Gifts From the Father

...17, for sake of connection, for any who might be listening to the tape. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of light, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. God is the giver of every good and perfect gift, and though it says here very plainly, it says, cometh down from the Father of light, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Now, I've given gifts that I just wished later that I hadn't given. I don't think they were appreciated, and I just have thought in my own mind, well, I could have used that better than that myself. And I don't know whether I've ever given any gifts and been an Indian giver and asked for them back again.

I don't think I have. But that is not true of God. And I think that this should strengthen our appreciation for the verse when we read, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

God doesn't take his gifts back. As a matter of fact, there is another scripture that says that very same thing. That we don't need to be afraid that God is going to take his gifts back, and it's found in the 11th chapter of Romans, the epistles of the Romans, chapter 11.

And I think probably some of you know the verse that I'm going to read before I even quote it. But I will read it. Verse 29 of the 11th chapter of Romans.

For the gifts and callings of God are without repentance. When God gives a gift, he meant to give it. He gives it, and he doesn't take it back.

He doesn't have to change his mind. He knows whether it's going to be received. And God, when he gives his gifts, gives them, and there are no strings attached.

The gifts and callings, and calling of God, are without repentance. God does not have to change his mind. Now, these gifts come down from above.

They're from heaven, from the Father's throne, and there is no variableness, nor shadow of turning. We don't have to be afraid that he's going to turn on us and ask for the gifts back. And then I was challenged to think, well, what are some of the gifts that God gives? God is a giver.

Well, in our opening prayer tonight, we have quoted that lovely verse that I think speaks of the best gift of all. John 3.16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Now, Christ himself is a gift.

Now, think of that. He is a gift, and he must be received as a gift. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.

Now, lest you think that perhaps the word gave there really means that God turned him over to the cross, let's hear the Lord himself make a comment in the fourth chapter of John. John chapter 4. And we will settle forever the fact that the word gave there means that it's a gift. The Lord Jesus Christ is a gift to you and to me.

Now, the Lord Jesus, when he's talking to the woman, Samaria's wayside well, in the sixth verse we read, now, Jacob's well was there in Samaria, or Sychar. Now, Jacob's well was there, Jesus therefore being worried with his journey, sat thus on the well, and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water, Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.

For his disciples were gone away into the city to buy meat. Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which I am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealing with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith unto thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

Now, the Lord Jesus speaks of the gift of God, and I think he's referring to himself. If you knew the gift of God, and who it is, now, that makes the gift of God a person. Who it is that saith unto me, Unto thee, give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

Now, let's call in the Apostle Paul and his opinion in the matter of Christ being a genuine bona fide gift. On 2 Corinthians, the second epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 9, verse 15, Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. Now what is this unspeakable gift? Now, that word unspeakable has a kind of a bad connotation in our day and age.

When we think of a thing as being unspeakable, we think of a thing as being unfit for conversation, just not to be spoken of. But that isn't what is meant here. Thanks be unto God for his unutterable gift, that gift of which language cannot be found to express its true worth.

Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. Now this verse here, in 2 Corinthians, chapter 9, has an interesting connection. This is the climax to a chapter on giving.

This chapter is a chapter on giving, and Paul speaks about the gift of the Corinthians to those that were at Jerusalem, the poor saints at Jerusalem. The saints at Jerusalem, those that stayed in Jerusalem, were poor. If they were in business, they were boycotted.

They just were poor people in Jerusalem. And the assemblies made up gifts to send to these people, and so they were sending them by the hand of Paul, sending the gift by the hand of Paul. And Paul, in this chapter, is speaking about the gifts of this money to those at Jerusalem, though he doesn't speak of it specifically in that sense right at the moment.

Now this is the way he climaxes the chapter. He talks about his giving. I think maybe it would be to our profit to read from verse 6 through verse 15 and see what a lovely climax this is.

Verse 6 of the 9th chapter of 2 Corinthians, but this I say, he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Now the 7th verse of the 9th chapter of 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 9 and 7, Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly, or of necessity, for God loveth the sure forgiver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.

As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad, he hath given to the poor, his righteousness remaineth forever. Now he that ministereth seed to the sore, both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness, being enriched in everything to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God.

While by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your perfect subjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them, and unto all men. And by their prayer for you, which long after you, for the exceeding grace of God in you. And then he climaxes the chapter, thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.

