I did choose thee. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nyvert. I'm reading from the 12th chapter
of Hebrews, beginning in verse one. And let me give my title
before I read this passage of scripture, Looking Unto Jesus. What do you and I know of looking
unto Jesus? There's nothing more important
we could consider. Looking unto Jesus. Hebrews 12, verse 1, wherefore,
seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of
witnesses. Now in the 11th chapter of Hebrews,
he mentions 16 different men from the Old Testament who testify
to us of the gospel. And then he spoke of the prophets,
but he represents all these men mentioned as this great cloud
of witnesses, that we can behold their witness and see what they
believed and who they believed. Seeing were compassed about with
this great 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's set
before us, looking unto Jesus. Now this is how this race is
to be run. looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
him endured the cross, despising, counting as nothing the shame,
and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. The writer to the Hebrews, I
don't know who wrote it. Some have thought Paul, some
have thought Apollos, some have thought Luke, I don't know. He
didn't identify himself, so evidently it wasn't important. But he did
say this to those people he was writing to, seeing we also are
compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, everyone
mentioned in Hebrews 11, let us lay aside every weight and
the sin that does so easily beset us. and let us run with patience
the race that's set before us. Now, every one of us have a race
to run, a course to finish. And the writer says, let us lay
aside every weight. Now, if you're running a race,
you don't wear heavy clothing, you don't carry heavy objects,
You lay them aside. If you want to run for victory,
you don't carry stones and heavy things. Now anything that would
hinder us in running this race, I don't care if it's a person,
I don't care if it's a thing, whatever it may be, set it aside. Let us lay aside every weight,
whatever would hinder us in running this race. And then he said,
let us lay aside the sin. which doth so easily beset us. Now, I have no doubt that every
one of us have a sin or sins that we fall before easily, that
we've committed over and over again, that are a grief to us. And there are some things that
are a great temptation to some people that may not be that much
of a temptation to somebody else. Everybody's got their different
weaknesses. Is that what the writer to the Hebrews is talking
about? We all have them, no doubt, but that's not what he's talking
about. Notice the definite article, the. The sin which doth so easily
beset us. I have no idea or I have no doubt
that what he's talking to about is the sin of unbelief. He'd been talking about faith.
And when he talks about the sin that does so easily beset us,
and this is everybody's sin that does so easily beset them, this
thing of unbelief. Now, what is unbelief? It's not believing what God says.
It's not trusting implicitly, explicitly what God says. Now, what is the cause of unbelief?
A twin sister of unbelief is self-righteousness. If you have
self-righteousness, you cannot trust Christ as your righteousness
before God because you've already got your own. Now understand,
it's not your sin that will keep you from Christ, it's your righteousness.
And unbelief and self-righteousness are twin sisters. They go together
and they so easily beset us. We try to smash it down in one
place, it comes up in the other. Now he's talking about unbelief. That's the sin, definite article
that does so easily beset us. And he says, let us run with
patience this race that's set before us. Now patience. How
do I run this race with patience, calmness, quietness, not worrying,
patiently? When I watch a ball game and
I don't know the outcome, I'm watching a live time, maybe a
Kentucky game, I twist up like a pretzel. I'm so stressed. But if I watch a game after I
already know the outcome and it's already been played and
I know who has won, I'm so patient. It's all right. I'm not stressed. Now, here's the point with regard
to running this race. The outcome's already been determined.
We begin at the finish line. Christ has already won. In Christ, I have already won. I'm starting at the finish line. A completed salvation by the
Lord Jesus Christ. So I run this race with patience.
There's nothing to worry about. I'm accepted in the beloved.
Not as sure for heaven as if I'm already there. I'm already
there in Christ because the scripture says we're seated together in
the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So this race is to be
run with patience because there's no worrying about the outcome.
I repeat, we started at the finish line. It is finished. That's where we start and that's
where we'll end up. It is finished. Therefore, we're
to run this race, this course that God has given us with patience. The race set before us. And look
what he says in verse two. Here's how this race is to be
run with patience, looking unto Jesus. Looking. Looking. If I say, look at me, you don't
think, what did he mean by that? You look. Looking unto Jesus. Now I think it's interesting
that this word looking in our text, this is the only time this
particular word is used in the Bible. And it means to turn your
eyes away from everything else and to fix your gaze upon one
object. Turn away from everything else
and look to Christ only. Now we're given a wonderful illustration
of this in the Old Testament in Numbers chapter 21 when the
children of Israel began to murmur against God. They were much discouraged,
the scripture says, because of the way while they were in the
wilderness. And God as a judgment sent fiery serpents into the
camp to bite the children of Israel and kill them. Fiery serpents,
if you were bitten, you'd have this fiery venom, painful. And
they come to Moses and they say, we've sinned against God. We've
sinned against you. Will you pray for the Lord that
he'll take these things away? And Moses went into the Lord's
presence and prayed. And the Lord said, you make a
brazen serpent. that looks just like the fiery
serpents, and you put it up on a pole and lift it high up, and
anyone who looks at that serpent, anyone that's bitten, if he just
looks, he'll live. He didn't say find a way to keep
the serpents away, build up walls and mounds to keep them out of
your house. He didn't say figure out a way to get the venom out
of you. Just look at that serpent made in the likeness of those
other serpents. Just look. and you'll live. And the Lord referred to this
in John chapter three, when he says, as Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted
up, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but
have everlasting life. Looking unto Jesus. Not looking to other people.
