Look and Live

Q: What does the Bible say about faith?

The Bible teaches that faith is believing God and trusting in His promises, as exemplified in Hebrews 11. The Bible emphasizes the importance of faith throughout the Scriptures, particularly in Hebrews 11, often referred to as God's Hall of Faith. This chapter highlights the lives of many believers, such as Abel, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham, who all exemplified faith in God. They lived and died 'in faith,' which is the essence that distinguishes them from others. Their belief in God's promises and faithfulness enabled them to face trials and ultimately secure a hope of eternal life.

Q: How do we know Christ is the author and finisher of our faith?

Christ is recognized as the author and finisher of our faith because He initiates and completes our salvation through His life, death, and resurrection. In Hebrews 12:2, Jesus is declared to be the 'author and finisher of our faith.' This means that He not only begins our faith journey but also ensures its completion. Christ is the one who initiates the relationship between believers and God, fulfilling the requirements of the Law through His perfect life. Furthermore, His sacrificial death on the cross and victorious resurrection confirm that He is indeed the source of salvation. His authority in this matter is vital as He is the Alpha and Omega, the first and last, encompassing all aspects of our salvation.

Q: Why is looking to Jesus important for Christians?

Looking to Jesus is crucial for Christians as it helps them to keep their focus on Him, encouraging perseverance in faith and life. Looking to Jesus is essential because He is the center of the Christian faith. Hebrews 12:2 urges believers to 'look unto Jesus,' emphasizing that He is the foundation and completion of faith. This act of looking implies not just a physical gaze but intimate trust and reliance on Him for salvation and sustenance. It frees believers from the distractions and burdens of life, allowing them to run the race of faith with endurance. By focusing on His redemptive work and promises, Christians find strength to overcome sin and unbelief, staying true to their commitment to live for His glory.

