Did The Father Turn His Away From Jesus On That Cross?

Sadly, in recent years, I've seen a denial of these glorious words of the song "How Deep The Father's Love For Us":

How great the pain of searing loss –

The Father turns His face away,

As wounds which mar the Chosen One

Bring many sons to glory. (Stuart Townend)

Critics wrongly argue that the Father didn't turn His face away. Let me use Jesus' words: You are wrong, and you don't know the Scriptures. This is the heart of the Gospel. If the Father didn't turn His face away from Jesus on that cross, then He will turn His face away from sinners in hell forever. Have you not read Psalm 31, Psalms 88 and 89, and all the Psalms? 

I am set apart with the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more, who are cut off from your care. You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths. Your anger lies heavily upon me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves . . . Why, O LORD, do you reject me and hide your face from me? . . . I have suffered your terrors and am in despair. Your anger has swept over me; your terrors have destroyed me. Psalm 88:5-7, 14-16

Thomas Schreiner is right on Psalm 88:

God as v. 14 says hid his face from Jesus Christ at his death. The worst thing Jesus experienced was being abandoned by God. The fellowship he always enjoyed with God was severed. That was the most difficult aspect of Jesus’ sufferings. (Dark Nights and Days: Psalm 88)

Ligon Duncan is right on Psalm 88:

The suffering of this psalm ultimately points to the sufferings of Jesus . . . Jesus's words and life attest to these very sufferings on the cross [the sufferings of Psalm 88]. (When Pain Is Real And God Seems Silent: Finding Hope In The Psalms, Pages 28-29; Duncan preaches Psalm 88 and Psalm 89. Bryan Chapell has an excellent sermon on Psalm 88.) 

Timothy Keller is right on Psalm 88:

The end of Psalm 39: God's face is turned away. The end of Psalm 88: darkness. Losing God's face; darkness. Does that sound familiar to you? Matthew 27:45: "From the sixth hour to the ninth hour, darkness came down over all the land. At the ninth hour, Jesus Christ on the cross cried: 'My God! My God! . . . Why have You forsaken Me?'" . . . Jesus got the total darkness that Heman thought he was getting. When Jesus went to the cross, He was abandoned. Really. Not just subjectively. "My God! My God! Why hast Thou forsaken Me?" On the cross, Jesus Christ really got the wrath of God. Not just I felt the wrath. He actually got the wrath of God. Everybody abandoned Jesus so only Jesus Christ of all the people who have ever trusted God as Savior, only Jesus Christ - darkness really was His only friend. His disciples had left Him; His people had left Him, His Father had abandoned Him - darkness was His only friend. You know why? He was taking the sins upon Himself that we've committed . . . but Jesus took the darkness so that when you believe in Him, your sins are forgiven. Or put it another way: Jesus Christ experienced darkness as His only friend so in your darkness you can know that Jesus is still your friend. He's still there. Jesus was truly abandoned so that you will only feel abandoned, and you can know that God's still there. He's not going to abandon you. No matter what you've done wrong, because of what Jesus Christ has done - He's taken the penalty. It all fell on Him. It all fell on to His heart. (Timothy Keller, How To Deal With Dark Times, Accessed 06 FEB 2024).

For more on Psalm 88, see: The Bible Says The Father Turned His Face Away From Jesus On The Cross

And on Psalm 89, see: The Bible Says God Was Angry With Jesus On The Cross

The Father Did Turn His Face Away: Our Only Hope

Petrus Van Mastricht was right:

Christ deserted and denied by the whole world, by friends as well as enemies, even by God . . . God stopping his ears to all his [Christ's] supplications, turning his face away from him (Pages 435-436)

John Owen was right:

The principal object of meditation, in our preparation for this ordinance, is the horrible guilt and provocation that is in sin. There is a representation of the guilt of sin made in the cross of Christ. There was a great representation of it in the punishment of angels; a great representation of it is made in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; and both these are proposed unto us in a special manner, 2 Pet. 2:4–6, to set forth the heinous nature of the guilt of sin: but they come very short,—nay, give me leave to say, that hell itself comes short,—of representing the guilt of sin, in comparison of the cross of Christ. And the Holy Ghost would have us mind it, where he saith, "He hath made him sin for us," 2 Cor. 5:21. "See what comes of sin," saith he, "what demerit, what provocation there is in it." To see the Son of God praying, crying, trembling, bleeding, dying; God hiding his face from him; the earth trembling under him; darkness round about him;—how can the soul but cry out, "O Lord, is this the effect of sin? is all this in sin?" Here, then, take a view of sin. (Sacramental Discourses, Page 76)

