TRANSCRIPT

Hebrews 11:1-2  “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. [2] For by it the elders obtained a good report.”

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Hebrews 11 spoke of the men of Faith. These elders were actually witnesses. The Lord did not leave Himself without a witness. The sun, moon and stars cannot stand as witnesses even though they can tell about things of God. Witnesses are people of faith. 

The life of faith is the life of witness, one who is living the life of faith is witnessing to a life of the invisible. The life of Faith is not just asking and receiving, that is the prayer of faith. It is not merely believing God for needs to be met; it is a lifestyle. 

Living by faith is not a state of living when there is no money in one's account (Romans 1:17). Living by faith has nothing to do with needs being met or not met. Living by Faith should be consistent when there's a lack of money or in abundance. Hence having money in one's account has nothing to do with living by Faith. 

Moses had a great privilege but he lived for the invisible including all other patriarchs whose lives were dictated by the invisible. Their lives were controlled by that which is not seen. Such a life is the life of Faith that is not evident to men. Men cannot comprehend such a life that is not perturbed by things and pollution of this world. For instance, men can wonder how a woman can be mature and not be disturbed or anxious about not being married, or couples who are not perturbed by not having children or ministers who are not perturbed by not having a large crowd to follow them. Men that live by Faith live for a hope higher than the earth, they believe, trust and follow the invisible. 

We should live our lives seeking the invincible. Many men who would sit on the throne are men who are not known in thus present earth. Such men are led in the way, not just the experience but also in the doctrine. An example is Pastor John G.Lake, he did not have any support and faced challenges yet he had a kind of Faith (Hebrews 11:13). His fellow missionaries stood on the lead they had and decided not to return back to their countries. They all died as missionaries, ministering to the locals, even though they faced a lot of challenges.

We are not the first people talking about living by Faith. God always has witnesses in every generation.

What does it mean to be a witness and who can be called a witness? It takes a lot to be a witness, it begins with a life of faith. 

It is a life that is lived by the dealing of the hand of the Lord. Living by faith has to do with being subject to a path, not just choice making. The mighty hand of the Lord is the workings of the Lord by His Spirit to subject a soul on a path we might not want to take because God desires to save us by it. This begins by Faith. 

Moses endured seeing the invisible. None of the witnesses could have made it to Hebrews 11 if they did not see the invisible. They did not only see the invisible, they lived for it. They lived for a persuasion not supported in their age or time, something that was not apparent or palatable. 

We see victories in the Hebrews 11, but those things were not palatable. In it they experienced God and came to know Him better. A man can be in any city the Lord has kept him in and experience God. God does by making him see the invisible.

Many times, we see the invisible but we close our eyes to it because it is not what is obtainable in the society. We rather choose to follow the status quo, but these men who were witnesses were not like every other person. There is no witness that will not stand out. We cannot stand as a witness if we yield to the norms of the society. We have to deliberately swim against the current even when there is no strength in us. We must do so trusting God knowing that it is what the Lord will have us do.

We must see the invisible to make certain decisions that looks discouraging in the natural. Many times we have options but we are being edged in. When this happens we must stay and put aside our own thoughts and endure for the sake of the invisible.

The men in Hebrews 11 endured seeing the invisible, a life that is under the hand, leading and dealing of the Lord. This kind of life is not one which anyone would ordinarily choose and these men were not any different.

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Hebrews 12:1 “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…”

There are many witnesses God has raised. God wants to multiply witnesses on earth. 

A Christian is not someone who is just born again, rather a Christian is someone who is a witness to a life that is not visible to men. The definition of Christianity in our nation will change when witnesses arise. This is a higher life. A faithful witness cannot lie. 

We have these witnesses from ages past to this moment. We have to lay aside weights and sins that beset us because God wants to admit us to become witnesses like they are. Not just witnesses of that which was of old because they all died in faith without receiving the Promise. They received promises that were wrought by life but those promises were not The Promise. What God is waiting for are witnesses of The Promise.  

Our Lord Jesus is the first witness of the promise. On earth, He witnessed the life of the Father, the life that is in God. We would keep exploring His life as saviour but His life as a man ought to be wondered at.

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Acts 10:38 “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.”

We look at Jesus' miracles and things He has done but there are things He did not do and could not take upon Himself just so that He could bear witness of the Father. Jesus lived a manner of life different from what a natural man would choose to live. 

The life of a witness is not just a strange life but it is also a life that is restrained and constrained (2 Corinthians 5:14). A witness is witnessing a life that is hard to interpret hence there are privileges he would have to deny. For instance one may think he has come of age and should do some things but God may not grant him permission for it because he is edged in. 