I'm going to speak to you today
from the 12th chapter of the book of Hebrews. If you'd like
to get your Bible and follow as I read a couple of verses
of Scripture from Hebrews 12. Now, the title of the message
is, The Look That Saves. The Look That Saves. Now, our
text will be taken from Hebrews 12, but in chapter 11 of the
book of Hebrews, The Apostle takes us through what one old
preacher called God's Hall of Faith. Not the Hall of Fame,
but the Hall of Faith. Takes us through God's Hall of
Faith, all the way through the 11th chapter of Hebrews. And
the Apostle calls our attention to the great believers of the
Old Testament days. Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah,
Moses, Joseph, Jacob, all of these great men of faith. And he declares this about all
of them. He says, these all died in faith. All of these men and women that
I've named, they died in faith. Now, this is the word which describes
their entire lives, faith. They believed God. That's what
distinguishes these people from other people, faith. They believed
God. They lived on earth like other
men, but they lived by faith. They walked with God. The thing,
the word that gave them a good hope of eternal life is faith. They believed God. The word that
reveals the difference between them and other people, they believed
God, the word that sums up their entire lives. They believed God,
faith, faith. And they not only lived as other
men lived, but they died as other men died. But the thing that
made their death different was faith. These all died in faith. And they're examples to you and
me. They're examples we're to study. You know, somebody said
one time, don't follow a man. Well, I'll tell you this, you
can follow a man who's following the Lord. I think Paul said something
about that. You follow me as I follow Christ. And these men are examples to
us, examples of faith. Now, when you go into chapter
12, the Apostle Paul begins with these words, and I believe Paul
is the writer of Hebrews. He begins with these words. Now,
wherefore seeing, that we're compassed about with so great
a cloud of witnesses. He's talking about these people,
Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Saba, Joseph, Jacob, Moses. He's talking
about these people. Wherefore seeing that we, you
and I, we're compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. You say, you mean they're watching
us? No, they're not watching us. They're in the presence of
the Lord. They wouldn't watch us if they're in the presence
of the Lord. You mean they're interested in what's going on
down here? Well, they're not interested in what's going on
down here in that they're watching us and observing us. But here's
what he's saying. They're witnesses to us. This
great cloud of witnesses, they're witnesses to us. You know, Christ
said to his disciples, you will be my witnesses. They're witnesses
of the sufferings of Christ. They're witnesses of the gospel.
They're those who declare the gospel. And these men and these
women are witnesses to us of the faithfulness of our Lord.
They're witnesses to us of the riches of His grace and His promises. And we are encircled, we're encompassed
about with so great a cloud of witnesses, men and women who
walk upon the same earth upon which we walk. who encounter
the same difficulties and tests and trials and troubles and sorrow
and suffering and all of these things. But these people lived
by faith. They believed God, and they died
in faith, and they died with a good hope. And that which distinguished
them from all other people about them was the fact they believed
God, believed God. Now, seeing that we're encompassed
about with so great a cloud of witnesses, Let us, in our lives,
in our walk, in our citizenship and conversation, let us lay
aside, lay aside every weight. Let us lay aside every weight
or every hindrance to our running the race of faith and living
the life of faith and following the example of these men and
women. Let us, anything that hinders us, or obstructs our
running a good race, the race of faith and the life of faith,
that's laid aside. Now, the apostle here is referring
to an athletic event, to an actual race. Paul does that frequently
in his writings. He'll talk about some athletic
event such as a race or a person who runs to gain a prize, a runner. But when people are running a
race, they don't wear heavy clothing. They don't carry a sack of equipment. They take off everything, everything
that would hinder them from running a good race. Every weight is
put aside. And they don't look around at
the stands and the people watch them and look back at the people
running with them. They're dedicated to one thing, and that's running
a good race. And this is what he's telling
us. These examples that have gone before us, these men and
women that have lived here on this earth and walked with God
believed God and lived and died in faith, let's follow their
example. And anything that hinders you
from walking with Christ and living for the glory of God,
lay it aside. It doesn't matter what it is,
whether it be a person or a job or an association or a partnership
or anything that hinders you or holds you back or keeps you
from living for Christ like you ought to, lay it aside. It's
a weight, and you're carrying a heavy weight. You're carrying
something that keeps you from being what you ought to be and
doing what you ought to do for the glory of God. Lay aside those
