All right, turn with me if you
would to Galatians 1. Galatians chapter 1. Yesterday morning, we recorded
a TV broadcast. and it was from this very same
chapter, the first five verses. And as I was preaching that broadcast,
while I was in the middle of preaching that broadcast, three
words in this text really got a hold of me. While I was speaking
it, it just really, really hit me. And I want us to look at
these three words tonight. It's the first three words of
verse four. Who gave himself. I really entered into that as
that just rolled off of my tongue. I just who gave himself. My mind immediately went to Ephesians
5. Turn over there with me. Ephesians
5. If we husbands would like to
know what we ought to be as husbands, here's our great example. Ephesians
5 verse 25, it says, Husbands, love your wives. even as Christ
also loved the church and gave Himself for it." Gave Himself. Who gave Himself? In that TV broadcast, we broke
down those three words. Who gave Himself? Who? Really enter into who? Who? We're talking about the
God-man. If the Lord will allow us to
just enter into who we are, enter into what we are, just briefly,
just get ahold of us and then get ahold of him. And we're talking
about the God-man, the God-man. We're talking about the spotless
one, the absolute sinless one. For God so loved, he gave his
only begotten son. Who? Who gave? Gave. He gave. He freely, willingly,
Sacrificially, fully, completely gave. That's amazing to me. Gave. There it is. Who gave Himself. Not just his things, that would
have been amazing had he given his things, the things that he
had, but not just the things that he had. Who gave himself? He gave himself as a husband
to his bride. Who did he give himself to? Look at Galatians 2, Galatians
chapter 2. Verse 20, it says, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me and the life, which I now live in
the flesh. I live by the faith of the son
of God who loved. Me. And gave Himself for me. For me. He gave Himself for me. How can it be? How can it be
that God should love a soul like me? How can that be? He gave Himself for us. He gave Himself for us. Why did
He give Himself for us? Look back at Galatians 1. Verse
4 says, Who gave Himself for our sins,
that he might deliver us from this present evil world according
to the will of God and our father. When you really get ahold of
that, when you really get ahold of that, Titus 2 says, turn over
there, turn over to Titus 2. Titus 2 verse 13, it says, looking for that blessed hope
and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior,
Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem
us from all iniquity. and purify unto Himself a peculiar
people, zealous of good works." He gave Himself for our sins
that He might redeem us from all iniquity and purify us unto
Himself. That's why He did it. That's
what He did, that's who He did it for, and that's why He did
it. Now, what I'd like for us to
do is enter in to what he gave when he gave himself. Who gave himself? What I want
us to really just think about for one moment is what he gave
when he gave himself to say that he gave himself. I want us to
think about what all was really involved in that. everything that he gave when
he gave himself. And I want to see this in the
word. We're going to turn a little bit, but I want to see it in
the word. All right. We're going to see
what he gave when he gave himself. All right. Here's the first one.
Go to Psalm 86. Psalm 86, verse 1, it says, bow
down thine ear, O Lord, and hear me, for I am poor and needy. He gave his ear. Just think about that. He gave
his ear. He gave His listening ear, an
ear to hear His people. Do you know what a quality it
is when someone has the ability to be a listening ear? Psalm 20 verse 1 says, to the
children of God, it says, this is what it says, and if this
is what it says, then this is the absolute truth, it says,
The Lord will hear you in the day of trouble. The Lord will hear you. In saying
that He gave Himself to His people, one of the things that He gave
to them was He gave His ear. He has bent His ear specifically
to His people. At all times, whenever that moment
of trouble is, Whenever his child cries out to him, he'll hear
you. He has given his ear to his people. They have his ear. At all moments
of time, Lord, I need you right now. I need you right now. At
all moments of time, he's totally, completely given his ear. Turn with me to Psalm 105. Psalm 105 verse 8 says, He hath
remembered His covenant forever, the Word which He commanded to
a thousand generations. He gave His Word, His promise
to His people directly from His mouth, the covenant of Himself. I love Hebrews 6 verse 13. That's one of my favorite verses,
one of my favorites. It says, when God made his promise
to Abraham, the promise of his word, because he could swear
by no greater, he swore by himself. He swore on himself. He gave his word. Psalm 107 verse
20 says, he sent his word and healed them and delivered them
from their destructions. He gave his word. Look with me
at Psalm 139. Psalm 139 verse 17, it says, How precious also are thy thoughts
unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they
are more in number than the sand. When I awake, I'm still with
thee. He gave his mind, he gave his
thoughts. That is just, that just strikes
me to think that God is sitting in the heavens thinking about
sinners, yes. His people, yes. His elect, yes. But to narrow it down close to
home, me. David said, my God's in the heavens.
