Looking Unto Jesus

[00:00:00] This audio sermon is provided by AnabaptistSermons.com and may be freely copied and distributed. You may not sell or edit this sermon. Our prayer is that you would be blessed by this ministry. Good morning and I greet each one of you in the precious name of Jesus. We have been glorifying God this morning. It's our desire that God is glorified, not I, but Christ. And I'm not sure why I just had to think of, I wonder how God sees today, Sunday, [00:00:38] the day set apart to worship Him. Has He received more honor and more glory today than any other day? Is it just his day? Should we not also, or how much, I had to ask myself, how much praise, how much honor do I give him the rest of the week as well? This morning what I'd like to share on, I've entitled, Looking Unto Jesus. Those words are found in Hebrews the 12th chapter, and I'd like to read those two verses. [00:01:09] Hebrews 12 verses 1 and 2 In the context of just finishing chapter 11 of those who were heroes of the faith Then he says, wherefore, seeing we are also compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses Referring to chapter 11 Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us And let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto 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. [00:01:57] He says here we're in a race, and there are days, there are often times when it feels like we're in a race. We become weary, there's striving, there's hard work, needs to be done with patience and endurance as it says. Patience, the race that is set before us. And it advises us to look unto Jesus. What does he mean by looking unto Jesus? To look means to focus, to bring into focus. [00:02:31] Sometimes we can be driving along and we can see many things and later somebody says, Oh, did you see this certain thing at this place? And I went right past it and never saw it. I saw the place, but I maybe didn't notice it. There are times when we may be seeing and yet it doesn't seem to register. It doesn't seem to mean as much. You know, we can see and then there's times when we really see. [00:03:04] You know, many people have seen Jesus, heard of Jesus, but do they really see Jesus? Even when Jesus was here, he said to a group of people, you also have seen me, but believe not. How is our vision? I believe our heart's desire, mine is anyhow, that we would see Jesus. We see this in this plaque right here this morning. It faces us as ministers. We would see Jesus. How do we see Jesus? How do we look unto Jesus? [00:03:37] Do we, I believe we all have a desire to see with eyes of understanding. And I'm not sure why I felt led to preach on this. I'm not sure that I understand everything about looking unto Jesus, but I believe it's a continuation, a process or a growing experience to have our spiritual vision that we ought to have. [00:04:08] To understand what it means to look unto Jesus, the NIV, I like the way that it translates that. It says, let us fix our eyes on Jesus. To me, that indicates or seems to mean to me, fastened on to, a focus that is steadfast, A focus that is intent, it's concentrated, and it's not just a mere glance. [00:04:43] It's intimate. It's a connection that we establish. I'd like to look at a few individuals in the Bible who wanted to see Jesus. If you would turn to Luke 2, the passage of when Jesus came to earth. We find the shepherds out in the field during the night. All is quiet. Maybe they were even fighting sleep. Just another normal night. All of a sudden there comes an angel, a heavenly being, an angel. [00:05:18] And he says, Fear not, for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord And he goes on to tell them where they would be able to find him And then the heavens open and they see a whole host, it says And multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill to men [00:05:52] Now, I'm not sure, can you imagine yourselves in their shoes, but I would be awestruck. I have never seen an angel with my own eyes. I mean, that would be really something, to not only see one angel, but to see many, a whole host, probably as many as I could see. But, they weren't content with that experience. It says that they, and it came to pass as the angels were going away into the heavens, the shepherds said one to another, let us now go into Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass. [00:06:28] They wanted to see Jesus and they left with haste. I believe their sheep were put on autopilot and it didn't matter was it in the middle of the night, they went and wanted to see Jesus. They came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in the manger. And when they left that place, they left glorifying and praising God. They saw Jesus and it created in them a desire to share it with others. [00:07:00] Further on in the chapter, verse 25, And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. The same man was just and devout. Waiting