Christ Jesus Isn't Like Anything!

"If" And Knowing Calvary Love Which Surpasses Knowledge

Two of my favorite godly, faithful, female authors and believers are Elisabeth Elliot and Amy Carmichael. 

Elisabeth Elliot married Jim Elliot, and he and his four other missionary friends were speared to death as they tried to reach a violent tribe in Ecuador for Christ. After her husband was killed, Elisabeth took her young daughter and went to live with the very tribe that killed her husband and friends. God used her witness to bring the tribe to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. She also wrote this excellent biography of Amy Carmichael.

Amy Carmichael was a missionary from Ireland who was single all of her life and labored most of her years in India. She spent 53 years there without a furlough (missionary break/extended vacation). And she wrote one of my favorite books - which is also a very convicting book, If: What Do I Know Of Calvary Love?.

In this book, she wrote statement after statement, beginning with the word "if" and then a statement that pierces your heart, convicting of sin and selfishness. Each statement ends with ". . . then I know nothing of Calvary love." On these strong ending words, she wrote: 

And in case any true follower be troubled by the “then I know nothing,” I would say, the thought came in this form, and I fear to weaken it. But here, as everywhere, the letter kills. St. Paul counted the loss of all things as nothing that he might know Him whom he already knew; and the soul, suddenly illuminated by some fresh outshining of the knowledge of the love of God shown forth on Calvary, does not stop to measure how much or how little it knew of that love before. Penetrated, melted, broken before that vision of love, it feels that indeed all it ever knew was nothing, less than nothing.

It is true, there is a sense in which in light of all of the depths of Calvary love we will learn more and more about throughout all eternity, we know nothing of this love right now, in comparison. And so the Apostle Paul prayed: 

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith - that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19

God's love for us is not based on our circumstances but on His unchanging character and Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. As Corrie ten Boom wrote: 

Pastor Joel Beeke reminds us - this is Calvary love:

Below are some of my favorite "if" statements from Sister Amy's book. You can read the whole book for free online here or order it here. May God convict us of our sin and selfishness, and show us afresh a vision of that great Calvary love that our Savior Jesus Christ showed to us, so that we might persevere in loving others more and more the way He loved us, by His grace and for His glory . . . . 

If I covet any place on earth but the dust at the foot of the Cross, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I belittle those whom I am called to serve, talk of their weak points in contrast perhaps with what I think of as my strong points; if I adopt a superior attitude, forgetting “Who made thee to differ? And what has thou that thou hast not received?” then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I can easily discuss the shortcomings and the sins of any; if I can speak in a casual way even of a child’s misdoings, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I enjoy a joke at the expense of another; if I can in any way slight another in conversation, or even in thought, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I can write an unkind letter, speak an unkind work, think an unkind thought without grief and shame, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I do not feel far more for the grieved Saviour than for my worried self when troublesome things occur, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I am perturbed by the reproach and misunderstanding that may follow action taken for the good of souls for whom I must give account; if I cannot commit the matter and go on in peace and in silence, remembering Gethsemane and the Cross, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I am afraid to speak the truth, lest I lose affection, or lest the one concerned should say, “You do not understand,” or because I fear to lose my reputation for kindness; if I put my own good name before the other’s highest good, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I am soft to myself and slide comfortably into the vice of self-pity and self-sympathy; if I do not by the grace of God practice fortitude, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I myself dominate myself, if my thoughts revolve round myself; if I am so occupied with myself I rarely have “a heart at leisure from itself,” then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If, the moment I am conscious of the shadow of self crossing my threshold, I do not shut the door, and in the power of Him who works in us to will and to do, keep that door shut, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I cannot in honest happiness take the second place (or the twentieth); if I cannot take the first without making a fuss about my unworthiness, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I do not give a friend “the benefit of the doubt,” but put the worst construction instead of the best on what is said or done, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I take offense easily, if I am content to continue in a cool unfriendliness, though friendship be possible, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If a sudden jar can cause me to speak an impatient, unloving word, then I know nothing of Calvary love. (For a cup brimful of sweet water cannot spill even one drop of bitter water however suddenly jolted.)

