Life In a Look

Q: What does the Bible say about looking to Christ for salvation?

The Bible commands us to look to Christ for salvation, as stated in Isaiah 45:22: 'Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.' In Isaiah 45:20-22, the prophet speaks of the futility of worshipping false gods and emphasizes the singularity of God as both just and a Savior. The call to 'look unto Me and be ye saved' encapsulates the essence of reliance on Christ for salvation. It asserts the necessity for individuals to abandon their own efforts and traditions to find hope and peace in Christ alone. Through this verse, God invites all people to trust in Him, affirming that salvation is exclusively through genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Q: How do we know that salvation is only through faith in Christ?

Salvation is exclusively through faith in Christ, as He is the only way to the Father (John 14:6) and the source of eternal life. The doctrine of salvation through faith in Christ is rooted in Scripture, particularly in John 14:6 where Jesus declares, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me.' This underscores that faith in Christ is not merely an option but the sole means by which we come to God. The message of looking to Christ is reinforced in John 3:14-15, where Jesus compares His being lifted up to the serpent Moses raised in the wilderness, emphasizing that eternal life is offered to all who believe in Him. Thus, the Reformed understanding confirms that faith in Christ is the necessary condition for salvation, as it is by His redemptive work that sinners are justified before a holy God.

Q: Why is it important for Christians to continue looking to Christ?

Continuing to look to Christ is crucial for Christians as it sustains their faith and dependence on Him for every aspect of salvation. The Christian life is characterized by an ongoing reliance on Christ, which is essential for spiritual growth and perseverance in faith. Hebrews 3:14 states, 'We are made partakers of Christ if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end.' This highlights that faith is not a one-time event but a continuous attitude that necessitates consistent looking to Christ for strength and grace. The call to continually look to Him encompasses repentance and faith as living actions—believers are encouraged to address themselves to Christ continuously, seeking His mercy and grace. This ongoing relationship with Christ is fundamental to maintaining one's hope and assurance of salvation throughout life's challenges.

Q: What does it mean to look to Christ by faith?

To look to Christ by faith means to acknowledge His reality, accept His role as Savior, and continually trust in Him for salvation. Looking to Christ by faith involves a multifaceted engagement with His person and work. First, it signifies admitting His reality as the living God and our Redeemer. Hebrews 11:6 states that without faith, it is impossible to please God, and thus, recognizing Christ as a real and present savior is foundational. Second, it requires an acknowledgment that salvation and justification come solely through Him, not through works or personal merit (1 Timothy 1:9). Finally, to look by faith is to actively call upon Him, demonstrating a heartfelt reliance on His grace and mercy. This posture of faith is not static but involves an ongoing response to Christ, encompassing a life lived in trusting obedience and heartfelt devotion.

