The Author and Perfector of Faith (Hebrews 12:1-3) | Worship Service

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December 5, 2022

Jesus is the believers' example. We are to fix our eyes on Him who is the Author and Perfector of Faith. An exposition of Hebrews 12:1-3. This stream is created with #PRISMLiveStudio

19:04: you
20:02: We're going to sing a new song this morning, or at least new for our congregation, called
20:08: Sing We the Song of Emmanuel. Sing we the song of Emmanuel.
21:37: Joy and peace for the weary heart. Lift up your heads for your
21:43: King has come. Sing for the light overwhelms the dark.
21:48: Glory shining for all to see. Hope alive, let the gospel ring.
22:01: God's name is Jesus. Glory shining for all to see.
22:07: Hope alive, let the gospel ring.
22:16: His name is Jesus. Glory shining for all to see.
22:55: Hope alive, let the gospel ring. God has made a way.
23:00: He will have the praise. Tell the world His name is Jesus.
23:06: He comes from the
23:29: Messiah's birth. Worship, worship
23:36: Christ the newborn King. Residing yonder shines the infant.
24:02: Worship, worship Christ the newborn
24:08: King. Stages leave your contemplations.
24:18: Brighter visions peep afar. Seek the great desire of nations.
24:26: Ye have seen the infant. Worship, come and worship.
24:34: Worship Christ the newborn King. Saints before the altar bending, watching long.
24:51: Suddenly the Lord descending in His temple shall appear.
24:58: Come and worship. Come and worship. Worship Christ the newborn
25:06: King. He shall fill
25:17: His Father's throne. Patience to Him.
25:24: Every knee shall then bow down. Come and worship.
25:32: Worship Christ the newborn King. Come, let us worship.
26:17: Come, let us adore. Jesus, Messiah, our
26:23: Savior is born. Carol His glory and sing
26:29: His sweet name. Offer a life of thanksgiving and praise.
26:41: Join with the angels proclaiming to earth. Join with the shepherds in awe of His birth.
26:52: Join all creation rejoicing this morn. The glory of God become that has been born.
27:05: Let us adore Him. Jesus, the hope of the world.
27:16: Worship before Him. Christ the Messiah has come.
27:23: Salvation is born. Foretold Him the promise of God.
27:40: The hope of salvation and light of stable.
27:48: And born as a man. Born to fulfill God's will.
27:59: Let us adore Him. Jesus, the hope of the world.
28:08: Worship before Him. Christ the Messiah has come.
28:19: Let us adore Him. Jesus, the hope of the world.
28:29: Worship before Him. Christ the Messiah has come.
28:36: Salvation is born. Let us worship.
28:50: Come, let us adore. Jesus Messiah our
28:56: Savior is born. Stay standing for the reading of Scripture.
29:16: Hebrews 2 for the Scripture reading. We're going to begin reading at verse 9. Hebrews 2 verse 9.
29:31: But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely Jesus, because of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.
29:43: For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.
29:54: For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father, for which reason
30:00: He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will proclaim your name to my brethren. In the midst of the congregation
30:06: I will sing your praise. And again, I will put my trust in Him. And again, behold
30:12: I and the children whom God has given me. Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood,
30:17: He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.
30:29: For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. Therefore He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
30:44: For since He Himself was tempted in that which He suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.
30:50: I just point you to the announcements that are in your bulletin. Let us pray together. Bow our heads. Our Father, we are grateful for Your great mercy,
30:58: Your kindness and goodness in providing for us salvation, in doing all that is necessary from the first to the last, that we might have eternal life, and that our hearts may be inclined toward You and regenerated, and that we may be declared righteous in Your sight.
31:13: Thank You for the grace of salvation, the grace of Your Son, and we pray now that as we reflect upon Him and turn our hearts and our minds to contemplate
31:22: His great goodness, that You would be honored and glorified through our worship, and in and through Your people, we pray in Christ's name.
31:28: Amen. Look through the air
32:10: Peace and goodwill toward men Born now in Bethlehem Once upon a bed of straw
32:25: Slept the sovereign Son of God Lord of the universe
32:35: Breathing the dust of earth Wonderful Counselor Messiah Name above every name
33:05: In the highest heaven
33:14: Once upon a splintered cross Jesus died to rescue us
33:25: All of our shame and sin Nailed to the tree with Him Wonderful Counselor Messiah Name above every name
33:58: In the highest heaven
34:08: Once upon a bridge Christ the conqueror was raised
34:18: Heaven and nature sing Praise to the
34:23: King of kings Wonderful Counselor Messiah Name above every name
34:51: Wonderful Counselor Messiah Name above every name
35:12: Gloria Name above every name
35:27: Gloria In the highest
35:38: In Isaiah chapter 40 verses 3 -5 it says A voice is calling
35:44: Prepare the way for Yahweh in the wilderness Make smooth in the desert a highway for our
35:49: God Let every valley be lifted up And every mountain and hill be made low And let the rough ground become a plain
35:59: And the rugged terrain a broad valley Then the glory of Yahweh will be revealed
36:04: And all flesh will see it together For the mouth of Yahweh has spoken O come, all you unfaithful
36:19: Come, weak and unstable Come, know you are not alone
36:29: O come, barren and waiting
36:36: Once weary of praying Come, see what your
36:43: God has done Christ is born
36:52: Christ is born Christ is born
37:01: O come, bitter and broken
37:12: Come, with fears unspoken Come, destined this perfect love
37:22: O come, guilty and hiding
37:28: Once there is no need to run See what your
37:34: God has done Christ is born
37:42: Christ is born Christ is born
37:49: For you He's the
37:55: Lamb who was given Slain for our pardon
38:01: His promise is peace For those who believe
38:08: He's the Lamb who was given Slain for our pardon
38:16: His promise is peace For those who believe
38:23: So come, though you have nothing He is the offering
38:32: Come, see what your God has done
38:39: Christ is born Christ is born
38:47: Christ is born For you
38:55: Christ is born Christ is born
39:03: Christ is born You may be seated
41:02: Please turn now to Hebrews chapter 12 Hebrews chapter 12
41:12: And when you've found your place there We'll read the first three verses And then we'll open in prayer Hebrews 12, beginning of verse 1
41:23: Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us Let us also lay aside every encumbrance
41:30: And the sin which so easily entangles us And let us run with endurance the race that is set before us
41:36: Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith Who for the joy set before him
41:42: Endured the cross, despising the shame And has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God For consider him who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself
41:52: So that you will not grow weary and lose heart Let's pray together Our father, we quiet our hearts now before you and before your word
42:02: With the confident expectation that it is in your word that we hear you speak to us
42:08: So we pray that you would open our hearts and our minds to your word And shine the light of truth upon us, upon our souls
42:15: We pray that as a result of our time here Reflecting upon Christ and his work on our behalf
42:21: That you would take from us every false confidence And every self -confidence that we might have And set our hope and our affection and our confidence upon Christ and Christ alone
42:31: That we may see in him all of our soul's delight And reward and sufficiency
42:40: So that he may be honored and glorified through us and in our meditation And through the lives that we live in obedience to your word
42:46: We pray these things in Christ's name, amen Well the events of this life can make us weary Not in terms of just getting tired and I need a bit of a break
42:56: And a nice vacation would be good right about now So I can get a little bit of rest But I mean we get weary in the race that we run in the
43:03: Christian life We have to fight the fight which scripture describes as an agony A battle, a conflict, a war
43:11: We have to be faithful in that Faithful to live in this world requires Being faithful in this world requires constant vigilance
43:20: Constant discipline, constant effort Because we have to be on alert against The deceptions that come from outside of us
43:28: And the deceptions that rise within our own hearts As we tell ourselves lies We have to be alert to the false doctrine and compromise
43:37: Which constantly pushes against us seeking our undoing We have to resist temptation, kill sin, mortify the flesh
43:44: Deny ourselves, pursue holiness Live in obedience to him, serve the Lord And constantly walk in a manner that is worthy of the calling
43:53: With which we have been called And all of that requires constant effort And meanwhile the world, the flesh and the devil
43:58: Wage a relentless campaign against us on every front Making our every effort to do all of the above Even more difficult than it would otherwise be
44:07: And then we have to deal with all of the realities of life In a fallen world We have to face the weaknesses and frailties that come on us
44:15: And increase even more as we get older and older And progress in our race Suffering accompanies us in this sinful world
44:23: We have to face the world's hostilities, persecution Their opposition to the truth
44:29: And their constant bombardment of lies We have to fight against and resist all of that That's wearying, isn't it?
44:38: I mean, that's a sad and depressing picture But that's the reality of living life in a fallen world
44:45: Surrounded by darkness And being citizens of the kingdom of light And if you are in Christ Then you have endured up to this point
44:53: And if you're hearing my voice Then you have not yet crossed the finish line And stepped into the end of your race and your reward
45:01: So even though you have endured to this point You have need, the author of Hebrews says For even more endurance
45:06: And Hebrews chapter 12 contains for us The encouragement that the world weary soldiers
45:12: The world weary pilgrims in this world need And so we are returning back to Hebrews chapter 12
45:17: It's been a couple of weeks since we have been in Hebrews 12 And I am aware that only three weeks from now
45:24: Is Christmas day on a Sunday morning And it would be customary for me to launch into a
45:32: Christmas series Which I'm not going to do Because I think that the subject matter of our contemplation
45:38: In Hebrews chapter 12 puts our minds and our hearts In reflection of what Christ has done for us
45:44: In coming here and taking upon himself human flesh And living and dying in our stead
45:49: That really is what we would meditate upon for the Christmas season And that really is what is the focus of the author in Hebrews chapter 12
45:57: These things direct our minds toward the reality That the second person of the eternal Godhead Stepped into time and space
46:05: And took upon himself human flesh Veiled the glory of his deity in human flesh
46:11: And then he lived in this world surrounded by the sin Facing all of the hostility and the opposition
46:18: And the persecution that you and I face Resisting temptation and doing all of that To live a perfect life so that he may die a perfect death
46:26: And atone for the sins of his people That is what Christmas is all about And that is the reminder that Hebrews chapter 12
46:33: Gives us continually the humanity of Jesus The suffering and the affliction As the author of Hebrews says in verse 3
46:40: We consider him who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself So that you will not grow weary and lose heart
46:47: All of this is to encourage us To not grow weary in our walk with the
46:53: Lord By the reminder that there is one who has gone before us There is one who has accomplished all that the author
46:59: Has encouraged us to seek to accomplish He has walked in this world, he has faced the opposition
47:04: He has lived in obedience, he has run his race He has finished his race And he has done so with faithfulness
47:10: And he then becomes the example for us And he can only be an example to us For our humanity if he was true humanity
47:18: This is what the author of Hebrews is constantly reminding us of All the way through this book
47:23: Hebrews chapter 3 verse 6 He was a faithful son Hebrews chapter 4 verse 15 He was tempted as we are yet without sin
47:30: Hebrews chapter 5 verse 8 In the days of his flesh He offered up both prayers and supplications
47:35: With loud crying and tears To the one able to save him from death And he was heard because of his piety
47:41: He learned obedience through the things which he suffered Hebrews 5 verse 8 and 9 So one has already lived a perfect obedient life
47:50: He has faced the temptation He has endured the hostility He has lived in this world He has been surrounded by sin and sickness and death
47:57: He has seen the devastation that sin can wreak in this world In cultures, in nations, in families, upon people, in churches
48:04: He has witnessed all of that He has seen the effects of sin And he has finished his race and done so with faithfulness
48:11: And so we look to him who was made like us in the incarnation So that he might redeem us and then make us like himself in glorification
48:19: He ran his race And the goal that we have is to run our race with endurance And so we're going to pick it up back in Hebrews chapter 12
48:26: And if you are new here or not been with us up to this point I'm just going to give you a brief overview of what we have looked at thus far
48:32: In verses 1 through 3 We are to run our race well as we consider the others who have ran it before us
48:38: We are surrounded by this great cloud of witnesses Then we are to run as we cast off every encumbrance and hindrance and sin
48:45: Which so easily entangles us and threatens to hinder us And then we have to continue in this course that is set before us
