We Would See Jesus

by Roy Hession

Book by Hession, Roy, Hession, Revel

Genres: Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Theology, Spirituality, Faith, Religion

148 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

Roy Hession (1908–1992) was a British evangelist and author.

Reviews

[Ginger]

I’m not going to lie, when our pastor gave us this old book as part of the curriculum for a class we were taking, I was not too excited. He’s a dear, and so of course I was going to read it out of loyalty or completion of the class materials, but what I did not expect was a simple old book from the 1950s, with a terrible cover design, to be so impactful. This is one of the finest treatises on the Christian life I have ever read, and I fully expect that I will, just like our pastor, revisit this every year

[Douglas Wilson]

A classic book of evangelical piety, and very good. I may have read it decades ago, but am glad I read it (again, perhaps) now.

[Sarah Dixon Young]

This was a reread, and I am so thankful I picked this book up again.

Challenging Christians to look past our own effort into the accomplishment of Christ, Hession packs so much goodness into this slender volume.

From Jesus as the Door to Jesus as the Way, every chapter brings your focus right back to where it should be...seeing Jesus.

One of my all time favorites for reorienting your attitudes and growing closer to Jesus.

[Zac Robbins]

Ok I struggled to review this book, mostly because I read two full size novels in the span of this tiny lil Gospel read.

The message- Straight Heat
The metaphors- GAS
Parsing of Biblical Passage- 6/10
Reading Level - 6th grade (in a good way)

Who would I recommend this one to? A new believer who needs a book to affirm basic Gospel truths in an understandable way, or to someone in ministry who is in a rut. Neither of which I feel like I am atm

[Staci]

I have been in a season of reading a little of many rather than a lot of a few. It has taken time to get through this very thin book, but I've needed the slowness and Roy Hession's reminder that our only hope and goal should be Jesus Himself. It is so easy to get caught up in desiring the gifts over the Giver. In a season of praying for revival, I have needed the reminder that it isn't really revival for itself that my heart needs and wants, but the fullness of Jesus within me, my family, my church, my community. If only we would see Jesus.

[Adam Jarvis]

3.75 stars.
Love how God is presented in this book. It’s encouraging and grace-filled. I agreed with about half of what he said about man. Some of it seemed a little too “man is disgusting and worthless” but not all of it. Overall, this book paints a beautiful picture of Jesus.

[David]

Really great book. Appreciated and liked it a lot more than Calvary Road (probably have to read again). It visits awesome truths and has me nodding and saying "Mmmm" and "Amen!" I plan to read again in the future to glean more and be blessed from such clear writing, unlike my reviews!

[Olivia Geistweidt]

Incredible! Brought me back to the truth of the gospel in such a profound but simple way.

[Anna]

This is a good book but for me it was not new or particularly impactful. I appreciated how the author portrayed God, the teaching of who he is and what he does.

[Adam Parker]

The first half of this book was a bit dry, and to be honest my wife and I struggled working through it, as is evidenced by our November start date and March end date! The last quarter of the book though was worth the struggle of the first three quarters! It was powerful! It would go so far as to say it affected my understanding of the fundamental relationship to and with Jesus we have, and there is nothing more important than that. The writing style is wordy, but if you can make it to the end, you won't regret it.

[Ryan]

This is a classic little book of evangelical pietism. I'm glad I picked it up to read again, it always moves me to that which is of prime importance in life: to see, hear, know and be moved to love and serve Jesus.

[Cassandra Ulrich]

I highly recommend this book for those new to the Christian faith, but especially to those who've lived the life so long, they think 'they got this.' In a time when focus can be redirected, interactions soiled, and love lost, we all need a dose of what's really important-our connection to God through Jesus the Christ. Definitely have the Bible handy to reread scriptures you thought you thoroughly understood.

[Brenda Lei]

I'm going to hang on to this book for as long as I live. This little book sums up living the grace-filled Christian life so plainly, and I'm sad to have finished it!

"There never comes a time when grace ends and self has to begin again, and this applies to what we call our service as much as any other part of our Christian lives."

[Tim]

Hard not to give 5 stars to a book that so squarely focuses on what matters most - our relationship with Jesus.
While honest ministers can become tired and bedraggled in their attempts to serve Christ, the authors call us to put our focus back on Him. To seek Jesus for His own sake, as the way to all we need and as the end that we seek.
He is the Vine, and our job is to abide in Him.

[Judith Thomson]

An excellent book which explains the scriptures about Jesus with remarkable clarity. Things that I had written off as just figures of speech suddenly become extremely important and- now that they have been explained -their meaning is obvious and clear. Not only obvious, but radiantly true. I am so blessed to have read this book and I am recommending it to family and friends.

[Butler Matthews]

Phenomenal book. Every chapter scratched a different itch that I believe all Christians at some point or another feel. Not at all a difficult read, but so much solid, foundational truth, and you don't go more than 10-15 lines without Hession's statements being backed up by scripture. All things begin, contain, and end with Christ. He is our door, way, and destination.

[Aaron]

Must read book every year

[Ken Sherman]

awesome inspiring read

[Chris Risley]

Not as good as Calvary Road

[Jamie]

Beautiful. Worth re-reading often.

[Thomas Brown]

I reread this one often.

[Scott]

I especially found the section on Jesus doing outside the camp for us to be impactful. I also liked the notion of saying “now you see who I really am” after an apology/confession.

[Alicia]

First time reading this. So good and needs to be read many times. I've already bought several copies to give to friends and family. Don't be surprised if you get one in the mail!

