We are not the first to study Hebrews 12 | Clip from Looking Unto Jesus

So a lot of people have thought a lot about this passage. We're not the first ones to think about it. What is looking to Jesus mean?

Let me just give a quick kind of march through church history at how some of our brothers and sisters have applied this passage, how they've explained it.

One of the earliest, Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, discipled by the

Apostle John, wrote to the church at Ephesus, and he said to them in his letter to the

Ephesians, among other things, he said, apart from Christ, let nothing dazzle you. And I found that really helpful.

One is, is he dazzling? Do I find him that way at all? And then, is he so dazzling that nothing else could possibly compare?

And so if that sounds like super spiritual, holier -than -thou talk, I just want to remind everybody that's the way that people who were discipled by people that Jesus discipled talked.

So Jesus disciples John, John disciples Ignatius, Ignatius says something like that, apart from Christ, let nothing dazzle you.

That's the fixing your eyes on Jesus. And you have to do it, like we were talking about in the last episode, biblically.

Look at the facets of his glory. Look at the accomplishments of his redeeming work. Take pains to see his gospel labors for you, and what he accomplished in redemption.

Other people, like one of our favorite, Isaac Ambrose, he says you cannot tire,

T -I -R -E, you cannot wear out, you cannot fatigue a holy soul from looking unto

Jesus. I've never heard of a Christian, church history or contemporary, say,

I've just seen too much, you know? No more for me, please.

I'm full. You know, from now to eternity I've got enough. Because it's this complex experience where you are satisfied, but your capacity is expanded as you embrace him and see him.

So we're enabled to run the race faithfully as we fix our eyes on Jesus, being satisfied and enlarged in our capacity to want more.

He both fills and increases our appetite. So that would be

Ambrose and Ignatius. Theodore Monod, he sounds to me like somebody who was first century.

You know, I found out not too long ago he was actually 20th century. He died in 1912, I think, so I guess 19th, 20th century

French theologian, pastored in Canada, back to France. He has a little booklet that's a

Meditation on Hebrews 12, 1 and 2. That's the biggest little book I've ever read. I don't even think it qualifies to be a booklet.

Yeah, it's really like a pamphlet. It's like the size of a poor man's money clip. But it's amazing how much is packed in, in terms of practical theology.

What does it look like to look unto Jesus? It's almost criminal not to own a copy. I think it's 95 cents to get it online.

Bible Truth Publishers, Theodore Monod, Looking Unto Jesus, little pamphlet. But he says in his opening phrase of that little booklet, only three words, looking unto

Jesus. But in those three words consists the whole secret of life.

And then he gives several pages of applying that. What does it look like to look unto

Jesus? And I find it to be really helpful kindling for the soul and convicting and good fuel for prayer.

So Ambrose and Ignatius and Monod, and I mentioned in the in the close of the last episode, if that's retained, that guys like William Gouge, 1600s

Britain, preached for 30 years on the book of Hebrews.

He preached for years on Hebrews 12, 1 and 2. I think his were mainly noon day, midweek, like a

Wednesday business lunch. And I've, you know, I don't know if it's fable or accurate, but that people would arrange their business trips to the city to be there on Wednesday so they could hear

Gouge talk about Hebrews. But he was doing this looking unto

Jesus, just phrase after phrase, passage after passage, showing the beauty and grandeur and gospel accomplishments of the

Son. That's what looking unto Jesus sounded like from some of our brothers and sisters.

Well, thank you for watching the clip. We hope that it was helpful for you. If you want to hear the full audio of that podcast, you can find it on any of your favorite podcast apps.