So he looked steadily at my father's face." from whose lips breathes no sentence of condemnation! They were men and women who trusted the Lord despite the terrible circumstances many of them had to face, but as we move into Chapter 12, that great cloud of  witnesses is replaced by one wonderful Witness - the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the rock (Ed note: Click for Scripture chain & chart - studying these passages observing what they teach about Jesus as the Rock would make a great Sunday School lesson), the foundation. (b) Together with friendly advice, let me offer a friendly warning. Paul wrote ""Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of (taken eagerly; seized, possessed) it yet; but one thing (singleness of purpose; focused) [I do = not in the original Greek]: forgetting (completely forgetting; present tense = continually forgetting) what lies behind and reaching forward (attempting energetically to attain the goal like a runner stretching his head out to cross the tape the winner; present tense = lifelong attitude) to what lies ahead (in front of), I press on (follow hard after, pursuing with desire, earnestness and diligence in order to obtain ~ "zeal" = burning desire to please God, to do His will & to advance His glory) toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Likewise, the power of God through Jesus Christ is something we cannot ration. Dive and dive again—you will never come to the bottom of these depths! Endure it patiently, joyfully, in the strength of God. Not KY. We made our way up the stairs to the top of the batter. (Bruce, A B: Hebrews, P 415-416), MacDonald adds that Jesus "not only began the race but finished it triumphantly. You began by looking to Him as a sufferer; persevere by looking to Him as a victor. Piper observes that this passage makes the point "that the fight of faith is not done in our own strength. Yes, that's good advice. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus! (Read Spurgeon's full sermon The Rule of the Race - Pdf), Robert Murray McCheyne advised that "For every one look at your problems, your weaknesses, your failures -- take ten looks at Jesus.". There is no earthly delight like that of doing the will of, perfectly pleasing, another to whom our will is properly subjected. --Monsell. He had the joy of anticipated victory. And what deliverance are we working on earth? (Westminster Press). Then he said, "If it be Thee Lord, bid me come unto Thee. BDAG says teleiotes is "one who brings something to a successful conclusion. HEBREWS 12:14 KING JAMES VERSION (KJV) TRANSLATION, MEANING, CONTEXT To get what Hebrews 12:14 means based on its source text, scroll down or follow these links for the original scriptural meaning , biblical context and relative popularity. Newell - Thayer well translates archegos, "One who takes the lead in anything, and thus affords an example, a predecessor in the matter," adding of Christ, "Who in the pre-eminence of His faith far surpassed the examples commemorated in Hebrews 11. (Pfeiffer, C F: Wycliffe Bible Commentary. B). It seems as if there is no rest for our weary souls. 30 But seeing the wind, he became afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me! I was nervous because the extreme temperatures surrounding the Coke Batteries that I would be working on and in. Oswald Chambers - Our Lord is our example of a life of self-sacrifice, and He perfectly exemplified Psalm 40:8, "I delight to do Your will, O my God"...He endured tremendous personal sacrifice, yet with overflowing joy. Oh, it's a thought that melts a rock. Micah 7:7 But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation. Fixing our eyes (872) (aphorao from apo = away from something near, indicates separation + horao = look, see, behold) means to look away from all else and to look steadfastly, intently toward a distant object. What person ever walked on earth, like Jesus of Nazareth! Fourthly, and lastly, if we would look to Jesus rightly, we must look forward to His SECOND ADVENT, AS THE TRUEST FOUNTAIN OF HOPE AND CONSOLATION. Dominion too is the future portion of him who vanquishes this world: Revelation 2:26, 27. Are you battling temptation? This, surely, was the mind of Paul, when he said, "Being reconciled to God by the death of His Son—we shall be saved by His life." I didn't want to go. We must grasp and realize the blessed fact that the rightful King of the world is returning soon, and shall have His own again; that He shall put down that old usurper, the devil, and take away the curse from off the earth. We are filled with thoughts of His position, for He "is set down at the right hand of the throne of God" (He 12:2d). It is a striking illustration of man's mental littleness and inability to grasp more than a portion of the truth. His father would occasionally test the dog's obedience. ", Where are you looking? He took it up willingly, and carried it patiently. Spurgeon's Exposition (compiled) on Hebrews 12:2 - Look to him, look at him, study him, know all you can about him-, meditate upon him, — His race is complete; his wrestling is over; so he sits down with the great Judge of all as the One who has won his crown for ever. Keep your eyes on the prize. Now he is seated in the place of highest honor beside God’s throne in heaven. SELF is, perhaps, the most common and insidious object that comes between the eye of the soul and Jesus. The less we expect from statesmen, philosophers, men of money, men of science, ay, even from visible Churches—the happier we shall be. Christ’s victory in the past gives courage 3. 