If I feel injured when another lays to my charge things that I know not, forgetting that my Sinless Saviour trod this path to the end, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I feel bitterly towards those who condemn me, as it seems to me, unjustly, forgetting that if they knew me as I know myself they would condemn me much more, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I say, “Yes, I forgive, but I cannot forget,” as though the God who twice day washes all the sands on all the shores of all the world, could not wash such memories from my mind, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If interruptions annoy me, and private cares make me impatient; if I shadow the souls about me because I myself am shadowed, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If souls can suffer alongside, and I hardly know it, because the spirit of discernment is not in me, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If there be any reserve in my giving to Him who so loved that He gave His Dearest for me; if there be a secret “but” in my prayer, “anything but that, Lord,” then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I become entangled in any “inordinate affection”; if things or places or people hold me back from obedience to my Lord, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If something I am asked to do for another feels burdensome; if, yielding to an inward unwillingness, I avoid doing it, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If the praise of man elates me and his blame depresses me; if I cannot rest under misunderstanding without defending myself; if I love to be loved more than to love, to be served more than to serve, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I crave hungrily to be used to show the way to liberty to a soul in bondage, instead of caring only that it is be delivered; if I nurse my disappointment when I fail, instead of asking that to another the word of release may be given, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I want to be known as the doer of something that has proved the right thing, or as the one who suggested that it should be done, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I do not forget about such a trifle as personal success, so that it never crosses my mind, or if it does, is never given a moment’s room there; if the cup of spiritual flattery tastes sweet to me, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I refuse to be a corn of wheat that falls into the ground and dies (“is separated from all in which it lived before”), then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I ask to be delivered from trial rather than for deliverance out of it, to the praise of His glory; if I forget that the way of the Cross leads to the Cross and not to a bank of flowers; if I regulate my life on these lines, or even unconsciously my thinking, so that I am surprised when the way is rough, and think it strange, though the word is, “Think it not strange,” “Count it all joy,” then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If the ultimate, the hardest, cannot be asked of me; if my fellows hesitate to ask it and turn to someone else, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I covet any place on earth but the dust at the foot of the Cross, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

God And The Gospel

To learn more about the great and true Triune God, the God-Man, Jesus Christ, His cross, and His glorious Gospel message and everlasting Kingship, please watch American Gospel: Christ Alone. You can watch the full documentary here with a free, 3 day trial.

Christ Jesus Is The Sun Who Rose!

 

In Jesus' Presence Joy's So Vast!

 

Jesus Spoke Of Hell More Than Everyone Else In The Bible Combined

No one spoke about hell more than Jesus . . . because he, more than anyone, saw the true frightfulness of it . . . Jesus endured hell in the place of all those who wind up in heaven. Dane Ortlund

If we are to faithfully herald the love of Christ which passes knowledge, we must faithfully and compassionately herald the wrath of God which passes comprehension. Nick Batzig

And no one in Scripture speaks of [eternal punishment in hell] more often and at greater length than our Lord Jesus Christ, whose depth of human feeling and compassion no one can deny and who was the meekest and most humble of human beings. It is the greatest love that threatens the most severe punishments. Herman Bavinck 

I wonder if so many apparent followers of Jesus Christ would leave the faith and "deconstruct" if pastors, parents, and Sunday school teachers taught about hell with as much force, consistency, and vivid horror as Jesus Christ Himself did?

Jesus spoke about hell more than everyone else in the Bible combined. He knew Hell well. He bore the pains of Hell on that cross so that we might never face it forever! Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Praise God for salvation in Jesus Christ alone by faith alone - He lived the perfect life, died on that cross for sinners, was buried, and then rose up from the dead so that all who repent and believe in Him might be saved: “Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” (1 Thessalonians 1:10)

Here's where Jesus taught on hell:

1. Matthew 5:22 – Gehenna of fire (Gehenna = Hell)

2. Matthew 5:29 – It’s better to cut your eye out than go to Gehenna 

3. Matthew 5:30 – It’s better to cut your hand off than go to Gehenna 

4. Matthew 8:12 – Outer darkness – weeping and gnashing of teeth

5. Matthew 10:28 – Fear Him Who can cast both body and soul into Gehenna

6. Matthew 11:23 – Hades – more tolerable for Sodom than for Capernaum on the day of judgment

7. Matthew 13:42 – Fiery furnace, weeping and gnashing of teeth

8. Matthew 13:50 – Fiery furnace, weeping and gnashing of teeth

9. Matthew 16:18 – Hades (It’s a place of torment – see Luke 16:23)

10. Matthew 18:8 – Eternal fire – It’s better to lose hand or foot than to go there

11. Matthew 18:9 – It’s better to tear out your eye than go to Gehenna

12. Matthew 22:13 – Outer darkness – weeping and gnashing of teeth

13. Matthew 23:15 – Pharisees making people twice as much a child of Gehenna

14. Matthew 23:33 – Brood of vipers – how will they escape Gehenna

15. Matthew 24:50-51 – will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites.

16. Matthew 25:30 – Outer darkness – weeping and gnashing of teeth

17. Matthew 25:41 – Separation of the sheep and the goats – sends the goats to eternal fire

18. Matthew 25:46 – The wicked are sent to eternal punishment

19. Mark 9:43 – Gehenna – unquenchable fire

20. Mark 9:45 – Gehenna

21. Mark 9:47-48 – Gehenna – where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched

22. Luke 10:15 – Hades

23. Luke 12:5 – Gehenna

24. Luke 16:23 – Hades – torment, anguish, flames, cries for water and mercy

25. John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son so that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

