Christ's Person - Alvin Davis - Session 4 - 5. He Can Deal Gently, 6. I will Never Cast Out

And so, hopefully you had a chance to read through Ortland's book in chapters 5 and 6. we'll try to, dive into that, a little bit if you haven't. I think even if you haven't, there's much that can be gleaned from the lesson. So by way of review, we looked at chapter 1 and we're, we're now in chapter 5.

So chapter one, going back and looking back is, we looked at the heart of Christ, His very heart. And as you, that Ortland's book is entitled Gentle and Lowly, and it looks at the heart of Christ. we studied in chapter one, his very heart from Matthew 11:29, where Jesus said, I am gentle and lowly of heart. And, in that passage he was asking or teaching his disciples to take his yoke upon him.

and to come to him because he is gentle and lowly of heart. So that's the title of the book. And then also in chapter two, we got to see the heart of Christ in action. And I think the key word there as you look at your note is that Jesus had compassion on them.

So, and that's a compassion that flows from Jesus' heart, from the deepest part of who he is and, and I bring that out because we're gonna be looking at that, a little bit more. there's a connection there in the Greek, with that word compassion. And then in chapter 3, we looked at the happiness of Christ and, chapter 3 is the segue if you would, into the book of Hebrews. Which unpacks for us more than anything else.

It, it, it's a, it's a book of Christology, correct, right? And really gives us a glimpse into Christ in, in a number of different ways. So the writer of Hebrews, I believe it's Paul, but that's, that's debatable, but the writer of Hebrews allows us to get a glimpse of, of Christ looking at him from different vantage points, if you will, and one of them is as our high priest. And that brought us into our lesson from last week, where Hebrews 4:15, the writer of Hebrews says, we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses.

And so the title of last week's lesson was that, that Jesus is able to to to sympathize with us. Just some of the bullet points there on your note, Hebrews teaches us that, that Jesus is Unequivocally the mediator between God and man, he is the only mediator, that he is sympathetic with our weaknesses as we looked at before, made like his brethren and tempted as we are, and that really sets us up or or teaches us about the superiority of Christ in his priesthood, he suffered as real humans do.

and as from being here at Cornerstone, a huge theological point early on in the church. especially when you consider Gnosticism.

John writes about that in his three epistles that there's a separation between the human body and the spirit and the soul, if you will, but Hebrews really unpacks for us and teaches us, no, this is a deep connection. Jesus was a human being and he suffered and experienced the same things that we did. Yet without sin, that's what sets him apart and makes him the ultimate, the only of his class as a high priest. And then so he's able to sympathize with us.

He's suffered as real humans do. His grace and mercy are here to help us. And therefore, Hebrews 4:16 says, we are encouraged to approach him with confidence. And so as we move into today's chapter, it says, he can deal gently chapter 5 of Ortland's book, and that's from Hebrews chapter 5 verse 2.

he can deal gently, with the ignorant and the wayward is how that's captured in the NASB. He can deal gently. I love how Dan laid out the lessons. Kudos to Dan again, for giving us a series of questions that come directly from the text of the, Ortland's book and also helps us to do a little bit of a deep dive into Hebrews chapter 5, verse 2, and the surrounding verses as well.

And so we're gonna look at this chapter through 6 questions, 6 or so, chapter 5 is actually a two-part. But one of the questions is, what priest is Jesus? What priest is Jesus? And as Ortland writes on page 52, I, I, I'll, I'll just skip over the, the butt and go to the statement there.

If our high priest himself knew what our weakness felt like so that he was in deepest sympathy with us, yet had never himself sinned, and so his heart had never turned in on himself in self pity or self absorption. That would be a priest truly able to deal gently with us. And I know for me, I had to spend some time just lingering over that statement by Ortland. And I love how he picks up on the contrast that the writer of Hebrews sets out for us between Jesus and any priest that came before him, who is either a shadow of him, as Ortland says, or in their role are designed to point us to Jesus, the ultimate high priest.

And so because Jesus knows exactly what we experienced, yet without sin, he is able to, be the type of priest who can deal gently with us. And I, just to think through that a little bit. Man, as a priest, as you were ministering to someone, let's say. And as they were describing either their sin or their suffering, we're gonna touch on that a little bit later in the lesson.