48:52: As we run the race That's verses 1 and 2 We're surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses So we are to lay aside every encumbrance
48:58: And then the end of verse 1 We are to run with endurance the race set before us And the fourth thing we are to do
49:05: Is to focus, to concentrate on the Lord Jesus Who is both our soul's reward and our example
49:12: The one who rewards us Fixing your eyes on Jesus, verse 2 says The author and perfecter of faith
49:17: Who for the joy set before him endured the cross Despising the shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God Last time we were together we looked at Jesus as the object of our faith
49:26: And he is the one upon whom we are to set our gaze Taking our attention off of the distractions
49:32: And the discouragements and the disappointments of this world Disregarding all of the pleasures and the treasures
49:38: That this world will offer us to distract us in our race We are to fix our mind and our heart and our attention
49:45: Upon Christ who is that great example He then is the object of our faith We look unto him, that is the call
49:51: He is in a unique way not just our example But he is the object upon which our faith rests
49:58: And then we look at a second today Look at a second description of the Lord Jesus He is the author of our faith
50:04: And the next week we'll look at him as the example of our faith Look at the phrase in verse 2 Fixing your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith
50:12: So he is both the object of our faith As well as the author and perfecter of our faith And I'm saying here he is the author of our faith
50:20: But we're going to include in here the idea That he is the perfecter or the finisher of our faith as well Because if he is the author of our faith
50:28: In the sense that I believe the text means here Then he must also be the one who completes or finishes the faith
50:33: If he started it, he will finish it So today we want to look at what it means that Jesus is the author and the finisher of our faith
50:40: This entire phrase is probably one that is well known to most Christians In fact, before this message if I had stepped up here
50:47: And asked you to complete the following sentence Fixing your eyes on Jesus Probably 90 % of people in here
50:54: If you've been a Christian for any period of time at all Would have been able to finish that phrase He is the author and perfecter of faith
51:00: Or he is the author and finisher of faith Depending on what translation you are most used to It's a phrase that is familiar to us
51:06: A description of Jesus that is very familiar to Christians But I wonder how many of us really have thought through The implications of what this means
51:15: And why it is that the author uses that To describe Jesus in this context
51:20: That he is the author and the perfecter of faith The word author here is the word archegos
51:30: It's used four times in the New Testament Always of Jesus This is a description by the way that is very fitting for the context
51:37: Of course it fits the context of faith Hebrews chapter 11 is the faith chapter And we've been talking about faith from one angle or another
51:44: Since back at the end of chapter 10 So you probably are all faithed out on describing faith
51:49: And listening about faith, etc. We've seen all the examples of faith But here the author describes
51:54: Jesus as the author and perfecter of faith So why does he use that phrase That description of Jesus in this context
52:01: Even disregarding faith The nature of faith and the fact that the context is faith Why is that significant?
52:07: I think it is significant because there is something In that description that fits the point of the author
52:13: The intention of the author in this passage In encouraging us to persevere in our faith
52:18: Of all the ways that the author Could have described the Lord Jesus He describes him as the author and finisher of faith
52:26: For instance, the author could have said Fixing your eyes on Jesus The alpha and the omega
52:31: The beginning and the end, the first and the last He could have said that, right? He could have said fixing your eyes on Jesus The divine son of God Or fixing your eyes on Jesus Our great high priest or our forerunner
52:44: He could have said fixing your eyes on Jesus The bread of life, the living water The light of the world, the resurrection and the life
52:51: The way, the truth and the life The living one Of all the descriptions that he could have used concerning Jesus Why the author and finisher of faith?
53:00: I think that that will become obvious As we look at the implications of this And see how this can be very encouraging For world -weary saints
53:07: The word archegos Used four times in the New Testament Always of Jesus, it's used twice in the book of Acts And twice in the book of Hebrews It's translated differently in the book of Acts Than it is in the book of Hebrews Because the word has two different But very similar
53:21: And actually related meanings First, the word can be used to describe One who is a leader, a ruler
53:29: Or a prince In fact, that is how it is used in the book of Acts It's translated as prince Acts 3 verse 15
53:35: Peter implicating the Jews of his day For the death of Jesus, he says to them You put to death the prince of life
53:42: The one whom God raised from the dead A fact to which we are witnesses Very fitting there that Peter would say
53:48: You put to death the prince of life Notice the play on words there You killed the one who is the giver of all life
53:54: Is the idea And the meaning of that word in that context Really prince of life is a great
54:01: Translation there It could also be the originator of life Or the author of life, he could have used it in that sense
54:07: It's also translated as prince in Acts 5 verse 31 He is the one whom God exalted
54:13: To his right hand as a prince And a savior to grant repentance To Israel and forgiveness of sins
54:18: So there you see it kind of used as a proper title One who is a leader Or one who is a ruler, a prince
54:24: It really has the idea of one who goes before Stands out in front of the crowd And leads the crowd as a leader
54:30: Or a prince in that sense It's also used a second way And this is how it's translated in Hebrews It's translated as author
54:38: And it refers to or describes One who is an initiator A founder, an originator
54:44: Or a pioneer And you can see how these words are used together One who is an initiator, a pioneer
54:49: Might be one who steps out in front of the crowd So it kind of has the idea of Not just one who leads a group of people
54:55: Or rules over a group of people But also one who initiates or authors something Originates something
55:01: He pioneers something That's how the word is used here in Hebrews It's used back in chapter 2
55:07: Verse 10, for it was fitting for him For whom are all things and through whom Are all things in bringing many sons to glory
55:13: To perfect the author Of their salvation through sufferings And there it's translated as author
55:19: And then here in Hebrews chapter 12 verse 2 The author and perfecter of faith So what does he mean by the author of faith?
