As People of Faith, we have a Great Cloud of Witnesses and Enjoy the Lord’s Presence

As believers in Christ who run the race of the Christian life, we have a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us and we have the Lord’s presence leading us as people of faith to lead us in following the Lord. Praise the Lord!

This week in our morning revival we come to a new topic, Running the Christian Race so that We may Obtain the Prize by Looking Away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our Faith. Hallelujah!

When we consider the matter of faith and God’s economy being in faith, we realize that our Christian life is a race, and we run the race with endurance to obtain the prize.

The way we run the race is not with our own strength or on our own; we run the race by looking away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.

He generated faith in us, and by His faith, we live and walk; He is also the One who perfects our faith, for He’s the perfecter of our faith. God’s economy is in faith, our Christian walk is a walk by faith, and we are people of faith who should live by faith and in faith.

And when others see our manner of life, they will imitate our faith and follow our pattern (Heb. 13:7).

May we be such patterns of living by faith, those who not only speak the word of God but also have a manner of life that issues in and is an example of faith for the church members, those who receive the Word of God.

On one hand, we need to exercise our spirit of faith and speak the word of God in faith, not standing with our feelings or wandering in our mind but standing strong in spirit to believe the divine facts in the Word of God.

On the other hand, we need to have a certain kind of living, a certain manner of life, that we live; we should live Christ, live by faith, and trust in the Lord.

Then, the word that we minister and the life we live will be Christ, and it will be in faith; Christ is the Author and Perfecter of our faith.

We need to be the same kind of person both in the meetings with the saints and outside the meetings; we need to have a living by faith, follow the Lord on the path of faith, and trust in Him in all things.

Then we will be a pattern of faith to those who are around us; our manner of life will then be worthy of being imitated by the believers who receive the word of God, and they will imitate our faith.

As People of Faith, we have a Great Cloud of Witnesses Surrounding us and we Enjoy the Lord’s Presence

In Heb. 12:1 we are told that we, as people of faith, having so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, should put away every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us and run with endurance the race which is set before us.

In Num. 5:15-22 we see that the Lord was leading the people of Israel in following Him by means of the cloud by day and by a pillar of fire by night.

This means that the cloud is for leading the people of faith in following the Lord. In Exo. 13:21-22 we see that the cloud was actually the Lord’s presence with His people.

We have a great cloud of witnesses that surrounds us, and we follow the Lord and enjoy His presence.

The word, witnesses, implies the sense of martyrs; when the Lord told His disciples that they will be His witnesses, that word can also be translated as martyrs.

We shouldn’t shy away from this word, martyrs, for a martyr is one who habitually and continually exercises his spirit to reject the self and live by another life.

A martyr puts himself on the cross, dies to himself, and lives by the divine life in his spirit, which is Christ Himself.

If we read Heb. 11-12 we see the saints of the old covenant, who were witnesses of faith; none of them was the author or source of faith, and none of them was the perfecter or finisher of faith.

We have a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, and this cloud is, on one hand, those who went before us and lived by faith and, on the other hand, it is the Lord’s presence.

Paul, for example, said that he counted all things as a loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ, his Lord (Phil. 3:8-9).

To gain Christ is to win Christ; on one hand, we want to win Christ today, and on the other, we want to win Him as the reward given to the overcomer in the coming age.

For the sake of the Lord, many are willing to suffer physical, psychological, and spiritual martyrdom, and their living, their manner of life, becomes a pattern of faith to us.

When we see how many people of faith before us gave up everything for the Lord and He had a way to move and work through them, even though they didn’t have much outwardly, we are inspired and motivated to follow the Lord and seek His presence today.

He is with us today not only within our spirit but also in the cloud of witnesses, for His presence is leading us and we follow Him on the race of our Christian faith.

The witnesses mentioned in Heb. 12:1 apparently refer to those who have great faith in ch. 11; actually, it refers not to the people themselves but the things they did.

The witnesses of the things done by those people are like a great cloud surrounding us.

They witnessed to God’s great salvation (Heb. 2:3-4) which is not only the forgiveness of sins but also obtaining the kingdom.

The goal of our race is the kingdom; we run the Christian race to enter into the coming kingdom and be co-kings with the Lord.

God gave us a cloud of witnesses, a great number of witnesses, for the purpose of encouraging us to live a life of faith.

When we see the patterns of faith of those who went before us, we are inspired and encouraged to live a life of faith and run the race to receive the glory of the kingdom.

When we look at their pattern, we see that some seem to have obtained what they believed in, for some were raptured, some obtained the land, some were resurrected, and some were rescued from perishing.

But all these things were not God’s ultimate promise; they obtained these things as the earnest, pledge, of their faith, proving that they will obtain the promised kingdom of God. Hallelujah!

We have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us and providing us with a pattern of faith; this great cloud is God’s presence with us.

On one hand, we look at the patterns of faith of those who went before us, and on the other hand, we follow the Lord and have His presence, for His presence is leading us in the cloud of witnesses surrounding us.

Since we have all these witnesses, we should run the race of faith and live by faith in our daily life.

