GOD'S INDESCRIBABLE GIFT

Good morning!

I am sorry that our speaker this morning, Missionary Bob Holloway, became sick and unable to come.

So, rather than hear about reaching unreached peoples in Peru, we will think about reaching unreached people every where.

How?

By the giving of God’s indescribable Gift.

PRAYER

TEXT: 2 Corinthians 9:6-15

I. INTRODUCTION

A. THE STORY IS TOLD ABOUT A mother, who wanted to encourage her young son's progress at the piano, so she bought tickets for a Paderewski performance.

1. When the night arrived, they found their seats near the front of the concert hall and eyed the majestic Steinway waiting on stage.

2. Soon the mother found a friend to talk to, and didn't notice the boy slip away.

3. When eight o'clock arrived, the spotlights came on, the audience quieted, and only then did they notice the boy up on the bench, innocently picking out, "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."

4. His mother gasped!

a) She was in a panic!

b) She was embarrassed.

5. But before she could retrieve her son, the master appeared on the stage and quickly moved to the keyboard.

6. He whispered to the boy, "Don't quit--keep playing."

7. Leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part.

8. Soon his right arm reached around the other side, encircling the child, to add a running obbligato.

9. Together, the old master and the young novice held the crowd mesmerized.

In our lives, unpolished though we may be, it is the Master who surrounds us and whispers in our ear, time and again, "Don't quit--keep playing."

And as we do, He augments and supplements until a work of amazing beauty is created.

B. God has given us the blessing of being a part of the work of the Kingdom through giving.

Giving of our time, our finances, our prayers

Sometimes we may lament that our gift is small and insignificant.

D. But then the Master steps in and wraps His arms around it...

1. it doesn't matter how small...

2. it doesn't matter how insignificant we think it is...

3. God can take it and make something indescribable out of it.

GIVING

A. This morning we are fast approaching the time where we give gifts to...

1. Our family members.

2. Our friends...

3. Teachers...

4. Maybe even ourselves.

B. But just before that day, we have a national holiday called Thanksgiving.

A day set aside …

Not just for football

Or family

Or turkey and dressing

But a day where we thank God for the blessings He has bestowed upon us.

I am so thankful to live in a nation that from the beginning recognized the need and the blessing of giving thanks to God.

BUT, maybe we are having a hard time figuring out things, people or blessings for which to be thankful.

May I suggest that our problem is outlined in verses 6 and 7 of our text.

2 Corinthians 9:6–7 (NLT) Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. 7 You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”

If we haven’t planted into the lives of others, we may come up short in the Thanksgiving department.

God NEVER called us, as followers of Jesus, to live in isolation from others.

If anything, we see in our scripture text that God has called us to live in a strong relationship with others.

Our text tells us that so many don't know how to give, how to plant seeds into the lives of others...

1. Or who, at best, give sparingly

2. Or grudgingly

3. Or because they think it is their duty

F. These kind of people not only don't know how to give — they don't don't know how to receive.

They don't recognize the bounty of God operating in their everyday lives.

H. They give (if they give at all) just enough to get by — to say they’ve done their duty.

Personally, I don't want to give just enough to get by.

I don't give 10% of my income to the Lord...

That's not enough!

K. I don't give just what's comfortable to give...

I want to give when it costs me sacrifice.

God has called Sandra and I to that from the beginning of our marriage — almost 49 years ago.

And for 49 years God has provided for us time and time again.

Giving sacrificially is a concept taught by the scriptures over and over and over again.

For instance, 1 Chronicles 21 tells of David sinning against God by taking a census of the people.

Something God had specifically told him NOT to do.

We read in 1 Chronicles 21:7–17 (NLT) God was very displeased with the census, and he punished Israel for it. 8 Then David said to God, “I have sinned greatly by taking this census. Please forgive my guilt for doing this foolish thing.” 9 Then the LORD spoke to Gad, David’s seer. This was the message: 10 “Go and say to David, ‘This is what the LORD says: I will give you three choices. Choose one of these punishments, and I will inflict it on you.’ ” 11 So Gad came to David and said, “These are the choices the LORD has given you. 12 You may choose three years of famine, three months of destruction by the sword of your enemies, or three days of severe plague as the angel of the LORD brings devastation throughout the land of Israel. Decide what answer I should give the LORD who sent me.” 13 “I’m in a desperate situation!” David replied to Gad. “But let me fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is very great. Do not let me fall into human hands.” 14 So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel, and 70,000 people died as a result. 15 And God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But just as the angel was preparing to destroy it, the LORD relented and said to the death angel, “Stop! That is enough!” At that moment the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 16 David looked up and saw the angel of the LORD standing between heaven and earth with his sword drawn, reaching out over Jerusalem. So David and the leaders of Israel put on burlap to show their deep distress and fell face down on the ground. 17 And David said to God, “I am the one who called for the census! I am the one who has sinned and done wrong! But these people are as innocent as sheep—what have they done? O LORD my God, let your anger fall against me and my family, but do not destroy your people.”

