I've entitled the message for
tonight, What Faith Does. And I've got a desire that the
Lord would be pleased to teach us what faith really is, what
faith really does. And it's my prayer that everybody
in this room leaves here with faith. saving faith, the gift
of God's grace. What faith does. Now, the apostles said in verse
5 of Luke chapter 17, Lord, increase our faith. When the Lord told them that
they were to forgive their brother seven times a day, if he sinned
against them seven times a day and turned around and repented,
they thought, increase our faith. To be able to do something like
that is going to take an increase of faith. And our Lord gives
a very unusual reply. He said in verse six, if you
had faith as a grain of mustard seed, now that's the smallest
faith. the smallest faith. He's not talking about large
faith or increased faith. He's talking about the smallest
faith. If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you might say
into this sycamine tree, and I'm sure he pointed at the tree
that was very close to him, and said, be thou plucked up by the
root, and be thou planted in the sea, and it should obey you. if you had even faith as a grain
of mustard seed. Now I wonder how many of us are
intimidated by that. I've never done that. I've never,
I wouldn't have the guts to try it. Tree, get up, move. I'd be afraid of what would happen
if it didn't work, so I've never tried it. In Matthew chapter
17, verse 20, the Lord said, if you had faith as a grain of
mustard seed, you'll say unto this mountain, Remove hence into
yonder place, and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible
to you, if you had faith as a grain of mustard seed. Now, who is
the only one who can look at a tree and say, be plucked up
by the roots and be planted into the seed? Only God can do that. No man can do it. Who is the
only one who can say to a mountain, be uprooted? and removed to yonder
place, and it would happen. The only one who can do that
is God. Now this lets us know that somehow,
whatever faith is, it links us to God. Let me show you a passage in
Joshua chapter 10. Faith has something omnipotent
about it. Not that there's omnipotence
in faith or power in faith, but it puts us into, connects us
with, unites us with God. Look in Joshua chapter 10. This
is such a remarkable passage of scripture. Beginning in verse
12, Then spake Joshua to the LORD
in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children
of Israel. And he said in the sight of Israel,
Son, stand thou still upon Gibeon, and thy moon in the valley of
Azelah. And the sun stood still, and
the moon stayed. He told the sun to stay still,
the moon to stay still, and they obeyed him. into the people had
avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is this not written
in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the
midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.
And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the
Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man. For the Lord thought
for Israel. Now that's what faith did for
Joshua. He was enabled to say, Son, stand
still, and it obeyed his voice. Moon, be stayed, and it obeyed
his voice. Faith links me to God. Now what does that mean? I can
remember one time, I remember this, this is one of those watershed
moments in my life when I can remember wondering, what does
it mean to believe? I would if I knew what it meant,
but I don't know what it meant. What does it mean to believe
the gospel? What does it mean to have faith? And so I've entitled this message,
What Faith Does. Now, before we get into what
faith actually does, I think it would be very important for
us to give a scriptural definition of faith. What is faith? Well,
turn with me to 2 Timothy chapter 1. I gave a definition last week
when we were considering increase our faith, and I asked the question,
what is faith? And we answered with Romans chapter four, verse
five. Here's what faith is. To him
that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifies the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness. Somebody that has faith is somebody
who works not. They see they can't be saved by their works,
but they believe on him who justifies the ungodly. Here's another verse
of scripture that I think is very comprehensive as to what
faith is. Second Timothy chapter one, verse 12. For the witch
cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed
for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. Now
here's a beautiful simple, concise definition of faith. It begins
with these words, I know. Faith is not blind. I know. I love the certainty
of this. I know whom, not what, whom I
have believed. You see, what you believe is
determined by Who do you believe? If you believe that Jesus Christ
is God Almighty, incapable of failure, it would be impossible
for you to believe that he could die for somebody and pay for
their sins and they wind up in hell anyway. You couldn't believe
anything like that. Not if you believe he's God manifested
in flesh. I know whom I have believed. Faith is believing. And here's
what faith believes. He says, I'm persuaded He is
able. Are you persuaded that He is
able to save you with absolutely no contribution from you? That
He does it all. I'm persuaded that He is able
to keep that which I've committed to Him. Now, faith is a committal. You know what that means? I've committed all the salvation
of my soul to Him. And if what He did is not enough
to save me with no contribution from me, I won't be saved. I've
committed the entire salvation of my soul to Him. I really have. That's a commitment. If you believe
in works in any way, that's a failure to commit. You commit your salvation
to Him when you trust Him to do it all. When you're looking
for all that God requires of you, He looks to His Son for. Now that's what the Bible means
by faith. 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, that day of judgment. I'm persuaded that all I need
is Jesus Christ, who He is and what He did. I'm not going to
be pleading my works, my preaching, my prayers, anything to do with
me. No, I'm not going there. But
I'm persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed
to Him against that day. Now that's a biblical illustration
of what faith is, and I want you to turn to Hebrews chapter
11, and we're going to look at what faith does. I think it's
interesting. I spent two years preaching through
Hebrews chapter 11, and now I'm going to preach through the whole
thing in one night, and it's going to be brief. Don't worry.
