Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Marriage and the Gospel

I thought the following quote would help all of us better understand the Gospel:

The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope. This is the only kind of relationship that will really transform us. Love without truth is sentimentality; it supports and affirms us but keeps us in denial about our flaws. Truth without love is harshness; it gives us information but in such a way that we cannot really hear it. God's saving love in Christ, however, is marked by both radical truthfulness about who we are and yet also radical, unconditional commitment to us. The merciful commitment strengthens us to see the truth about ourselves and repent. The conviction and repentance moves us to cling to and rest in God's mercy and grace.

The hard times of marriage drive us to experience more of this transforming love of God. But a good marriage will also be a place where we experience more of this kind of transforming love at a human level. The gospel can fill our hearts with God's love so that you can handle it when your spouse fails to love you as he or she should. That frees us to see our spouse's sins and flaws to the bottom and speak of them and yet still love and accept our spouse fully. And when, by the power of the gospel, our spouse experiences that same kind of truthful yet committed love, it enables our spouses to show us that same kind of transforming love when the time comes for it.



From:

Monday, November 14, 2011

Sermon Notes 11/13/2011

Sermon Text: Genesis 23:1-20
Sermon Title: Orange Park Bible Church is a Cave
Scripture Reading: Matthew 20:1-16

“It is remarkable that Moses, who relates the death of Sarah in a single word, uses so many in describing her burial” (Calvin’s Commentary on Genesis).

The announcement of Sarah’s death takes up only two verses (1-2). Moses then devotes sixteen verses to document Abraham’s negotiation and purchase of land for her burial (3-18). Sarah is buried (19) and it is documented that the land is Abraham’s possession (20).

What did Moses intend for Israel to learn from this story? With no mention of Christ or the Gospel, what is this story supposed to teach us?

1) Although Sarah’s death is not the subject of the passage, it is worth considering for a moment.

“Sarah’s life was far from easy. She suffered the shame of childlessness till she was ninety. Twice she was trapped in a foreign king’s harem by her husband’s unbelieving folly. Twice she was provoked beyond the breaking point by her slave-girl Hagar or her son Ishmael. Once she had seen her own son leave to be sacrificed by his father” (Wenham).

She was married to a man who was more interested in saving his own skin than protecting his wife. She was pulled away from her family and friends to live in a foreign land. She never owned a piece of property. She never was able to settle in one place. Her son, Ishmael and friend Hagar were abruptly dismissed from the family. How did she handle it? Grace…
  • “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:8-10).
Sarah knew that God’s promise to her family would for outlive her. She was looking past significance, prosperity, security, and ultimate meaning in this life.

2) To understand this passage, we must first understand that Isaac was not the “climax” of Abraham’s story. The birth of Isaac is not the fulfillment of the promise made in Genesis 12, 13, 15, 17.

The promise of Genesis 15:1-7 is offspring rivaling the stars in the sky and possession of the promised-land. At Sarah’s death Abraham has a son with no wife. Think about it. Sarah lived her entire life and only saw one “star” and had no possessions, except the grave she was buried in.

What/when is the fulfillment of the promise?
  • “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God’” (Revelation 21:1-3).
  • “But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13).
In the beginning God mandated his people to “fill the earth” (Gen. 1:28).

After the flood God repeated this mandate to Noah (Gen. 9:1).

After people’s refusal at Babel to fill the earth (Genesis 11), God made a new start with Abram, calling him “to the land that I will show you” (12:1) and promising the new land to his seed (Genesis 12:7, 15:1-7).

God begins to fulfill His promise by giving Abraham a field and a burial plot as a permanent possession in the land.

Four hundred years later, Joshua leads Israel in to possess the whole land of Canaan. Under King Solomon the land expands from the river Euphrates to the border of Egypt (1 Kings 4:21).

Under King Jesus the land expands to include the whole earth (Matthew 5:5; Romans 4:13). Jesus mandates His disciples to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). At His Second Coming God’s people will receive a new earth (Revelation 21:1-3).

