I want to speak to you this morning
on the subject, Looking Unto Jesus, and I want you to turn
in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews, chapter 12, verse 1
and 2. Now, if you would, open your
Bibles to the book of Hebrews, and let's read together verses
1 and 2 of chapter 12, and ask the Spirit of God to speak to
us from this scripture and reveal unto us the glory of our Lord
Jesus Christ, looking unto Jesus. Will you read with me from Hebrews
12, 1 and 2? Wherefore, seeing we also are
compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us
lay aside every weight and the sin that doth so easily beset
us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
looking under 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. Now, in chapter 11 of the book
of Hebrews, the verses which just precede the ones that I
read to you a moment ago, the Apostle I believe Paul was the
writer of Hebrews. Let's say the Apostle Paul takes
us by the hand and leads us through the hall of spiritual examples
of the Old Testament. First of all, he takes us to
a picture, a word picture, of Abel. By faith, Abel offered
a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. And we stand and observe
this man Abel. Abel was the first Christian
martyr. That's right, the first Christian
martyr. Abel believed God. He believed
that it's the blood that maketh atonement for the soul. And Abel
died at the hands of his self-righteous brother, who tried to approach
God, not through the blood. And this blood sacrifice of Abel
represented the cross, represented Christ. This is the first conflict
between grace and works. This is the first conflict between
a man who believed that Christ is the Redeemer, that blood cleanseth
the soul, and that God accepts a man not on the basis of his
works but on the merits of Jesus Christ and on the substitutionary
work of the Son of God. And Abel died at the hands of
his self-righteous brother who wanted to approach God on the
basis of his righteousness rather than the righteousness of Jesus
Christ. And it was faith that led Abel to offer a more excellent
sacrifice than Cain. And then Paul takes us on down
the hall here, this spiritual hall of fame, and we stop by
the word picture of a man called Enoch. And it is said of him,
by faith Enoch walked with God. Enoch was a family man. Enoch
had a family. Enoch was a public man. He was
an influence in his community. He was a man that served others,
but he was a man who walked with God. A family man can walk with
God. A public man, contrary to most
people's opinion, a public man can walk with God. A man who
is a leader in his community, a man who is a leader in his
neighborhood can walk with God. Enoch walked with God by faith,
and he walked with God so devotedly and in such a in such a consecrated
manner that he just walked right on into heaven. Enoch walked
with God. He walked so devotedly with God
that he walked into heaven without dying. And then we go on down
the line, and in this 11th chapter preceding the verses that I read
is our text, and we're coming to our text in just a moment.
But we have to look at this first. We come to the picture, a word
picture, of a man called Noah. And it said of him, by faith
Noah, being warned of God, of things not seen, of a flood that
was coming, of judgment that God would send upon the earth,
prepared an ark. Noah dared to stand alone. That's
what I see in Noah. By faith he dared to stand alone. I see in Abel, a man who by faith
believed in the blood atonement and gave his life for what he
believed. I see in Enoch a man who dared by faith to walk with
God. Walk with God in a devoted manner,
in a consecrated manner. Walk with the living God. And
I see in Noah a man who in the face of criticism, and mocking,
and ridicule, and persecution, and being called a fanatic and
a fool, and yet Noah believed God. And he was willing to stand
alone. And there all are, finally. Finally,
Noah was certainly justified in his faith, wasn't he? For
finally, that old ark floated upon the waters of God's judgment,
and all the way that that ark floated, it said this, Noah was
right. He was right. He believed God, and he certainly
was right, wasn't he? But he was right when the others
thought he was wrong, and he dared to believe God. And then
we stop by a picture of a man called Abraham. By faith, Abraham. called of God, went out, not
knowing where he was going. Abraham left his home, his friends,
his family, his country, and walked with God, though he knew
not where the Lord was taking him. But he believed God. He
went out from his home, and his family, and his friends, and
his country, and he was a man about my age. He was up 50, 60
years of age, and he went out not knowing where he was going.
And then Abraham believed God. God told him he would have an
heir. He'd never had a child. He and Saber had been married
some time, and they'd never had a child. And Saber was past the
age of bearing children, and yet God said to Abraham, you'll
have a son. And from that son, your seed
will be like the stars of the heaven and the sands of the seashore.
Abraham believed God. He didn't know how, but he believed
God. And then when he was an old,
old man, 110, 12, 14 years of age, When that son was about 12 or
13 or 14, God came to him and told him to take that son up
on Mount Moriah and sacrifice him as a sin offering to God. And Abraham started to the mountain,
three days journey, and willing to do what God told him to do
simply because he believed God. He believed God would raise Isaac
from the dead because he knew that God said in Isaac, shalt
thou seed be called. And God cannot lie. And God cannot
change. He's immutable. And Abraham believed
God. But he counted Isaac as being
dead. He'd given him to God. And this
man, by faith, believed God. He didn't know where. He didn't
know how. He didn't know why. But he believed
God. And then we stop by a picture of Moses. By faith, it said,
Moses esteemed. Now listen to this. Moses esteemed
the reproach of Christ. The reproach of Christ. Greater
riches. than the treasures of Egypt.
