Look To Jesus

Amen. Well, hey, we’re going to get started here. If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Hebrews chapter 4. We began a new series last week called The Throne Room. Everybody say, “The Throne Room.” And this was intimidating, because this is such a reverent, holy subject — not that the other ones aren’t. But something that I’ve been praying, something that I feel like the Lord’s been speaking to us, is just the sense that Jesus wants to reveal Himself to us in a new way. That doesn’t mean in a way that He’s not done before in history; that’s not what we’re saying. There are some of us who have maybe experienced the Lord before, but I believe Jesus is making Himself available to His church, to experience His glory, to see His beauty in a new way.

I don’t know about you, but I just want to be a people who respond to what He is doing, to that revelation of who He is. That we really would be people who see Jesus in His full glory, in His full beauty, and that we would receive from Him. How many of you know He knows exactly what you need? Amen. And so when we look to Him, not only does He reveal Himself to us, but He’s life. He brings life right where we are, and He gives us what we need.

Easier than ever to receive

And so we’re going to continue this series called The Throne Room. Last week we talked about how God’s heart is to be with us. That is what He wants more than anything else. He wants to be with us. And Jesus came and removed every obstacle that we could face, so that we can come freely and be people who spend time regularly in His presence, in the very throne room of God.

And something that we shared last week, and something that I just wanted to reiterate, is that I believe we are in a time and in a season where it is easier than ever right now to receive from the Lord. We are getting closer and closer to Jesus coming back. Amen. And I was just sharing with someone this morning that Jesus says, “I am the Bridegroom, and I will reveal Myself to the bride, to the church, as I return.” This is something that He has said all along: that He wants to show Himself to us.

And the title of the message today is “Look to Jesus.” Sometimes we can get so stuck looking down at our situation that we don’t actually see Jesus in the moment. I don’t want to miss it. Do you? So we’re going to talk about looking to Jesus. Everybody say, “Look to Jesus.”

Seeing, then coming boldly

We’re going to start in Hebrews chapter 4, starting at verse 14. This has been our foundational text for this series so far. Actually, can we do this? Can we read this out loud together? Let’s fill this atmosphere with the Word of God this morning. Ready? Go.

“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Let me read this back to you. It says, “Seeing then.” How many of you know we’re supposed to see something? “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace” — everybody say “grace” — “that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Notice verse 14 starts off, “Seeing then.” Let me ask you: does Jesus want to reveal Himself to you? Yes, He does. “Seeing then.” There is something, or Someone, that we are supposed to be seeing, and His name is Jesus — our great High Priest, who has gone into the throne room before us, the one who has removed every obstacle and has given us full access to be people who spend time with Him, taking Him in. Amen. “Seeing then.” How many of you know we have to see? We must see. We need a fresh revelation.

And then it jumps down to verse 16. It says, “Let us therefore” — having seen — “come boldly to the throne of grace.” How many of you know that when we see Jesus, it moves us to do something? When we see Him, when we look to Him and position ourselves in such a way where we lift our eyes, we look to heaven, and we say, “Lord, show Yourself to me,” how many of you know not only does He reveal Himself, He invites us to come — to come and be with Him, to come and spend time in His presence? When we see Jesus, He moves us.

“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace.” Why? “That we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” How many of you would say, “I could use a little bit of grace and mercy in my life”? Yeah. You go through life, and at the end of the day you look back and you’re thinking, “Man, I wish I wouldn’t have said that. I wish I wouldn’t have done that. Maybe if I would have done this a little bit differently…” How many of you know that when our eyes are fixed on Him, not only does He know what we need, He knows how to get us to where we’re supposed to be?

Everything from God is grace

“Seeing then, let us come boldly” — everybody say “boldly” — “to the throne of grace.” How many of you know everything that comes from God is by grace? I mean, think about this: every answered prayer, every gift, every promise. The Bible says the blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it. The things that come from God are good. They are sweet. They bring increase. They bring life. And everything that we receive from God as we look to Him is by grace.

Now, we’ve talked about this before. The definition of grace is everything that has been given to you by God that you did not earn or deserve. You didn’t earn it by being good. You didn’t earn it because of karma. You didn’t earn it because of the good energy that you’ve put out into the universe. No. Every good thing that comes from God is by grace. You didn’t earn it. You didn’t deserve it. But God gave it to you anyway. And so that means there is not one thing that we receive from God because we earn it. It’s because He gives it freely.

