Would you turn back to Romans
12 while you're turning there? We're going to observe the Lord's
table tonight. And the Lord said, this do in remembrance of me. That's quite a reason to observe
the Lord's table, isn't it? This do in remembrance of me. One of the seven gifts of grace to the church from the Lord Jesus
Christ is the gift of giving. He that giveth, we read. He that giveth. Let him do it
with simplicity or liberality is the word. Question, where would you and I be without
the Lord's giving? The wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now what would happen to me if
God paid me what he owed me according to my works? What would happen? I love what
David said in Psalm 103 verse 10. The Lord hath not dealt with
us after our sins. nor rewarded us according to
our iniquities. Now what would happen if he did
deal with me and you according to our sins? What would happen
if he did reward us according to our iniquities? Well, I know what would happen
to me. I'd go to hell. That's what would happen. I think
of the scripture in 1 Corinthians 4, 7 and considering the Lord's
giving, who makes you to differ from somebody else? And what do you have that you
didn't receive? Everything you have is a gift
of God. Everything. The physical ability
you have to be here, the strength to be here, the will to be here. If you have faith, He gave it
to you. If you have love to Christ, He gave it to you. If you have
a hope, He gave it to you. I mean, what do you have that
you didn't receive, that God did not give to you? The giving
of God. Wages of sin is death, but the
gift, the gift of God, is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Now, I want you to think about
this. In Romans 5, 17, righteousness is called a gift. The gift of
righteousness. Now, this is not like I've got
this paper that says I'm righteous. No, if God gives me righteousness,
that means I myself am righteous. And it's a gift. The gift of
his grace. the righteousness of Jesus Christ
the Lord. We read in the scriptures of
the gift of the Holy Spirit. And if you know anything about
the depravity of your own nature, if you know anything about the
plague of your own heart, how precious is the gift of the Holy
Spirit. It's by the Holy Spirit that
I believe. It's by the Holy Spirit that
I love Christ. It's by the Holy Spirit that
I truly have repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now I need the Spirit of God. Christ himself is called the
gift of grace. What a gift, the gift of grace.
I love what Paul called it in 2 Corinthians, the unspeakable
gift. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable,
indescribable gift. Free? Costly to God, but free
to us. Ephesians 2, 8, 9 says, For by
grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it's
the, what? Gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. Every good gift, James said,
and every perfect gift is from above. and cometh down from the
Father of lights, in whom is no variableness, neither shadow
of turning. The Lord said to the woman at
the well, if you knew, I know I hope somebody hears this, if
you knew the gift of God, the free gift, no strings attached. Do you hear that? No strings
attached. Every gift I give has strings
attached. I give you something, I'm expecting
something out of you. Isn't that awful? That's the
way we all are. That's the way we all are. But
not his gift. Not his gift. If you knew the
gift of God and who it is that saith to thee, give me to drink,
you would have asked. And he would have given you. Oh, if you knew, you'd ask. and he would give. I pray that
we have some people who know the gift of God this morning
and who ask and who are given. You see the gospel is about God's
giving. God so loved the world in this
manner. That's what so means. He loved
the world in this manner. God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son. Now I want you to think of the
magnitude of God's gift. God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son. Now, The only begotten son, this
name which he gives his son indicates that he is the sole representative
of the being and the character of him who sent him. You know I like saying that.
He is the sole representative. of the being and character of
the one who sent him. Now this beginning is not an
event of time, it's a fact. Irrespective of time, Christ
did not become, but necessarily and eternally is the only begotten
of the Father. A person possessing every attribute
of pure Godhead. When I say something like that,
I'm just awed because I don't even know what I'm talking about.
