If you would turn with me in
your Bible to 2 Corinthians chapter 9. 2 Corinthians chapter 9. I want us to look at one verse
of Scripture this morning. Seven words that say a multitude. 2 Corinthians chapter 9 verse
15. The word be is italicized so
we don't count it. Thanks unto God for his unspeakable
gift. I was thinking this morning how
ironic that seven in the scriptures being the number of completion
that God in seven words in this verse gives us the complete gospel. This is speaking of salvation.
This is speaking of the salvation that's found in Jesus Christ.
There is salvation in no other. This is the sum and the substance
of the gospel. In seven words, we're given an
outline of three things. First, salvation is the gift
of God. Jesus Christ is salvation. Secondly,
the gift of God is unspeakable. That word unspeakable means indescribable. God's gift to chosen sinners
is unexplainable. This gift was and is given to
His people by God, and it cannot be described or explained. It
can only be revealed and believed. And those of you who believe
it know that it was revealed to you. We didn't figure it out
on our own, did we? It's by God's irresistible and
unspeakable gift of grace. Thirdly, this gift causes us
to whom it is given to praise and thank God for. Three things
there in just seven words. What would you and I do to receive
this gift? I hear people today talking a
lot about what they do for God, but what have we ever done that
would cause God to give us this unspeakable gift? If it's a gift
of reward or merit, a work of our own hands, what did we do
to receive it? What did we do for God to give
it to us? Paul said, we do not frustrate
the grace of God, for if righteousness come by the law, by us keeping
the law, by us doing something, then Christ is dead in vain. No reason for Him to come. No
reason for Christ to die. No reason for Him to voluntarily
give up His life in the room instead of wretched sinners. Do you work for a gift? Absolutely not. If you did, it
would cease to be a gift, wouldn't it? We've said that many times.
Our dictionary defines the word gift as something given willingly
to someone without payment. A gift is something that we do
not earn, we do not deserve, and we do not merit it. The great
word of Scripture is not merit. It's grace. God's love, mercy,
grace, and forgiveness is not deserving, but freely given. The word gift, grace, and given
are all synonymous. They all mean the same thing.
Out of curiosity this morning, I looked up these words. The word grace is found 170 times
in the scripture. The word gift, 59 times. The word given is used 498 times. Do you know how many times the
word merit in any form? Merit, merited, merited, whatever. You know how many times it's
used in the Bible? Zero, not one time. How about the words
deserve or deserveth? One time for each word, one time. And interesting enough, both
verses there with the word declare it have to do and say that God
has punished us less than our iniquities deserve. And then
the word earn. used not one time in the scriptures. The word earneth used twice in
one verse, Haggai 1.6, which says, he that earneth wages,
earneth wages to put it in a bag with holes. That's how much our
work has to do. It's like taking our weekly pay
and putting it in a bag or a purse or whatever, and it has holes
in it, and it just all falls out. Our filthy rags and works
of righteousness are of no spiritual profit. None. Absolutely none. Salvation in Christ comes to
us only one way, and that's by the way of a gift. When God shows
us who and what we are, we would never dare to say that we deserved,
merited, or was rewarded or that we ever done anything good in
and of ourselves to earn merit or deserve God's gift. If we
kept God's law without any flaw or error, and that's a big if,
if we had, we have it, we can. If there was no omission of duty
on our part, If there was no commission of sin that we committed,
if we could lay at God's feet a perfect work of righteousness
wrought by our own hands, none of it would be enough for Christ
to leave His glorious throne, become a man, live in poverty,
and die in shame. And what I'm endeavoring to say
is just this, Christ's sacrifice could never be deserved by us,
even if we had remained innocent. No human merit deserves the incarnation
of God upon the earth, nor his shameful death upon the cross.
Christ took not upon himself our righteousness. We had none. Our righteousness
is nothing but filthy rags. He took upon Himself our sin. That's all there was to take.
