With Thanksgiving just a few
days away, I thought it would be well to remind ourselves that
there's no one, no one on earth that has more to be thankful
for than a child of God. Is that not so? Will you turn
with me? We'll read a few verses in the
Psalms and then we'll turn to our text. But turn with me first
of all to Psalm 92. The Psalms are just full. Full
of thanksgiving to our God, the one we read earlier. Psalm 103
is an example of it. But in Psalm 92, verses 1 and
2, we read these words. It is a good thing to give thanks
unto the Lord. and to sing praises unto thy
name, O most high, to show forth thy loving kindness in the morning
and thy faithfulness every night. Psalm 100. Psalm 100, verse 3. Know ye that the Lord, he is
God. It is he that hath made us and
not we ourselves. We are his people. Oh, what a
blessed description, his people and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise.
Be thankful unto him and bless his name. For the Lord is good,
his mercy is everlasting, and his truth endureth to all generations. Now turn with me to John's gospel
chapter four. John chapter four. You're familiar with this passage
of scripture. Our Lord goes through Samaria. because one of his sheep is there. And as the great shepherd, he
goes there to seek and to find. But he engages in a conversation
with this woman of Samaria who comes to the well. And in verse
10, he says to her, if thou knewest the gift of God and who, don't
separate the gift of God from the who. who it is that saith
to thee, give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and
he would have given thee living water, if thou knewest. And she didn't. She didn't know. She was going to know before
she left there. Christ would reveal himself to
her. But she didn't know. She had some religion, but she
didn't know Christ. And there was a time, there was
a time that you and I as believers, before we were believers, we
didn't know either. Brother Lloyd, we didn't know
the gift of God or who he was. But just as here, we see the
great shepherd. who himself said, I've come to
seek and to save that which was lost. When he was accused by
the religious leaders in his day of associating with sinners,
he pled guilty to the charge. And he said, not only do I eat
with sinners and receive sinners, I go out on purpose looking for
sinners. And he says, I continue to look
and seek until I find them, Luke 15. And when I find them, he
said, I put them on my shoulders. I leave the ninety and nine,
you Pharisees that have no need of me, you that don't need a
position. I leave you where you're at.
But I go out searching for a needy sinner. And when I find him,
what did he say he does? He puts it up on his shoulders.
shoulders of omnipotent grace and he says he brings it home
all the way home all the way to glory and he rejoices to do
so. He must go through Samaria. We're told in verse four when
I read this the other day, I thought my soul I could say the same
thing. when the great shepherd of the
sheep said, I must go to a little town you never heard of, Oak
Hill, West Virginia. There's one of my sheep there. One of my sheep. And he went
there to a certain house. to a certain sinner. And with
absolute reigning grace, he declared, the Son of Man has come again
to seek and to save that which was lost. And man was I lost. groping in absolute darkness. And he called, he called the
most rebellious of the five sons living there by his marvelous
grace. He called that one that was causing
the most heartache to his parents. God help me, help me not to get
over that wonder. The greatest miracle, the greatest
evidence of God's power and mercy is the fact that he called me
by his grace. If you knew the gift of God,
let me ask you, do you? Do you know the gift of God? Do you? Now, as we said a moment
ago, this woman knew some things. She brings them out to our Lord
and makes mention of them on down in the chapter. But he brushed
it all aside as if to say, that's not enough. That's not enough. If you knew the gift of God and
who? I'm never tired of saying it. And I have no reason to believe
that it doesn't need to continually be said. The gift of God is not
what? It's who? It's who? It's the Lord Jesus Christ himself. That's the one in Luke chapter
two. When our Lord as a mere babe
in the arms of his mother was brought to the temple to do after
the matter of the law because he was born under the law. He came to fulfill the law. And at that same moment, There
was a man in Israel, in Jerusalem rather, Simeon. And God promised
that man, you won't die. You won't die. You're not going
to leave this world until you see my salvation. And he came into the temple,
and Mary comes in with the babe. The babe. That little dark-skinned, Jewish,
Baby. Boy. And God, the Holy Spirit,
whispered into Simeon's ear and said, that's him. That's him. Isn't that amazing? The Word was made flesh. He who was God and never ceased
to be God was made flesh and dwelt, tabernacled among us for
a while. And Simeon reached out and took
that babe in his arms Lord, now let your servant die in peace. Why? Because I've seen. I've seen with my own eyes. I've seen your salvation. Have you seen God's salvation?
