Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Proverbs, chapter 18. Proverbs, chapter 18. I'd like
to look at verse 16. Proverbs 18, verse 16. The scripture declares, a man's
gift maketh room for him and bringeth him before great men. How beautifully and tenderly the
scriptures set forth the kindness that is shown from one to another
whenever they desire to make reconciliation. Scripture sets
forth that one that has offended another. And he's brought to
himself. He's brought to see something
of his foolishness. And he wants to make reconciliation. He wants to make things right. You know, Jacob, whenever Jacob,
who the scripture says God loved, This is what God said about Esau. I hate him. But Jacob, according
to God's will, according to God's purpose, God's providence, he
received the birthright. Jacob was older. Just, you know,
twin boys. But Esau was born first. And the one that was supposed
to have gotten the birthright was Esau. Jacob got it. You know that. Esau came in from
a hunt, famished. Jacob was cooking stuff and Esau
smelled, give me something to eat. He said, give me your birthright. Esau said, I'm about to die. What's a good birthright going
to do me? So he gave him. He said, OK,
you can have it. Jacob got it. And he was offended. He offended
Esau. Turn to Genesis 32.20. Genesis
32.20. Esau was offended and Jacob,
in later years, wanted to make it right. Genesis 32.20 says,
And say ye moreover when... This was Jacob. He's going to
send out a group, you know, with some gifts. My brother Esau's
out there. I want to make it right with
him. So he says, And ye say, the ones he's going to send,
moreover, thy servant Jacob behind us. For he said I will appease
him with the present that goeth before me and afterward I'll
see his face and peradventure perhaps he will accept of me. I've offended my brother and
I want to make it right. And then scripture says when
Esau met Jacob and all those presents that were sent to him
by Jacob, Esau's Attitude toward Jacob, who had offended him,
was one of kindness. Let's turn over to Genesis 33.
Look at verse 8 to 11. This is what happened. Jacob
had offended. Jacob was the offending party. He wanted to make things right
with Esau. He sent his presence. I'm going to send Esau's presence.
Esau saw him coming. He said, and this was Esau's
attitude back toward Jacob, who had offended him. Genesis 33,
verse 8, he said, what meanest thou by all this drove which
I've met? And he said, these are to find
grace in the sight of my Lord. And Esau said, I have enough. My brother, keep that thou hast
unto thyself. And Jacob said, nay, I pray thee,
if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present
at my hand. Therefore, I have seen thy face
as though I have seen the face of God, and thou was pleased
with me. Take, I pray thee, my blessing
that is brought to thee, because God hath dealt graciously with
me, and because I have enough." And he urged him, and he took
it, sent his president, Esau, and said, I don't need this,
I have abundant. And Jacob said, take it, I have
all things. Same word, translated in English,
enough, but Esau said, I don't need your gift, I've got abundant
stuff. Jacob says, take it, I have all
things. In Christ, take it. He wanted
to make it right, you know. Oh, the blessed sight of reconciliation. when the offending party is made
to see the error of his way brought to make or seek a place of tenderness,
reconciliation in the heart of the one who has been offended. That's sweet. That's the attitude
of a believer. If I've offended you, I want
to make it right. I want to make it right. I don't
want there to be animosity. God forbid that I should do that
to you and offend you and then if I've offended you, forgive
me. But now back in our passage,
this passage of Scripture declares something more glorious than
that. That's a wonderful attitude. That's a heart of a believer. That's a believer. He's a peacemaker. One seeks reconciliation. Doesn't
want to hold on to that. Not a believer. But you know,
if a natural man's gift, like Jacob's toward Esau, if a natural
man's gift, that gift, that in itself, whatever it is, whatever
it is, I'm sorry, take this, I'm going to give you this stuff,
whatever the gift is, which truly is temporal, because this life
is temporal. If the gift that's given to make reconciliation
is in itself feeble because it does not endure forever, if that has the ability to be
able to open a heart that desires peace and reconciliation, how
much greater, how much more glorious must be the eternal gift of Almighty
God in the giving of His dear Son and the opening up of the
elect's heart to love Him who has truly, God who has truly
loved the offending party. If the offending party, the one
who has done the offending, if it's a beautiful thing for them
to reach out and to desire reconciliation, How much more glorious is it
to the one who has been offended that he takes the first step
to make reconciliation for those who have offended him. Now this
is grace. This is grace. Here's the one
in whom man has offended. In the garden Adam rebelled against
God and man separated himself from God. Man alienated himself
before God. I can understand the guilty party
taking the initiative and wanting to establish peace but the party
offended the one who has been offended and it's God Almighty
and he moves to desire to procure a place of reconciliation with
the offending party that God Almighty would in mercy and grace
and compassion choose to show mercy to a people that he had
everlastingly loved and chose out of every nation and kindred
and tribe of tongue and has said, I'm going to show mercy to you.
