Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers
ISBN: 9781433566134Book Description:
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." -Matthew 11:28
Christians know what Jesus Christ has done-but who is he? What is his deepest heart for his people, weary and faltering on their journey toward heaven? Jesus said he is "gentle and lowly in heart." This book reflects on these words, opening up a neglected yet central truth about who he is for sinners and sufferers today.
From the first chapter:
This is a book about the heart of Christ. Who is he? Who is he really? What is most natural to him? What ignites within him most immediately as he moves toward sinners and sufferers? What flows out most freely, most instinctively? Who is he?This book is written for the discouraged, the frustrated, the weary, the disenchanted, the cynical, the empty. Those running on fumes. Those whose Christian lives feel like constantly run-ning up a descending escalator. Those of us who find ourselves thinking: "How could I mess up that bad-again?" It is for that increasing suspicion that God's patience with us is wearing thin. For those of us who know God loves us but suspect we have deeply disappointed him. Who have told others of the love of Christ yet wonder if-as for us-he harbors mild resentment. Who wonder if we have shipwrecked our lives beyond what can be repaired. Who are convinced we've permanently diminished our usefulness to the Lord. Who have been swept off our feet by perplexing pain and are wondering how we can keep living under such numbing darkness. Who look at our lives and know how to interpret the data only by concluding that God is fundamentally parsimonious. It is written, in other words, for normal Christians. In short, it is for sinners and sufferers. How does Jesus feel about them?
Table of Contents
1. His Very Heart
2. His Heart in Action
3. The Happiness of Christ
4. Able to Sympathize
5. He Can Deal Gently
6. I Will Never Cast Out
7. What Our Sins Evoke
8. To the Uttermost
9. An Advocate
10. The Beauty of the Heart of Christ
11. The Emotional Life of Christ
12. A Tender Friend
13. Why the Spirit?
14. Father of Mercies
15. His "Natural" Work and His "Strange" Work
16. The Lord, the Lord
17. His Ways Are Not Our Ways
18. Yearning Bowels
19. Rich in Mercy
20. Our Law-ish Hearts, His Lavish Heart
21. He Loved Us Then; He'll Love Us Now
22. To the End
23. Buried in His Heart Forevermore
Author:
Dane C. Ortlund (PhD, Wheaton College) is chief publishing officer and Bible publisher at Crossway. He serves as an editor for the Knowing the Bible series and the Short Studies in Biblical Theology series, and is the author of several books, including Gentle and Lowly and Edwards on the Christian Life. He is an elder at Naperville Presbyterian Church in Naperville, Illinois. Dane lives with his wife, Stacey, and their five children in Wheaton, Illinois.
Endorsements:
"On the rough, rocky, and often dark path between the 'already' and the 'not yet,' there is nothing your weary heart needs more than to know the beauty of the heart of Jesus. It is that beauty that alone has the power to overwhelm all the ugly you will encounter along the way. I have read no book that more carefully, thoroughly, and tenderly displays Christ's heart than what Dane Ortlund has written. As if I was listening to a great symphony, I was moved in different ways in different passages but left each feeling hugely blessed to know that what was being described was the heart of my Savior, my Lord, my Friend, and my Redeemer. I can't think of anyone in the family of God who wouldn't be greatly helped by spending time seeing the heart of Jesus through the eyes of such a gifted guide as Ortlund."
--Paul David Tripp, President, Paul Tripp Ministries; author, New Morning Mercies and My Heart Cries Out
"Only a few pages in I started to realize how unusual and essential this book is-it is an exposition of the very heart of Christ. The result is a book that astonishes us with the sheer abundance and capacity of his love for us. Breathtaking and healing in equal measure, it is already one of the best books I've read."
--Sam Allberry, Speaker, author, Why Does God Care Who I Sleep With? and 7 Myths about Singleness
Additional Information:
| Cover: | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages: | 224 |
| Author: | Ortlund, Dane |
| Publisher: | Crossway |
| Publication Date: | 2020 |