God heard David’s cry.

If he had been a NT saint, David would have been crying out to Jesus.

But in… we read the rest of the story and this is one of the places where the concept of sacrificial giving is taught …

1 Chronicles 21:18–24 (NLT) Then the angel of the LORD told Gad to instruct David to go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 19 So David went up to do what the LORD had commanded him through Gad. 20 Araunah, who was busy threshing wheat at the time, turned and saw the angel there. His four sons, who were with him, ran away and hid. 21 When Araunah saw David approaching, he left his threshing floor and bowed before David with his face to the ground. 22 David said to Araunah, “Let me buy this threshing floor from you at its full price. Then I will build an altar to the LORD there, so that he will stop the plague.” 23 “Take it, my lord the king, and use it as you wish,” Araunah said to David. “I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings, and the threshing boards for wood to build a fire on the altar, and the wheat for the grain offering. I will give it all to you.” 24 But King David replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it for the full price. I will not take what is yours and give it to the LORD. I will not present burnt offerings that have cost me nothing!”

L. If God's people would begin to give as the Holy Spirit prompts them to give, the needs of the Kingdom of God would be met.

1. Above all else — the Gospel would go out to the ends of the earth.

a) Missionaries would not have to spend so much time begging for the funds to do what God has called them to do.

2. The homeless would be sheltered.

3. The hungry would be fed.

4. The fatherless — the orphans — would have loving, compassionate, adopted parents.

God is already doing miracles!

Yesterday, Dave Davenport sent me an email asking if I had seen an article about what God is doing among Muslims.

I had not.

Now this article told of dreams that Muslims were having — dreams from God that were turning them to Jesus for salvation.

I have mentioned dreams among the Muslims on multiple occasions, but this article told of specific dreams.

In fact, just yesterday, Christian professor Michael Licona tells how

“Over the past two days (this past Thursday and Friday), we have ministered to hundreds of fathers who have lost most, if not all, of their children in the war. As we moved these men to safety, we fed them, washed their clothes, and began to read the Bible to them — sharing the way of peace through Jesus.

“Then, a big miracle happened. Last night, Jesus appeared to more than 200 of them in their dreams! They have come back to us to learn more from God’s Word and are asking how to follow Jesus,” the report said.

This article also references another article reported by the AG about a month before the Oct. 7 Hamas attack:

It says that Muslims around the world were dreaming of Jesus and converting to Christianity at an unprecedented rate.

“I would even say it’s the normal experience,” said Dick Brogden, a missionary for the Assemblies of God, a Pentecostal Christian organization. “It would be accurate to say that Muslims are responding to Jesus in levels we have never seen, not in 1,400 years!”

So God is taking the seeds that we plant and doing supernatural things to give an unprecedented harvest.

M. In Verse 8

God says that He is able to make all grace abound to you.

So that you will always have sufficiency in all things.

O. NOT so we can hoard it!

1. No!

2. But so that we will have an abundance for every good work.

P. When we get a hold of this concept it will change a lot of things.

GIVING CHANGES THINGS

A. The first thing that generous giving does is change our attitude.

B. Only generous givers know how to truly be thankful.

1. Only generous givers recognize the grace of God on and in their lives and in the lives of others.

Verse 14b speaks of others recognizing and giving thanks for “the overflowing grace God has given to you.”

C. As we give out of a heart of generosity, not only will our attitudes be changed, but our relationships will be transformed...

People will want to be around us and be affectionate towards us

Because of the exceeding grace of God that they see shining in us.

Not for our money, not for our time — but because they see Jesus in us — God’s amazing grace.

D. People aren't looking...

1. for Ebeneezer Scrooges.

2. for skinflints

3. for misers.

E. Those are ...

1. the sour-pusses,

2. the mean, short-tempered, grouches.

F. People are looking for those who have the exceeding grace of God in their lives.

1. That grace comes through generous giving.

Again — not just money — money is cheap in our culture.

Are you willing to invest YOURSELF in the lives of others?

G. The second thing that generous giving does is that it liberates thanksgiving to God.

2 Corinthians 9:11–12 (NLT) Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God. 12 So two good things will result from this ministry of giving—the needs of the believers in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanks to God.