But it would be really hard to, to be able to minister to them without feeling our own struggle. Does that make sense? Like something they say might take us back to something that we experienced in our, in our own heart. And, but yet, the contrast is, is that since Jesus was sinless.

He, he never turned inward. He doesn't turn inward. To sin, to his shortcomings, to, man, I don't know if I can minister to this person because I'm just as guilty as they are of what they are confessing to me. Never does Jesus do that because he is not hampered, hindered in his ministry to us by sin.

So he can deal gently with us and we're gonna impact that a little bit more. So here's a definition question here. What, what do we mean by, by gently? And we, we, we studied that in the previous lesson in chapter 4, but Ortland unpacks it a little bit more for us in chapter 5.

the word refers to passion or suffering combined with restraint or moderation, and you can find that on page 53 of Ortland's book. Jesus deals with us, not with frustration or impatience, but is calm and tender. Recall the way God dealt with Adam and Eve, and this is Dan, Dan's notes here recall the way God dealt with Adam and Eve in the garden after having committed cosmic treason as RC Sproll describes it. He immediately went to work getting his hands dirty in order to cover their shame.

I think the key verses there are Genesis 2:17 and Genesis 3:21. If you remember in Genesis 2:17, God gave the command to Adam, Adam, not to eat, to not eat or not to eat from the tree in the midst of the garden. And in that passage, the Lord says, for in the day you eat of it, you will surely die. You will surely die.

And yes we know that Adam and Eve after they did partake of the apple did experience a type of death, right? The scriptures tell us that their eyes were opened and they were aware that they were naked and all those things are representations of of sin entering and then being affected by sin, suffering the effects of sin and what did they do? They made coverings for themselves because they were naked and they knew they were naked and they were ashamed. But what does God do is we turn the chapter there to Genesis 3:21.

God goes to work as, as Dan points out. And he makes coverings for them and I really like how, how, how Dan says this God got his hands dirty. we have that indication there that Hebrews picks up on a lot of the New Testament writers, almost all of them pick up on, without the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sins. So we have this picture of God, even back in the garden, being willing to get his hands dirty.

A foreshadowing of Christ. And the work that he does on our behalf. And how he's able to deal gently with us. I think if you look at Genesis 3:21, you can pick up on that, that gentleness, that tenderness of the verse.

God doesn't scream and yell at them. I'm, I'm a, I'm a baseball player, right? I'm a former athlete and, a lot of coaches get their point across through screaming and yelling. And, I'm hoping to tie this in a little bit later.

If you talk to some athletes, they'll tell you that's exactly what they need. They need a coach who screams and yells and gets in their face and gives them a little kick on the backside, if you will, because that's what helps get the best out of them. But our savior is not like that. He is always gentle and lowly.

Towards us who come to him. And his desire is our response would be one of love. Not one of performance. To placate or to satisfy him, but one of love because of the love we've been shown, the gentleness that he shows to us and man, I don't know about you, but that means that makes a world of difference to me as I, as I, as I move into the the into the gospel and, and as, and I, I'm really bad with quotes, so excuse me on this, but as some of our, our writers who we quote say that.

The sanctification is the process of getting used to your justification. I think that ties in here. Just accepting that Jesus deals with us in him in a gentle and lowly manner, because that's the type of high priest he is. It takes some getting used to, doesn't it?

another thought that that I'll just throw in there, it, it says in our title, in, in the verse here anyway, he can deal gently with the ignorant and the wayward in Hebrews 5:2. That's how it's translated. He, he can, and I don't know why, just the way my brain works, but I'll give you some insight. sometimes I, I had to teach myself to stop asking people to do things by saying, can you?

Do so and so. yeah, Michelle's mouthing the answer here, my dear sister, but, well, yeah, I can. Would you like me to do what you, what, what you're asking me to do? If you would like me to do what you're asking me to do, then ask me.

I can do it. And it just brings up a good point about Christ, right? That's a good question. We know that he's able.

He has the ability. But is he willing? Is he willing to be gentle and lowly towards us? And the answer is yes.

Yes, and we'll get to that a little bit more, but let's jump down there if you wanted to turn to the backside of that, that first page. the next question, as we move through Ortland's chapter is just who are the ignorant and the wayward? And I'll just read this here. this phrasing includes everyone.

