The Seven Sayings of the Savior on the Cross, by A.W. Pink

In fellowship we reach the climax of grace and the sum of Christian privilege. Higher than fellowship we cannot go. God has called us "unto the fellowship of his Son" (1 Cor 1:9). We are often told that we are "saved to serve," and this is true, but it is only a part of the truth and by no means the most wondrous and blessed part of it. We are saved for fellowship... Christ came not primarily to secure servants but those who should enter into fellowship with Himself.

That which makes heaven superlatively attractive to the heart of the saint is not that heaven is a place where we shall be delivered from all sorrow and suffering, nor is it that heaven is the place where we shall meet again those we loved in the Lord, nor is it that heaven is the place of golden streets and pearly gates and jasper walls - no; blessed as these things are, heaven without Christ would not be heaven. It is Christ the heart of the believer longs for and pants after - "Whom have I in heaven by thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee" (Ps 73:25). [53]

This book is fantastic! I recommend it to all. It will definitely be a piece in my repertoire for some time to come.

Arthur Walkington Pink is one of my favorite expositors/pastors of all time. The very first book that I read as a Christian was his The Attributes of God. It provided me with a clear and powerful look into the unsearchable riches of the Triune God that I had, at that time, just come to know - something for which I am eternally indebted to him.

This book is another of Pink's attempts to bring the reader to Everest.

John Piper uses the analogy of a telescope when he describes the Christian's response to God's grace as we glorify Him with our lives. There are two types of magnification. One that magnifies like a microscope. This type of magnification takes something that is extremely small and makes it look bigger. If persons take this approach with God, they blaspheme. The other type of magnification is similar to that of using a telescope. A telescope makes an object that is far too distant to see with our eyes to look more as it really is. In Astronomy, this is often called the difference between apparent and absolute magnitude. This is how we ought to approach magnifying God. He is infinitely transcendent. And His "apparent magnitude" in the eyes of the world is far less than it is in reality. So we must "telescopically" magnify Him; make Him look great; make Him look more like He really is - His absolute magnitude. And this book by Pink is one way that God has enabled me to see a more "telescopically" accurate view of God and His Christ.

The Seven sayings of Jesus on the Cross are,

1. Forgiveness - "Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34)

2. Salvation - "And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise." (Luke 23:42-43)

3. Affection - "Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother... When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, behold thy mother." (John 19:25-27)

4. Anguish - "And about the ninth hour Jesus cries with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46)

5. Suffering - "Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, saith I thirst." (John 19:28)

6. Victory - "When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished." (John 19:30)

7. Contentment - "And when Jesus had cries with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my Spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost." (Luke 23:46)