Looking Unto Jesus

Q: What does the Bible say about faith?

The Bible teaches that faith is believing in God and His promises, exemplified in Hebrews 11 where faith is shown through the lives of believers. The concept of faith is profoundly explored in Scripture, particularly in Hebrews 11, where the author recounts the faith of various figures in biblical history, such as Abel, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham. They lived not by sight but by faith, trusting in the promises of God. Their unwavering faith is highlighted as they faced trials, moving forward despite not seeing the fulfillment of God's promises in their lifetimes. Faith is essential for the Christian; it is the means through which we engage with God, and Hebrews 12:1-2 underscores the importance of focusing on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Faith encompasses more than intellectual assent; it involves a heartfelt trust in God's character and His redemptive work through Jesus Christ.

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

Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith because He initiates and completes our salvation through His perfect work. Hebrews 12:2 explicitly states that Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith, indicating that He is both the initiator of our belief and the one who brings it to completion. This theological concept is grounded in the understanding that salvation is entirely a work of God. Christ's life, death, and resurrection are paramount, as they demonstrate His infinite love and the efficacy of His redemptive work. By looking to Jesus, Christians find their assurance and the source of their faith. He embodies the very essence of faith through His fulfillment of God's covenant promises, ensuring that all whom He draws to Himself will be brought to fullness before the Father.

Q: Why is looking to Jesus important for Christians?

Looking to Jesus is vital for Christians because He provides salvation, assurance, and the strength to persevere in faith. Looking to Jesus is imperative for Christians as He represents the ultimate source of our faith and the assurance of our salvation. The exhortation in Hebrews 12:1-2 to lay aside weights and sins and to look to Jesus emphasizes the need to focus our hearts and minds on Him. He is our model and our mediator, having endured the cross for our sake. This focus not only encourages us through trials and temptations but also deepens our understanding of God’s character and His redemptive plan. Moreover, by continuously looking to Jesus, we draw strength from Him, enabling us to run with endurance the race set before us, growing in our trust and reliance on Him for every aspect of our spiritual journey.

Q: How does Hebrews 11 illustrate the nature of true faith?

Hebrews 11 illustrates true faith as belief in God's promises, exemplified through the lives of biblical figures who acted in trust despite not seeing immediate results. Hebrews 11 serves as a powerful depiction of true faith. This chapter recounts various biblical characters who exemplified faith through their actions and decisions in response to God's calling and promises. Each figure, including Abel, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham, acted in faith regardless of the external circumstances surrounding them. For instance, Abraham went out not knowing where he was going, demonstrating trust in God’s direction. The chapter emphasizes that faith is not merely an intellectual acknowledgment but an active trust that leads to obedience. Each believer’s life points to the faithfulness of God, urging Christians to remember the cloud of witnesses who have gone before us, and to emulate their example by living out our faith actively and dependently on God’s promises.