I can just say it because I know it so. The glory of the one God
gave. God so loved the world. That He gave. This one we're speaking of is
the brightness of the Father's glory. He's the express image
of His person. All you're ever going to see
of God is Jesus Christ. And this is the one who the Father
gave. Herein is love. Not that we love
God. but that He loved us and sent
His Son to be the propitiation for our sins, the reason God
can be satisfied with us. Christ's death was a perpetuatory
death. He removed God's reason for anger
because by His death, He actually removed the sin. That's who God
gave. Now, the Son gave Himself for
us. Now, before I go on, I've got
to make a statement regarding who the us is. Somebody says,
is that necessary? Yes, it is. Yes, it is. Who is
the us? Everybody he died for. All that
the father gave him before time began. All who receive him. If you haven't received him,
he was never given to you. Because everybody the father
gives the son to, they receive him, don't they? The us is all
of God's elect. every believer. And the reason
I want to point that out, and that the scripture points that
out, is that if by us is meant every man without exception,
that makes this gift meaningless. Because it could be he'd give
himself for you and you end up in hell anyway, and that makes
the gift meaningless. No, the us represents all that
the Father gave to the Son. In John chapter 6 verse 37, the
Lord said, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. You know, even the ability to
receive him is his gift. If you receive him, listen to
what the scripture says, a man can receive nothing. Nothing
except it be given him from above. Why, even the empty hand that
reaches out to receive the fullness of the Lord Jesus Christ is the
gift of God. You wouldn't even receive him
unless God the Father caused you to do it. Now, to think of
him giving himself as a gift, the first thing I think about
is he gave himself as my surety before time began. In Hebrews
chapter 7 verse 22, he's called the surety of a better covenant,
of the better covenant. You know what that means? That
means that when he became my surety, and this happened before
time began, that means that he took full responsibility for
my salvation. You know what that means? That
means none of it's on me. That means it's all on Him. And beloved, I sure enough like
it that way. Don't you? I wouldn't want it to be any
other way. He took full responsibility for
my salvation. He says regarding each one of
His people, as Judah said of Benjamin, I will be surety for
him. To think of the Lord saying that
about me. I will be surety for him. Of mine hand shalt thou
require him. If I bring him not unto thee, and
set him before thee, let me bear the blame forever. Turn with me a moment to the
little book of Philemon, right before the book of Hebrews. This is Paul writing to Philemon on behalf
of Onesimus, the runaway slave. But look what he says regarding
Philemon receiving this runaway slave. He says in verse 17, If thou count me therefore a
partner, receive him as myself. And God the Son says to God the
Father, if you count me as your partner, co-equal with the Father,
the glorious Son. If you count me that way, you
receive him, Todd, runaway slave. myself. If he hath wronged thee,
or oweth thee aught, put that on mine account. I, Paul, have
written it with my own hand. I'll repay it." And that's what
Christ says regarding every one of his people. He gave himself
to be my surety. Paul said in Galatians 2 20,
I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave What? Himself. He gave himself for me. Now, what is involved in this
thing of him giving himself? Because you give yourself, you
give everything, don't you? What's involved in him giving
himself for me? I mean, he gave himself. Well, in Philippians chapter
two, We read of two stoops he went through in order to give
himself for me. First, he was made flesh. For him to give himself for me,
he had to become a man. who being in the form of God
thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Yet he made himself
of no reputation and took upon himself the form of a servant.
He became flesh. The creator became flesh. That's his first stupid. And
his second stoop was death. He became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Now that is what is involved
in him giving himself for me. Now this is so beautifully illustrated
in John chapter 8, if you'll turn with me there. John chapter 8. Somebody may be thinking, I thought
you were going to be talking about giving. I am. He's giving. You know, the Lord
said, it's more blessed to give than to receive. He's the more
blessed one, isn't he? We're the receivers. He's the
giver. Look in John chapter 8. Jesus
went unto the Mount of Olives, and early in the morning, he
came into the temple, and all the people came unto him, and
he sat down, and taught them. And the scribes and Pharisees
brought unto him a woman taken in adultery. Now we know from verse 4 that
she was taken in the very act. This wasn't hearsay. They saw
this firsthand. And the two questions that come
to my mind is number one, was this a setup? I believe it was. And number two, where was the
man? They just brought the woman. But let's go on reading. And the scribes and Pharisees
brought unto him a woman taken in adultery. And I want you to
think what havoc this particular sin has done in this world. How many homes has it broken
up? How many lives has it ruined? This is no... It's bad. It's bad. And they say unto him, Master,
this woman was taken in adultery in the very act. Now, Moses in
the law commanded us that such should be stoned. But what sayest
thou? This they said, tempting him
that they might have to accuse him. These scribes and pharisees,
every one of us is one of these by nature, scribe and pharisee,
everybody in here, I'm looking, bunch of pharisees. You know
that about yourself, don't you? It's just our nature, self-righteousness,
self-indication, self-justification. They thought they could trick
the Lord. They thought, well, if he says stoner, we can say,
what about your compassion for sinners? If he says, let her
go, we can say, Where's your respect for God's holy law? They
thought they had the Lord in a place where he would be condemned
by whatever he did. Now, you're in the wrong place
when you're trying to fool omniscience, aren't you? What could they do
with him? They thought they could do something.
