A cloud of witnesses

I made reference last nite, to why or how those great men of faith of the past, can encourage us in our faith, when we feel over-come, or near defeated. And I believe with my whole heart this is true. Dying well, while glorifying God should be the aim of each and everyone of us who profess Christ as ours. Well, it should be the aim of every human being on the planet but I won't go into that!!

I was listening to a sermon earlier in the week, about how we both in England and America are largely ignorant (pig ignorant actually) of church history, and I have found this to be so in my own circles. And yet, when you see how some of these folks, gave their all with just the Sword of the Spirit as there only weapon, it seems to me to be a crucial part of how we can be built up and encouraged in our faith. Hebrews 12 mentions the cloud of witnesses just after the roll call of the Biblical heroes of faith in Hebrews 11. And I have pinched this poem off the cloud of witnesses web-site on my blogroll, which pretty much says it all:

LO! here of faithful Witnesses a Cloud,
For Christ their King resisting unto blood,
Lo! here upon their Pisgah top they stand,
Just on the confines of Emmanuel's Land:
Leaving the ungrateful world, longing to be
Possess'd of blessed immortality.
Lo! here they stand, accosting cruel death
With Christian braveness, to their latest breath;
The views they have of heav'n's eternal joys,
So far eclipse all sublunary toys,
Their souls are only charm'd with things above,
Exulting in their sweet Redeemer's love.
Lo! here they stand, and will not quit the field,
They'll die upon the spot, before they'll yield.
Lo! with what courage and brave resolution
They bear the shock of bloody persecution.
Hell's rage, Rome's fury, or the scorn of those
Pretending friendship, though the worst of foes,
Could never shake their steady loyalty
To Zion's King, for whose supremacy
Over His Church thus boldly they contend,
And by His grace endure unto the end;
Refusing e'er to make a base surrender
Of Christ's regalia to a vile pretender,
Who, swoll'n with more than Luciferian pride,
Could not in his own princely place abide,
But would usurp the spiritual pow'r and throne
By God JEHOVAH giv'n to Christ alone.
And having thus 'gainst heav'n display'd a banner,
The Covenant he swore in solemn manner
He broke and burnt; Divine and human laws
Trod under foot; and, to advance his cause,
Made bloody violence the only claim,
Whereby he wore the royal diadem:
Being serv'd with beasts devoid of human sense,
Much more of honor and of conscience;
Who slew God's dearest saints in field and city,
'Gainst law and reason, without sense of pity;
Whose sharpest sufferings could not assuage,
Nor death itself allay their hellish rage;
As if their bodies dead felt sense of pains,
Cut all in parts, they hung them up in chains;
Heads, legs, and arms, they plac'd on every port
Of burghs, or other places of resort,
As standing trophies of their victory
O'er Divine truth and human liberty.
Well, have they kill'd, and ta'en possession too?
Is this the utmost that their rage could do,
Only to send Chrises loving subjects home,
To their dear country where they long to come!
What matter where their dusty parts do ly,
Interr'd in earth, or lifted up on high,
While as their souls eternal anthems raise,
In sweet accents to their Redeemer's praise!
And will not Zion's King regain His crown?
Throwing such vain aspiring mortals down
Into that direful pit, from whence did flow
These mists of pride which did enchant them so.
Come, then, behold these noble Witnesses
Adorn'd with holy zeal and faithfulness;
Who like a Cloud do us environ round,
Viewing (as 'twere) what way we'll stand our ground.
Let's run our race with equal patience,
With eyes intent upon our recompense.
|