it is impossible to please God; He who comes forward to God must believe that He is.
•To believe that God is, is to believe that He is everything to us and that we are nothing. To believe that God is, is to deny our self.
Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week
D1
T1 If anyone is seeking the Lord’s leading, he must follow the cloud (Num. 9:15-22; Exo. 13:21-22)
(Please explain that the cloud is for leading people to follow the Lord, and the Lord is in the cloud to be with the people.)
T2 The Christian life is a race (1 Cor. 9:26-27; Phil.3:5-8; 2 Tim. 4:7)
(Please use verses mentioned above to explain that Paul was qualified to be an example in running the race.)
D2
T1 Running with endurance the race (Heb. 12:1)
(Please explain why we must run with endurance the race.)
T2 You must turn away from everything other than Christ and look to Him with undivided attention (Heb. 12:2)
(Please explain what the way to run the race is.)
D3
T1 Christ Himself is our faith (Rom. 3:22 and footnote 1; Gal. 2:16 and footnote 1)
(Please explain that the faith of the believers is actually not their own faith but Christ entering into them to be their faith.)
T2 We have no believing ability; we do not have faith by ourselves (Heb. 12:2, footnote 3)
(Please explain that as we look to Jesus as the Author and Perfecter of faith, He transfuses us with the faith that He originated and perfected.)
D4
T1 Faith is the substantiation of things hoped for (Heb. 11:1, footnote 3)
(Please explain that faith is a special sense in addition to the five senses derived from our natural birth, this sense substantiates the things of God, things which we do not see.)
T2 Exercise our spirit of faith (2 Cor. 4:13, footnote 2)
(Please explain that faith is in our spirit, which is mingled with the Holy Spirit, not in our mind.)
D5
T1 “He who comes forward to God must believe that He is” (Heb. 11:6)
(Please explain that our God’s name is the verb to be.)
T2 Faith is to stop you from doing anything but to make God everything to you (Gal. 2:20)
(Please explain what is the very essence of the short word believe that God is.)
D6
T1 We all have the same faith in quality (Rom. 12:3)
(Please explain that the quantity of faith we have depends upon how much we contact the living God so that we may have Him increased in us.)
T2 We have to contact God to receive faith (Heb. 4:16)
(Please use experience to explain how we can have the living faith.)