- Sidney Greidanus “Preaching Christ from Genesis”

We must understand that the purchase of this land is as major as the birth of Isaac.

If Abraham and Sarah’s goal were nothing other than intimacy through faith, they would have died very unproductive people.

3) Abraham threw down big money for this cave.

Publicly, Ephron offers three times to give the field and the cave to Abraham. Then, Ephron offers to sell the cave for a highly inflated cost (400 shekels of silver). David paid only 1/8 the price Abraham paid for the temple site (2 Samuel 24:24). Jeremiah only paid 17 shekels of silver for a field.

Aside from this purchase being a further fulfillment of God’s promised plan of redemption, why would Abraham pay so much money for this field? There was no earthly return on this investment. Abraham did not grow crops here. Abraham did not build a fence and keep his cattle there. Abraham did not build a house to retire in on this land. Why would Abraham throw so much time, energy negotiating, his reputation, and money in a grave?
  • “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:8-10). WE ARE DOING THE SAME THING!
  • Did Moses see the Promised-Land? Where was he standing and what did he see in Luke 9:27-36?
Two Closing Questions
  1. What did this matter to Israel?
  2. What does this matter to me?
  • Look to things unseen: OPBC is a cave. Like Abraham we should exhaust ourselves in using our time, money, and gifts sacrificially so we can die well like Abraham. “The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33). Abraham was spending money in preparation for his death. That is what we are doing here.
  • Be an ambassador. Keep a “tent” mentality. Ambassadors do not live in their country or their home. Abraham and Moses depended solely on the mission God gave to them and to the Word of God. The Word of God led them through their assignment.
Look at Peter’s question in Matthew 19:27:
We can sense the disappointment from the ones who worked longest, got paid last, and were paid the same as those who came late.
Matthew 20:3 characterizes those sitting in the marketplace as “doing nothing.” He rescued them from meaningless endeavors and pointless living. 
In Christ’s parable, those who have worked more grumble against the landowner when he gives equal pay to those who have worked less time. We often see this kind of resentment in Scripture. The grumblers’ attitude reflects that of the Pharisees who begrudges Jesus’ compassion for the tax collectors and prostitutes (Mark 2), the elder son who resented the welcome of his prodigal brother (Luke 15), and the religious leader who despised the honor given to a sinner whose only claim in heaven was that she loved Jesus much (Luke 7).
On the days when we are tempted to “tally up” our accomplishments, this is not a truth we want to embrace; but on other days, when a truer accounting of our weaknesses and failures threatens to crush us, this message is our only hope. Isn’t it true that we would be upset that the thief on the Cross received as much as we? Yet in this parable Jesus clearly teaches that an exact accounting based on our work is the very last thing we should want from God.
While Peter might have been tempted to think “that’s not fair.” In a few chapters Peter would be glad Jesus wasn’t “fair” after the rooster crowed three times.
Text above in blue is from Bryan Chappel’s book “Holiness by Grace” in the chapter “It’s Not Fair.”
  • Remember the mission (The Great Commission and The Great Commandment). If we are all working for the same purpose, we will never have division. If you want a nice comfortable place to go to Church and visit, you will be uncomfortable when new people come. THE CHURCH, LIKE SANCTIFICATION, IS BOTANICAL, not A WIDGET. However, if you are in it to make disciples, more people present more opportunities. Be generous. Be hospitable. Get involved in people. Serve. The Church is not a widget. The Church is organic.
Richard Sibbes – We are not disquieted when we take off our clothes and go to bed at night. We trust in the providence of God to raise us. Why should we be disquieted when we put off our bodies and go to sleep? We are more likely to rise out of our graves than rise out of our beds in the morning.

