A person's life is his most precious possession. Consequently, to rob him of it is the greatest sin we can commit against him, while to give one's own life on his behalf is the greatest possible expression of love for him (1 Jn. 3:16). This, then, is the ultimate contrast: Cain's hatred issued in murder, Christ's love (issued) in self-sacrifice.
John Stott

The Incomparable Chirst

The Incomparable Chirst

THE INCOMPARABLE CHRIST

All right, Song of Solomon chapter 1. “The song of songs, which is Solomon’s. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.” Let me say to preface here that the Book of the Song of Solomon, of course, is a picture of the relationship of Christ and His church. It has other applications, but the spiritual application has to do with Christ and the church. And notice there that the statement, “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth,” this would be the Shunammite girl speaking, speaking of her Lord, speaking of her lover. And her love is manifested here; God’s love is communicated with His mouth, amen? He spoke, and His word is God’s love letter to us. And God’s love is communicated with His mouth.

And I’ll tell you how you ought to look at your Bible. You ought to look at your Bible as kisses from Jesus Christ, amen? When you kneel down beside your bed and you open your Bible up, and you get down on your knees, and you say, “God, speak to me out of this thing,” it ought to be kisses from God.

“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.” That’s the truth. You know, I think the problem with most people in this world is because they’ve never tasted the wine of the love of the Lord Jesus Christ, they’re still drinking out of the broken cisterns, and still drinking out of the rotten spoil and putrified pools and cespools of this world. It says, “Thy love is better than wine.” I know what wine tastes like. I know what alcohol tastes like in just about any kind of form you can have it. But I’ll tell you what, I tasted something better! I got a drink of the living water, and I drank of that water, and I never thirsted again for the other. Amen? Put it away! The kisses of His mouth and His love is better than wine! And, “Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess,” the Bible tells us, “but be filled with the Spirit.” And His love beats those things all to pieces.

“Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.” Certainly a picture of Christ, with the idea of an anointing here, “ointments,” “thy is as ointment poured forth.” Of course we call Him Jesus Christ because He is that. He is “the anointed One.” Christ means “Anointed.” In the Hebrew they say “Messiah.” In Greek they say “Christ.” In English we say, “Anointed,” but it’s all the same one. Good ointments of His name are poured forth. “Therefore do the virgins love thee.”

“Draw me, we will run after thee.” That’s an interesting statement. There’s one heart, and one love of the heart, and that is the king. “Draw me, we will run after thee.” And, by the way, you only enter the king’s inner chambers by invitation. You don’t enter by demand. “Draw me, and we will run after thee.” The sacred chambers of the king are for the king’s most intimate ones alone. Unless you own Him as King and love Him as a Father, you cannot enter.

“Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers.” You know, the two relationships here which must be understood, the idea of lordship. “The king hath brought me into his chambers.” The king lovingly respected deepens the bond.

It’s like a well-tempered child. You know, the best servant I have is Amy. I have no better servant than Amy. Now, people don’t live to serve me. I’m supposed to live to serve others. The Bible says the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give His life a ransom for many. I’ll tell you the best servant I have is my little daughter Amy. I say, “Amy, could you go get this for me?” I say, “Amy, do this.” “Amy, do that.” But I say, “Amy, would you do this for me?” Amy runs and does it. That’s a blessing. I’ll tell you what, when I won’t answer the phone because I’m in the middle of something, Amy comes downstairs, I talk to her. That’s because she has a relationship with me that none of the rest of you have. And I don’t care how deep I am in a message or how deep I am in prayer or meditation, or how involved I am in something, if Amy needs my time or Amy needs my company or Amy needs my affection, I’ll tell you why I give her time. Because she’s my servant. She’s my child, but she’s my servant. And she’s my dearest love.

My children and my wife are my dearest loves. (I better say that, because she just walked in; I don’t want her to think I left her out!)

Listen, there are chambers that the King has that aren’t for everybody. And I’m not talking about anything lewd or anything in bad taste here this morning. I’m just saying that you’re a child of the King. And you’re the bride of Christ. And He’s your heavenly Bridegroom, and you can get in there when nobody else can. Amen?