55:25: The prince of faith It wouldn't make a lot of sense to translate it as The prince of faith or the ruler of faith
55:31: So instead they translate it as author of faith Using the sense of that word Which means an originator or an initiator
55:39: To understand what he means by Author and perfecter of faith Particularly author here We have to remember what he's talking about In terms of faith
55:47: What type of faith he is describing And this could be a much longer discussion
55:52: But I'm going to make it very simple He is not describing faith In the objective external sense of faith
55:58: Like we have a faith Once for all delivered to the saints A body of truth, a content of doctrine
56:03: That has been handed over to us The faith in that sense is something Outside of us, something apart from us
56:09: It's not something subjective or inside of us The author has not been speaking of faith In that sense anywhere
56:14: In this context from chapter 10 The faith that justifies by which the righteous live All the way through to the present tense
56:20: He hasn't been using faith in that sense Instead he is speaking of faith
56:26: In terms of that subjective Personal, individual belief And confidence in the word of God The faith by which the righteous live
56:33: Back in Hebrews chapter 10 It is the faith that saves and sanctifies us A faith which is a trust in God's word
56:40: That lays hold of the promises And considers them as substance Those things which we hope for It's that faith, it is the individual and personal
56:47: Trust in God and His word That the author has been speaking of All the way through this context And here he said
56:54: Jesus is the author of that faith So in what sense is he Either the prince or the originator
57:00: Of faith, of that faith The author is not saying That Jesus came along and he
57:05: Founded a new faith system And he is the founder or pioneer Of a new set of beliefs, clever ideas
57:12: About how to relate to God That he has then handed off to us That is not what he is saying He is describing something about the faith that you and I have
57:19: That we place in God Jesus himself is the author and perfecter Of that faith He could be describing
57:27: Jesus As the leader or example Of faith Like a trailblazer or a pioneer
57:33: Or one who has gone before That first description, the idea of a prince He could mean that because either one of these
57:39: Definitions would fit the context And would fit the flow of thought And here is a dirty little secret
57:45: I think the author has both of these Ideas in mind There is a sense in which Jesus is the leader
57:51: Or pioneer, the trailblazer Or one who has gone before us In this race of faith You and I are called to face the hostility
57:59: Of this world by faith Did Jesus do that? He did, didn't he?
58:05: In fact, that is what verse 3 says He endured such hostility by sinners against himself And we are to consider that So that we do not lose heart and grow weary We are called to run our race faithfully
58:15: And to finish it well, has he done that? Yeah, he completed everything that the Father gave him to do He did only the
58:20: Father's will And all of the Father's will And when he got done with it, he said, it is finished So he has run his race and he has finished it
58:27: Accomplishing everything that was laid out for him to do The course that was set for him He endured that, he went through that He persevered and ran that race
58:34: You and I are called to fix our eyes on the reward And to trust God for that reward For the things which are unseen
58:40: Did Jesus do that? Oh, he absolutely did Right? He fixed For the joy that was set before him
58:46: That is, he fixed his eyes on that reward For the joy that was set before him He endured the cross, he despised the shame
58:52: And he sat down at the right hand of the throne of God So in that way, Jesus is an example then Of the race of faith
58:59: In that he has accomplished it and he has done it And he has gone before it and laid out the course And now it is up to you and I Just simply to follow in the same path of obedience
59:07: That the Lord Jesus himself followed in But there is another sense In which he is the author of faith
59:13: And that is the sense in which He is the originator or initiator Of that faith
59:19: By the way, these things should be encouraging To us that Jesus Christ has already done it We read at the beginning of the
59:26: Service, Hebrews 2 verse 9 We do see him who was made For a little while lower than the angels Namely Jesus, because of the suffering of death
59:33: Crowned with glory and honor See, that is the reproach, that is the suffering That accompanies faith He has endured that and he is now
59:41: Crowned with glory and honor This is the example that you and I are to follow In that sense he is the pioneer of that faith
59:47: In terms of the race metaphor In terms of the race metaphor He has already taken to the starting blocks
59:53: And he has heard the starting pistol And he has run his race, he has crossed the finish line He is seated there at the father's right hand
59:59: He is holding out the reward His eyes are fixed on you And he is saying to you, the end, the finish line
01:00:05: Is not that far away Just keep running, keep enduring Cross that line, do it faithfully
01:00:10: And you will receive the crown of glory as well In that sense he is the example for us
01:00:16: But he is also Not just a pioneer of the race of faith But he is the originator of faith
01:00:22: And this is the second way that the word is used One who originates Or initiates something In this sense then he is the creator
01:00:29: Or the beginner of a thing One who initiates the thing This is how it is used back in Hebrews chapter 2
01:00:36: Verse 10 For it was fitting for him for whom are all things And through whom are all things In bringing many sons to glory
01:00:42: To perfect the author Or originator of their salvation Through sufferings
01:00:47: Who is the initiator of salvation? Does it come from men? Does it come from fallen man?