Almighty, eternal, immortal God, our dwelling place our final satisfaction and reward, You are to be worshipped and treasured. Lord, we are aliens and strangers, sojourners and foreigners in this world. We confess our constant longing for this world and what it can provide instead of the world to come, Your kingdom to come and your pleasures and joys. Lord, forgive us from the sin of being satisfied with so little, with those things which will perish & fade away. Lord, reveal our shallow wants and ambitions for what they are. Create repentance by your mercy to give us hearts that long for our inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for us. Father, give us the desire of Abraham and Sarah and all the saints who have gone before us. A desire for a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Lord, cause us with great expectation, to look forward to that day when we will dwell with our eternal God where he will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for on that great and glorious day the former things, the temporary things so many live for today, will have passed away to the praise of your glory and renown. Amen & Amen.

- Shane Waters, Pastor of Sovereign Grace Baptist Church in Jacksonville

Sermon Notes 11/6/2011

Sermon Title: The Practical Importance of Penal-Substitutionary Atonement part 2
Sermon Text: Jeremiah 2:1-32
Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 16:1-22

Review:

ISAAC - Genesis / JESUS - Gospels
http://carm.org/bible-difficulties/genesis-deuteronomy/why-did-god-tell-abraham-kill-his-son-isaac

The Gospel is not only the “way in.” The Gospel is the “way how.”

“Beat it into their heads continually” by Martin Luther
“The law is divine and holy. Let the law have his glory, but yet no law, be it never so divine and holy, ought to teach me that I am justified, and shall live through it. I grant it may teach me that I ought to love God and my neighbor; also to live in chastity, soberness, patience, etc., but it ought not to show me, how I should be delivered from sin, the devil, death, and hell.
Here I must take counsel of the gospel. I must hearken to the gospel, which teacheth me, not what I ought to do, (for that is the proper office of the law,) but what Jesus Christ the Son of God hath done for me : to wit, that He suffered and died to deliver me from sin and death. The gospel willeth me to receive this, and to believe it. And this is the truth of the gospel. It is also the principal article of all Christian doctrine, wherein the knowledge of all godliness consisteth.
Most necessary it is, therefore, that we should know this article well, teach it unto others, and beat it into their heads continually.”
– Martin Luther, St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians (Philadelphia: Smith, English & Co., 1860), 206.

When the Gospel and its implications are understood, it should bring change to the heart of the Christian, continually changing his
  1. Motivation: The love of Christ compels us; the grace of God teaches us; the kindness of God leads us
  2. Disposition: The Rich and Poor man in James; the Racist in Galatians; the confronter in Colossians; the confronted in Luke 15
  3. Response to Consequence: The good boy in Luke 15; the Pharisees; 2 Corinthians 5:9
How Do We “Beat it Into Our Heads”? How does the Gospel move from intellectual understanding to existential change?

Christianity should lead to a deep and unique subjective experience based on an unchangeable, objective truth. When we think hard, pray hard, renew our minds, dwell on the objective truths of the Gospel (Penal-Substitutionary Atonement) we should be lead to subjective experience (ravished, compelled hearts). This is precisely what Jonathan Edwards begged in “Religious Affections.” This is what Christians call Joy.

How Does OPBC get there? Turn to Jeremiah 2.

I think we understand pretty well the LORD as King, Father, Husbandman (John 15), but not as Husband. Think about the references throughout the OT of God as Husband to Israel and the NT as Jesus the Bridegroom to the Church.

Why is this important? When you sin against a King, a Gardner, a Father you are violating the rules and hurting the garden. When you play the whore against a husband and when you understand the depth of His love for you, based on the atonement, your heart should melt and be ravished, moved.
  • "When the thing that most assures you is the thing that most convicts you, you’ll be okay because when you’re convicted of sin in a gospel way it drives you toward God.” – Timothy Keller
First, our perspective must be proportionate