Hebrews chapter 11. I want to
just touch a little bit. This is not my text, Hebrews
11. But I just want to mention some things here. In chapter
11, the apostle takes us through God's hall of faith. The sports people have halls
of fame and so forth. God has a hall of faith. And
here in Hebrews 11, he calls our attention to several people.
In verse 4, by faith, Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice
than Cain. Verse 5, 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. He pleased God. And then in 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.
Verse 8, by faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into
a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed. And he went out not knowing whether
he went. And then down in verse 13, these
all died in faith. These all died. They lived on
this earth as other men lived. They were family men, husbands
and fathers. And they lived as other men lived,
but they lived by faith. The just lived by faith. That's
how they lived. And then they died, as other
men died. They all died. It says there,
they all, these all died. The only one that didn't die
was Enoch. He was translated. But these all died. But they
didn't die like other men died. They died in faith. That made
the difference. They died in faith. All right,
he goes on through that chapter and talking about some more people,
Moses, Jacob, Joseph, all these others, Rahab, and then chapter
12. Now, there's no chapter division
there, it's just unfortunate that it has to be there, but
chapter 12, verse 1. He begins, let's say, wherefore,
wherefore, all this calling our attention to these men who believe
God, who believe God. And then he says, wherefore,
seeing that we, right here this afternoon, this
evening, we also are compassed about, surrounded with so great
a cloud of witnesses, I don't miss the meaning of that by thinking
that they're up there in heaven watching you and me. I'm sure
they have neither interest nor concern with what we're doing. They're seeing the Lord. They're
enjoying his presence and his glory. I don't think they have
any concern about what we're doing. But what he's talking
about, we're surrounded with so great a cloud of witnesses
of his faithfulness. A witness is a person who's seen
something and knows something. That's the only person that's
a witness. You can't be a witness if you haven't seen it and know
it. And so he says we're surrounded
with some people, all these people here, who have seen and they've
experienced and they know The power of our God, the mercy of
our God, the grace of our God, and the faithfulness of our God.
They are examples. Let us, wherefore seeing we're
surrounded with so great a cloud of witnesses of his mercy and
grace, let us lay aside every weight. He's going to talk, let
me read the whole first verse and then come back to this. Let
us lay aside every weight. and the sin which doth so easily
beset us, and let us run with patience the race, the race that
sat before us." Paul's talking about, Paul often uses athletic
terms. He must have thought a lot about
those Olympics back then, or he must have been an athlete
himself, or he had some interest in athletics because he frequently
uses athletic terms. Talks about the race. Talks about,
I keep my body in subjection. I'm not as one that beateth the
air. Shatterboxing. He said, I have a real opponent.
I'm not shatterboxing. I've got a real opponent. Talks
about running the race. They who run, run all. And the goal is to be crowned. Not just to be in the race, but
to finish. He uses it frequently. So here he says, referring to
runners in a race, let us lay aside every weight. Now, running,
those who run in a race, those who run in a race do not wear
heavy clothing. They do not wear things that
will slow them down or things that would keep them from being
their best, bulky shoes and heavy clothing, and they don't stop
and visit with folks along the sideline while they're running
the race. And they don't try to keep in step with somebody
going the other way. So he says, let us lay aside
everything that's a hindrance. Everything that's a hindrance
to our running this race of faith. Lay aside worldly cares, and
worldly riches, and worldly companions, and worldly involvements, and
worldly partnerships. All of these things which take
our interest and concern away from our primary goal, to know Christ, to win Christ,
to die in faith. Lay aside every weight. And then
he said, and let us lay aside the sin which doth so easily
beset us. Now, I've heard people apply
that to a lot of things, but I believe, I believe the sin
that doth so easily beset every one of us. Every one of us is
the sin of unbelief. What are we talking about here?
Faith. That's what we're talking about, faith. And the sin of
unbelief is the granddaddy of all sin, it's the foundation
of all sin. And so let's lay aside these
things, every weight and every sin which does so easily beset
us, the sin of unbelief, lay it aside. Believe God. Now watch as he goes in verse
2. 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. the author
