That is a good passage. I'm tempted
to preach from it. Let's turn to Romans 11. Romans
chapter 11. Our text is found in verse 35.
Romans 11 verse 35. Who hath first given to Him? To God. Who hath first given
to God? And it shall be recompensed unto
Him again. Who hath first given to God? And it shall be recompensed,
repaid unto Him again. Now is there anybody here who
has given anything to God? If we profess to believe on Christ,
Scripture declares there are some things that we give to God. If we profess to believe Christ,
there are some things that we give to God. Let's consider three
of those things. One, we must give God a willing
reception. We must receive Christ. believing on Him. That's how
you receive Him. Believe on Him. We must receive
Christ. Believe on Him. In John 1.11
it said, He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But, as many as received Him,
to them gave He the privilege to become the sons of God. Even to them that believed on
His name. That's what it is to receive
Him, to believe on His name. And then two, we must give God
our heart. Christ, speaking as wisdom, said
in Proverbs 23, 26, My son, give me thine heart, and let thine
eyes observe my ways. Give me thine heart, and let
thine eyes observe my ways. And then three, we must give
God our life. Romans 12. You look there, Romans
12, in verse 1. I beseech you therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service. Now, it's very common to hear
professing believers make statements such as this. They'll look back
on some past experience and they'll say at such and such time I gave
or I accepted Jesus. I accepted Jesus. They'll say
I gave my heart to the Lord. They'll say I gave my life to
the Lord. Now what does that mean? What
are we saying? What's a man saying when he says,
I accepted Jesus? When he says, I gave my heart
to Jesus. This is one that you hear, I
made Christ Lord of my life. I gave Him my life. What does
that mean? Is it that some vain preacher
told the sinner that God has done all He can And now it's
up to you. The sinner's made to feel so
sorry for God. Made to feel like the sinner's
got to do something to help God out. Because God can't do anymore. And finally the sinner decides,
well, I'm going to let God save me. I'll let Jesus have His way. Now, is that the God you believe
on? The God that's done all He can
do? to God that has to have a sinner to help Him out. Now be sure
you hear the question that's being asked here. This is God
the Holy Spirit speaking through the Apostle Paul. Now listen
to this question, verse 35. Who hath first given to Him? And it shall be recompensed unto
Him again. The question is asked directly
by God over in Job 41.11. Let me just give this to you.
It says, who hath prevented me that I should repay him? Who
hath prevented me that I should repay him? The word prevented
is translated in our text. It means, who hath given to me
first that I should repay him? God is asking this question.
He says, who has first given me something that was not my
own so that they laid me under an obligation to pay them back?
Who did that? Who did that? Who is it that
I owe for first giving anything to me that I should repay them?
Our text says, if you find one, it shall be recompensed unto
him again. God is not a debtor. God owes
nobody anything. Sinner, God asked you and me
this question. Now, this question is for us.
This question is asked directly to us. Who hath first given to
God? Did you first receive Christ,
or did God first accept you? Did you first give God your heart,
or did God first give you a heart? Did you first give God your life,
or did God first give you life, making you righteous and holy
in Christ? Which one is it? Your answer
to this question, now listen carefully, your answer to this
question reveals whether you believe in yourself and your
works or whether you believe on Christ and rest in His works. Your answer to this question
reveals whether you imagine salvation to be in something that God owes
you or whether you believe salvation
to be entirely of God's grace. Your answer to this question
reveals whether you imagine that you should receive glory and
praise or whether God should receive all the glory and all
the praise. I've titled this First. First. We're going to look and see who
first receives who. And then secondly, who first
gives the heart. And then thirdly, who first gives
life. Now, let's begin with this question.