“On every high hill and under every green tree” (Jeremiah 2:20b).
  • There is an attraction of the soul far stronger than any sexual attraction. There is a power to what we lay down with in our minds (soul).
  • Instinctively, we crave oneness with someone different than us because we know if left to ourselves, we will die out. In the same way, we know instinctively we are powerless to produce joy, lasting satisfaction, significance, true security. Rather than joining ourselves to God for this, we go under every green tree and look on every high hill (From Tim Keller’s sermon How Sin Makes us Addicts).
  • So, we know God as King, Gardner, and Husband, and marry ourselves together with a myriad of other functional saviors.
  • The weaker your theology, the more impersonal God must be. However, the ability to articulate good systematic theology will not necessarily ravish your heart. Why? It is about your thoughts, prayers, and approach. Do you understand the three-but-one? The answer is probably yes and no. It should always be yes and no. In the same way you can commune with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in their individual roles, you are still approaching one God. However, you do not thank God the Father for the atonement of the Spirit. You cannot thank God the Father for the Son’s indwelling. In the same way, I think you can approach God as King, Father, Gardner, and Husband – none lessening the other – simultaneously ( Prophet – Priest – King).
Second, we must realize God’s way of ravishing the heart is through the renewing of the mind. Look at Jeremiah 2:32 and Ezekiel 16:22**
  • What happened to my heart the other night when Staci played Louis Armstrong? What happened to my heart at the couples shower? Renewed minds renew a ravished heart.
  • How do I beat the Gospel into my head? Outside Scripture, here are some good resources: The Gospel for Life by Jerry Bridges; The Prodigal God by Tim Keller; Gospel Wakefulness by Jared Wilson; TheGospelCoalition.com; Holiness by Grace by Brian Chappel; The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges.
He doesn't “give you something” He is the ornaments. When a bride looks in a mirror all day, she is depending on the dress, ornaments, hair, etc. When we gaze into the Gospel a confident humility ravishes our hearts – we are perfect yet Jesus blood and perfect righteousness ravish our hearts. Ephesians 5 –Jesus makes us a bride without spot or blemish.
  • What if you had quality time with your wife between 8-8:30 every Wednesday?
Third, see the connection between lyrics, music, and dance

Lyrics (Theology) – Music (Ravished Hearts that are continually compelled, taught, lead by love, grace, and goodness) – Great Commandment – Dance (Great Commission)

We see the danger of:
  1. Lyrics without music = cold dead principles = motivation by fear and guilt to dance
  2. Music without lyrics = leads to foundation-less dancing = social justice/reform
  3. Dancing with no lyrics and music = You become someone’s savior (Government)
Give examples of couples wedding shower – there is a reason Bethany, Valerie, and Jessica did not look like Mike/June; Phillip/Ginny; Chris/Michelle

You know what else might be true? Bethany might spend more time with Robyn than Scott does; Hannah spends more time with Staci than I do; Chris spends more time with his business partner than Michelle
  • Why wouldn't they dance like that with a business partner; father; mother; etc.? There isn’t the husband/wife dynamic.
  • Think about the relationships moms have to their children. Think about how when you serve others, your heart becomes tied to them. I know how to get to my wife’s heart and I know how to ignite my heart to hers: sacrificial service. Isn't that true. How much more for Jesus who committed the ultimate act of service?

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Sermon Notes 10/30/2011

Sermon Text: Genesis 22:9-14
Sermon Title: The Practical Significance of Penal-Substitutionary Atonement
Scripture Reading: Luke 22:39-46

The Importance of Penal-Substitutionary Atonement

What is it?

“For he has made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
If I were go to your house and break your china, you may tell me that you forgive me, but in doing so you had to absorb the cost of the broken china. Someone has to pay for the broken china, either me or you, if you forgive me. The cost does not just go into oblivion. Likewise God does not wave his hands over sin when He forgave it; He must Himself absorb the full cost of the injustice done. - Monergism.com
The view of Christ’s death presented here has frequently been called the theory of “penal substitution.” Christ’s death was “penal” in that he bore a penalty when he died. His death was also a “substitution” in that He was a substitute for us when he died. This has been the orthodox understanding of the atonement held by evangelical theologians, in contrast to other views that attempt to explain the atonement part from the idea of the wrath of God or payment of the penalty for sin. This view of the atonement is sometimes called the theory of vicarious atonement. A “vicar” is someone who stands in the place of another or who represents another. Christ’s death was therefore “vicarious” because he stood in our place and represented us. As our representative, he took the sin penalty that we deserve. - Wayne Grudem from Systematic Theology
Cheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner. Sin is always committed by a person. Sin cannot remain vague or abstract. Sin is always specific.

