The Unspeakable Gift

[0:00] Speaking of an unspeakable gift, there's three unspeakable things in the Bible.

[0:10] ! 2 Corinthians 9.15 says, thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift. I want to unwrap the gift this morning and there's multiple facets really to this unspeakable gift.

[0:27] This gift is from God, the unspeakable gift. It's unspeakable. In fact, every good thing that we have is a gift from God. And this gift is one that we can't describe.

[0:40] It's absolutely amazing and nothing can compare with it. And we can't fully describe how wonderful the Lord is, can we? It's beyond words. It's unspeakable.

[0:51] And so this gift that we speak of is too wonderful for words. It's beyond description, beyond words. Words fail to describe it and words cannot describe it.

[1:02] We cannot express it. It's abundant, unlimited, indescribable. And as to this gift, firstly, you can't buy it. You can't buy it.

[1:12] Sorry, but if you're trying to buy it, you can't. It's impossible to buy it. You can't buy it. You can't pay for it. And a gift, of course, is not something that we buy, is it?

[1:23] We have a gift. We receive it. There's no exchange of money. There's no earning of it. A gift, of course, is not something we can buy. We simply have to receive it.

[1:35] And we're talking here about the greatest gift ever. The gift of salvation. The gift of everlasting life. The gift of salvation, really, isn't it?

[1:46] Thanks be to God. Amen. For his unspeakable gift. Every good and perfect gift comes from above. From him. And think for a moment of this.

[1:58] His unspeakable gift. Think of it today. God is the giver. There's no greater gift. There's no greater treasure, no greater giver. He's so generous.

[2:09] He's so abundant. Consider salvation. It's truly precious, priceless, so very costly. Truly. And yet for us it is free. It's a costly gift.

[2:20] A precious gift. Of incredible, great value. Awesome. Priceless. Thanks be unto God. For his unspeakable gift.

[2:33] Think of the cost of your salvation. The value of it. The expense of it. As much as you can't pay for it or buy it. Because it's a gift. And we see even our Lord, it says of him, unto you that believe.

[2:47] He is precious. Christ was given for sinners to be the sinner's friend. Wow. We can't get our head around that, can we? What a fabulous gift. The Lord Jesus is the gift of God to man.

[3:01] And as to this gift, firstly you can't buy it or pay for it. Secondly, you can't work for it. It's not something that you can earn.

[3:12] It's being paid for, this gift. Salvation has been paid for in full by the Saviour. It is the finished work of salvation. God has done it all.

[3:22] As we know that familiar verse, it says, For by grace are you saved through faith. And that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.

[3:33] Not of works, lest any man should boast. Now works is something that we do. Salvation is always by grace through faith. Salvation is the free gift from God.

[3:46] He gives it by his grace, freely gives it. And the word gift here, as in the gift of God, it has the significance of sacrifice. And then the word grace, literally, the grace, is related to charisma, gift as well.

[4:05] So grace itself is his gift. Grace is something God does. The saving grace of God. It's not something we do, it's something he does. Because anything we do would not be enough.

[4:17] Eternal life is a gift. It's a free gift. A free gift. It's absolutely free. Wow. And salvation, forgiveness is his giving to you who will receive it.

[4:31] And as to this gift, you can't buy it, number one. You can't work for it, number two. Thirdly, you can't deserve it. You cannot deserve it. It's an undeserved free gift. It's generously given the gift of love to the unworthy.

[4:45] It's for sinners, for a lost and guilty world. An undeserved gift. We are not worthy of it. Romans 5 verse 8 says, But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

[4:59] While we were yet sinners. Get that. We cannot deserve it. Absolutely no one deserves it. God's grace, his gift, is free. It's undeserved. It's abundant. Not something we gain by good works.

[5:12] Not something that we are worthy of. Salvation is a gift. Not something we can buy, work for, or deserve. It's why it's so truly unspeakable.

[5:24] We can't put it into human words to describe God's great love and gift. His work for us. But the good news is, you can receive it. You can receive it.

[5:35] That's tremendous, isn't it? That salvation is God's gift to us when we trust Christ as Lord, when we believe on him, our Lord Jesus, when we accept and receive him by faith.

[5:47] Do I have to do something in order to receive it? No. Christianity is spelt D-O-N-E. Done. It's the finished work.

[5:58] He has done all that has to be done. He gives life to everyone who believes on him. Simply receive. Simply trust. It's offered freely, this gift. It's personal.

[6:09] The perfect gift. And it's a gift that is given that he doesn't take back. He's not an Indian giver. He doesn't give it and take it away. If you've got it, you've got it.