John Flavel was right:

. . . it was a penal desertion, inflicted on him for satisfaction for those sins of ours, which deserved that God should forsake us for ever, as the damned are forsaken by him. So that this cry (as one observes) was like the perpetual shriek of them that are cast away for ever: this was that hell, and the torments of it which Christ, our surety, suffered for us . . . It was a desertion that was real, and not fictitious. He does not personate a deserted soul, and speak as if God had withdrawn the comfortable sense and influence of his love from him; but the thing was so indeed . . . Did Christ never make such a sad complaint and outcry, till God hid his face from him? Then the hiding of God’s face is certainly the greatest misery that can possibly befall a gracious soul in this world. When they scourged, buffeted, and smote Christ, yea, when they nailed him to the tree, he opened not his mouth; but when his father hid his face from him, then he cried out; yea, his voice was the voice of roaring: this was more to him than a thousand crucifyings. (The Fourth Excellent Saying Of Christ Upon The Cross, Illustrated)

Jonathan Edwards was right:

God withdrew his comfortable presence from Christ, and hid his face from him, and so poured out his wrath upon him, as made him feel its terrible effects in his soul; but yet he knew at the same time that God did not hate him, but infinitely loved him. He cried out of God's forsaking him, but yet at the same time calls him "My God, my God!" knowing that he was his God still, though he had forsaken him. (Christ's Agony)

Matthew Henry was right:

God hid his face from him, and for awhile withdrew his rod and staff in the darksome valley. God forsook him, not as he forsook Saul, leaving him to an endless despair, but as sometimes he forsook David, leaving him to a present despondency. Thirdly, He let out upon his soul an afflicting sense of his wrath against man for sin. Christ was made Sin for us, a Curse for us; and therefore, though God loved him as a Son, he frowned upon him as a Surety. These impressions he was pleased to admit, and to waive that resistance of them which he could have made; because he would accommodate himself to this part of his undertaking, as he had done to all the rest, when it was in his power to have avoided it. (Commentary On Matthew 27:46)

Charles Spurgeon was right:

Christ in that hour took all our sins, past, present, and to come, and was punished for them all there and then, that we might never be punished, because he suffered in our stead. Do you see, then, how it was that God the Father bruised him? Unless he had so done the agonies of Christ could not have been an equivalent for our sufferings; for hell consists in the hiding of God's face from sinners, and if God had not hidden his face from Christ, Christ could not – I see not how he could – have endured any suffering that could have been accepted as an equivalent for the woes and agonies of his people (The Death Of Christ)

Then comes the "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Here we behold His human soul in anguish, His inmost heart overwhelmed by the withdrawing of Jehovah's face, and made to cry out as if in perplexity and amazement. (Christ's Words From The Cross, Page 6)

Martyn Lloyd-Jones was right:

[God] has made His Son the sacrifice; it is a substitutionary offering for your sins and mine. That was why He was there in the Garden sweating drops of blood, because He knew what it involved – it involved a separation from the face of the father. And that is why He cried out on the Cross, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Commentary on Romans 8:32).

Everyone else had forsaken Him, His disciples had fled and had left Him, but now He cries, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” The one who utters that cry is “the beloved,” the one who had basked in the sunshine of the eternal love from eternity, without intermission. He reaches a point wherein even He has lost sight of the face and the smile of His Father. And He experienced that for you, for me. ("In The Beloved")

The Puritan, Thomas Goodwin, wrote of how Jesus suffering the curses mentioned in Job 13:24:

Why do you hide your face and count me as your enemy? 

In his book, Of Christ The Mediator, Goodwin wrote:

A bloody battle was now towards, and therefore it was a black day; Christ was to encounter with the utmost power of darkness, and therefore the field he fights it out in is darkness. Two things were due unto us for our sins:

1. Pœna damni, the loss of God's favour, and a separation from God and all good, even to a drop of water.

2. Pœna sensûs, the curse and wrath of God. Other things are but either circumstances or consequents of suffering these in those who are sinners. We have them both mentioned; Job 13:24, "Wherefore hidest thou thy face" (says he to God; there is the punishment of loss and privation), "and holdest me for an enemy?" (There is the punishment of sense). These two are the substance of the pains in hell, and do now both fully meet in Christ. (Page 471)

Ben Edwards shows that both Charles Hodge and A. A. Strong understood that God turned His face away from Jesus on that cross:

Charles Hodge describes the experience of Jesus as the "hiding of his Father’s face . . . anxiety, fear, a sinking of the heart . . . the loss of the divine favour . . . the depressing and overwhelming darkness."