To every blood-bought sinner, the Scripture says, the Lord
hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. That's why our Lord
Jesus is God's unspeakable gift. That's why our salvation is indescribable. It's unexplainable. and offering
for sin is fully guilty. How could Christ die on a cross
for deserving sinners when there are none? There's none deserving
of Christ's mercy and grace and love to us. No bruises are required
for one who's well. No chastisement of peace is needed
for one deserving. Christ died the just for the
unjust. Now that's what we are. We're
unjust. Why? Why did He do that? To bring
us to God. It was the only way. We were
alienated from God. I wonder sometimes if we really
understand what that word alienated means. God's law alienates us
from Him. Our sin is against Him and Him
only. God's right when He speaks against
us. God is justified when He condemns
us. We didn't do anything. We were
alienated from God at a far distance and we have to be brought nigh.
Christ came to us as an undeserving gift. We can't even speak of
it as we should. It's unspeakable. Behold what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should
be called the sons of God. I can't explain that. Did we
deserve it? No. Could we deserve it? Absolutely
not. Herein is love, not that we love
God, but that He loved us and He sent His Son to be a propitiation
for our sins, 1 John 14. I can't explain that, I can't
describe that. We love Him because He first loved us. I can answer
it with Scripture. Why did He do this? Because,
we love Him because He first loved us. So, first we see that
salvation in Jesus Christ is a gift, and it's God's gift,
you see that? Thanks unto God for His unspeakable
gift, it's God's gift. Grace and mercy given to a guilty
sinner is a gift, that's all it can be, and it's God's gift,
it's unearned, it's unmerited, and it's undeserved. One glorious
thing about this gift is, is that we'll never lose it. For the gifts and calling of
God are without repentance. Romans 11, 29. God gave this
gift of calling us and this gift of saving us to never repent
of it or change his mind about it. The Lord Jesus pre-incarnate
said, for I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore, this is why you
sons of Jacob are not consumed. Because I don't change. He's
the same yesterday, today, and forever. His divine nature never,
ever changes. He's the Lord that changes not.
Well, we change like the weather. If salvation depended on our
actions, we'd forever be lost without any hope, but it's not
dependent on our actions. That's what I try to proclaim
to you week after week. It's dependent on His finished
work. That's what I'm trying to say. It's finished. The battle's
over. The conflict is won. It's finished. God is not a man that He should
lie, neither the Son a man that He should repent, that He should
change. The word repent, as we've already
said, means to be sorry. God is not sorry that He saved
us. A lot of people think that. Oh,
I'm sure the Lord saw he saved that rotten scoundrel. Not if
he's one of His. Not if he's in Christ. No. That's why we're not consumed.
His saving us was a gift given in Christ. For by grace are you
saved, that not of yourselves. That's pretty plain, isn't it?
It's the gift of God. The prophet Samuel said, the
strength, and that word strength is capitalized in that verse
speaking of the Lord. He said, the strength will not
lie nor repent, for he's not a man that he should do so. Lying
is a result or an effect of weakness in us. We lie because we're weak. But Christ is the strength of
Israel. Christ is the strength of His
people. Hence, He cannot lie. And men,
well, we change our mind all the time. When something unforeseen
arises, when something hinders our first design and desire,
in our weakness, our will cannot be carried out. But God's not
a man. Men are weak and feeble. Very
often they cannot perform what they promise. But Christ is the
strength of His people. And even when we were without
strength, Christ died for the ungodly because He is strength. That's what makes this a gift.
Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And secondly,
this gift of God is unspeakable. That simply means it cannot be
described. It cannot be explained. There
have been many messages preached on this verse. Several pastors
that we know personally have preached on this verse. I listened
to several of them this week. Brother Paul Mahan, he made a
great observation about this unspeakable, indescribable, unexplainable
gift that God gave His people. Paul said there are three things
concerning a gift. First, it's got to belong to
the one who gives it. Well, you can't take something
from somebody else and give it to me and call it a gift. That's
theft. But salvation belongeth to the
Lord. And He gives it to whom He wills.
Secondly, it's got to be unearned. We've already beat that horse
a little bit, haven't we? And thirdly, it must be bestowed
upon you, not offered. There's a big, big difference.