and finisher of our faith. Now see if you can get hold of
these four things right here. Let me give you four things before
I move into the bulk of this message. First of all, looking
unto Jesus is the whole of saving faith. That's the whole of saving faith.
Look into Christ. Look into Christ. heart faith,
look into Christ, that's the whole of saving faith. Turn with
me to Isaiah 45. Are you familiar with the scripture?
Let's look at it again, Isaiah 45. The whole of saving faith
is look into Christ. Look into Christ. Now my friends,
you may read a dozen books on faith. You may hear a hundred
sermons on faith. You may learn all the best definitions
of faith, but you'll find it all comes down to this right
here. Isaiah chapter 45, verse 21. Isaiah 45, 21. Tell ye, and bring them near. Yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient
times? Who hath told it from that time?
Have not I the Lord? And there's no God else beside
me, a just God and a Savior. There's none beside me. Look
unto me. Look unto me and be you saved. All the ends of the earth find
God and there's none else. Look to me. That's the whole
of saving faith. Look into Christ. When Moses,
and our Lord used this as a illustration of the gospel, he said when Moses
lifted up the serpent into wilderness, what was the message? Look and
live. That's what God said to him.
He said, you make a brazen serpent in the likeness of the fire serpents
that have bitten the people and raise it up on a pole and whosoever
looks, lives. And that's what Christ said,
look to me. When John the Baptist saw Christ, he said this, look,
behold, the Lamb of God. And our Lord said, he that seeth
the Son, he that seeth the Son, and believeth on him hath everlasting
life. And I'll raise him up at the
last day. It's looking to Christ. That's the whole of saving faith. And I know People preach on faith,
and write about faith, and define faith, and argue faith. Faith,
the sum and substance of it, the whole of it, is seeing Christ
and looking to Him. Seeing Christ. Secondly, looking
unto Jesus. Looking unto Jesus. is not only
the whole of saving faith, but looking unto Jesus is to see
and understand. I'm not talking about all there
is to know, but to understand the redemptive will and glory
of God. You find it in Christ nowhere
else. That's where you find the will
of God, the redemptive will of God. Now let me ask you to turn
to 1 John 5. What I'm saying is looking unto
Jesus is to see and understand this redemptive will of God,
this redemptive glory of God. In 1 John 5 verse 20, John said
this, listen, and we know that the Son of God is come. The Son
of God, that's Christ Jesus, he has come. And he has given
us what? An understanding. and understanding,
that we may know him that is true, and that we're in him that
is true, even in his Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God. This is eternal life. Look into
Christ. You see, of God are you in Christ,
who of God is made unto us all that we need, wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification and redemptions, all in Christ. Just look into
Christ. You see that? That's the whole of saving faith,
that's to see and understand the redemptive will of God. The
scripture says, the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us
and we beheld, we saw, we beheld His glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father. John 14.8, Philip said, show
us the Father. share us God, share us the Father,
and we'll be satisfied. Christ said, Philip, have I been
so long time with you? And you don't know me. He that
has seen me has seen the Father. Looking to Jesus. All right,
thirdly, looking to Jesus is to have everlasting life. Is to have everlasting life.
I want you to turn to John 11 for this. It's to have, it's
looking to Christ, looking to he that seeth the sun, and believeth
on him, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation,
he that seeth the sun, and believeth on him, has already passed from
death unto life. Spurgeon read that one time,
he hath everlasting life, he says, H-A-T-H, hath, that spells
Got it. If you can see the sun, if you
can look there, you have, right there, eternal life. Now listen to John 11. Sorry,
verse 21. Then said Martha unto Jesus,
Lord, if you'd have been here, my brother had not died. But
I know that even now, whatsoever thou shalt ask of God, God will
give it to thee. Jesus said to her, Martha, thy
brother shall rise again. And Martha said to him, I know
that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
Jesus said to her, Martha, I'm the resurrection, and I'm the
life, and he that believeth on me, then he will die, yet shall he
live. And whosoever believeth and believeth
in me will never die. Do you believe this? I am the light. The way we word things troubles
me sometimes. We need to be careful how we
word things. People say, well God, Jesus made
a way. No, there's a sense in which
he made a way. I know, but he is the way. I hear people saying, well, come
by faith to Christ. You don't come by faith to Christ,
