If you would, you can join me
back in Galatians chapter one. More than once, yesterday as
we were visiting, the subject of generosity came up in various
conversations. And through those conversations,
I was reminded once more that those
that the Lord has blessed are a giving people. We're made to
be a generous people. And it's a subject that this
congregation has been participants in quite recently. And it became known to me that
you've not only been generous in giving, but you've been the
recipients of gifts. And, you know, it takes grace
working in us, the grace of God working in us both to be a giver,
a true giver of a gift, a gift that you give knowing that there's
nothing going to be returned to you. It's not like, you know,
when we were kids, You would, you'd want to be invited and
you'd want to invite people to your birthday party because you
invite them, you're going to be invited back and, or vice
versa. But anyway, you're going to get
more gifts. The more people you have come, the more gifts you're
going to get and the more you go to a birthday party, the more
you get to invite them back and they feel obligated to give you
a birthday gift. That's not what a gift is. A gift is given. knowing nothing's
going to be returned to you. And it takes grace to receive
a true gift, a gift that you have no way to return in kind
what was given to you. Proverbs 17.8 says, a gift is
as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it. receive a gift, it's as a precious
stone, whithersoever it turneth, it prospereth. As you consider that gift everywhere
you look at it, it's precious to you, it prospereth. Yesterday I was told of a couple
who came here of their own time and of their own effort, and
they stayed many days in your basement pulling nails. What a gift. That gift, for many
years, will be precious to this congregation. Not only the gift,
but that couple for many years will be precious to this congregation. How do I know that to be true?
Well, there's not many that know about this anymore that remember
it, but I come from two congregations that have a special relationship
to this congregation. See, years ago, my parents moved
to Crossville, Tennessee to be under Donnie Bell and to worship
there. And right after we moved, they
started building a new building. It's the building that they meet
in today. And after we moved into that building, it wasn't
long and we had the need for pews. And y'all found out we
had this need. And through a man that I understand
he's taken sick and unable to be here, but if I remember the
story correctly, Mr. Baker drove those pews down to
Crossville and delivered them there and helped unload them.
Well, those pews served Crossville well for many years. Meantime,
I moved my family over to Kingsport, Tennessee. And right after we
moved there, history repeated itself and we built a new building. And the call went out. We need
some pews. And amongst others, Crossville,
Tennessee, Lantana Grace Church was refurbishing their place,
and they sent, as a gift to us, their pews, which included the
pews that had originally come from this congregation. Now,
I was a kid in high school when those pews first arrived in Crossville,
and I couldn't have cared less. We had pews. I was called upon
to carry pews, and I did it, and that was the end of it. But all these years later, when
my dad found out I was coming here, he said, you be sure to
tell them that Gary Williams said to say hello. And if you
happen to see Al Baker, you be sure to tell him I said hello.
If any of you happen to see that, you see Mr. Baker, you can pass
that along. You see, all these years have
passed, and he remembers your gift. And it's a blessing to
him. He remembers the kindness that
this congregation showed. And as he told me that story,
I was thankful for the kindness that the Lord gave this congregation
to bestow those pews. That gift, that one gift from
so long ago, When Dad remembers it, he remembers this congregation,
and it causes him, and it now causes me, to be thankful for
the gift Christ gave to you, that you would be generous in
giving those gifts, those pews. And just as that gift from so
long ago, that couple's gift I see these young folks in here. One day, the story will be told
of the flood that came through this church. And in that story,
this couple will be named. Maybe not by name. It'll just
be said, this couple came and they spent days pulling nails.