Big difference. A gift must belong to the one
that gives it. All things belong to the Lord.
While the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof, the
world and they that are therein, everything in this world belongs
to Him, as all on alone does. All we have belongs to the Lord.
The Apostle Paul asked that question. He said, what do we have that
we did not receive? Who do we receive it from? From
the Lord who makes the difference. 1 Corinthians 4, 7. It is especially true when it
comes to salvation. Salvation belongeth unto the
Lord. Thy blessing is upon thy people. Whose blessing? Your blessing.
It's yours to give. It's a gift because God gave
it. The world talks about self-made
men. There is no such thing. There
is no such thing. Is that proper English? Well,
it is now. Self-made men are said to have
come from nothing and made themselves something. You know what? That
goes against the whole teaching of Scripture. It sure does. We're nothing, we have nothing,
we can do nothing. How are any of us going to make
ourselves anything? Speaking to the wealthy of this
world, the Holy Spirit says, God giveth the power to give
wealth. Deuteronomy 8.18. To the self-righteous
religionists in this world, the Holy Spirit declares, God gives
the increase. To those who are carefree and
enjoy life without Christ, the Holy Spirit explains, God giveth
us richly all things to enjoy. It's God that gives them. To
those who humbly bow to Christ, the Holy Spirit says, God giveth
grace to the humble. Your humility is a gift of God.
To those who are victorious, the Holy Spirit proclaims, God
gives us every victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Every
victory. To everyone everywhere, the Holy
Spirit announces every good and perfect gift comes from above. What is the greatest gift of
all? Well, it's not like the popular song says, learning to
love ourselves. It's just the opposite. What
is this unspeakable, indescribable gift? It's God doing for sinners
what they cannot do for themselves. This gift from God is unearned.
What does God say about it? Let me just tell you what He
says about it. It is the grace of God that brings
salvation, Titus 2.11. It is Christ who gave Himself
for us that He might redeem us from all iniquity. A man is not
justified by the works of the law, but through faith in Christ
Jesus. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love."
Galatians 5, 6. Paul told Timothy who had saved
us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to his own purpose and grace which was given
in Christ Jesus before the world began. 2 Timothy 1, 9. This is what God says. But after
that, the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared,
not by works of righteousness as we've done. It says that over
and over and over again in the Scriptures. You know why? Because
that's what we'll trust in. That's what we'll claim to be
the reason for our redemption. By works of righteousness that
we've done. Lord, haven't we, haven't we?
No, you haven't. You haven't done anything to
deserve or merit God's salvation. Not by works of righteousness
which we've done, but according to His mercy. See, we're right
back to that. It's His to give. It's His gift
to give. It's His mercy. According to
His mercy, He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing
of the Holy Ghost. Now listen, which He shed on
us. He bestowed upon us abundantly
through Jesus Christ our Savior. For I say unto you that except
your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes
and the Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom
of heaven. Matthew 5.20. That's what God
says. Thirdly, a gift must be bestowed. It must be imparted. It's not
something offered to us. It's an operation upon us. It's
a work of God in us. Has anyone on your birthday or
at Christmas, whatever time of the year that we give gifts to
one another, ever come up to you and say, well, there's nothing
under the tree, I didn't bring anything with me, but I want
to offer you a gift? If a gift is offered, you can
accept it or reject it, right? That wouldn't be a true gift.
A gift is not an offer, it's freely given with no strings
attached. An offer implies that there's
an ability on our part to be, to the one that it's offered
to, to accept it or reject it. The gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Can you offer a dead man life? Christ came to the world to give
life, not to offer life. Our Lord said a man can receive
nothing except it be given him from heaven, from above. What
a gift this is. Well, it's unspeakable. It's
indescribable. It's unexplainable. It's a mystery. God's ways are
past finding out. Religion today has taken the
unspeakable, the indescribable, and the unexplainable, and they've
made it contemptible. They've made it despicable. They've
made it detestable. It is to me. They've made God's
gift to sinners, the sinner's gift to God. Men have tried to
turn the tables on God. How ridiculous, how futile. They claim, haven't we, haven't
we, as I said a moment ago. But it's been God's doing all
along. Men stand and preach. They say,
God loves you. Won't you love Him back? That's
just an offer. They've made God a beggar. His
love to you is much more than an offer. I can assure you that.