“Draw me, and we will run after thee.” But notwithstanding, you’ve got to still own Him as King. The relationship I have with my wife is precious, because she follows me as head of the home. The relationship I have with my daughters is precious because they know that Daddy’s in charge. And if they didn’t know that Daddy was in charge, and they resisted my authority, and they resisted my leadership and headship in the home, it wouldn’t be like that with them. And it’s not going to be right between you and Jesus Christ, unless Jesus Christ has His rightful place in your life, unless you show Him the respect, unless you show Him the submission that you need to show Him.

“The king.” Listen, she is his love, but she still calls him “the king.” “The king hath brought me into his inner chambers.” “We will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.” “The virgins love thee,” verse 3. “The upright love thee,” verse 4. It’s better than wine, and it’s better remembered than wine, amen?

Puking your guts out, you know, as the world takes off for the far end of the universe, and here you are hanging on the back end of it. I walked into a bar one time. I walked in the restroom, and here’s a guy leaning up against a urinal. And I noticed, as he was making his heave-offerings to the porcelain goddess there, he had something in his hand. And I looked to see what it was. And it was his teeth! And I wondered how many sets he had lost before, in order to have the presence of mind to remove the set he had, lest it suffer the same fate as those that preceded it. You know, since I have been saved and been drinking living water, I’ve never had to worry about that kind of thing.

Verse 5 says, “I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jersualem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.” Here the girl is brought to the inner chambers of the king, and she looks at the magnificence of her surroundings. And his chambers spotlight her own unworthiness. “I’m brought into the king’s inner chambers,” but, when she gets there, she says, “I’m black, but comely.”

“O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards: but mine own vineyard have I not kept.” You know, it’s a marvelous thing. Our sin shames us. But He loved us, and brought us to His chambers, knowing full well of it. And He’s justified us, and He’s done away with it. And you may remember it, and you may be aware of it, and you may be conscious of it, but if it’s under the blood, the Saviour doesn’t see it. The King doesn’t even know it’s there.

“Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon.” I’ll tell you where. It’s at the local, New Testament, fundamental, independent, Bible-believing, Baptist, separated church–that’s where it is. “Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon.” We might go a little past it, but, “Why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?” Hey, folks, I don’t settle for any flock but the Lord’s flock, amen? And I don’t want to settle for any chambers less than the King’s chambers. Some of the King’s chambers include regeneration, assurance of salvation, surrender to His Lordship, fullness of power, contentment in all things, faith and trust and hope and virtue and purity, and abiding fellowship–those are the chambers of the King.

We’re going to have a word of prayer here for a moment, and I’m going to talk to you about “The Incomparable Christ.” These few verses that we’ve read–I perhaps have to read just a few more. In verse number 8 (and then we’ll pray), “If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds’ tents. I have compared thee,…” and this is really the verse that I want to spring off of this morning, “I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh’s chariots. Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold. We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver.”

Father, we thank Thee now for a passage of Scripture that causes us to think on Jesus. And we pray again this morning that He would be magnified. We pray, dear Lord, that Jesus Christ would be exalted, and, Father, put in His rightful place. And God, this is a task for which I am totally unfit. But I pray, dear God, that thou wouldest empower me and unctionize me and give me liberty to do the best that can possibly be done in this frail flesh. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”

I want to talk to you about “The Incomparable Christ.” Comparison is the fundamental method of learning. We know a thing is like another or not like another by means of comparison. And as we compare things, one against another, our understanding increases. Paul does this very frequently in his writings; he sets one thing over against another, and shows the contrast. And he makes the connections. And, “This goes with this,” and “This goes with this,” and “Therefore the two are unalike,” and, “If it fits with this, then it’s not of this.” See, the Bible is very clearly making contrasts all the time, and showing you by that method, standing one thing over against another so that you can learn what’s right and what’s wrong.