weights. Now, what's the next line? And
let us lay aside that sin, that sin, which doth so easily beset
us. What is that sin? Well, a lot
of people say it's different things, but I believe it's the
sin of unbelief. I believe the very foundation
of all sin is not believing God, not trusting Christ, not looking
to God to supply everything. It's a sin of unbelief. You'll
find that unbelief is the very foundation of every sin. You
just do not believe God. And we need to say with a centurion
of, Oh, Lord, I do believe. Help thou mine unbelief. Help
me to lay aside this sin. which doth so easily beset us."
Now, look at the next line, looking unto Jesus, 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, looking unto Jesus. That's the look that saves. That's
the sight that saves. Looking unto Jesus. It's the
same as the command of Moses in the wilderness when he had
lifted up the brazen serpent. Here were the people bitten,
smitten, dying. Moses lifted up that brazen serpent
and he gave one command. Look. Look and live. It's not do and live, it's look
and live. It's not give and live, it's
look and live. It's not pray and live, it's
look and live. It's not work and live, it's
look and live. That's the look that saves. It's
looking to Christ, looking unto Jesus. Let's lay aside all the
weight and hindrances and barriers and that sin of unbelief and
let's turn our eyes on Christ and run with patience the race
that sat before, looking unto Jesus, keeping our eyes on Him,
only Him, the author and finisher of our faith. Believe Him." That's
what it said about Abraham. He believed God. He believed
God. It was counted to him for righteousness. He just looked and believed God. Now, you can read a dozen books
on faith, and there's no end to the writing of books on faith. There's so many of them out there.
You can read dozens of books on faith. You can listen to a
hundred sermons on faith. And you can study all the definitions
of faith. But it'll all come down to one
thing, and that's given right here. Looking to Jesus. Looking
to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. That's what John
the Baptist said to his disciples. He said, Behold the Lamb of God.
that taketh away the sin of the world." That's what our Lord
Jesus said in John chapter 5. He said, "...he that seeth the
Son, and believeth on him, hath everlasting life, and shall not
come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life."
He's looking to Christ, looking to Christ. Now, when we are enabled
of God to look to Christ, when we are enabled of God to take
our eyes off everything else and everyone else and look only
to Christ. Look only to Christ. When we're
able to do that, then we see and we have some sort of understanding
of the redemptive will and the glory of God. It's to be seen
nowhere else. The glory of God is only seen
in Christ. The redemptive will of God is
only seen in Jesus Christ. The redemptive glory of God is
only seen in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what Paul said in II Corinthians
4. He said, God who commanded the
light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give
us the knowledge of the glory of God, of the will of God in
the face of Christ Jesus. Look into Jesus. Look at Him. That's where it all is. We know,
John wrote in I John 5, We know that the Son of God is come,
and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is
true, and that we're in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus
Christ. And this is the true God, this
is eternal life, looking to Christ, and Christ alone, looking to
Him. You want to talk about Abraham?
He looked to Christ. Abraham saw my day. Want to talk
about Moses? He looked to Christ. Want to
talk about Abel? Abel offered a blood sacrifice,
looking to Calvary, looking to the blood of the Lamb. David
talked about the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right
hand. These men all died in faith. looking to Christ, looking for
the coming of Christ, looking for the fulfillment of all these
promises in Christ, looking for the fulfillment of the prophecies
in Christ. And we are circled about and
encompassed with so great a cloud of witnesses. Let's put aside
all the tradition and religion and legalism and formalism and
ceremonialism and all these things. Lay aside these weights, these
things, these people, everything that hinders us from walking
with Christ. And the sin that doth so easily
beset us, unbelief. Can you believe? Can you believe?
Can you see Him? Can you believe on Him? This
is the record. God hath given us eternal life.
This life's in His Son. And he that hath the Son hath
life, and he that hath not the Son of God, whatever he has,
whatever he knows, whatever he does, hath not life. If you look
into Christ, He's the author. and finisher of our faith. The
author is the one that starts something. The author is the
one that conceives a purpose or plan or whatever. The author
is the originator. The author is the one who purposes
it. And the finisher is the one who
winds it up, completes it. So it says we look to Christ,
we look to Jesus. He's the author, the originator,
the creator of faith. and of that which faith brings.
And He's the finish of our faith. He's the alpha and omega. Alpha
is the first word in the Greek alphabet. Omega is the last word.
He's the alpha and omega. It's all in Christ. And He has
given us that understanding, looking to Christ. Now note these