No, no. We're talking about the Son of
God here. And let's go on reading. This they said, tempting him
that they might have to accuse him, but Jesus stooped down. Now this is the first of two
different times he stooped during this story. But Jesus stooped down and with
his finger wrote on the ground, and I love this comment, as though
he heard them not, don't you hear us? He stooped down, writing with
his finger on the ground. Now, I've preached from this
four or five times over the years, and I feel like I know what he
was writing. There's only two times where
we read of the finger of God writing anything. The first time
is when the finger of God wrote the commandments. Thou shalt
not commit adultery. And the second time was when
he wrote to Belshazzar in Daniel chapter 5, the finger of God
appeared and wrote on the wall, thou art weighed in the balances
and found wanting. And I think this was written
so all these people could see this. Thou shalt not commit adultery. And thou art weighed in the balances
and found one thing. That was true of every one of
these men. If not literally, I think literally,
but if not literally in their heart, they were just as guilty
of this sin as this woman was. But they bring her before him
and he writes this in the ground. Verse seven. So when they continued
asking him, he lifted up himself and said unto them, He that is
without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again, he stooped down and
wrote on the ground. Second stoop. The first stoop
is incarnation. The second stoop is death. And they which heard, being convicted
by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at
the eldest, even unto the last. And Jesus was left alone and
the woman standing in the midst. And when Jesus had lifted up
himself, now he's speaking to her on resurrection ground. This is so important. He's speaking
to her on resurrection ground. He stooped when he became a man,
he stooped when he died, and now he lifts himself up once
again and he's speaking to her on resurrection ground. When
Jesus had lifted up himself and saw none but the woman, he said
unto her, Woman, where are those unaccusers? Hath
no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus
said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee. How? He's speaking to her on
resurrection ground. That sin has been put away. There's nothing to condemn her
for. Now, if you're a believer, that
is your heritage. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. And then he says to her, go and
sin no more. You reckon he would have said,
well, since you're not condemned, you can go ahead and continue in this
sin? Of course not. Go and sin no more. And then said Jesus
again unto them, I'm the light of the world. He's the light
as to how that can be. How Christ can say to this guilty
woman, taken in the very act, I don't condemn you. Why? There's only one reason for him
not to condemn us. It's because there's nothing
to condemn her Now, I think of the Lord's giving himself. Listen to this scripture, Romans
8, 31 and 32. If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him
freely? freely. That means there doesn't
have to be anything in you that would move him to give it to
you. If he gives you something, if he gives me something, it's
not because even I asked for it or because I wanted or I need
it. No, he does so freely. That means
without a cause in me and you. He doesn't have to have a reason
in you to give you anything. Well, I sure am glad because
if he had to find a reason, I wouldn't get anything. Ephesians 5 25 says husbands
love your wives as Christ also loved the church and gave himself
for it that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing
of water by the word that he might present it to himself a
glorious church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing
but that it should be holy and without blemish before him. Now
that is the result of his giving. Everybody he gave himself for,
they are holy and without blemish before him. In Matthew chapter
11 verse 28, he said, Come unto me, all ye that labor and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest. He's got the ability to give
it, and he's got the willingness to give it. He said, I will give
you rest. You come to me. I will give you
rest. The rest of not working. The
rest of being accepted in the beloved. What a rest there is
to know that all that God requires of me. He looks to his Son for,
and I rest. In John chapter 10 verses 24
through 28, The Pharisee said to Christ,
if thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. And he said, I told
you plainly, and you believe not. The works that I do in my
Father's name, they bear witness of me, but you believe not because
you're not of my sheep. I love the way the Lord talked,
don't you? You believe not because you're not of my sheep. As I
said unto you, my sheep hear my voice, I know them, they follow
me, and I give. unto them eternal life, and they
shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. My Father which gave them me is greater than
all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
My Father and I are one. In John chapter 6 verse 65, our
Lord said, No man can come to me except it were given to him.
of my Father." Now, if you've come to Christ for mercy, and
that's what every believer does, there's people who come to Christ.
That means believe on Him. You look to Him only as everything
in your salvation. That's because the Father gave
you to do this. John 14, 27, He said, My peace,
My peace I give unto you. Now, you think of the peace that
exists between the Father and the Son. Oh, the Son has no guilt of sin
that would hide the Father's face. He has perfect communion,
perfect union with the Father. Oh, the peace that exists between
the Father and the Son. The Father is so pleased with
Him. There's nothing to... Peace! And the Lord says, My
peace I give unto you. Whatever the peace that exists
between the Father and the Son, that's the peace every believer
has, whether they enter into it fully or not. God's at peace
with me. Ephesians 2.14 says, He is our
peace. In John 17, verse 8, He says,
I've given unto them the words which thou gavest Me. He's given
us His Word. Aren't you thankful that you
don't have to sit here and listen to a man's opinion? You're listening to
the very Word of God. Where would we be without this?