A. H. Strong believed that Jesus endured "the hiding of the countenance of God" and explicitly rejects the idea that the forsaking of God or hiding of his face was only subjective and not absolute. (Why I Will Still Sing About Christ Being Forsaken: A Response to ‘Neither Forsaken nor Estranged from God.’)

Sinclair Ferguson is right: 

His [Christ's] death is everything that death truly is . . . alienation from the face of the Father. (The Holy Spirit, Page 104)

In a powerful article and sermon on the curse motif of the cross, R. C. Sproul pointed out that what Jesus suffered on the cross was the exact opposite of the blessing of Aaron in Numbers 6:24-26:

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

R. C. Sproul was right:

The supreme malediction would read something like this:

"May the Lord curse you and abandon you. May the Lord keep you in darkness and give you only judgment without grace. May the Lord turn his back upon you and remove his peace from you forever."

When on the cross, not only was the Father's justice satisfied by the atoning work of the Son, but in bearing our sins the Lamb of God removed our sins from us as far as the east is from the west. He did it by being cursed.

You can watch his powerful sermon on this here:

In another article, The Crucifixion And Old Testament Prophecy, R. C. Sproul wrote:

God is too holy to look on iniquity, so when Christ hung on the cross, the Father, as it were, turned His back. He averted His face and He cut off His Son. Jesus, Who, touching His human nature, had been in a perfect, blessed relationship with God throughout His ministry, now bore the sin of God’s people, and so He was forsaken by God . . . On the cross, He was in hell, totally bereft of the grace and the presence of God, utterly separated from all blessedness of the Father. He became a curse for us so that we one day will be able to see the face of God. God turned His back on His Son so that the light of His countenance will fall on us. It’s no wonder Jesus screamed from the depths of His soul.

Richard Phillips is right:

God blesses us because he cursed Jesus as he was bearing our sins. Instead of showing his face to Jesus, the Father turned his face away, so that his Son cried in horror, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matt. 27:46). Jesus then received in his spirit the full fury of the wrath of God for our transgression, paying in full the penalty for our sin. Only in this way could God turn a shining face in acceptance of us sinners, having put our sins on the cross of his Son.

Daniel Doriani is right:

When Jesus drank the cup of wrath, the Father turned away from him. This turning, this temporary separation from the Father, was the second thing he feared. (Matthew)

Mark Dever, while preaching about the Father forsaking the Son on the cross, references the excellent and Biblical line in question from the song they had just sung during the church service, "How Deep The Father's Love For Us":

How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory!

Later he says, "Christ was forsaken, so that we will never be." Then Dever quotes this puritan prayer from The Valley Of Vision:

Christ was all anguish that I might be all joy,
cast off that I might be brought in,
trodden down as an enemy
that I might be welcomed as a friend,
surrendered to hell’s worst
that I might attain heaven’s best,
stripped that I might be clothed,
wounded that I might be healed,
athirst that I might drink,
tormented that I might be comforted,
made a shame that I might inherit glory,
entered darkness that I might have eternal light . . .
expired that I might for ever live.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Yes! The Father turned His face away! And that is our only hope! No hope without it!

Get The Cross Right

We must get the cross right! For more on Christ's forsakenness on the cross, please read:

1. A Concern About The Way Pastor Kevin DeYoung Writes About The Cross In His New Daily Doctrine Book

2. The Bible Says The Father Turned His Face Away From Jesus On The Cross

3. Forsaken, Or Felt Forsaken

4. More Thoughts On Being God-Forsaken

5. The Sufferings Of The LORD Jesus Christ On The Cross

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 and here for free!

J. C. Ryle On The Forsakenness Of Christ On That Cross

In his expository thoughts on the Gospels, J. C. Ryle writes:

Let us observe, in the first place, the remarkable words which Jesus uttered shortly before His death, "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?" There is a deep mystery in these words, which no mortal man can fathom. No doubt they were not wrung from our Lord by mere bodily pain. Such an explanation His utterly unsatisfactory, and dishonorable to our blessed Savior. They were meant to express the real pressure on His soul of the enormous burden of a world's sins. They were meant to show how truly and literally He was our substitute, was made sin, and a curse for us, and endured God's righteous anger against a world's sin in His own person. At that dreadful moment, the iniquity of us all was laid upon Him to the uttermost. It pleased the Lord to bruise Him, and put Him to grief. (Isaiah 53:10.) He bore our sins. He carried our transgressions. Heavy must have been that burden, real and literal must have been our Lord's substitution for us, when He, the eternal Son of God, could speak of Himself as for a time "forsaken." Let the expression sink down into our hearts, and not be forgotten. We can have no stronger proof of the sinfulness of sin, or of the vicarious nature of Christ's sufferings, than His cry, "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?" It is a cry that should stir us up to hate sin, and encourage us to trust in Christ. (Matthew 27:46)

Get The Cross Right

We must get the cross right! For more on Christ's forsakenness on the cross, please read:

1. A Concern About The Way Pastor Kevin DeYoung Writes About The Cross In His New Daily Doctrine Book

2. The Bible Says The Father Turned His Face Away From Jesus On The Cross

3. Forsaken, Or Felt Forsaken

4. More Thoughts On Being God-Forsaken

5. The Sufferings Of The LORD Jesus Christ On The Cross

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 and here for free!