Somebody says, I'm so discouraged by the example of other believers.
Well, don't look to them. You're not called upon to look
to them in the first place. Looking unto Jesus. I'm to look
to him and not myself. Oh, I get so discouraged looking
at my own heart, my own ways. Don't look to yourself. Looking
unto Jesus to turn your eyes away from everything and everyone
but Him. Looking to Him and not our faith.
Oh, my faith's so weak. Well, look to Him. You're not
looking to your faith. Look to Him and not your walk. Don't
look down at your feet. You'll veer off course. You look
to Him. That's who you look to. Looking
unto Jesus. We're to look to Him and not
our experience. You know, sometimes people, when they want to get
some assurance, they try, well, I remember when I did this and
I believe that, and I experienced this and I felt that. No! Looking
unto Jesus, not your experience, not your feelings. Feelings come,
feelings go, feelings are deceiving. My warrant is the Word of God.
Not else is worth believing. We're to look to Him and not
our intentions. Well, I'm going to make things right. I'm going
to turn it around. No! Looking unto Jesus. Nothing else. Looking unto Jesus. We'll look to Him now. Not waiting
for something to happen. Not waiting till I get my life
straightened out. Not waiting till I experience
this or stop doing that. Look to Him now, right now. While
you're listening to this, look to Him right now. We're to look
to Him alone, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. Christ alone, plus nothing, minus
nothing. Looking unto Jesus. We're to look to Christ always,
at all times, and nowhere else. Well, I'm to look to Him and
not the work of the Holy Spirit in me. Some people are looking
for the work of the Spirit in them. If the Spirit works in
you, you'll look to Christ alone. That's what God the Holy Spirit
does. He causes you to look to Christ alone. We begin looking
unto Jesus. We continue looking unto Jesus,
and we finish this race looking unto Jesus. By the grace of God,
by my last second be, looking unto Jesus. Now let's go on reading
how the writer speaks. He says, looking unto Jesus,
and he tells us in what way we look to him. Looking unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith. Now, if you have a King
James Version, you'll notice the hour is in italics. That means the translators put
it there and it could and should read, looking unto Jesus, the
author and finisher of faith. If you can't look to Christ in
faith, look to Christ for faith. He is the author and the finisher
of faith. He's the object of faith. He's
the subject of faith. He's the originator of faith.
He's the giver of faith. He's the increaser of faith.
You know, it was the disciples that said unto him, Lord, increase
our faith. If my faith is going to be increased, it's going to
come from him. He is the author of faith. I love the way he said
to Martha, after Martha said, I know that at the last day,
my brother should be raised from the dead. He said, I am the resurrection. It's not merely an event. I'm
the resurrection. I am the life. He that believeth
on me shall never die. Believest thou this? He is the
giver of life. He said, I'm the way, I'm the
truth, I'm the life. He is the author of faith. Faith is believing his ability.
2 Timothy 1.12, Paul said, I know whom I have believed, and I'm
persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed
to him against that day. I believe he's able because of
who he is. I believe He is able to give
me a new history. I believe He's able to make my
sins to not be, and that's what He did on Calvary's tree. He
gives His personal, perfect obedience before the law of God. To me,
it's mine, and my history is all good. I have no skeletons
in the closet. My history is all good. It's
what the Bible calls justification. We trust Him as our salvation. And not only do we look to Him
as the author of faith, we look to Him as the finisher of faith. You know why I'm going to persevere
to the end? Because He's going to cause me to. I repeat, we
begin this race at the finish line. We start this race at the
finish line. It's already completed. He will cause you to persevere
all the way to the end. He will cause you to die in faith. He's the author and he's the
finisher of faith. You know, we're saved by his
faith. I hope you heard that right.
We're saved by His faith. Paul said in Galatians 2.20, I live by the faith of the Son
of God. who loved me and gave himself
for me, were justified by his faith, knowing the man is not
justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus
Christ. Galatians 2 16. We have believed
on Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ. I have
faith in his faith. That's who I'm trusting. I'm actually trusting his faith. I'm trusting him for everything.
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith. Now look
at this next line. 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. The joy that was set before him. looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
him." Now, what was this joy that was set before him that
caused him to endure the cross and count as nothing the same?
The shame. Well, first of all, it was the
joy of Him knowing He was going to completely glorify His Father. You see, when He went to the
cross, He completely glorified every attribute of God. He made
God known. We can't know God apart from
the cross, and all of His glorious attributes are made known. in
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. We see God's holiness, we see
His justice, we see His purpose, we see His mercy, we see His
grace, we see His power. Oh, everything God is pleased
to reveal about Himself is seen in the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He said, I've glorified Thee on the earth. And then He
said, I finished the work. What was the joy set before Him?