01:00:54: Do we design and plan and originate Salvation? Christ is the initiator and the originator
01:01:00: He is the author Of our salvation because salvation Is of the Lord And again we are not talking about here
01:01:07: The faith in the sense of an objective Body of doctrine that we believe We are talking about the subjective
01:01:13: Personal and individual Trust and confidence in God and His word That faith the author
01:01:20: Has been commending for us since back in chapter 10 A faith that saves us and Sanctifies us, a faith by which the
01:01:26: Just live, the faith that is the Substance of what is hoped for, the faith That is the conviction of things unseen
01:01:32: The faith that worships like Abel Walks with God like Enoch Works like Noah Obeys and believes like Abraham Trusts God for the triumphs
01:01:41: Trusts God through the trials The faith that belongs to men and women Of whom this world is not worthy
01:01:47: That is the faith that he is talking about Christ is the initiator Of that faith
01:01:53: Let me make it very simple and put it Very personally Jesus is the author of the faith that you have
01:02:00: In Him That's it He is the author of the faith That you have in Him Now you say, hold on a second, there was a time
01:02:08: When I had no faith And then somebody came and presented the gospel to me And commanded me to believe
01:02:14: And I placed my faith In Jesus Christ I remember doing that That was an expression of my heart
01:02:22: I did that thing They said believe and I believed Did that come from you?
01:02:29: Was that the Product of your heart? Was that the product of your soul? You do have faith
01:02:35: You have placed it in Jesus Christ But I ask you Christian Where does that faith come from?
01:02:41: Did it originate in your darkened heart? Did it originate in your sinful soul? It did not
01:02:48: Ephesians 2, 8 and 9 Says by grace we have been saved through faith And that, what is that?
01:02:54: That is not Of yourselves The faith that you have Did not come from inside your heart
01:03:00: You have no capacity To conjure that up from within your sinful soul It is not of yourselves
01:03:06: It is the gift of God So that no one can boast You know what makes you and I unable to boast
01:03:11: Even in the faith that we place in Christ The fact that that faith is a divine gift That God gives to His elect And He causes it in the hearts of His people
01:03:18: So that they will trust in Jesus Christ He is the author, the initiator, the originator
01:03:24: Of the faith that you and I have placed in Him That faith that you have Did not come from within your heart
01:03:29: And within your soul This is why Philippians 1, verse 29 Says to you it has been granted
01:03:34: Both to believe in Jesus Christ And to suffer for His name Those are two fantastic gifts
01:03:41: That God gives to His elect The faith to believe And the grace to suffer for Him You get to believe
01:03:48: It's the good part You get to suffer It's also good by the way You get to believe and you get to suffer
01:03:54: Both of those things have been granted to you By the good grace of God Your faith, your trust
01:04:02: In the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ Is a gift that God granted to you He gave it to you
01:04:09: He initiated it He originated it It comes from Him Now do you deny this?
01:04:17: Do you say oh no no Jim I didn't grow up in one of those kind of churches Where we talk about things like this
01:04:24: That's no no My faith, that is all me bro That is all me, that comes from within me
01:04:29: He did everything He called upon me to believe And I believe that belief, that faith Comes from inside my heart
01:04:36: That's my work, that's my contribution to salvation Are you sure about that?
01:04:42: Mr. dead in your trespasses and sins Are you sure about that? Darkened in your mind
01:04:47: Alienated from the life of God Hostile in your mind against the law of God Unable to submit to the law of God An enemy of God in your mind
01:04:55: Through wicked works And by the way I'm not just rattling off accusations about you I'm giving you how scripture describes you
01:05:01: In your fallenness You are one in whom dwelt No good thing Unable to please
01:05:07: God A slave of Satan, a slave of sin A slave of yourself, a citizen of the kingdom of darkness
01:05:13: A child of wrath Unable to change your heart Of stone, a lover of darkness
01:05:18: A lover of sin, a hater of God And a rebel to his will So you think that you are the initiator of your faith?
01:05:27: Tell me then What part of your soul, your heart Your inner being
01:05:33: Was so untouched by sin Uncorrupted by wickedness Unfallen, so pure And pristine that you could conjure up From within your heart
01:05:44: Within your soul This God honoring God glorifying God facing, self reproving
01:05:51: Self denying, self humbling Faith that endures trials And tribulations
01:05:56: That endures afflictions and suffering That is willing to be sawn into That is willing to be stoned
01:06:02: That is willing to be wandering around In caves and holes of the earth Like Hebrews chapter 11 describes
01:06:08: Where did that sin, the one that goes through The fiery trials of the furnace of affliction
01:06:13: And comes out the other side Like a precious metal Where did that come from within your sinful heart? It was not there
01:06:21: You know where it came from? The author and perfecter of your faith It was a gift of God It does not originate with you
01:06:30: It originates with Him You did not initiate it, He initiated it You did not conjure it up He created it and granted it to you
01:06:39: It is a gift of God To His people That is what it means that He is the author of salvation
01:06:45: It does not come from us It is not of yourselves So that no one can boast Because dead people don't believe
01:06:54: If physically dead people Cannot get up and walk out of the grave Spiritually dead people cannot repent and believe
01:06:59: We are unable to do that Jesus said no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him He's not saying no one's permitted to come to me
01:07:05: He's saying nobody has the power to come to me You know why we don't have the power to come to Him? Because we are broken in our will and in our hearts
01:07:11: And we lack any spiritual capacity To do anything that is pleasing in His sight Which includes repenting of our sin
01:07:17: And placing our faith in Jesus Christ So something outside of us Must regenerate us, give us a new heart
01:07:23: Grant us that we might believe upon Him And give us the gift of faith So that we will believe
01:07:29: His promises And trust in His word How is He the author of this? He is the author of it in the sense that He purchased
01:07:35: This gracious gift for us God the Father gives to His elect
01:07:42: The gift of faith Because Christ the Son died on the cross To pay the penalty for their sin
01:07:48: And to purchase for them Every good and spiritual gift So every good thing that comes into our lives
01:07:54: Every spiritual blessing Has all been purchased for us by the death of Christ So why is it that God gives this gift?