Don't even worry about that. I'm just basically going to be reading
the chapter and making some comments. What does faith actually do? Remember, the Lord said if you
had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you'd say to that tree,
be plucked up and be planted in the sea, and it would obey
you. So what does faith do? Now look
in Hebrews chapter 11, verse one. Now faith is the substance
of things hoped for. I have a hope that on judgment
day, God's gonna say to me, well done. thou good and faithful
servant." Can you imagine the Lord saying that to you? Looking
at you and saying, well done, thou good and faithful servant. And believe me, my friends, it's
not because I feel like I've done well or have even been faithful. I hope by the grace of God I
am, but the reason that I'm going to hear those words is because
Christ will hear those words, well done, thou good and faithful
servant. Christ did do well, didn't he?
He completely accomplished the salvation of everybody the Father
gave him to represent, and he kept God's law perfectly. He
never sinned. He put away sin. Indeed, he did
do well. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. I'm a justified sinner. I'm like
that publican who went down to his house justified. This is
true of every single believer. And remember what justification
means. Justification means I've never sinned. Well, I can't see
that. I can't see that. Well, what's
the evidence you are then? Faith. Faith is the evidence
of things not seen. If you believe the gospel, that's
the evidence that God has justified you, cleared you of all guilt. Faith is the one evidence. Now,
if you can look at your life and say, well, I must be saved
because I think I'm holy and I'm obedient and I'm good and
I'm improving, I don't have any confidence in you at all. But
if you can say, here's the one evidence, faith, I really believe
that what Christ did is enough to save me, that's the evidence
that you've been justified. Verse two, for by it, by faith,
the elders obtained a good report. Faith obtains a good report. Like I said, I'm going to hear
that saying from God, well done. Talking to me, Todd Norbert.
Well done, thou good and faithful servant. I'm going to get a good
report card. Everything I did was right, perfect,
just and true. And it's because I'm united to
Christ. Whatever He did, I did. As He
is, so are we in the world. Is Christ good and faithful?
Did he completely obey God's law? Is he without sin? So is
every other believer. It's by faith. Believing that
what he did is enough to save me, I obtain a good report. Faith
gives us a good report card. Look at verse 3. Through faith
we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God
so that the things which are seen are not made of things which
do appear. The only man that understands
is the man who has faith because he sees that God's in control
of everything. Somebody that doesn't have faith, they don't
have any true understanding of what's going on. But having faith,
believing that God is in absolute control of everything and everybody,
I understand what's going on. It's God's will being done. It's
God working out his own purposes. Faith. It's only by faith that
we understand. I don't understand what all God's
doing in our society, but I don't need to. He does, and I'm just
fine with that. By faith, we understand that
the worlds were framed. By faith, I understand that God
created the universe. By faith, Abel offered unto God
a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness
that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts, and by it he being
dead yet speaketh." Faith makes one righteous before God. If
I believe the gospel, you know what that means? God would testify
regarding me. He'd say, He's righteous. He's
altogether righteous. He's without sin because Christ's
righteousness is given to me. It's imputed to me. God charges
it to me. My sin was charged to Him. He
put it away. And God looks at me as one who
believes the gospel and says, He's righteous. He's altogether
righteous. Now, do I see that? No. But by
faith, I know it's so. You know, when that poor old
publican went down from the temple, he was beating on his breast,
God be merciful to me, the sinner. He sure didn't feel righteous,
but what was Christ's testimony regarding that man? I say to
you that that man went down to his house justified. That's what Christ testified
concerning him. So anybody that believes the
gospel, this is God's testimony concerning you. You're righteous. Believe what God says. Verse
five, by faith, Enoch was translated that he should not see death.
