Place: Lurgan Baptist 5:10:2003

Reading: 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 John 3:16

THE WONDROUS STORY

4. THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

In city of Chicago during the Great Depression there was a little boy who sold newspapers on the street corner to help provide for his family. His tattered jacket that was about three sizes to small provided little relief from the bitter winter Chicago wind. On one particularly cold day the young man was nearly frostbitten when a policeman approached him. “ Son, do you know that big white house on the corner a couple of blocks up ?” “ Yes, Sir, I pass it every day on my way to this corner.” “ Well, I want you to walk over there, step up onto the porch and knock on the door. When the lady that lives there answers, just say John 3:16.” The young man did as he was told. He walked up to the door and knocked. A kind face appeared at the door and the boy looked up and said John 3:16. The gentle lady opened the door wide and invited the cold, shivering, dirty little boy into the living room where there was a roaring fire blazing in the fireplace. As he sat there getting warm and cosy he said to himself,

“ John 3:16. I don’t understand it but it sure does make a cold little boy warm.” Soon that lady came out and led the boy into the dining room where there was a feast of all the foods that he loved. He ate until he could not stuff another bite in his mouth, and then he said to himself, “ John 3:16 I don’t understand it but it sure does make a hungry little boy full.” After he had eaten the kind woman took him up to a hugh bathroom with a large bath filled with water and bubbles. “ You take a nice bath and then put on these pyjamas,” she told him. As the young man sat in the bath and scrubbed through the layers of dirt, he said to himself, “ John 3:16 I don’t understand it but it sure does make a dirty little boy clean.” After his bath the lady brought to a bedroom that had the biggest bed he had ever seen. He lay down and immediately fell asleep. In the morning he awoke to the smells of his favourite breakfast, bacon and eggs. As he was getting dressed in the clothes that were provided, the boy said to himself “ John 3:16. I don’t understand it but it sure does make a tired little boy rested. He went downstairs and the table was once again filled with food that he loved.

After breakfast, the kind lady led the boy back into the living room. She asked him, “ Son do you understand what John 3:16 means ?” “ No ma’am. The first time I heard it was when the nice policeman told me to say it when you answered the door.” She took her Bible and began to explain to him about the love of God and Jesus dying on the cross. The little boy that day accepted God’s gift, the Lord Jesus as his own Saviour. Then he said to himself, “ John 3:16 I now understand it. It makes a lost little boy saved.” My …. are you saved ?

Have you accepted God’s wonderful gift, the Lord Jesus to be your Saviour ?

“ Oh, what a gift the Father gave

When He bestowed His Son

To save poor, ruined guilty man

By sin defiled, undone.”

I want to talk to you this …. about “ The Gift that keeps on Giving.” I want you to notice several things about this gift.

(1) IT WAS AN EXPRESSIVE GIFT

You see, gifts are expressive of certain emotions and feelings. When we give gifts we do so to show our Affection: our love for someone. Appreciation: to say thanks to someone. Congratulations: to someone who gets engaged or married. Consideration: we are thinking of them. Now in just the same way God’s great gift was expressive. It was:

(a) EXPRESSIVE OF HIS PERSON:

“ For God so loved the world that He gave,” this reveals something of the giving nature of God. It shows the generosity, the liberality, the great-heartedness of God. Do you recall what God gave to Abraham ? “ For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it and to thy seed for ever.” ( Gen 13:15 ) Do you recall what God gave to Solomon ? “ I have given thee a wise and understanding heart.” ( 1 Kings 3:12 ) Do you remember what God gave to Daniel ? “ I thank and praise thee O Thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might.” ( Daniel 2:23 ) I love the story of the little girl in Martin Luther’s day when the first edition of the Bible came out. She had a terrible fear of God and she was scared of having to meet Him one day as Judge. But one day she came running with a scrap of paper in her hand. “ Mummy, Mummy,” she cried out.

“ I am not afraid of God anymore.” When the Mother asked why she said “ I found this piece of paper in the printing shop and its torn out of the Bible.” One could hardly make out what was on the paper except for two lines. On the one line it said, “ God so loved,” and on the other line it said, “ that He gave.”

“ Oh, Mummy,” she said, “ that makes it all right.” But the mother said, “ it does not say what God gave.” “ Oh, Mummy if God loved us enough to gave us anything its all right.” I tell this gift was (a) and it was:

(b) EXPRESSIVE OF HIS PASSION:

We recoil in horror at the zeal for the virgin Mary that led Alfonso Maria dei Liguori to write in his book

“ The glories of Mary,” ( 1750 ) “ Mary so loved the world that she gave,” No, No, a thousand times No.

“ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” You see, His giving was motivated by love. Several years ago, the Coast Guard at Minot Lighthouse at Situate Massachusetts decided to replace the old equipment. For years many lonely sailors had been cheered by the flashing signal from Minot’s light.

You see, that signal spells “ I love you,” in nautical code. Well, the Coast Guard decided to replace the old equipment, and they announced for technical reasons the new machines would be unable to flash the “ I love you,” message. There was a public protest and the Coast Guard weakened and so to this day the old equipment continues to send its message of cheer to the sailors.

My …. God’s great gift of His Son, was a message to this sinful world, “ I love you.”

Oh, the wonder of it all just to think that God loves me.

Do you believe that ? Have you grasp that ? Have you allowed this precious truth to pierce your heart ? God loves me, my sin He does not love, but my soul He does.

The God of Eternity loves me ! (1)

(2) IT WAS AN EXQUISITE GIFT

For this gift has no equal. ( 2 Cor 9:15 ) “ His only begotten Son,” describes God’s supreme gift.

“ Not even God a greater gift could give

Not heaven itself a dearer boon impart

When Jesus came and died that I might live

God gave without reserve His very heart.”

My …. God did not gave an angel to be our Saviour.

The One who came from heaven to accomplish our salvation was co-equal, co-eternal, and co-existent with the Father and the Spirit. He was omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He was the second person of the Godhead. That is the One who came into the world to save sinners. Do you see how John puts it ?

“ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” You see, Jesus Christ:

(a) IS THE DIVINE SON OF GOD:

It is “ His Son, God’s Son,” therefore the divine Son.

Do you recall the angel Gabriel’s message to Mary ?

“ The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” ( Lk 1:35 ) My …. He is called the Son of Mary ( Mk 6:3 ) the Son of David

( Matt 1:1 ) the Son of Man ( 3:13 ) but no higher or greater description is given to Him than the description, Son of God. That very title Son of God marks His equality with God. When the Lord Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, the Jews knew quite well what He was saying. John says, “ The Jews sought the more to kill Him, because He not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was His Father making Himself equal with God.” ( 5:18 ) “ For God so loved the world that He gave His Son,” for Jesus Christ was, is and ever shall be God. (a)

(b) IS THE DISTINCT SON OF GOD:

For John not only calls Him the Son, but “ His only begotten Son,” a description given only by John who uses it five times. Now this description does not mean that Christ was begotten in the sense we think of, that He had a birth or beginning ! No ! Rather it distinguishes between Christ as the Only Son, and the many children of God. Do you know how you can be saved ? John says, “ As many as received Him …. sons of God ….,” ( 1:12 1 Jn 3:2 ) Now I am a son of God through faith in Jesus Christ, but the Lord Jesus is THE Son of God, the One that is co-existent, co-equal, and co-eternal with the Father. “ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,” for Christ is distinct and pre-eminent from all others. Down through history you can put many people side by side, Plato and Socrates, Peter and Paul, Luther and Wycliffe, Lincoln and Lee, Beethoven and Mendelssohn, for there is no name so great in the history of the world that it not be equalled by another.

But when we mention the name of Jesus Christ, there is no one to stand beside Him. He stands alone, august, unique, supreme. His name is above every name and with Him no mortal can compare among the sons of men. My …. are you beginning to see the greatness of the gift that God gave ? (1) (2)

(3) IT WAS AN EXPENSIVE GIFT

“ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,” ( 3:16 ) I tell you, our salvation is free but it was not cheap. When you look at God’s gift you see that it was a very expensive gift, and the expense of the gift reveals the measure of His love. “ For God so loved the world that He gave ….,” What ? The silver and gold which are His ? No ! Such a gift would have cost Him nothing. The cattle on a thousand hills ? No !