[6:20] Salvation. When received, it's God's forever gift of eternal life to us. So salvation is free. Salvation is freely given. God's free gift. Question is, have you received it?

[6:33] We're not meaning to assume this morning. Now, I know some think if they come to church every week, that qualifies them for heaven. Sorry. Burn. Wrong answer. No, that's not going to help you.

[6:45] You can go to church morning and night and midweek and still miss heaven. It's whether you've got the gift or not. That's what matters. And so if you have the gift, you have everlasting life.

[6:57] We see 1 John 5, 11. God's promise here. This is the record, he says. That God hath given, gifted to us eternal life. And this life is in his son.

[7:08] He that hath the son hath life. He that hath not the son hath not life. It is a gift that can be received or rejected. And the question personally for everyone is, where do you stand?

[7:21] Have you received that gift, that unspeakable gift, salvation? We receive that joy of salvation, eternal life. The blessings of an eternal relationship with God.

[7:33] And he is the gift, the unspeakable gift. Here's the second unspeakable truth. I've got three of them for you. The first one, the unspeakable gift.

[7:45] Secondly, unspeakable words. Paul tells how he knew a man who, and he's talking of himself, was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words.

[7:57] It says he heard unspeakable words. It's been said that a sunset is heaven's gate ajar. He caught a glimpse of the great beyond and his words couldn't, he couldn't find the words to tell of it.

[8:10] He couldn't describe it. It's not entered into the heart of man. The eyes have not seen, the ear has not heard the things that God has prepared for those that love him. We can't put it into human language.

[8:22] And you can't think of the words to describe heaven, of being in heaven. We can't even imagine it. We just can't put it into words.

[8:33] So heaven will be more than we can dream of. Best of all, our loving saviour will be there. Now, on Christmas Day in 1968, the three astronauts of Apollo 8 circled the dark side of the moon and they headed for home.

[8:48] And suddenly over the horizon of the moon rose the blue and white earth, surrounded by the glistening light of the sun against the black void of space. And those sophisticated men, trained in science and technology, did not utter Einstein's name.

[9:03] They didn't utter poetry or drama or some poem. Only one thing could capture the awe-inspiring thrill of seeing this. And billions heard the voice from outer space as the astronaut read, in the beginning, God.

[9:19] The only concept worthy enough to describe that unspeakable awe, no other way to describe it. In the beginning, God created.

[9:29] They couldn't escape the sense of the infinite and the eternal. Imagine if such a sight was astonishing to these men.

[9:42] What heaven would be like. It would be unspeakable, wouldn't it? A little girl was taking an evening walk with her father and wonderingly she looked up into the starry skies and she shouted out, Oh, Daddy, if the wrong side of heaven is so beautiful, what must the right side be?

[10:01] It's unspeakable. Heaven is unspeakable. The only thing on earth a man can absolutely gain is heaven. It's a gift. It's an unspeakable gift.

[10:14] Now, many will buy the burial plots down at the cemetery in advance. They might even pick the casket and all of the trappings and all of the preparations and have their funeral down pat, how they want it to be delivered.

[10:30] But we can have all of that sorted but do nothing about preparing for a home in heaven. How sad that would be, isn't it? That we have the burial plans and the funeral organised but we don't know where we're going.

[10:45] Heaven is unspeakable. We don't want to miss that, do we? What a shame to miss heaven. The door of heaven is open to everyone. His heart is open to God. We tell of an unspeakable gift.

[10:56] It's his salvation. And when we receive this gift, another thing that is unspeakable happens. The third unspeakable here, as Peter writes of Christ, he says, In whom, though now you see him not yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

[11:19] Peter says that there is a joy that is unspeakable. We see in Luke 2, joy to the world was the message of the angels, wasn't it? Tidings of great joy.

[11:31] And he's first coming. And there's joy in believing. Amen. There's joy there. Joy in the gift that he gives. Joy in the heavenly home he's preparing. Joy in the life he's given.

[11:43] Joy unspeakable and full of glory. Our purpose, our peace, our true joy is knowing Christ. It's too hard to put it into words, truly. You just can't fully describe the joy of believing, of salvation, of trusting him.

[11:59] The greatest joy is to know the saviour, I put to you. And it's unspeakable. Transforming joy. An English newspaper asked a question, who are the happiest people in the world?

[12:15] And there was four prize-winning answers. A craftsman or an artist whistling over a job well done. A little child building sandcastles. A mother on a busy day bathing her baby.

[12:26] A doctor who's finished a dangerous, difficult operation, saving a human life. There was no millionaires amongst these. No kings or emperors. Riches or rank. It didn't matter.