Illustrate: We wrongly have an “open tab” thinking about atonement. God is so wealthy with mercy and Christ blood was shed arbitrarily so that in the end, my sin is covered. This is terribly wrong thinking.

“And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will’” (Matthew 26:39).

“Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, ‘My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done’” (Matthew 26:42).

In the Old Testament the cup normally signifies the outpouring of God’s wrath (Psalm 75:8; Isaiah 51:17, 22; Jeremiah 25:15, 16). – Reformation Study Bible notes under Matthew 20:23

Every specific sin of those who belong to Christ was paid for. In the cup of God’s wrath are specifics, not generalities. Christ didn’t satisfy God’s wrath for “sin.” Christ satisfied God’s wrath specifically for the second glance, the one glass of wine too many, the selfishly motivated act of service, the glory you stole from the compliment, for leaving your check face up in the offering plate to be praised by man, etc.
The death of Christ on the cross, it was a bitter death, a sorrowful death, a bloody death. The bitter thoughts of His sufferings put Him into a most dreadful agony. The things that our Savior strove against were not only the terror of death, as other men are wont to do – for then many Christians and martyrs might have seemed more constant and courageous than He – but the terrible justice of God, pouring out His high anger and indignation upon Him on the account of all the sins of His chosen that were laid upon Him, than which nothing could be more dreadful. - Thomas Brooks
Excerpts from Jonathan Edwards’ 29-page Sermon Christ’s Agony (Luke 22:44):
  • The cause of Christ’s agony and prayer of apprehension was the subject of each of the three prayers “the cup.” Elsewhere we are told He was sorrowful and very heavy (Matthew 26:37) and sore amazed and very heavy (Mark 14:33).
  • Why was it needful that he should have a more full and extraordinary view of the cup that he was to drink a little before he drank it than he ever had before? Christ was going to be cast into a dreadful furnace of wrath, and it was not proper that he should plunge himself into it blindfold, as not knowing how dreadful the furnace was. Christ could not voluntarily bear it for sinners if He did not know first what it was. Then he acted knowing what he did; then His taking the cup and bearing such dreadful sufferings, was properly his own act by an explicit choice and so His love to sinners, in that choice of His, was more the wonderful, as also His obedience to God in it.
“He cried out three times for relief from the cup, but while drinking the cup He cried out for mercy on behalf of those who filled it” (Brian Shepherd).

Why Does it Matter??

3 Ways the Gospel is not only the “way in” but proves to be the “way how.”

In Motivation
  • “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).
  • “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:11-14).
  • “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4).
The gospel of justifying faith means that while Christians are, in themselves still sinful and sinning, yet in Christ, in God’s sight, they are accepted and righteous. So we can say that we are more wicked than we ever dared believe, but more loved and accepted in Christ than we ever dared hope — at the very same time. This creates a radical new dynamic for personal growth. It means that the more you see your own flaws and sins, the more precious, electrifying, and amazing God’s grace appears to you. But on the other hand, the more aware you are of God’s grace and acceptance in Christ, the more able you are to drop your denials and self-defenses and admit the true dimensions and character of your sin.
The God of the Bible is infinitely Holy and infinitely loving and that is why grace is so costly and costly grace is ravishing and moving. He is so Holy He couldn't just shrug evil off and so loving that He couldn’t just punish us for it. Not until you are humbled down into the dust because He is so Holy that He had to die for you and not until you are affirmed into the sky because He loves you so much that He was glad to die for you WILL you be humbled out of the pride that makes you down on other people and affirmed out of the self-hatred that causes you to look down on yourself. From this restructured identity comes freedom. The Gospel gives freedom from pride when you obey and self-hatred when you sin. Change truly happens when the Gospel is intellectually coherent and existentially melting to you heart. That comes only when you see the costly substitutionary death of Christ. Timothy Keller
Talk about Edwards and honey being intellectually sweet and tasting sweet experientially.

