In chapter twelve, verse 2, we have, “Looking unto Jesus...” It really means, “Looking away unto Jesus.” Oh, let us look away from so many other things unto Jesus. Look away unto Jesus—not just see Him, but look unto Him. In chapter thirteen, verse 13, we read, “Let us go forth therefore unto Him...” Just to see Him is not enough; just to look unto Him is not sufficient; just to consider Him is also not adequate. Finally, we must go forth unto Jesus. “Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach.” Jesus today is not in the camp; He is outside. What is the camp? The camp is a religious organization; the camp here typically means Judaism, the Jewish religion. When the Israelites worshipped the golden calf while Moses was on Mount Sinai, they immediately became a religious camp in the eyes of God. Moses at that time moved out of the camp to be with the Lord, and everyone who sought the Lord went unto the Lord without the camp (Exo. 33:7). This is the historical fact referred to here. The book of Hebrews was written to the Hebrew believers who were still so much for Judaism. They did not realize that Judaism in the eyes of God had become a camp forsaking God and worshipping idols. Jesus was not there; Jesus is not in any religious organization. Jesus today is outside the camp; we must go forth unto Him without the camp. In no other way could we be one with Him. Where He is, there we must be.
Through Him, through such a One, we offer our praises to God. Do you see the point? Suppose that at the very opening of Hebrews we had this word, “Through Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise...” We would all ask, “Through whom?” But this word is not at the beginning, nor in the middle, but at the end, after all the riches of this Christ have been revealed. Through such a One whom you have experienced, whom you have enjoyed so much, offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. The real praise in the meetings must be constituted of our experiences of Christ.
The Father does not like us to praise Him directly. The sweetest praises we can offer to the Father are those we offer to Christ and which concern Christ—there is nothing more pleasant to the Father’s heart than this. There is an entirely mistaken concept in Christianity regarding worship to God: that to prostrate ourselves and bow down to the Father in heaven is real worship. No, that is not real worship. Real worship to the Father is the handling of His Son. In Gospel preaching we tell the sinners that Christ is the Son of God, that Christ is the very One who redeemed us, the One who can save us and bring us to the Father. If we minister these things regarding Christ to the unbelievers, this is real worship to the Father. To worship the Father, to worship God, is simply to present the Son of God. Either we present Christ to the Father or we present Christ to others in the Father’s presence—both are the best worship we can render to God. Real praise to the Father is not merely that we come to Him and say, “O Father, how great Thou art. Thou art so righteous, so holy, so high, so kind and so good!” If we merely praise the Father in this way, we are rather religious. The real praises to the Father come out of our experience of Christ in our daily life as the little Benjamin, as Judah, as Zebulun and Naphtali (Psa. 68:27). If we come to the meeting and say, “Hallelujah, Jesus is my Lord; He is the little Benjamin,” it seems that this is not praise to the Father. But I tell you, this is a very pleasing praise to the Father, gladdening and rejoicing His heart. The Father never desires that we merely glorify Him, but rather that we glorify Him with the Son. If we glorify the Son, we glorify the Father. If we glorify the Son, the Father will say, “I am glorified in my Son being glorified by you.” Learn to praise in this way, not to praise with a composition of religious and natural things. The praises out of our experience and enjoyment of Christ, the spiritual praises to the Lord about Christ, are the best praise to the Father.
For many years we have been trying to free ourselves from the way of meeting in today’s Christianity, but we have not succeeded. In these days, however, the Lord is showing us the way—that is, we all must experience Christ, we all must see Jesus; then when we come together we will have something so exciting to share of Him. This is the proper meeting, and this meeting will be mostly for praising.