That's what modern day preaching has made it, though. God loves
you and He offers you salvation if you'll just simply love Him
back. That's blasphemy. It really is. No one gives like
our God does. And his gift is unspeakable.
Brother Paul also said, we call the gospel the greatest story
ever told when it's actually the greatest story that's never
been told as it ought to be told. The Holy Spirit tells us that
we know in part and we preach in part, but very soon we'll
know even as we're known. I'm looking forward to that.
I have not seen, nor heard, neither hath entered into the heart of
man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."
I remember one time when I was struggling financially, and my
mother and father paid off a large debt for me. And I didn't know
at first, and then I found out that they were the ones that
did it. And you know, all I could say was, I don't know what to
say. That's all I could say, I don't
know what to say. It was unspeakable. It was indescribable. It was
an unexplainable gift. You know, the Queen of Sheba,
she heard of the fame of Solomon and she came, the scripture says,
to prove him with hard questions. Undoubtedly, she was, you know,
had her doubts. She came with hard questions,
and the scripture says Solomon answered all her hard questions.
He didn't hide anything from her. He told her everything.
And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and
she saw all that the Lord had given him, remember what she
said? She said, behold, the half was not told me. Wasn't the half wasn't told me.
Your wisdom and your prosperity exceedeth the fame that I heard. Friends, the half of God's unspeakable
gift of Christ has not been told. Men have been standing and preaching
the truth for over 2,000 years, they've endeavored to tell it,
but the half has not yet been told. If we endeavor for another 2,000
years, unless the Lord return, not half of the other half will
be told. It's not possible for the words
of men to do so. And then thirdly, the outline
of this verse tells us that this gift causes us, the receiver,
to praise and thank God for it. Thanks unto God for His unspeakable
gift. Christ didn't come into the world
to make God love us. Christ came into the world because
God loved us. Christ didn't come into the world
He came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. God loved His people from the
foundation of the world. That's why Christ God's unspeakable
gift is called the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
For God so loved the world, His people in the world, all types
of men and women in the world, out of every corner of the world,
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in Him." That's who this gift is given to, to those that believe
in Him. That they should not perish,
but have everlasting life. What a gift! Can you explain
it? Can you describe it? God gave us His Son, and we love
Him because of it. He loved us, and that's why He
gave us Christ. In other words, we love Him because
He first loved us. God's gift is not the cause of
His love. God's gift of Christ is the result
of His love. God's gift of Christ is the fruit
of God's love for us. Christ came in the world to save
sinners. What an unspeakable, indescribable,
unexplainable gift. Again, herein is love. What is
love? Well, it's not that we love God,
but there's another one, but that He loved us. I'm not gonna
talk about my love for God. Not gonna do it. It's not worth
talking about. That's not love, that's not true
love. Herein is love that God loves
us. And what did He do? He sent His
Son. He gave His Son to be a propitiation
for our sins. He sent His Son to be the atonement
for our sins. Jesus Christ is the atonement. He is the mercy seat upon which
our sins are put upon. And it's His blood that was shed
for our sins. See, it's all about Him, all
about what He did. He is the high priest that sprinkles
that blood upon the mercy seat. He is that unspeakable gift. Mr. Spurgeon once told a story
about a man who just constantly took the Lord's name in vain.
He did so one day in front of an old man that knew and loved
the Lord. And when that man took the Lord's
name in vain, the old man just bowed his head. And time and
time again, as the blasphemy flowed from his lips, the man's
lips, the old fella just bowed his head, not saying a word.
