The Great Cloud of Witnesses

Hmmm... for those of you who have never heard this teaching, here's something for you to ponder over and think about... warning: this might really mess with your minds! muahahaha... Can an old saint come back and speak to us in the present day? Can someone like Moses, Abraham or maybe Paul come and visit us? What about modern saints who have already passed away.. like Katherine Kuhlman, William Branham, etc... Well i haven't been visited by any of these (yet) but i've heard of stories and testimonies by men and women of God who have. Freaky huh? But that's cos we don't usually talk about it. But a close study of Scripture shows that it does happen!

Hebrews 12:1 talks about us being surrounded by a great cloud of winesses. Now who are these great cloud of witnesses? The therefore in that verse will tell you that they are the saints of old, the heroes of faith mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11... and more than that. Now where are these people? Are they all living a lofty and boring life confined to the clouds of heaven? No.. the Bible says that we're surrounded by them. They're around us... Now what are they doing here? What are they witnesses to? They're witnesses to our walk of faith and the unfolding of God's will upon planet earth. They're cheering us on in our pursuit of the revelation of God!

Now wait a minute. Doesn't the Bible say that the dead can't come back?? Like the story of the rich man and Lazarus?? But these witnesses... are they really dead? No! They're alive in Christ.. the Bible doesn't call them dead but asleep, awaiting the coming of the Lord Jesus and the resurrection of the righteous. They're part of the church.. though they live at a different place. Belive it or not, they're alive in Christ... and because we are one body, that means the church in heaven is as one in Christ as the church on earth.. cos there's only one church.. that means that we're baptised with them and they're alive as much as we're alive cos in Christ, all are alive! And they're part of Christ's body also. Hebrews 13 says that we've come to the spirits of righteous men made perfect.. that's them! They're part of God's Kingdom too and have specific roles to play in bringing about His plans and purposes upon the earth...

Now perhaps many of us have been acquainted and used to the idea of being visited by angels, or by Jesus Himself. After all, it's all in the Bible and Jesus visited His disciples after His resurrection and visited Paul in Arabia during his 3-years there after his ascention. Maybe some of us are even crying out for a visitation of Jesus or some of us might have already been visited by Him (I sure would love that!). But wait a minute... are there any instances that the great cloud of witnesses showed up in the Bible? Of course...

First we have Moses and Elijah talking to Jesus at the mount of Transfiguration... talking to Him about the work that He has yet to do, His coming departure at Jerusalem. Here we see two old saints showing up talking about the purposes of God.. so we know that the great cloud of witnesses are real and they sometimes have a special work to do upon the earth.. like to release a message or something in bringing about the fulfillment of God's purpose. How did Peter recognise that they were Moses and Elijah? After all, they didn't have TV then, Charlton Heston wasn't born yet, and they didn't have cartoons depicting men with long beards and flowing robes. Like I mean Peter had never seen Moses or Elijah! But i believe that Peter supernaturally recognised them through his spirit. It was a kind of discernment that enabled him to identify them...

Where else? In the book of Samuel, we see some of the events that happened before King Saul died. By this time, Samuel was already dead and Saul had already long been cast from the Lord's presence... there was an upcoming battle and Saul decides to consult a medium, the witch of Endor for answers (no, she's not someone from Lord of the Rings..). He wanted the witch to try to bring back Samuel's spirit from the other side of the grave so that he could speak to him... the witch was used to contacting the spirits of the dead.. but it was all counterfeit! She probably had a familiar demonic spirit with her who posed as the dead person to deceive whoever came to her... she was used to doing this.. but anyway, she tried to contact Samuel but instead of the familiar spirit showing up, the real Samuel showed up. How do we know it was the real Samuel? Cos the witch was afraid! She was so used to seeing the counterfeit that when the real thing came, she didn't know how to handle it! So Samuel went on to rebuke Saul and tell him about the coming defeat... Sounds like something from a very grim fairy tale...

So what's the use of talking about the great cloud of witnesses?? I believe that now as we're nearing the final clash of the ages, we're going to see more and more of them... some of them would come to strengthen us in our call and role in these days as Moses and Elijah strengthened Jesus concerning His mission. We're gonna see lots more angelic activity in the days ahead as well as visitations from the great cloud of witnesses. Like Peter, we'll be equipped with the discernment to be able to tell the false from the real. We'll be able to know those who are part of the heavenly church... after all, we're all in Christ! I believe that when we die, we'll be given missions to fulfill.. not just sit around resting on a cloud watching fat little cherubs shoot arrows. The kingdom of God is supposed to be exciting! And now that we are approaching the final clash of the ages and that spiritual activity is gonna increase, the church on earth is gonna learn more and more how to work with God's heavenly agents to bring about His purposes upon the earth!

Let's go! :)