You learn language because you learn that certain sounds have a similar function to other sounds. Vowels are alike. “A-EI -O-and U,” they all have a similar function in the language. That’s why they’re classified together as vowels. Consonants have a different function in the alphabet. And that’s why they’re classified together as consonants. And you can’t ever put a consonant where a vowel is supposed to be. You can’t ever put a vowel where a consonant is supposed to be. They’re alike, but yet they’re dissimilar. And they need to be compared and they need to be contrasted, in order to fully understand how a language works.

You take prepositions. Prepositions are alike. You ever notice when a little child is learning how to talk, they get their prepositions all confused? You know, they mean to say, “He’s going with me,” but they say, “He’s going by me,” or, “He’s going to me.” Why? Because they understand that a preposition is a preposition, although they couldn’t give it a label. But they understand the function of a preposition in speech. They just haven’t learned how to distinguish one from another all the time. Sometimes they get them confused. But what is that? That’s just a process of learning, and it’s a process of comparison. It’s a process of contrast–seeing what’s alike, seeing what’s not alike, seeing what your supposed to use, and what you’re not supposed to use, and doing the best you can until you get it all down.

Well, I’ll tell you how you learn about Jesus. One of the ways is to learn by comparison. Jesus taught by similitude, by the way. Talking to His disciples in Mark 4:30, He said, “Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what comparison shall we compare it?” And Jesus Christ is really incomparable to anything else. There’s a comparison in the sense of liking two things for the purpose of illustration. And that’s a superior method of teaching, because it’s simple. And it’s effective.

You say, “Well, you want to understand the kingdom of heaven? Well, the kingdom of heaven is like a sower that went forth to sow. The kingdom of heaven is like a man who found a pearl of great price. The kingdom of heaven is like a field that grew wheat and tares. The kingdom of heaven is like…the kingdom of heaven is like… And that’s a way of spiritual understanding; it’s a way of enlightenment, to show contrast and comparison. You have to learn how to discriminate truth from error. You have to learn to discriminate right from wrong. You have to learn to discriminate sincerity from deception, godliness from santimonious, and Bible doctrine from tradition. And, in order to do this, you must follow the rule that the Apostle Paul gave us in 1 Corinthians chapter 2. In 1 Corinthians chapter 2, you can see that with me. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. We’ll get to Jesus in just a minute, but I’m laying a foundation for what we’re going to do. 1 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 9: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God: that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” That’s how it goes, folks. It goes with following some words; not man’s words. Not the words of human wisdom, but the words which the Holy Ghost teaches.

And the Holy Ghost teaches one set of words in this day and time, and it’s right in front of you–it’s your King James Bible. That’s the words the Holy Ghost teaches.

“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.” You have to know what to compare. And the problem with the carnal man is that he doesn’t know what to compare. And he doesn’t know how to compare. And this is the comparison in the sense of bringing things together to examine the relations that they bear to each other, and with a view to ascertain agreement or disagreement between the things that are seen. Enlightenment, true spiritual enlightenment, is the product of study. It’s a product of reason. It’s the product of comparing spiritual things with spiritual. It has no passive idea to it, like in Eastern meditation or mysticism, and that sort of thing. It’s very active. It’s very objective. It has to do with things that are certain, like the word of God, and taking the word of God, and seeing what the word of God says, comparing this with that and seeing what’s like and what’s not alike. And then you have revelation, and then you have discernment. A comparison places things in relation to each other. It discovers their relative properties, their relative quantities, and their relative qualities.

Now, one kind of discrimination, one kind of comparison we need not ought to make is in chapter 10 of 2 Corinthians in verse number 12, where it says there, “For we dare not make ourselves as a number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.” The worst way you can spend your time is thinking about how you are, and who you’re better than, and who’s better than you, and looking at the brethren, and looking at your brothers and sisters in Christ, and looking at other preachers and looking at other churches and looking at other situations, and trying to compare yourself among yourself. The Bible says you’re a fool to do it. Those that do it are not wise! You’re not to look around you and say, “I’m better than him!” or “I’m worse than him!” Because, beside a perfect standard, none of you measure up. And that’s the perfect Standard that we’re supposed to see.