We're turning in our Bibles this
morning to the book of Isaiah. I'm going to be speaking to you
from Isaiah chapter 45, and I'll read a portion of three verses,
20, 21, and 22. Now here's the title of the message. There's life in a look. There's
life in a look. In Isaiah 45 verse 20, now this
is part of what the prophet writes
here. He says they have no knowledge
and in other words they're ignorant. People are ignorant who worship
false gods, who make graven images, who pray to a God who cannot
save. They're without knowledge. They're
ignorant who pray to a God or call upon a God who does not
have the power to save or to hear. And then verse 21 says,
there is no God beside me. I am a just God and a Savior. Now get that. I am a just God
and a Savior. There's none beside me. There's
none other God but one. The Lord our God is one Lord. One Lord. And he said, I'm a
just God and I'm a Savior. Now verse 22. Here's the verse
I want you to listen carefully to, most carefully. Look unto
me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. For I am God,
and there is none else. Look unto me, and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is none
else." Charles Haddon Spurgeon was perhaps the greatest preacher
since the Apostle Paul. He preached the gospel to literally
thousands and thousands of people. He pastored one of the largest
churches in Europe. And his sermons are still read
by nearly every preacher, and preachers who do not read his
sermons at least know who Charles Haddon Spurgeon was. But this
man, he was raised in a Christian home. His grandfather was a Presbyterian
preacher. And Spurgeon read the Bible.
He read all of the old writers. His grandmother taught him the
hymns of the church. He was a brilliant boy. And he
used to memorize the hymns. His grandmother gave him a penny
to memorize a hymn. And he was memorizing so many
of them that finally she gave him a penny for every five hymns
he memorized. But he was raised in a Christian
home. His grandfather was a prominent Presbyterian preacher. He read
the old classics and the old Puritans. He read the Bible.
He studied. But he said this. He said, I
still had no saving interest in Christ. I still did not know
God. Although I knew the Bible and
knew the hymns and knew the old writers, still I didn't know
God. He said, I was in spiritual darkness. With all my religious
background, I was yet in spiritual darkness and had no hope. Well,
but he always went to church. And one Sunday morning, he was
walking to church, and they had a snow. A heavy snowstorm fell,
and he saw that he was not going to be able to make it to his
church on time. So he stopped in to this little
primitive Methodist chapel and sat down back in the back of
the building, just a small building. It's there now in London. It
has a plaque where Spurgeon was sitting when God revealed salvation
to his heart. We sat down back toward the back.
Not many people were there that cold snowy morning. In fact,
the pastor wasn't even there. And one of the men of the church
got up in the pulpit to read the scripture and to comment
on the Word of God. I don't even know the man's name.
I guess most people don't know his name. But he turned in the
Bible to Isaiah 45. Here sat Spurgeon, raised in a Christian home, his
parents were believers, a student of the scriptures, a student
of the classics, the old writers, the hymns, but a troubled young
man, a young man without a saving interest in Christ, a young man
without a knowledge of God, a young man in spiritual ignorance and
darkness. And he sat there and this man
got up in the pulpit and read Isaiah 45, 20 through 22. And he finally said, look unto
me, look unto me and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth for
I am God and there's none else. And then Spurgeon said that he
seemed to address himself directly to me. And he said, young man,
you look miserable. Why don't you look to Christ?
If you can, by the grace of God, look to Christ, and to Christ
alone, if you can lay aside all of your traditions and heritage,
and look to Christ, and Christ alone, and quit your striving,
and your works, and your reasoning, and just look to Christ, you'll
find peace. And Spurgeon said it was like
God had opened the curtain. And for the first time, he saw
that salvation was not all of the complicated things that men
had made it, that salvation was in a person in the Lord Jesus
Christ, in His redemptive work, in His person and in His work.
And he said, these are his words, I was able in that hour to look
to the Redeemer and the peace of God filled my soul, casting
aside all doubts, casting aside all human arguments, casting
aside all human wisdom, I was enabled by the Spirit of God
to look to Christ, and He made me whole. That's my message to
you today. And that's what the Lord is saying
in this scripture. Look unto Me. Look unto Me. Not look to your ancestry, not
look to your tradition, not look to your custom, not look to your
preacher, not look to the law, not look to your church membership,
but look unto Me and be you saved. The Lord declares, I am God,
I'm a just God, and I'm a Savior, and there's none else. There's
life, eternal life, or a sincere, saving look to the Lord Jesus
Christ. The scripture says, He that seeth
the Son. And this is not a physical sight
of Christ. Many people saw Him when He walked
the earth who never came to know Him. Many people looked upon
him with physical eyes who never looked upon him with eyes of
faith. And so what Isaiah is commanding the people to do,
and what this preacher commanded Spurgeon to do, and what I'm
commanding you to do, is to look to Christ by faith, with eyes
of the heart and eyes of the soul, he that seeth the sun. in his redemptive character,
in his redemptive glory, in his redemptive work, and believeth