And He is worthy of ALL thankssgiving!

H. I believe what is true for individuals is true for churches as well.

1. I believe that God's grace is not on the church that is trying to build their bank account.

2. But on the church who is being a good steward of the manifold graces of God.

I. We aren't in the money making business folks!

1. We are in the stewardship business.

2. Taking what God blesses us with and using it to propel the Kingdom of God forward.

THE GIFT

A. At the end of this passage dealing with giving, Paul breaks out in ecstatic praise.

In his praising, Paul speaks of a "gift."

He says: 2 Corinthians 9:15 (LSB)

15 Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

2 Corinthians 9:15 (NLT) … for this gift too wonderful for words!

C. Paul used Greek words in his epistles which are translated in the KJV "gift" or "gifts" 31 times.

D. The context of these words helps us to understand that he is speaking of...

1. spiritual gifts,

2. financial gifts, or

3. the gifts of salvation.

E. This is the way he uses these words translated "gift" or "gifts" each time ...

1. ... except for this time.

F. This time he uses the word in a different way.

As he uses this word he puts a powerful adjective with it.

H. In the KJV the adjective is "unspeakable."

Maybe we better understand it as "indescribable."

J. The Greek word for this adjective is used only one time in the N.T. ... here.

K. My understanding of what Paul is saying is:

Thanks be unto God, Hallelujah! for a gift that is beyond the capability of human language to describe: God's gift to man, His only begotten Son: Jesus the Christ, Lord of lords, King of kings, my Savior and Redeemer.

THANKS BE TO GOD FOR JESUS

A. As we celebrate Thanksgiving Day it is fitting and proper to be thankful for:

1. Food, clothing, shelter, health, finances, family, friends, this nation, religious freedom, etc.

B. As important as all of these things are, their importance pales in the face of the importance of Jesus to our lives.

1. Nothing can compare with the gift of God's Son: Jesus.

C. There is no greater Person to think about.

1. There is no greater subject to meditate on than our Lord.

D. We can think about a lot of things.

We can dream a lot of dreams and imagine many things, but Jesus must be the highest realization of our lives.

F. We can pray for a lot of things, but the greatest thing needed in our world is not economic security, it isn't more money in our wallets, the greatest need in our world is.

The initiation of true life in an unbeliever.

The revival of that life in Christ-followers.

G. All TRUE revival will center in on the Person, attributes and work of Jesus.

H. God has given this world a Gift. What do we do with Him?

Knowing Jesus needs to be the driving force of our lives.

It needs to be the priority.

J. We need our hearts filled with the presence of the Prince of Peace.

K. The indescribable Gift of God is not a toy that we play with, nor is He a present that we take for granted, but He is Jesus, the Son of God, to be reverenced, worshipped, adored, and served.

Let’s Be Thankful!

A. As Thanksgiving Day approaches I want to encourage us to be thankful for many things:

1. For God's strength during this past year.

I firmly and boldly testify that without God’s strength I could not have made it.

2. For God's provision for our families.

God has sustained us through every trial.

I’m thankful for the doctors who have helped me this past year.

3. For people that are becoming a part of my life in a deeper way, who are moving into the realm of being more than acquaintances or congregation, but who are becoming friends. (Friendship takes time.)

4. For the way that God has met our needs and even given us some of our desires.

5. And anything else the Holy Spirit brings to mind.

B. I want to encourage us to get before God and be specific.

1. Under the prompting of the Holy Spirit delineate the things you are thankful for.

C. Realize where those good things came from.

1. James 1:17 (NKJV) Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

D. Realize what the best Gift is and that He also came from the Father.

Are You Giving Thanks for His indescribable Gift?

As the Worship Team comes, let me ask...

A. What are you doing with God's indescribable gift?

1. Ignoring Him? - You can't do that for long. Jesus demands a response.

Reject or accept, you can't just ignore Him.

2. Reject Christ? - To reject Christ is to reject life.

Rejecting Him means rejecting the only true source of peace, joy, love, hope and meaning in life.

3. Accepting Christ?

Accepting God's indescribable gift means that you fully embrace God's love.

F. It means:

1. You accept the Blood poured out for you.

2. You accept the stripes laid on His Body for your healing.

3. You accept a heavenly.

A home which is like our Lord - indescribable.

4. You accept a Friend that is closer than any earthly brother or sister, the One who always cares and understands.

5. You accept all of the blessings that He has in store for you in this life as well as the one to come.

6. Accept the Gift.

7. Know the Gift.

8. Thanks be to God for His indescribable Gift!

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