Now, Solomon here is a type of Christ in his humiliation. The girl in the story is a type of the church. The dialogue switches back and forth through the Book, and it’s not always clear who’s speaking all the time. In some places, it’s obviously the Shunammite; in some places, it’s obviously Solomon. Sometimes we’re not really sure who it is.

But in verse number 9, “I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh’s chariots,” I’m not sure who’s talking right now, but I believe that it’s the church talking about her Lord. “I have compared thee.”

And I’ll tell you how you take Jesus Christ, and you stand Him up against anything in this world, and He’s always going to come out on top.

As a matter of fact, the Lord welcomes comparison! He doesn’t try and avoid it. He doesn’t try to escape it, lest you find something better. God issues a challenge to anyone who will take it up. In Isaiah 40 and verse number 18, the Bible says, “To whom will ye liken God? or what likeness will you compare unto Him?” Isaiah 46, and verse number 5, “To whom will ye liken me, and make equal, and compare me, that we may be like?” You know, the problem about God is, there’s nothing in this world that even comes close to like He is to see it! Psalm 89, verse 6, “For who in heaven can be compared unto the Lord? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord?” No comparison!

You can compare Him to any other friend, and there’s no comparison. Jesus Christ is a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother, but I’ve never had a friend in this world that was as dear a friend as Jesus.

You can compare Him to other teachers, but there’s no comparison. In John chapter 6, in His discourse on the Bread of life, a number of people walked away. They didn’t want anything else to hear from Him. And He asked His disciples, “Will you go also?” And Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” Listen, whatever may rub you the wrong way, whatever may go against your grain, whatever you might not completely understand, whatever may be difficult for you, you better stick where the words of life are! You can’t compare Jesus Christ to any other teacher, I’ll tell you that.

“To whom shall we go?” Once you’ve heard Jesus, once God has spoken to your soul, you don’t care too much about what the psychologists have to say. You don’t care very much what the philosophers have to say. Once you’ve had the Holy Ghost and Jesus Christ open up the word of God, and you’ve had light in your soul shine down, no other teachers matter much.

You can compare Him to other healers, but there’s no comparison. “He doeth all things well.” “He maketh both the lame to walk, and the blind to see.” He raises the dead and He cleanses the lepers, and He heals the sickness of mankind, and He still the tempests and storms and calms the waves, and He has power over all creation. And there’s no other healer that can compare to Him.

You say, “Why isn’t He doing that today?” He’ll do it one of these days. It’s not His time yet. Right now He’s making for Himself a bride. And when He’s done with that, then the rest of these things will be brought in order. You can compare Him to other healer, but nobody has ever brought the healing that Jesus Christ has brought to the souls of mankind. You can take Alcoholics Anonymous and every other reprobate, God-defying, false-cult twelve-step rehabilitation program, and stand it up beside the pure word of God, and the transforming of your heart and your mind by the renewing power of the Spirit of God and the word of God, and I’ll tell you what. Usually, when they go to those twelve-step programs, like a dog they go back to their vomit! But you get into this Book, you get in the word of God, and Jesus Christ heals your soul, and you’ll find yourself walking by a different standard. You’ll find yourself living by a different set of rules. You’ll find yourself living in victory over things that drug you through the mud before. And I’ll tell you what, some folks go back and return and return and return to their addiction, but I’ll tell you what. I’ve got something that delivered me, folks. When I got Jesus Christ, He healed my soul of all the things that were cockeyed and kinky and wrinkled up in my personality that made me subject to all of that. God delivered me, and it’s never been the same!

I don’t understand somebody who says they’re saved, walking in an addiction. Maybe for a couple of months, but I can’t see it perennially. Just doesn’t make sense to me. I’ve been healed!

