Chapter 23 - Christ's People
We cannot love Jesus without loving what He loves: His church.
Jesus loves the church because:
1. The Father calls Him to.
2. The Spirit enables Him to.
3. It glorifies Himself as the Son, and He seeks His own glory properly, as God.
The church in the New Testament is called by the same names as Israel in the Old Testament.
Chosen, elect, beloved.
The church is the fullness of Christ, which means that in some way He is incomplete without us.
[He has voluntarily made it so; God is all-sufficient in Himself, of course.]
The church is made like Christ.
In His faith in God, we should imitate Him.
One day the church will be pure, as Christ is pure (1 John 3:3).
God "tolerates the world for our sake."
Chapter 24 - Christ's Wrath
Jesus knows the wrath of God more than anyone, experiencing it on the cross.
He will also execute it on the ungodly in the end.
When God appeared to judge in the Old Testament it was usually Jesus.
The angel of the Lord was Jesus. (Genesis 22:11-18; Exodus 3:2-12; Revelation 10)
Jesus spoke of the reality of Hell more than anyone in the Bible.
He Himself divides people, because He put Himself between God and sinners at the cross.
Some cling to Him; most "leap over" Him.
God appoints Jesus as judge. (John 5:27)
He has perfect knowledge of our works (Heb. 4:13; Rev. 3:1).
We don't emphasize Hell and the wrath of the Lamb as we ought.
"Hell glorifies Christ. If it did not, it would not exist."
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