1. He is below us. 1 on the Glory of Christ, ch. This is a great reason for following Jesus. And they cried out for fear. There is no need to seek for deeper meaning here. We ought to look habitually to His life and intercession. Gazing by faith upon Christ—the lines of His beauty indeed imprint themselves on our hearts! You can't make spiritual progress (Isaiah 53:6). Run, that you may come nearer to Jesus. And Calvary covers it all. But where is such true Christianity to be found? You will see the same Saviour who died for you exalted to the place of highest honour, and doing the work of an intercessor and advocate for your soul. More of your own vile heart—and more of His loving heart. Any sorrow or trial may be borne, I believe—if men only have a hope of an end. praise, pleasure, fleshly lusts, all lose their sweetness. Creeds and confessions are the necessary invention of a comparatively modern age. Corrie Ten Boom. Christ is the path and Christ the prize. Now, there is only one source of peace revealed in Scripture, and that is the sacrifice of the death of Christ, and the atonement which He has made for sin by that vicarious death on the cross. He is by our side. He never wavered or faltered, murmured or complained: “The cup which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it” (John 18:11)! Have I ever yielded myself in absolute submission to Jesus Christ? On August 7, 1954, the two met together for a historic race. They all seem to tell us, with no uncertain voice, that the world is out of joint, and needs a new administration, and a new King. The minute the Greek runner in the stadium takes his attention away from the race course and the goal to which he is speeding, and turns it upon the on-looking crowds, his speed is slackened. I believe the great Scriptural remedy for all who feel such helplessness as I have faintly described, is to look upward to Christ in heaven, and to keep steadily before our eyes His intercession at the right hand of God. "Righteousness, peace, and joy" are the fruit of a full belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, and he who looks for them away from the cross will meet with disappointment; but they are found in Jesus. When shall the end once be?". (Wuest's word studies from the Greek New Testament), Richard Phillips - This leads us to what I often call "the all-purpose Christian advice," from Hebrews 12:2, which gives the encouragement of the Christian life: I say this because there is no circumstance, no difficulty, no temptation for which this is not a reliable guide: "looking to Jesus." GLANCE AT THE GODLY OT EXAMPLES All you need is in Him; one glimpse, dim though it be, of His cross, one touch, trembling though it be, of His garment, will lift you from your lowest depths, lighten your heaviest burden, gild your darkest prospect, and when you arrive at Jordan's brink, will bear you safely through its swellings, and land you on the sunny and verdant shores of Canaan. (Vincent, M. R. Word Studies in the New Testament 4:538), Writing to Timothy Paul refers to the "witness" of Jesus "I charge you in the presence of God, Who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, Who testified (martureo - witnessed, gave evidence) the good confession before Pontius Pilate, John refers to Jesus twice as a "witness" "Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. ), Psalm 17:15 As for me, I shall behold Thy face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Thy likeness when I awake. A.D. the churches had either departed from, or had travestied, certain doctrines of the Christian faith. It won’t work.” Fix your eyes on him. As Jesus is at the commencement of the course, starting the runners, so He is at the end of the course, the rewarder of those who endure to the end. Let us cultivate the habit of daily looking forward to the resurrection of the dead, the gathering together of the saints, the restitution of all things, the banishment of sorrow and sin, and the re-establishment of a new kingdom, of which the rule shall be righteousness. He can renew your nature by His resurrection power, and save you from the dominion of sin by His glorious reign. Oh, trust him, soul: and dare to let go, that thou mayest take; to be stripped, that thou mayest become clothed! He removes the symbol, to give us the reality; breaks the type, to give the substance; releases us from the natural and human, to give us the divine. Yes! Moody Press). He would far rather meet the suicide’s death — for such it was — than he should be convicted of the shame of being slain by a woman. "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not reckoning unto them their trespasses." He passed, and we follow Him there; TDNT on teleiotes -  Jesus gives faith its perfect basis by his high-priestly work and thus completes it. Hebrews 12:2 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. Love her services. He Who is ‘the captain (author) of our salvation,’ ‘the righteous Judge’ (2Ti 4:8-note), is also the example and the inspiration of our faith. It is a healthy, strong, manly plant, which can live in every position, and flourish in every atmosphere, except that of sin. Let us next consider our Lord Jesus as THE PATTERN OF OUR FAITH. If you have all power and all authority and cannot die, your cause cannot fail. And this is what Paul meant, when he wrote, "Be followers of me—even as I am of Christ." Turn your eyes upon Jesus, NAS = despise(5), despising(1), disrespectful(1), look down(1), think lightly(1). 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