You can compare Him with other philanthropers, but there’s no comparison. Whatever good some men may have done in this world–and I thank God for the work of men like R.G. LeTourneau and others who have given tremendous amounts of money and great self-sacrifice in order to try and make the world a better place to live–but I’ll tell you what. Nobody can compare it to the work of Christ. “There’s one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time.” And R.G. LeTourneau might have given 90 percent of his income to God, but Jesus Christ gave everything He had! He gave His life. You can compare Him to other philanthropers, but there’s no comparison.

You can compare Him to other rulers, but there’s no comparison. “His name shall be called wonderful, counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the prince of peace.” The angel appeared to Mary there in Luke chapter 1, and he said, “The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of His father David, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.” There has never been anybody like Jesus to compare Himself to. He’s so far above, He’s so far beyond, He’s so much higher than anything that you can liken Him to, that the comparison is ridiculous and absurd to even make. He is indisputably the incomparable Christ.

Turn to Philippians chapter 2 and see with me there that He is incomparable in His humility. Philippians chapter 2 and verse number 5: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in the fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Jesus Christ is incomparable in His humility. He had no pride of rank. When Jesus Christ went about ministering and doing good, people said of Him, “Is not this the carpenter’s son?” He had no pride in Him. He wasn’t born into a wealthy family. He wasn’t born into an affluent situation. He didn’t come into this world with a silver spoon in His mouth. But, rather, He was born in a lowly manger, and He came to a world that didn’t even want Him there, didn’t even have a place for Him. He had no pride of rank.

He had no pride of wealth. He humbled Himself, and humbled Himself, and humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death. And the Bible says, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head.” And Jesus lived among men a life of poverty, and a life of humility.

He had no pride of appearance. I don’t know what Jesus Christ may have looked like. I imagine He was not the effeminate illusion that is portrayed by most artists today. I believe Jesus Christ was every inch a man. But I do know that the Bible says He had no form or comeliness that we should desire Him. I don’t think that Jesus Christ necessarily had a handsome face. I don’t believe Jesus Christ necessarily was all symmetrical. Maybe He was pockmarked. Maybe He had a bad complexion. Maybe He had some physical thing. Maybe it was not a flaw or a defect, but nothing about Him was necessarily beautiful–just what was inside. No pride of appearance.

No pride of reputation. They said of Him, “Behold a man who is gluttonous, and a winebibber, that eateth with publicans and sinners.” He didn’t run with the hoy paloy. He wasn’t hoitytoity. He wasn’t ‘way up on the social ladder and just rubbing shoulders and elbows with the “in” crowd. He had no pride of reputation. He was with publicans, and He was with sinners, and He was with the downcast and the outcast and the outlaws of this world, in order that He may win them to Himself. And His reputation was spoiled, and soiled, and ruined because of it. But He had no pride of it. He wasn’t interested in saving His reputation. He was interested in saving lost sinners.

He had no pride of independence. The Bible says in Luke chapter 8 and verse number 3, “Many ministered unto Him of their substance.” Just think of that. Jesus Christ could have spoke anything He needed into existence. All Jesus Christ had to do was say, “Let there be food,” and there would be food. Jesus Christ could say, “Let there be clothing,” and there would be clothing. Jesus Christ could say, “Let there be a 48-story mansion with hot and cold running water, and an army of servants to take care of me,” and it would have been. But, instead of that, He allowed human beings, whom He made and to whom He gave everything, the privilege of ministering unto Him of their substance.

Some of them were widows. Some of them were poor folks. One of them was just a little boy with five loaves and two fishes. No pride of independence. Jesus Christ didn’t need anybody. But Jesus Christ allowed people to help Him.

No pride of learning. In John 7 and verse number 15 they say, “How knoweth this man these things, not knowing letters?”

He had no pride of superiority. In John 13 you see Him kneeling and washing the disciples’ feet.

He had no pride of success. “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.” The God of the Calvinists could have made them do it. But He didn’t. “His own received Him not.” And I suppose, if He had insisted, He could have made their will do what His will said. But He didn’t depend on success. He wasn’t interested in success. He was interested in people loving Him for who He was and what He did.

