You can be turning in your Bibles
to 2 Corinthians chapter 9. 2 Corinthians chapter 9. While
you're turning, let me express my joy to be with you. I've known Brother Clay for several
years and We're close friends and Melinda. I'm married to Melinda
also. But we're close friends and I've
heard about you. And now that I've met you, it's
a joy. It's a joy to meet new brethren,
new sisters. And I thank you for your hospitality,
for the food and everything you've already done to make this so
enjoyable and make me feel so welcome. I thank you very much. And I like your state. I like New Jersey. I never thought
I'd say that. Of course, that's before I came
here from a boy who was born and raised in Kentucky. which
at the time I thought was the only state on earth, and now
having lived in the gorgeous state of Virginia for 22 years. But you do have a beautiful state
here. It's called the Garden State, and that's on purpose. We have been smitten by the beauty
of the countryside. Glad to be here. Thank you for
having me. The man I replaced is irreplaceable
as a preacher. He really is, but I've got the
same message. 2 Corinthians 9, look with me
at one verse of scripture, and oh what a verse. Verse 15, thanks
be unto God for his unspeakable gift. Now the gospel has been called
the greatest story ever told. But perhaps we should call it
the greatest story that's never been told. As it should be, that is. If
the apostle said that, he said we preach in part, didn't we?
If he said that, what about us? You remember the story of the
Queen of Sheba who went to see Solomon, the greatest man on
earth before or since, our Lord excluded. But after seeing, after
hearing his wisdom, after seeing Solomon and his majesty, seeing
his kingdom, and everything she said, the half has never been
told. And that, I'm sure, will be the
same with us when we hear his voice, who speaks as no man spake
or could. And after seeing his glory, seeing
him as he is, we will say, I'm quite sure, I heard a lot of
sermons, but the half was not told. Someone likened it when Paul,
when the apostle went to heaven. Remember he was stoned and we
believe that's the time that he went to the third heaven.
And upon returning he said, I heard things. He didn't even mention
what he saw. But he said, I heard things,
unlawful to utter, impossible to declare. eye hath not seen,
ear hath not heard, neither have entered into the heart of man
the things that God hath prepared for him that love him." We do
see something, we do hear something, and our hearts do experience
something of it, but not the half of it. There's going to
be silence in heaven for the space of 30 minutes. I know why,
I think. as we behold His glory and hear
what we hear and see what we see, we're going to be speechless. Spellbound. Someone likened it to a dog becoming
a human and eating the finest of foods, hearing symphonies
played, and then going back to be a dog. How are you going to
describe it? That's a pretty good analogy.
Paul said things unlawful, impossible to utter. Brother Don, I'm trying
to speak on what can't be spoken of, the unspeakable. That's why Paul said who is sufficient
for these things. But thanks be unto God for the
gift of His sufficiency. He always causes us to triumph
and cry. Have you ever received a gift
so generous, something so magnanimous, something so amazing, something
so undeserved and generous that you said, I don't know what to
say. I'm speechless. Well, that's what I'm going to
try to speak of this morning. The gift of God. Thanks be unto
God for His unspeakable gift. Now, first of all, we're going
to look at the gift of God. What a gift is. What a gift is. It must be three things in order
to be truly a gift. And I was struck, you know, Brother
Clay will be happy to hear this. I'm not going to tell you anything
new this morning. I don't have anything new to
say. Are you happy about that? I don't have a new revelation.
Hopefully I have the revelation, but it's not new. It's the old,
old story. But we tell the same story every
time we stand up. Every grace preacher, true preacher
that is, tells the same story. He is standing up preaching the
gospel of God's sovereign electing grace in Christ Jesus every time. And I was struck this morning,
I just noticed it, just paid attention to it, how many times
you'll hear the word grace in the course of a man's preaching,
a true preacher. How many times you'll hear the
word gift or given It's constant, like a broken record. Because
this is the record, isn't it? We don't have anything new to
say. We have one thing to say. Speaking of the gift of God.
