Tag: Sermon Audio

Looking Unto Jesus (1)

(The Author and Finisher of Our Faith)

OUTLINE

(1) Free Ourselves from Encumbering Sin

(2) Patiently Run the Race

(3) Look Forward to the Joy of the Prize

(4) Endure the Hardship

(5) Despise the Shame

INTRODUCTION

Our study of the life of men of faith finds its climax in Jesus Christ. He is the Author and the Finisher of our faith. By Him, we obtain faith and by Him these men finished the course of their lives in faith. He is our example par excellence. And this truth is spoken in Hebrew 12:12.

Carl McIntire observed well, “Hebrews, the eleventh chapter, is deprived of its glory and its meaning without the first two verses of the twelfth chaper…One may talk about faith, and present an abundance of illustrations, even a cloud of witnesses, but unless we have some knowledge as to where faith comes from we are in a blind alley. Is faith the product of man’s creation? Is it the result of some emotional state? Is it the consequence of logical conclusions? Who is to be praised for the glories of faith? These questions rise up and clamour for an answer. These is an answer! The Bible says Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of faith…The writer of Hebrws regards himself and his fellow sufferers as place in an arena, contending for a great prize. The image of the amphitheater with the rising rows of spectators seems to suggest the thought of an encircling cloud. The witnesses are those who have run the race in previous generations. Each has received a good report in victorious achievements or courageous suffering. Faith has been their stay. The apostle depicts the Christian as running a race, a course which has been laid out for him, not not by himself but by God…The central figure, however, in this amphitheater is not the one running. The writer would have us look ahead to the author and finisher of faith, Jesus Christ.”[1]

The Apostle Paul speaks of the reward for winning the race and urges us to press on!