And that gift that they gave will cause these young folks
to remember them and they'll be thankful for what the Lord
did for you. What is it that brought that
couple into action? What is it that spurred them
to move forward and come and pull nails? What is it that when
the cry goes out that there's a need, causes the child of God
to bow in prayer and say, Lord, would you remember those? I don't
even know them personally. But I've heard some of your people
are in dire need. Will you remember them? Will
you meet their need? Is it not the love of Christ
in us that causes us to cry out for one another, that prompts
us into action? Well, with all that said, Have
you ever sat down and truly thought about the generosity of our God? Just how great His generosity
is. We know that God gives all things,
but as I started reading all the things that He has recorded,
that He has given, It delighted my soul, and I found yet another
reason to bow and worship and adore His precious name. Listen to just a few things that
are recorded just in Job and in the Psalms that God gives. The Spirit of God hath made me,
and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life. He giveth
songs in the night, and by the breath of God frost is given. Psalm 16, verse 7 says, I will
bless the Lord who hath given me counsel. Delight thyself also
in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Thou hast given me the heritage
of those that fear Thy name. He giveth strength and power
unto His people. He gave ear unto me. The Lord will give grace and
glory. The Lord shall give that which
is good. The heaven, even the heavens
are the Lord's. But the earth hath he given to
the children of men. He giveth food to the hungry. And this one, this one really
struck me. The Lord gave the word. The Lord gave the word. Doesn't that make our hearts
thankful? The Lord gave the Word, He gave
the written Word, and He gave the living Word. In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Our text this morning is going
to be Galatians 1, verses 4 and 5. But let's start reading in
verse 3. Galatians 1, verse 3. Grace be
to you and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus
Christ, 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, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. The Lord our God gives in abundance. He gave himself. Lord willing, this morning we'll
look at his giving of himself in regards to his manner the
manner in which he gave himself, his gift, and his purpose. First, let's look at the manner
in which our Lord gave himself. In Matthew 5, 17, Christ said,
think not that I come to destroy the law or the prophets, for
I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. The scriptures declare
to us the way in which he gave himself. We'll come back to Galatians
later if you want to just hold your place there or put a mark
there, but turn with me a couple pages over to 2 Corinthians chapter
9. 2 Corinthians chapter 9 and verse
7. 2 Corinthians 9, 7. Second Corinthians 9.7 says,
Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give,
not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver. From this text, we see that our
Lord gave himself with purpose, willingly, and cheerfully. Our Lord gave Himself with a
purpose. He didn't give Himself with a general idea of accomplishing
salvation, but He gave Himself on and with purpose. That which He set out to do,
what did He set out to do? In Matthew 1, 21, we read, Thou
shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people. from their sins, that which he
set out to do, the salvation of his people, he has finished. He gave himself willingly, not
grudgingly, not of necessity. You know, in our lives, we're
often given a job to do that we find most unpleasant. We don't want to do it. Whether
we're children or whether we're on the job, there are just things
we don't want to do, but there's an external force that causes
us to have to do this job. Clean your room. You mothers have harped on that since
time immemorial, I presume. And it still sends shivers down
my spine to hear it. Have you seen my room? Nobody
wants to clean that. But I'm going to do it because
my mother is going to force the issue and that room shall be
cleaned. Our Lord undertook for us our
salvation willingly. His hand wasn't forced. He wasn't
under a law that said you must give. He gave himself willingly. He gave himself cheerfully. When
I looked up the definitions of cheerful, as it's used here,
one of the definitions was prompt to do anything. Our Lord didn't
hesitate. When I read that description,
my thoughts went to Isaiah. When Isaiah saw the Lord sitting
upon a throne, when he heard the message, holy, holy, holy
is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory. After these things, Isaiah heard
the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send and who will
go for us? The question hardly being asked,
Isaiah replied, here am I, send me. He didn't hesitate. He didn't do a cost-benefit analysis. He didn't consider the difficulties
that this task would require of him. He immediately said,
Here am I. Send me. Seeing our great need,
the cry went out in eternity, How can God be just and justify
sinners? Our Lord Jesus Christ, our great
Savior, gave himself with purpose, willingly and cheerfully. Being
fully aware of the penalty that must be paid, he gave himself
without question. Here am I. Send me. In Matthew 6, our Lord gave instruction
for the giving of alms. Alms are separate from tithes.
Alms in our language are donations. They're not a legal requirement.
These are gifts, gifts of mercy, gifts of pity. He said in Matthew
6, take heed that you do not your alms before men. Do not
sound a trumpet before thee, but when thou doest alms, let
not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth." God gave His
Only Begotten Son as a mercy gift. And when he came into his
world, he did not come with pomp and ceremony. He didn't come
to take up a temporal throne to be admired by the natural
flesh of mankind. He came into his world despised
and rejected of men. the everlasting King of glory,
whom all of heaven worships and adores, made himself of no reputation. He gave himself humbly. Listen to Deuteronomy 16. Three times in a year shall all
thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he
shall choose, in the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and in the
Feast of Weeks, and in the Feast of Tabernacles, and they shall
not appear before the Lord empty. Every man shall give as he is
able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God, which he
hath given thee. Every man, according to this
law, was to give as he was able. Jesus Christ, our Lord and our
Savior, the fulfiller of the law, did not stop at the legal
requirement required of 10%. He didn't come to make salvation
possible by taking the first step and you have to finish the
rest. Nor did he stop at 99.9%. He didn't give himself, and now
all you have to do is come to the front, say the sinner's prayer. He gave himself. All of himself. I don't suppose we'll ever fathom
the bottom of that statement. I imagine all of eternity will
be filled with wonder that God gave himself according
to his ability. He gave himself completely. He finished the work. Our Lord Jesus Christ gave Himself
with purpose, willingly, cheerfully, humbly, completely. Why did He give Himself? What
did He give Himself to? What is His gift? First, He gave
Himself to the Father's will. Turn, if you would, to John chapter
6. John 6, verse 38. John 6, verse 38. Our Lord is speaking here and
He says, For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will,
but the will of Him that sent me. And this is the Father's
will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me
I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last
day. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on
him may have everlasting life. And I will raise him up at the
last day. The Father's will is to save
those whom he had lovingly elected in Christ Jesus, and our Lord
gave himself to that will. All that was required for our
salvation, he gave himself to. He gave himself to the work. In John 4, our Lord said unto
them, My meat is to do the work of him that sent me, and to finish
his work. He gave himself to the fulfillment
of the law as the substitute for those that the Father gave
him. Then having accomplished that
work, he gave his back to the smiters. and his cheeks to them
that plucked off the hair. He hid not his face from shame
and spitting. He gave himself into Pilate's
judgment. He gave himself into our wicked
hands to be crucified and slain. He gave himself to be forsaken
of the Father, to endure the judgment and wrath reserved for
sinners, reserved for this sinner before God. He gave himself and
life himself gave up the ghost. He gave himself into the tomb. The Lord our God, Jesus Christ,
gave himself purposefully, willingly, cheerfully, humbly, completely
as a sin offering for this wretched sinner and for all those that
the Father chose in Christ before the foundation of the world.