The Jews were familiar with the cross, History has it that Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus was crucified like that when Jesus was a young lad. Jesus had every reason to be bitter against the Roman empire. He could have been an activist or a zealot because He had what it takes, however, He had to live a life of restraint. He didn't succumb to that pressure of taking revenge or disputing nothing. Jesus never said a word against the Roman empire and this is exactly where we fail. We need to get to that place where we do not talk about our leaders regardless of what they do, but to focus on bearing witness to that which is invisible (Hebrews 13:14). 

Everything happening in the world is to pull us down to a life that is corruptible. Jesus restrained and constrained himself to be a faithful witness because He must not bear witness to any other thing but God.

Witnesses are made, not born. Hence we have to be made witnesses just like the Hebrews 11 patriarchs. They had experience with God, there was none of them that rose up and suddenly became a witness. David, Gideon and others were men of valor but they bore witness to an invisible life, they all had experience with God. They did not just have a vision or dream, they were subjected to a life of training to trust in that which is not seen and they yielded to it. We have to be made just like they were.

There are two things the Lord used to portray the life of a witness—salt and light. This is the making of a witness.

Mark 9:49 “For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.”

Everyone that will be a witness shall be salted with fire. What fire does is similar to what salt does. They purify.

Malachi 3:3 “And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.”

The refiner's fire in scripture above is a good fire. Salt likewise purifies, it preserves and prevents corruption. 

Mark 9:50 “Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.”

If salt is good, then fire is good. Scripture says, have salt in yourselves. Salt is to purify and preserve a soul from corruption within. If we do not have salt in ourselves we would not have peace with one another. Hence salt has to be introduced to us. To have salt then we need to be introduced to fire. Salt not only takes care of corruption within, it has permeating effects. Hence it cannot be despised. Salt is a witness. The life of salt is a life of witness. Salt is also a covenant, it speaks of everlasting covenant; everlasting life. 

2 Chronicles 13:5 “Ought ye not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt?”

All the sacrifices of the children of Israel have to be made by salt (Leviticus 2:13). When we are offering, there must be salt. We are the ones to be offered. This means we would not produce the kind of acceptable savor if we do not have salt within ourselves. The sacrifice we are supposed to be, are living sacrifices. Our sacrifice begins with obedience of faith. Each time we obey, we are sacrificing something. God wants us to get to a place where our sacrifices will not be without salt; this means we have salt in ourselves. 

If God gave the kingdom to David by covenant of salt, the kingdom would be given to us through the same; through much tribulation. It is through tribulation we are salted. When a man has gone through tribulation, he has acquired salt. Every obedience is a sacrifice with the salt of the Lord our God. We need salt for covenant. 

There is an obedience we can do without salt but the obedience that would grant us entrance into the kingdom is one with salt. David was salted, he was tried. God would not hand the kingdom over to any man who is not tried, tested and proven. We ought to have been salted with fire; we ought to have experienced the covenant of salt to get the kingdom.

David was tried, God cannot trust anyone who is not tried. Just like we would not give our bodies to be treated by a man who has not be trained in medical school, then God cannot give His Kingdom to a man not tried; that training is suffering, tribulation, constraints. As we go through training we are being seasoned with salt. 

Every profession has its salt, they have a way of salting men, hence after being seasoned, a professional can then practice. Such a man, has acquired salt in himself and has peace to practice. 

The reason for peace is to practice; one who has peace has the freedom to practice because he has been salted. In essence, being salted gives us peace to practice the kingdom. 

1 Peter 1:7 “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ…”

Every faith must be salted and tried. Faith is in the heart; it is a life that is lived. God does not trust our faith enough to give us the kingdom without it being tried. 

Philippians 2:12 - 15 “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. [13] For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. [14] Do all things without murmurings and disputings: [15] That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world…”

We should not just live a life of eye service, but to live by faith without hypocrisy because faith is a spirit; it is a work. Faith should be obeyed without murmurings. The trial of faith works God's  nature in us. 

Jesus calls us the salt of the world and the light of the world. Salt takes care of the within nature and light takes care of the external. Salt within, light without is the state of a complete witness. We must be salted within and then have light without. 

John 12 vs 35 - 36 “Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. [36] While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.”

We ought to walk in the light while we have light. These are the two things that the Lord used to show us the life of a witness. A life of a witness must be a life of salt and the life of light. 

Let your light shine before men so that they will see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven…Matthew 5:16, 

When we try to show forth good works without salt within, we become false witnesses. We have to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world to be a complete witness.

Matthew 5 vs 13 -14 “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. [14] Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.”

We are in this meeting for our life to be salted; it is also for us to acquire light. We ought to obey the light that we are receiving as children of light. We must have salt in ourselves as we cannot make covenant without it. 

The everlasting covenant is a covenant of salt. Hence we have to have light, walk in the light and become a child of lights. This is the life of a witness; salt and light is a witness.

Round up by Pastor Thompson

Everything we are going through; trials, dealings and being subjected, is to make us salted within so that corruption can be dealt in us. It is so that God can take away perishing from us because every man is bound to perish. 

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