So this gift must be three things. And the word gift and grace are
synonymous. The thing of a gift must be three
things. Number one, it must belong to
you. In order to give something, it
must belong to you, right? In order to give something, truly
give something, it must be unearned. Brother Joe spoke about that
last night. It's not something you work for
or it wouldn't be a gift, would it? It must be unearned. And thirdly, it must be bestowed
upon you to be truly a gift, it must be something that is
bestowed upon you, conferred upon you, not an offer. There's
a big difference between gift and offer. Alright? A gift must
belong to you in order to be a gift. Thanks be unto God for
His unspeakable gift. Now all things belong to God.
Scripture says the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof."
That means everything in it. All the gold and silver and all
the mines, he said, if anyone has any wealth, any money that
is material, God gave it to them. All the cattle, he said, the
cattle on a thousand hills are mine, didn't it? The food, everything,
God giveth, the scripture says, God giveth to all life, breath,
meat, drink, everything. Everything is of God. Every good
and perfect gift cometh from above. What do we have that we
have not received? Now if we have received it, how,
why would we glory as if we had not received it? What does that
say of what men say about what they give to God and what they
do for God? That means they're taking credit
for something they didn't do. What do we have that we have
not received? And the scripture says, He giveth
us richly all things to enjoy, every good and perfect gift.
Now, we're going to talk about the greatest gift of all, this
unspeakable gift. We're going to talk about salvation.
I'm going to try to speak of the unspeakable. We're going
to talk about salvation. Well, salvation, the Scripture
says, belongeth to the Lord. It's His. It's His to give or
withhold. That's plain, isn't it? We're
talking about salvation. We're talking about mercy. We're
talking about grace. We're talking about pardon. We're
talking about peace. We're talking about life. It's
God's to give. It must belong to you to be a
gift or it wouldn't be a gift. Secondly, a gift is something
that you do not earn. It's not earned. It's not deserved.
And Brother Don said you can't hardly preach without quoting
Ephesians 1 or 2 or 2 Corinthians 5.21. I'm going to quote that
in a moment. By grace are you saved. That means it's a gift. It belongs to God and He gives
it. It's His to give or withhold.
It's not of works or it wouldn't be grace. You know what the Apostle
said? It can't be both. If it's by
works, it's not grace. It's not a gift. You earned it.
But if it's by grace, if it's a gift, you don't have anything
to do with it. Not one single contribution.
Not an ounce. Not a dollar. By grace. It belongs to Him. And you don't
earn it. And He freely gives it to you. Freely. It's His to give. A hundred
percent. Men argue this. And you've heard
this so many times. Well, doesn't everyone deserve
a chance to be saved? No. No, they don't. No one deserves to be saved. The Scripture says the wages
of sin. What we've earned, what we deserve
at the hands of God is death, right? But the gift of God is
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. God, who is rich in
mercy, sovereignly, freely, shows mercy, gives life, gives pardon,
gives this grace to the undeserved, to those that did not work for
it. Thirdly, a gift, to be a gift
must be something bestowed, not offered. Salvation, the gift of God is
not an offer to us, but a bestowal upon us. Grace is not an offer to us,
but an operation upon us. It's not something God offers
to us, but something God does for us and to us and in us. And it's not by us. or even because
of us. An offer implies the ability
of the one you offer it to, to accept it or reject it, doesn't
it? If you offer something to someone, that means they have
the ability to either accept it or reject it. Now the gift
of God's eternal life, you can't offer a dead man life. I mean
you can, Go ahead, try it. And Brother
Joe said last night that it would have been a mockery, wouldn't
it? To offer Lazarus life. No. God has to give it. And you have
He quickened who were dead. Gave you life. Christ said, I
am come that they might have life. Not offer it. To give it. Bestow it. And Christ did this
for every single person who was dead and trespassed in sin by
the call of the Gospel. Every single one, no less than
Lazarus, right? It's something bestowed upon
you, sovereignly. Well, they argue though, they
say this, but doesn't it say, as many as received Him, but
them gave He the right? Doesn't it say that? Yes, it
does. But that's part of a verse. And
as our Lord said to all Pharisees and scribes and self-righteous
people, you do err. Here's the basis of all error.