What's he doing up there? Whatever he pleases. Well, what
does it please him to do? Think about me. That is amazing. He's given them his thoughts. That is just amazing. He said in Jeremiah 29, verse
11, I know my thoughts towards you. They're thoughts of peace. That's what he gave in himself,
from himself, something from himself to his people. He gave
his thoughts, thoughts of peace. So he gave his ear in giving
himself. He gave his ear, he gave his
word, he gave his mind, he gave his thoughts. Turn with me to
Song of Solomon, chapter 4. It's just before Isaiah. Song of Solomon four. This is
Christ speaking to his bride. Verse 9, he said, Thou hast ravished
my heart, my sister, my spouse. He gave his heart. When he gave himself, he gave
his heart. He gave the compassion that was
in it. We all have compassion in our
heart towards something. He gave the compassion that was
in his heart to his people, to his sinful, undeserving, unworthy
people. He gave the pity that was in
it. He gave the mercy that was in
it. Mercy was in there. That's why
he showed it. He was in his heart to show it. He gave the love that was in
it. God commended His love toward us while we were yet sinners. Herein is love, not that we loved
Him, but that He loved us. Greater love had no man. When He gave Himself, He gave
His heart. Totally gave His heart. Let's
go now to Isaiah 41. Isaiah 41 verse 10 says, Fear
thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God. I will strengthen thee. Yea,
I will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with
the right hand of my righteousness. Verse 13, he said, for I, the
Lord thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, fear
not, I will help thee. He gave his hand. He gave his hand. That's what you
do when you get married. You give your hand in marriage. Well, he gave his hand. When He gave Himself, when He
gave Himself, He gave His ear, He gave His word, He gave His
mind, He gave His heart, He gave His love, He gave His hand. This is beautiful to me, just
beautiful. All right, go with me to Jeremiah
33. Jeremiah 33, while you're turning
there, I'll tell you that Jeremiah 23 verse 6 says concerning Christ,
it says, this is His name whereby He shall be called the Lord our
righteousness. That's His name. That is Christ's
name. That belongs to Him. You think
about that. The Lord, our righteousness.
That belongs to Him. And Him alone. That's His name. Alright, look at Jeremiah 33
verse 16. It says, In those days shall Judah be
saved. That's His people. That's His
bride. His elect. In those days shall
Judah be saved and Jerusalem shall dwell safely. And this
is the name wherewith she shall be called his bride, the one
he gave himself to. It says, she shall be called
the Lord, our righteousness. He gave his name. He gave His name. When He gave
Himself to her, He gave His own name to her. It is truly glorious to think
of everything that is involved in Him giving Himself. Everything that He gave when
He gave Himself. Alright, let's continue. Go with
me to Luke 23. Luke 23, verse 46. And when Jesus had cried with
a loud voice, He said, Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit. And having said thus, He gave
up the ghost. He gave his life. He said, into
thy hands I commend my spirit. He gave up his ghost. He gave
up his being. When he gave himself, he gave
his whole being. He gave his existence. He said,
I commend my spirit. He gave up his ghost. He died for us that he might
redeem us from all iniquity. In first Corinthians 11, he said,
this is my body broken for you. One of these days, we're going
to enter into that. When he gave himself, he gave
his body, he gave his existence, his being, his body. He said,
this is my blood shed for you. When he gave himself, he gave
his life, he gave his body, he gave his blood. All right, go
with me to Philippians 2. Philippians 2, speaking of Christ,
verse 6, it says, who being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself
of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant. and was made in the likeness
of men." He gave His place. He gave His reputation. He gave His reputation. When
He gave Himself, He gave up where He was, and He gave up the honor, and He
gave up the recognition. He gave up His reputation. of who he was. That's amazing. He gave up his reputation. So when he gave himself, he gave
his ear, he gave his word, he gave his mind, he gave his heart,
he gave his love, he gave his hand, he gave his name, he gave
his life, he gave his body, He gave His blood. He gave His honor. The honor of His place. The honor
of His reputation. Let me give you one more. This
one is no more amazing than the rest. They're all amazing. But
this one is amazing. Alright? This one is amazing.
Go to Revelation 21. Revelation 21. Verse 9, it says, And there came
unto me one of the seven angels, which had the seven vials full
of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come
hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the
spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me that great city,
the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, watch
verse 11, having the glory of God. He gave his glory to her. He gave His glory to her. I could
not possibly enter into what that means. I could not. I couldn't even
begin to enter into what that means. God's glory is a subject
that is too wonderful for me. It's just too wonderful. David
said it's so high, I can't attain to it. I could never. attained
to it. But this is what our Lord Jesus
Christ said to His Father in John 17, verse 22. This is what
He said. He said, The glory which thou
gavest Me, I have given them. That's amazing. The glory. You know, we talk
about His glory. He said, The glory that you've
given Me, I've given them that they may be one even as we are. Here's the point. He truly gave
himself. He truly gave himself. He did not just sacrifice himself
for his people. He gave himself. He gave all that he had most
definitely. He absolutely did. Everything
that he had, he sure did. Though he was rich, yet for your
sake, he became poor. That you, through his poverty,
might be rich. He most definitely, most certainly
gave all that he had. But infinitely more than that,
he gave all that he is. All that He is. He gave Himself. And that's glorious. And this
is the only response that any believer, any child of God can
have to that kind of news. This is the only response. It's
the response that Paul gave back in Galatians 1. Go with me there
and we'll close with this, alright? Back to Galatians 1, verse 4, he said, who gave Himself for our sins
that He might deliver us from this present evil world according
to the will of God and our Father." Now here's the only response
we can have, "...to whom be glory." forever and ever. Amen. To whom be glory. One of these
days in glory, we're going to enter into what it really means
that he gave himself. We're going to really see just
what he gave for us. And in that moment, we're going
to truly cry to God, be the glory for the great things that he's
done. To whom be glory forever. We sing right now, amazing grace,
how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. We've never
entered into the half of it. We've never entered in. We're
gonna see amazing, what an amazing gift. What an amazing sacrifice. What an amazing offering of himself
to a wretch like me. Amazing. Thank God he gave himself. Thank God. All right, stand together
with me.