26. John 3:18 – Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 

27. John 3:36 – Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

28. John 5:24-29 – Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

This statement on hell from Charles Spurgeon is one of the most powerful statements I've ever read on hell. Jesus is King! Even of and in hell! He's King of hell; He's King in hell; He's King over hell! And He's the only King Who saves from hell! That's my King! Do you know Him?! Spurgeon said:

It is the iron crown of hell, for Christ reigneth there supreme. Not only in the dazzling brightness of heaven, but in the black impenetrable darkness of hell is his omnipotence felt, and his sovereignty acknowledged; the chains which bind damned spirits are the chains of his strength; the fires which burn are the fires of his vengeance; the burning rays that scorch through their eyeballs, and melt their very heart, are flashed from his vindictive eye. There is no power in hell besides his. The very devils know his might. He chaineth the great dragon. If he give him a temporary liberty, yet is the chain in his hand, and he can draw him back lest he go beyond his limit. Hell trembles at him. The very howlings of lost spirits are but deep bass notes of his praise. While in heaven the glorious notes shout forth his goodness; in hell the deep growlings resound his justice, and his certain victory over all his foes. Thus his empire is higher than the highest heaven, and deeper than the lowest hell.

God And The Gospel

To learn more about the great and true Triune God, the God-Man, Jesus Christ, and His glorious Gospel message and everlasting Kingship, please watch American Gospel: Christ Alone. You can watch the full documentary here with a free, 3 day trial.

Christ Jesus Is The Great Bridegroom!

 

Christ Jesus Came Not For The Well!

Christ Jesus Came Forgiving Sin!

 

"That's My King!" In Matthew 8!

Christ Jesus Is The Clean Of Clean

His Touch For Lepers None Had Seen
He Reached For What’s To Us Obscene
In Love To Cleanse And Not Demean
For On That Cross We’ve Heard The Scene
Where He Was Struck, Alone, Unclean
To Bear God’s Wrath That Came Between
Our Father And His Loved Supreme
Christ Died And Rose To Intervene
By Faith We’re Cleansed To The Extreme
No More Alone Embraced Serene
He’ll Touch You Too And Make You Clean
He Came For Sinners To Redeem
His Blood A Mighty, Cleansing Stream!

That's my King!

Christ Jesus Saves From Every Nation

Soldiers, Servants, Every Station

The Humble Come With Faith Oblation

Know Their Worth Humiliation

Trust Christ’s Might No Limitation

Yet He Took Hell’s Condemnation

Died And Rose For Our Salvation

Outer Darkness And Damnation

You Won’t Face But Jubilation

Trust In Christ Our Captivation

Faith Gives Him Joyful Elation

In Christ We Are His New Creation

He Is Our God And Celebration!

That's my King! Do you know Him?!

Christ Jesus Came To Save And Heal

His Word Casts Spirits Out With Zeal

The Fevers Leave Without Appeal 

He Bore Our Illnesses For Real

But Even More Than This He’d Seal

Our Redemption Bruised His Heel

He Took God’s Wrath In Fullness Feel

And Died Upon That Gruesome Hill

Then Rose His Power’s Full Reveal

So Trust The Son His Perfect Skill

His Loving, Good, And Sovereign Will

To Heal Or Not We Trust Him Still

For He Knows Best For Us Until

All Our Wants In Him Fulfill

For He’s Our Joy And Greatest Thrill!

That's my King!

Christ Jesus Poor And Lowly Came

No Place To Lay His Head Or Claim

Through Him You’ll Never Be The Same

He Took God’s Wrath And Bore Our Blame

He Died Enduring Sin And Shame

Then Rose For Sinners To Reclaim

So Follow Him It’s Our Great Aim

And Suffer All For His Great Name

Since He’s Our Greatest Love Exclaim

Our Hearts For Him His Love Inflame

His Movement None Shall Stop Or Tame

We Pray And Speak And Spread His Fame

For He’s Our All We Shall Proclaim!

That's my King! I wonder if you know Him today?!

Christ Jesus Reigns And Calms The Storm

Though Winds And Waves Around Them Swarm

This Feat The LORD God Did Perform

The God-Man Stands And Calms The Storm

Though Sin And Threats Around You Swarm

He Died And Rose To Life Transform

And Through His Spirit Grant Reform

So You’ll Have Peace In Any Storm

And Find In Him Your Hearts Grow Warm

As In His Image You’ll Conform

His Grace And Peace Will Be Your Norm

All For God’s Glory In The Storm!