In other words, when you give, you are in good company, and you take on the characteristics of a generous God. And that's what he's saying. Five things are accomplished, five things are accomplished in a gift, in giving a gift.

First of all, you are sowing seeds. You are laying a foundation for a greater reward, and the seed that is sown always brings back to you more than you put in the ground. You know, I've often thought of this in connection with Christian giving.

It seems like the sower, and they broadcast, and incidentally the word broadcast didn't come into being when the radio appeared on the scene, the word broadcast has been used ever since men sowed seed. It was broadcast with their hands, and they would sow it out of a pouch. Well now, as the sower goes out and sows his seed, it would seem like he's throwing it away.

He's just throwing it away. Well, some of it he is throwing away, but not all of it. He is throwing, it just seems as if he's just throwing away the seed as he sows it, as he broadcasts it.

He's a broadcaster, incidentally. Now, Paul says, if you skimp on your seed, you're going to skimp on your harvest. I'm not supposed to be talking about these things, but I'm going to talk about them anyway.

If you skimp on your seed, you're going to find yourself a little lacking in the harvest time. If you sow bountifully, you'll reap bountifully. Now, the Apostle here, he wants us to realize that there is a reward for Christian giving.

Then the second thing that is accomplished by Christian giving, and I like to think of these thoughts, verse 11, being enriched in everything to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. Now think of that, through that gift that we give. And giving, incidentally, in the early days of the Church, was to the poor saints.

That doesn't apply today, well it does, it can apply today, but we're living in a land of affluence, and there's no one really in particular need, in this day and age shouldn't be, but actually, the giving of that gift results in thanksgivings to God. These people who receive the gift, they pour out their heart to God in thanksgiving. Now aren't you glad that the heart of God could be gladdened by an act of yours? Well, that is accomplished, that's what is accomplished, the second thing that is accomplished.

Now, verse 12, for the administration of this service not only supplyeth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God. Well now, this makes the addition here, this mentions the many thanksgivings unto God, but it supplies the wants of the saints. Now that's the third thing that's accomplished, their needs are met, and I think Christians can be touched and are touched with the needs of God's people on occasion.

And then the fourth thing that is accomplished, verse 13, while by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your perverse subjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them and unto all men. Now they not only thank God, but they glorify God and they take great comfort in the fact that here is somebody that is subject to Christ. And they glorify God for your perverse subjection, and the perverse subjection is shown in the giving of the gift.

That shows your perverse subjection to Christ. And they glorify God because there are some who are exercised for the needs of the Lord's people. And then fifthly, the fifth thing that is accomplished, and by their prayer for you.

Now they not only pray to God, they not only thank God, but they turn around and pray to the people that gave the gift. And that is the fifth thing that is accomplished, you get some prayers coming back your way. And probably the prayers on these needy Christians will be, Lord just pour it in, just pay them back, I can't do it.

You just pay them back, adding the interest that only you can pay. Now those five things are accomplished by Christian giving. And then he climaxes this wonderful chapter, lest we become, lest we try to reach up and adjust our halos, or you know, take a lot of credit, or you know, really feel real good.

And well, he just adjusts the whole thing, thanks being to God for his unspeakable gift. You know, you could give everything you've got, and you'd be like God, of course. The poor widow that cast in the two mites gave all that she had.

Now, in that sense, she was the nearest like God of anybody that cast into the treasury. Though she gave perhaps the least. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.

Now Christ is that gift. God emptied heaven. In the giving of a gift, like John 3.16, God is the giver of every good and perfect gift.

The gift presumes love. Well, we find it in John 3.16, for God so loved the world that he gave. The gift presumes love, that whosoever believeth in him, the gift presumes a reception.

And it presumes a sacrifice on the part of the giver. And it presumes a benefit to the person that receives the gift. Now are these true of Christ? Those four elements are present in every gift that is given.

Love prompts the giving of the gift, sacrifice is involved, a degree of it at least. And then reception must be exercised, and then a benefit results. Well, if we wanted to follow through on that, we wouldn't spend any more time the rest of the evening, except on John 3.16. Because all of those things are true of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He's a gift for you to have, and to hold, and to enjoy. And he's yours for the taking. That's all we do with a gift, is just receive it.

That's all you can do with a gift. And that's all you can do with the Lord Jesus Christ, really, is just receiving, just taking. Now, that gift did involve sacrifice.