you come to Christ by faith. You don't come to faith, you
come to Christ. It's the way you word these things. Jesus will give you life. That's
true, in a sense. He does give. The Father has
given us eternal life. But that life is Christ. Christ
is eternal life. If you grab hold of that, you
have hold of the gospel. He is eternal life. He doesn't
make a way. He doesn't just give life. He
is life. He himself. That's what he said
to Martha. Martha had a good theology. I
believe some of them she did. And you do too. But what he was
trying to say to her was this, Martha, resurrection is not something
disassociated from me, and life is not something that you have
by faith and so on. I'm the life. I'm the resurrect. I am. If you can look to me,
if you can become absorbed with me, obsessed with me, if you
have me, you have life. He that hath the Son hath life,
and he that hath not the Son, doesn't matter what he has, he
doesn't have life. He may have the most orthodox theology in
this world, but he doesn't have life. Christ in you, that's the
hope of glory, when Christ, who is our life, shall appear. Then shall you appear with Him
in glory. I can't go to hell unless Christ goes to hell. That's
what I'm saying. God can't damn me unless he damns
Christ. If I have Christ, if Christ and
I are one. Now if I just believe on Christ,
the devil believes on Christ. If I just believe in one God,
the devil believes one God and trembles. I can go to hell and
believe in a doctrine, but I can't go to hell in Christ. That's
what I'm talking about. That's what he's saying to Martha.
He's saying, Martha, that lies. And he that seeth the Son, and
believeth on him, though he were dead, he lives. And really, he'll
never die. His body may sleep, but he'll
never die, because Christ can't die. That's the sum of it. Look into Christ. Look into Christ. He's the author and finisher,
Alpha and Omega, aren't this? They're looking into Jesus. Looking under here is the assurance
of salvation. I think, I know, I've been guilty
of it too often. But we look for assurance in
the wrong places. Assurance cannot be found in
experience. Can't do it. You just can't find
assurance in experience. Because there are too many things
can give you an experience. You cannot, you cannot trust
or find assurance in emotion. I felt so good. You cannot find assurance in
works. But he's such a devout, devoted
man or woman. You can't find assurance in feeling. You find assurance in Him. That's right, in Him. That's
where assurance is. Now let me show you that. Turn
to Romans chapter 8. And Paul gives this, this right
here. This is, this is, and these are, what I'm dealing with tonight
is where the rubber meets the road, somebody said. This is,
this is, this is a heartland. This is a foundation. This is,
you turn, look into Christ That's the whole of saving faith. Look
into Christ, that's to see and understand the redemptive glory
of God. Look into Christ, it's to have
eternal life. Now, assure us, listen to this. Verse 31. Let us read verse 29, verse 28
and 29. Let's read all of this. What
I want you to do is find four questions and find how Paul answered
these four questions. They're four pertinent questions,
relative. Verse 28, And we know that all
things work together for good to them who love God, to them
who will be called according to his purpose. For whom he did
foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his Son, that his Son might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he called. And whom he called, them he also
justified. And whom he justified, them,
no one else, he also glorified. Now, here's the first question.
What shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? Now, here's the answer. The answer
is found in Christ. He that spake not his own Son,
But deliver him up for us all. How should we not with him freely
give us all things? That is the answer to it. He
said, what are we going to say to these things? What are we
going to say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? Well, here's what we have to say. Who can be against
us? No one, because he spat out his
own son. There are a lot of reasons why
God could be against me. There are a lot of reasons why
a lot of folks could be against me. But their opposition will come
to no avail, because God gave his son for me. Christ has met
all my adversaries, all my enemies. And the next question he asks
is this, then who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?
Martin Luther said, in myself there are plenty of charges that
can be brought against me. I can bring my charges myself. But then where does he go? He
goes to Christ. It's God that justifies. If Christ
paid my sin debt, I don't owe it. And then he asks the fourth
question. Who is he that condemned me?
He comes right back to the answers found in Christ. Why can't I
be condemned? Because there's no condemnation
to them in Christ. For Christ died, yet rather is
risen again who is even at the right hand of God and makes intercession
for us. And then the fourth question