He was not found because God had translated him. Enoch was
walking around, all of a sudden, zip, he's gone. He never died,
went straight to heaven. You can read about it in Genesis
chapter five. Just straight to heaven. Was it because he was
just so good and so otherworldly and so he had sinned down so
much and he was such a righteous man that God just had to take
him up? Does anybody believe that? No, he was just a man like
me or you. He was a sinful man like me or
you, but he had faith. And look what it says. By faith
Enoch was translated that he should not see death and was
not found because God had translated him before his translation. He
had this testimony that he pleased God. God was pleased with him,
but without faith it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh
to God must believe that he is and that he's a rewarder of them
that diligently seek him. Faith pleases God. If I have
faith, God is pleased with me. That's what faith does. Faith
pleases God. That man who believes the gospel,
that woman who relies on Christ only as everything in their salvation,
they're actually pleasing to God. Verse 7, By faith, Noah,
being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear,
prepared an ark to the saving of his house, by the which he
condemned the world and became the heir of the righteousness,
which is by faith. It was by faith Noah walked into
that ark. And God said, I'm going to destroy
the earth. And he was 120 years in building that ark, 120 years.
Can you imagine all the Fun people made of him. I mean, here he
is on dry land building an ark. What in the world are you doing?
You're crazy. Well, God said he's going to destroy the world.
I don't believe it. He kept building that ark, and he went into that
ark in obedience to God's command before a drop of water fell.
Faith caused him to enter the ark. Faith causes a man or a
woman to come to Christ and believe and enter into the Lord Jesus
Christ. Verse 8, By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out
into a place which he should afterward receive for an inheritance,
obeyed. And he went out, not knowing whether he went. Faith
causes obedience. God said, take off to the place
I'm telling you. And you know what he did? He
took off. He obeyed because he believed God. Now, faith always
obeys God. Now, what is obedience to the
gospel? Faith always obeys God. You know
what that means? Faith looks to Christ only. That's obedience to God. Faith
looks to Christ only. This faith that he had that caused
him to obey God and move out, look what else it did to him.
Verse nine, by faith he sojourned in the land of promises in a
strange land, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob and heirs
of the same promise. For he looked for a city which
had foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Faith caused
him to be a stranger here in this world. This world really
is not my home. This is not where I'm planting
stakes. I'm looking forward to getting out of here and being
in the very presence of Christ. This world is not my home. And
if you have faith, it's going to make it to where this world
is not your home. If this world is everything to
you, you don't have faith. No matter whatever it is you
have, you don't have faith. Because faith makes someone a
stranger and a pilgrim here, passing through, waiting for
their eternal home, that city that has foundations, whose builder
and maker is God. Verse 11, through faith, also
Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed and was delivered
of a child when she was past age, because She judged him faithful
that had promised, therefore sprang up there even of one,
and him as good as dead, as many as the stars of the sky in multitude,
and as the sandwiches by the seashore innumerable. Now, I
love to think of Sarah. When you read the Old Testament
account, Sarah laughed in unbelief when God said she's going to
have a baby. She laughed. She didn't believe
it. The Lord said, why'd she laugh? And in the very presence of the
Lord, she said, I didn't laugh. She denied it. And yet, when
we look at the New Testament account, by faith, Sarah received
strength to conceive seed. You see, faith receives strength. It receives strength to do that
which is impossible for us to do. There is a divine enabling
in faith. It was impossible for her to
have a child. She had already gone through menopause. Abraham
was 100 years old. Yet by faith she received this
strength. She was divinely enabled to do
what she could not do. Verse 13, These all died in faith,
not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off,
and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and
pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things
declare plainly that they seek a country. Now, faith enables
one to die well. Now, I know what it is by grace. to look at death in
the eye and rejoice." Now, you say, I've never experienced
that. Well, you've never needed it. The Lord will give you dying
grace when you need it, I'll assure you. You won't have it
before then. But I know what it is to look at death and say,
please come on. I'm looking forward to being
with my Redeemer. And it's not just because of a desire to get
out of this life. It's a desire to be with Him. That's heaven. Be with Him. Faith causes people to die well. These all died in the faith.
not having received the promises, but they saw him afar off and
embraced him. And look at verse 14, it says,
for they that say such things declare plainly that they seek
a country. It causes plain speech. If you
really believe the gospel, it causes plain speech. You're not
trying to cover up anything. You're not trying to say things
in a manner to keep from offending people. It causes plain speech.