for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Ghost was upon him and it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ and he came by the spirit into the temple when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law that he took him up in his arms and bless God. [00:07:35] Here was a man that was waiting to see Jesus. And he had been told by the Spirit that he would not die until he had seen Jesus. And I believe on that day, it says the Spirit revealed to him Jesus. And as he took him into his arms, he blessed God. And he said, Now I have seen Jesus, and what a cute little boy he is. [00:08:09] No, he didn't say that. He said, Lord, now let us thy servant depart in peace according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people. He didn't see the little boy. Yes, he did. Physically, he saw the little boy, but he saw much more. He saw the salvation. He saw a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel. He saw salvation, the finished work of Calvary. He saw beyond just the physical. [00:08:45] We could also read of the account in Matthew 2 of the wise men. It says they were from the east. They had a desire to see Jesus. They saw his star. Now, I have to admit, I don't watch the stars that well. But obviously they were studied. Obviously they knew the prophecies. And they saw a star that they were convinced had special meaning. That they were willing to, I don't know how far they came, but they came from the east. I imagine a good distance. They were willing to pack their bags and head to see if they could find this Jesus. [00:09:29] And when they came to Jerusalem, they asked, where is he that is born, king of the Jews? Here we have in scripture that men do stop and ask for directions. But nobody knew. And they kept asking, quite obviously, because pretty soon this word comes to Herod. And it troubled him. And not only Herod, but it says all Jerusalem was troubled. All Jerusalem heard. They didn't just ask one person. [00:10:01] The first person probably didn't know. And many people didn't know. But obviously they kept asking and they were desperate. They had come for a reason and they wanted to find Him. They didn't let a little pride get in the way and they didn't stop until they found Him. And when they saw Him, they worshipped. They knelt down and they worshipped. If you would turn to Luke 19, you will find the account of Zacchaeus. [00:10:32] It says Zacchaeus was chief among the publicans, and he was a very rich man. A chief among the publicans probably indicates that he had to do with the taxpayers. And it's quite probable that he was in charge of the taxpayers and in those days taxpayers were very dishonest and asked of the people more than they had to pay so that they could keep it. Now when you have the chief of these taxpayers, who do you think got the bulk of the money? It was probably Zacchaeus and that's why he was not well liked. He was very rich. [00:11:14] You know, as we think of rich people, rich people often dress in very expensive clothes. They are very concerned about what other people think of them and are very careful what they do. But he so wanted to see Jesus that it seemed he took some quite drastic measures and maybe even say some uncool ways of trying to get to see Jesus. [00:11:44] He ran in front of the crowd and climbed up a tree. It doesn't seem he cared much about his design or clothes, but shimmied up that tree so he could see Jesus. And when Jesus passed that way, he stopped and addressed Zacchaeus and said, Zacchaeus, I want to go to your house today. Zacchaeus could have been embarrassed that he was caught, that he was seen in front of all these people up in a tree. But it doesn't say he just, he came down and rejoiced. [00:12:20] He received him joyfully, it says. And quite obviously their conversation or his understanding of Jesus really changed him. Maybe it was curiosity at first, but his seeing Jesus changed into some pretty major changes in his life. We could also think of blind Bartimaeus as the same type of hunger, as the same type of effort. [00:12:53] As he heard that Jesus was passing by, he cried out, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. And the people tried to calm him down, quiet him down. And he just cried out the more. He didn't care what others said. He had such a desire to see Jesus that he wasn't distracted by them. He wanted to and he couldn't see Jesus physically and yet Jesus talks about his great faith and that to me is seeing with our heart or seeing with our soul he had a great faith and I believe the first thing that he saw when he opened his eyes was he saw Jesus the last that we read of him can't lay my eyes on it right now but the last [00:13:41] Jesus, as we read of him, indicates to me a deeper vision than ever before, and that is that he followed Jesus in the way. Well, many people wanted to see Jesus when he was here on this earth. There was crowds that pressed after him, wanted to hear him, wanted to see. Not all of them