John, Jeanette, that hymn says,
Two shall their greatness declare. Paul, the apostle who knew as much or more than any
man has ever lived about the grace of God, the mercy of God,
the truth. He said, we know in part, didn't
we? We preach in part. One time he
said, who is sufficient for these things to try to declare our
Lord's greatness? The gospel has been called the
greatest story ever told, of the greatest man to ever live,
of the greatest work ever done. And Scripture calls his gift,
his work, unspeakable. So I'm going to try to speak
tonight on the unspeakable. It was Job, after all he heard
the Lord say and all he heard Elihu preach to him, he said,
I've spoken things too wonderful for me, things I understood not.
So we're going to try to fathom or search the unsearchable. for
a little while. David Edmondson, if you're listening
to this, he usually does, you know what I'm saying, don't you,
brother? It feels so helpless to try to do this, to try to
declare our Lord. The text is 2 Corinthians 8,
look at verse 9 with me. These two chapters, 8 and 9,
are talking about giving. Paul is exhorting the church
at Corinth to give liberally. God loves, he said, a cheerful
giver. The word is hilarious. That is,
someone who just takes great pleasure in giving. And he ends
both chapters by saying, thanks be unto God for his unspeakable
gift. Our Lord, for the joy set before. Cheerful giver. Because he thought
nothing of the shame. It just didn't matter. Look at verse 9. You know the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet
for our sakes He became poor, that ye, that
we, through His poverty might be rich. Now this text, this
verse, came to mind upon preparing to preach to those
homeless men. They were all men in that rescue
mission downtown in the poorer part of downtown Great Falls,
Montana. About 20 men, I guess, of all
ages. There was a young boy right in
the middle of that that crowd of men, old men, middle-aged
men, and a young boy. I preached to them from Luke
4 when the Lord went to Nazareth, and He said, The Spirit of the
Lord hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. poor
man's gospel. That's what I preach to them.
And in preparing that, I thought about this verse. This verse
came to mind, that he who was rich yet, for our sakes, became
poor. Look at verse 9. It says, You know the grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Do we? Do we really know? No, that's what Paul was saying. We just don't really know, but
we shall. Paul said, when that perfect
has come, when Christ has come, then we'll know as we've been
known. And it says in Ephesians 2 verse 7, it says, in the ages
to come, He's going to show us the exceeding riches of His grace. What He had done for us, these
riches of His grace and His kindness toward us through the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's going to take eternity to tell us what all He's done
for us. And I think that's why there's going to be silence in
heaven for 30 minutes when we all get there. It's unspeakable. We're just
going to be so amazed. We're going to stand amazed in
the presence of Jesus of Nazarene and wonder why he would love
me. I said it from the undone claim.
He says, you know the gift. You know something about the
gift. And he said, it's an unspeakable
gift that we can't really put into words. Have you ever received
a gift that was so overwhelming, so generous from someone that
you were at a loss for words? He thought, I don't know what
to say. Thank you. That's all you can
say. It's certainly proof of someone's
love, isn't it? Someone gives you a mountain
of generous gift that you weren't expecting. It's proof of love,
and that's what Paul said in verse 7, verse 8, prove the sincerity
of your love. Well, our Lord did. Hearing His love. Not that we
love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation
for our sins. God proved His love for His people
by doing this. Well, it says in verse 9, now
let's look at it. that you know something of the
grace or the gift of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he
was rich, yet, for your sakes, he became poor, though he was
rich. How rich was he? And I'm going to try to declare
this. I hadn't seen, you hadn't heard, but let me just try a
little bit, okay? He was and He is now. His possessions, what did He
have? What did He leave? Well, the scripture says, Psalm
24, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. The world
and they that dwell therein. In Psalm 50, it said, the cattle
on a thousand hills are mine. Now, not a thousand cattle on
one hill. The cattle on a thousand hills.
I was in Montana. If you've ever been there, you've
been there, haven't you? Wyoming, those places, you can't
believe how vast that place is. You can't believe it. 360 degrees,
it just goes on and on. Vast, big sky country. just fast as a brother Mitch
I said what's one of the biggest ranches out here is there one
of about 36 miles long. 36 miles. Poor man. The Lord owned it all. He said all the gold and the
silver. How you got to that? All the
gold and the silver and all that's mine. And Psalm 50 says, if I
was hungry, I wouldn't tell you. You see, people don't know God
when they say God needs this and God needs that. He needs
your money and wants your help. You've got a poor God. What's
He going to do for you? He sounds like He's poorer than
you are. Sounds like He needs your grace.