on him, hath eternal life." That's what John is saying in John chapter
3 verse 14, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness.
As the people were dying, Israel had been bitten by the fire of
serpents and they were dying, and as Moses lifted up that serpent
of brass on a pole and commanded the people, the dying people,
to look and live, That's what the Lord is saying here. Even
so must the Son of Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, be lifted up that
whosoever looks to Him, whosoever seeth the Son, and believeth
on Him, hath everlasting life. Now I know that the religious
world has all sorts of instructions for sinners to perform in order
to be saved. They have all sorts of plans
of salvation. They have all sorts of recipes
for salvation, for redemption. But the Lord God simply says,
look. Look to Christ. It's not do this
or do that. It's not provide this or provide
that. God doesn't require you to provide
a righteousness. He says receive one. He doesn't
require you to do the work. He says Christ has done the work.
Look to Him. The hymn writer put it this way.
Come ye sinners, poor and needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore. Jesus ready stands to save you,
full of pity, love, and power. Let not conscience make you linger,
nor of fitness fondly dream. All the fitness that he requireth
is to feel your need of him. There's life for a look. God
says, look unto Me and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth,
Jew, Gentile, male, female, bond or free, look to Me. All the
ends of the earth. For I am God. Look to Me. I am
able to save. I am a just God and a Savior.
Look to Me and be saved. So I say to the Matthews sitting
out there at your desk, That's where the Lord found Matthew
sitting at the receipt of custom, collecting taxes. And I say to
the Matthews sitting out there at your desk, going over your
investments and going over your collection and going over your
business, I say to you, look to Christ. Look to Christ. I say to the Simon's, mending
your nets and cleaning your fish and trying to make a living in
this world. Whatever manual labor you may
be performing, I say to you, as Christ said to James and John
and Simon Peter, look to Christ. Look to Christ. I say to the
Samaritan women, married, divorced, married again, divorced, remarried
more than once, confused in life and confused in purpose and confused
in sin, look to Christ. I say to the thieves, there may
be those listening to my voice this morning who are in prison,
It's hard to find a guilty man. But I'll tell you, when God finds
a guilty man, He provides grace. And I say, if you're a guilty
man, I say to the thieves, they outcast whom they outcast have
cast out. I say to you, look to Christ.
Look to Christ. If you have a need, look to Christ.
I say to the moralist, trying to find acceptance with God by
your works and by your labors and by your deeds, I say to you,
What Christ said to the rich young ruler, look to Christ.
I say to the religionist like Saul of Tarsus, wrapped in your
theology and your tradition and all of your ritualism and legalism,
I say to you, what I say to the Samaritan woman, what I say to
the thief, I say look to Christ. You need Christ just as much
as anybody else, perhaps more. I say to the young people like
John Mark, raised in a Christian home, raised in the tradition
of religion, raised in wealth and pleasure, but with no peace
and no rest in your hearts and in your souls, I say to you,
look to Christ. Look to Christ. Those are instructions
of the Word of God. Would you be saved? Look to Christ. Would you know God? Look to Christ. Would you have peace? Look to
Christ. Would you enter into His rest
and cease from your labors? There is life for a saving look. at Jesus Christ. God in mercy
and grace and wisdom has bested all things in Christ His Son
and our Savior. He says, of Him are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us all we need, wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification and redemption, but you must look to Christ.
The Word of God is the foundation of faith. Almighty God is the
giver of faith. But Jesus Christ, prophet, priest,
and king, sent offering, sacrifice, and substitute, is the object
of faith. And your eyes of faith must be
turned in His direction. He is the source of life. He
is the giver of life. He is the cause of life. He said,
I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved. But you're not going to be saved
by talking about the door, or looking at the door, or arguing
about the door. You're going to have to enter
the door. That's Christ. He said, I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. He said,
I am the water of life. He that drinketh of this water
will never thirst again, but he is the water, and you must
drink. He said, I am the bread of life.
He that eateth my flesh have everlasting life. He said, I'm
the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. And my sheep hear my voice. They
follow me. I give them eternal life, and
they'll never perish. But you must look to Christ.
You cannot look anywhere else. You cannot look part-time to
Christ and part-time to something else. Your attention totally,
wholeheartedly, completely must be turned by faith to Christ. There's life for a look. at the
crucified one. I ask you this question now.
What does it mean to look to Christ? What are you talking
about, preacher? I've heard what you said. I've
heard what God said in His Word. Look to Me. And be you saved. All the ends of the earth. I'm
God and there's none else. I'm a needy creature. I want
to know what you mean by looking to Christ. All right, I'll give
you four things. It may help you. Number one,
to look to Christ. is to admit his reality. Now
Hebrews 11, 6 says, without faith it's impossible to please God.
He that cometh to God must believe that he is, must believe that
he is, and he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek
him. Christ is not a myth Christ is not an idea. Christ is not
just a historical influence. Christ is a living person. He
is the living God. He is Emmanuel, God with us. He is the Son of the living God.
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. God in human flesh appeared,
and the first thing to look to Christ is to consider Him as
a living person, the God-man, the blessed Redeemer sent from
heaven, anointed, commissioned, and ordained to be the only Redeemer
between God and men. It's to look to Christ, admitting
His reality. Secondly, what is it to look
to Christ? I want to give you this carefully.
It is to acknowledge in my heart, not just with my mouth, But in
my heart, before God, it is to acknowledge that only in Him
and by Him and through Him can salvation and justification come,
enabling God to be just and justifier, enabling a totally incapable
sinner of receiving what he cannot produce. I said salvation is
in Him. In Him, not in law, not in works,
not in deeds, but in Christ. Now listen to this scripture.
1 Timothy 1.9, He hath saved us and called us with a holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to His own
purpose and grace which was given us in Christ before the foundation
of the world, before the world began. So my friends, we are
loved in Christ, we are chosen in Christ, We're redeemed in
Christ, we're accepted in Christ, we're seated in Christ. To look
to Christ is to acknowledge that in Him, in Him is all life and
salvation and hope. It's not only in Him, but it's
by Him. Now watch this verse, Romans
5, 19. By one man's disobedience, many became sinners. Even so,
by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." Salvation
is not only in Christ, it's by Christ. If I can get you to see
this, will you listen very carefully right now? Isaiah 53, 4-6 says
this, He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised
for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him, by His stripes we are healed. Now what I want
you to do, is quote that verse with me, and in place of our,
and by his stripes we are healed. You put your name. I'm talking
about substitution. I'm talking about salvation is
in Christ, it's vested in Christ, but it's by Christ. In the stead
of, he is a substitute. He fulfilled the law in our place
instead. He went to the cross and died
bearing our sins in our place instead. So read it this way.
He was wounded for Henry's transgressions, or Bill, or Bob, or Joe, or Mary,
or whatever your name is. He was wounded. You say it. He
was wounded for Henry's transgressions. He was bruised for Henry's iniquities. The chastisement of Henry's peace
was upon him, and by his strike, Henry is healed. That's the gospel. You look to Christ. It's to admit
his reality. It's to know and to acknowledge
that in Him and by Him, now watch this, and through Him salvation
comes. He is the channel. He is the
river. He is the fountain. He is the
source. He is the giver of eternal life. He said to the Father, Thou hast
given me authority over all flesh that I should give eternal life
to as many as Thou hast given me. He is the light and He is
the giver. Alright, thirdly, what is it
to look to Christ? Thirdly, it's to address myself
to Him. Now, you go back through the
Bible. God's not going to knock you in the head and save you.
You're going to call on Him. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. But they'll call on Him. Blind
Bartimaeus, when the Lord Jesus came by, he called, Jesus, thy
son of David. And the Lord stood still. The
Lord heard him. The thief on the cross called
to the Lord. He said, Remember me when thou
comest into thy kingdom." And the publican in the temple called
on the Lord. He said, Lord, be merciful to
me, a sinner. The Syrophoenician woman called
on the Lord. She said, Lord, have mercy upon
me. Go all the way through the Word
and you'll find these people calling on the name of the Lord.
And to look to Christ is to address myself to Christ. That's not
to a man down at the front of the church. He's not shaking
a preacher's hand. There's no salvation in the preacher's
hand. There's no salvation at the front of the church. Salvation
is synonymous with Christ. Seek the Lord while He may be
found. Not a feeling, not an experience,
a person. And close with Christ. That's
what the old Puritans used to talk about. Close with Christ.
Embrace Him. And then, fourthly, is to continue
to look to Him. You see, repentance and faith
are not once-for-all acts. Somebody says, well, I believed.
Did you now? I repented. You mean it's an
isolated act? It's something once-for-all that
you did in the dim past and cut it off? No, sir. Faith is a continual
attitude. So is repentance. I have repented. I am repenting. I shall repent.
I am believing on Christ. I will believe on Christ. And
to cease to believe on Christ is not to believe on Christ.
Listen to Colossians 1, 21. And you, hath he reconciled through
death to present you holy and unblameable in God's sight, little
two-letter word, if you continue in the faith. That's exactly
by your Bible. Read Colossians 1, 21 through
23. to present you holy and unblameable
in his sight if you continue in the faith. And if you are
in the faith, you will continue in that faith. That's what John
said. He said if they had been of us, they no doubt would have
continued with us. Hebrews 3.14 says, We are made
partakers of Christ if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence,
steadfast to the end. He that endureth to the end,
the same shall be saved. So what is it to look to Christ?
It's to admit his reality. To admit his reality. What is