Not knowing the Scriptures. That's part of the Scripture,
isn't it? Nor the power of God. Those two things, Brother Don.
That's the basis of all error. They can quote it, maybe, but
they don't know it. As he said, don't experience
it. Don't know Him who is the essence of it. The power of it,
the power of God. Don't know God. That scripture
says, as many as received Him were born of God. That's one. Right? A man can receive nothing
except what? To be given Him. It's something bestowed upon
you. It's not an offer. Bestowed. My parents didn't offer
me life at my birth. I had nothing to do with it.
Same with the newborn. So a gift is something that belongs
to you. Salvation belongs to the Lord.
Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift. He doesn't have to give
it. A gift is something that is free,
it's unearned. The gift of God is eternal life.
And it's something bestowed upon us. Now, the writer, the apostle
says, thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift. What is this gift? For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
Son. That verse of Scripture, that
glorious truth that should be told and should be heard with
joy unspeakable and full of glory. has been told so many times,
has been misused and abused so many times that the unspeakable
is now utterly contemptible. that men don't think a thing
about that verse. It's been abused so many times,
quoted, misquoted so many times, hasn't it? Misapplied. Applied
to everyone without exception so many times that what should
be unspeakable and full of glory and should have men on their
knees thanking God for this has become utterly contemptible in
the eyes of men. So that the blood of God's only
Son, His precious Son, has been trodden underfoot by men and
women. and count it as something not
unspeakable, but rather common. Something that, well, don't we
deserve that? Turn with me to Romans chapter
5. We're going to try to tell you, and ironically we sang that
song, I love to tell the story. I do too, if I can. Romans 5, we're going to try
to tell something of why this is so unspeakable. I think it
was Brother Martin Lloyd-Jones who one time said, I've only
preached twice in my life. Only really preached twice in
my life. He said both times I was dreaming. I was asleep. I'd love to tell
the story too, don't you? But who's told it? Who can tell it? The unspeakable.
God gave His Son. God. Now here's the unspeakableness
of this gift. God Almighty. And you hear this
over and over again. Why? Because it's true. This
is the living and the true God. God Almighty is holy. Unspeakably
holy. When have we ever spoken on that
subject, Brother Don? God who is just, God who is righteous,
who loveth righteous things. God who is pure. The only way
for God Almighty to be just, to be holy. The only way for
this God to be just and justifier. It's not a doctrine. I mean it
is, but it's much more than that. This is unspeakable. The only
way for God Almighty to be merciful to guilty, and by guilty we mean
worthless creatures. The only way for God Almighty
to pardon, to bestow peace upon rebels, rebels, is by sending
His altogether lovely Son, the apple of His eyes, Scripture
calls it My Darling, His only Son whom He loved, into this
evil world. Men need to go and learn scriptures
like this. Scriptures talk about this present
evil world. God so loved the world. Well,
1 John 2.15 says, If any man loves the world, the love of
the Father is not in him. Go learn what that means. This
present evil world. The old writers called it the
cesspool of iniquity. Do you know what a cesspool is?
We have septic tanks, don't we? Some of the country people have
septic tanks. You don't want to get in it.
You don't want it opened up. You don't want even to get any
whiff of it. That's what God... God looked
down from heaven upon the sons of men. That's every one of them.
He said they all together become what? The word is stinking. In
the eyes, in the nostrils of a thrice holy God, everything
about planet Earth is utterly obnoxious, isn't it? Obnoxious! That's why someday He's going
to burn it up. There's only one way to totally eradicate something
that's dead. It's to burn it. God who is holy. The only way. The only way. for God Almighty,
who is holy and just, to save any of these despicable creatures
is to send His altogether lovely Son into this muck and this mire
and this cesspool of iniquity, rotten iniquity, and make Him
that stuff, isn't it? Actually, literally make Him
to be sin. Now why would He do that? That's what makes this unspeakable,
isn't it? Would you do that? Would you send your only child
to do that? I wouldn't. I have an only daughter. I have an only daughter who is
the apple of my eye. She has brought her mother and
I nothing but joy. Brother Don, too, had an only
daughter. I wouldn't give my only child
for anybody. I'm just being honest with you.