No pride of ability. He said, “Of my own self, I can do nothing.”

He is incomparable in His humility, folks.

He had no self-will. No pride of assertion. He said, “I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father that sent me. I can do nothing of myself.”

He had no pride of intellect. In John 8, verse 28, Jesus said, “As my Father taught me, I speak these things.” He didn’t depend upon His own credentials, again, but only what God had already said, what God had already directed–that’s what Jesus Christ would speak.

He had no pride of sanctity. “This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them.” It’s such a difficult thing to be clean, and to be separated, and be holy, and try to keep yourself separated and distinct from this world–and yet not look down your nose on people who haven’t been yet. Jesus set this the example. “This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them.”

He had no pride of resentment. When He hung on the cross and He was suffering, He said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” “Never a man was like this man.” “Never a man spake like Him.” “Never a man lived like Him.” And I’ve compared Him. And I can tell you one thing; He’s incomparable in His humility.

You say, “Oh, Professor So-and-So, over at the Bible school, He’s so humble!” You stack him up against Jesus Christ, and we’ll see how humble he is. Jesus Christ never corrected the Bible He had.

He’s incomparable in His love. When you think of the scope of the love of Jesus Christ, it takes in the world. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” He’s incomparable in not only the scope of His love, but in the depth of His love. Because the Bible says, “But God commendeth His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath him. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”

From the guttermost to the uttermost. The depth of His love. Reaching down to the lowest sinner in the lowest hole. The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. And the abundance of His love. The Bible says, “Whosoever will may come.” It’s not just to the elect. It’s not just to the few limited ones to whom the atonement has been made. The Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost. He gave His life a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. And WHOSOEVER WILL may call upon the name of the Lord and be saved.

And then the proof of it. He’s incomparable in His love in that it is proven at Calvary. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation of our sins.” It’s sort of a cliche; it’s almost trite; but somebody told a story of a little girl, or something like that, asking how much Jesus Christ loved her, and somebody said He loved her this much–enough to go to the cross, and shed the blood, and let the sweat flow, and embarrass Himself and be humiliated and repudiated by this world, but that was His proof. If you want to see the love of God, you look at a cross.

He’s incomparable in His love in the endurance of it. You know, thank God His love doesn’t run out. The problem with this world today is, we’ve got this phony idea of love. We’ve got this Gothic romance idea of love that means, how I feel, whether I’m all gushy and sentimental and twinkle-dusted when you’re around, and when I lose the feelings I don’t love you any more. But thank God His love isn’t based on something that’s as temporal and fleeting and inconsequential as that. But God’s love is enduring. And Paul said in 2 Timothy 1 and verse number 12, “For the which cause I suffer these things. Nevertheless I am not ashamed. For I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” No way that God’s love is ever going to run out for me!

He’s incomparable in His grace. In 2 Corinthians chapter 8, verse 9, “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. That, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye, through His poverty, might be made rich.” Grace there is defined as giving to the undeserving by yourself becoming inpoverished. Webster’s 1828 defines it as “the free, unmerited favor of God, the spring and source of all the benefits men receive from Him.” To distinguish between grace and mercy, grace is getting what we don’t deserve, mercy is not getting what we do deserve.

And you have God’s grace in denial in 2 Corinthians 8:9: “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor.” He is denied unlimited possessions. He is denied unlimited pleasure. He denied unlimited praise. He denied the unlimited presence of God, in order to come and be poor for your sakes, that ye might be saved. “Though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor.” That’s grace in deprivation. As I have already spoken, He didn’t come down to earth to live in a mansion, so that we could have God among us. He came down to live in no home, and no place at all. He came down to live on what other people provided for Him. “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.”

The physical suffering that Jesus endured was the greatest that a body can sustain. The emotional suffering that Jesus endured was the greatest that a soul could sustain. Not only was He whipped and stripped, and the hair plucked off His face, and smitten and nailed and left without water, but Jesus Christ was left without His Father. His friends forsook Him and ran from the cross, and He hung on the cross and cried, “My God! My God! Why hast thou forsaken me?” If you’ve never known abandonment, if you’ve never known rejection, if you’ve never known the people that you depended upon and looked to for support to flee and none be left, you have no idea what the suffering of Jesus Christ is all about.

