"LIVE BY JESUS' FAITH"

November 4, 2001 pm
MF Blume

Hebrews 10:10-22 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Jesus sat down after making one sacrifice.

In contrast to the Judaic priests standing every day in ministry in the temple Jesus does not sacrifice every day.
And he sits down.
The work is done.

And He expects all His enemies to be brought down and made a footstool beneath His feet.

This means that He is exerting faith!

To have enemies still at large, and yet sit down, expecting the work accomplished on the cross to bring these scurrying enemies down to the ground, is to have faith!

This is the faith that Paul spoke about.

Church, we not only died with Jesus, and are buried and risen with Him, and share His life resurrection life, but we are seated with Him.
And we need to share His faith!
We are so in union with Him that we can share His faith!

Ephesians 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

He sits, expecting His enemies to be brought down.

He as faith in the work He accomplished on the cross to be a final work.
He knows the work was so overspreading that He need not do anything more to see His enemies who are still at large, be brought down.
And for us to have the same faith as the Son of God, we must look at our enemies that still run about, and know that the cross brings them down too.

We often think more work needs to be done when we see enemies running around.

However, if we had Jesus' faith, we would not worry about need of any further work.
The work is finished.
The work of the cross.
The cross made all the provisions we will ever require available to us.
And we need to sit by faith and not be worried.
The cross will bring the problems down.

Hebrews quoted the words of Psalm.

Psalm 110:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

Here we read that the first time the word "LORD" is written, it is all in capital letters in the KJV.

That is a rendering that distinguishes the thought of a certain Hebrew name of God.
It speaks of God the Father.
And the second instance of the term is not completely written in capital letters.
It refers in this verse to the Son of God.
The Father said to the Son of God, "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool."

So the Son sat in obedience of faith.

He obeyed the Father's word.
And the Father would be the One to make those enemies the Son's footstool.
We need to obey this word also and use the same faith of the Son of God.

Hebrews 10:14 says that Christ perfected forever them that are sanctified.

Have faith in that and sit down.
Have confidence in that.
Get some boldness and act upon it.
Sit on the throne.

Faith in the commandments of God is very vital to our victory in life.

God told Israel to follow a certain procedure.

Deuteronomy 4:1-2 Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

1) Hear and obey the word of God.

2) It will cause you to live.

3) And you will go into the land and live in it.

4) And do not remove any of the words of God nor add to them.

This same pattern is seen in Revelation for the New Testament church.

Revelation 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Revelation 22:18-19 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

1) Hear and obey the word.

2) Eat of the tree of life - LIVE ETERNALLY. Eating of the tree of life corresponds to God's note of Israel "living" if they obey the word.

3) Go into the City... the land and live in it.

4) Do not remove anything from the word nor add to it.

Church, we must receive the command of God to sit and see our enemies be made our footstools.

Don't add any more work to the truth that the work is finished.
To add to the word in this case is to believe the work is not finished and we must add to it.
That is error.
The work is finished, and do not add to it.

To remove from the word is to feel intimidated.

It is to think that God's work is not enough.
We feel there is something lacking, and we have, in effect, removed from the word.
We have lessened the word.

If we obey the Word we will live!

After Jesus spoke much of eating His flesh and drinking His blood in John 6, many people were stupefied and wondered what in the world Jesus meant.

Eat His flesh?
Drink His blood?
Is He crazy?
What does He mean?

He explained Himself when he sensed their misunderstanding.

John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

He said the real thing that quickens, or gives life, is not His literal flesh.

His flesh was a figurative note for something else.
Something more spiritual.
The SPIRIT of God truly gives life.
The actual flesh is not the issue at all.
Eating His flesh was figurative of something that would cause the Spirit of God to make us alive, spiritually.
And that something was the WORDS HE SPOKE.
The words He spoke must be eaten.
How do you eat words?
His flesh was figurative of His words, and Eating is figurative of BELIEVING.
His words give life for they are spirit.

John 6:64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.

There were those who would not believe.

This is further indication Jesus intended them to perceive that eating flesh speaks of believing His words.

We know the disciples understood this to be so, since Jesus asked them if they would depart as the others who refused to believe His words, and they replied.

John 6:68-69 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

Peter replied, "We'll eat your flesh and drink your blood! We will believe. Where else can we go to get WORDS of eternal life?"

Obeying the word to sit and expect your enemies to be made your footstool is to LIVE!

You have to believe that all enemies standing before you will come down.

Israel was told to enter Canaan and enjoy the land.
But enemies were everywhere throughout the land.
They had to have faith that these enemies would be made their footstool!
Even though the enemies were standing, God said the land was Israel's for the taking.
And it took faith to enter in and believe the enemies will come falling down!

Hebrews 10:12-13 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.

Jesus did the work and now expects in faith for that work to accomplish something, despite appearances to the contrary.

By the same token, we have to obey God and expect.

Hebrews 10:36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

Notice that PATIENCE is required in order for us to obey and sit, expecting.

So we not only need Jesus' faith, but we also need Jesus' patience!
Since we are seated with Jesus on a throne, notice the combination of patience and the kingdom.

Revelation 1:9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

In a book filled with thoughts of tribulation, John said he is our companion in it and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ.

Jesus has patience.
We must share it!
Its our for the sharing!
Share His faith and His patience.

After speaking to the Son in a prophetic Psalm, we read the Father informing the Son of the following.

Psalm 110:2 The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.

If the Son would sit in faith, the Father would make His enemies His footstool by sending forth the rod of the Son's strength to strike enemies down.

And with enemies all around, still standing, the Son would rule in their midst!

In addressing the Father in praise, the writer continues, sharing the confidence that the victory shall be the Son's...

Psalm 110:5 The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.

Notice the confidence of FAITH in the term SHALL.

These things SHALL be done!
God said it!
I believe it!
It SHALL be done!
God cannot lie.

Psalm 110:6-7 He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries. He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.

Regardless of what enemies stand before you, if you will sit and realize the work is already finished, for the last 2000 years, in order for those enemies to be brought down, YOU SHALL SEE VICTORY.

There is no more work to be done.
The cross did it all.
Rest in the finished work of the cross.

We are one spirit with the Lord.

1 Corinthians 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
Ephesians 4:3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

And now that we are one spirit with the Lord, we need to come into the UNITY OF THE FAITH of the Son of God.

As a congregation, we need to all share the faith of the Son of God.

Ephesians 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

Faith and knowledge OF THE SON OF GOD.

Share His faith!

Live by His faith!

In life, whenever troubles come, remain seated.

IN CASE OF TROUBLE, PLEASE REMAIN SEATED

Have faith that the provision of the cross takes care of the enemies you still see running around before you.

If His blood still saves souls today, then the cross can also still affect your present-day enemies!
Claim victory over your present enemies by virtue of the work of the cross.
Tell the enemy that you have victory over him and he must fall down because of the blood of Jesus, or in other words, the work of the cross.

And after we read of Ephesians 4's reference to the faith of the Son of God, we read on to chapter 6 where we read of FIGHTING THE ENEMY!

Ephesians 6:10-12 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Live by this Faith!

In all life's struggles, LIVE BY THE SON'S FAITH.