Do you know the gift of God? Have you by faith been made to
grab that one who alone is God's salvation? Paul likewise sits
in prison and he writes his last words to his beloved son in the
faith, Timothy. And he says, Timothy, nevertheless,
Nevertheless, everyone forsook me. When I stood before Nero,
nobody wanted to be identified with me except Luke. Demas had
forsaken me. They all ran out. But nevertheless,
Timothy, oh, what a blessed, blessed prospect
to leave this world knowing as Paul said, I know whom I have
believed, brother Lord. That makes all the difference
in the world. All the difference in the world, Louie. To live with him forever, to
leave this world, to go out, as old top lady wrote, the world's
unknown. Oh, but to have him. Him, the gift of God. I know whom I have believed. Multitudes live and die and face
God without knowing the gift of God. Like this woman at the
well. They can tell you about their
religion. They can tell you things they've
done. They can tell you things they
know. But in their heart of hearts,
they don't know whom. They don't know him. and salvation
is in Him. If I don't have Christ, I don't
have God's acceptance. If I don't have Christ, I don't
have any hope before a holy God. Oh! But if I know Him, if I have
Him, if I know the gift of God, Christ Jesus Himself, then I
have all that a holy God can require. All that a holy God
will accept. Whom do men say that I, the Son
of Man, am? He asked his disciples. Oh, there's
various opinions. Just like today. Everyone has
an opinion. He's a good moral man, but God? He was a good teacher, but God? Who am I, Peter? Who am I? And I tell you, Peter proved
time and time again that he was just a frail, faltering man,
just like you and I. But, oh, did he hit the nail
on the head this day when our Lord said, Peter, who am I? And Peter said this, worth more
than gold, worth more than all the world's treasures, You're
the Christ, Todd. That's what he said. He looked
at Christ, looked at Jesus of Nazareth and said, it doesn't
matter what anybody else thinks or say, I know that you're the
Christ. You're the Messiah. You're the
one we've been looking for. You're the one that all the Old
Testament prophets, the Psalms, Moses, the whole Old Testament,
you're the one it spoke of. You're the Christ, the Son of
the living God. And you remember what our Lord
said. Peter, you're smarter than these other people. No. Peter,
you've kind of... educated yourself into knowing
this, no, it doesn't come that way. It doesn't come that way.
Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood didn't reveal
this to you, but my Father which is in heaven. God Almighty's
done something for you, Peter. He's revealed to you. He's revealed
to you who I am. Oh, thanks be unto God for his
unspeakable gift. And that's our text. Turn, if
you will, to 2 Corinthians 2 Corinthians chapter 9, only one verse there. As I said, with Thanksgiving
being so near, and I enjoyed that holiday. Look forward to
it. Look forward to feasting. Look forward to being with family
and friends, loved ones. but most of all, Paul says in
verse fifteen of second Corinthians nine, thanks be unto God for
his unspeakable gift. Three things there. The giver
and that is God. The gift unspeakable can only
refer to the Jesus Christ and then gratitude. That's for the
believer to do. Give thanks unto God for his
unspeakable gift. First, the giver. God. 700 years before our Lord came
into this world, Isaiah prophesied unto us, a child is born. Isaiah 9 and 6. Unto us a son
is given. Was ever there such a gift as
this? Unspeakable. unspeakable. It doesn't mean that we don't
speak of him. We tried to speak of him, as
I'm trying to do now, but old words just seem to fail us, do
they not? How do you describe him? How
do you describe that one who is both man and God? Unsearchable riches, Paul says
in Ephesians 3, the ancient of days. Think about that. Try to wrap your mind around
that. He had no beginning and he had
no end. From everlasting to everlasting,
thou art God. The ancient of days becomes an
infant of days. He who made woman was made of
a woman. He's called a child and yet the
counselor. He's called the son and yet the
everlasting father. He's called a man of sorrows
and yet he's the mighty God. In Hebrews chapter 2, We're told
because his children, his brethren, were flesh and blood, he likewise
took part of the same, that he might taste death for his own. A son is given. not born as the
son. No, he was always the son. God
sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law. Without controversy,
Paul said, great is the mystery of godliness. No man has seen
God in any time, John wrote. The only begotten son who is
in the bosom of the father, he had declared him. Philip told
him, asked him that night, just before they went to the garden,
he was betrayed and arrested. Show us the father and we'll
be satisfied. Philip, have I been with you
all this time and you've not known me? Philip, if you've seen
me, you've seen the father. I and my father are one. Was ever such a gift given to
such an undeserving people? We didn't ask for him to come,
did we? And when he did come, we didn't
desire him. He was in the world, and the
world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto
his own, and his own received him not. And yet God sent forth
his Son, sent him into the world for the salvation of his people.