I wouldn't even do it for myself. But, not just one, many of these despicable
creatures It's a glory and it's absolute unspeakable grace and
a gift that God would send His altogether lovely Son to die
for one of these worms, let alone a million, a billion, a number
which no man can number. That's unthinkable, isn't it?
Look at that, Romans 5, verses 7 through 8. Now for scarcely
a righteous man will one die. Peradventure, a good man some
would even dare to die. But God commendeth His love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. My, my. Unspeakable. Thanks be unto God the Father
for His unspeakable gift. And I tell you who appreciates
that is those that realize something, have experienced something of
their own stench and worthlessness. That's the only ones who know
something of the glory of this grace and this gift. And they
themselves think it's unspeakable, full of glory. And talking about
that gift, being something bestowed and not offered. Not only would
I not give my only child to die for anybody, but if I did, let's
just say I did, all right, I sure wouldn't offer her. I sure wouldn't
throw her out there for anybody to accept or reject. Would you? I wouldn't waste a drop of her
precious blood. If for some reason I had to sacrifice
her, I would not allow her to die in vain, would you? They're
not worth that, people. We talk about particular redemption.
We talk about effectual redemption. We talk about the blood of Christ.
We're talking about God's Son here. We're not talking about
doctrine. We're talking about God's only Son. He did not send
His Son to die for anybody in vain. That can't happen. God won't allow that to happen.
It's too great a sacrifice. Would you? Oh, they wouldn't
accept her. That's the reason God has to
make them willing. It's not an offer to accept or
reject because we all reject it. We all reject it. Okay, if
it's an offer, go ahead. Tell men about this sovereign
God. Tell them about the one who reigns and rules. Tell them
about it. See if they accept it. They won't do it, will they?
But God, here's the gift, gives unto them this faith. to receive Him, to believe Him,
to bow Him, to love this story. That's who Christ died for. That's
who Christ died for. His blood gives Him that faith. Oh, man. And the blood of Jesus
Christ, God's Son, cleanses. Everyone for whom Jesus Christ
died is and shall be eternally redeemed. Every drop of Christ's
blood was effectually applied to the putting away of every
single sin of every single one of God's people. When we sing,
when we sing Jesus paid it all, we mean just that. The price is too precious. We're
talking about God's Son. It must be so. It must be so. Thanks be unto God. for His unspeakable
gift. The Father gave the unthinkable,
His only Son. The Son. When we speak of God,
you hear this in every message. We're talking about God the Son. As Thomas said, my Lord and my
God. That's not blasphemy, is it?
Even God said that, didn't He? Unto the Son, He said. Thy throne,
O God, is forever." God called Him God. He thought it not robbery
to be equal with God. Why? Because He is God. He is God. That's it. God the
Son. God the Son gave the unthinkable,
the unspeakable. And someone, Brother Don, quoted
Galatians 1.4, He gave Himself for our sins that He might deliver
us from this present evil world according to the will of God
the Father to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. He gave Himself
and no greater gift is it that someone could give. Greater love
hath no man than this, and he lay down his life for his friend."
Now, his friend. We love ourselves by nature,
don't we? Don't you? I'll prove it. Have
you ever walked by a mirror that you didn't look in it? You can't do it. We love ourselves. Yes, we do. If you're honest,
you will say that. By nature, we all love ourselves.
We do everything for ourselves. We protect ourselves. We defend
ourselves. We provide for ourselves, even
at the expense of others. Our Lord even said this, you
need to love others like what? You love yourself. knowing that how much we love
ourselves and protect ourselves. Another thing that God Almighty
gives is a loathing of self. Now that's not from yourself,
is it? That's a gift. Make you love
what you once hated and hated what you once loved. Yourself.