You who have offended me I'm going to show mercy to you. And
I'm going to establish the grounds, the ground of peace, the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's the problem. Man is the
offending party. Man is the offending party. There is not one good thing in
any of us by nature. We are all as an unclean thing. There's none righteous, no not
one. Every one of us would do exactly
what Adam did. Every one of us would rebel against
God. God told Adam, in the day you
eat thereof you're going to die. Adam ate. God asked him, has
thou eaten of the tree which I commanded thee not, that thou
shouldest not eat? Man offended God in the garden
and thereby separated himself from the only one in whom is
life. By one man's rebellion there
was then and there is now no good thing if left to himself
but death. You leave a man, you leave a
woman to themselves and I'll tell you what they're going to
do. They're going to go to hell. Will they exercise their free
will? They don't have a free will. They don't have a free
will. A man, a woman that believes
that man has a free will, a will that is able, capable, alive
to be able to reconcile himself back to God, doesn't know God.
He calls God a liar. The scripture says in Ephesians
chapter 2 verse 1, and you hath he quickened. You know what that
means? That he's made you alive. You
hath he quickened. God Almighty has to make a man
alive before a man will do anything. God's got to give him a willing
heart. Before that man will respond, there has to be life there. Let's go to any cemetery you
choose. Let's go to any cemetery right
after services. And I'll tell you what you do.
Plead to every one of those corpses that's in that ground and tell
them, why don't you exercise your free will? And you'll say,
Marvin, you're foolish. You are foolish. They're dead. I know. And man by nature is
dead in trespasses and sins. What is a dead man going to do
to reconcile himself, Gene, back to God? What can a dead man do? Every imagination of the thought
of his heart is only evil. Continually, every day, how is
a man that is dead in trespasses and sin going to reconcile himself
back to God? He's not. He's not. Left in that state, there's one
word from God. Depart from me you works of iniquity.
I never knew you. I never knew you. Ezekiel 18.4
says, Behold, all souls are mine. As the soul of the father, so
also the soul of the son is mine. And the soul that sinneth is
going to die. I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner and
I'm going to have to have my sin dealt with. There's going
to be payment. And one of two options, here's
the only two options, either when the Lord Jesus Christ went
to the cross, he died for me and put away my guilt, either
he put away my guilt and paid the debt of my guilt not to make
salvation possible No, sir. No, sir. He died to seek to save
that which was lost. He said, I lay down my life for
the sheep. And when he died, he died for
all that the father had given him. That's what he said. John
10, 15, I lay down my life for the sheep. You say, well, everybody
can be a sheep. No, sir. No, sir. You read on
through that same chapter. John 10, just read John 10. Come
to verse 25, 22, 25, right in there. Some Pharisees said, how
long are you going to make us to doubt? If you be the Christ,
tell us plainly. He said, I told you and you believe
not because you are not of my sheep. You're not my sheep. He said, my sheep hear my voice.
I know them and they follow me. Almighty God is the reconciling
party, not man. Almighty God is the one who has
chosen to show mercy and compassion to whomsoever he will. But in spite of man's rebellion
and desire to have no peace with God, You say, wait a minute,
are you saying that man by nature has no desire to seek after God? That's what the scripture says.
Psalm chapter 14. No man seeks after God. You say,
well now wait a minute, I'll assault the Lord. The only time
a man will seek after God is when God gives him a new heart.
Then that man is willing in the day of God's power. Until then,
the scripture declares, no man will seek after God. I need one
to reconcile me back to Him, because I, number one, cannot
do it, and I will not do it. I will not do it. God Almighty
must show mercy to me. He must show compassion to me. And He said out of every kindred
and tribe and tongue I've got a people that I'm going to show
mercy and compassion to. All of man's peace before God
is totally founded upon the mercy and grace and will of God Almighty. If you know him this morning,
it's because he chose for you to know him. He chose for you
to know him. If God leaves a man to himself
to do what that man wants to do, he'll rebel every time. He
will not come. He will not come. You say, what
do you mean he will not come? The Lord said in John chapter
6, Read in John 6, he says, no man can come unto me, except
it were given unto him of my Father. You say, well, what if
somebody wants to come and it's not the Lord's will? They won't.
They won't. You say, well, I think if they
wanted to, the Lord said you won't. And let God be true. Let every man be a liar. Here's
the way it is. All of man's peace is totally
based upon God's mercy, God's will, and God's gift. God Almighty
gave His love to those that He chose to save, to His elect,
to the bride of Christ. He says, I've loved thee with
an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. I drew you. The only reason man comes to
Christ is because God came to him first. God gave his own son to redeem
his people for God so loved the world. I love Mr. Spurgeon. He made this statement. He preached
on John 3.16 one time. He said, John 3.16 is the great
gun, the great cannon, the weapon, is the great cannon of Arminianism,
free will. false free will, man works religion. He said that's the great canon
of Arminianism and he said I aim this morning to turn that weapon
upon them because that weapon was not forged in their foundry.