Who first receives who? Does a sinner first receive God
or does God first accept the sinner? Our text says, Who hath
first given to him? Who hath first given to him? Natural born sinners are backwards
in thinking, upside down in thinking. But the natural born, unregenerate
sinner always thinks self is first, especially in salvation. The natural heart thinks I must
take the first step. The natural heart thinks I must
first let God. The natural heart thinks I must
accept Jesus first. But it's not so. That's not so. God is first in all things. God is the first cause of all
things. Without God, you and I can do
nothing. Without Christ, we can do nothing. Romans 11, look there in verse
36. It says, For of Him, of God,
and through God, and to God are all things, to whom be glory,
to whom be the praise, to whom be the applause, the honor, the
glory forever. Amen. You see, it was God who
at first accepted those that He saves. It was God who first
accepted those He saves. Look at Ephesians 1 and let's
just look at this. We're going to look at some scripture
tonight. I want you to put an eye on these scriptures. Ephesians 1.3 Blessed be the
God and Father. See where this thing begins?
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who
hath blessed us. We didn't bless Him. He blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. According as He hath chosen us. We didn't choose Him. He chose
us. Now this is speaking of everyone
that shall receive Christ. Everybody that shall receive
Christ. This is true of everyone that shall receive Him. God chose
us in Christ. He chose us in Him before the
foundation of the world. That we should be holy and without
blame before Him in love. Having predestinated us. You
see, we didn't determine where God would end up, whether He
would end up in our heart or not. God determined where we
would end up. He predestinated us unto the
adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according
to the good pleasure of His will, not based on our will, according
to His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, of His
unmerited favor, not because of anything in me or you, Wherein,
now look at this, He hath made us accepted. Accepted of who? Accepted of God. He hath made
us accepted in the Beloved, in Christ. Look at John chapter
1. John chapter 1. Hold your place there in Ephesians.
We might come back there. John 1 and look at verse 12. That text I read to you when
I started. John 1 and verse 12. It says here, As many as received
Him, this is what we're talking about, receiving Him. As many
as received Him, to them gave He power, privilege, to become
the sons of God, even to them that believed on His name, on
Christ, which were born, now watch this, not of blood, nor
of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. That means you were dead. That
means you had to be accepted of God. You had to be in God's
favor for God to come and make you to accept Him. You see that? Look at Acts 13 and look at verse
48. Acts 13, 48. Paul went and preached to the
Jews. And they rejected the Gospel.
And he said, now we turn to the Gentiles. And verse 48 says,
And when the Gentiles heard this, Acts 13, 48, When the Gentiles
heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. Watch this now, And as many as
were ordained to eternal life believed. Do you see that? If they were ordained to eternal
life, that means God had made them accepted in the beloved.
God predestinated them to eternal life. God ordained them to eternal
life. And that's why they received
Christ. That's why they accepted the
Lord Jesus and bowed to Him. Now, indeed, those that God has
ordained to eternal life shall believe. They shall believe and
they must believe. Everyone God has ordained to
eternal life shall and must believe. They shall receive Christ and
they must receive Christ. But be sure to get this. And
don't make a mistake about this now. If you and I receive Christ,
it's because God, by His grace, accepted us in Christ. And for
Christ's sake, He gave us faith to receive Him. Ephesians 2.8
says, By grace are you saved through faith. This is it. Is everybody saved by grace?
Everybody is saved by grace. Is everybody saved through faith?
Everybody is saved through faith. Everybody that is saved is saved
by grace through faith. By grace are you saved through
faith. And that faith is not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Not of works. Why? Lest any man
should boast. That's what you have happen when
you hear folks saying, I accepted Jesus. I accepted Jesus. Well, did you first accept God
or did God first accept you? Oh, I accepted Him. That's boasting. That's boasting. That's saying,
I let God do something. Why is this so important? Because
when we make our boast of what we did, God won't have us, brethren. And when men are making their
boast of what they did, they're boasting of what they had to
do for their God. What they had to do for their
God. The gospel I declare is that salvation is all of God's
grace. It's all by God. It's all the
work of God. And so that God gets all the
glory and the sinner that's saved by God's grace has no room to
boast. He has no room to glory whatsoever.