He says, I've given them your words. John 17, 22, he said,
The glory which thou gavest me, I have given them, that they
may be one, even as we are one. First Corinthians 15, 56 and
57 says, The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin
is the law, but thanks be unto God, which giveth us the victory. Now this victory that every believer
has, it's a, I guess the, when my team wins,
I didn't participate. I was just watching, but it's
my victory. I guarantee you this afternoon,
if the Bengals win, they're 6-0, if they win, I'll be just as
happy as any one of them. I'll look at it as my victory.
Now, I'll be sad, too, if they lose, so let's hope they win,
but here's the point. We're spectators. We're spectators,
but this victory is ours, isn't it? Thanks be unto God, which
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. That's
why I don't know of anything that I dislike much more when
somebody says he's living a defeated Christian life. There's no such
thing. Thanks be unto God, which always
causes us to triumph in Christ. Everything that happens to me,
God uses for my good and his glory. And every believer always
triumphs in Christ. James said in James 4, 6, he
giveth more grace. Aren't you thankful for that?
More grace? Not just a one-time gift. It's continual. Streams of mercy never ceasing
call for songs of loudest praise. Now I repeat, the gospel is about
God's giving, and one of his gifts is the gift of giving. The gift of giving. Somebody
once said, Do believers need to be taught to give, or does
it come natural? Well, to that question, the answer
is yes and yes. Yes, they need to be taught,
and yes, it comes natural. Now turn with me to 2 Corinthians
chapter 8. He that giveth, let him do it with simplicity, with
liberality. Verse 1. Moreover, brethren, we do you
to wit, we want you to know of the grace of God bestowed upon
the churches of Macedonia. Now when he wants us to know
about the grace of God, he doesn't come out at this time with definitions
of grace. I come up with all kinds of good
definitions of grace, scriptural definitions of grace, but Paul
doesn't do that. When he says, I want you to know about the
grace of God which was bestowed upon the churches in Macedonia,
and here's how it's seen, verse 2, how that in a great trial
of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty
abounded unto the riches of their liberality. That's the same word
translated simplicity in our text. He that giveth, let him
do it with simplicity. Here the word is called liberality
or generosity. Verse 3, For to their power,
I bear record, yea, and beyond their power, they were willing
of themselves. There was a willingness in this.
There was a cheerfulness in this. I love that scripture. God loveth
a cheerful giver. Let me tell you two things that
we ought to be cheerful about according to the scriptures.
We'll be cheerful about giving. We'll be cheerful about showing
mercy. That comes up next in Romans
12, that gift of him that showeth mercy, let him do it with cheerfulness.
For to their power I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they
were willing of themselves, praying us with much entreaty that we'd
receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering
of the saints." They were saying, take this gift. Paul was, I guess,
thinking, you're all so poor, you can't give this. And they
were saying, take it. Take it. Verse 5, And this they
did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the
Lord, and unto us by the will of God. Here's what they gave
first, themselves. insomuch that we desired Titus,
that as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same grace
also. Therefore, as you abound in everything,
in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence,
and in your love to us, see that you abound in this grace also,
this grace of giving. Now I speak not by commandment.
I'm not telling you what to do. but by occasion of the forwardness
of others, and to prove, to demonstrate the sincerity of your love."
I think that's such a powerful scripture. What does love do? Love gives, doesn't it? What proves the sincerity of
my love? What I say or what I give? Giving proves the sincerity.
the simplicity, the liberality of your love. Now verse 9, here's
the argument he uses, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that though he was rich, and you think of the riches of
Christ, And we're not just talking about material riches because
indeed everything belongs to Him. The earth is the Lord's
and the fullness thereof. He said the cattle on a thousand
hills are mine. I love to be, you know every time I'm going
down the highway and I see a bunch of cattle on a hill, I think those belong
to the Lord. Just like everything else does. The cattle on a thousand.
He said if I was hungry, I wouldn't tell you about it. The Lord doesn't
have any needs. He has all things. Though He's
rich, but yet He was rich in His Father's love. Rich in His
Father's His presence, His richness consisted in His relationship
with His Father. Though He was rich, yet for your
sakes He became poor. Now He did become poor physically.
Do you know the Lord was a street person? He didn't have a home. He was a street person. You know,
in that passage in John chapter 8, everybody went to his home.
The Lord went to the Mount of Olives to sleep in the garden.
He didn't have a home to go to. He said the son of man hath nowhere
to lay his head. He was a street person. Now that gives us some
idea of the importance of what people call wealth and riches.