He turned his back, Moses turned his back on fame, fortune. He turned his back on power.
He turned his back on influence, prestige, to be identified with
God and with God's people. He esteemed the reproach of Christ. To be reproached for Christ's
sake is better and greater riches than all the treasures that this
world And Egypt has to offer what shall it profit a man if
he gain the whole world and lose his soul? This here is all temporary. Everything here will pass away. The passion of this earth fadeth
and passeth away. But Moses, by faith, by faith,
Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ, even the sufferings of
walking with the Lord, the trials and the disappointments on this
earth. as being greater treasures or
greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt. And then with a wave
of his hand, we don't have time to go all the way down this hall,
we don't have but 30 minutes, but then with a wave of his hand,
the apostle indicates all of the thousands of others. There
was Isaac, man of faith, Jacob. There was Joseph and Sarah, Rahab. There was David, Samuel, Joshua,
of whom the world was not worthy. of whom this world was not worthy.
Men and women who knew God. Men and women who believed God. Men and women who walked with
God. Men and women whose one objective was to obtain a better
resurrection. To obtain a better resurrection.
There's something better than the relationships of this life.
There's something better than the riches of this world. There's
something better than all that this earth has to offer. Only
in this life we have hope. We are of all men most miserable.
And my friends, then he turns to us, and this brings me to
chapter 12. That's the 11th chapter. But
then in chapter 12, the scripture which I read a moment ago, he
says to you and to me, wherefore, wherefore, seeing we're encompassed
about, surrounded with such a great, a cloud of witnesses and examples
Such a great cloud of men of God, men of faith, men and women
of faith who knew God and walked with God. What are we to do?
Well, first of all, we're to lay aside every weight, every
weight, everything that would hinder us walking with God. Let's lay aside every weight
that would hinder our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. You
know what it is. Let's lay aside every ambition.
Tear up your blueprints. and throw them away and ask God
to reveal his will. Let us lay aside every association,
every companion, every associate that hinders your spiritual growth
and hinders your relationship with God. Just put them aside,
love them, forgive them, pray for them, desire their salvation,
witness to them. But you can't be partners with
unbelievers. Two cannot walk together except
they be agreed. Come out from among them, and
be ye separate. For what fellowship does light
have with darkness? What fellowship does Baal have
with God? Does Christ have with demons?
None at all. So let's lay aside all these
weights that are pulling you down. It's like a man running
a race. When a fellow runs a race, he just wears a pair of shorts
and a brief shirt, and he doesn't even wear any socks. He just
wears a pair of track shoes. He doesn't wear an overcoat and
a hat and carry an umbrella to run a race. Those are weights
that weigh him down and hold him back, and he'll certainly
lose the race. But he lays aside all of this, and we're to lay
aside every alliance, every associate, and every ambition, and every
attitude, and every occupation. You know what they are. I don't
need to spell them out to you. With you, it may be something
different than me or with someone else who's listening to this
program, but whatever it is, whatever the weight is that that
hinders your spiritual growth and your relationship with Christ
and your running with patience the race that is set before you,
lay it aside. Seeing we're compassed about
with men like Moses and David and Samuel and Joshua and Abel
and Enoch and Abraham, lay aside the weight and every sin, lay
aside every sin, that sin which does so easily beset us, entangle
us and hinder us in our spiritual growth. Not only should we lay
aside the care and concern for this flesh, but we need to lay
aside those inward attitudes of sin. Now, that's usually the
sin that does so easily beset us. I'm talking about the sin
of pride, how proud we are. Lay aside. It hinders you. It's
a sin that does entangle you and hinder you and beset you
in spiritual growth. Just be done with it. thinks
himself to be something when he's nothing, he's deceived.
Let not a man think more highly of himself than he ought to think.
If we think we know anything, we don't know anything that we
ought to know. We need to lay aside pride. There's so many
directions that pride takes. I know people that are proud
of their race. They're always downgrading people of other races
or other countries or other sections of the country. Lay aside the
pride and bigotry of race, and lay aside the pride of face.
Proud of your beauty and your strength and these things. Let
not the strong man glory in his strength, or the rich man glory
in his riches, or the wise man glory in his wisdom. If any man
glory, let him glory in this, that he knows me, saith the Lord.