Christ Jesus Listened And Accepted Instruction!

Christ Jesus Listened And Accepted Instruction

My King – He’s So Great And Needs No Introduction

He Grew In All Wisdom And Stature Production

Never Needed Reproof But Caused All Sin Obstruction

God’s Holy, Pure Temple Who’s Under Construction

Never Strayed From God’s Word But Obeyed In Perfection

Yet Died As A Curse Bearing All God’s Rejection

Then Rose Up Alive – Our God Resurrection

Now By Faith Alone You Are Just Through Connection

Through Union With Christ To God Your Protection

Now In Humility You Gladly Receive His Correction

And Grow In All Wisdom Showing Forth Your Election

All Because Of Christ Who Gives Life New Direction

He’s Your All And Your Boast And Your Life Resurrection!

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 and here for free!

Matthew Henry On The Forsakenness Of Christ

Matthew Henry, probably best known for writing a commentary on the whole Bible, got the cross right!

From his commentary on Matthew 27:46:

(3.) What the complaint was—My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me? A strange complaint to come from the mouth of our Lord Jesus, who, we are sure, was God's elect, in whom his soul delighted (Isa. 42:1), and one in whom he was always well pleased. The Father now loved him, nay, he knew that therefore he loved him, because he laid down his life for the sheep; what, and yet forsaken of him, and in the midst of his sufferings too! Surely never sorrow was like unto that sorrow which extorted such a complaint as this from one who, being perfectly free from sin, could never be a terror to himself; but the heart knows its own bitterness. No wonder that such a complaint as this made the earth to quake, and rent the rocks; for it is enough to make both the ears of every one that hears it to tingle, and ought to be spoken of with great reverence.

Note, [1.] That our Lord Jesus was, in his sufferings, for a time, forsaken by his Father. So he saith himself, who we are sure was under no mistake concerning his own case. Not that the union between the divine and human nature was in the least weakened or shocked; no, he was now by the eternal Spirit offering himself: nor as if there were any abatement of his Father's love to him, or his to his Father; we are sure that there was upon his mind no horror of God, or despair of his favour, nor any thing of the torments of hell; but his Father forsook him; that is, First, He delivered him up into the hands of his enemies, and did not appear to deliver him out of their hands. He let loose the powers of darkness against him, and suffered them to do their worst, worse than against Job. Now was that scripture fulfilled (Job 16:11), God hath turned me over into the hands of the wicked; and no angel is sent from heaven to deliver him, no friend on earth raised up to appear for him. Secondly, He withdrew from him the present comfortable sense of his complacency in him. When his soul was first troubled, he had a voice from heaven to comfort him (Jn. 12:27, 28); when he was in his agony in the garden, there appeared an angel from heaven strengthening him; but now he had neither the one nor the other. God hid his face from him, and for awhile withdrew his rod and staff in the darksome valley. God forsook him, not as he forsook Saul, leaving him to an endless despair, but as sometimes he forsook David, leaving him to a present despondency. Thirdly, He let out upon his soul an afflicting sense of his wrath against man for sin. Christ was made Sin for us, a Curse for us; and therefore, though God loved him as a Son, he frowned upon him as a Surety. These impressions he was pleased to admit, and to waive that resistance of them which he could have made; because he would accommodate himself to this part of his undertaking, as he had done to all the rest, when it was in his power to have avoided it.

[2.] That Christ's being forsaken of his Father was the most grievous of his sufferings, and that which he complained most of. Here he laid the most doleful accents; he did not say, "Why am I scourged? And why spit upon? And why nailed to the cross?" Nor did he say to his disciples, when they turned their back upon him, Why have ye forsaken me? But when his Father stood at a distance, he cried out thus; for this as it that put wormwood and gall into the affliction and misery. This brought the waters into the soul, Ps. 69:1-3.