had the right reasons to see Jesus. I'd like to read in Mark 8. A group of Pharisees came to see Jesus. [00:14:15] Mark 8, verse 11. And the Pharisees came forth and began to question Him, seeking of Him a sign from heaven, tempting Him. And He sighed deeply in His spirit and said, Why does this generation seek after a sign? Verily I say unto you, there shall no sign be given unto this generation. These Pharisees came seeking. They came asking questions. But what were they seeking? What were they wanting? Were they not wanting something for entertainment? [00:14:50] Something that they wanted to see some great act. They wanted to see some great miracle that would be maybe something that they could say that they had been there and saw it. That they felt would give them a higher standing in the eyes of others. I don't know. But obviously they had eyes for themselves, their own desires. They didn't care so much what happened. They just wanted to see a sign for themselves. Herod also had the same type or the same vision, type of vision [00:15:26] When Pilate was transferred to Herod, I'm sorry, Jesus was transferred by Pilate to Herod It says in Luke 23.8 When Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad For he was desirous to see of him a long season because he had heard many things of him and had hoped to have seen some miracle done by him. Again, we see how he saw Jesus as fulfilling his own desires or fulfilling something that he was curious to see. [00:16:02] There could probably be more examples of people who wanted to see Jesus. This is not conclusive. But I would ask the question, what can we learn from these individuals who came and wanted to see Jesus? In the first couple of instances, could we say that looking unto Jesus or could we say that when we really see what we really see in Jesus is directly affected by the amount of hunger in our hearts for him? The amount of desire, the longing in our hearts, the sincere desire for Him. [00:16:39] Is there a longing in our hearts as we look to Jesus? To know Him, to see Him, to see who He really is, to see beyond. Would I be willing to go the lengths that some of these individuals did to really know Him, to see Him? The length that the shepherd the wise men went We can see the zeal of Zacchaeus He was willing to risk all costs Risk a reputation [00:17:10] What am I willing to lay aside To seek more of him Am I willing to lay aside sleep Am I willing to lay aside a project that I've wanted to do for a long time Maybe something that costs me money What is the desire What is the, how much am I willing to sacrifice to seek Him, to really see Him? Can I be thought of as a little crazy? And I don't think we need to do crazy things. [00:17:43] But you know, there is sometimes a little mold that is expected or that we get into And when we try and go a little extra or sacrifice work to study or to invest time in the kingdom, to some people that, why? May seem a little crazy. What, how is it? How much are we willing to sacrifice? [00:18:15] You know, this is nothing that we happen onto. It just happens. Developing a spiritual vision is not by being at the right place at the right time and therefore it happens. I believe it has to do with, the Bible even says, only those that seek and search with their whole heart will find Him. And also in Hebrews it says, He is a rewarder of them that diligently, diligently seek Him. [00:18:51] That speaks to me of something that is at all cost. It's a word that says I am not content with being an observer from the sidelines. But I hungrily, hungrily study or seek. The wise men were rewarded for their diligence. They found him. They found him. So will we if we hunger, thirst after him, and are not content to be an observer. [00:19:28] Looking unto Jesus demands focus. You know, if I hold up these two markers and I ask you to, at the same time, focus on these two. I bring them like this, you'll be cross-eyed. It's pretty hard to do. Focus is, in order to focus on the green one over here, you have to take your eyes off of this. It's not only focusing, but it's needing to take your eyes off of this. [00:20:04] It's from and to. It's not only on this, but off this. I believe the same is in our spiritual lives. We can only focus on Jesus if we take our eyes off of the things of this life, off of the things of this world, our own desires. You know, I'm sure you can relate or think of, well, how is it? What kind of devotions do you have if you're constantly thinking about what you need to get done today? [00:20:42] Is your devotions very meaningful? It isn't for me. You know, how much gain do I have in my prayer if I ask God to make sure he blesses my investments? You know, how much vision, how much focus do we have on where? We need to, we cannot serve two masters as we heard this morning. And also in the Sunday school, you know, we need to flee and follow after. [00:21:17] It's not a thing that we can multitask and too often the tempter