And lay aside that pride of place. We're proud because we make a
little more money than somebody else, or we live in a bigger
home, or we drive a finer car, or we've got a better job, and
we're nothing. That's just, you know, when folks
go to taking pride in the things they have, that's just one worm
bragging on another worm. You can dress a worm up in diamonds,
but he's still a worm. Or you can put him in rags, and
he's still a worm. And that's all we are. And there's
no place for this pride of place. And then I guess the worst pride
of all is that pride of grace, proud religious people, arrogant
religious people, holier-than-thou religious people, self-righteous
religious people who criticize and condemn and judge people
of the world because they're not as good as they are, as righteous
as they are, as religious as they are. Let's put aside these
sins of pride and lust and envy. Envy is a terrible sin. Jealousy. is a terrible sin. Greed, self-righteousness,
covetousness, these sins and sinful attitudes do not promote
godliness and do not promote a relationship with God. And
Paul says, seeing we're compassed about with men who knew God and
who believed God and who walked with God and who were used of
God, now let's us lay aside all of this junk and all of this
and all of this rubbish, and all of this self-righteousness,
and all of these things that hinder and entangle us, and let's
run with patience the race that is set before us. Now, you know,
Paul often refers to the Christian life as being a race or a warfare. It's not over in a moment. It's
not something that starts today and is settled tomorrow. It's
a lifetime relationship with God. And the pace may be slow
or fast, but let's run it with patience. And does the way seem
long? Well, our God says, wait upon
the Lord. Wait, I say, on the Lord. Does the way seem mysterious? Well, now we see through a glass
dimly. We know in part. We prophesy
in part. But when that which is perfect
is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. Does
the way seem hard? God said, my grace is sufficient.
Does the way seem lonely? He said, I'll never leave you.
David said, my mother and father may forsake me, but the Lord
will never forsake me. Does the way seem filled with
trial? Will all things work together for good to them that love him,
to those who are called according to his purpose? Do you seem unimportant? Do you feel unimportant? Don't
forget, God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound
the things which are mighty. and the things which are wise,
that no flesh should glory in his presence." And that brings
me to these three words, looking unto Jesus. Wherefore, seeing
we are compassed about with men like we just talked about, let's
lay aside every weight that doth hinder us and lay aside these
petty God dishonoring, Christ dishonoring attitudes and sins
that hinder us and entangle us and let's run with patience,
waiting upon God. the race that's set before us.
Now here are the three key words to this whole book, this whole
chapter. Looking unto Jesus. Looking unto
Jesus. Here are the most important words
of all. Looking unto Jesus. Here's the
whole secret of life, of happiness, of salvation, of eternal glory. Looking unto Jesus. And I want
to ask four questions. Looking unto Jesus where? Looking
unto Jesus Why? Looking unto Jesus, how? And
looking unto Jesus, when? Let's think about that for the
time we've got left. First of all, looking unto Jesus, where?
Now, not with these eyes. You're not going to see Christ
in the flesh because he's already been here and he's gone back
to glory. He's on the right hand of the
Heavenly Father. We're not going to see him with these eyes, but
with eyes of faith. With eyes of faith given by the
Holy Spirit. And when I will see him in dreams
and visions, don't look for Christ in dreams or visions. That's
not the way he's appearing to his people. It's not necessary.
I'm going to show you why. And don't look for Christ in
the artist's pictures. Where are we to look for Christ?
Well, first of all, look for Christ in the scriptures. In
the scriptures. It says, ye search the scriptures,
in them ye think ye have life, they which testify of me. And
the scripture tells us, to him give all the prophets witness.
These things are written that you might believe on the Son
of God, and believing you might have life through his name. This
is the record. God has given us eternal life,
and this life is in his Son. Look for Christ. Look under Christ
in the scriptures. And then look under Christ in
God's everlasting covenant of grace and mercy. We were chosen
in Christ. We were loved in Christ, we were
redeemed in Christ, we were accepted in the Beloved. All of it's in
Christ. Look unto Jesus, the representative, the federal head,
the ordained one, the chosen one, our representative in the
everlasting covenant of God's grace. And then look unto Christ
incarnate. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. In the fullness of time, God
sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem
them that were born under the law. I look back yonder to Bethlehem's
manger, and I see a baby born to a virgin. And I see Jesus
Christ, the Messiah, the one of whom it was written, the Lord
himself shall give you a sign. A virgin shall conceive and bring
forth a child, and thou shalt call his name Immanuel, God with
us. That's my God. and my Lord, and
my Savior, and my Redeemer, and my representative, Christ incarnate. Look to Christ on the cross,
our substitute, wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our
iniquities, the chastisement of our peace laid upon Him, and
we're healed by His stripes. Look to Christ on the cross,
who was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Look to Jesus Christ on God's
right hand. He's the only mediator. That's
right. The Scripture says one God and one mediator between
God and men, and that's the man Christ Jesus. There's no other
mediator. God has used other people and
God has used means, but God only honors Christ's intercession. Christ, everything's been vested
in Christ. Everything's been turned over
to Christ. He's the only representative for the sinner to God Almighty.
He's the only one who can reconcile us to God. He's the place where
God meets men and men meet God. He's the tabernacle. He's tabernacled
in human flesh. And now on God's right hand,
He's our mediator. So look to Christ in the scriptures,
in the covenant of grace, incarnate on the cross, and on the right
hand of God, and coming again. And now look unto Jesus Christ. Why? Because it says He's the
author and finisher of our faith. That's why I'm going to look
to Christ. You talk about Abel's faith and Moses' faith and Abraham's
faith and Enoch's faith and all these. Christ is the author and
finisher of our faith and their faith. There's only one way God
has ever saved me and that's through Christ. There's never
been any other Savior. All who are in glory shall sing
unto him who loved us and gave himself for us or washed us from
our sins in his own blood. So we look to Christ. as the
author and finisher of our faith. Now let me explain that to you.
First of all, by his eternal purpose and counsel, he's the
author of salvation. Salvation by grace through faith,
Christ is the author of it. He planned it. He's the author
of it. It all started with him. Salvation
didn't start on this earth, it started in heaven. It didn't
start with me and it started with God. It started back yonder
before the world began. He was the Lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. God had a Savior before he ever
met a sinner. And then, by his willingness
and determination to come to earth in human flesh and die
for our sins, he's the author of all that faith gives. He's
the author of our salvation in that he planned it, and he's
the author of salvation by grace through faith in that he executed
it. He bought it. He's the author
of it. He not only planned it, but he
perfected it. He bought it. He purchased it.
And then, by his Spirit, he calls us to himself. And by his goodness
and grace, he enables us to repent and believe. Therefore, he's
the author of our faith in that he enabled us to believe. He
gave us faith. Faith's the gift of God, not
of words, lest any man should boast. And then by his enabling
grace, his restraining grace, his keeping grace, he sustains
that faith. He's the author of that faith
in that he planned it, he purchased it, He applied it and He sustains
it. He keeps me in the faith. I don't
keep myself. Now unto Him that's able to keep
you from falling and to present you faultless before His throne
with exceeding glory. Who keeps us? Christ keeps us. He's the author of our faith
in that He keeps it alive. And then He will present us faultless
before the Father's throne. He will glorify us. He will complete
the work which He hath begun. He's the finisher of our faith.
He's going to make it all perfect and conform us to his image.
So he's the author and the finisher of our faith. Looking unto Jesus,
how? How should I look to Christ?
Partly? No, sir. Totally? So totally
and so completely that my eyes of faith and my heart of love
sees and feels and pants after and seeks no other. Christ is
all I need. All I need. wisdom, righteousness,
and power, holiness forevermore. Jesus Christ is made to me all
I need. There is none other. We're complete
in Him. There's none other name unto
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Looking to
Jesus, looking to Jesus Christ, not to myself, not ever to myself,
having no confidence in this flesh, not depending upon or
looking to my strength or my wisdom or my failure or my success
or my ups or my downs, just looking unto Jesus. Looking to Jesus
and not to our brethren, not to the best of them or the worst
of them. Looking to Christ and not to the law, it can offer
no hope. Looking to Christ, not to the
ordinances, no matter how beautiful they are, not to baptism or the
Lord's table or any other ordinance. Looking to Christ and not to
our faith. No, sir, not even to our faith. Faith has as its
one object the Lord Jesus Christ. We never have faith in our faith.
in ourselves or anything else, looking to Christ. All right,
last of all, looking to Christ when? I look to Christ in the
beginning. That's how I start the Christian
race or journey or warfare or whatever you wish to call it.
He says, look unto me and be you saved, for I am God and there's
none else. Look to me. It says in John 3,
14, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up that whosoever believeth on him should
not perish but have eternal life. Look to Christ. Don't look to
your preacher. Don't look to mother or daddy.
Look to Christ. In the very beginning, that's
how you start the Christian race or warfare or walk or life or
whatever. You look only to Christ. Your
faith reaches out to Christ. And then we look to Christ at
all times, always coming to Christ, never ceasing to come to Christ.
You see, this thing of salvation is an eternal thing. We have
been saved, we're being saved, we shall be saved. We continue
to come to Christ, to seek the Lord. And then we look to Christ
in the day of death, only to Christ. The Apostle Paul said,
the time of my departure is at hand. I've fought a good fight,
I've finished my course, I've kept the faith. Henceforth there's
laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
judge, shall give to me in that day, and not to me only, but
to all them that love his appearance. We look only to Christ at all
times.