Finally, the man looked at the old man, he said, why are you
bowing your head? And the old man said, I bowed my head at
the name, at the mention of God's name. He said, I must reverence
him and his name, even if you curse it. The safe sinner is going to find
ways to thank God and reverence their God in the midst of those
who do not. I remember Brother Henry telling
a story about him and some other preachers, I believe it was,
playing golf. They had a group of men playing
right behind them and they were just They couldn't hit the ball quick
enough and the people behind them hit the ball and about hit
them and just rushed them the whole game. And these men behind
them at every hole that Henry and his party teed off, they
were waiting and drinking and cursing. And for some time this
went on, several holes. Finally, Brother Henry told his
party of men that was behind him, he said, y'all just go ahead
and play through. Y'all go ahead before us. We're a little slower. And one of the men thanked him,
and then out of, I guess, out of just kindness or curiosity
won, he said, he asked him what he did for a living. And Brother Mahan said, I'm a
pastor and a preacher of the gospel. And he said the man just
turned red with embarrassment. He began to apologize for the
cursing and the drinking and the stories they were telling.
He told him he was sorry for the way they had acted. And brother
Henry said, no need to apologize to me. He said, I'm not anybody. He
said, but God is. And he heard every word. So if
you want to apologize to someone, maybe you ought to apologize
to him. Those that are without Christ
are not thankful for Him. You know who He is? Those who
have Him. Those to whom He's given this
unspeakable, unexplainable, indescribable gift. That's who's going to thank
Him. Christ and His salvation are
not a gift to everyone. They're not. If they were, everyone
would be saved. But they're not a gift to everyone.
But to those this gift is given, This unspeakable gift, they're
thankful and they praise God for it because it's His. He gave
it. And they thank Him for it. Grateful,
grateful for this unspeakable gift. Last week, I asked you
some questions that are asked from the scriptures. How can
a man be just with God? How can he be clean that's born
of a woman? How could God be just and justify
the ungodly? How could the justice of God
both punish and pardon? How could God's mercy and God's
truth meet together? If the wages of sin is death,
how can God remain just and at the same time forgive us when
sin is all that we are? How can God be a just God and
a Savior? How can God's righteousness and
God's peace kiss each other? How can God be perfectly holy
and righteous and at the same time be at peace with wretched
sinners? Only one way. by His unspeakable, indescribable,
unexplainable gift, the Lord Jesus Christ. That truly gives
some clarity to the verse, Christ is the way, the truth, and the
life concerning all those questions. The same answer is given for
all those questions because of His unspeakable gift. Again, the outline, pretty simple,
seven words. Salvation is a gift of God. It
belongs to the one who gives it. This gift is unspeakable
because it's unmerited and undeserved. Our mere words won't allow us
to describe it. We believe it. By divine revelation
and God giving us life, we believe it. Men easily understand what
they believe that they're entitled to. I read an article once that
said that most people who steal from their workplace justified
by some entitlement. Well, I deserved it because I
don't get paid enough. I was just taking what should
have been given to me in the first place. They don't have
any problem explaining why they stole. But you can't explain
mercy and grace to one who's dead and trespasses and sins.
God's got to give them life. What a gift. God's got to give
them Christ. What an unspeakable gift. It's
indescribable. Unexplainable to the natural
man because he cannot, he doesn't have the ability to receive the
things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them because
they are spiritually discerned. They're a mystery to one that
God hadn't given life to. God has to give a dead man life
before he can reveal these unspeakable things to him or her. They gotta
be revealed and mere words cannot do so. And then thirdly, this
unspeakable, indescribable, unexplainable gift causes saved sinners to
praise and thank God. That's why you're here this morning. I wish more people felt that
way. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give
glory. God gives us all these things.
What do we give Him? Only what's already His. Praise
and glory. We give to God what's already
His. We acknowledge that all honor and praise and glory goes
to Him because of what He's done for us, not what we do for Him. We give Him a glory that's already
His for His mercy and His truth's sake. What an unspeakable, indescribable,
unexplainable gift God gave when He gave us Christ and salvation
in Him. Well, do you have this gift? Have you received this gift?
Well, the word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy
heart, that is the word of faith which we preach. You get to hear
about this unspeakable gift every time we meet, because God's been
pleased to share it with us, to give it to us. May God, by
this precious gift of grace, make it so for His glory, our
good, and for Christ's sake.