It was the joy of saving His people. Now please listen carefully. When Jesus Christ was dying on
Calvary's tree, He wasn't dying making salvation possible for
us if we'll just accept Him and if we'll just do our part. That
is not so. When Jesus Christ was dying on
Calvary's tree, He was dying for the elect. He was dying for
those the Father gave Him before time began. He was dying for
His sheep. He was dying for His church. Husbands, love your wives as
Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. He was dying
to save His people. And here's what His joy was.
He did save His people. Oh, I hate, I hate that teaching
that says that Jesus Christ can die for someone and they wind
up in hell anyway if they don't do their part. That is insulting
to the purpose, the wisdom, the justice of God. It takes away
my only hope of salvation because my hope of salvation is that
He died for me. If He could die for me and I could wind up in
hell anyway, I will wind up in hell. But thank God everybody
He died for must be saved. And that's the joy that was set
before Him. The joy of saving His people. The joy of making His people
just like Himself. Matthew 1.21 says, Thou shalt
call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. And that's exactly what He did.
He saved all of His people from their sins. That's the joy that
was set before Him. He made a perfect bride for Himself. Now, because of the joy that
was set before Him, the Scripture says He endured the cross. Who knows? I can't explain. I can't imagine the horror of
the cross. And it's much more than the physical
pain. Of course, it would be tremendously
physical torture to be nailed to a cross. But there was much
more than that. He was forsaken by His Father.
He who loved His Father so much when He took the sins of His
people on Himself, He was forsaken by His Father. That's why the
Lord killed Him. He was guilty. He took the sins
of His people. They became His. And He was guilty. But for the joy that was set
before Him, He endured the cross. He went through everything involved
in the cross. And the Scripture says, despising
the shame. Now that gives us some idea that
The Lord took the sins of His people so much so that He was
ashamed of those sins. Now, He never committed those
sins, but they were so really His. For He hath made Him to
be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Those sins became so truly His
that He felt the shame of them. Now, if you could know what's
gone on in my heart in this day, I would be so ashamed, I wouldn't
be able to look at you. Well, the Lord felt the shame
of sin because it truly became His, but who for the joy that
was set before Him, He endured the cross, despising, counting
as nothing, the shame, willing to go through it. And now the
scripture says, and He is set down at the right hand of the
throne of God. The Lord was nailed to a cross. When He drank that cup, He drank
in the sins of His people. They became His. He was crucified because He was
guilty of the commission of those sins, not that He ever committed
them. but they so truly became his
that he became guilty of the commission of those sins. God
did not punish on the cross someone who is innocent. He punished
someone who was guilty. He took my sins and my sorrows. He made them his very own. He
bore the burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone, but
he didn't stay dead. Three days later, in the darkness
of that tomb, he opened his eyes. His blood began to pump. He breathed
air. And here's why. He was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification. God was
completely satisfied with what he did. That's why God raised
him from the dead. All those sins were paid for
and put away. And when he ascended back to
the Father after being resurrected, the scripture says he sat down at the right hand of the throne
of God. And I'd like to read Hebrews
chapter one. Remember this thing of setting
down, Hebrews chapter one. God who at sundry times and in
divers manners spake in times past to the fathers by the prophets,
God is the God who speaks, hath in these last days spoken unto
us by His Son. Oh, listen to what God says. Now look at this description
of His Son, whom He, God, hath appointed heir of all things. Lord Jesus Christ owns everything.
That breath of air you just breathed in, it's His. Everything is His. He's the heir of all things,
by whom also He made the world. He's the creator. Who being the
brightness of His glory and the express image of His person,
what a description of Christ. He's the brightness of God's
glory. He's the transcript of His person.
And He upholds all things by the word of His power. That means
He's in control of everything. He's absolutely sovereign. He's
completely sovereign over the free and uncoerced actions of
men. He upholds all things by the word of His power. Anything
that happens is because He allows it or He causes it to happen.
He is God. He rules and reigns. Now listen
to what it says next. When He had by Himself purged
our sins. The hour is everybody he died
for. When he had by himself with no help from us, purged, put
away, blotted out, canceled, made not to be our sins. He was manifested to take away
our sins and him is no sin. When he had by himself, with
no help from me, purged our sins, he sat down. He sat down on the right hand
of the majesty on high. Now, why did he sit down? Because
his work was finished. The sitting Savior, his work
was finished. Sin was purged. Salvation accomplished. Now that's the Jesus I'm to look
to. The one who sat down. He's not
pacing back and forth. He's not frustrated because his
will is not being done. He sits as the mighty sovereign
Savior. Having finished the work the
Father gave him to do. And he sits. The sitting Savior. Now looking unto Jesus, Who? Which one? The one who's the
author and the finisher of faith. Who for the joy that was set
before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is sat
down at the right hand of the majesty on high, the throne of
God. He's mighty to save. And you and I are called upon
without delay to look to Him and to find in Him our all in
all. Oh, the excellency of Jesus Christ. To receive a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to todd.neibert at gmail.com
or you may write or call the church at the information provided
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