That's a gift. But it says of Christ. Now here's
love. Love is selfless, isn't it? True love, and I don't think
I ever really experienced love until I had a child. And now it's even multiplied. Grandchildren. That, finally,
I think experience, and others, people, the Lord doesn't give
children to, I'm not saying that at all. They cannot know love,
love of a husband for a wife and children for their parent.
But selfless love, we're talking
about preferring another over yourself. That's not natural,
is it? A selfless love. As I said, we
love ourselves. Well, scripture says of Christ,
God the Son, what he gave. He gave himself completely. Completely. There's never been
an example of such selfless love. Never. Never has been. He gave
Himself. Look here at 2 Corinthians chapter
8. Cross the page there. 2 Corinthians
chapter 8. It says in verse 9, Now you know
the grace, that is the gift of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though
He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor. We use this term, He emptied
Himself. Poor. We talk about being poor. And some of us, some of you were,
I wasn't raised poor, but by today's standards perhaps, but
nevertheless, poor, when the scriptures talks about blessed
are the poor, that means to have nothing. I mean nothing. Nothing. Our Lord emptied himself. gave
Himself, gave everything He was and had. He left heaven. He who
was rich, yet for our sakes became poor. He left heaven. Talk about
the love of a husband for his wife who leaves his father and
his mother to cleave unto his wife. This is a mystery. But
I speak, the Lord said, of Christ and His church. He left His Father. And we can't enter into that.
We're talking about heaven itself. This is where we long to go.
This is where we long to be. We long to get out of this cesspool
and go to that glorious place. He left there to come here. We
can't enter into that. We've never been there. If we
ever get there, we'll never want to come back here. But He left
there to come here. Man, oh man. Brother Joe, Let me be careful
here what I say. I'm going to say it anyway. Brother
Joe left... Am I going to say it? I'm going
to say it. He left beautiful country to
go to Iowa. Now it's beautiful. All you that
hear this on tape in Iowa, beautiful. When the corn's growing, it's
beautiful. while the corn is waving. It's beautiful, isn't
it? But if it's not, Brother Joe, there's nothing there, isn't
there? That's a good illustration, though. Everything we think is
beautiful about this land, it's nothing! It's grass, it withers,
all the beauty of man fade like a leaf. Christ left the... I
can't talk about it, I've never seen it. He left there to come
here. Left it all. Dropped it all. Happiness. We long for happiness. We pursue happiness. We spend
our lives after happiness. He left complete, unbridled,
unbroken happiness, joy, peace, righteous people, glorified people. Left that. Left the Father who
loved Him. The angels who admired Him. Left
all of that to come to this despicable place where everybody hated Him. This is unspeakable. Left all that. Left heaven. Laid aside His glory. That royal diadem, the scripture
said. Took it off to be crowned with thorns by
the ones He made. This is unspeakable, isn't it?
laid aside His glory. He took the blame. He took the
shame. 12, Scripture says he thought nothing
of the shame. He despised the shame. He didn't think a thing about
doing it for the joy set before him. It was so pleased him. And for the joy and the love
he had to these unlovely people. He thought nothing of being stripped
naked before the jeering crowd and the mocking crowd to hang
there in order to secure there. He really thought nothing about
it. It was pure joy to do that. and took the blame. We talk about
Him being made sin for us, being a substitute. If there's one
thing that is unbearable to our human nature more than any other,
I believe it would be this. To be accused of and blamed wrongly. We will defend ourselves tooth
and nail if someone blames us and accuses us wrongly for something
we didn't did, we will fight to the end, won't we? We will
fight to the end. Scripture says after they accused
him of everything, he stood there as our substitute, stood in judgment
before that vile fellow and all that court and that crowd. It
says, this is unbelievable. Unbelievable. I don't know of
another way to say it. Unspeakable. He opened not his
mouth. Spoke not a word. Everything
they said about him was untrue. But he did not defend himself. He would not open up his mouth
in defense of himself. Now, Brother Don, he cannot deny
himself. So what has happened here? Absolute
substitution. He has become something other
than what he was, hasn't he, Brother Don? He's become me. Isn't that right? He can't deny
himself. He's become me. He's guilty. Why didn't he open his mouth?