things. I want to show you something
here that's very important. Looking to Christ. Let's run
with patience the race that's set before us, looking unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith. Now, first of all, when
we look to Christ, we see God. We see God. That's right. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. Jesus Christ is God. God incarnate. God manifested. This is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh. The disciples said, well, show
us the Father. He said, you've seen me, you've seen the Father.
So you look to Christ, you look into God. You look into God. Secondly, if you look to Christ,
you see in Him the covenant of grace, the everlasting covenant. Now, my friends, anybody who
knows anything about the Scriptures know that God is a covenant God,
that the word covenant occurs in the Bible over 300 times.
He made a covenant with Adam. He made a covenant with Noah.
He made a covenant with Abraham. He made a covenant with David.
He made a covenant with Moses. It's covenant. And the Bible
talks about an everlasting covenant, from everlasting to everlasting.
A covenant of mercy, a covenant of grace, a covenant of which
all the other covenants are but types. And this is an everlasting
covenant and Jesus Christ is the great shepherd of the sheep
through the blood of that everlasting covenant. And if you can look
to Christ, you can enter into the riches and mysteries and
treasures of that everlasting covenant that David talked about
as he lay dying. God made with me a covenant.
covenant ordered in all things and sure and this is my salvation
and all my desire and looking to Christ we see the first promise
and all the promises of the Old Testament fulfilled in Christ. What's the first promise? Genesis
3 15 God came down after the fall God said to Satan I'll put
enmity between you and the woman between your seed and her seed
The woman's seed shall crush your power, crush your head,
and crush your authority. Who is the woman's seed? Well,
when Cain was born, Eve rejoiced. She said, I've gotten that seed,
that man. I've gotten the man. No, no,
that was Adam's seed. Adam beget Cain. Eve gave him
birth, but Adam beget him. But one day in Bethlehem, in
a little town 2,000 years ago, There was a child born. There
was a son given. And that's the woman's seed.
Man didn't have anything to do with that. He was conceived in
the womb of the virgin by the Holy Ghost. And there's that
promised seed. Look into Christ. You see that
first promise fulfilled, the seed of woman. And you come on
down through that Old Testament, and every promise, God said,
I'll send a prophet. God said, I'll send a king like
David. God said, I'll send a priest like Melchizedek. God Almighty
said, I'll send a rock, smitten rock, a brazen serpent, a priest,
a mercy seed, an atonement. It's all fulfilled. Look into
Christ. You look to Him, you see all
these promises, types, patterns, and pictures fulfilled. And then
when you look to Christ, you see what these Old Testament
believers saw by faith. They saw the same thing you see.
Abraham saw my day. He saw my day. You know what?
I believe when Abraham saw the day of Christ was when Abraham
was on that Mount Moriah with Isaac, and he was about to slay
his son. And God said, Touch not the land.
And he looked over there in the bush, and there was a ram. And
God said, Put the ram on the altar in the place of, in the
stead of your son. The ram was a substitute for
Isaac. And Abraham saw Because he told
Isaac, the Lord will provide. The Lord will provide Himself
a Lamb. Himself, He is the Lamb. And
Himself, the Lamb, was provided for, for His justice and righteousness. He provided it. Job saw the Lord. He said, I know my Redeemer liveth.
He'll stand on this earth. And after my skin, worms destroy
this body, I'm going to see the Lord. Looking to Christ in the
flesh, when we look to Christ walking this earth in human flesh,
we see the law of God honored. Here's a man, born of a woman,
made under the law, who walked this earth perfectly. He knew no sin, he had no sin,
he thought no sin, he did no sin. The heavenly Father spoke
from heaven and said, I'm well pleased. Here's a perfect man.
There's never lived one on this earth, never lived but this one,
and that's Christ Jesus. And in so doing, He fulfilled
the law. If you look to Christ, you see
the law fulfilled. You see it honored. He honored
God's law. He fulfilled God's law. He satisfied
God's law on behalf of His people. You look to Christ, you see that
nowhere else. If you look to Christ on the
cross, you see the justice of God honored and fulfilled. Yeah,
on the cross, if you look to Christ, you see the very character
of God. You see His love. For God so
loved, He gave His Son. You see His holiness. Christ
bore our sins in His body on the tree, and the Father turned
His back on Him. That's the holiness of God. You
see, the justice of God, He punished Christ, though He had no sin
of His own, but He had our sins, and God would not let Him go. The justice of God took hold
of Him and exacted from Him the due penalty of all our sins. You see the wisdom of God? You
see how that God can be just and justify us? That's wisdom. I'd have never thought of that.
You wouldn't have either. God purposed that great plan
of redemption. He loved sinners in Christ. He chose them in Christ. He gave
them to Christ. He sent Christ down here to fulfill
everything He required of those sinners because Christ was the