Finally, for what cause, for what purpose did Christ come
and give himself? Turn back to our text, Galatians
1 verse 3. Galatians 1 verse 3. Grace be
to you and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus
Christ. 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, to whom be glory forever and
ever. Amen. Lord Jesus Christ gave
himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present
evil world according to the will of God and our Father, to whom
be glory forever and ever. Christ gave himself for our sins. It is our sins that separate
us from God and our sins that have us condemned. In giving himself, he did that
which we cannot do. Namely, he kept his law. perfectly. As a man, as a servant,
the Lord Jesus Christ, God the Son, is righteous. He lived under the law's rule
and he earned, as a servant, righteousness. God is righteous. The Lord Jesus Christ, God the
Son, is righteous. The man, Jesus of Nazareth, obtained
righteousness. He earned it. The wages of sin is death. The wages, the earnings of sin.
You go to a job and you earn wages. For the time you put in,
they give you money. Our Lord earned, he came, he
did the work, he obtained righteousness as a man. He gave himself completely. Having earned righteousness,
he didn't stop there. As if to say, you see, a man
can keep God's holy law. But he went on and he paid the
penalty for our sin. He who knew no sin was made sin. He bore the curse in his body. He shed his blood. He laid down
his life. He went into the tomb. He did
all of this as our substitute. Why did God give himself first
for our sins, then that he might deliver us? Who's in need of deliverance? Who needs to be set free? Those
who are held captive, right? If I'm free to go about, I don't
need to be set free from anything. I'm not imprisoned. But if I'm
in a jail cell with no way to get out, my only hope is that
someone comes to deliver me. Who is in need of deliverance? According to this word, all of
mankind is held captive. but there are few who know it. We are held captive by our sin. We are in debt. We have rebelled
against the Almighty God, and we owe a debt that we cannot
pay. We're in pauper's prison, you
could say. We have a debt that is owed,
and we cannot pay it. We are in bondage, held captive,
and until God is pleased to reveal to us what we are by nature,
that we are sin, we will remain bound. But our Lord Jesus Christ
gave himself that he might deliver us us, those who were given to
him by the Father before the foundation of the world, that
he might deliver us from this present evil world." This is a foolish question to
ask this congregation who knows so well. What does that deliverance
look like? Is it to be set free from worldly
troubles? To have wealth, health, riches
of this world, be carefree. To be delivered from this present
evil world is to be freed from its influence. To stop chasing
after those things of the world and to seek first the kingdom
of God. There are many who will quote
that verse, seek first the kingdom of God, and they're talking about
a place. We seek first the kingdom of
God, who is a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Seek first the
kingdom of God and His righteousness. in this life to be delivered from this present
evil world doesn't mean that we're set free from the trials,
the tribulations, the sufferings of life in this world. But our
affections, our heart is set not on temporal gains and temporal
riches of this world, For we seek the things of Christ as
to be delivered from this present evil world. He gave himself according
to the will of God and our Father. Why did Christ give Himself purposefully,
willingly, cheerfully, humbly, completely? In fulfillment of
the Father's will. God the Father purposed to save
sinners He chose. In order to do so, it is necessary
that the sin of those He chose be completely paid. The wages
of sin is death. God the Son gave Himself according
to the will of God and because of Him. We who are found in Him,
we chosen in Him, elected in Him, redeemed in Him, we sinners
by the grace of God. are blessed to call the God of
heaven and earth our Father, because we are found in our Lord
Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. He gave Himself. He accomplished salvation. He
finished the work. He receives all the glory. and his gift, that gift he gave
himself. When we have received his gift, it's as a precious stone. Whithersoever
we turn it, it prospereth. Know how we're thankful for that
gift. But more so, all glory, all honor,
all praise goes to him who gave himself. Pray the Lord will make
that a blessing to us. Amen. James.