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-E-
I-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 hoity-
toity. 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.