[3.] That our Lord Jesus, even when he was thus forsaken of his Father, kept hold of him as his God, notwithstanding; My God, my God; though forsaking me, yet mine. Christ was God's servant in carrying on the work of redemption, to him he was to make satisfaction, and by him to be carried through and crowned, and upon that account he calls him his God; for he was now doing his will. See Isa. 49:5-9. This supported him, and bore him up, that even in the depth of his sufferings God was his God, and this he resolves to keep fast hold of. (Commentary On Matthew 27:46)

From his commentary on Mark 15:37:

Toward the close of this darkness, our Lord Jesus, in the agony of his soul, cried out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? v. 34. The darkness signified the present cloud which the human soul of Christ was under, when he was making it an offering for sin. Mr. Fox, in his Acts and Monuments (vol. 3, p. 160), tells of one Dr. Hunter, a martyr in queen Mary's time, who, being fastened to the stake, to be burnt, put up this short prayer, Son of God, shine upon me; and immediately the sun in the firmament shone out of the dark cloud, so full in his face, that he was forced to look another way, which was very comfortable to him. But our Lord Jesus, on the contrary, was denied the light of the sun, when he was in his sufferings, to signifying the withdrawing of the light of God's countenance. And this he complained of more than any thing; he did not complain of his disciples' forsaking him, but of his Father's, 1. Because this wounded his spirit; and that is a thing hard to bear (Prov. 18:14); brought the waters into his soul, Ps. 69:1-3. 2. Because in this especially he was made sin for us; our iniquities had deserved indignation and wrath upon the soul (Rom. 2:8), and therefore, Christ, being made a sacrifice, underwent as much of it as he was capable of; and it could not but bear hard indeed upon him who had lain in the bosom of the Father from eternity, and was always his light. These symptoms of divine wrath, which Christ was under in his sufferings, were like that fire from heaven which had been sent sometimes, in extraordinary cases, to consume the sacrifices (as Lev. 9:24; 2 Chr. 7:1; 1 Ki. 18:38); and it was always a token of God's acceptance. The fire that should have fallen upon the sinner, if God had not been pacified, fell upon the sacrifice, as a token that he was so; therefore it now fell upon Christ, and extorted him from this loud and bitter cry. When Paul was to be offered as a sacrifice for the service of saints, he could joy and rejoice (Phil. 2:17); but it is another thing to be offered as a sacrifice for the sin of sinners. (Commentary on Mark 15:34)

Get The Cross Right

We must get the cross right! For more on Christ's forsakenness on the cross, please read:

1. A Concern About The Way Pastor Kevin DeYoung Writes About The Cross In His New Daily Doctrine Book

2. The Bible Says The Father Turned His Face Away From Jesus On The Cross

3. Forsaken, Or Felt Forsaken

4. More Thoughts On Being God-Forsaken

5. The Sufferings Of The LORD Jesus Christ On The Cross

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 and here for free!

Christ Jesus’ Plans And Purpose Stand!

Christ Jesus’ Plans And Purpose Stand

All Guided By His Sovereign Hand

Though Man Does Plan And Rights Demand

Christ Rules And Reigns O’er All The Land

All Other Hope Is Sinking Sand

For Christ Would Die Just As God Planned

He’s Cursed And Crushed Told Beforehand

But Rose Alive – On Death He’d Stand

His All Authority Expand

So Trust The King Who’s Good And Grand

When You Can’t Fathom What He’s Planned

Hope In His Mercy-Heart And Hand

For All Events He Does Command

All For Your Good – Love Understand

All Other Hope Is Sinking Sand

All Other Hope Is Sinking Sand!

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 and here for free!

John Owen On The Forsakenness Of Jesus On That Cross

John Owen got the cross and the forsakenness of Jesus on the cross right. Come and see:

For the curse was upon him, Gal. 3:13, "He was made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." Give me leave to say, Jesus Christ saw more into the nature of the curse of God for sin than all the damned in hell are able to see; which caused a dreadful conflict in his human soul upon that prospect. Secondly. It arose from hence, that the comforting influences of the union with the divine nature were restrained. Jesus Christ was in himself "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;" but yet, all the while, there were the influences of light and glory from the divine nature to the human, by virtue of their union; and now they are restrained, and instead of that, was horrible darkness, and trembling, and the curse, and sin, and Satan, round about him; all presenting themselves unto him: which gave occasion to that part of his prayer, Ps. 22:12–21, "Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion's mouth," etc. There was the sword in the curse of the law, and the dog and the lion, or Satan, as it were, gaping upon him, as if ready to devour him; for it was the hour and power of darkness, dread and terror. Besides, there were cruel men, which he compares to "the bulls of Bashan," which rent him. This caused that terrible conflict. Thirdly. It was from the penal desertion of God. That he was under a penal desertion from God is plain: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" And when I say so, I know little of what I say; I mean, what it is to be under such penal desertion. For the great punishment of hell, is an everlasting penal desertion from God. Fourthly. It was from the unspeakable extremity of the things that he suffered; not merely as to the things themselves which outwardly fell upon his body, but as unto that "sword of God which was awakened against him," and which had pierced him to the very soul. The advantage which he had in his sufferings by his divine union, was that which supported and bore him up under that weight, which would have sunk any mere creature to nothing. His heart was enlarged to receive in those pains, that dread and terror, that otherwise he could not have received. And notwithstanding all this, as I showed before, Christ kept up his faith in reference to his person, and kept up his faith in reference to his cause; and a great example he hath given unto us, that though the dog and the lion should encompass us, though we should have desertion from God and pressures more than nature is able to bear, yet there is a way of keeping up faith, trust, and confidence through all, and not to let go our hold of God. (Sacramental Discourses, Pages 31-33)