For God so loved the orderly arrangement, the world. You say, well, I think that that
means everybody. Well, if it means everybody,
why in John 17 verse 9 would the Lord not pray for him? He
said, I pray for those that thou hast given me. I pray not for
the world, but for those that you've given me. God has an elect
and Christ prays for him. And Christ redeemed him. I lay
down my life for the sheep and he's going to have them. All
that the Father giveth me, John 6, 37, shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. I'm telling you, salvation is
of the Lord, not of us. Salvation is by grace. It's not by works. It's not by
my choice. It's by God's will, God's purpose.
God so loved the world, the orderly arrangement, that which He created,
that He would not allow this orderly arrangement to perish
in man's own rebellion against Him. What did He do? He gave
His only begotten Son. Whosoever believeth in Him should
not perish, but have everlasting life. I've said before, people
will say, you people don't believe in whosoever will. Oh yes, I
will. Oh yes, I do. Oh yes I do. Oh yes I do. Whosoever comes to Him, God has
already shown them mercy. Here's the problem, leave a man
to himself and whosoever won't, he won't come. Don't put the
power and the choice and the first work of salvation to be
in man's hand. God says it's not there. It's
not there. Men are standing in pulpits today
crying to dead men to do something that a dead man can't do. Preach
the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace and peradventure.
Perhaps, if God Almighty is pleased, He'll open up His people's heart.
He said, I'll give you a new heart. I'll give you a heart.
I'll give you one. I'll make you willing in the
day of my power. Oh, what God Almighty has done
and given in the reconciliation of His people. But let me ask
you this in closing, Proverbs 18, 16. Doesn't our verse say,
a man's gift maketh room for him? A man's gift, that's exactly
right. A man's gift, a man's present
maketh room. Here the problem is we don't
understand what we're reading. We read words unless we look
them up. We don't know what we're saying.
A man's present opens wide for him and bringeth him before great
men. Doesn't it say that? Yes it does.
This verse is saying that a man's present, a present by which reconciliation
has been accomplished, maketh room, it opens wide a place for
him and bringeth Him before, leads Him and guides Him to bestow
His face before great men. Great men in themselves? No.
Great in number. Great in extent. For God Almighty
to show mercy, God's justice has got to be satisfied. And
the man, the man The man that gives the gift of himself, that
is the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, He who was made flesh
and did that very thing, He gave Himself. The Father gave Him,
He gave Himself. God's gift to His people and
thereby satisfied the Law's demand for justice. What is due to these
sheep? You lay that on me. What do they
owe? I'll pay. The blood, the precious
blood. And I'll tell you this, there's
none for whom Christ died that'll be in hell. All that the Father
giveth me. They gonna come to me. Not one
drop of his blood was shed in vain. If you say one drop of
his blood was shed in vain, well, he made it possible, you said.
He made salvation possible. Well, if he made salvation possible,
then that means it's left in your hands to make the decision,
and then that means it's by works. Your choice. As I've said before,
that ain't gonna fly. You try to preach any message
that doesn't give salvation totally to be in the hands of Almighty
God, and what you're saying is salvation's got to be by my works.
If he made it possible for me to be saved and shed his blood
to make salvation for me possible and I reject him and go to hell,
that means he was a failure. You can't get around that. You're
not going to get around that. Even while we were yet sinners,
Even when there was no welcome place for Him in my wicked heart,
no love, no desire, He made room for Himself. He gave a new nature. He gave a new heart. As we said,
I'll give you a new heart. I'll give you a new will, a new
mind, a new desire, a new love. He, in mercy, the offended party. Opened our eyes to our need. I didn't even know I needed him.
I'll be honest with you, I didn't really care. I didn't care. And you didn't either before
he opened your eyes. We needed him. I need a redeemer. I need a great high priest. I
want one to approach God for me. I need for God Almighty to
provide for himself one that He will accept on the merit of
the one that approaches Him for me and His Son who did only always
those things that please the Father. That's my beloved Son. I'm well pleased. I'm going to
hear Him. You hear Him. I'm going to hear Him. Oh, He made a place by His gift. He made a place before many. That's what he said. God commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, have shined in our hearts to
give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. God Almighty gave Himself and
gave us faith to believe it. For by grace, grace are you saved
through faith. And that not of yourself, it's
the gift of God. Brethren, We have nothing in
ourselves which to boast. If Almighty God has reconciled
us unto himself, thanks be unto God. Truly, truly, a man's gift,
the man Christ Jesus maketh room, opens wide for him. He did it for himself, did it
for us. We're the recipients of his mercy. I'm telling you,
he did it for himself to show mercy. And great, he did this
for himself. A man's gift maketh room for
him and bringeth him, causes to see, opens the eyes of, bringeth
him into the face and bringeth him to behold before many men. Great in number. Not, as I said,
not great in himself. Listen to this, and I'll close
with this verse, Revelation 7, 9. After this, I beheld in lo,
a great multitude, a great multitude, which no man could number, of
all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before
the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, palms
in their hands, and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation
to our God, which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable
gift. May the Lord bless these words
to our hearts. For Christ's sake, amen.