No, no, no, no, no. That's not our God. Our Lord
Jesus Christ had it all and has it all. He was rich in honor
and glory. I think you'll see where we're
going with this. He was rich in possessions, rich in honor
and glory. The Father honored Him. The Holy
Spirit was there in the beginning. Before anything or anyone, it
was the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. And Christ had the
honor, God had the honor. They all dwelled together in
glory. In glory. There was an old black
preacher years ago. was preaching to a black church. And there's a man named, I think,
Criswell. Criswell came in, a white man.
He missed a storm or something. He just wandered in the church. And he sat on the back row, one
white face and all those black faces. And the preacher, what
was his name? I forget. Anyway, he was preaching
on God's glory, on Christ's glory. And all of a sudden he said,
white man, He said, where was God before He made this world?
The man said, I don't know. He said, where was God before
He made the heavens? I don't know. He said, where
was God before then? He said, I'll tell you where
He was. He was in His glory. That's where he was. He didn't
need anything. But he made it all for his glory. Everything was made. Everything
was made for his glory. The glory of his son. Like Psalm
19 talks about the tabernacle for the son to declare his glory.
The universe. Christ had all honor and all
glory of the angels. When God created the angels,
He said, let all the angels glorify and praise Him. So all the angels.
How many were there? How many? Can you hear that? Can you hear that heavenly song?
Can you hear them singing? Don't you love to sing? Especially
when there's more voices and all singing in unison. Can you
imagine? That's what Paul, when he came
back, said, I heard things, not saw, heard things that I can't
put into words. That's why he said, I can't wait
to leave this place. Go back. Angels. And then the saints that went
to be with the Lord from Adam to Malachi. Those saints, how
many were there that were in the presence of the Lord? All
singing. Christ had all honor, all glory. Our Lord was rich
in love. The Father loved Him so. Do you see where we're going
with this? Why would he come to this place?
Okay, the father loved him. Oh, he said in Proverbs 8, I
was daily his delight. You know, I would have kept my
daughter, I would have kept my grandchildren with me all my
days if I could have. I was daily his delight. Loved by God. Loved by all the
angels and the saints that had passed. A vast kingdom. A kingdom of righteousness. A
kingdom of peace. A kingdom of joy. A kingdom of
holiness. Happiness. Bliss. And yet, He left all that. Go with me to 1 Kings 3. 1 Kings 3. You know the story
of Solomon. Our Lord used Solomon as a picture
of himself. He spoke of Solomon. 1 Kings
chapter 3. Perhaps the richest man who ever
lived before or since. Solomon. And Solomon is David's
son. And that's not coincident, because
that's what God named his son, the son of David. Solomon was
rich, great in great riches. And look at 1 Kings 8, verse
12, the Lord said, Lo, I have given thee... 1 Kings 3, verse
12. I have given thee a wise and
understanding heart. and understanding of the heart,
so that there is none like thee before thee, neither after thee
shall any arise like unto thee. Oh, our Lord said it, greater
than Solomon was he. Wisdom personified. And, he said in verse 13, I've
given ye riches and honors so that there shall not be any among
the kings like unto thee all thy day. Not going to be anybody
ever like you. That is, any human being. And our Lord said, but greater
than salvation. Look at chapter 4, 1 Kings. It says in verse And if you haven't
read in a while, go back and read Chapter 4 of Solomon's Table. The food that he laid out every
day. Why? Why was there so much food?
Because anybody could come eat with him. Anybody hungry. Poor, rich, poor, doesn't matter.
Doesn't want to come home. 1 Kings 4, verse 29, God gave
Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much and largeness
of heart as the sand on the seashore. That's greater than Solomon.
Look at this, chapter 10. Go back over there. Chapter 10. You remember the story of Queen
of Sheba? Oh, I wanted to read this whole
chapter. I did, huh? We won't have time tonight. Remember,
she saw everything that he did and his ascent up to the house
of the Lord, onto the throne, and said, there's no more spirit
left in her. She thought she was somebody. She thought she
was rich. She probably was. And she bought
some riches to give. Don't you know when she said,
I didn't bring enough. He didn't want her. He didn't
need anything she had. She left richer than she came. Well, she said, Happy, verse
8, verse 7, I believed not the words until I came, and mine
eyes had seen. Behold, the half was not told
me, thy wisdom and prosperity exceeded the fame which I heard.
Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, happy are
those that stand continually before thee and hear thy wisdom.
Oh, brothers, aren't we, and sisters, aren't we a blessed
and happy people? Oh, she said in verse 9, Blessed
be the Lord thy God, which delighteth in thee. to set thee on the throne
of Israel, because the Lord loved Israel forever, therefore made
he thee king, to do judgment and justice." So she gave him
120 talents of gold. You know how much he got? He
got 600 three-score and six talents of gold every year, and she gave
him 100. It says in verse 13, He gave
unto her all her desire of His royal bounty. In other words,
He made her rich. She thought she was rich, but
she wanted to go home richer. May we go home richer in faith
for having been here. Well, a greater than solid, rich
beyond our imaginations. Yet, our text says, for your
sake, for our sakes, He became poor. Now, let's look at that
a little bit, his poverty, as great as his riches were. I thought about, you know, I
went to that mission, and it'd be a good thing for everybody
to go someplace like that, just every now and then, go to a soup
kitchen or something. I thought, would I trade places
with one of these people? I honestly ask myself that question.
I don't know. I've got it all, don't I? Would I leave a family that loved
me? You know, many people lose everything. There have been many rich people
down through the years who've lost their riches. But only one
I know of Gave it all away. All of it. I don't mean most
of it. I mean all of it. Became poor. The poorest of the poor. His
poverty. You read with me in Philippians
2 how he made himself. You remember the message on the
self-made man? People in this world, if they
could order their lives, if they could make themselves to be,
and people boast of that, he's a self-made man. There's no such
thing. What do we have we have not received? If we received it, why would
we glory as if we made ourselves that way? No, no, no, no. Paul
said, by the grace of God, I am what I am. Have what I have.
Know what I know. Do what I do. But he made himself of no reputation. He made himself poor on purpose. He became poor. He made himself
his birth. He chose his birth, the lowest
birth, the lowliest birth that you could have. He was born in
a barn surrounded by beasts. 1 Timothy 3.16 says, Great is the
mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit, declared to be the Christ in the Spirit.
Scene of angels. Now those angels that worshipped
Him and praised Him in glory. This happened. I'm not making
this up. The angels that beheld him in
glory and his vast riches, his glory and honor, peace and happiness
and all of that, they saw this. They saw him leave. Not knowing really what he was
doing. Okay, where is he going? He's
going to earth. If he told them, if they knew, he's going to earth. He's going to that place. All
right? Then he entered a womb of a woman. And the scripture says he was
seeing of angels. It says, which things did the angels desire
to look into? Well, why is our great Lord leaving
this for that? Surely they must have wondered
at this. Born in a barn, born in a stable, entered the womb, and then he
lived a life, the life that he lived in poverty, working with
his hands in a shop, you know. I've often thought that he willingly
He's got to be tempted at all points. He who had all strength
made himself weak. He's got to know the pain and
the suffering, the sweat of his brow, pain and suffering, splinters
in his flesh. Would you choose that? Would
you choose a hard life of labor? Nobody would. He didn't. He whom
angels served, who everyone served, became a servant. Who did he
serve? Kings? Poor people. Soup kitchen. Why? Because he's got to be touched
with the feeling of our infirmities. He's going to be the lowest of
the low. The lowest of the low. The poorest of the poor. And
then he chose to be of no reputation. He chose to come to a place where everyone
hated him. You know, rich men may be vastly
rich in possessions, But if they don't have honor and glory and
fame, they're miserable, you know? That's why rich men run
for office, political office, don't they? They want that honor
and that glory, right? And they give up all their riches
to be lauded and extolled and honored by men. But our Lord,
the opposite. He left that to come to a place
where everybody hated Him. Despised and rejected men. He left happiness to be a man
of sorrow. He chose as his friends, not
the high and mighty, not the rich and famous, but the publicans
and heartless. for your sake." And everyone
said, for your sake. Who's sake? You see here, Colin
Brennan? Doesn't it say that, for scarcely
for a righteous man will one die, and yet for a good man some
would even dare to die. But God committed His love toward
us, and while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. His dying
words were, Father, forgive them. They don't know what they did. He became poor. You're saying,
who's saying? You see your Carlian brethren?