The principal object of meditation, in our preparation for this ordinance, is the horrible guilt and provocation that is in sin. There is a representation of the guilt of sin made in the cross of Christ. There was a great representation of it in the punishment of angels; a great representation of it is made in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; and both these are proposed unto us in a special manner, 2 Pet. 2:4–6, to set forth the heinous nature of the guilt of sin: but they come very short,—nay, give me leave to say, that hell itself comes short,—of representing the guilt of sin, in comparison of the cross of Christ. And the Holy Ghost would have us mind it, where he saith, "He hath made him sin for us," 2 Cor. 5:21. "See what comes of sin," saith he, "what demerit, what provocation there is in it." To see the Son of God praying, crying, trembling, bleeding, dying; God hiding his face from him; the earth trembling under him; darkness round about him;—how can the soul but cry out, "O Lord, is this the effect of sin? is all this in sin?" Here, then, take a view of sin. (Sacramental Discourses, Page 76)

We know what is in the curse, even all the anger and wrath that a displeased holy God can and will inflict upon sinful creatures to all eternity . . . Why, saith the apostle, "He hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us," Gal. 3:13. By undergoing and suffering the curse of the law, he redeemed us from it . . . Pray remember that we are now representing this infinite effect of divine wisdom in substituting Jesus Christ in our room, to undergo the wrath and curse of God for us. (Sacramental Discourses, Pages 90, 92-94)

And you may observe, that the apostle uses the very same words in respect of Christ's sufferings that [Peter] uses in respect of the sufferings of the damned angels, Rom. 8:32, [2 Peter 2:4], "God spared him not." And when he would speak of the righteousness of God in inflicting punishment upon the sinning angels, he doth it by that very word, "God spared them not." So that whatever the righteousness of God did require against sinners, Christ therein was not spared at all. What God required against your sins and mine, and all his elect, God spared him nothing, but he paid the utmost farthing. (Sacramental Discourses, Page 92)

The head of Christ's sufferings was in the divine desertion, whence he cried out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" It is certain Christ was forsaken of God; he had not else so complained,—forsaken of God in his soul. How? The divine nature in the second person did not forsake the human; nor did the divine nature in the third person forsake the human, as to the whole work of sanctification and holiness, but kept alive in Christ all grace whatsoever,—all grace in that fullness whereof he had ever been partaker: but the desertion was as to all influence of comfort and all evidence of love from God the Father (who is the fountain of love and comfort), administered by the Holy Ghost. Hence some of our divines have not spared to say, that Christ did despair in that great cry, "My God, my God," etc. Now, despair signifies two things: a total want of the evidence of faith as to acceptance with God; and a resolution in the soul to seek no farther after it, and not to wait for it from that fountain. In the first way Christ did despair,—that is penal only; in the latter he did not,—that is sinful also. There was a total interception of all evidence of love from God, but not a ceasing in him to wait upon God for the manifestation of that love in his appointed time. Remember, Christ was thus forsaken that his people might never be forsaken. (Sacramental Discourses, Pages 126-127)

There were sufferings positive in his soul, when he was made sin and a curse for us, and had a sense of the wrath and anger of God on his soul. This brought those expressions concerning him and from him: "He began to be sore amazed, and said. My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." He was "in an agony." I desire no more for my soul everlastingly to confute that blasphemy, that Christ died only as a martyr, to confirm the truth he had preached, but the consideration of this one thing: for courage, resolution, and cheerfulness, are the principal virtues and graces in him who dies only as a martyr; but for him who had the weight of the wrath of God and the curse of the law upon his soul, it became him to be in an agony, to sweat great drops of blood, to cry out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" which, had he been called to for nothing else but barely to confirm the truth he had preached, he would have done without much trouble or shaking of mind. (Sacramental Discourses, Page 127)