[Pedro Vioti]

Muito aurudo

[Myrissa Webb]

Would highly recommend this book! Very humbling

[Jon]

This is a solid little devotional book, very helpful to me in thinking about why focusing on Jesus is the beginning, middle and end of what we need and do as his disciples. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who doesn't have a solid conception of the "dark night of the soul," because this book would leave you with the impression that if you're experiencing dryness or darkness, you must simply repent and look to Jesus, perhaps praying more, and all will be restored. Actually, many have found that Jesus seems to be absent or distant despite all repenting and praying, even for a long season. Later, they look back and see he was doing a much deeper work in their soul and had to let them experience that desolation. Roy and Revel Hession wrote in the mid-twentieth century, when that idea was almost completely lost to the Protestant world.

This book was worth the read for its many gems, including:

"To concentrate on service and activity for God may often actively thwart our attaining of the true goal, God himself. At first sight it seems heroic to fling our lives away in the service of God and of our fellows. . . . Service seems so unselfish, whereas concentrating on our walk with him seems so selfish and self-centered. But it is the very reverse. The things that God is most concerned about are our coldness of heart towards himself and our proud, unbroken natures. Christian service of itself can, and so often does, leave our self-centered nature untouched. [Now listen to this!] That is why there is scarcely a church, a mission station, or a committee undertaking a special piece of service, that is without an unresolved problem of personal relationships eating out its hear and thwarting its progress. . . . In this condition we are trying to give to others an answer which we have not truly and deeply found for ourselves" (pp. 14-15).

". . . there was not always the mighty working of God that I thought there should have been. The reason is now clear. Our repenting and getting right with God was a means to an end, the end being that souls should be saved--an end other than Jesus himself. . . . We were repenting . . . as a sort of bargain with God" (p. 78).

In response to Jesus' teaching, "I am the true vine," he writes: "We start the day as if it were our day and we make our plans for our day and fully intend to do our best for the Lord. The responsibility and government is really on our shoulders, and we have subtly become the vine. But just because it is our day and we are the vine, things soon go wrong. People and circumstances upset our schedule and interfere with what we wanted to do, and there is a reaction of hardness, irritation, and resentment in our hearts, and often the sharp retort on our lips. The very responsibility of being the vine makes us tense, and tenseness always predisposes us to further sin. . . .

"The way of repentance, however, is ever open to us. Our true Vine, Jesus himself, has, like many an ordinary vine, been tied to a stake, the stake of Calvary. He invites us to return to him in repentance and to confess the source of these things as being our attempt to be ourselves the vine, receiving from His hands forgiveness and cleansing. Immediately he becomes the Vine to us again and we become the branch that rests in him. And in the very place of failure, we have the fruits of the Spirit, the products of his life and nature" (p. 91).

". . . there must be the willingness to be broken and become available to Him as a branch. A branch has no independent life of its own. It exists only to bear the fruit of the Vine. So it must be with us in our relationships to the Lord Jesus. What a battle there is in our hearts so often with our selfishness and personal interests! So often we are just not available to him because we have lapsed back to our old center, self. But it must be surrendered if we are to be available to him as his branch, and that not just in one sweeping surrender, which we may make in a solemn moment of dedication, but just as things come up and as he deals with us. This will involve a continuous dying to self and its rights and wishes, but only so can the Lord Jesus bring forth his fruit on the branch."

[Josh S]

Excellent follow-up, and at times corrective, to "Calvary Road"

[Abbey Green]

Every Christian should read this book. Helps to fundamentally set your perspective on Christ.

[Ebookwormy1]

This little book, 96 pages in my copy, blew me away when I first read it for a class in Grad School. I bought a copy for each of my family members that Christmas. I have read it several times since, and just completed another reading of it.

Attempting to read it cover to cover doesn't work. This is wisdom and truth to be savored. So I read one chapter per day for devotions, and then attempt to pray and meditate and ruminate on those concepts throughout my day.

What makes this book so extraordinary? First of all, it clearly articulates our human propensity to live for self and reject God. It explains how our natural depravity pulls us to strive after formulas, good works, or ways of earning respect/ value/ worth before God instead of humbling ourselves to fully trust in Jesus. And it illustrates how to fully trust in Jesus both in what we think and how we act.

Refreshing. A breath of fresh air into a weary soul, has this book been to me. And this spring, I have found it so again. Enjoy.

---
Update: Discussing this book the other day, I felt I needed to make two additions to this review. #1) This book provides concrete direction on HOW to "practice the presence of God" ala Brother Lawrence, and #2) The language can be a bit thick for those not accustomed to this type of writing, but STICK WITH IT, my friend. It WILL be worth it! :)

The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence, 1691
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

For something of a more approachable style, see
The Green Letters, Stanford, 1981
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Prodigal God, Keller, 2008
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jennifer Tse]

Hession talks about the importance of seeing Jesus in different ways like as all we need, the truth, the door, the way, the end, and for others. I think the chapter about the truth most. Seeing Jesus means learning to see the truth of ourselves. If we deny our sins and the corrections God points out, then we are denying the truth. Reading this book was very enlightening and challenging. It's a very good theological book.

Favorite Quote: Of the ten, only one, when he discovered himself healed, returned to Jesus to give Him thanks and glorify God. The other nine held on their way, eager to enjoy the new life into which their healing from leprosy had introduced them. To them the Lord Jesus was but the means to the end, the end being a life of health. But to the other who fell down at His feet, craving fellowship with One who had healed him, He was not only the means but the End Himself. P. 76