God has chosen the weak things, the base things, things that
are not, things that are despised. So he became despised and rejected. Would I change places with those
men? Maybe. Would I give my only child for
one of those? No way. This is why God says,
God so loved the world. Hearing His love. Not that we
love God, but He loved us and sent His Son. Man, I wouldn't do it. But it's worse
though. Would I switch places with one
of those down and out destitute men? What if they spit in my
face? What if they said, we don't want
you here, get out of here, we're not interested in anything you
have to say. If you don't get out of here, I'm going to kill
you. That's what we did. Is this not the most amazing
story ever told? This is greatness. His greatness. Oh, He was great, but He became
even greater in His... He was greater in His glory before,
but He's even greater now in His mercy, in His grace, in His
condescension. Oh, He was great in how high
He was, but oh, His greatness shone greater than ever when
He... how low He became. Lowest of the low. Why? Substitution. Would I take the place of those
men? No. Did he? Yes. Who for? Those that didn't want him. Those
that despised him. Those that rejected him. The unworthy. Like
old Hosea did Gomer. Our Lord said, go down and marry
a woman. She's not pretty. She's not going to be faithful.
She's not even going to give you any glory and credit. But
you marry her and show the love that God has for His people. That was Christ. His poverty,
birth, life, occupation, servants were lower, lower still, like
I said. He gave away and set aside His
glory to take shame and dishonor. It says in Hebrews 12, who despised
the shame, that means he thought nothing of it, thought nothing
of it. stripped naked, shamed, mocked, ridiculed, spit in his
face, hung on a cross, brutally beaten and suffered. Why? Because
all those things. He chose his death. He was poor in death in that
he died alone. There was nobody with him. Even God forsook him. That's
what Psalm 22 said. My God, my God, why is thou forsaken? God forsook him. His disciples
forsook him. And everybody hated him. And
everybody mocked him and ridiculed him. He died alone. He died in
shame. He died in dishonor. He died
in disgrace, according to man. Why? Because that's what we deserve. Because that's what we do. So
He took our place. For your sakes. If we're going
to get to glory, He had to leave glory. If we're not going to be put
to shame, Christ had to be put to shame. If we're not going to be mocked
and ridiculed and cast into outer darkness, Christ is going to
have to die. Right? He's going to have to take our
place. Because that's what God's Word
said. And He did. And now, in closing,
let me look at the riches He gave us. Go back to the text
again now. Look at it. It says, He who was
rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty
might be made rich through his poverty. How can someone's poverty
make us rich? Well, like I said, he was poor in honor and glory because we
have none. And God put him to shame so we
wouldn't be. And God forsook him so we wouldn't
be. And God cast him out so we would
be brought in. He did all that. He became poor,
left all of that, willingly left all that to give it to us. What
are these riches that you through His poverty might be made rich?
Well, our possessions. Go with me to 1 Kings 17. Do you know that we possess this
whole earth? I'm serious. I'm serious now. I'm not making
this up. And I'm not getting Pentecostal
on you. I'm not saying God wants you to be healthy and wealthy.
I'm not saying that. He wants you to have a Mercedes.
No, no, no, no, no. We're going to live hand to mouth
all our years. Yes, we are. God's hand, our
mouth. But do you know what's in His
hand? You know, me and you and I have
come at times to come up short on money or whatever, and we
thought, where is it going to come from? And one time I told
her, don't you know by now, it ain't never going to run out? Don't you know by now, 60 something,
haven't you figured this out, where it's coming from? And it's
never going to run out. The barrel is never going to
run dry. Look at this, 1 Kings 17. Elijah
went down to this poor widow's house. She thought she was dying.