The belligerent sinner, as well as the undercover hypocrite. The fastidious rule keepers and the careless rule breakers. God's law through Moses provided different sacrificial ceremonies for intentional and unintentional sins. By describing us as ignorant and wayward, the writer of Hebrews is describing all of us with all of our sins.

And I think the emphasis there is we're gonna get into this a little bit deeper in the next chapter, but we are all included. There are no exclusions to whom Christ deals with in a gentle and lowly manner. Now, we're gonna, talk about this a little bit more as we move into the next point or the next question with whom does he deal gently? And that's a great follow-up question, right?

And then here's a quote from Ortland on page 54. What elicits tenderness from Jesus is not the severity of the sin. But whether the sinner comes to him. If we never come to him, we will experience a judgment so fierce, it will be like a double-edged sword coming out of his mouth.

And then there's passages there from Revelation of course we're in that in our, in our verse by verse study, although we're doing this series right now on Cornerstone's DNA. You recall we just finished Revelation chapter 20 I believe, where we talk about the second coming of Christ and how he's coming with that double-edged sword. And remember Pastor Milton taught us how, it sets up as this war, right? This war at at Hermagadan, but it's really a slaughter.

You remember that? Jesus comes and he opens his mouth and this double edged sword as it was, wipes out his enemies. And I love how this is brought to bear here because it, it emphasizes the point of coming to Jesus. I don't know everyone here today, but if you're here as a seeker.

If you're here trying to learn more about Christ, trying to learn more about the gospel, more about salvation, this is a very, very important point. To come to Jesus. And we sing that song, right? A very popular song.

If you're viewing this via live stream this morning, come to Jesus. Because this assurance of gentle and lowly in, in Jesus' response to us, in Jesus' heart to us. is a promise to those who have come to him. Those who are in Jesus.

The promises of Revelation 19 or how we see Jesus throughout the book of Revelation, is a promise to those who refuse to come to Him. So my appeal to you today, both here and via live stream, is come to Jesus today. And experience the heart of the gentle and lowly savior. And heed the warning of scripture.

You do not want to wait. And we believe in imminence here. Jesus could come at any time. You do not want to wait and experience Jesus as the judge with the two-edged sword.

Ortland goes on to say there in whom does he deal gently, if we do come to him, as fierce as his lion-like judgment would have been against us, so deep will his, will be his lamb-like tenderness for us. To no one will Jesus be neutral. Well, moving on here, does Jesus really want to deal with our mess? I like how Dan puts that.

What, what is his motive? Dan writes, he is not ambivalent about our sins, minimizing them as if they are not a serious issue. He knows far better than we do how destructive they are to others and to our own souls. And just to pause there, Ortlin does a really good job of pointing out in this chapter, how all of our sins, all of our failures are an offense against Jesus Christ.

So I, Dan, Dan mentions here that, it, it's how destructive it is to us and to others, but ultimately, the seriousness of our sins is that they are sins against a holy God. His desire is to rescue us from this desire from this behavior or this position, if you will, while transforming us from the inside out. He loves us and continues to draw us close to himself. He does not separate himself from us, dealing with us from a distance, but embraces us in our shame and gives us what we need to stand again.

So appreciate that about Jesus and being reminded of his heart for me and for you. if, if you're like me. When I sin or when I fail. I, there's just this natural tendency to move away.

to not come to Christ, to give him some time to cool off if it were, again, I'm an athlete. When you've messed up in the game, you don't go stand right next to the coach. You've all seen it. You go down to the other end of the bench because you don't want to experience that wrath.

And I think in our life, in our walk, in our relationship with Christ, we can be the same way. But when we Get deeper and deeper and get more and more used to the idea that Jesus is gentle and lowly. And we accept his invitation to come to him. Not as if nothing ever happened, right?

We just talked about that, but to come to him to confess to him. And allow him to pour out his love, this gentleness, this lowliness towards us and remind us that we are his beloved children. And he will not cast us away. So that's a little preview of the next part of our lesson.