God gave us Christ in that everlasting covenant of grace from eternity. chosen in his son. God gave us
Christ his son in his incarnation. He was made flesh. He was made
flesh that he might be made sin. Mr. Spurgeon said, I don't know
which is the greatest marvel. the greatest marvel, or his heights
of glory, or his depths of woe. He that was God was made man,
and then he was made sin. He was made sin. That's how it
reads. God had made him sin. Sin. The sinless son of God was
made sin. that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. God gave us his son on Mount
Calvary. You remember when Abraham was
ready to sacrifice his son Isaac, the son of promise, the son that
God said through whom all the nations of the world should be
blessed? And as he raised the dagger to
slay his son, God stayed his hand and spoke from heaven and
said, stop, Abraham, stop. Stop. Put up the knife. Put up your dagger. Spare your
son. Oh, but when our Lord, the Lord
of glory, the God-man was nailed to that cross on Calvary, and
the arm of God's holy justice was made bare, and the sword
was drawn, which declared the soul that sinneth, it shall die? God didn't stay His hand, did
He? He didn't stop the sword of divine
justice, did He? Oh no, on the contrary, He said,
Awake, O sword, against the man who is My fellow. Smite the shepherd. And God Almighty slew His Son. And His Son, bless his name,
on Calvary. He took that cup, that cup of
divine justice, and he put it to his lips, that cup that he
prayed in the garden as the blood sweat and blood mixed together
and fell to the ground. Let this cup pass from me. On Calvary he takes that cup
and he drinks damnation dry to the point where God Almighty
Himself says, that's enough. That's enough. I'm satisfied. He brought in an everlasting
justice. Oh yes, a rather everlasting
salvation. Yes, thanks be unto God for his
unspeakable gift. God gave us his son. Joseph Gabriel said, As Joseph
laid on his bed, tossing and turning, wondering what to do
with Mary, not having a clue as to what had taken place, I'll
put her away privately. I don't want to expose her. I'll
put her away privately. Nobody need know. And Gabriel
said, Joseph, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid to take her to
be your wife. Because that which is conceived in her is of the
Holy Ghost. And when he's born, Joseph, when God, when God comes into
this world as flesh of our flesh and bone
of our bones, God is made like his brethren. Give him this name,
Jesus. Jesus. Why? Why are we going
to call him Jesus? Because he's going to make an
effort, Louie, to do something for somebody somehow. No. No,
no. Call his name Jesus. Why? Because
it means the salvation of the Lord. God's salvation. Call his name Jesus. For he shall
save his people from their sins. Glory to his name. Jesus, a certain
Savior, on a certain mission to save His people. A certain
people, His people. And a certain outcome, He shall
save. He shall save all of His people
from all of their sins. He will so completely save them. purge them, carry their sins
away like the scapegoat in the wilderness, never to be seen
again. The sins of all of his people
will be buried in the sea of iniquity with the sign put up,
no fishing allowed, because the sins are all gone. And he will
be such a mighty Savior and so thoroughly purge his people that
in that day when he brings the children, all the children from the East
and the West and the North and the South, when they're all gathered
with their Redeemer before the throne of a holy God, God himself will see not a spot
not a blemish, not a trace of sin in any one of them whatsoever. As a matter of fact, we're told,
they're without fault before the throne of God. Thanks be
unto God for his unspeakable gift. Man of sorrows, what a
name. For the Son of God who came,
ruined sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah. What a savior. Turn if you will to Galatians.
Galatians chapter one. Galatians chapter one verses
twelve through fourteen. Verse twelve of Galatians one. Giving thanks unto the father
which had made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light who had delivered us from the power of
darkness. Remember that, child of God?
Remember that darkness that engulfed your soul? And he delivered you,
and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son, in whom
we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of
sins, who hath made us meet The word means fit. Fit. Worthy. Deserving. Think of that. Deserving. How can that be? How can that
be? How can this rebel, this sinner,
how can he be fit, worthy, deserving of God's grace and mercy in his
son? in his son. How can he have any
hope of standing before God and hearing God say, enter in. Come
in. Welcome home. Welcome home. Enter into the joy. All this. It's all been prepared for you
from the foundation of the world and you're fit to receive it.