01:08:00: How does He give it to us? He gives it to us because it has been purchased for us By His Son And then
01:08:06: He has granted that faith to you It is His gift to His people That secures their salvation
01:08:12: His sheep hear His voice, Jesus said He guarantees that He guarantees that they will come to Him And that He will cast none of them out
01:08:19: And that He guarantees that He will give to them eternal life Sanctify them and secure them everlastingly And hold on to them to the very end
01:08:26: In His own hand So that He may be able to say Of all that the Father has given to Him That He has gathered them all in And He has secured all of them
01:08:35: And raised them all up on the last day How does He guarantee the end? By guaranteeing the means
01:08:41: How does He guarantee the end That He has ordained? By ordaining all of the means that come to pass
01:08:47: That grant the gracious gift of that end So He is the originator and the author of it
01:08:52: Peter says in 2 Peter chapter 1 Introducing his epistle He says to those who have received
01:08:57: A faith of the same kind as ours Did you hear that? To those who have received a faith
01:09:03: Of the same kind as ours Peter is not talking about objective doctrine Delivered outside of us that we all look at From different angles
01:09:10: He is talking about that subjective trust and faith In Jesus Christ You and I have received the same kind of faith
01:09:17: John 6 verse 44 Which I already referenced No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him And I will raise him up on the last day
01:09:25: Jesus Himself is the author of faith Now you say who's faith? Your faith? My faith?
01:09:30: He is the author of Everybody's faith Who has ever had faith
01:09:35: And this goes all the way back into Hebrews chapter 11 How do you explain Abel's faith? He is the author of it
01:09:42: See Abel was just as dead in trespasses And sins as you were and as I was How do you explain
01:09:48: Noah's faith? Abraham's faith Where does that remarkable faith come from? Inside the heart of that idol worshipper
01:09:53: Abraham? Does he get to Claim credit for that faith? Or did
01:09:59: God do something In Abraham so that he would believe? That faith was authored By Christ Himself The faith that endures mockings and trials
01:10:07: And scourgings and temptations and tribulations All of that That faith that comes out the other side of it
01:10:12: Pure, undefiled, purified And precious That is a faith that is authored by Christ Himself I hope you can see how encouraging this is
01:10:21: The faith that binds you to the Son of God Is not your own creation It is not conjured up from within your sinful heart
01:10:27: God did not leave it to you To seek for Him, you know why? Because no man seeks after God So He didn't just hold out the prize
01:10:34: And say alright, everybody who wants it You all come If He had done that, how many people would rush
01:10:40: Toward that prize? It's not a big number Rhymes with hero, it's zero
01:10:46: Nobody would have pursued that Why? Because we do not have the capacity To pursue that, or the desire to pursue that Or the will to pursue that We have no inclination to pursue that whatsoever
01:10:57: He has not left it up to us To pursue Him And if He had If that were the way that faith worked
01:11:03: If faith came from inside of us From inside of our own darkened soul If it was just a human conjuring, a human belief
01:11:09: That you and I placed in the divine Son of God Then we would have every reason To panic in a world like ours
01:11:17: Because we would always be asking ourselves What if my faith is not strong enough? What if my faith is not pure enough?
01:11:23: What if my faith is not big enough To hold me through to the very end? What if I face persecutions?
01:11:30: What if I face suffering? What if I'm to face tribulations? What if there is a long delay Between the promise and the fulfillment
01:11:37: Of that promise? Will my faith hold on? You see, you and I might clutch our pearls And wring our hands and dab our sweat
01:11:44: And worry that our faith might fail In the event that God takes a long time To fulfill His promises
01:11:49: Or in the event that we have to go through some affliction or suffering You worried about that? Why can't
01:11:58: I maintain my faith? What if I can't maintain my faith Enough to the very end? You mean that faith that you didn't originate to begin with?
01:12:07: The faith of which you are not the author Or the creator? That faith? If He started that Then He will finish that That is how
01:12:18: I know What the end holds for me Because if He has begun this work He will hold me through to the end of this work
01:12:26: The perfecter of faith Our English translation doesn't do justice to that word Because it doesn't have the idea
01:12:32: Of somebody who keeps improving something Until they make it perfect If you're a perfecter of a golf swing
01:12:37: You might start off real horrible And then by the time you get to the end You've perfected the golf swing Or you've perfected some skill or talent that you have
01:12:44: That's not what this word means This word means to complete Or to finish
01:12:49: To accomplish It describes one who is a finisher Or a completer of something If He starts it,
01:12:54: He will complete it If He is the originator of it If He began it and initiated it If it started with Him And it's
01:13:00: His divine creation by His grace Then He must see it through all the way to the end That is why the author says
01:13:06: He is the author of it And He is the completer or the finisher of it How has
01:13:11: He completed it? He has completed it by accomplishing All of the work that is necessary In order to secure our salvation
01:13:19: So He has done the work Accomplished redemption Finished the sacrifice, never to be repeated
01:13:24: Never to be duplicated Nothing to add to it It requires no contribution by you
01:13:30: No supplement by you You don't have to bolster it up You don't have to do anything to add to it
01:13:35: It is a finished and perfect and completed work That we have placed our faith in And so He has finished it in that sense
01:13:42: And He is the finishing of faith itself When will your faith end? Faith is no longer necessary When you have what?
