Hebrews 12 verse 2 says, looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, looking unto the Lord Jesus Christ,
the author and finisher of our faith. I have four things that
I want us to consider this morning about faith. Four comforting, and I believe
to me these were truly comforting reminders about faith. Before we look at them, I want
us to consider a few things first. A few things that we know. Number
one, where it comes from. We know that faith is not of
ourselves, right? That's what Ephesians 2 verse
8 says. This verse right here also tells
us faith does not originate with us. It says he's the author of
it. All right, he is the author of
it. Faith is not of ourselves. It does not come from us. It's not something we can produce
within ourselves. It has to be given to us. That's
the first thing. It has to be given to us. So
it does not originate with us. It's a gift from God. But then
once it is given to us, it's not something that we can perform. It's a gift to us and once God
gives it to us, it's not something we know how to use. Isn't that
interesting? It's not something that we are
capable of performing. This verse right here tells us
He is the finisher of it. He's the author of it. He is
the doer of it. Look with me at Philippians chapter
1. Philippians chapter 1 verse 6. Being confident of this very
thing. that he which hath begun a good
work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. So he
starts it and he performs it. Philippians chapter 2 verse 13
says, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and do of
his good pleasure. So it starts with him and it's
finished by him. Faith is. He gets all the glory
for our faith. Every ounce of the glory. Now
it is a gift that he gives to us. All right. It is our faith. He gives it. We receive it and
it's ours. It is our faith. But He gets
all the glory for giving it. He gets all the glory for performing
it in us. And we do give Him glory. The
reason is because it's a vital component of salvation. Look
with me at Hebrews 11. One chapter before our text.
Hebrews 11. Verse 6 says, But without faith, it is impossible
to please God. For he that cometh to God must
believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently
seek him. So faith is vital for a sinner's
salvation, absolutely vital. Now, what is faith? What is faith? It's a gift. It's
something he performs. It's a vital component of salvation. But what is faith? What exactly
is the performance of faith, the action of it? People talk
about exercising your faith. What is the doing of it? What are we doing when faith
is engaged? Look at our text, Hebrews 12. Verse two says, looking unto
Jesus. That's what faith is. That's
all that faith does. That is salvation. That is the vital component of
salvation. God causing a sinner to look
to Christ. If you trust somebody, if you
trust them, then you have faith in that person. You believe that
that person is going to do what he tells you he's going to do
if you trust him. You have faith in the person. You trust his
word. You trust his character. That's
faith. That's faith. Don't turn over,
but Psalm 146 verse 5 says, Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob
for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God. That's a happy
man. who truly hopes and looks to
Christ, hoping in him, trusting in him. All right, now, all that
being said, all of that being stated, four things I want us
to enter into and remember, four things about faith, four comforting
things about faith. Number one, true faith is looking
unto the Lord Jesus Christ and not looking to our faith. All right? True faith. We get
so discouraged sometimes saying, I just don't have enough faith. Why don't I have enough faith? I just wish I could have more
faith. What's wrong with me? Remember
this. Faith is in whom? Faith is not in what? I know it'll be okay. Well, I
just know it'll be okay. That's not faith. Faith is not in when? It's not in where? I know tomorrow
is a new day. That's not faith. Faith is not
in how. I know somehow it's all going
to work out. That's not faith. Faith is whom. You can substitute the word Christ
for faith. You can substitute that word,
you can completely interchange the word Christ for faith. Don't turn but listen to Hebrews,
I mean Ephesians 2 verse 8. For by grace are you saved through
Christ. And that is not of yourself,
it's the gift of God. Faith is whom? Look with me back
at Hebrews 11, one chapter before. Hebrews 11 verse 1 says, Now Christ is the substance of
things hoped for. You can sum up every single thing
that a believer hopes for in this one word. Christ. Everything he hopes for. Christ
is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not
seen. You know why we believe everything
that he says he has prepared for all eternity? You know why
we believe that? Because a man came and we trust
him. We trust him. Verse 2 says, For
by Christ the elders obtained a good report. Verse 3 says,
Through Christ we understand that the worlds were framed by
the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made