She had two sticks she's going to rub together and a little
bit of oil and a little meal and she's going to make one last
meal before she died for her and her boy. And God sent a preacher
with good news. You're not going to die and it's
not going to run dry. Make a good song with it. Elijah said, fear not, verse
13, now here's what you do, make me a cake first. Didn't our Lord say in his Sermon
on the Mount? Seek ye first the kingdom of
God. He said that the sparrows, they don't sow. Your heavenly
Father feeds them. Look at the lilies. They don't
array themselves. Solomon didn't even look like
them. Your heavenly Father knows. Our
Lord had not a place to lay his head. Was he ever uncomfortable? Oh no. Oh no. He didn't have a farm. He didn't
have any food in a cupboard. None. Zero. Every single day
he depended on God to get him some food. Did he ever go hungry? Just willingly. Well, poor Elijah said, make
me a cake first, bring it to me, and after that make one for
you and your son. You're not going to die. You're
going to live. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
the barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruise
of oil fail, until the Lord send rain upon the earth. What's that
talking about? Christ will come down like rain. And that barrel, brothers and
sisters, The meal will not waste and that cruise of oil shall
not fail. And all of that is such a picture of Christ in the
gospel. But that little barrel you got,
that little refrigerator you got will never be empty. And
your well won't run dry. I don't care how many gallons
are coming out of it. I don't care what they say. Ours did
here at the church. You know, it ran dry right up
there. It ran dry. Remember that? You remember,
Margaret, we had to baptize Mack in the old Pig River. And I'm
glad, aren't you? That's why I went dry. That's
one of the most blessed services I've ever been a part of. I'll
never forget that. Well, we dug another one. You know what? It's
a gusher! Twenty-five gallons a minute, Mike. Oh, no. That barrel's not going
to run dry and that cruise is not going to run dry. So she
went. She did what he said. He made
him a cake and that was it. That's all I have. She went to
bed. Woke up next morning. Reached down in that barrel.
Son, I got breakfast. Look at that. Go get some more. No, ain't no oil in that. Mom,
Sally got oil in it. And it went that way for a long
time. All her day, till it rained.
Brothers and sisters, we've got all we need. No oil. And it'll
never run dry. Now that's just material blessing.
Spiritual blessing. Paul talked about blessed be
God who blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things
and places in Christ Jesus because of Christ. Because he who was
rich became poor that we might of his poverty be made rich.
We have all spiritual blessings. He was hated by men so we'd be
loved by God. Forsaken by God so God would
never forsake us. Brothers and sisters, we have
unsearchable, unspeakable riches, and the first one is God loves
us. I hate the fact that religion
has so abused this. But we just don't realize if
God loves us, We've got nothing ever to worry about, ever. I had a wonderful father. He loved me. I know he loved
me. I never lacked for anything. Leadership. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. If you love Christ, if you're
in Christ, if you believe God's Son, if you need Him, if you
believe Him, God loves you. And now I can say this with full
assurance, smile, God loves you. Do you understand what that means?
No, we don't. I don't. To be loved by God,
be never forsaken, to have all we need ever, oh, is to have
the mercy. John said it this way, behold,
now are we the sons of God. Oh, what manner of love! Now
we are the sons of God. It doth not yet appear what we
shall be. And I hadn't seen and e'er hadn't
heard the things that God had prepared for them that love Him,
that love His Son, the mercy of God, the favor of God. I was
going to take you to Isaiah 43. The Lord said, I gave Egypt for
you. I gave Ethiopian Siva for your
rest, since you were precious in my sight. And the greatest
gift at all that God gave to prove His love is His Son. He
who was rich for our sakes became poor. God said, Son, go down
there for these poor, poor people and do all that they need. Provide
all that they need. Will you do this for them? I
have to forsake you. I have to make you to be sinned
for them, to bring them in. Will you go down there and do
this?" He said, I'll do it. with a smile on his face, for
the joy said before, and he did. He did. And where I were loved
by God, we had peace with God. This world is in turmoil. This
world is in chaos. This world is at war with each
other. We have peace, inner peace, peace
with God. No peace for the wicked, but
all those righteous in Christ, we've got peace. We've got a
kingdom. We've got a family that no man,
nothing can take away. No. Can you, you want to just,
well, let me just cover it. In Isaiah 65, he said, he said,
Behold, I make all things new. He said in the former things
will not be remembered for the greatness. You can't imagine
what it was like in the garden. Can you? You try to imagine every
now and then what it must have been like in the garden, just
glorious, just beautiful. But our Lord said the former
glory will not come to mind. The former earth, the earth is
going to be burned up and God's going to create a new one. Wherein
dwelleth righteousness. And God's going to dwell with
us. And we with Him. Rich. We're rich people. We just haven't We just haven't
seen it yet. All right, stand with me.