We're coming down to our last question here, how can Jesus persevere with our multiple failures? And there's a quote there from Ortland on page 56. Christ's meekness and gentleness, His patience and moderation, is not peripheral or accidental, excuse me, accidental to who Christ is, as if his truest delights lie elsewhere. This very care, this gentle dealing with all kinds of sinners is what is most natural to him.

When Jesus deals gently with us, he is doing what is most fitting and natural to him. And then I like how Dan puts there, this is the kingdom building work that Jesus does. This is who he is and this is how he expresses himself, how he shows love to his own, those who come to him. we could spend.

At least minutes unpacking that statement there because there's so much truth but we wanna press on here. I wanna conclude this time. With reading and also another extended quote from Mortland that really just jumped out to me. Again, here's the gospel appeal, the appeal of Jesus Christ.

Look to Christ. This is on the bottom of page 57. Look to Christ. He deals gently with you.

It's the only way he knows how to be. He is the high priest to end all high priests. As long as you fix your attention on your sin, you will fail to see how you can be safe. But as long as you look to this high priest, you will fail to see how you can be in danger.

Looking inside ourselves, we can anticipate only harshness from heaven. Looking out to Christ, we can anticipate only gentleness. And all God's people said, Amen, right? Amen.

Well, there's a couple of questions there for meditation. I won't take the time to, to look at those, but I would commend those to you for, further study or further reflection as you, look back through the notes or even as you prepare for next week's lesson. so I won't, I won't spend any more time there. So pressing on to chapter 6.

We moved to a different book of the Bible. We moved to John, John chapter 6, the book of John, in chapter 6. And we'll be focusing on, I will never cast out. I will never cast out.

It's based on John 6:37. I referred to it earlier. All that the Father gives to me will come to me. And whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

I'm gonna skip down a little bit in the notes there to the middle of the page. I, I, I like what Dan has written there and I think that serves as a good transition into this, into this chapter. And so you could say, I recognize that Jesus is gentle and sympathizes with those who come to him. But how do I know that he isn't just going to drop me off at the next bus stop?

Because Jesus declared his intentions to never, ever cast away whoever comes to him. So in John 6:37, going back to the top of the page there and borrowing heavily from our brother John Bunyan, another one of his classic works, which Ortland, I'd never heard of the book, so it was good to be able to, to, experience it through this chapter. one of the, the points there is, is there's a mountain of consoling theology. That is given to us in verse 37, a mountain of consoling theology.

I really love that. I know all of us here are experiencing different things. we're, a lot of us in in our congregation are experiencing weakness right now, physical weakness. And there are times in our, in our walk, in our life that we need consolation.

We need truth that brings assurance and comfort to our souls. And that's what we find here. So let's break this down a little bit as our brother John Bunyan did in his book. it's, it's noticed it says all, it starts with all.

And again, not most. So there are no 2nd class, 3rd class. Believers who come to Christ. We're all in the same class, we are all included.

And then, the Father. All that the father. Just pointing out that the Trinity is involved. In our salvation, and this is not only the heart of Christ, but it is the heart of the Trinity for all of all who come to Christ.

So we can have the assurance that the father. is gentle and lowly towards us. His heart is gentle and lowliness to those he has given to Christ and the Holy Spirit as well. What a truth that we need at times when we need consolation.

And then it's, and then it goes on and focuses on gives, not haggles over. I, I like that. How Ortland, there, there's no haggling in the Trinity over those who have been given to Christ. man, I don't know about Alvin.

make me an offer, Lord Jesus, I, I don't know if I should let him in or not. I don't know if I should reveal you to him. He's, he's out there. all the stuff that he's done.

There's none of that in the Trinity whom the Father gives to the Son. And then, then will come. I, I love the assurance there, there's no mincing of words in that verb, right? They will come.

And then Jesus goes on and says, whoever comes. Whoever comes, here comes another consoling truth. And, John, excuse me, Dan includes a quote there from Mary Merrill Tinney from his, work on the Gospel of John. The assertion of the choice of God as behind, before, and beyond man's own choice is not to make the latter meaningless.

So our choice is not meaningless. But like we're, it's the gesture of a puppet. And as you all know, in Christ, there's some criticism out there, right, of the gospel. well, that, are we just puppets?