He suffered spiritually. The Bible says, “Thou wilt not leave his soul in hell.” Can you imagine the presence of a holy Being with sin upon it, paying for it? You and I can’t imagine what that would be like. But the closest thing that I could even allude it to would be, if you had lived in a pristine environment, and any time any little piece of dirt had been splashed on you, some servant came up and wiped it off, and everybody was careful that you were never exposed to any dirt, and never exposed to any disease, never exposed to anything contaminating. You lived in a perfectly sterile environment. And then one day somebody picked you up and threw you down in a sewer, you know, the water reclamation plant down there, and you got stuck in the middle of that. How disgusting! How revolted you would be! Imagine Jesus Christ with your sin on Him. You liked it, but He didn’t. Not only yours, but everybody’s. Spiritual suffering. The greatest suffering that anyone has ever endured. He’s incomparable in sacrafice.

There’s a little poem here that says,

Incomparable in heaven or earth,

Incomprehensible in His worth,

Wonder of wonders! Christ I see

On Calvary’s cruel cross for me.

He’s incomparable in His power. In Matthew 28:18, “All power is given unto me in heaven and earth.” In Hebrews chapter 1, and verse number 3, the Bible says, “Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person and upholding all things by the word of His power.” That’s the Jesus that I’m talking about this morning.

No power like His power. I mean, Mr. T and Arnold Schwartzenegger have anything impressive? Not in God’s eyes. Power of physical strength, power of financial strength, power of mental strength–those things compare nowhere to Jesus Christ. All power–power over sin? No man ever had power over that by himself. Power over Satan? He’s defeated the best of them. Power over the grave? I’d like to see somebody else come out on their own! Power over creation? I’d like to see somebody else tell a tornado to go home! Power over spirits! Power over history? I’d like to see somebody else have things turn out his way every time he comes around. He’s incomparable in His power.

He’s incomparable in His salvation. In John chapter 10 and verse number 28, He said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them. And they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. And I and my Father are one.” What a salvation it is! In John chapter 1 and verse number 12, “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.

It’s a complete salvation. For some reason, the “finished work of Jesus Christ,” just that expression and the whole idea of it being a “finished work,” has been very, very, prevalent in my thinking recently. It’s complete! He hung on the cross and said, “It is finished!” And there is nothing left to do. It’s certain. It’s class-less. By that I mean it’s to all classes–not that it’s not a classy thing. But it’s to all classes. Everyone is included. Everybody from Nicodemus, the ruler of the Jews, to the woman at the well married five times and living with a man who wasn’t her husband. It reaches them all.

If you trust the Lord Jesus Christ, you’ll be saved. You’ll be saved through and through, and tee-totally, with nothing left to do, and you can be saved no matter who you are.

His salvation is incomparable in its costliness. That is, to Himself. But its costlessness to us. Anything other than the finished work of Jesus Christ costs you something. It costs you your Sundays, it costs you your tithe, it costs you eating some cannibal cracker somewhere, it costs you doing something to add to it. But not the work that Jesus Christ has done. It’s costless. All you do is receive. Repent, and believe the gospel.

He’s incomparable in His glory. You see Him on the Isle of Patmos, with His feet of bronze, and His hair white like wool, and His radiance like the sun in its strength. You see Him returning at the head of the armies of heaven in Revelation 19 on a white horse, with a sword proceeding out of His mouth, and His enemies being destroyed. You see Him sitting on the Judgment Seat of Christ, where the saints are brought to receive the rewards, and their works are passed through the fire, whether they be gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and stubble. You see Him at the Great White Throne judgment, the second resurrection where the damned face their judgment and are cast forever into hell, and scream “Amen!” to their own perdition. He’s incomparable in His glory.