Now, which is it? Which is it? Did God first accept
you or did you first accept God? If you believe that you accepted
God first, then my friend, you're dead. You're dead in your sins. You're trusting your works. You're
trusting your will. And God won't have you. God just
won't have you. If you believe God is sovereign
in salvation, that God chose His people, that God is the first
cause, that God comes and God makes you to receive Him by giving
you faith to receive Him, brethren, then bless God for that because
it's God who's made His people accepted in the Beloved. He first
accepted His people. Alright, here's the second question.
Who first gives the heart? Look at Genesis 6. Who first
gives the heart? Does the sinner first give his
heart to the Lord or does the Lord first give the sinner a
new heart? Who does the giving of the heart
first? Well, concerning the heart that
we're born with, this is what God says about the heart that
every sinner is born with, right here. Genesis 6, verse 5. God saw that the wickedness of
man was great in the earth and that, now listen now, every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. That's what God says about our
natural heart, our fleshly heart, that which is the product of
Adam. Every imagination that we think of God, that we think
of ourselves, that we think of God's way of salvation, every
imagination of the thoughts of the heart is only evil continually. Look at Genesis 8 and verse 21. After the Lord destroyed the
world with a flood, Noah came out and he made a sacrifice to
God. And Genesis 8, 21 says, And the
Lord smelled a sweet savor, and the Lord said in his heart, He
said, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's
sake, because, here's why, the imagination of man's heart is
evil from his youth. That's our heart now. That's
our natural heart. Turn over to Jeremiah 17, and
while you're turning there, I'm going to read a scripture to
you. You be turning to Jeremiah 17,
and while you're turning there, let me give you this scripture.
In Isaiah 1-5, Jeremiah 17, in Isaiah 1-5, let me tell you what
the scripture says about us. It says, the whole head is sick. and the whole heart faint. The
whole head is sick and the whole heart faint. From the sole of
the foot even to the head there's no soundness in it. There's wounds
and bruises and putrefying sores. They've not been closed. They've
not been bound up neither mollified with ointment. That's what God
says of you and me by nature as we're born the first time.
Now here's what God says of the natural heart. Jeremiah 17 verse
9. He says the heart is deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked who can know it. The heart is deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked who can know it. You and I can't
know our heart. God knows it. He says He is a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. But we
can't know the natural heart. The natural unregenerate heart
deceives the sinner with respect to how we regard our sin. We
look, you've heard this, you've seen this, you'll tell a sinner,
somebody that you're talking to and you're talking to them
about the gospel and you'll tell them. Scripture says that we're
all ruined in sin. We died in Adam and we're ruined. We're totally, totally depraved.
Read them those scriptures I just gave you. The thoughts of a man's
heart are only evil continually. And folks say, do you really
believe everybody's evil? There's some good people in this
world. Well, relatively speaking, looking, you know, comparing
us to one another, there's some that look a little better than
others. But how foolish would it be for one black piece of
coal to say to another black piece of coal, I'm not as black
as that piece of coal. That would be stupid. And it'd
be just as foolish for one sinner, who's a sinner, who's come short
of the glory of God, to look at another sinner who's come
short of the glory of God and say, well, I'm not that bad a
sinner. Or to say, well, they're better
than some. They're not all evil. No, they're
all black-hearted sinners. That's what we are by nature.
You want to compare yourself with somebody, compare yourself
with Christ. This is what the scripture says.
He hath appointed a day into which he will judge the world
in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained. And he's
given us assurance in that he's raised him from the dead. Christ
is the righteousness we have to have. He said, except your
righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees,
you can't enter into the Kingdom of God. And He wasn't saying
you just better get a whole lot better than the Pharisees. He
was saying you got to have a righteousness that only God can provide. That
only God can provide. The unregenerate natural heart
deceives the sinner into thinking he knows God and that he knows
his Christ. He has no idea who God is and
how God saves. This is what the natural heart
does. There's no true knowledge but of God. God gives it and
it's in Christ. He gave Him, we saw Sunday, to
be a witness. And if you're going to see God,
you're going to see Him in the face of Christ Jesus. You're
going to see the glory of God, you're going to see it in the
face of Christ Jesus. And that knowledge of Him is that salvation
is entirely of God in Christ, in a crucified Christ. Salvation
only by Christ Jesus. That's where true understanding
is given. And that's true understanding.