he asks is, well, who can separate me from the love of Christ? And
the answer is given in verse 38. I'm persuaded that neither death,
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature
can separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. my Lord. That's where it is. So I look to Him. I look to Him
for my assurance. Everything is found in Him. Looking to Jesus is the secret
of happiness. Looking to Jesus is the cure
for care. Looking to Jesus is the defeat
of fear. Looking to Jesus turns darkness
into light. Looking to Jesus is the answer
to doubt. Looking to Jesus is the strength
in trial. Looking to Jesus is comfort in
death. Looking to Jesus is my hope for
eternity. Can you look to Can you look
to him and nothing else? Can you look to him and no one
else? Can you look to him today and
tomorrow and look to him until you see him coming and you're
transformed into his likeness? For the scripture says we shall
see him and be like him. Now, looking to Jesus as Paul
writes here in Hebrews 12 in our text, and looking to no one
else. I want to deal with that just
a moment and give you briefly six things, conclusions that
I draw from this looking to Jesus. The first one is this, looking
to Christ is looking to him. and not to my faith. Now listen
carefully to me. It's looking to Christ and not
to my faith. Faith does not give me life.
Christ is my life. I believe because I have life.
Do you understand? I believe because I have life.
He that seeth the sun and believeth on him hath life. If he didn't
have life, he wouldn't see him and wouldn't believe on him.
That's right. That's right. Salvation, like I said, is not
coming to faith in Christ. Salvation is coming to Christ
by faith. So look to Christ. Don't even
look to your faith. You know, I think sometimes we
spend a lot of anxious moments trying to diagnose our faith. When did I believe? How did I
believe? Did I believe enough? Am I believing
enough now? My friends, it's not the strength
of your faith, it's the strength of the object of your faith. So this thing of salvation is
looking to Christ, not even looking to faith. It's looking to Christ. And then secondly, It is looking
to Christ and not looking to my works. Now the scripture says
faith worketh by love. And I've been this week putting
in our Bible classes a lot of emphasis upon this thing of working.
But our works apart from him are works of iniquity. Our works,
apart from Christ, are works of iniquity, no matter how good
they are. God will not have anything to do with them. You know, in
Matthew 7, some people at the judgment said, Lord, we preached
in your name and cast out devils in your name and did many wonderful
works in your name. He said, I never knew you. Depart
from me, you that work iniquity. The way God accepts your works,
now watch this carefully. He does not make our works accepted. Our persons are accepted, and
therefore our works are accepted. That's right. He made us accepted
in the beloved. And because you're accepted,
then your works are accepted. Let me show you that. I turn
to Genesis 4. Genesis chapter 4, verse 4. Now listen carefully to this.
Read this very carefully. Genesis 4, verse 4. Read it very
carefully. It says, let's read verse 3 first. And in the process of time, it
came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an
offering to the Lord, and Abel, he also brought of the firstling
of his flock, sheep or goats, and the fat bearer of them. And
the Lord had respect, under what? Under Abel. and to his offering. But I guarantee
you this, the respect was to Abel in Christ. And because he accepted Abel
in Christ. He accepted everything that came
with Abel. That's right. Look into Jesus. He's looking
to him. He's looking to him and not to
my faith. He's looking to him and don't
try to, don't try to The disciples prayed, Lord, increase
our faith. I want my faith increased, but
my faith will just be increased in him. It's in him. That's where I'm looking to him.
I may look to him dimly or sharply, but I'm still looking to him.
I'm facing the same direction. Drawing everything from Him. I may get a full flow, or I may
get a dribble, but I'm still getting whatever I get from Him.
I'm whatever I am that's in Him. And not to my works. Because
He accepts our person. And having accepted our person,
He accepts everything about us in Christ. Right? All right? Thirdly, it's looking to Christ
and not to the name I wear. or to the doctrine that I profess. It's not to the name I wear."
You know, a lot of people, rather, ain't Christian. But turn to
Romans 10. It's not to the name I wear.
He said, "...everybody saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall not
enter the kingdom of heaven, because many shall profess unto
me in that day, Lord, in your name we did this." In your name
we cast out devils, in your name we did many wonderful works,
in your name. It's not the name we wear, it's
the name we love. That is the key. It's the name
we love. Look at Romans 10 verse 9. That if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth, Jesus to be Lord, and believe in thine heart, in