Surely it was a close and strong trial, and that immediately from his Father, he now underwent; for how meekly and cheerfully doth he submit, without any regret or trouble of spirit, to all the cruelty of men and violence offered to his body, until this conflict being renewed again, he cries, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" And this, by the way, will be worth our observation, that we may know with whom our Saviour chiefly had to do, and what was that which he underwent for sinners; which also will give some light to the grand query concerning the persons of them for whom he undertook all this. His sufferings were far from consisting in mere corporal perpessions and afflictions, with such impressions upon his soul and spirit as were the effects and issues only of them. It was no more nor less than the curse of the law of God which he underwent for us: for he freed us from the curse "by being made a curse," Gal. 3:13; which contained all the punishment that was due to sin, either in the severity of God's justice, or according to the exigence of that law which required obedience. That the execration of the law should be only temporal death, as the law was considered to be the instrument of the Jewish polity, and serving that economy or dispensation, is true; but that it should be no more, as it is the universal rule of obedience, and the bond of the covenant between God and man, is a foolish dream. Nay, but in dying for us Christ did not only aim at our good, but also directly died in our stead. The punishment due to our sin and the chastisement of our peace was upon him; which that it was the pains of hell, in their nature and being, in their weight and pressure, though not in tendence and continuance (it being impossible that he should be detained by death), who can deny and not be injurious to the justice of God, which will inevitably inflict those pains to eternity upon sinners? It is true, indeed, there is a relaxation of the law in respect of the persons suffering, God admitting of commutation; as in the old law, when in their sacrifices the life of the beast was accepted (in respect to the carnal part of the ordinances) for the life of the man. This is fully revealed, and we believe it; but for any change of the punishment, in respect of the nature of it, where is the least intimation of any alteration? We conclude, then, this second act of God, in laying the punishment on him for us, with that of the prophet, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all," Isa. 53:6: and add thereunto this observation, that it seems strange to me that Christ should undergo the pains of hell in their stead who lay in the pains of hell before he underwent those pains, and shall continue in them to eternity; for "their worm dieth not, neither is their fire quenched." (The Death Of Death, Pages 64-65)

Getting The Cross Right

We must get the cross right! For more on Christ's forsakenness on the cross, please read:

1. A Concern About The Way Pastor Kevin DeYoung Writes About The Cross In His New Daily Doctrine Book

2. The Bible Says The Father Turned His Face Away From Jesus On The Cross

3. Forsaken, Or Felt Forsaken

4. More Thoughts On Being God-Forsaken

5. The Sufferings Of The LORD Jesus Christ On The Cross

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 and here for free!

Christ Jesus Worked And Served And Bled!

Christ Jesus Worked And Served And Bled

He Had No Place To Lay His Head

He Prayed All Night While Others Bed

He Healed And Preached And Cried And Pled

And Worked Like None You’ve Seen Or Read

He’s Never Lazy – Toiled Instead

Yet For Your Sluggishness He’s Dead

Bore All God’s Curse Upon His Head

And On That Cross He Died And Bled

But Rose Alive New Life To Spread

To All Who Trust And To Him Wed

Now By His Spirit Work And Tread

Upon All Laziness And Dread

Serve Your King – Full Steam Ahead

For He’s Your All, Your Love, Your Head!

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 and here for free!

Righteous Immigration And Happy 250 Years Of Freedom America!

Happy 250 years of freedom America!

For sinners on the far right: my wife is an immigrant from Kenya who is African, thankful for America, Reformed in her theology, and her primary identity is found in Jesus Christ alone.

For sinners on the left: my wife is an immigrant from Kenya, and we spent lots of money, lots of time on paperwork and the legal process, and lots of prayer as we waited over a year so that she could immigrate to the United States legally. Immigration that is done illegally is rebellion against God (akin to the sin of witchcraft - 1 Sam. 15:23), and government leaders who have allowed the United States to be invaded indiscriminately are acting like treasonous rebels.

For all sinners: True freedom is found only in Jesus Christ! Jesus alone saves! He is the God-Man Who lived a perfectly sinless life. He died on that cross for sinners, bearing the curse, wrath, true forsakenness, and damnation of God. Then He rose up from the dead and ascended into heaven to rule and reign forever so that all who repent and believe in Him by faith alone shall be saved: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life." Jesus (John 3:16)

On True Freedom

"That's My King!" Who Gives Freedom Like No Other!

On Righteous Immigration

Immigration And Biblical Mercy

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 and here for free!

If Frederick Douglass' 4th Of July Speech Was About Abortion

"On July 5, 1852, Douglass gave a speech at an event commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence, held at Rochester's Corinthian Hall. It was a piercing speech. During the first part of his speech he praises what the founding fathers did for this country, but his speech soon develops into a condemnation of the attitude of American society toward slavery." (Digital History)

What if Douglass' speech was about freedom from the slavery of abortion? It might sound something like this:

The fact is, ladies and gentlemen, the distance between this platform and the womb where I was to be aborted - chopped up limb by limb - from which I escaped, is considerable - and the difficulties to be overcome in getting from the latter to the former, are by no means slight. That I am here today, is, to me, a matter of astonishment as well as of gratitude. This, for the purpose of this celebration, is the 4th of July. It is the birthday of your National Independence, and of your political freedom. 

What to the American unborn baby, is your 4th of July? What, to the baby facing death by abortion, is your 4th of July? What, to the 65 million dead American babies who have been murdered by abortion since 1973, is your 4th of July? To that I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy - a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody, than are the people of these United States, at this very hour.

Behold the practical operation of this internal abortion trade, the American slaughter house, sustained by American politics and American religion. Here you will see boys and girls, chopped to pieces like swine, for the market. You know what is a swine-drover? I will show you a man-drover. They inhabit all our United States. They perambulate the country, and crowd the highways of the nation, with droves of human stock. You will see one of these human flesh jobbers, so called "doctors" armed with larger dilators, suction cannula to suck body parts out of the womb, extraction forceps to grasp and remove severed heads, arms, legs, and bodies, curettes for scraping, and ring forceps or other grasping tools to ensure all mutilated body parts are removed.

All these are used to drive more than 3,000 children to their deaths every single day in the United States. These poor babies' body parts are then sold singly, or in lots, to suit purchasers. They are food for the expensive cars and lavish lifestyles of these "doctors". Mark the sad procession, as it moves wearily along, and the inhuman wretch who drives them. Hear his savage yells and his blood-chilling oaths, as he hurries on his affrighted captives! There, see the silent scream in the womb of the child being torn apart. Cast one glance, if you please, upon that young mother, who would rather murder her baby than bear the "burden" of motherhood. See, too, that wicked man who forces his woman to kill their child against her vehement cries of protest. See that medical assistant who first realizes he is assisting in the murder of a child run out of the slaughter house room and weep and cry and scream and vomit. See the mother who orders the abortion pill (mifepristone) to murder her baby in the comfort of her own home. Tell me citizens, WHERE, under the sun, you can witness a spectacle more fiendish and shocking. Yet this is but a glance at the American abortion-trade, as it exists, at this moment, in the ruling part of the United States. 

“The arm of the Lord is not shortened,” and the doom of abortion is certain. God will come and judge! Come Lord Jesus! Come quickly! God speed the year of jubilee the wide world o'er! When from their galling chains of death set free! The oppressed shall joyfully bend the knee and wear the yoke of death and tyranny no more! That year will come, and freedom's reign, to man his plundered rights again restore. God speed the day when human blood shall cease to flow! In every clime be understood, the claims of human brotherhood and each return for evil, good, not blow for blow; That day will come all feuds to end, and change into a faithful friend each foe. God speed the hour, the glorious hour, when none on earth shall exercise oppressive power, nor in a tyrant's presence cower; But all to manhood's stature tower, by equal birth! THAT HOUR WILL COME, to each, to all. And from his prison-house the womb, the thrall go forth. Until that year, day, hour, arrive, with head, and heart, and hand I'll strive, to break the rod, and rend the gyve, the spoiler of his prey deprive so witness Heaven! And never from my chosen post, whate'er the peril or the cost, be driven. 

More Resources About Abortion

1. To Be Pro-Choice Is To Be Pro-Murder And Anti-Christ

2. The Procedure

3. The Unthinkable Sin

4. Ten Reasons Why It Is Wrong to Take the Life of Unborn Children by John Piper

5. One-Issue Politics, One-Issue Marriage, And The Humane Society by John Piper

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 and here for free!

Christ Jesus Came And Was Baptized!

Christ Jesus Came And Was Baptized

But Never Sinned Or Compromised

Identified With Sinners Prized

And For Your Sakes He Was Despised

Forsaken, Crushed – He Agonized

For By God’s Wrath He Was Baptized

And Died Alone – For You Chastised

But Rose Again – Death’s Neutralized

So Now Trust Him And Be Baptized

He’ll Crush All Things You’ve Idolized

And Sing O’er You As Sinners Prized

For Your Salvation He’s Baptized!

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 and here for free!

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