Of God is Christ made unto us wisdom. Of God is He made unto
us righteousness and sanctification and redemption. That as it is
written, He that glories, let him glory in God. that no flesh
should glory in his presence, but he that glories, let him
glory in God. But the deceived heart makes
man disown what he is. This is in his heart now. Listen,
Psalm 14 once says, The fool hath said in his heart, No God. Now listen, here's what happens.
Man hears what I'm saying. He hears what I'm preaching.
He reads it in the Word of God. And in his heart, sitting there
quiet as he can be, as mannerly as he can be. Looks like he's
just listening to everything. But in his heart, he's saying,
that's not true about me, God. No, God, that's not. No to God. No to God's way of salvation.
No to what God says about us, that we're ruined sinners. No,
God. And here's what God says through the Apostle Paul. He
said, let no man deceive himself. That desperately wicked heart
will deceive you. Let no man deceive himself. If
any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him
become a fool, that he may be wise. The fool says in his heart,
I'm not the sinner. No, God, I'm not that desperate
of a sinner. And God says, if you think you're
wise, you better take your place with the fool. And take sides
with God and own yourself. to be the fool. Own yourself
to be a sinner in need of God to give you a new heart. Because
your heart is filthy and God won't have it. God won't have
it. If any man thinks he knows anything,
he knows nothing as he ought to know. If a man thinks himself
to be something when he's nothing, he deceiveth himself. You see,
we can't come to God until we're broken hearted. until we're contrite
in our heart. You know what it is to be contrite? It's to come flat on your face
to God. Not even able to look up, you're
so ashamed of what you are. Because otherwise, we come really
thinking we're doing God a favor. And who has first given to God? left to himself in his vain,
deceived heart, a man will do a religious act. He'll go through
a religious act. He'll get his emotions worked
up and he'll get himself all worked up into a frenzy and everything,
the music's been played just right and the preachers called
him and called him and begged him and begged him and begged
him to help God out and he'll do some act. He'll finally get
up and walk down to the front and give his heart to Jesus. And you know what they do when
they do that? You know what a man does when he does that? When
all the while in his heart, he's not saying he's the fool. He's
not saying he's the sinner. He's not saying that he cannot
save himself. He's saying by his very act,
I'm saving myself by my will. God says in Psalm 14, they're
corrupt. They've done abominable works.
And that's what He's talking about. They've done abominable
works. They've said, no God. and try
to come to God on their own terms. They've done abominable works.
There's none that doeth good. The Lord looked down from heaven
upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand
and seek God. They're all gone aside. They're
all together become filthy. There's none that doeth good.
No, not one. And a man will say, No, God. I see some good men. No, You
don't. No, you don't. We don't even
have an idea what God requires, brethren. I'm talking about what
God requires. What God requires. You don't
believe you're going to face God. You're going to face God. And you don't have a clue what
God requires, nor do you care what God requires. Do you know
you're going to face God? What's this doing good that God
says none do? There's none that doeth good,
no not one. Turn to John 3. We saw this sometime
here recently. But look here, I'll show you
what it is. John 3. Here's what the doing good that no man of
his own heart, this is, no man will do this. John 3. And look
at verse 20. Everyone that doeth evil, hateth
the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deed should
be reproved. He's going to have to let go
of everything he called righteousness. We're not talking about his evil
deed. We're not talking about his wicked deed. We're talking
about it's not man's wicked sin that's keeping him from God.
Christ stood here on this earth and he said, the prostitutes
and the publicans will go into heaven before the Pharisees will.