You know, these health wealth preachers that talk about, you
know, it's God's will for you to have all this, to have all
that. Those guys don't know God. They
don't know God. More than becoming materially
poor, when he was on the cross, he no longer had his father's
favor. He no longer had his father's smile. He no longer had his father's
presence. He became poor. He was rich in righteousness,
and now he has none when he's made sin. he became poor, that
you through his poverty might be rich. How am I to give? Look in verse 11 of chapter 8. Now therefore perform the doing
of it. Well, first by doing it. First
by doing it, not by waiting till you have more, but by doing it. Now perform the doing of it that
as there is a readiness to will, there has to be a willingness,
so there may be a performance also out of what you have. For
if there first be a willing mind, it's accepted according to that
a man hath, and not according to that he hath not. You're not
expected to give what you don't have. For I mean not that other
men be eased, and you be burdened, but by an equality. You see,
all of God's people are to give, every single one of them. Don't
think, well, so-and-so will take care of that need. No, you give. You give. Don't worry about what
anybody else gives, and make sure it's all of God's people
give. Look in chapter nine, verse six.
But this I say, he spends two whole chapters on this, but this
I say, he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and
he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every
man according as he purposes in his heart, so let him give,
not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver.
How much am I supposed to give, however much I purpose in my
heart? That's the New Testament teaching.
however much I purpose in my heart. So let him give. Not grudgingly,
not because it's a duty or necessity. We give as unto the Lord. That's
why we're giving. We're not giving to pay a bill
or to pay the preacher. We give as unto the Lord. That's the only way to give. As unto the Lord. And what did
Paul say? Him that giveth let him do it
with simplicity or liberality and generosity. Now I love this
word simplicity. He that giveth let him do it
with simplicity. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 11 verse
3. But I fear, lest by any means,
as the serpent beguiled through Eve through his subtlety, so
your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in
Christ. Now, I love that. If there's
anybody in some respects, it doesn't seem to be simple. It's
the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, he's so glorious. He's so high.
He's so holy. He's so other. He's so above
us. And to talk about the simplicity of Christ. Well, the incomprehensible
God is simple. He's not made of parts. He's
not part this and part that. He's simple. And the Lord Jesus
Christ, we read of the simplicity that's in Christ or the singleness
or onlyness of Christ. You know, I think of when he
speaks, the sincerity of it. Everything he says is utterly
sincere. Nobody else is like that. Anything
you and I say has a measure of duplicity in it. More if you know that about yourself.
I hope you do. But not him. Not him. Everything he says is purely
sincere. The singleness or simplicity
of Christ is the onlyness of Christ. You know what that means?
That means it's never Christ and. Christ and my sincerity. Christ and my desire. Christ
and my repentance. No. Christ only. That's what the simplicity of
Christ is. Christ alone. I have a single reason for my
salvation. Christ only. Not Christ and, but Christ alone.
I have a single righteousness. His. I have a single reason for
being elected. I was chosen in Him. It didn't
have anything to do with anything to me. I have a single reason
for forgiveness. God forgives me for His sake.
Not because of me asking for it or me desiring it or me being
sorry or promising I'll never do it again. No, God forgives
me for Christ's sake. I have a single object of faith,
Christ alone. That's the simplicity that's
in Christ. And, you know, Paul said to covet earnestly the best
gifts, and this is a gift that you and I are to be coveting,
this thing of giving. I want to be a giver, don't you?
I want to be somebody that truly is a giver. Not a taker, but
a giver. Now, what does it mean to give
With liberality, well it means you know that everything you
give, you can't out give God. That's what it means. You can't
out give God. Now this thing of giving, listen
very carefully, this is very important. The subject of giving
has two issues behind it. It's a love issue and it's a
trust issue. If you love somebody, you give,
don't you? If giving's not an issue, you
don't really love that person. If you love, you give. And this thing of giving liberally
has something to do with, if I give everything, he'll still
take care of me. I don't have to worry. He's gonna take care
of me. I mean, he always gives, he always
gives, he always gives. And I don't need to worry. What
if I give everything? What if I lose everything? Well,
it's okay. He will provide. He always has. He always will. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 1.12,
For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience,
that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom,
but by the grace of God, we've had our conversation in this
world. Now, what a gift. What a gift. And you think, don't lose this. You think of He, of how He has
given to you. You know, part of His great gift
is what He's not given. He's not given me what I deserve.
He's not rewarded me according to my sins or iniquities, but
oh, He's given Himself. He's given His Son. May the Lord
make me somebody who gives with simplicity. sincerity. What a beautiful gift. Let's
pray together.