He's guilty. I don't understand. I'm speaking
things too wonderful for me. Because I can't understand it,
because I can't tell it like it ought to be told, doesn't
mean it's not so. Men argue, pot shards argue about
this thing because they can't understand it. Doesn't mean it's
not so. Everything we say we don't understand. But Christ stood there amazingly,
unspeakably, did not open His mouth against all the charges
against Him. The only thing it could be is
He's become me. He's become His people. He's
guilty. And like old Jacob, Brother John,
so that we can say as we stand before the Father, He who said,
Are you Esau? Are you my son whom I love? Are
you Christ? We can say, Yes, I am. You're talking about a mystery.
But it's true. You can't deny yourself. Hmm,
Christ be in you. Oh my, Scriptures. You know,
another thing, unspeakable. Not only to bear the blame and
be accused of something wrongly and not speak up on your own
behalf or in your defense, but to work all your life, spend
all your life working for something and then completely give someone
else all the credit for it. Would you do that? One time, and we talk about grace
being a 100% free gift. One time I made a podium for
my father. And it's beautiful. I spent a
lot of time on it. This was back before I had a
table saw where, you know, a little tiny little craftsman, you know,
moving like a table saw and all hand tools. You know, I spent
I don't know, 30 hours or more on that podium. It was beautiful. And I came to the top to make
the top of it. I made, I cut it out and all
of that, but it was a big surface. And to sand, if you ever tried
to sand something perfectly smooth by hand, it's hard to do, all
right? So I had a friend who worked
in a cabinet shop. Now, I had spent nearly 40 hours
on this whole thing, and I gave him that top. I said, would you
run that through your sander real quick, your thickness sander?
And he did, and it took 30 seconds. 30 seconds! Okay? Now, after that table was done,
I could not say that I made it. I can't. Could I? In all good
conscience, I could not say. Did you do all that? Well, yes and no. Salvation is of the Lord. All
of it. 100%. It's a gift. Here's the point. Our Lord spent
33 years on this earth in hard toil and labor. toiling and laboring. In fact,
literally, he did not sleep much and did not eat much. The work
was too great, wasn't it? They said, Lord, eat something.
He said, I am. They said, Lord, sleep. He said, I must work while
there's 12 hours in the day. This is a great work. And it
took him, my, my, The Lord of glory as a human being, 33 years
of hard toil and labor by His knowledge of the law, by His
perfect obedience to that law, or 33 years of hard labor to
earn, to establish this perfect righteousness. It's not a doctrine.
This is the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is something
He did. Something he gets glory for.
Something he gets credit for, doesn't he? Complete, total credit
for. He did all this. He did all of
that and then completely, freely gave it all, charged it all to
our account so that the Father sees us as having done just that. That's unspeakable. I don't know
what else to say. Scripture says things like this.
He gave his body to be broken. He took a body. A body hast thou
given me. Why? To be smitten. Gave his
cheeks to be smitten. His back to be beaten. His hands
and his feet. He took hands and feet not only
to work out this salvation but to be pierced by the nails according
to the law of the Word of God. He took hands and feet in order
to be nailed to fulfill God's Word. If you knew that was going
to happen to you, you'd avoid it at all costs. He knew it.
He had to do it. Gave himself a ransom. He said, if you seek me, let
these go. Who? Who? Matthew. Levi, the publican. That's it. That's what makes
this unspeakable. Let me show you something in
closing. Psalm 116. Turn over there real quick. Let
me show you this in closing. What do we do though? Scripture talks about giving. 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 are chapters
on giving, aren't they? to exhort the church to give.