It's a man's righteousnesses that are keeping him from God.
It's a man thinking himself well that's keeping him from the great
physician. It's a man thinking he's good that's keeping him
from the good one. And this is what he said. He
said, but he that doeth truth. Here's that good that God said
none does of his own. He that doeth truth cometh to
the light. He comes to Christ. What does
he come there for? That his deeds may be made manifest. That they may be known to everybody. And what's he saying? That they're
all worked in God. What are you saying when you
come to Christ? When a sinner is coming to Christ, believing
on Christ, what's he saying to the world by saying, I believe
on Christ? He's saying, Christ has worked
every work necessary from bringing me to Christ, from bringing me
to Christ, to making me see Christ as my all, to doing all, to keeping
me, to robbing me, to making me accept of God. He said all
my works are wrought in God. And that's what God says none
do that good. None will do that. Not one. That's why He said, God so loved
the world. After this manner God loved the
world. Not to condemn them, He sent Christ to be the leader
and the commander. To say to them that are in prison,
show yourselves. To them that are in darkness,
or to them that are in prison, come out. And to them that are
in darkness, show yourselves. And it's only when He speaks
this word effectively that a man will come out of that darkness
into the light and confess, the only reason I'm coming is because
Christ, He brought me out. He brought me out. The man with
a new heart wants God to have all the glory. Where does a sinner
get this heart? The man thinks he can clean his
own heart up. Who can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean thing? Can the Ethiopian change his
skin? Can the leopard change his spots?
God says, then can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil?
No, we can't just... You turn over a leaf, you got
the same leaf on the other side. Wash a pig, it's still a pig.
Gonna go right back to the mud. It takes God giving a new heart. Where does this heart come from?
God has to give a new heart. Ezekiel 36, 26. He said, A new
heart also will I give you. He said, a new spirit will I
put within you. He said, I'll take away the stony
heart out of your flesh and I'll give you a heart of flesh. I
will, I will, God said. I will. Look at Deuteronomy 30
and verse 6. Deuteronomy chapter 30 and verse
6. The Lord thy God, listen to this
now, the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart. That's what circumcision
was giving the picture. Regeneration. That work done
in the heart. It wasn't giving the picture
baptism or sprinkling dedication of an infant, anything junk like
that. He was given to show God's work
of grace in the heart. He says, The Lord thy God will
circumcise thine heart and the heart of thy seed, the heart
of your children. That doesn't mean all the children
in your family. That means the heart of everyone
who are our true children. God's elect. He's going to circumcise
their heart too. Why? To love the Lord thy God
with all thine heart. and with all thy soul. Why? That thou mayest live. You see
that? He does that. Now look over at
Romans 2.28. Romans 2.28. Who does this work? The Lord
thy God will do this work. He'll do it so that you love
the Lord. He'll do it so that you'll live. Look at Romans 2.28. For He is not a Jew which is
one outwardly, They're not Israel which are
just of the flesh. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. He's
not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision
which is outward in the flesh. That was just a token, a sign,
an outward sign to show what God had done in Abraham's heart.
Look at this now. Neither is that outward in the
flesh, but he's a Jew which is one inwardly. And circumcision
is that of the heart in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose
praise is not of men, but of God. It's God who does this.
Look over to Philippians 3. Philippians 3. Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians.
Philippians 3. Look here now. Who's a true Jew? Who's Israel? Verse 3. Philippians 3, 3. We're the circumcision. Paul said there in verse 2, beware
of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision, those
that are wanting you to cut your flesh. Cut out this, cut out
that, don't do this, do that, do that, don't do that, cut,
cut, cut, cut. In another place in Galatians
he said, I wish they were cut off. I wish they were cut off. But here he says, we're the circumcision. It's not that outward cutting.
It's not that do and don't in the letter. That is the ministration
of death. That kills. That don't give life. We're the circumcision which
worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have
no confidence in the flesh. We don't put any confidence in
anything we have ever done. We worship God in the Spirit.