They declare plainly. Verse 16, but now they desire
better country that is in heavenly where of God is not ashamed to
be called their God for he has prepared for them a city. By
faith Abraham when he was tried offered up Isaac and he that
received the only the promises offered up his only begotten
son of whom it was said that in Isaac should Isaac be called
accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the
dead from whence also he received him in a figure. Now Faith really
believes God. That's a simple statement, I
know, but God said, the Messiah is going to come through Isaac.
And then he says, you take Isaac and offer him up as a sacrifice
to me and kill him. You know what scripture says
Abraham did? Abraham went ahead and did it fully believing, getting
ready to do it. He didn't, God stopped him, but
he fully believed that God would raise his boy from the dead.
because God had promised the Messiah will come through him. Faith really believes God. Verse 20, by faith Isaac blessed Jacob
and Esau concerning things to come. Faith knows the future. You know, I know the future with
regard to me. I'm gonna be justified on judgment
day. And everything between now and
then is working together for my good and His glory. I know
the future. Whatever God brings, He's in
control of. I know that God's causing it all, and I know it's
going to happen on Judgment Day. And that's true for every believer.
This is not talking about some more mature believer. Every believer
has every reason to believe that all they need is Christ. It's
all I need, and I know that everything that comes my way, He's in absolute
control of. I actually know the future. Verse
21, by faith, Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both the sons
of Joseph and worshiped, leaning upon the top of his staff. Faith
worships. Faith worships. There's no worship
of God without faith, and where there's true faith, there's true
worship. You worship God for who He is.
You bow before Him. You worship Him for who He is.
You worship the absolute sovereign of the universe. And I've said
this so many times. You'll only worship an absolute sovereign.
One you have no control of. One you're in His hands and He
can do with you whatever He's pleased to do. You ever come
to understand that's who God is? You'll worship Him. Faith
worships. Verse 22, by faith, Joseph, when
he died, made mention of the parting of the children of Israel,
and gave commandment concerning his bones. Faith acts on what
God says. Now here's what happened. In
Genesis chapter 15, God told Abraham that the children of
Israel were going to dwell in the land of Egypt for 430 years,
and after that they were going to be brought out. What Jacob
knew about that, So Jacob knew it was gonna happen. So he acted
on what God says. He says, you're all getting ready
to come out of here, just like Abraham said you would, take
my bones with you and bring me back to the promised land. Faith
acts on what God says. God says, whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Lord, I'm calling.
You said, if I call, I'll be saved. Save me. That's what faith
does. It acts on what God has said. Verse 23. By faith, Moses, when
he was born, was hid three months of his parents because they saw
that he was a proper child. And that word proper is beautiful.
They saw he was a beautiful child and they were not afraid of the
king's commandments. Now faith makes everyone who
possesses it beautiful. Beautiful to God. perfectly conformed
to the image of Christ. However beautiful Christ is,
that's how beautiful I am to God. Faith makes people beautiful.
24. By faith, Moses, when he was come to years, refused to
be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to
suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures
of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater
riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he had respect unto
the recompense of the reward. Now, there are things faith refuses
and rejects. It refuses and rejects identification
with the world. You know, I don't want to be
identified with this world. I don't want to be identified with this
world's religion. I don't want to be identified with this world's
philosophy and maxim. I want to run contrary to this
world in that sense. I don't want to be identified
with this world. This world's not my home. I want, just like
Moses, to refuse. He refused to be called the son
of Pharaoh's daughter." Look at this choice he made. Choosing
rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy
the pleasures of sin for a season. You know, I'd rather be identified
with those people who were persecuted for Christ's sake. I want to
join my lot with them. That's who I want to be identified
with. I don't want to be identified with the world, but with these
people. Verse 26, esteeming. Look at
faith's estimation. Esteeming the reproach of Christ
greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt. Do you do that? Do
you esteem the reproach of Christ that if you follow Him, you'll
be reproached by the world? If you follow Him, that you consider
that reproach greater riches than anything this world has
to offer? You really believe that, if you have faith? That's
faith estimation. You see, He had respect in the
recompense of the reward, verse 27. By faith, He forsook Egypt,
Not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured, as seeing
him who is invisible. And I love the way we get these
New Testament and Old Testament accounts. If you read the Old
Testament account, he murdered somebody, hid his body in the
sand, somebody found out about it, and he fled the country in
fear. Now that's what you read in the Old Testament account,
but when you read the New Testament account, it says he wasn't afraid
of the wrath of the king. The Old Testament account is
the old man. The New Testament account is
the new man. I love the way we see these differences in these
accounts. But at any rate, he endured as seeing him, he persevered
as seeing him who is invisible. And that's what faith does. Faith
sees him who is invisible. I can't tell you what the Lord
Jesus Christ looks like physically. I've never seen him, but he is
more real to me than anything else. Whom having not seen, you
love. whom though now you see him not,
yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory,
receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Faith sees him who is invisible. Now somebody says, I'm afraid
I don't see him who's invisible. Look, and you will. If you look,
you'll see, and we'll see more of that in a moment, but let's
go on reading. Verse 28, through faith he kept the Passover and
the sprinkling of the blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn
should touch them. I know this, if you have faith,
your only hope is the Passover. You know that scripture, God
told him to get in the house with the blood over the lentils
of the door. And he said, I'm going to pass through the land
of Egypt. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you. The only hope any believer has
is the blood of Christ, that God is looking for the blood.