We don't have a choice in the matter. We just have to do what God tells us to do. we get to do what God tells us to do, what it means it's coming to Christ, right? But rather the choice of God is all that can make it meaningful, since the salvation of God is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God that hath mercy.

That's from Romans 9:16. Whoever comes. And then Jesus says, comes to me. We do not come to a set of doctrines.

We do not come to a church. We do not even come to the gospel. All are, all these are vital. I, I'm really glad that he included that because we use the gospel a lot here as a term to to capture all of the truth about Jesus Christ, about the message of the cross and the and the person of Jesus Christ.

So I'm glad that he didn't. He put me in a bind of trying to explain why we use that term. I, I love how he says that all of these terms are vital, all of these thoughts, all of these teachings are vital, but most truly we come to a person, to Christ Himself. At at the center of the gospel is Jesus Christ.

The living risen Jesus Christ. So it's not the faith is not just an ideology, it's not just a belief system, it directs us to a person. A person who who we are learning is gentle and lowly towards those who come to him. So I really love that.

So, skipping down there, on, on your notes. What is behind, Dan, Dan poses a question, what is behind our innate suspicions of Christ's deepest heart? And again, this is a reference to the work of, of our brother John Bunyan as he unpacks John 36:37 in his book. we were once enemies, and we don't normally treat our enemies this generously.

Grace and mercy we may extend in limited supply to those we care about, but we don't have an unlimited supply for those that have nothing to offer us. I really appreciate, Dan opening that up for us. And I think the point is, is that. There's a part of us that says, this is too good to be true.

Because I can't see within myself treating other people like this. Let alone my enemies. Again, that's not really captured in this particular verse, but we know elsewhere in the New Testament that God demonstrated his own love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Enemies of God, violators of his law, of his command of his character, of his nature. Christ died for us.

So that that what might be what lies behind our innate suspicions of Christ's heart, but again, as we get used to our justification, a part of that is understanding, believing and accepting and applying these truths about Jesus, the fact that he will never cast us out. And then we have a little bit of an extended quote there from page 62 where Ortland quotes John Bunyan's book. I'll just read through these real quick. He's, here's, here's a list of objections, right?

But I am a great sinner, say you. I will in no wise cast out, says Christ. But I am an old sinner, say you. I will in no wise cast out, says Christ, but I am a hard-hearted sinner, say you.

I will in no wise cast out, says Christ, but I am a backsliding sinner, say you. I will in no wise cast out, says Christ, but I have served Satan all my days, say you. I will in no wise cast out, says Christ. But I have sinned against light, say you.

I will in no wise cast out, says Christ, but I have sinned against mercy, say you. I will in no wise cast out. But I have no good thing to bring with me, say you. I will in no wise cast out, says Christ.

I have a note here. There's another quote on page 63., it's a short one, so I'll, I'll go ahead and read it. it's the middle of page 63, begins with Jesus's statement in John 37. It's a summary, Ortland's summary of, of what John Bunyan is after in his book Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ.

he, he says that this quote at the center of that book, all exists to calm us with the persevering nature of the heart of Christ. We say, but I. He says, I will never cast out. Again, it's just another very deep and powerful, consoling truth.

I don't know about you, but there's sometimes I need to be calmed. A week ago, Monday night, I believe it was, I've been dealing with some episodes with a kidney stone, trying to get it passed and, I've had two mild, moderate episodes. The first one, I had no idea what was going on. I was on the road, on a road trip in a hotel room, like what is going on with my back?

I lift a weight wrong, did I twist wrong and then when I got home, you guys, the guys here that went to the men's barbecue, September 1st. had the most severe attack, ended up in the with my beloved wife who would not leave my side the entire night and, just the symptoms I had is like it's time to go get this thing checked out. And, by God's grace, it was a little 4 millimeter stone which the first one I've ever known that I've had anyway, which in the universe of kidney stones is on the small side, but the, the, the symptoms didn't feel like it.

And and then a week ago Monday night, another episode just out of nowhere.

And as I was awake in the night with pain because I couldn't sleep, I fell asleep and then was wakened up by the pain and just sitting there. when you're in pain, your, your mind just plays with it. It just plays with you, doesn't it? It just, just, you ask questions and think thoughts that you normally wouldn't ever think.