Oh, the sacrifice that God made. I'm sure that if we contemplated the sacrifice that God the Father made in giving his own dear son to die on the cross for you and for me, it would bring our eyes to tears. When we think of what God gave.

I'm not supposed to talk about these things, but I am going to talk about some things. There are people that give to me in the work of the Lord that I've got more than they have. I feel like sending the gift back and saying, look, I am so well fixed, I don't need the gift.

But I can't deny them the giving of the gift. But I'll tell you what, I am very careful of how I spend that money. I'm very careful.

Because it was given for the furtherance of the work of the Lord. I know the sacrifice that was involved. Sometimes my heart is just simply melted at the sacrifice of God's people.

But think of the sacrifice of God the Father. Think of it if you will. A gift presumes sacrifice.

It costs to give. And just to think that Christ can be had, had, enjoyed, claimed, received as a gift. And he's received just exactly as the bride, as the groom receives the bride at a wedding There comes that part in the ceremony when the question is asked, who giveth this woman in marriage to this man? The question is asked.

And the Father, if he is indeed the one who gives her away, says that he and her mother do, or however that is. Sometimes other honored people, in case of the death of one of the parents, other honored people are given that privilege. But that father and that mother do give that girl to be that man's wife.

They give her up. They release all claims on her. She even changes her name.

She's gone. She's gone in a sense. She's gone in the sense that they have no more claim on her.

She is now her husband's wife. But of course, most people would rather say, well, I have not lost a daughter, I have gained a son. But nevertheless, it is true.

Now there is no gift that can compare with our Lord Jesus Christ. And he is a gift, and he must be received as a gift. I wonder if we've ever received him.

You know, some people have a little difficulty in determining whether or not they're saved. I've run into people, I've talked with people, people have tried to counsel with me, or have counseled with me, indeed, on this very subject. I don't know whether I'm saved.

I really can't say that I'm saved or not. Sometimes when I'm talking with a person like that, I'll ask them a question. I'll say, perhaps this will resolve it.

Can you remember a time in your life when you fell to your knees and thanked God for the Lord Jesus Christ, for giving him to die for you and giving him to be your Savior? Can you remember such a time in your life? Now if they can't remember such a time, such an experience in their life, I would question as to whether or not they received a gift. Could you receive a gift like that, and not thank God, the Father, from the depths of your soul? Christ is mine. Mine.

Of course, I'm his. And you get into the Song of Solomon, and the Bride there, at the beginning of the Song of Solomon, she talks about Christ, the lover being . . . that's interesting. Let's turn to the Song of Solomon.

Let's see the progress in the Song of Solomon, in connection with the Bride and the Groom. Just before the book of Isaiah, the best way to locate it in my Bible, because Isaiah is a big book, a large book, verse 16 of the second chapter of the Song of Solomon. She says here in verse 16, My beloved is mine, and I am his.

He feedeth among the lilies. My beloved is mine. Now this, she later speaks of her beloved, and she changes the language a little.

I think we should have to turn now to perhaps verse 3 of the sixth chapter. Verse 3 of the sixth chapter, now she says, I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine. He feedeth among the lilies.

Now here, the fact that she is his takes precedence over the fact that he is hers. The language has just changed around now. At the beginning of the Song of Solomon, she says, My beloved is mine, and I am his.

Now she is saying, I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine. She has progressed in her spiritual experience enough to know that she is his. And after all, we are the gift of God the Father to the Son.

God gave the Son to us, but God gives us to the Son. We ourselves are gifts. And here, she has progressed to the point where she realizes his claims above hers.

She is selfish at first. I think that that's probably spiritual history, isn't it? When we first get saved, we are completely overcome with the fact that Christ is mine, he's mine. I've got a whole Christ for myself.

And then as we progress in our Christian experience, we're led to realize that we really belong to him. And that takes precedence over the fact that he is ours. That's a kind of a selfish way of putting it, but I think God puts up with that, don't you? I think he does.

I think he wants us to appropriate the Lord as a gift. Now here, she says, I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine. Now she goes still farther, down in the 7th chapter of the Song of Solomon, verse 10.

She says, I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me. Now she isn't occupied with the fact that he is hers at all. She just belongs completely to him.

I am my beloved's. I'm his. I remember once in my years in the Weather Bureau, we had a jolly girl in our office.