I go to prepare a place for you and I prepared you for the place.
How can that be? Amazing grace. That's the only
answer. Amazing grace. Oh, how far we
fell in our father Adam, but oh, how high we've been brought
in our Lord Jesus Christ. Behold, behold. God's unspeakable gift. Behold,
when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his
son. made of a woman, made under the
law, to what? Preachers talk about Christ's
mission, the reason he came, what he did
when he was here, with uncertainty. He tried. And everything he did is dependent
upon what you do. That's not very good news, is
it? Oh, but no, no. He came to redeem his people
and he did. He accomplished eternal redemption
for us. The gift, the gift. Thanks be
unto God for his unspeakable gift. God sent his son, gave
us his son, and the gift is Jesus Christ himself. Unspeakable. Words, every time I leave this pulpit
and I'm alone, I look back and think, man, what a pitiful attempt. What a pitiful effort. I wanted
to exalt him who alone is worthy and how utterly I failed. Where can you find words sufficient
to describe his worth? John heard him and turned to
see the voice that he heard on the owl of Patmos and he said
he saw the Son of God. And John, did you preach your
best sermon then? What did you say? John said,
I couldn't speak. I couldn't say anything. What
did you do, John? I fell at his feet in his presence. in His presence with an awareness
of who He is, His glory, His majesty, His worth. What did you do, John? I fell
down like a dead man. like a dead man at His feet. Preach, John said. I couldn't
even speak. I couldn't even speak in His
glorious presence. Who can measure His worth? God Almighty. God Himself said. And remember, God demands perfection. God won't accept anything but
perfection. God won't accept any standard
of holiness except His own standard, which is Himself. How good does
a person have to be to go to heaven? Try this on. As good
as God Almighty. Now, how does your decision measure
up to that? And the Lord Himself looked down
from glory and said, this is my beloved Son. That day he came
up out of the water, identifying himself with his people, baptized,
and coming up out of the water, we're told, God spoke from heaven
and said what he had never said before concerning anyone. Abraham, yes. the friend of God. David, yes, a man after God's
own heart. Enoch, yes, walked with God,
but only of Jesus of Nazareth was it ever said, this is my
son, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. In whom? Not with whom, but in
whom? And brothers and sisters, In
him, God's well-pleased with his people as well. I come to
do thy will, O my God. And he did. He did. In that perfect life under God's
holy law, he did all those things that pleased the Father. And
in that death, bearing the law's curse until God says, that's
enough. That's enough. And the God-man,
that man who is God, said, it's finished. It's finished. It's accomplished. I've done
all I came to do. And the God-man, three days later,
arose from the dead and ascended back to glory. That man who is
himself God, a man in glory, John, of man in glory. He himself has entered into the
holy place. Our forerunner is entered there
to appear in the presence of God for us as our representative. We have an advocate in glory,
the firstborn among many brethren, that seed that bringeth forth
much fruit, all the unspeakable gift. Again, I ask, where are
words that can describe his worth, his value? Again, from Isaiah
9, his name shall be wonderful, wonderful as to who he is. Who he is gives merit to what
he's done. He clothes me in perfect righteousness,
the very righteousness of God. You've heard me tell the story.
I'll give you an abbreviated version. Running up that holler as a young
boy, making the last turn in the road
and seeing the light on in that house that we lived in, the last
house. You could go no further. Anytime
anyone come up there, they were either lost or they wanted to
see us. And mom tucking me in. And that
old bed spread as she would throw it up. It did come floating down. all around me. Lester, I never
felt so secure, so safe. I was home. Paul said, in that day, when
I stand before God Almighty, I want to be found, not in my
own filthy rags of my own self-righteousness, but I want to be found in Him.