And the reason we receive this grace from God is because of one person’s obedience, and that is Jesus. And because of that one person, because of Jesus, we now have access to every blessing of God and to the very presence of God, as though we were the ones who were obedient. You guys know my favorite scripture, right? “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” In other words, Jesus gave His life. He gave up His righteousness so that we could be dressed and robed in it. And now we can come boldly to the throne of grace.

And so when we look to Jesus and we come to His throne — this scripture out of Hebrews 4 is saying, when we come boldly to His throne, we receive something called grace. Now think about this. Think about that time when you received salvation in Jesus. I know we all have different stories, and how many of you know we need to let people know those stories? That is an encouragement. We overcome by the word of our testimony. And so when you think of salvation, just think how you received that. Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

And so when you heard the gospel preached, there was something in you that heard it, and you believed it, and you received it by grace. So no one can say, “The reason that I’m saved is because I’m a good person.” How many of you know, if that’s something that you say, then there is a strong possibility that you actually are not saved? Because you cannot earn it. You don’t spend eternity with a holy God because “I’m good enough.” No, no, no. He knows no sin. In Him is no darkness at all. That means we needed the perfect righteousness of God — the blood of Jesus. That’s what we just celebrated in communion: the shedding of the blood that washes us, that cleanses us, that makes us righteous. How many of you are thankful for what Jesus did? He cleanses us. He washes us. He makes us righteous. And so we didn’t deserve salvation. We didn’t earn it. But it was given to us by grace.

Grace to the humble, received by faith

And so every blessing, every gift that comes from God, is by grace. And the way that we receive the grace of God is through faith. How many of you know that salvation doesn’t kick in until something on the inside says, “I believe that”? You see, God is always pouring out grace. He’s giving freely. But it doesn’t become real or active to us until we what? Until we have faith. Until we believe. And how many of you know there are things that God wants to do in you, but they only come as you humbly put your trust in Him?

As I was praying this morning, I was reminded of the scripture out of James chapter 4 that says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” God gives what? Grace, to those who are humble. Listen, there are gifts that God has for you, but we must humbly receive them by faith. Scripture actually says those exact words three times; that’s how important it is. And it’s the one place where it says what God actively resists: pride. Thinking that you’re good enough. Thinking that you can do it on your own. God has no place for that. But what does He do with those who are humble? He gives grace. He gives grace.

Let me tell you, there is something so special that God will do in your life as we humble ourselves and we do it His way. Sometimes people will say, “Well, I don’t like the way God set it up,” or, “I don’t like that He says this in Scripture.” But how many of you are thankful that God made a way for you? Because there was no way but by grace. By grace He made a way, and we receive it by faith, when we humble ourselves and say, “God, I’m not going to do it my way. No, I’m going to do what You’ve said.” And we receive it by faith. Are you guys with me?

Listen, there is something so powerful in humble obedience to the Lord. And when we’re talking about coming into the throne room, when we’re talking about being people who spend time in His presence, I’m not just saying people who come to church. How many of you know we can come to church and we can miss the presence? Oh no. There is an opportunity, and the Lord is revealing Himself, and He’s saying, “I want to show Myself to you as you come into My presence, as you come humbly, believing by faith that I will reveal Myself to you.” How many of you know, when we have that kind of heart, when we have that kind of posture, we are giving full access to the Lord to do whatever He wants to do, by grace? Everybody say, “By grace.” He gives grace to the humble.

And so if you want to see Jesus, if you want to see God do a new work in your life — I don’t know about you, but sometimes I get my eyes off of Jesus. I start to look, and I get distracted with my situation, or what I feel in the moment, or the fears that I have, my insecurities. And I will tell you, it’s always at those times that I find myself getting tired, getting stressed, getting anxiety, feeling overwhelmed and overcome — when I take my eyes off Jesus. But how many of you know, when we fix our eyes on Jesus, when we come to His throne, we find something called grace?

Listen, Jesus knows where you are. He sees you. He knows you. He loves you. And He knows exactly what you need. And as we come to His throne, we come into His presence humbly, expecting to see the Lord. And how many of you know, not only does He reveal Himself, He gives you what you need?