That's my King!

Christ Jesus Came To Demons Rule

They Cried And Begged While Acting Cruel

With Just One Word So Minuscule

He Sent Them Drowning In The Pool

The Devil’s Works Destroyed So You’ll

With Jesus Stand They’re Your Footstool

He Died, Bore Wrath And Ridicule

Then Rose To Save From Every Ghoul

By Faith Alone He’ll Be Your Jewel

And In Your Heart He’ll Reign And Rule!

That's my King! That's my King!

We Must Get The Cross Right For The Glory Of King Jesus!

The cross of the LORD Jesus Christ should be our only boast:

But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . . Galatians 6:14

The cross of the LORD Jesus Christ should be our primary theme and central theme in every theme:

For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 1 Corinthians 2:2

On this verse, J. C. Ryle wrote:  

There is no doctrine in Christianity so important as the doctrine of Christ crucified. There is none which the devil tries so hard to destroy. (Our Great Redeemer)

So it is vitally important that we speak, preach, write, and teach about the cross accurately (get it right!) so that sinners might be saved and so that King Jesus, God our Father, and God the Holy Spirit get all the glory they deserve. 

I have written these articles in which I try to accurately describe the cross and Jesus' work there. I hope you find them helpful:

1. "American Gospel" Gets It Right explores who killed Jesus Christ and whether or not it's accurate to say God damned Jesus on the cross.

2. Forsaken, Or Felt Forsaken explains the nature of Christ's forsakenness on the cross.

3. More Thoughts On Being God-Forsaken lists numerous faithful and trusted scholars, teachers, and preachers' teachings on the forsakenness of Jesus on the cross.

4. A Concern About The Way Pastor Kevin DeYoung Writes About The Cross In His New Daily Doctrine Book: This article explains my disagreement with how Kevin DeYoung has written about Christ being forsaken in his systematic theology devotional book.

5. Thomas Goodwin On The Father's Love And Anger At The Cross shows one very prominent and faithful Puritan's thoughts on how God the Father's love and His anger intersect at the cross.

6. The Bible Says God Was Angry With Jesus On The Cross explores what Psalm 89 teaches us about what Jesus suffered on the cross.

7. The Bible Says The Father Turned His Face Away From Jesus On The Cross explores what Psalm 88 teaches us about what Jesus suffered on the cross.

8. Samuel Rutherford On The Father's Love And Anger At The Cross shows another prominent Puritan's teaching on how God the Father's love and anger converge at the cross.

9. Forsakenness, Anger, Damnation, And The Death Of Christ On That Cross According To Petrus Van Mastricht

10. Hugh Martin On God's Anger Toward His Son On That Cross

11. Richard Sibbes On God's Anger Toward His Son On That Cross

12. Robert Murray M'Cheyne On God's Anger Toward His Son On That Cross

13. Stephen Charnock On God's Anger Toward His Son On That Cross

14. John Calvin On God's Anger Toward His Son On That Cross

15. MacArthur And Mayhue On The Forsakenness Of Jesus On That Cross

16. Is It Biblical To Say Jesus Was Damned By God On The Cross? answers that question with numerous faithful voices from Church history.

17. The Sufferings Of The LORD Jesus Christ On The Cross seeks to explore the different ways God's Word describes Christ's sufferings on the cross and what they mean in their Old Testament context.

18. John Calvin: Jesus Both Became A Curse AND Was Cursed By God On The Cross describes Calvin's convictions on Jesus' cursed death on the cross.

19. Dr. Klaas Schilder On The Sufferings Of Christ highlights the Dutch theologians thoughts on the horrors of what Jesus endured on the cross for His people.

20. Opposing Calvin’s Inconsistency On The Cross, The Father’s Anger Toward The Son, And The Heart Of The Gospel explores John Calvin's thought on penal substitution.

21. God's Anger Toward His Son Displayed In The Book Of Lamentations

22. A poem about the sufferings of Christ: The Day The Father Was Angry With His Son

23. A new hymn celebrating what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross: Christ Our Substitute

24. Derek Rishmawy has written a very helpful article affirming the classic doctrine of God and Biblical trinitarian theology as it relates to Christ's sufferings on the cross.

25. Forsakenness, Anger, Damnation, And The Death Of Christ On That Cross According To Petrus Van Mastricht

26. Dr. S. M. Lockridge wrote a wonderful poem about the cross that also looks forward to the resurrection called, "It's Friday, But Sunday's Coming!"

God And The Gospel

To learn more about the great and true Triune God, the God-Man, Jesus Christ, His cross, and His glorious Gospel message and everlasting Kingship, please watch American Gospel: Christ Alone. You can watch the full documentary here with a free, 3 day trial.