We're not trying to do things for men to see us in the flesh,
for you to see me or me to see you. We're worshiping God in
a new heart, a heart given by God. And we're rejoicing not
in ourselves, not in what we've constrained others to do or what
we've done ourselves. We're rejoicing in Christ Jesus
and what He's done. And as far as our flesh is concerned,
we have no confidence in it whatsoever. Now that's a true Jew. That's
somebody God has given a heart. So who is the first to give the
heart, brethren? God is. God is. Not one of us has given God our
heart. Not first. God must first give
us a new heart and only then will the sinner obey Christ and
give his new heart to the Lord Jesus. And you know what that
means? He'll love Him and be constrained by Him and follow
Him and obey Him and believe Him. And he loves Christ and
he loves Christ to have all the glory. Now which is it, sinner? Has God first given you a new
heart or did you give God your heart first? Are you trusting that you first
gave your heart to God? If you are, will you continue
trying to rob God of His glory or cease from it, repent from
it and give God the glory? Now here's the last thing. Who
first gives life? Does the sinner first give God
his life or does God first give the sinner life? He says, who
first had given to him? God is life. God is the first
giver, the only giver of all life. He formed Adam from the
dust of the ground and the scripture says, and breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life and man became a living soul. That means everybody
here, just natural life that you have, you have it because
God is the life in you. The only way you have life. God's
giving you life right now, just in your natural life. In Him
we live and move and have our being. Isn't that amazing? The God we hate in our heart
by nature is the God who's given us that heart to hate Him. The
life to hate Him. The breath to curse His name.
Isn't that something? But by the transgression of our
first head Adam, every sinner fell and we died in sin. We're
dead in trespasses and sins by nature. To die in Adam, to transgress
in Adam, that's death. And to be conceived in sin, that's
death. Sin and transgression is death,
brethren. It's death. It's spiritual death.
Adam begat a son in his own likeness after his image. Not after God's
image, after His own likeness and His own image, all the way
down to David. And David tells us exactly what that means. He
said, Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother
conceive me. That's what it means when it
says Adam begat her son in his image. And for this, the wicked
are estranged from the womb. They go astray as soon as they
be born speaking lies. This is our life. Death. Death. To be guilty of sin, to be guilty
of trespassing against God is spiritual death. Look at Ephesians
2 real quick. Ephesians 2 and verse 3. Let's
see. Verse 3, I'm sorry. Among whom
also we all had our conduct in time past in the lusts of our
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. Who
made the difference? But God. But God, who is rich
in mercy for His great love, wherewith He loved us even when
we were dead in sins, had quickened, given us life together with Christ. By grace are you saved. You see,
to be given life first by God means that God had to come and
He had to first make us righteous. And He did it in Christ. Scripture
says, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature, old things
are passed away. For he hath made him to be sin
for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. Righteousness is life. Righteousness
is life. So, just like our first head
Adam transgressed and we died, Christ, the last Adam, came and
for all whom He represented, He was made sin, put away the
sin of His people that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. There's another problem. We were
conceived of Adam, so we came forth with a sin nature, dead
in sin. Well, that last Adam makes us
to be born of His incorruptible seed. Christ enters in and He's
formed in the heart. Christ who is our life. Christ
who is our righteousness. Christ who is our holiness. He
enters in and when He enters in, we're no longer in the flesh,
we're in the Spirit. We have life that can never be
taken away because Christ has accomplished His work eternally
because He's the eternal God. Look over at Romans 8. Let me
show you this. Romans 8. Life is to be made
the righteousness of God. Life is to be made the holiness
of God. God first gives us life when
Christ our righteousness and our holiness enters in, giving
us life in His Spirit, making us holy and righteous in Christ
through faith. Now look here at Romans 8. Verse 1, There is therefore now
no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. and who
walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. That means
we are in Christ and Christ is in you who believe. He says,
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made
me free from the law of sin and death, for what the law could
not do, and that it was weak through the flesh. God sent in
His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned
sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
For they that are after the flesh, they mind the things of the flesh.