And she was very much in love. And I had been somewhat of a tease, and being the official in charge of the office, and able to get away with something like that, and I said to her one day, she was talking about her beloved, and I said, now listen, listen, Laura, what has he got that I haven't got? And she giggled, and she says, me. I said, girl, you could have thought a whole month, and you couldn't have come up with a better answer than that.

She was his. Now you know, it's wonderful to have these thoughts of the Lord. Now as to our being his, would you notice, please, John chapter 17.

Verse 5 of the 17th chapter of John's Gospel, this is the high priestly prayer of our Lord Jesus. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had that with thee before the world was. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world.

Thine they were, and thou gavest them me. And they have kept thy word. Now here the Lord Jesus says, we are a gift to him.

Now I think this is infinite condescension. We don't make much of a gift, but he values us. He values us, and he loves us.

So really, the Lord and we both have been given to each other. Now a gift is to be enjoyed, and I think probably you enjoy a gift more than you do anything that you buy. And I think that's brought out in the book of Proverbs, and I can't quote it at the moment.

Perhaps you even can quote it, that a gift prospers in every detail. A gift really prospers, I can't quote it, and I'm not going to look it up. You enjoy a gift, and it didn't cost you anything, and that, of course, makes it all the more enjoyable.

And you use it, and you enjoy it, and you think of the person that gave it to you, that may be some little inconsequential thing, but you think of that person, and you're reminded each time that you use it. Now you and I, each time that we have an occasion to enjoy the Lord Jesus, we can thank God the Father that he gave him to you and to me. Now a gift is mine just as much as if I had bought it, actually.

That gift, though I didn't buy it, it is mine when I receive it. Now nobody can buy the Lord Jesus Christ, but he can be received, he can be enjoyed, and that's just exactly what God wants us to do. Now, to get on with our study, the Holy Spirit is also a gift.

Luke chapter 11, verse 13, "...if ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" Now here the Father gives the Holy Spirit to those that ask for him. Now actually this was an interim arrangement before Pentecost. I don't know whether any of the disciples had the appropriating grace to follow the suggestion of the Lord Jesus here, I don't know.

Now after Pentecost, we do not have to ask for the Spirit, God gives him to us. However, he still is a gift, but we don't have to ask for him. He was given to us.

Now you can see this in the book of Acts very plainly. Acts chapter 2, verse 38, "...then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Now turn to Acts chapter 8, verse 19, these are the words of Simon Wells, verse 18 really, for the sake of the connection. And when Simon saw that to the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.

But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Now he is referring, of course, to the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is the gift of God.

Now Acts chapter 10, verse 45, "...this was the time that the Spirit of God descended upon those in Cornelius's household." Verse 45, "...and they of the circumcision, which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost." And then in the 11th chapter, a little farther down the page, verse 17, Peter is recounting the experience to his Jewish brethren, and he says, "...forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift," now you see who gives it, don't you? "...then as God gave them the like gift, as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, what was I, that I could withstand God?" Now these scriptures plainly teach us that the Holy Spirit is a gift. I don't have to ask for him, thank God for that, but he is a gift. And I receive him as a gift.

And his blessed ministry is mine. And I feel his presence, I feel his testimony. I think sometimes that we have overreacted to the charismatic movement and we don't speak enough about the Holy Spirit of God.

That blessed person that indwells us, that teaches us, that encourages us, in Christ. I think we're indeed a little lax on ministry concerning the Spirit, but he is a gift, given to you and to me for our spiritual welfare, for our encouragement, for our instruction. Oh, what a wonderful person to have indwelling me.

Now, to further the fact that God is the giver of every good and perfect gift, Romans chapter 6. Romans chapter 6. This is the climax of the sixth chapter of Romans. And Paul sums up the chapter, "...for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Now, the life that I have in me that is eternal, and this is eternal both from the standpoint of quality and time, is a gift of God. That life was given to me.

Now actually, he gave me my physical life, too, as far as that is concerned. God gave me my physical life, but he gave me eternal life, and it must be received as a gift. And I think that the reason that that is mentioned here is because there are lots of people that think that they have to work for eternal life, that if they work hard enough and long enough that God will grant eternal life to them.

Now, God says distinctly, and I like to emphasize this, that it is a gift, and a gift is something that we take without trying to pay for it. "...for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Oh, what a treasure to have eternal life. Now, salvation and the faith that brings it is also a gift.