01:13:51: When you have sight When you see the end result When you have reached the culmination
01:13:56: The pinnacle, the conclusion of faith And you see Him as He is And you look upon the
01:14:02: Savior face to face And all of the promises that God has ever made To you and to the church
01:14:08: Have all been fulfilled You have received them all And you are in the kingdom There is no longer need for that faith
01:14:15: It doesn't mean that we no longer Believe God and trust Him But the faith that you and I have now Which regards as substance those things
01:14:22: Which we have not seen That element of faith is no longer necessary So who is it that is going to bring us
01:14:28: To the completion of what it is That we have hoped for If my faith has started out over here
01:14:34: And it is dragging me this way And compelling me toward an end An object, a finish, a conclusion
01:14:39: The fulfillment of all of His promises Who is the one that ultimately will bring me to that It is
01:14:44: Christ If He is the author of the faith Then He is the perfecter of the faith as well And I'm talking again about my subjective confidence
01:14:52: And trust in Christ And in His word Philippians 1 verse 6 says I am confident of this very thing
01:14:58: That He who began a good work in you Will what? Complete it until the day of Christ Jesus There is not a person
01:15:08: In history For whom Christ has started The work of salvation And gotten them partially through and then dropped them
01:15:16: Or let them go It doesn't happen There is no such thing I am confident of this very thing
01:15:23: That if God has initiated your faith He will see it through all the way to the end And He will complete what He has begun in you 1
01:15:28: Peter 5 verse 10 says After you have suffered a little while The God of all grace who has called you To His eternal glory in Christ Will Himself perfect Confirm, strengthen and establish you
01:15:39: That's the end result If God has started the work He will finish the work He will not lose you
01:15:44: He will not let the completion of His purposes for you Rest in your weak and frail
01:15:50: And failing hands He does not leave the completion of His work up to you So I hope that what you are hearing me say
01:15:57: Now is that Your salvation both the beginning of it And the end of it and all of it in between Rests upon the absolute authority
01:16:04: And sovereignty of a God Who created and initiated that faith in you And has promised that He will carry you through All the way to the very end
01:16:12: So here is how this is an encouragement To world weary saints What about persecution? What about suffering?
01:16:19: What about sin and affliction in this world? What about times of darkness and doubt And despair and discouragement
01:16:25: And depression? What if this world gets darker than it already is? Will my faith hold on?
01:16:31: Will my faith endure? If it is the faith that is described in this book And in scripture
01:16:37: That confident trust in God which He initiated And which He has begun Then the answer to that question is absolutely it will
01:16:44: Now listen This does not mean That you and I do not need
01:16:50: To work To use the God ordained means For strengthening our faith
01:16:56: Encouraging our faith Informing our faith Purifying our faith There is the means to that end
01:17:03: This is what the author has been describing When he says yes you in running the race You must consider the great cloud of witnesses
01:17:10: That has gone before Who does that? You do That is what the whole sermons were about Keep up with me now
01:17:17: Who does this? You do this Who is it that casts off every sin And the hindrances and entanglements
01:17:23: And encumbrances and protuberances That so easily trip us up Who has to do that? You have to do that.
01:17:30: I have to do that Who is it that is commanded To run our race with endurance All the way to the very end
01:17:37: You're commanded to do that I'm commanded to do that So this is the work that we do Consider others, cast off, continue in our course
01:17:46: Fix our eyes on Jesus These are all things that we do But we do so with the confidence
01:17:52: That that faith Cannot fail That then is my
01:17:57: Motivation to do all of these things If you think that the Sovereignty of God is a motivation
01:18:03: Or excuse for you not to do any Of those things, to simply take your hands Off the wheel and coast
01:18:08: And let momentum take over You're not understanding a thing that I'm saying The fact that He is the author of that faith
01:18:17: And the fact that He is the completer Of that faith is the very thing That gives me the confidence that I Can obey the promise
01:18:25: Of fixing my eyes on Jesus The perfecter of my faith Casting off the sin that so easily
01:18:31: Entangles us, considering the others Who have gone before, and then run My race with endurance
01:18:36: All the way to the very end I can do that. You know why I can do that? Because I'm strong? No.
01:18:42: Smart? No. Good looking? Maybe, but no, that's not the reason It has nothing to do with any of those things
01:18:47: You know why I can do that? I can do that because He is the author And finisher of my faith
01:18:52: And if it were up to me, I would have no confidence At all that I could either Begin this race, or finish this race
01:18:59: Or run it with endurance So what is the Encouragement for world weary saints?
01:19:06: He's the author And the finisher of the faith That you have. Therefore You can consider others
01:19:13: You can cast off the encumbrances You can continue in your course And you can fix your eyes on Jesus Who is the author and the perfecter of it
01:19:20: You see, there is all these things that you and I are to do In the passage, that are the Efforts that we make, the things that we do
01:19:26: The means to this end. We are to do These things. But we are to do These things as we look and gaze upon the one
01:19:33: And are reminded of the fact That I'm only in this race because He put me in this race And I am in this race, running this race
01:19:39: Because He has promised me that He will carry me Through all the way to the very end And therefore I can run with endurance the race that is set
01:19:45: Before me. Our confidence Is in the power of the Christ Who will fulfill everything that He has
01:19:51: Promised to us. Let's pray Our Father We are so grateful for Your mercy and Your grace
01:19:56: And Your strengthening purposes in our lives We thank You that You have given to us Your Word and Your Holy Spirit That You have granted to us the faith to Believe, the grace of repentance
01:20:06: These gifts of Yours Come from Your hand Your saving purposes and they are ours
01:20:12: Only because Christ has purchased all of them On our behalf. And so we thank You For His death, we thank
01:20:17: You for His suffering, we thank You for His affliction Which has purchased our redemption And even purchased our faith
01:20:24: We thank You for the Reminder, the strong reminder That we are Yours because of Your Gracious purposes.