But they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For
to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded
is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity
against God, it's not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
That's why Christ came. He came to fulfill the law. That's
what He just said. Now watch this. But you are not
in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If so, be that the Spirit of
God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he's none of His. And if Christ be in you, the
body is dead because of sin. Now watch this. But the Spirit
is life because of what? Righteousness. Because of righteousness. Righteousness is life. If the
Spirit of Christ dwell in you, the Spirit's life, because of
Christ our righteousness. That's why John says this in
1 John 3, 9. Now get this, he says, Whosoever
is born of God, of that incorruptible seed, so that this new man's
been created within him, of that incorruptible seed of God, made
after the image of God, in true holiness, in true righteousness,
by Christ being formed in you, he that's born of God doth not
commit sin. Why? That inner man does not
sin. Why? His seed remaineth in him. And he cannot sin because he's
born of God. Born of God. Doesn't mean he
just don't want to sin. No, we don't want to sin. It
means in the new man, he's made righteous. In the new man, Christ,
his righteousness is formed in him and he's made righteous in
Christ. Christ is His only righteousness,
His only hope. So when a believer gives his
life to God through faith in Christ, we're only giving to
God what God's already given to us. For of Him and through Him and
to Him are all things. to whom be glory forever. And
so Paul goes right into saying, I beseech you therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service. The only way you can do that is by presenting yourself
to God through faith in Christ. That's it. That's the only way.
That's the only way you're going to be holy and acceptable unto
God, is in Christ. That's it. So we don't give anything
to God. We don't give anything to God
and certainly don't give anything to God expecting a payment in
return. It's our reasonable service after everything He's freely
given to us. God said this, if you be righteous, if thou be
righteous, what givest thou Him? If you were righteous, if you
could be perfectly right, what are you giving to God? He says,
what receiveth he of your hand? The earth's the Lord's, the fullness
thereof, the world and they that dwell therein. But here's the
believer's heart. What shall I render unto the
Lord for all the benefits He's given to me? Not, God you owe
me something because now I've taken the first step. You go
out tomorrow to a cemetery somewhere and you beg, beg, beg a dead
man to come out of the grave. Beg him just to take the first
step. Tell him you'll do all the rest. He'll just take the
first step. I bet he won't take it. That's what you are by nature. That's what I am by nature. God
gives everything. Everything. The believer's heart
is this. The love of Christ constrains
us because we thus judge. We were all dead. and that he
died for all that they which live should not henceforth live
unto themselves but unto him which died for them and rose
again. So let me ask the question, did you first give your life
to the Lord Jesus? Did you make him the Lord of
your life? If you gave him your heart, if you gave him your life,
you gave him something he will not receive. You gave him sin,
transgression and death and God won't accept it. God's got to
give you righteousness and holiness. and then God will receive you.
Then you can give your life to Him and God will receive you.
God will receive you. Now let's answer this question.
Who has first given to God? The answer is not anybody. Not
anybody. We've not given to God. Who maketh
thee to differ from another? What hast thou that thou didst
not receive? So if you did receive it, why
dost thou glory as if you didn't receive it? Believer, listen
to this now. You are not going to find a believer
going around saying, I accepted Jesus. You are not going to find
a believer saying, I gave my heart to Jesus. I gave my life
to the Lord. He does not want your stinking
heart. He does not want your dead life. He has got to give
you a new heart and give you life and then you will willingly
give Him what He commands. Instead of us glorying in ourselves,
by saying those things, this is what we say. Not unto us,
O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory for thy mercy
and for thy truth's sake. That's what the believers want.
We want God to have the glory. That's the difference. That's
the difference. Now, if I gave first salvations
of works, that's what I'm saying. But if He gave first salvations
of grace, which is it? Salvations of grace. Amen.