Ephesians chapter 2. I trust that you will not become wearied by turning the pages of Scripture. Verse 8 of the 2nd chapter of Ephesians, "...for by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast." It is the gift of God.

Now, what is the gift of God? "...for by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." Is it the salvation that is encompassed in the word saved? Ye are saved? Is that the gift of God, or is it the faith? I'm not sure. In my own mind, I think probably both are true. That both the faith to live all of Christ and the salvation that we have is a gift from God himself.

Now, you get into hyper-Calvinism if you're not careful with this verse, and I don't intend to get into that controversy. I do know that faith is something that I exercise, but I do know it's something that God can put the circumstances before me in such a way that really there's only one thing left to do, and believe, but believe. And I can't do much else.

I am faithful to the facts that are overwhelming, and God is the author of those facts. In that sense, the faith is a gift, isn't it? He deals with me until I have no other conclusion than I just simply must believe God, that Christ died for me, I am his, and he is mine. I just have to believe God.

I think I told you the story of dealing with a little boy about matters of salvation years ago. I put before him the fact that he was a sinner from God's word, and how that God loved him and he wanted him in his heaven, and he wanted him so badly that he gave the Lord Jesus to die for his sins so he wouldn't have to die for them. And I went through the whole story, the whole salvation story, step-by-step with this little chap.

And then I asked him a question, and I'll never forget his reaction. I said, do you believe this? And he says, what else can I do? Isn't it God that says it? What else can you do but believe that salvation's price has been paid? I just receive it as a gift. And in that sense, it would seem that the faith itself is a gift, for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.

And then, of course, with that comes the righteousness, which is a gift, incidentally, it's imputed to us. It didn't have to be imputed to us, but it is imputed to us, and righteousness is spoken of as a gift. Maybe we should look at that, Romans chapter 5, the fifth chapter of Romans.

Verse 17, For if by one man's offense death reigned by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace, and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. The gift of righteousness. Now I don't know whether you've ever thought of this before or not, it was imputed to us.

It was not ours. The righteousness of God is the righteousness of Christ imputed, not transferred, because His righteousness is His, and uniquely His, alone. But it is imputed.

I stand in the good name of another, and that's the righteousness that fits me for the presence of God. Not my righteousness, but the righteousness of Christ imputed to me, and I stand in Christ, and I reap all the benefits of His wonderful name. And this is a gift, incidentally, it's the gift of righteousness, and you can check it in all your critical translations, and it still remains a gift.

There's no one that changes it. The gift of righteousness. What a gift.

God accords to me righteousness, He gives it to me, and He didn't have to do it, but it's imputed to me. Now, our abilities to serve the Lord are spoken of as gifts. God gives us the natural ability to serve the Lord, and it takes natural ability, and then spiritual ability as well, the desire.

I'm not going to turn to that. And then He gives us even our secular calling. I think I'll turn to this, though it seems quite far down the ladder when we think of the sublime gift that we started with, with God's Son, but let's look at it.

In the book of Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiastes, verse 13, just for sake of time we'll read it without disconnection, and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor. It is the gift of God. Now, I'll turn over to chapter 5, verse 17, All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow, every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor.

This is the gift of God. Now, even our secular occupations are a gift from God. He gives not only the job, He gives the wherewithal, and then He gives the power to eat it.

Notice, please, every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor. This is the gift of God. I'm going to be personal, while Harvey gets personal sometimes in his newscast.

My wife said to me one day, I can eat anything, incidentally. She can't. She has some troubles.

So much for that. She said to me one day, Did you ever thank God for your stomach? I said, No, I don't think I ever did. She said, You ought to.

She liked it. She didn't have any trouble cooking for me. Well, we won't go into that.

Well, I never thought of thanking God for my stomach. But according to Ecclesiastes 5 and 19, it's a gift from God. It's a gift from God.

Even the mundane things that we enjoy, the everyday things that we enjoy, they're all gifts from God. He's the giver of every good and perfect gift. And He just keeps on giving, and giving, and giving.

I think perhaps the crowning verse or the verse to sum up this whole little thought that we've been trying to cover tonight is in Acts chapter 17. Perhaps I should have read this one first, but if we hadn't, then I wouldn't have had anything to talk about. Verse 22.

Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill and said, He, men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with its inscription to the unknown God, whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, love not in temples made with hands.

Neither is...