"Without the gospel we hate ourselves instead of our sin. Without the gospel we’re motivated through all sorts of awful fear and pride to change and it doesn't really change our hearts; it just restrains our hearts.”

Biblical Examples:
Personal Examples:
  • Two men asked to mow the lawn; Two children in the grocery store
In Disposition

“If you know what He has done at infinite cost to himself—He’s put you into a relationship so that you’ll never be rejected by Him—then your motivation when you sin is to go get Him. You want fellowship with Him. When the thing that most assures you is the thing that most convicts you, you’ll be okay because when you’re convicted of sin in a gospel way it drives you toward God.” – Timothy Keller

Biblical Examples:
Personal Examples:
  • You are constantly aware of the jokes, comments, remarks you husband is making. You are humiliated when your kids are disobedient in public (much more disproportionate than in private). You get sinfully angry at your kids. You want to crawl in a hole when your husband opens his mouth. Why? Maybe they are tearing down your idol/threatening your idol of self-image; worth; status; works-righteousness. What do you do? You give your husband a “prep” talk before going out in public. You threaten your kids, maybe not with explicit threats, but with your demeanor and tone.
In Consequence

In much of evangelicalism today, the emphasis falls on the question “What Would Jesus Do?” rather than “What Has Jesus Done?” – Michael Horton

Jesus is out Master, King, Father, and EXAMPLE rather than SAVIOR.
  • The Gospel humbles us and protects us from: Arrogance and Self-Reliance – You are free to love others without placing them in your debt. You are humbly confident, therefore reliant. I am able to correct without crushing. How? I am the most awful sinner I know. Gentle Jesus has been so patient and merciful to me – how could I be less?
  • The Gospel affirms us and protects us from: Hopelessness and Exasperation – You are free to love without loving like a debtor. I hear criticism without being defensive and crushed. How? Jesus is my King, my Savior, My Identity. My performance does not dictate my identity. You have a cradle of security in your moment of greatest vulnerability.
The Gospel sets us free to enjoy blessings without Idolatry and Demonization – You are free to enjoy God’s gifts without making them the fountain of your satisfaction. You are free to love others without making them your significance, satisfaction, affirmation.

Biblical Examples:
Personal Examples:
  • Your life is described by the older brother in Luke 15 “I deserve; I have earned; I am lacking joy when others are blessed with what I deserve.”
  • You go to the baby shower and are so offended when they didn't come to yours. You give to benevolence because you might need it some day.
Do any of us find decays of grace prevailing in us; deadness, coldness, lukewarmness, a kind of spiritual stupidity and senselessness coming upon us? Do we find an unreadiness unto the exercise of grace in its proper season and the vigorous acting of it in duties of communion with God? And would we have our souls recovered from these dangerous diseases? Let us assure ourselves there is no better way for our healing and deliverance, yea no other way but this alone, namely, the obtaining a fresh view of the glory of Christ by faith, and a steady abiding therein. Constant contemplation of Christ and his glory putting forth its transforming power unto revival of all grace, is the only relief in this case. - John Owen. The Gospel Defended, The Works of John Owen, ed. William H. Goold, 1850-1853, (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 1967), XII, 501-502, paragraphing mine.
To the Unrepentant:

You sit at the mouth of a furnace much hotter than that of Christ. Christ was not hopeless. He knew He would die and rise again in three days. The sinner in Hell has no such hope. There is no end to the suffering of the unrepentant. Christ suffered no remorse. In hell, the sinner’s guilty conscience is his own tormentor.

When Christ was abandoned He cried “My God, My God!” knowing that He was His God still, though He has forsaken Him. The wicked in Hell will know that He is not their God, but their judge and irreconcilable enemy.