That's what those chapters are about. And the very last verse
is the ultimate example, if you will, or the motive, which the
Lord writes down to show us what real giving is. The last verse,
thanks be unto God, tells us to give, and he gives this wonderful
crowning verse, thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. Well what we, you know, God's
people do want to give and should give because of such a gift that
He gave. Look at Psalm 116. 116 verse
12. What shall we give then? Verse
12. David writes, What shall I render
unto the Lord? Render. We're not really giving
anything, we're returning. We're returning over in 1 Chronicles.
David, you may want to read that sometime real soon. 1 Chronicles
29 where the Lord made all the people willing. And David was
so happy because the Lord made everybody willing. in the day
of His power to give, made Him willing. And they all said with
one heart and one accord, we are not giving you anything.
We are just giving back what you gave us. Nobody is giving
anything. We are returning. We are rendering. back to you what you gave to
us. So what do we give? What can we give? We have nothing
to give. We are returning. Here is what God will accept.
Alright? Here is what we give back to
our God. Psalm 116. David says in verse
13, I will take the cup of salvation. Oh, those born of God do receive
Him. Yes, they do. And I will call
upon the name of the Lord. What does that mean? Worship.
Buddy, when it's time to worship, David said, but as for me...
He talked about the wicked and those who don't know God, the
transgression. He said, but as for me, by the
grace of God, as for me and my house, Joshua said. We will worship
the Lord by the grace of God. That is the gift of God. Read
on. He said, I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence
of all His people. Verse 17, I will offer to thee. Now we offer something to the
Lord. He doesn't to us. But we offer
something to Him. Here it is. Verse 17, I will
offer to thee. the sacrifice of thanksgiving. I will call upon the name of
the Lord. Lord, I can't give you anything. I can render that, give back,
offer unto you that which you have given me and because of
what you have given me and done for me. Our Lord and our God,
would you accept my thanks and my praise? And God will accept
that. He will. Offer unto God. So we give. Scripture says we
give unto the Lord. Give unto the Lord, you saints.
Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name. Ascribe unto
Him all things, power, riches, honor, glory, salvation, belongeth
unto the Lord. And let me tell this story. And that chapter is about giving.
The Lord himself said, give. Literally, give. That means to
others. It means to the cause of Christ,
the truth, support the gospel, support his preachers. Give. Give to him that asketh you. Not want anything in return.
Give, like the Lord. He says that. Give. Generously.
God loveth a cheerful giver. Cheerful means willing. Cheerful
means generous. Cheerful means glad to do it.
Oh, he loves his son, doesn't he? That describes him, doesn't
it? There's your text for next Sunday. A cheerful giver. But
anyway, our Lord said give and it shall be given to you. Is
that the siree we're supposed to leave? I was supposed to quit. There's a little girl, little
girl, daughter of a friend of mine, had a birthday and people
were generous with her. It's noon and that's what it
is, lunchtime. Little girl was given quite generous
gifts at her birthday. Money. She's only about eight
at the time, eight, nine years old, at the most. And they were
quite generous with her at the time. This was several years
ago. They gave her something like $26.50, and she thought
it was a million. And so her and her sister, her
sister were going, they went to the mall with their mother,
and we went with them. Well, while they were at the
mall, this little girl started spending that money of hers,
you know. Oh, man, look at that. Would you look at this doll?
Look at that doll. And you know, for everything she bought herself,
She'd buy one for her sister. Honestly. She'd buy this and
say, oh, here, let me get you one. Until she'd completely given
everything to her sister that she gave. Now, I noticed that. Our Lord said, give. It'll be
given to you. Later on, that little girl, I
walked up to her and said, daughter, now Amber, I said, I saw what
you did, and I'd like to give you something. I doubled what
they gave her for her birthday, doubled it. I said, I've given
it back to you. Folks, we've received at the
Lord's hands, double that gift. It'll be given to you. Oh, cast
your bread on the water. You'll see it again after many
days. Oh, my. Doubled. OK. Lord bless you.