I’ve shared this before, but there are times where I’ll go on a couple-day prayer retreat, and I go with an agenda. Does anybody have agendas, things that they ask of the Lord? I get my list, and I have a journal, and I write down my prayer requests: “Lord, these are the things that I need answers to.” How many of you know sometimes we feel like we know better than God? And so I’ll go to my prayer retreat, and I’ll be praying, and I’ll just be worshiping, and I’ll be in the presence of the Lord. And by the end of that time — sometimes I don’t even get any answers to my list, but I come out having received everything I needed. The things that I thought I needed weren’t actually what was necessary. But how many of you know Jesus gives us exactly what we need? Amen.

And so if we want to see Jesus, if you’re here and you’re saying, “God, I want You to do a work in my life,” how many of you know we must humble ourselves, and we look to the Lord, and we receive His grace by faith? Every good thing that you pull down from heaven must be pulled down by faith. Romans 4:16 says, “Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure.” I’m going to read that again, because I didn’t get enough. “Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace.”

Listen, there is grace being poured out every day. The question is, are you looking in the right direction? Are you looking to the Lord? Are you positioning yourself? Are you humbly expecting? “Jesus, as I look to You, You give me everything. You satisfy me. I come to You tired. I come to You thirsty. I come to You not knowing all the answers. But Jesus, You have all the answers. And so, Lord, I look to You. Come and do what You want to do.” This is so key. A humble heart is the heart that can tap into the heart of the Father — a heart that’s fully surrendered to Him.

And when we’re talking about “Lord, reveal Yourself; Lord, show Yourself,” how many of you know we can’t make God do anything? But this is His heart. He’s already said, “This is what I want to do.” And I feel like the Lord is making it easier than ever for us to see Him, to receive from Him. I don’t know about you, but there have been times where I’ve done the stuff — I sing, I give thanks — and I feel like, “Lord, I didn’t get anything.” But I believe the Lord’s heart is so strong right now for His people, because darkness is increasing. The world is getting darker. And in His grace, in His mercy, He’s saying, “I’m coming for you. Let Me show you. Look back to Me. Look back to Me. Don’t get stuck in the darkness. Don’t get stuck looking to the left or to the right. Don’t get stuck seeing the wickedness that’s happening around you. No, look to Me.” How many of you know it’s time to look to Jesus, because He has what you need? He has what you need.

I lift up my eyes

I wanted to spend some time — and we’re going to close with this portion of Scripture — in Psalm 121, verses 1 through 2. This is what I felt like the Lord was wanting to bring to us today. Psalm 121:1 says, “I will lift up my eyes to the hills — from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”

This is a popular verse; some of you have probably heard it before. But there are two observations I would like to point out here. Number one: Jerusalem was a place that was elevated above all of the land, and Jerusalem was where the temple of God was. That is where people would look in times when they felt, “I need Him. I need to be reminded of who He is, of what He said, of His promises.” And so the people that were working in the land, that were spread out, when they would encounter hardships, they would lift up their eyes to the city of Jerusalem to look to God.

And the second observation is this — I already said it — when you get discouraged, it’s almost always because we’re looking down. It’s because we get stuck looking down at our situation, what we feel in the moment, what we’re going through at that time. And throughout the Bible, God would instruct people to lift up your what? Your eyes. He would instruct them, “Lift up your eyes.” Why? Because you need to look in a different direction. You need to look to something else. We get so stuck in our day-to-day sometimes. You know what I mean? Days go by, and we just get in a moment: “I just need to keep my nose to the grindstone. I just need to kind of get through this.” But then nothing really ever changes. And God is saying, “I want you to look in a different direction. I want you to lift up your eyes and look to Me.”

Now let me ask you: when we lift up our eyes, are we actually seeing the person of Jesus? No. But there is something that happens as we physically lift up our eyes and look up. There’s something that happens in our hearts as we do what God has said, and we humbly submit and posture ourselves to see Him in a different way. Are you guys with me? We don’t see the person of Jesus — although I’m totally open to that, Lord. We’re open to that. But when He says, “Lift up your eyes,” what is He saying? “I want you to look in a different direction. You’ve been stuck looking at the wrong things.”