And, it's like, thankfully it was a, it was a short conversation because of truths like this in the scripture, but it's like, man, Lord, why is this happening? And I know you have the power, like you can, you can blast this thing like they do with the, with the, with the ultrasound and it would be gone or you could cause it to pass and I would be passed, and just how your mind just plays trick with you, tricks with you when you're in pain. And I, I see by the head nods out there, I'm not the only one.

And sometimes it's not even our pain, it's the pain of someone that we love.

It's the struggles of someone that we love. It's a heartache that we feel for our loved ones who have not come to Christ. or have rejected Christ. We've shared the gospel with them and they've said, no more, ever.

And, and I just, man, Lord. But we have this picture of this gentle and lowly Christ and even in our times of suffering and pain is gentle. Towards us. And he will never cast us out.

So as we come to a close here, on the last page of the, of your notes there. Dan poses the question, can we really trust that Jesus is not like us? In that he does not run out of love, patience, and mercy. And to answer that question, Ortland says we cannot present a reason for Christ to finally close off his heart toward his own sheep.

No such reason exists. So even in times of pain in the middle of the night. I am not cast out. Jesus loves me just as much now.

His heart is just as much for me. He's just as gentle and lowly towards me in the midst of this pain as he ever was on my best day. And then skipping down to the next quote there from page 65, it is not what life brings to us, but to whom we belong that determines Christ's heart of love for us. And I, I put a star next to that session because that's when Ortland makes the transition for, Christ not casting us out because of our sin.

Which we need that, right? That from the the book of Hebrews from the entire New Testament, like our sins will not cause us to be cast out of the heart of love that Christ has for us. But what about our sufferings? What about those trials that just seem like they're never going to end?

What about the ramifications of some sins that we have committed in our past? That are still with us in our present. And I just love, again, it is not what life brings to us. But to whom we belong that determines Christ's heart of love for us.

We belong to Christ. And then, heading towards the end here, this is not only a matter of divine decree. Let me start again. This is not only a matter of divine decree.

But divine desire. Just going back to that, he can, but will he? It is his desire. This is heaven's delight.

Come to me, says Christ. I will embrace you into my deepest being and never ever let you go. For those united to him, the heart of Jesus is not a rental. It is your new permanent residence.

You are not a tenant. You're a child His heart is not a ticking time bomb. His heart is the green pastures and still waters of endless reassurances of his presence and comfort. Whatever our present spiritual accomplishments.

It is who he is. I'm just gonna Ask you to memorize that last simple phrase because I know sometimes when I'm struggling, I need simple phrases. It is who he is. He will never cast you out, no matter what you are experiencing, no matter what you've done, it is who he is.

So there's some questions there to meditate upon. Again, I'll leave those to you as you follow up or, or, or revisit this lesson or prepare for next week's lesson, to help drive these truths a little deeper home, as we, close up our lesson before we pray, next week we'll be covering chapter 7, what our sins evoke. It's a great, great next topic, isn't it? So how does Christ respond to our sin?

And we'll, we'll dive into that a little bit more deeply next week. I may be your pinch hit relief, teacher again this week, but, we'll see what the Lord has in store. So, join me in, praying and just giving thanks to the Lord for being who he is. Lord, I just really appreciate brothers like Dane Ortland and John Owen and John Bunyan and These men whom you have just, given the gift of words.

Lord, I, I just, I think all of us feel. A real deep connection with, with John Bunyan. he's, he's a lot like us, Lord. He was a lot like us.

But he's a man that you use powerfully. You gave him the gift of being able to. Expressed truth in words and and hammer it deeply. And Father, we need truths like this hammered deeply into us.

Because of our sin and because of our circumstances. May we grow deeper and deeper into our understanding that you are gentle and lowly of heart. That you deal with us gently because you are our high priest. And that you will never ever cast us out or away from your heart.

We are in your heart to stay. We thank you, Father, for this time together. We ask that you would bless us as we continue in our worship of you here corpally. I pray for, everyone who will be leading us in worship, our worship team, Pastor Milton, whoever would be, leading us into.

the things that are happening here at Cornerstone. And again, Lord, for those who are viewing online, we pray your richest and deepest blessings upon them. We ask all of these things in Jesus' name. Amen.