thine heart, that's where this business is carried out, in your
heart. That God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness. With the
heart and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. There's
no one who can give a new heart but our God. There's his saying, my Jesus,
I love thee. That's the difference. That's
where he sat down with Peter. He settled his issue. Peter impulsive,
Peter denied him, Peter quit the ministry, he was fishing,
led the other disciples away with him, but the Lord sat down and settled the whole issue with
one question, do you love me? Do you love me? Peter wore the
name disciple, wore the name Christian, but the issue was
settled right here, do you love me? Do you love me? That's where
it is. It's looking to Christ, not to
the name I wear, or the doctrine I wear, or profess. It's looking
to Christ. It's loving him. My Jesus, I
love thee, I know thou art mine, for thee all the follies of sin
I resign. I love thee in life, I love thee
in death. All right. Fourthly, it is looking
to Jesus and not to the brethren. Look into Jesus and not to the
brethren. You know, the Bible talks about
how good and pleasant it is when brethren dwell together in unity. It's strength, it's encouragement,
it's a joy, but I tell you, it's not salvation. It's not salvation. Salvation is not looking to the
brethren. either being encouraged by them or discouraged by them.
Salvation is looking to Christ. And we want to have a good fellowship
and a warm fellowship and a loving fellowship, but I tell you where
it comes from. It comes from looking to Him.
Not looking to one another, looking to Him. Look to a man, he'll
disappoint you. Follow a man, And he'll fall
and you will too. Trust a man, you lose your confidence. But look to Christ, he never
fails. Look to him. You see, in Philippians 3, Paul
said this, we are the circumcision who worship God in spirit, who
rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
Yours or mine or anybody else's. So this thing of looking to Jesus,
it's looking to him, not to the brethren. And then watch number
five. I want you to listen carefully
to this. It is looking to Jesus and not to my strength or my
weakness. And I'm giving this point because
I want to, if I can, discard any, anything that would give
us any kind of false hope or false assurance. It's looking
to Jesus. Not to my faith, not to my works,
not to the name I wear, not to my doctrine, not to the brethren,
and not even to my strength or weakness. Now what do you mean
by that, Preacher? Here's what I mean. And I think this is applicable
to me and I think to many of you. I feel at times, and feel
right now, that the points in which I'm strong, No compromise on the gospel.
I kind of boasted about that. I will not compromise this gospel. I think some of you said the
same thing. You feel that now, don't you kind of feel? You go,
we'll go with you, but you know, we'll continue with you. Right. I will not deny the truth. I'll
die before I deny the truth. Peter said the same thing. He said the same thing. The Lord said, many of you will
be offended because of me this night. Peter said, not me. Not
me. He said, if it's necessary, I'll
follow you to death. Want to know what he said? I'll
never deny you. These other fellows may. I never
will. Let's be warned. Let's be warned. Let's be warned. Keep that confidence,
but remember this. It's not you, it's him. Don't
make him show you that. You see what I'm saying, Bob?
It's not you. You're not strong. You're just
a human being. And he had to show Peter that.
He had to do it. It was necessary. He said, you're
going to deny me three times before the cock crows tonight.
It was necessary. It's necessary. So I can't, I
can't even look to my strength. I can't even look to the areas
where I think I'm strong because I'm not. It's his strength. I got to look to him. Well, we
like this. Well, preacher, I can't identify
with you on that strength because I'm so weak. I'm so weak. I'm a chief of sinners. I'm unworthy. I'm nothing. And all that's so,
and I'm not making fun, I'm just saying that don't come up with
this false humility now. Because for long your pride's
going to be wounded, and you're going to find out you're not
nearly as humble as you thought you were. Isn't that right? I'm just the
chief of centers, I'm just humble, I'm just, there's nothing in
me. And then somebody comes along and agitates you and irritates
you and gets under your skin, and you find that you aren't
near as humble as you thought you were. You're not near. You had more
pride than you thought you had. That's right. The Lord has a
way. I tell you, his children, his
people, he's not going to fool with a reprobate. They're already
passed by, you know. not long ago. If God's not dealing
with you in grace, it's because he doesn't intend to save you.
He just doesn't intend to save you. He's passed you by. You're
reprobate. There's no use even fooling with
it. But his people, he works in them
and he works on them all the time. He's going to give them