And right now I believe we are in a time and in a season where God is saying, “Lift up your eyes. Look to Me.” Why? “Because I’m going to show Myself to you. I’m going to show you My heart. I’m going to show you My beauty. I’m going to give you a taste of My presence, and who I am, and what I have for you.” Does this sound like our God? Does this sound like the heart of the Father? This is what He wants to do. But it happens when we humbly say, “God, You say, ‘Lift up your eyes.’ I will lift up my eyes and look to You. I will do it.”

That requires a humility: to look to something or Someone bigger than yourself to bring hope and expectation. Think about when God spoke to Abraham. What did He say when He made that great promise? He didn’t just say, “Keep doing what you’re doing, and I’m just going to say a few things.” No. What did God say? “Look now toward heaven. Lift up your eyes and count the stars. So shall your descendants be. This is what I’m going to do in your life.” How many of you know there’s something that happens when we lift up our eyes and we begin to look to Him?

And I believe the Lord is saying to His church, “Lift up your eyes. See what I’m doing. Allow Me to show Myself to you. And when you lift up your eyes, don’t just go through the motions. No, humble yourself and expect to receive from Me, because I’ve already done everything to make a way for you to be with Me, to spend time in My presence.” And so the Lord is saying, lift up your eyes. If you’re looking down, you’re looking at the problem, but you’re not looking at Him.

Look to Him until

The psalmist says, “I will lift up my eyes to the hills — from whence comes my help?” Listen, you want to know where your help really is? The Lord. The answer to every problem, every situation — the answer is Jesus. And you’re like, “How can that be?” He will do such a work in you that you will be completely different, and that situation that you found yourself in is nothing but a thing. Why? Because I’m with the Lord. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord. It doesn’t come from Google, right? It doesn’t come from good advice or really good books on a certain subject. No, my help comes from the Lord. Do you see the humility? Do you see the desperation that says, “Listen, I know there are a lot of options out there, but my heart is going to seek You. My heart is going to look for You. My eyes are going to look to You”? Somebody say amen. It’s time to look up. It’s time to look to Jesus.

Psalm 34:5 says, “They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed.” Psalm 123:2 says, “Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until” — everybody say “until” — “until He has mercy on us.”

Listen, some of you have looked to the Lord, but you didn’t look to the Lord until. How many of you know we need to look to the Lord until? To lift up our eyes until we see the Lord do what He said. Until we see the Lord reveal Himself. He wants to do this. And so we look to the Lord until what? Until He demonstrates His mercy. He has mercy. He gives us His grace. Look to the Lord until. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I like to look back. Sometimes I like to look at that other shiny object over there. It’s like that squirrel, right? “Whoa, what was that?” And I’m totally off track now. Okay. No, we need to look to the Lord until.

The Bible says, “I will lift up my eyes to the hills — from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord.” Listen, Jesus is saying, “I have what you need. I have it. I’ve paid for it. I want to give it to you.” And I believe the Lord is giving us a posture and saying, “I want you to look to Me in this time.” I don’t believe this is just a message or just some encouraging words. I believe this is being spoken to the church all over the world, and He’s saying, “Now is the time to look to Me.” Why? “Because I’m coming. I’m passing by. Don’t miss it. Don’t miss it.” You can miss it. How many of you know there are many who will miss Him because they’re not looking, because they’re stuck looking at their problem, and their eyes aren’t fixed on Him?

Or just the concerns. Does anybody here have a concern? Yeah — that’s my wife, by the way. Thanks, honey. It’s not even the fears. It’s not even the problem. It’s just the stuff. And I’m telling you, Jesus is saying, “I have what you need. Look to Me.” Why? “Because I am where your help will come from.” Jesus is coming. He’s coming again. He’s coming for the bride — us, the church. And He’s preparing His bride as He comes again. Who is His bride? The ones that look to Him. You and me. Those who have received Him, those who have surrendered to Him, who have been washed by the blood. It’s time to look to Him. Amen.

“Let us therefore come boldly.” Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has gone through the heavens before us, let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may receive help in time of need. You see, we have to have faith that God wants to reveal Himself to us. And how many of you know He will do it? He will do it. Lift up your eyes. Look to the Lord.

