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Hendersonville Seventh-day Adventist Church, NC

Brian Hindman

Looking Unto Jesus

Well, our subject this morning is entitled, Looking Unto Jesus.

Is there anything that we could focus on that would be better?

So as we study the Word of God this morning, The message is actually found in your Bible, so I hope you brought your Bible, but let's just begin with an additional word of prayer.

Father in heaven, Lord, I come to you as a weak, sinful mortal, but Lord I ask that you would speak through me through your Word and the power in your Word to direct our hearts and minds to focus on the only source of our salvation.

The only hope that we have is to look unto Jesus.

But Lord, may we be revived, may we be reformed, and may we be strengthened as we hear your words.

Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

I want to ask you a question this morning, a little bit controversial question, and that is, is it possible for us to live a perfect life?

You already know where we're going with this.

We're gonna focus on the power of God and not in our own strength.

In our own strength we look and see this is is not possible at all.

And I would submit to you, is it necessary for us to be perfect?

Well it can be scary, but as we look at the study this morning, I hope you'll stay with me, we're gonna find in God's word, the source of that perfection comes from Jesus Christ.

And so if you have your Bibles, let's go ahead and open up to Revelation chapter 14, a well-known group of verses, the 3 angels' messages.

We find such priority and importance in them because right after these messages are given in verse 14, I'll skip ahead for just a moment, in verse 14 we actually read that there is And I looked and behold a white cloud and upon the cloud 1 sat like unto the Son of Man, having on his head a golden crown and in his hand a sharp sickle.

This is none other than a picture of Jesus' second coming.

And so what takes place just before Jesus comes is a message, an important message, that is just for pastors to preach.

It's for all Christians who believe in Jesus to share in those messages and to preach and to teach and to share with everyone around them.

But beginning in verse 6 of Revelation 14, these 3 angels' messages, it says, And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel.

It never needs to be modified and changed in any way.

It is the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth and to every nation and kindred and tongue and people saying with a loud voice, fear God and give glory to him for the hour of his judgment is come and worship him that made heaven and earth and the sea and the fountains of water and there followed another angel saying Babylon is fallen is fallen that great city because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

We're going to look at this at in a moment and the third angel followed them.

This is in fact a threefold message there are 3 angels but the message is given in a state of progression 1 message builds upon the next and the next so on and so it is a threefold you can't accept the third angels message and reject the first because they follow in sequence after each other and the third angel followed them saying with a loud voice if any man worship the beast and his image and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in Now I want you to really focus and we're going to drill down on verse 12.

Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

You know the expression itself sounds like here are they that keep the command.

It sounds like if you were playing hide-and-seek and when you're looking for something and you find it you would say here they are here I found them if someone so I think the verse implies that there is an examination or an investigation or looking for someone who fits this description But what is the message we hear from popular pulpits today?

Well, if you have faith in Jesus, you don't have to keep the commandments.

Jesus kept the law and he kept the commandments, so we don't have to.

That's not what this verse is saying though in verse 12.

It's describing a people who keep all of God's commandments, and I believe the way they are able to do so is because they have the faith of Jesus.

What is the faith of Jesus that enables them and strengthens them to be able to keep God's holy commandments.

An unholy person cannot keep holy commandments.

The commandments are holy, Romans 7 verse 12.

Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.

If an unholy person tries to keep a holy law, it will never ever work.

We're going to look and see a key in understanding what we need to know in order to have the ability to keep God's holy commandments.

I want to honor God because I love Him, because He's my creator, and I adore Him.

And in fact, the word worship this week in our Daniel Fast, we were studying Daniel chapter 3 at the Daniel Fast extension, and we noticed that the word worship conveys with it the idea of adoration.

The reason why we worship God is it comes from an adoration of who He is and what He has done.

And what He is doing and what He will do.

I mean there's so many components to that.

But to adore, to love with a great intensity.

So in Hebrews chapter 12, beginning in verse 1, we read these familiar words, wherefore, seeing we also are compassed or surrounded with so great a cloud of witnesses.

And of course, the witnesses are all those mentioned in Hebrews 11, the famous faith chapter.

Seeing we are compassed with such a great cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every sin, every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run, how?

Anyone have a different translation than the King James?

Let us run with patience the race that is set before us.

Now the word patience or endurance suggests that it's going to take some work or effort on on the part of those who are running the race because we're commissioned and invited to run the race and this is not just a race down to the refrigerator, a race to the mailbox maybe even, but a race that's going to take some time and it conveys the idea that it will take perseverance or endurance.

This should not discourage you, but it should encourage you.

Because we all go through challenges and difficulties, and we are invited to recognize that it will take endurance in order to run this race.

How many of you have ever run a race before, such as a one-mile race or a 5k or 10k?

I know we just had the frostbite just recently, and I see a few hands.

When you're running a race, do you get tired while you're running?

I used to work at a school, and they would have a picnic every year and they would run the mile run.

And I can remember every year there would be some students that would never, they wouldn't train and they would be running for their class and for whatever reason they, I can do it, I can do it.

And they would take off at the beginning of the race and they would just fly around the track on the first lap and they would be so far ahead of everybody.

But you know what's happening, what's gonna happen.

They would run out of gas and they would not even be able to hardly finish the race without any training or practicing and just completely lose their strength and energy.

But it describes here, if you look at verse 2, the way that we're supposed to run this race with endurance, it says, looking where?

Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our what?

And we know that faith is always based on something God says.

From Genesis to Revelation, any faith that we have is based on something that God has told us.

And it describes here that we're looking unto Jesus.

It's as if Jesus in the race is there at the finish line, cheering us on and saying, You can do it.

You and whenever someone cheers you on at the finish line, what does that do to you?

When you look and see if you've run a race before, a family member or a friend, and they're near the finish line and they're cheering for you, you get re-inspired.

You find new stamina and new strength to push beyond maybe where you thought you could go and to have a renewed zeal.

And it's the same in our spiritual experience when we look unto Jesus.

But I want you to also consider that it says, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.

Faith is based on what God says, but Jesus is the author and the finisher of our faith.

This implies that there is a process or a development that takes place in our faith.

I'm going to authorize and begin the faith so that you can believe and trust in me.

And then I'm going to help build that and strengthen that until it finishes and comes to its fullest extent so that you are fully able to do and believe what I have asked you to do.

And that is to keep His commandments and to live as a perfect person.

So I hope you can see that, author and finisher of our faith.

But what message do we hear today oftentimes, well, wait, wait, wait, wait, pastor, come on now.

I've got all these problems, I've got all these urges and weaknesses and tendencies.

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Looking Unto Jesus

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