in His righteousness, standing before God, Lord, covered up,
completely clothed in the absolute perfect righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ with His holy garments on, as holy as God's
own Son. Complete. lacking absolutely
nothing, excepted now, excepted for eternity. Why? Because this
unspeakable gift of God's grace said, I have trodden the winepress
alone. When God shall make his soul
an offering for sin, he shall see him to develop his soul and
be satisfied. Oh, the bliss. Isn't it bliss,
brothers and sisters? Isn't it bliss? Oh, the bliss
of this glorious thought. My sins not in part but the whole
are nailed to his cross and I bear them no more. Praise the lord. Praise the lord. Oh my soul. Thanks be unto god for his unspeakable
gift. Old Martin Luther who knew something
about trying to work out a righteousness of your own before god. Before
the lord opened his eyes, he wrote this. What gives peace
to the conscience is that by faith our sins are no more ours,
but Christ, upon whom God had laid them all, and that on the
other hand all Christ's righteousness is ours. I call that the great
exchange. Our sin was placed upon him,
his righteousness was placed upon us. Christ lays his hand
on us and we are healed. He cast his mantle upon us and
we are clothed for his glorious savior, blessed forever. So comforting. Then last of all,
Paul says, thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. Thanks. That's our part. That's do him. Ask yourself this. Where would
I be without him? still lost, still wandering without
him to find me. If the great shepherd, if the
great shepherd hadn't come to where I was, I'd still be lost,
Todd. If I, if he hadn't come to where
I lay dead in sins, I'd still be there. If he hadn't come and
said, arise. If he hadn't come, I'd stand
before God in a little while, in a short time, and hear him
say, instead of enter in, depart from me, you cursed. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable
gift. I don't imagine Barna Mae has
ever got tired of telling the story of that day like every
other day in his miserable existence, that he groped his way to that
spot near the gate of Jericho and sat down there every day
in his rags and his poverty and his blindness. And if somebody
would walk by and he'd hear their footsteps, can you help a poor
beggar? Can you help me? Can you help me? I can't help
myself. I'm a beggar. Have mercy. And he would say, but one day.
One day I sat there like every other day, and I heard a big
crowd. And I shouted out, what's this
all about? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth
is coming by. And Bartimaeus would say, you
know what I did? I started to cry out loud as I could. Jesus,
have mercy on me. And they told me to be quiet.
But I couldn't. Pass me not, O gentle Savior. What happened, Barnabas? He stood still. He stopped. He stopped and he
called for me. And he said, receive thy sight. Can you just see Bartimaeus going
down the road singing, thanks be unto God for his unspeakable
gift. Or that leper, that leper that
came to him. If you will, if you will. You remember that, don't you?
Not been too long ago, has it? When mercy and grace was the
most important thing in your life. Nothing else much mattered. The bigger house? The better
job? The second car? Oh, no. What difference does that make?
What if I gain the whole world or lose my own soul? Lord, the
leper said, if you will, you can make me clean. And he touched him. He touched
him. The leper said, my soul? He touched
me. And just as soon as he touched
me, saying, be thou clean, I was perfectly whole. Can you see
that man? As he goes back home to his wife
and family, he had been outcast, singing, thanks be unto God,
for his unspeakable gift. In Leviticus chapter 14, you
can read about the offering for the cleansed leper. The man that
was cleansed was to take two birds to the priest. And the
priest would take one bird and over an earthen vessel, he would
kill the bird and catch his blood in that earthen vessel. And then
the second bird, the living bird, he would dip into the blood of
the sacrificed bird and would take it out into an open field
and let it go. Can you just picture that? as
he flies through the air with the blood of that sacrificed
bird dripping from his wings. Redeemed. Redeemed. How I love to proclaim it. Redeemed by the blood of the
Lamb. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 6 and we'll wrap this up. As we read these verses together,
I pray God would make our hearts unite in saying thanks be unto
God for His unspeakable gift. In 1 Corinthians 6, verse 9,
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom
of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators nor adopters, nor
adulterers, nor infeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
nor thieves, nor covenants, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor
extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were
some of you. And such were some of you. But but you're washed, you're
sanctified, you're justified in the name of the Lord Jesus
and by the spirit of our God. Here's pardon for transgressions
past. It matters not how black they're
cast and oh my soul with wonder of you for sins to come. Here's pardon too. How grateful will we be when
we stand before God? with Jesus Christ, our mediator. Robert Murray McShane wrote this,
when I stand before the throne, dressed in beauty not my own,
when I see thee as thou art, love thee with unsinning heart,
then Lord shall I fully know, not till then, how much I owe. This Thursday, when you sit down,
the Lord willing, with family, loved ones, and enjoy the providence
of God's hand, his provision. Remember the words our Lord spoke
to that demoniac that he crossed the sea to find and to save. He said, go home to thy friends
and tell them what great things the Lord had done for thee and
has had compassion on thee. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable
gift. Lord bless you. Amen.