only one who could do it. You say, well, how could one
man suffer for so many because of who he is? How could his blood
atone for so many sins because of whose blood it is? It's Christ
that died. You see how God can be just and
justify. If you look to Christ, you look
at Him lying in the tomb and then rising from the grave and
you see how we can rise. In Him, He said, because I live,
you live. If one man, if one man can go to the grave and come
out, two can and three can or four or five, it doesn't matter
how many you name after that. If one can do it, they all can
do it. If one of us, if one of us can
rise from the grave, we all can, especially if it's that one God
sent. That's right. He said, because
I live, you shall live. Look into Christ rising from
the tomb. You see your own resurrection
if you can look to Him. Look into Christ as He ascends
to heaven. If He can ascend, I can too. He's a man, the man,
Christ Jesus. That's right. The scripture says
there's one God, there's one mediator between God and men,
and that's the man, Christ Jesus. And if a man can die and live,
another man can. If a man can go in a grave and
come out, another man can. If a man can arise to heaven,
ascend to the throne of God, and stand in His presence, accept
it, and be seated at God's right hand, another man can, and another
one, and another one, and another one. See, that's what you've
got to figure out here, and that's what preachers, they're not thinking.
And they don't want people to think. They're just whooping
and doing and waving their hands and carrying on a program and
marching all in sequence and in line, and nobody's thinking.
God's holy. We're sinners. And if you can
find out how any one man Who can ascend into the hill of the
Lord? Who can stand in His holy place? He that hath pure heart,
clean hands, who never lifted his soul to vanity. And there's
not a man listening to my voice or a woman qualified. But there's
one. And if there's one, there can
be two. And that one is the Son of God, our representative, our
substitute. And He came down here. He represented
us. We got to look to Him. We got
to look to the One who did it. We've got to look to the one
who has the power to save. You see what I'm saying? And
if you can look to Christ at the right hand of God, then we
can be seated in Him, in Him. That's what Paul said in Romans
8, who can condemn me? It's Christ that died, yea rather
is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who makes
intercession for me. Now, I'll tell you something
else too. If you can look to Christ, He's
returning. He's coming back. And He said,
You let not your heart be troubled. That's, we got heart trouble.
That's our big trouble, heart trouble. Let not your heart be
troubled. You do believe in God. Yes, you
do. Well, who is God? He's the holy, almighty, sovereign,
righteous, just God who will not clear the guilty. Do you
believe God? Well, believe in Me. Christ said,
Believe in Me. Look to Me. Trust me. Put all
your eggs in one basket. Christ, you look to me. You believe
in me. Because in my Father's house,
in His house are many dwelling places. Now if it weren't so,
I would have told you. And I'm going, I'm going to prepare
a place. You know how He went? He went
to that cross. outside the city of Jerusalem.
That's where He went to prepare the place. He prepared the place
for you and you for the place right there on that cross. Shed
His blood, died for your sins. He went to the grave where you
got to go someday. And He defeated sin on the cross
and death in the grave and came out. And then He went to the
right hand of God and sat down as your mediator. And He said,
Now, I go and prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare
that place, I'm going to come back. and receive you." Now,
I'm telling you, the look that saves. If you want to live, you
better look to Him. You look to Him. You look for
Him. You're waiting for Him to come
back. Now, don't look to your faith. We don't come to faith. We come to Christ by faith. Somebody
said, well, I came to faith in Christ. No, that's not it. I came to Christ in faith. Don't
look to your works. Don't look to the name you wear.
He's not a Jew, which is one outwardly. Don't look to your
brethren. Don't look to experience. Look to Christ. Can you? Looking
to Jesus. Oh, we're encircled, encompassed
about with a cloud of folks that already look to Him. And if you're
going to join Him, you're going to look to Him, too, because
He's the author, originator, planner, creator, accomplisher,
and finisher of our faith. Keep looking, looking to Jesus,
looking to Jesus. That's the look that saves. All
right, if you want this tape, you write to us, and here's the
address. Send $2. That's what it cost
us to get them ready and send them to you, and we'll mail it
right out to you. Until next week, I pray the Lord will bless
you and enable you to look to Jesus. Thank you.

Look and Live

What does the Bible say about faith?

How do we know Christ is the author and finisher of our faith?

Why is looking to Jesus important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

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Look and Live

What does the Bible say about faith?

How do we know Christ is the author and finisher of our faith?

Why is looking to Jesus important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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