of things which do appear. Verse 4 says, By Christ Abel
offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. It's the
only way that can happen. By which he obtained witness
that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts, and by it he being
dead yet speaketh. By Christ, Enoch was translated
that he should not see death and was not found because God
had translated him. For before his translation, he
had this testimony that he pleased God. But without Christ, it is
impossible to please God. For he that cometh to God must
believe. That Christ is, and that Christ
is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. No matter how discouraged
we get, we could never say, I don't have any Christ. I just don't
have any Christ. Faith is whom? That's the first
thing to remember. Faith is whom? Faith is whom? Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. I'm persuaded he is able. Alright, here's the second
thing. True faith is looking to the Lord Jesus Christ and
not looking to my own works. True faith is looking to Christ
and not looking to my own works. Nothing that I see in this flesh,
one way or the other, I mean one way or the other,
This is almost too amazing to... I had to stop a minute and go
back through all this and say, is this right? Nothing that I see in this flesh,
one way or the other, has any bearing on my holiness before
God. One way or the other. Nothing
that I see in this flesh, good or bad, right or wrong, It does
not affect my righteousness before God one bit. Not one bit. Whether I'm proud
of myself or whether I hate myself. walk through this life, get to
the end of my day, proud of myself for what I did today, or whether
I hate myself for what I did today, it doesn't affect my purity
in God's eyes. It does not affect my standing
before him one bit. Is that good news to anybody? Not one bit. Look with me at
1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 30 says,
But of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto
us wisdom. When it comes to my standing
before God, it does not matter whether or not I'm the wisest
person in this room or the greatest fool in this room. It does not
matter one bit. When it comes to my standing
before God, if of God I am in Christ, if God put me in Christ,
it doesn't matter if I'm the wisest person in this room or
the greatest fool in this room. And this is a side note. If I
think I'm the wisest person in this room, I'm the greatest fool
in this room. But it doesn't matter either
way. If I belong to Christ, He is my wisdom. If I don't see in myself what
I want to see, well, you know, the Lord has
called me. The Lord has brought me to himself. He's brought me
to a knowledge of his truth, his gospel. I'm waiting now to
see the fruit of it. I'm ready. I ought to see a better person.
I'm waiting to see a better person. And I'm going to tell you this
sincerely. I want to see a better person. I do, I really do. But whether I do or whether I
don't, this verse says, He is my righteousness. He is my sanctification. He is my redemption. This is
not an excuse to sin. Every true child of God will
say with the Apostle Paul, God forbid. God forbid, it's not
an excuse but this is an amazing fact, this is true, this is a
fantastic, wonderful declaration of the gospel. True faith looks
to Christ and not our works, not our works. Go with me to
Romans 5. Romans 5 verse 6, for when we
were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the
ungodly. Whenever you say that true faith
looks to Christ and not our works, you naturally think, well, we
have good works, but we're not looking to those. We'll set those
to the side. Now what this is saying is, we know what our works
are. They're so discouraging to us.
True faith understands that those works are not the works that
God the Father sees on me. Christ took those works and laid
them on himself. And God dealt with him over that.
True faith looks to his works. Those are the works that have
been laid on me. And the wonder of it all, the
amazing news is, verse 6 says, when we were yet without strength
in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. How on this earth can I believe
that? It's called faith. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even
dare to die. But God commended his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him." That's
just wonderful. Look with me. We saw this last
Sunday morning in our Bible study. Go to 2 Timothy 2. 2nd Timothy 2 verse 13. If we believe not, that's our
works. If we believe not, yet he abideth
faithful. He cannot deny himself. That
is faith. That's true faith. Here's the
third thing to remember. True faith is looking to the
Lord Jesus Christ and not our trials. Not our trials. As believers, this is what we
say. I know trials are coming. All
right, I know trials are coming. I'm convinced trials are coming. So what I'm going to do is I'm
not going to run and I'm not going to be scared. I'm going
to look that trial right in the eyes. I'm going to run right
into it. I'm just going to, we're just
going to be prepared for them. We're going to be ready for them.