it to look to Christ? It's to acknowledge that all
hope of salvation and justification is in, by, and through Him. What
is it to look to Christ? It's to address myself to Him. Not through a proxy. Not through
a representative. Christ. Call on Him. Lord, be
merciful to me, a sinner. And then it is to continue to
look to Him. For what part of salvation are
we to look to Christ? For what part? Now listen to
me. I've heard preachers say this. Now listen carefully. I've
heard preachers say this. God has done all that he can
do. Now it's up to you. Well, I ask
them, what's up to me? Just exactly what are you talking
about? I'm a lost sinner. Incapable of holiness. Incapable
of righteousness. Incapable of satisfying the justice
of God. Incapable of writing my name
in the book of life. Incapable of giving myself life. Incapable of satisfying a holy
God. Just exactly what is up to me?
God's done all He can do, now it's up to you. What's up to
me? I can't raise myself from the grave. I can't take myself
to glory. I can't open the doors of heaven.
What's up to me? Well, my friends, regeneration,
or the new birth, is of God. We're born of God. That's up
to God. Regeneration, the new birth,
we're born of God. Not of the will of the flesh,
not of the will of man, but born of God. You know what Scripture
says? Conviction's the work of God. Our Lord said the Holy Spirit,
when He has come, He'll convince the world of sin, of righteousness,
and judgment. He's the one who convicts of
sin. He's the one who converts the sinner. He's the one that
lays bare the heart. He's the one that strips our
righteous rags off of us. He's the one that knocks our
foundations out from under us. He's the one. Repentance is the
work of God. It says the goodness of God leadeth
thee to repentance. The apostles said God hath granted
repentance to the Gentiles. So repentance is the work of
God. He enables us to repent. And faith is the gift of God,
not of works, lest any man should boast. That's what Paul said
in Ephesians 2. For by grace are you saved through faith.
That's not of yourself. It's the gift of God. Perseverance
is the gift of God. What does the Scripture say?
We're kept by the power of God through faith. Kept by the power
of God. Even the fruits of grace are
called the fruits of the Spirit. Love, joy, faith, long-suffering,
patience, meekness, kindness. These are the fruits of the Spirit,
the fruit of the Spirit, not my fruit. I'll tell you, salvation's
all of grace, all of God, salvation's of the Lord. Everything I need
is found in Christ. For what part of salvation am
I to look to Christ? Every bit of it. He's the author
and finisher of our faith. He's the beginning and the end.
He's the Alpha and Omega from eternity past to eternity future. Everything I have, everything
I am, everything I know, everything I'll ever be is found in Christ
and not in me. I'll give Him all the glory both
now and forever. All right. Last of all, what
is our encouragement to look to Christ? Charles Wesley wrote
that hymn, And can it be that I should gain an interest in
the Savior's blood? Died He for me who Him to death
pursued. Another hymn he wrote, Depth
of Mercy, Can there be mercy still reserved for me? You say,
Preacher, how can we be sure that God will show mercy to folks
like me and you? Well, here's the first reason,
his character. He said, Look unto me, I'm a
just God, And I'm a Savior. I'm a Savior. Adam's put out
of the garden, but he goes out with a promise. The flood destroys
the earth, but there's an ark on top of that flood. Sodom is
destroyed, but Lot walks out. God walks through Egypt and destroys
the firstborn of every home, but there's some blood on the
door. And so God's character says God will be merciful. Secondly,
God's promises all the way through the Word. He says this, coming
to me. I'll give you rest. That's his
promise. He cannot lie. Come now, let us reason together.
Though your sins be a scarlet, I'll make them white as snow.
You believe that? I believe God. I believe he's able to perform
all that he promised. And he promised to save all who'll
come to him. That's what he said. And then
his visit to the earth. He came down here for just this
purpose. To seek and to save the lost. He said the Son of Man didn't
come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. Paul said,
this is a faithful saying, it's worthy of acceptation by every
one of you that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. So sinner, if there's one there,
they're hard to find. But if there's one there, if
you can look to Christ on the authority of God's Word, you'll
be made whole. For he says, look unto me and
be ye saved. All the ends of the earth, I'm
God, and there's none else. Now I have this message on a
cassette tape. It's called, There's Life in
a Look. On the other side, there's a message I'll preach next week
on, He is a Jew. He is a Jew. These two messages
will cost you two dollars. That's what it cost us to make
them, send them to you. You send a $2 donation, I'll
mail you these two messages, Life and a Look, He is a Jew.
Till next week, God bless you.

Life In a Look

What does the Bible say about looking to Christ for salvation?

How do we know that salvation is only through faith in Christ?

Why is it important for Christians to continue looking to Christ?

What does it mean to look to Christ by faith?

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Life In a Look

What does the Bible say about looking to Christ for salvation?

How do we know that salvation is only through faith in Christ?

Why is it important for Christians to continue looking to Christ?

What does it mean to look to Christ by faith?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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