And the only hope I have is that God says, when I see the blood,
not when I see your faith, not when I see your good works, not
when I see your sincerity, not when I see your endeavors to
promote the gospel, not when I see your Bible reading and
praying, not when I see anything you do, one thing God was looking
for, the blood. When I see the blood. I will
pass over you." And to every believer, this is their hope.
Oh, Moses. Moses knew the only place of
safety was in that house with the blood over the door. I've
often thought of the different people. Moses, I bet when he
was in the house, He didn't have any doubts, he wasn't scared.
I bet somebody else was scared to death. What if God gets me
anyway? But they had enough faith to
get in the house with the blood over the door. Moses, who had no doubts,
wasn't any more secure than the one who was scared to death because
the security is in the blood. Verse 29, by faith they passed
through the Red Sea as by dry land. which the Egyptians are
saying to do, or drown. Now when the children of Israel
were walking through the midst of the Red Sea with the walls
of water on either side, you reckon they knew that the only
reason that water was being held up was because of God? They knew
that. They didn't have any doubt about
it. They knew. And the Egyptians, all they saw
was water being held up. They didn't have any faith. The
children of Israel got through. As to the other side, the Egyptians
were all drowned because they did not believe that it was God
keeping the waters up. Verse 30, by faith, the walls
of Jericho fell down. And after they were compassed
about seven days, I love that story, where they marched around
seven days in obedience to God's word, and the walls fell. And
by faith, walls fall. There's a whole lot we could
say about that, but by faith, walls falls. These walls fell
down, didn't they? And they came in and entered
in. Verse 31, By faith, the harlot Rahab perished not with them
that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace."
Faith is a receiving grace. Faith is a receiving grace. She
received the spies with peace. Now, this water was poured into
this glass. This glass received it. Now,
this glass didn't do anything at all to quench my thirst, and
I'm thirsty right now. You probably are too, so it's
your problem. Now, the glass had nothing to
do with my thirst being quenched. It was the water in the glass.
Faith, the glass received it. Faith is the receiving grace.
We receive what he did. If he gives it to you, you'll
receive it. Faith is a receiving grace. Verse
32, and what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to
tell of Gideon, of Barak, and of Samson, of Jephthah, of David,
and also of Samuel, and of the prophets, who through faith subdued
kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the
mouth of lions. You remember that, don't you?
When Daniel was led into the lion's den, hungry lions, and
their mouths were shut. And he was in there all night
with them. Darius came up to him, he said, oh Daniel, is thy
God whom thou servest continually able to deliver thee? He said,
yes, he is. Yes, he is. Look where it says,
they quenched the violence of fire. Turn with me to Daniel
three. This is such a awesome passage of scripture. Daniel chapter three. Daniel's
right after the book of Ezekiel. Daniel chapter 3. You'll remember that Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego had refused to bow to the idol that Nebuchadnezzar
made. So Nebuchadnezzar says in verse
14, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not
serve my gods nor worship the golden image that I set up? Now,
if you be ready that at the time when you hear the sound of the
different instruments, he mentions, you fall down and worship the
image which I've made, well, but if you worship not, you shall
be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fire furnace.
And who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king,
O Nebuchadnezzar, we're not careful to answer thee in this matter.