In 1 Timothy chapter 6, in verse number 15, “Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords: Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.”

I’ve compared Him this morning. And there’s no comparison. I wonder if, today, have you ever trusted Him? Have you ever believed on Him? Have you ever asked Him into your heart? Have you ever repented of your sin and say, “Jesus Christ, I’ve defied you. I’ve rejected you. I’ve refused your gift. But I’m sorry for my sin, and I need a Saviour, and I’m asking you to come into my heart and be my Saviour today.” I’ve compared Him, and there is no comparison.

I’ve compared His word. I’ve compared His worth. I’ve compared His wonder. And Jesus Christ exceeds them all.

Stand with your heads bowed and your eyes closed.

Jesus came from the bosom of the Father to the womb of a woman. He put on humanity that we might wear divinity. He became the Son of man, that we might be made the sons of God. He came from heaven, where the rivers never freeze and the winds never blow, and frost never chills the air and flowers never fade, and no one is ever sick. No undertakers, no graveyard, and no one dies, and no one is ever buried. Jesus was born contrary to the laws of nature. He was living in poverty, reared in obscurity, and only crossed the boundary of His homeland once, and in His childhood. He had no wealth or influence. He had neither training nor education. His relatives were inconspicuous, and His family was uninfluential. In infancy He startled the king. In boyhood He puzzled the theologians. And in manhood He ruled the course of nature. He walked upon the billows, and hushed the sea to sleep. He healed the multitudes without medicine, and made no charge for His services. He never wrote a book, yet all the libraries of the world cannot hold all the books that have been written about Him. He never wrote a song, yet He’s furnished the theme of more songs than all the songwriters combined. He never founded a college, yet all the schools together cannot boast of as many disciples as He has. He never practiced psychiatry, and He’s healed more broken hearts. Jesus never marshalled an army or drafted a soldier or fired a gun, yet no leader ever had more volunteers, who have, under His orders, made rebels stack arms of surrender without a shot being fired. Jesus is the Star of astronomy, the Rock of geology, the Lion and the Lamb of zoology, He’s the Harmonizer of all discord and the Healer of all disease. Great men have come and gone, but Jesus endures. Herod could not kill Him; Satan could not seduce Him, death could not destroy Him, and the grave could not hold Him. He laid aside the robe of heaven for a peasant’s garb. He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor. He slept in another’s manger. He cruised the lake in another man’s boat. He rode into town on another man’s ass. He died on another man’s cross, and was buried in another man’s tomb. All failed, but Jesus never. The Ever-Perfect One, He’s the chief among ten thousand. He is altogether lovely. He is my Saviour.

And I’ve compared Him.

Whatever may take your eyes off of Jesus Christ this morning has certainly deceived you. If there’s another love, another idol, another god in your life, something ahead of Jesus Christ, you ought to compare that thing to Him and realize what a dupe you’ve become, to put something ahead of Jesus.

Heads bowed, and eyes are closed. No one is looking around. I wonder if someone here this morning will say that they realize for the first time really in their soul that they need to be saved, and that this morning they’d like to place their trust in this incomparable Saviour. Anybody who would say by an uplifted hand, you put it up now, “I want to be saved, and I want to trust Jesus Christ.” All right, if you’re already saved, but other loves have captured your fancy, other saviours have sought your attention, other gods have had preeminence in your soul, Jesus Christ has outshined them. His brilliance exceeds the brilliance of every other idol in this world as much as a–nobody besides Jesus Christ has the chance of a burp in a tornado, folks. There’s just no comparison. Do you love Him with all your heart this morning? Do you know Him for who He is? Do you appreciate Him as your Saviour?

Father, bless this invitation, God, be with thy people. Father, may we love the Lord Jesus. Lord, like the Shunammite girl compared Solomon, Father, and everybody else came out at the bottom, I pray Jesus Christ would be so high, and so far above, and so transcendent in our hearts, Lord, that nothing could ever come close to pushing Him off the cross. For it’s in His name that we pray these things, Amen.