Thank You, dear Lord Jesus, for the great cloud of witnesses surrounding us and providing us so much encouragement to run the Christian race and live by faith today. We want to imitate their faith and live by faith in our daily Christian life today. Amen, Lord, we love to enjoy Your presence in the great cloud of witnesses. Lead us by Your presence in our Christian life and walk. Strengthen us in our inner man to be able to drop all things that are an encumbrance for our running the race. May we put aside the sin which so easily entangles us and be infused with faith to run the Christian race and live by faith day by day.

As People of Faith Living a Life by Faith, we are Today’s Cloud for others to see the Lord, Follow Him, and Have His Presence

If anyone seeks the Lord’s leading, he must follow the cloud, where His leading is found; the great cloud of witnesses – where the Lord’s presence is – provides us with leading and encouragement in our Christian life by faith.

The cloud of witnesses today is the church; the Lord is in the cloud – He is with the people of faith.

The Lord is not only with the great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, the witnesses of faith that went before us and lived by faith; He is also here with us today, and we as people of faith are today’s cloud. Practically speaking, the Lord’s presence is in the church.

Therefore, if anyone today wants to find the Lord’s leading, he must come to the church. The Lord’s leading can be found among the people of faith.

This doesn’t mean that someone needs to “go to the pastor” or “go to the priest” to “seek God’s leading” and then “blindly follow” what these “great men of faith” tells them to do. No!

There is a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us and, as we enjoy the Lord’s presence and follow His leading, we ourselves become the cloud for others to see the Lord, follow Him, and have His presence.

The more we spend time with the Lord in His word, the more we are saturated with Him, and the more His heart becomes our heart, His mind becomes our way of thinking, and His will becomes our will.

When others see us, they see someone who lives by faith, someone who expresses Christ effortlessly, for we are people of faith.

The church is so permeated with the Lord’s presence that the church becomes the cloud today.

Since we are the people of faith, we are today’s cloud, and people can follow the Lord by following us; those who seek the Lord’s presence can find it with us, for we live by faith.

Isn’t this wonderful? This is not to be presumptuous by putting ourselves on the same level as Abraham or Paul; this is to speak what the Bible says, for the Lord’s presence and leading today is with His people of faith.

In 1 Cor. 14:24-25 Paul says that, when we all prophesy and some unbeliever or unlearned person enters, he is convicted by all, he is examined by all, and the secrets of his heart are manifested; he simply realizes that God’s presence is with us.

This is our experience many times.

When we come together as people of faith to enjoy the Lord, fellowship with Him, and fellowship with one another, and when we speak the word of God and share our portion of Christ, He has a way to shine and expose the situation of those among us who do not have a proper condition before the Lord.

The saints as the people of faith may not know the situation of those around them but they simply exercise their spirit of faith to speak in faith, and the unbelievers and the unlearned are convicted by all, and they simply worship God, declaring that God indeed is among us.

That’s the kind of prophesying meetings that we want to have in the church life. When we speak for the Lord and speak Him forth, the Lord’s presence is with us, and He speaks in our speaking.

Others will sense the Lord’s presence and leading, and they will follow His leading among us, the people of faith.

We are learning Christ as the reality is in Jesus, and the human life of Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels is being reproduced in us.

The more we learn Christ, the more we know Him intimately and His human life is being reproduced in us – it is repeated and livedus through us.

This makes all the saints the excellent ones.

The more we enjoy the Lord, pursue Him, and experience Him, the more we realize that the saints are the excellent ones, and all our delight is in them, for the saints today are the great cloud of witnesses, and the Lord’s presence is with the saints. Hallelujah!

Hallelujah, the Lord is in us and with us, and we who live by faith today are the cloud of witnesses for those around us to see the Lord and have His leading! Amen, Lord, we come to You to enjoy You, follow You, and experience You, so that You may be everything to us in our daily life. We exercise our spirit to live a life by faith, walk by faith, and run with endurance the race set before us. Dear Lord, we love to meet with the saints, the excellent ones, to enjoy You, fellowship together, and speak for the Lord and speak Him forth! Hallelujah, the Lord’s presence is with us, and He expresses Himself through us for others to see and find His presence! Amen, Lord, make us fully one with You today!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers, and portions from, Life-study of Hebrews, msg. 48 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, God’s Economy in Faith (2022 spring ITERO), week 4, entitled, Running the Christian Race So That We May Obtain the Prize by Looking Away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of Our Faith.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – There’s a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, / Urging us, forward come! / There is Abel, Enoch, Jacob, Abraham, / Moses, David, Solomon. / John the Baptist greater than them all, / Even he bids forward come! / These all died in faith, receiving not / Promises that were to come. (Hymns #1207)
  – By a cloud encompassed, / Witnesses to prove, / Saints, apostles, prophets, / Precious ones we love; / While “advance!” is sounding, / Mounts the battle thrill. / Cross of Christ! lead onward / Where the Captain will. (Hymns #634)
  – Look away into His face—Hallelujah, / He who’ll finish what He did begin. / O what grace to run the race—Hallelujah— / We obtain by looking off to Him! / Look away! O look away! / Look to Jesus now today! / Look away from everything unto Jesus, / Look away from everything to Him! (Hymns #1206)