[12:39] That wasn't what made a happy life. But of course for us there's something even deeper than the joys of doing good things, of seeing good things. It's knowing the saviour who's done everything.

[12:50] He's done everything for you. And as you think of this unspeakable gift, what he has given, as we contemplate his giving of himself for us, as we remember it, he gave himself.

[13:03] It reads, For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave, gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

[13:41] He gave himself for us, his very self. Paul says, Think of his gift, just some aspects of his giving of himself.

[14:07] He gave himself for me. He gave himself for me. The gift, the unspeakable gift, was his very self. It was himself, our blessed saviour. Think of what Christ has given you.

[14:19] He says, I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. He gave his life. He gave his head. His head to wear the crown of thorns for you.

[14:32] His head. And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns and put it on his head and they put on him a purple robe. He gave his life. He gave his head. He gave his eyes to weep tears for you.

[14:46] He offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears. He prayed for you in the garden. He prayed, as it were, great drops of blood falling to the ground.

[15:00] As he prayed, and he prays still, his eyes to weep tears for you. His cheek to be smitten for you. The prophet Isaiah said, I gave my back to the smiters as they hurled those whips, the chunks of flesh, the bruising, the scarring, the searing pain.

[15:23] I gave my back to the smiters, my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face from shame and spitting. He gave his cheek for you. He gave his tongue to pray for you.

[15:36] Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe. That's you and me. Those which shall believe on me through their word. That's us. He gave his tongue for you to pray for you.

[15:48] He gave his shoulders to bear the burden for you. And when he had found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. Speaking of the good shepherd, he leaves the 99 and goes and looks for the one.

[16:00] And he finds it and lays it on his shoulder and brings it back home. He gave his shoulders to bear our burden. He gave his back to be ploughed for you.

[16:11] As the psalmist prophesied, the plowers ploughed upon my back. They made long their furrows. Again, the picture of his back being likened to a ploughed field.

[16:23] He gave his back for you. He gave his hands and his feet to be pierced for you. They pierced my hands and my feet, says the psalmist in Psalm 22.

[16:35] He gave his ears to hear your cry. The Psalm 91, it says, He shall call upon me and I will answer him and I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honour him.

[16:48] His ears are open and he's giving his ears to you for your prayer. He gives his precious blood to cleanse away your sin. It says, But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all sin.

[17:08] It covers our crimson stain of sin. All our guilt can be washed away. There's no stain remover like it. And we have boldness to enter in because of his blood.

[17:19] We can come to him by faith. He gave up all his riches and became poor for you. It says, For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor that you, through his poverty, might be rich.

[17:35] He gave up all his riches and became poor for you. He gave his life as a ransom for you. It says that he suffered for our sins. He gave himself a ransom for all.

[17:47] Friends, this saviour, this unspeakable gift, who he is for you. He gave himself for you, for me. Have you received the gift? You might say, Preacher, I'm not sure that I'm going to heaven.

[17:59] I'm not sure that I'm saved. You can know today. You can say, Lord Jesus, I trust you. I receive that gift of salvation that you've paid for me. I receive it by faith.

[18:09] I trust you. I receive that salvation gift. And by simple faith, you can have it. Now and forever. He gave himself a ransom, like that free exchange for our substitute, to take our penalty.

[18:30] And he is coming again for you. The Lord Jesus gave himself. Friends, have you received this gift? Have you received him? Romans 6.23 says, The wages of sin is dead.

[18:42] But the gift of God, eternal life, eternal life, free gift. It's free for a limited time only, we could say, because time will come when it's no longer offered.

[18:55] Friends, it's important to get right with God. The wages of sin is death. The Bible speaks about eternal death, second death, which is hell. But the gift of God is eternal life.

[19:06] It's a gift. It's eternal life. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Praise God for his unspeakable gift.

[19:18] His unspeakable gift today. Have you received that gift? I pray you have. I read a challenging quote speaking of, if you have received this gift, what are you doing about it?

[19:35] You have been bought with a price. It tells us that you have been bought with a price. You are not your own, for you are bought with a price.

[19:50] Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. So your body and your spirit belong to God.

[20:02] Are you glorifying God with your life, with your body, with your spirit? Here's how someone put it. You really have no time of your own because you are not your own.

[20:14] You have 168 hours per week and God owns them all. Think of that. What can I do with that 168 hours a week when God owns it all?

[20:30] And I suppose there's a sense of, what are those wasted minutes of time not well spent? What a shame that would be. Rather, be a good steward of your life because it's not yours anymore.

[20:44] You're bought with a price. Praise God. Praise God.