a single eye and a single heart, and that's in Christ. They're
going to look to Christ, and he's going to see to it that
they do. One hundred and ten percent. Because he's not going
to share his glory, isn't that right? He will not share his
glory. I'm going to look to Christ.
And then sixthly, in closing, this business of salvation is
looking to Jesus and not to my experience. I've got an article
in the Bulletin, I think I put it this week, by Whitfield. George
Whitefield said he was in the company of fourteen eminent,
outstanding Christians, preachers, believers. Many of them, he said,
were well known. And of all the fourteen, not
one, not one could tell you when the Lord pronounced peace to
his heart in Christ. Not a one. Not a one could take
you to the time or the place. Now I believe I can take you
and tell you when I was first made aware, really aware of who
he is, the sovereign Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe
I can take you to the time. In 1950, when I became that week,
that I became aware of who he really is, and what he really
did, effectually and sufficiently, and why he did it, that God may
be just and justify. And where he is now, at the right
hand of God, I became aware at that time of his Lordship, Something
I've never been exposed to before, who he is and what he did and
why he did it and where he is. But when Christ was formed in
me, when Christ was formed in me as Paul prayed for the Galatians,
I travailed for Christ to be formed in you. I cannot tell. I cannot tell. I believe he's talking here in
Romans 1. Listen to Romans 1. Romans 1
16. But he has been formed, and he
is being formed, and he will be when I'm conformed to him. See what I'm saying? Don't you? If God gave you an experience,
I guarantee you being a human being, you'd look to him. Don't you agree with that, Jim?
If God gave us a time and place, being who we are and what we
are, we'd try to prove something by it. I believe we would. I
believe we would. Most of us, Romans 1.16 says,
I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power
of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, to the Jew
first, and also to the Greek. For therein, in that gospel,
is the holiness, the righteousness of God revealed, in that gospel,
in Christ, from faith to faith, as it is written, adjust your
law by faith. What does that mean? from faith to faith. Paul says,
I'm not ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God and the
salvation to everyone that will believe it, to the Jew first
and also to the Greek. For in that gospel of Christ,
who he is, what he did, why he did it, where he is now, the
gospel of Christ is the righteousness of God, the holiness of God. of which the prophets wrote and
spoke, the holiness of God without which no one will see the Lord,
is revealed in that gospel from faith to faith. I tell you what
it means, from one degree of faith to another. Keep on. As you keep on reading that gospel,
digesting that gospel, meditating on that gospel, that righteousness
is revealed from faith to faith. Faith to faith. I do know this. What God has been pleased to
reveal to me and in me, I don't want to go back anywhere. Do
you? I don't want to go back anywhere. It's looking to Christ. And this
is life. Looking to Jesus. Looking to
Him in the covenant of grace. Looking to Him in the scriptures.
Looking to Him in the flesh. my righteousness, looking to
him on the cross, looking to him risen and exalted, looking
to him my mediator, looking to him my prophet, priest and king. Looking to him now, if I never
have. Okay? Newton said it, I have
loved you before, let me begin today. Looking to him now, if
I never have before. Looking to him anew, If I have
looked before, look again. Look again. Keep coming to Christ. You'll never exhaust that fountain. It gets richer every day. Look
into Christ alone and to no one else. Look into Christ always. Look into Jesus while I remain
on this earth. And when the clouds of death
around me roll, and when the angels come for my soul, I'll
have no more need of faith and grace, because I'm going to see
him face to face, and I'll still be looking to Jesus. Isn't that right? I'll still
be looking to Jesus. All right, we're going to sing
one verse of a closing hymn.

Looking Unto Jesus

What does the Bible say about faith?

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

Why is looking to Jesus important for Christians?

How does Hebrews 11 illustrate the nature of true faith?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

Joshua

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

Looking Unto Jesus

What does the Bible say about faith?

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

Why is looking to Jesus important for Christians?

How does Hebrews 11 illustrate the nature of true faith?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

More from Henry Mahan

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Henry Mahan

Books by Henry Mahan

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book