Such a gift would have cost him nothing. “ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” And that cost Him everything. My …. do you see the greatness of His love for you ? Think of what Christ:

(a) ENJOYED IN HEAVEN:

John speaking of the Lord Jesus in ( 3:13 ) says, “ He came down from heaven,” R.G. Lee the great American preacher described heaven as “ the homestead of eternity.” There no frost had ever blighted a flower, no eye had ever been wet with tears, no death had ever been, no voice had ever been lifted in a lamentation, no seasonal barrenness had ever been known in its orchards, no discord had ever been heard in its music, no shadow of darkness had ever bedimmed its luminous light glories. My …. the eternal dwelling of Christ was a place without suffering, sorrow, strife, and sin. But the cost of God’s gift was that He had to leave such a glorious place to come to such a grievous place. What a stoop. He came down from the:

Adorations of heaven to the abominations of earth:

Coronations of heaven to the condemnations of earth:

Delights of Heaven to the defamation of earth:

Glory place to the gory place:

Majesties of heaven to the miseries of earth:

Hallelujahs of heaven to the hisses of earth:

Praises of heaven to the persecutions of earth:

Songs of heaven to the sneers of earth: “ For God so love the world that He gave …. Son,” (a)

(b) ENDURED ON EARTH:

“ For God so loved the world that He gave ….,” God gave Him up to the spiting, the scourging, the smiting, the slaying. “ God spared not His Son …. all,”

( Rom 8:32 ) My …. do you see the measure of His love for you in the death that He died ? Did you know that crucifixion was the worst possible way to die ? One scholar described it like this, “ The extension of the limbs after scourging, the impossibility of making the slightest change or motion without occasioning suffering, the piercing of the hands and feet, the exposure of the lacerated flesh and the wounds to the action of the hot burning sun and air, hour after hour, the sense of indignity and contempt, which was the most bitter, malicious, and unsparing that can be conceived, all conspired to make this the most dreaded death of all modes of execution.” The hymn-writer put it like this:

“ The love that Jesus had for me

To suffer on the cruel tree

That I a ransomed soul might be

Is more than tongue can tell.”

“ For God so loved the world that He …. Son,” 1:2:3:

(4) IT WAS AN EXPEDIENT GIFT

Did you ever receive gifts at Christmas and feel that they were totally unsuitable ? My …. God gave this gift not only because He wanted to, but He also had to give this gift. Why ? Because of:

(a) THE SINFULNESS OF MAN:

Do you know what God’s official pronouncement upon the human race is ? Sinners ! The Bible says, “ For all have sinned ….,” ( Rom 3:23 ) My …. do you realise that you are a sinner ? A sinner by birth, by nature, by choice, by practice ! The Bible also says, “ The soul that sinneth it shall die.” ( Ezek 18:4 ) You see, the condition of man brought about the condemnation of man. My …. without Christ you’re like a condemned criminal sentenced by the law and delivered into the hands of the executioner. Do you realise that you are on death row this …. awaiting the judgement ? This is why God’s gift is so expedient, for there had to be:

(b) A SUBSTITUTION FOR MAN:

The only hope we had was for someone to take our place and pay the penalty for sin. Yet it had to be someone who was not guilty. The problem was this, there was no one on earth qualified. But “ God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” God’s gift was the gift of the Only One without sin. The Son was crowned with thorns that we might be crowned with glory, He was stripped of His clothes, that we might robbed in His righteousness, He was mocked that we might be honoured, He was reviled that we might be blessed, He was cursed that we might be cleansed. “ For God so …. that he gave …. Son.” Some years ago a man was employed raising a drawbridge allowing the steamers to pass on the river below and then lowering it again for the train to cross over on land. One day this man’s son visited him, desiring to see his daddy at work. Quite curious like most boys he peeked into a trap door that was always left home so that his father could keep his eye on the great machinery that raised and lowered the bridge. Suddenly the boy lost his footing and tumbled into the gears. As the father tried to reach down and pull him out he heard the whistle of an approaching train. He knew that train would be full of people and that it be impossible to stop that fast moving train. A great dilemma confronted him. If he saved the people the son would be crushed in the cogs. Frantically he tried to free the boy but with no success. Finally, the father out his hand to the lever that would start the machinery. He paused and then with tears he pulled it. The giant gears began to work and the bridge came down just in time to save the train. The passengers not knowing what the father had done were laughing. Yet that bridge-keeper had chosen to save their lives at the cost of his son. Is this not what happened at Calvary ?

“ God spared not His own Son,” Why ? That you might be saved from hell and be saved for heaven !

What a gift ! (1)(2)(3)(4) The last time Dr. Fullerton spoke at the Keswick Convention in England he recalled how in his teens he became a Christian. He had heard someone speak on the words, “ The gift of God ….,” and the speaker said, “ A gift become yours when you take it.” Dr. Fullerton said that day he took the gift and his comment was, “ It was mine because I took it.” My …. this …. the gift is there, but is it yours ? Have you taken it ? Have you taken Him ? Christ, to be your Saviour ? Will you trust, and take Christ now ?