wants us to believe that we can do that. You know, truly looking to Jesus really requires a full surrender, a full focus on Him. Looking to Jesus, or in looking to Jesus, we see one who has went this way before and is a perfect example for us to follow. [00:21:50] The familiar verse, Hebrews 4, verse 15, For we have not a high priest, which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. You know, there's no mountain too high, no valley too low that he cannot lead us through. There is nothing that he has not seen. There is nothing new to him. You know, we as parents are often concerned about who our children look up to because it has potential to influence them in their lives. [00:22:27] You become who you look up to. And I believe the same thing is true for us as Christians. You know, I believe it's part of the plan that God had in sending his son to the earth was to be an example, to show forth an example that we can follow Jesus. Well, in fact, when he went to call his disciples, he says, follow me. And they left and followed. [00:23:00] Jesus also said in Matthew 16 verse 24 to his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. He was here and is part of the plan that we have an example that we should follow. Also in 1 Peter 2.21, For even here unto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow in his steps. [00:23:40] In this context, I believe it's talking about suffering, how that we can follow, or he left an example that we can follow in his steps. And I believe that the more earnestly that we seek Him, the more earnestly that we see Him, then the more we will become like Him as well. Some saw Jesus as a means to fulfill their own desires. And when we look to Jesus as a means to do that, to receive the things we wish to enjoy, to receive the benefits that we want and desire to have, I believe we're going to be disappointed. [00:24:22] We're going to walk away just like the Pharisees and Herod were disappointed. They didn't see a great act because they wanted it for their own desire, their own pleasure. They went away unfulfilled, and there is an emptiness in our hearts as well, if our eyes are full of ourselves. You know, as a runner in a race who keeps his eye on the goal, on the finish line, so we need to look to Jesus as our goal. [00:24:56] The author and the finisher of our faith. The finisher as one that will award the prize. And we need to keep our eyes on him. It's only through him that we have access to eternal life. And it's very necessary that we are very clear on that. We need to see Jesus as our only way to God, the only way to God. [00:25:31] John 14.6 says, I am the way. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes unto the Father but by me. He is the door. He says, I am the door. If by me, I'm sorry, by me, if any man enter, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pastor. A door is to enter. It's the only way to enter or to leave. And that's our only way to eternal life is through Jesus Christ. [00:26:07] We need to see him as our only hope. It's in him that we place our hope of eternal life. And unless we go through Jesus Christ, we can never enter. You know, I want to be careful as I say this. I don't want to make a type where there isn't a type. But as I think of Simeon, he did not die until he saw Jesus. And I don't think any of us wants to die either without really, truly seeing Jesus, knowing Jesus, having him in our hearts, and Jesus knowing us. [00:26:46] And I believe that each one of us wants that. And if we haven't, there's time, there's opportunity for that today. Only through Jesus That's why we need to keep our eyes on Him And I hope this message isn't one that seems to be of self-effort You know, we are created creatures of choice It's up to us to take the first step To put our eyes or to turn our eyes to Jesus [00:27:19] To really seek Him And if we do that, His grace and strength flows to us in ways that are beyond us. And that's how we can continue on in the way. When we are surrendered to Him, when we give our hearts to Him, there is grace and strength. I would like to close with the words of the song. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. and the things of this earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. [00:27:55] Let us kneel for prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for this opportunity we have to gather together as brothers and sisters and to seek you. We wish to bring you honor and glory and see you in a way that brings us more or gives us more understanding of your ways and of your example, Lord, I pray that you would open our eyes to see you, to really see you as you would want us to, to understand and then be able to live in a way that brings you honor and glory. [00:28:34] We pray that as we go from this place, that we could be a vessel that is used to build your kingdom and to show your love and light to those around us. We pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen.