Incomparable Christ Images

 

 

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The Incomparable Christ

Based on: The Incomparable Christ By Samuel Porter Jones

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • June 10, In the year of our Lord, 2018

Prelude:

  1. The Incomparable Christ By Samuel Porter Jones

Persuasion:

  1. From the Father to a Mother
    1. “He came from the bosom of the Father to the bosom of a woman.”
      1. He sat at the Father’s right hand.
      2. Then His mother held Him with her right hand.
        1. John 1.18 shows how close Jesus was to the Father:

          18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him (John 1.18).
        2. Luke 11.27 shows how close Jesus was to His mother:

          27 And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!” (Luke 11.27).
    2. “He put on humanity that we might put on divinity. He became man that we might become the sons of God.”
      1. Three times in Matthew 17,
        1. which we studied last Wednesday,
          1. Jesus referred to Himself as the Son of Man.
          2. The first one said:

            9 Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead” (Matthew 17.9)
      2. Second Peter 1.2–4 shows what His divine power can do:

        2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (2 Peter 1.2–4).
  2. From Heaven to Earth
    1. “He came from Heaven, where the rivers never freeze, winds never blow, frosts never chill the air, flowers never fade.”
      1. Revelation 21 and 22 shows that everything unpleasant about earth
        1. does not exist there.
        2. Everyone in heaven worshiped Him.
    2. “They never phone for a doctor for there no one is ever sick. No undertakers and no graveyards for no one ever dies—no one is ever buried.”
      1. Probably the Bible’s most prevalent image of what we experience apart from earth is eternal life.
      2. Revelation 21.4

        4 “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21.4).
      3. Revelation 22.2–3

        2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him (Revelation 22.2–3).
    3. He left a place like that so we can live in that place.
  3. Nothing Earthly Significant
    1. “He was born contrary to the laws of nature, lived in poverty, reared in obscurity; only once crossed the boundary of the land of his childhood.”
      1. He was born of a virgin.
      2. How many carpenters have changed the world?
      3. What was Nazareth?
      4. As an infant or a toddler He went to Egypt and returned.
    2. “He had no wealth nor influence and had neither training nor formal education.”
      1. He had no pillow for His head.

        20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (Matthew 8.20).
      2. His critics recognized Him as unlettered.

        15 And the Jews marveled, saying, “How does this Man know letters, having never studied?” (John 7.15).
    3. “His relatives were inconspicuous and un-influential.”
      1. Who were they?
      2. No one famous for generations.
  4. What He Did
    1. “In infancy He startled a king; in boyhood He puzzled the doctors; in manhood He ruled the course of nature.”
      1. Herod felt threatened by Jesus as a baby and
      2. ordered the death of all two-year-old boys.
        1. At age 12, He asked and answered questions in the temple.
        2. On the Sea of Galilee, He calmed a storm.
    2. “He walked upon the billows and hushed the sea to sleep.”
      1. He walked on water and
        1. even made one of His disciples walk on water.
        2. Did He control the forces of nature or something?
      2. He spoke a storm into submission.
        1. When was the last time anything in creation listened to you?
        2. Man is the pinnacle of God’s natural creation but we are as nothing.
    3. “He healed the multitudes without medicine and made no charge for His services.”
      1. They could not pay Him enough.
      2. He already owns the heavens and the earth.
  5. His Influence
    1. “He never wrote a book, yet not all the libraries of the country could hold the books that could be written about Him.”
      1. He wrote on the ground once, but we do not know what He wrote.
      2. He wrote the Ten Commandments.
      3. John said the world could not contain all the books written about Christ.

        25 And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen (John 21.25).
    2. “He never wrote a song, yet He has furnished the theme of more songs than all the song writers combined.”
      1. He did not write a song, but
        1. we know that He knows music.
        2. He sings with us
          1. Hebrews reveals this:

            12 “I will declare Your name to My brethren;
            In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.”
            (Hebrews 2.12)
        3. He will sing over us
          1. Zephaniah speaks of something I cannot wait to see and to hear:

            17 “The LORD your God in your midst,
            The Mighty One, will save;
            He will rejoice over you with gladness,
            He will quiet you with His love,
            He will rejoice over you with singing.”
            (Zephaniah 3.17)
    3. “He never founded a college, yet all the schools together cannot boast of as many students as He has.”
      1. He did not have a college, but
        1. only some people who followed Him around and
        2. He taught them as He walked throughout Israel.
      2. How many people have or will enroll in college courses?
        1. Yet, how many students has He had over the centuries?
        2. What has any school or college or university taught
          1. that is greater in knowledge and wisdom
          2. than what He taught?
  6. Healer of Souls
    1. “He never practiced psychiatry, and yet He has healed more broken hearts than the doctors have broken bodies.”
      1. He had no need for psychiatry or psychotherapy for He knows the soul.
      2. When two celebrities this past week took their lives,
        1. everyone is aware of this problem, but
        2. who has declared that Christ is the answer?
    2. He teaches the way of peace.
      1. Enemies have come together because of Him.
      2. He forms bonds between strangers that we never imagined.
  7. VII.Peacemaker
    1. “He never marshaled any army, drafted a soldier, nor fired a gun, yet no leader ever made more volunteers, who have under His orders, made more rebels stack arms or surrender without a shot being fired.”
    2. The world does not understand the multitudes He commands.
    3. Although we are in His army, we do not use the weapons of the world.

      3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled (2 Corinthians 10.3–6).
  8. VIII.No One Greater
    1. “He is the Star of astronomy.”
      1. How appropriate that the star of the wise men showed where He lay.
      2. He created the stars and holds the stars in His hand.
    2. “The Rock of geology,”
      1. David called the Lord his rock.
      2. And Jesus told Peter that upon this rock, Jesus would build His church.
    3. “the Lion and the Lamb of zoology,”
      1. He is a fighter, but
      2. He is harmless.
    4. “the Harmonizer of all discords and the Healer of all diseases.”
      1. What is out of order in our souls and in our bodies,
      2. He can fix.
  9. Indestructible
    1. “Great men have come and gone, yet He lives on.”
      1. All the great have died and ceased to rule.
      2. Name anyone in history and they do not live on.
    2. “Herod could not kill Him, Satan could not seduce Him, Death could not destroy Him, the grave could not hold Him.”
      1. Herod ordered the killing of all 2-year old boys.
      2. Satan tried in the wilderness massive temptations.
      3. He broke the bonds of death through His resurrection.
  10. His Earthly Poverty
    1. “He laid aside His purple robe for a peasant’s gown.”
      1. The king of heaven and earth owned no pillow.
      2. Yet, He owned everything.
    2. “He was rich, yet for our sake He became poor.”
      1. How rich He was.
      2. How poor He was.
    3. “How Poor? Ask Mary! Ask the Wise Men! He slept in another’s manger. He cruised the lake in another’s boat. He rode on another man’s ass. He was buried in another man’s tomb.”
      1. Everything He used, He borrowed.
      2. Yet, He had lent everything to everyone.
  11. The Christ, the Son of the Living God
    1. “All failed but He never.”
      1. At what have we failed?
      2. At what did He fail?
    2. “The ever perfect One—He is the Chief among ten thousand.”
      1. Taken from the Song of Solomon.

        10 My beloved is white and ruddy,
        Chief among ten thousand.
        (Song 5.10)
    3. “He is altogether lovely.”
      1. Do you not find this to be true?
      2. Why are you here tonight?
    4. “He is the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
      1. That is our only conclusion.
      2. Anything even slightly less does not match up.

Exhortation:

  1. First Point