01:20:31: We are in This race only because You have put us in there And that You have initiated And begun a good work which
01:20:37: You will Most certainly finish. So Grant us, we pray, this confidence and encourage Our hearts together.
01:20:43: Help us to face A world outside that is hostile to us With the confidence that we cannot Fail because we belong to You And we trust
01:20:50: You. And so we pray That You would fix our eyes on Jesus who is The author and the perfecter of Our faith and the example that we are to Follow for His sake, for His glory
01:20:59: Because we believe these things to be Your Will for us, we ask them in Christ's Name. As we observe the
01:21:08: Lord's Supper We're going to be reflecting upon The great sacrifice that the Lord has made To purchase our redemption
01:21:15: Every good thing that you have Ever received in this life, every Good thing that you will ever receive in eternal life
01:21:21: All of it has been purchased for you Through the death of Christ The repentance, the gift of repentance
01:21:26: The gift of faith, the grace to believe The timing of your salvation Full justification,
01:21:32: Your Forgiveness of all of your sins, past, present And future. Your redemption Your regeneration, eternal life
01:21:39: The spiritual gift, the indwelling of the Spirit, your participation in the new covenant Your eventual participation in The kingdom of the
01:21:45: Lord Jesus Christ, all of that Is made possible and purchased Because of what Christ has done So we reflect
01:21:53: Upon that great sacrifice That was made on our Behalf, aware
01:21:59: That while we are in this world We are weary and we do continue To sin, and so our
01:22:04: Participation in the Lord's table Our remembrance of these things Is always preceded by A reminder of our sin
01:22:13: Our wickedness and the need for confession So if you are not a Believer here today and you've never trusted
01:22:18: Christ For salvation, I would beg Of you not to partake of the bread Or the juices as passed before you today
01:22:25: Because to do so is to eat and drink Judgment to yourself, because what you're Doing is saying while I'm still in my sin
01:22:31: Living in it, in that iniquity I am not turning From that and instead
01:22:36: I am participating In something and pretending to be part of a Community of people that are purchased by this blood And really
01:22:41: I have no share in that blood That is an act of blasphemy, I encourage you Not to participate in the Lord's table, strongly
01:22:46: Encourage you, you're eating and drinking judgment To yourself, you're increasing your Damnation unless you repent and Trust Christ for salvation
01:22:54: Where if you are a believer here today and you Are living in unrepentant sin I would encourage you to Confess that to the
01:23:01: Lord Admit your iniquity And your sin, confess it to him, he knows
01:23:06: It anyway, turn from that iniquity And then enjoy the Lord's table With us together, so we will have a moment
01:23:12: Of prayer, I'm going to ask the ushers to come Forward and once we get up here we will bow Our heads and pray together a prayer of confession
01:23:18: And then we'll partake of the Lord's table Let's bow our heads,
01:23:54: Father we are An unworthy people And in ourselves we deserve nothing but Your justice and your wrath
01:24:00: For our sin We were under your wrath and then delivered by your grace And we
01:24:06: In ourselves have no merit or reason Why we should come to you And no standing before you to Confess or to repent or to acknowledge
01:24:14: Wrongdoing or to receive Forgiveness, that is Ours only because of what
01:24:19: Christ has done And so we acknowledge Our sinfulness and our wretchedness
01:24:24: This flesh that still Plagues us, this unredeemed body in which we Live is constantly
01:24:30: At war with you and with righteousness And we have to fight that Fighting our lusts, our desires, our inclinations
01:24:36: And our affections And it is a constant struggle and we are weary From that, living in this world
01:24:42: And we look forward to and long For the day when those inclinations Will never be there again, we will be free
01:24:48: Not just from the penalty of sin But from the very presence of sin And though we
01:24:54: Are free now from its power, we know that we Sin daily, we sin in Ways where we omit to do
01:25:00: Things which we should do And we do those things which we Should not do
01:25:06: And so we acknowledge that and we confess Our sin to you and we thank you for the Great grace of salvation
01:25:12: For the love of Christ, for the love of our God Which has sent the Son into The world to redeem a people for his own glory
01:25:19: Thank you for that great love Father, we owe everything to you And we thank you for the mercy of forgiveness
01:25:24: And the hope of eternal life Which is ours in Christ, in whose name we pray Amen On the night in which he was betrayed
01:28:30: Our Lord took the bread and when he had broke it he said Take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you Do this in remembrance of me
01:32:01: In the same manner also after supper he took the cup And said this is the new covenant in my blood
01:32:06: Do this as often as you drink it In remembrance of me And the
01:32:30: Son did not do Robbery to be equal to you The Lord himself took on the form of a servant
01:32:39: When we take this cup Lord and Eat this bread We remember what you did for us
01:32:45: That you suffered and died in our place And we're just so Grateful for that I just pray that as Pastor Jim was teaching
01:32:53: Us this morning that we just keep our eyes Fixed on you That you would be The author and perfecter of our faith
01:32:59: And that we'd remember your sacrifice for us That We'd just be blessed by that And I just thank you
01:33:06: Lord that you're mindful of us And that you keep your eye fixed on us And that you never leave us or forsake us
01:33:11: We're just so grateful for that Lord Thank you for this gift I just pray that we bring glory to you
01:33:17: When we reason these things in our minds And when we reflect on them That we just love you and praise you
01:33:23: And just give you all the glory and honor you're due In Jesus name we pray Amen Please stand
01:33:37: And we'll end our service this morning By singing a communion hymn for Christmas Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to We approach the cup,
01:35:49: Bethlehem's pure oblation, free we have heard.
01:35:59: Christmas babe so tender, glad you pour our blame.
01:36:06: How shall sinners render praises to your name?
01:36:18: As we breathe in your ransomed treasure, reign forever.
01:36:30: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.