I'm going to toughen up. I'm convinced I'm going to come
out on the other side. That's not faith. That is not
faith. Go with me over to Matthew 14. Matthew 14 verse 22 says, In straightway Jesus constrained
his disciples to get into a ship and to go before him unto the
other side while he sent the multitudes away. And when he
had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart
to pray. And when the evening was come,
he was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst
of the sea, tossed with waves, for the wind was contrary. And
in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them, walking
on the sea. And when the disciples saw him
walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit. And they cried out for fear.
But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer,
it is I, be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said,
Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he
said, come. And when Peter was come down
out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But
when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid, and beginning
to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus
stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him,
O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" Now, Peter
was in the middle of the trial. He asked the Lord when he knew
it was him if he could come to him. He said yes, the trial was
still going. And as long as he had his eyes
on Christ, he walked on the water above the trial. The trial still
wasn't over. As soon as he took his eyes off
of Christ and he got him on the trial, he sank. And the Lord
called him and said, Why did you stop believing? The trial
continued through the whole thing. I don't need strength to contend
with the trial, I just need Christ. That's all I need. I don't need
strength to contend with the trial, I only need Christ. He is my strength, he is my strength. Here's the last thing I want
us to remember about faith. True faith is looking to the
Lord Jesus Christ, and it's not looking to his means, especially
when it comes to our desire. I have a great desire. that others
might come to know the Lord. I have a great, great desire
that others might come to know this wonderful Lord. Our efforts
in bringing people to His means, now He has chosen to use means. It pleased the Lord by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. He has chosen to use
means. One man wrote this. It's author
unknown. I don't know who it is. And it's
this is fantastic. All right. This is fantastic.
He said, we must not confuse the doctrines of grace. And I want to emphasize the word
doctrines. Of grace and the means of grace. With grace himself. Reading the Bible, prayer, worship,
offerings, study and orthodoxy, baptism and good works are all
means of grace and growth. But only looking to Christ as
our all in all keeps them from becoming filthy rags. You understand what he said?
All of these means of grace, does the Lord bring a person
to a knowledge of Him through His word? Yes, He does. And does
He use the preaching of the gospel to open a sinner's eyes? Yes,
He does. And this man said, reading the
Bible, prayer, worship, offering, study, baptism, they're all means
of grace and growth. But only looking to Christ, I
can try to set out the five points of Calvinism as clearly as I
possibly can to a man on the street. And I will if God gives
me that opportunity. But I must know at that exact
moment in time that this man is dead in trespasses and sins.
And he cannot understand that this is the truth. He cannot
believe it. I cannot rationalize somebody
into salvation. God must do it. God must send
that faith. It has to start with him. And
outside of that looking to Christ, all of these precious works are
filthy rags. All this reading of the Bible
and all of this stuff, it's a filthy rack outside of totally, totally
looking to Christ, trusting Christ, waiting on Christ. We have family
members that we want to know Him. Tell them about Christ. Invite them to the services.
Show them in the word. You're hearing the wrong thing
all the while knowing. If you don't do it, it won't
be done. It won't be done. True faith
is not looking to our faith. It's not looking to our own works.
It's not looking to our trials. It's not looking to His means.
True faith is looking to Christ. Looking to Christ. So I'm going
to close, go back to the text. This is our exhortation for the
rest of our days on this earth. Verse 1,
Hebrews 12, verse 1. Wherefore, seeing we 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, looking unto
Jesus. the author and finisher of our
faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the
throne of God. Keeping him in view, the rest of our race keeping
him in view, who he is, where he is, what he's done, that's
faith. That's all we need. All right,
you're dismissed.