If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from
the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine
hand, O king. But if not, if he lets us burn up, be it known
unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship
the golden image with thou set up. Then was Nebuchadnezzar full
of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego. Therefore he spake and commanded
that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it
was wont to be heated. And he commanded those most mighty
men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
and to cast them into the burning fire of the furnace. Then these
men were bound in their coats, their hose, and their hats, and
their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning,
fiery furnace. Therefore, because the king's
commandment was urgent, the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the
fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down
bound into the midst of the burning, fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar
the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake,
and said unto his counselors, Did not we cast three men bound
into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the
king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see
four men loose walking in the midst of the fire, and they have
no hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. Then Nebuchadnezzar came near
to the mouth of the burning, fiery furnace and spake and said,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the Most High
God, come forth and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
came forth of the midst of the fire. And the princes, governors,
captains, and the king's counselors being together, saw these men
upon whose body the fire had no power, nor was the hair of
their heads singed, neither was their coats changed, nor the
smell of fire had passed on them. Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and
said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath
sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in
him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies,
that they might not serve nor worship any God except their
own God. Therefore I make a decree that every people, nation, and
language, which spake anything amiss against the God of Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their house
shall be made a dunghill, because there is no other God which can
deliver after this sort, then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego into the province of Babylon. I just wanted to
read that because I know that's what he's talking about when
he says they quenched the violence of fire. escaped the edge of
the sword, verse 34, Hebrews chapter 11, out of weakness,
were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight, the
armies of the aliens. Women received their dead, raised
to life again, and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance,
that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others had
a trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, more of bombs
and imprisonments. They were stoned. They were sawn
asunder. They were tempted. They were
slain with the sword. They wondered about sheepskins and goatskins
being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy.
They wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and
in caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained
a good report through faith, received not the promise, God
having provided some better thing for us, that they without us
should not be made perfect. Wherefore, Seeing we also are
compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, everybody
he mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11, let us lay aside every weight
that hinders us in this race. And the sin which doth so easily
beset us, now that sin is unbelief. That's what he's referring to.
That's the besetting sin. That's the sin that'll cause
me and you to trip quicker than anything else. And let us run
with patience the race that is set before us. Now here is what
faith does. Looking unto Jesus. the author and the finisher of
our faith. We look to him as the author
of our faith. We look to him as the finisher
of our faith. That one who for the joy that
was set before him the joy of doing His Father's will, the
joy of saving His people from their sins, who for the joy that
was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and
oh, the shame He experienced in bearing our sins, but He counted
it as nothing. And He's now set down at the
right hand of God. Now this thing of looking unto
Jesus, that word looking, There's about 14 or 15 words in the New
Testament that are translated looking or look or looking. And
that particular word means to look away from something. So
as you set your gaze on something else, you look away from yourself,
look away from your works, look away from your failures, look
away from self, look away from religion and look to him. looking. Now what I do when I
look to, I look to who He is first of all. He's God. I love to say that. Jesus is God. Jesus created the
universe. Jesus is Lord. Jesus is the second
person of the Blessed Trinity. He's the Creator and sustainer
of all things. He's omnipotent. He's omniscient. He's omnipresent. He's incapable
of failure. He's the Lord. Looking unto Jesus,
I look to His life, His obedience, as my personal obedience and
righteousness before God. That's why I'm not afraid of
Judgment Day. His obedience is my obedience. His righteousness
is my righteousness. I look to his death right now
as the payment for all my sins. My sins are paid for. I love
to sing that song, Jesus paid it all, all the debt I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain,
he washed it white as snow. I look to his resurrection as
my justification. You see, when Christ was raised
from the dead, Scripture says he was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification. And you see, his body never went
through the process of decay because he rendered complete
satisfaction to God. That's why I said, thou will
not suffer my soul in hell, neither would I suffer thy holy one to
see a corruption. He rendered complete satisfaction
to God. And when he was raised from the
dead, everybody he died for was justified. I look to his intercession as
the reason I'm going to be preserved. There's one reason I persevere.
It's because he preserves me. That's the only reason. If he
let me go, I'd fall immediately, but I look to him as my preserver,
my intercessor praying for me, and I look to his return as when
I'm going to be glorified. It does not yet appear what we
shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we'll be like
Him. For we shall see Him as He is. So that's what faith does. Faith
is always looking only to Jesus. If you're looking anywhere else,
it's not faith. Whatever it is, it's not faith. Faith looks to
Christ only. always for all things and nowhere
else. So that is what faith does. Let's pray.