Bless the Lord, O my soul

I’ve shared this before, but Psalm 103 is one of my favorite scriptures. This is David, where he has to remind himself of who God is and what God has done. In Psalm 103:1, David says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name!” David was at a point where he felt overcome. He was filled with fear. There was turmoil. There were questions. And he needed to remind his soul, his very feelings about what was going on: “I need to remind myself of who God is and what He’s done.”

He says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.” What are benefits? Grace. Forget not the grace that He has shown you. Forget not all His benefits. Notice: “who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” This is what David was trying to do. He’s saying, “Soul, rise up. You don’t feel it, but soul, you need to humble yourself and begin to declare who God is. Declare what He has said. Declare and remind yourself of what He has done.”

How many of you know there are many ways that the Lord wants to reveal Himself, in all these different facets, in all these different graces? I want you to think of the One who — David just begins to list it, right? He says He forgives all your iniquities. How many of you know that’s a grace? “Who heals all your diseases.” Is healing a grace? Is that a gift from God? “Who redeems your life from destruction.” Has anybody here been saved from destruction? So what do we do? Bless the Lord. Bless the Lord. Declare. Lift your eyes. Look to Him and say, “Lord, You are worthy.”

We were singing it this morning — do we realize? I was like, how many times have I said that in that song, “You are my everything,” and we just sing it? But really recognizing what I’m saying as I sing that: “You are my everything.” The song that came to mind was “You are my all in all.” You’re my everything. Without You I have nothing. It’s time to look to Him. Amen. It’s time to look to Him.

I’m going to invite the team up. We’re going to close with some worship this morning, and here’s what I’m going to ask that we do. We’re going to stand. We’re going to sing to the Lord. We’re going to thank Him. We’re going to receive His Word to us this morning. And listen, there’s nothing wrong with pondering and being in a place of worship and having your head bowed. Not at all. But right now I feel like the Lord is saying, “No, let’s respond to what I’m saying, which is, look to Me.” And so that we would lift our eyes up, that we would look to Him, and just begin to worship Him and say, “Jesus, You are my everything. Jesus, You are my all in all. Lord, You are my everything.” You guys with me? That we would lift up our eyes, that we would look to Him, that we would come into the very throne room of God with praise, with thanksgiving, reminding ourselves of who He is. And then, as we lift our eyes, that we would have faith to receive grace.

Listen, if you are here and you have a need, God has something called grace for you. I’m going to say that again, because I don’t think you all heard me. If you are here and you have a need, God has something called grace. And my heart is that we would just open ourselves to receive from Him — maybe in an unexpected way, even. Like I said, sometimes I receive from the Lord and I’m like, “I was not expecting to receive that, but I’m so glad I did.” He knows exactly what you need.

If you are here and you need peace in your mind — listen, there is so much noise, distraction, and anxiety and fear — if you are here and you’re like, “Lord, I just need peace,” begin to ask and say, “Lord, thank You for Your peace.” Look to Him and begin to thank Him for His peace, because His grace adds no sorrow. You want perfect peace? Look to the Lord. You want healing in your body? Lift up your eyes and just say, “Lord, thank You that You’re the one who heals me.”

Let’s stand together. Let’s lift up our eyes. Maybe you’re here and you just want to receive from the Lord. You can lift your hands here, but let’s just lift our eyes. Let’s look to Him. Let’s just come to Him and say, “Jesus, I look to You.”

Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Jesus, for what You’ve done — that You have given me full access, that You have made a way for me to come and receive from You. You are the Giver of life. You renew our strength. And so, Lord, forgive us for looking at our problems, for having our heads down and seeing just where we’re at. Lord, forgive us for any complaining that we have done — saying, “Why me? Why is this happening? Where is God?” No, Lord. We are changing our direction. We are changing our posture today, and we are looking to You. We will be people who lift up our eyes, because You are the one who helps us in our times of need. You give us exactly what we need. And so, Lord, we give You our everything. We look to You, and we give You our praise. We give You our worship.

Come on, just right now, as you lift up your eyes, just say, “Lord, I’m calling on You. Lord, I’m looking to You right now. Would You reveal Yourself to me today? Reveal Yourself. Come and do whatever You want to do.” And let us humbly approach the throne of grace, covered by the blood of Jesus. Thank You, Lord. Let’s worship the Lord together.

Transcribed from the message recording and lightly edited for reading.