I feel so that Grace Church could be here and
be what it is. I don't think there's been a Sunday
that's gone by that he hasn't given in our church.
And while we don't normally reveal the sum that
a person gives, we're going to make an exception
in this case this morning because it is so significant
and because I think all of you will appreciate
how much has been given. I think also as we understand
this, it will challenge all of us to do more
when we learn what this person has done. And
so I'm happy this morning to recognize this person
to give you the name of Jesus Christ. Did I surprise
you a little bit? Some of you are getting a little
uncomfortable, weren't you? I saw a couple of
people straighten their ties getting ready to
come up. We don't often think of the Lord in
terms of a giver, do we? But in fact, He is the
most generous and extravagant of givers. God
loves to give because that's His nature. That's
the nature of grace. The Apostle Paul was so
excited about this truth that he wrote, for what
is our text this morning in 2 Corinthians 9,
15, thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.
Now Paul is a man who knew how to use words.
He had words that he could call upon. He had
words that he could create. He said, when it
comes to the giving of Jesus Christ, our God,
I have no words. He says it's absolutely indescribable.
Earlier in this section of 2 Corinthians, he
told us exactly what the giving of Jesus Christ
has been. Chapter 8 and verse 9, You know the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He
was rich, Yet, for your sake he became poor that
you through his poverty might become rich." And
as he builds around this theme, writing by the
Holy Spirit, the Apostle declares that God's
giving is to be a motive for you and for me.
He wants us to demonstrate the grace of God in
our lives. in our giving just as God has demonstrated
His grace in giving for us. And he writes in
chapter 9 verses 6 through 11 that giving really
is investing with God. He says, this I say, he
who invests sparingly shall also reap sparing
dividends. Now we're putting that into 20th century
terms from the agricultural words of the first
century, but that's what he's saying. He who
invests bountifully shall also bountifully receive
dividends. Let each one do just as he has purposed
in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion.
God didn't give that way, did He? God loves a
cheerful giver, and God is able to make all grace
abound to you, that always having all sufficiency
in everything. Notice the all -inclusiveness
of those terms. You may have an abundance for
every good deed. As it is written, he scattered
abroad, he gave to the poor, his righteousness
abides forever. Now he who supplies seed to the
sower and bread for food will supply and multiply
your seed, your investment for sowing, and increase
the harvest or the dividends of your righteousness.
You will be enriched in everything for all liberality,
which through us is producing thanksgiving to
God. The Apostle Paul is not a prosperity theology
preacher. He is not saying that we ought to give
so that we can get in order to satisfy our greed.
But he is saying that when we learn to be generous
with God and trust God with the partnership in
our investment, God gives us a bountiful return.
God is a giver. And this giving is rooted in
the grace that is His nature. It would be good
for us to think a little bit this morning about
the meaning of grace because it sometimes is
misunderstood by people. The word grace in the
New Testament is the word charis. Charis. It
is from a root word that means well -being. And
so the idea is in grace that there is a disposition
with it from which proceeds kind action and goodwill.
It means that one brings well -being to another.
It is to extend favor which is not deserved and
which cannot be earned. The emphasis with the
word is on the goodness of the giver. He is gracious.
And, of course, the word is used of God in the
Bible. Vine says that it refers to His unmerited
kindness, that it stresses universality and freeness,
its spontaneous character and the pleasure or
joy that God designs for the one who receives
from Him. Donald Gray Barnhouse, that great Presbyterian
preacher of another generation said, love that
goes upward is worship. Love that goes outward
is affection. Love that stoops is grace. That
is the grace of God. Jesus Christ, though He
was rich, became poor. He stooped. to come into
the world and to go to the cross, so that through
His act of self -impoverishment, we might share
in His riches. There are three primary characteristics
of divine grace. It is in the first place eternal.
God's grace did not begin at Calvary. In fact,
in 2 Timothy 1 .9, and I invite you to turn there
with me, we see that God's grace extends far
beyond time itself as we think into the past.
2 Timothy 1 in verse 9, he speaks about God and
His power and he says, which was granted us in
Christ Jesus from all eternity. In other words,
before there was time and space and matter, before
there was a universe, when there was just God
and eternity, God then purposed in His grace
to rescue us from our sin. God's grace is eternal.
It is not something that began in time. It goes
back into eternity and it stretches forward into
eternity because it is a part of the very nature
of God. Furthermore, this grace is free. What
that means is that it's undeserved. It is unmerited
by us. We are never asked to earn God's grace.
Hence, the false theology that says by certain
sacraments we can't earn the grace of God. Such
a concept totally negates what the Bible says
is grace. It is free. We are never asked to repay
God's grace because we can't. It's impossible.
And verse 24, it mentions the freeness of grace
in these words. It says, being justified, that
means declared righteous before God. Being justified
as a gift by His grace. A gift by His grace.
A gift by His grace. It is not something that
we earn or deserve, it is given to us freely
by God. It was very costly to God to be able
to extend this grace to us. It cost Him the life
of His Son. This grace was given to us as a gift
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
the verse says. How costly it was for God to
be able to extend grace to sinners. But He was
willing to pay that price so that we might receive
freely from God saving grace. This grace is also
sovereign. This grace is eternal, it's free,
and it's sovereign. God exercises this grace
according to His own will. We see this as far
back in the Bible as Exodus chapter 33 and verse
19. The Lord says to Moses, I myself will make
all my goodness pass before you, Moses, and will
proclaim the name of the Lord before you, and
I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious.
God is gracious toward those he has chosen to
be his own. God is not gracious to everyone.
but He is gracious to those who are His by His
sovereign choice and in whom He places faith
to believe in His Son, Jesus Christ. God's grace
is a sovereign grace, a grace that has been purposed
in Christ Jesus for you and for me before the
world began. God's grace is marvelous. Chuck
Swindoll tells a story in his book, The Grace
Awakening, that illustrates grace. He says, I
vividly remember my last spanking. It was on
my 13th birthday, as a matter of fact. Having
just broken into the sophisticated ranks of the
teen world, I thought I was something on a stick.
I like that phrase. My father wasn't nearly as
impressed as I was with my great importance and
newfound independence. I was lying on my bed.
He was outside the window on a muggy October
afternoon in Houston weeding the garden. He said,
Charles, come out and help me weed the garden.
I said something like, no, it's my birthday,
remember? My tone was sassy and my deliberate
lack of respect was eloquent. I knew better than
to disobey my dad, but after all, I was the ripe
old age of 13 now. He set a new 100 -meter record
that autumn afternoon. He was in the house and
all over me like white on rice, spanking me all
the way out to the garden. As I recall, I weaned
until the moonlight was shining on the pansies.
That same night, he took me out to a surprise
dinner. He gave me what I deserved earlier. Later
he gave me what I did not deserve. The birthday
dinner was grace. He condescended in favor upon
this rebellious young man. That evening I enjoyed
what a proper theologian named Benjamin Warfield
called free sovereign favor to the ill -deserving.
I enjoyed grace. Great illustration, isn't it?
God, in His mercy, has not given us what we deserve.
What we deserve has been laid upon Christ. And
in His grace, He has given us what we did not
deserve because of the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus. Marvelous illustrations of grace
in the Bible. One of my favorites is back in
2 Kings, Chapter 5, the story of Naaman. Naaman
the Syrian A man who was very important in his
country, the General Schwarzkopf of his day.
A hero, but a man who was ill with leprosy and
incurable disease in those days. Not only disfiguring,
but fatal. It just so happened, in the providence
of God, that a little girl from Israel had been
taken captive by some terrorists. of Syria, and
taken back to their land. And she was given as
a slave to this great general. And she made the
comment one day in passing, oh, it's too bad
you don't know about the prophet who's over in
Israel. You would surely be healed. Well, that
comment created a lot of curiosity in Naaman.
He went to the king and said, I need to go to
Israel. And so the king said, I'll give you a
letter. He took off for Israel. Went to the king
of Israel and said, I need to find this prophet
who's able to cure me of my leprosy. Well, the
king of Israel was not a great man of faith.
And he figured this was some kind of a plot by
the Syrians to undermine him, to cause some issue
to arise so that the Syrians could attack. He
was in despair. But somehow Elisha heard about
all of this and he sent a note to the king said
don't worry don't worry send him down and So
Naaman arrived at Elisha's house He knocked on
the door Explained his problem and Elisha said
go down to the River Jordan and dip yourself
seven times That particular part of the story
caused one preacher that I heard about to name
his sermon on this text, seven ducks in muddy
water. Well, he was talking about Naaman who
had to dip himself seven times in the muddy Jordan.
Naaman absolutely refused. His pride would not
allow him to do something like that. And he went
away storming mad, but his servants came to him
and said, hey, I mean, what can this hurt? He
said, look, you know, there are rivers over in
Syria that are cleaner than this Jordan. They
said, if this will work, why don't you do it?
So finally he relented and humbled himself and
went down to the Jordan River, dipped himself
seven times, and when he came up that seventh
time, his flesh was clean and whole. God had
healed him. Now was there something in Naaman
that caused God to say, oh my, there is a wonderful
Syrian general? And he deserves my cleansing
from this disease. Is that what he said? No.
God didn't say that about Naaman. Naaman was
a sinner. He was a leper. He was condemned. But
God in His grace provided for Naaman to learn
how he might be made whole. And when Naaman responded
in faith and humility finally, he was made whole.
And Nehemiah not only went away a healed leper,
he went away a believer in the true God of Israel.
The grace of God. Some of you have heard of Lee
Atwater, who was chairman of the Republican Party.
He died just a couple of weeks ago of a brain
tumor. By his own admission, Lee Atwater was
not a nice man through his life. He rose very
quickly through the ranks of political power
in the Republican Party. He was chairman, as
you may recall, of the election committee for
President Bush. He was willing to do whatever
was necessary to see that George Bush was elected
president of the United States. Regarding Michael
Dukakis, the Democratic candidate, Atwater said
that he would strip the bark off the little so
and so during the 1988 presidential campaign.
Well, I think history shows that he did. He also
said that he did not care what people said about
him as long as he got the results that he wanted.
He was a man who believed that the ends justify
whatever the means might be, and he didn't care
whose reputation or feelings were involved. He
didn't care if he lied. He didn't care if he
distorted. He wanted the end result and made
a lot of enemies. And then at 40 years of age,
he was struck with a brain tumor. He says, I
was never a religious man. If you asked me, I
would have said I was a Christian, but I didn't
go to church and can't pretend that I relied
on my faith for much of anything. But he went
on to say that having the brain tumor diagnosed,
he began to reevaluate things. And as a result
of that, in some ministry by Charles Coulson
and others, Lee Atwater placed his faith in Jesus
Christ within the last year. And he began to
read the Bible voraciously. And he began to do
things he would never have dreamed of before.
He sent letters of apology to Dukakis and to
others that he had mistreated and defamed. Now,
the press does not understand this. One editor
was writing about it in one of the local newspapers
this week and said, maybe it was all done in
sincerity. Maybe it was just good timing. His
death brings up a dilemma I've struggled with
for years, says this editor. Excuse me. How necessary
is it to live your life within the boundaries
of civility If a little last -minute penitence
can negate it all, put it more bluntly, is God
really this big of a pushover? Well, the editor
exposes his skepticism, which is not always unhealthy
for an editor, but he also exposes his woeful
ignorance of God. God is not ever a pushover.
But God is gracious. And God is willing to forgive
anyone who comes to Him with repentance and faith.
And we can be grateful that Lee Atwater came
to that point in the last year of his life. What
an illustration of grace we see in this man.
Another man that you have heard of and who has
been called by some of us, even, pineapple face.
No, it's not a Dick Tracy cartoon character.
It's Manuel Noriega of Panama. I should say,
lately, of Panama. Ruthless little dictator.
A killer. Stole from his own people He dealt
in drugs as low as a scum of the earth But as
you know the story he was removed from power
by a little action on the part of the United
States and was taken To Miami where he sits today
in prison awaiting his trial Back In January
of 1990, just a little over a year ago, there
was a man who mailed a New Testament to Noriega.
He had nothing to do but to read, and so he began
to read it. And they asked for, these people
who mailed the New Testament asked for time to
visit with him. And he consented. It took months
for the red tape to be worked through, but finally
it was agreed that on a certain day, they would
come to visit with Manuel Noriega. It was the
15th of May, not even a year ago. They came to
his cell and sat down with him. And over the
course of three hours, explained to him more
fully the New Testament he had been reading.
And Noriega, with tears streaming down his cheeks,
repented. And his own words are that he placed
his faith in Jesus Christ as his Savior. Here
is what he wrote in his Bible in Spanish. I received
Jesus Christ as my Savior the 15th day of May
of 1990 at 11 a .m. The same group went then
to visit his immediate family. His wife and two
daughters also reportedly have received Jesus
Christ as Savior. Is God a pushover? Not in the
least, my friend. then how can God forgive a
person like Noriega? The same way that He can
forgive you and me. Noriega's sin was nailed
to the cross of Jesus Christ. Does that mean
that he should be let out of prison and go free
and testify? No, it means that he's going to
have to pay for the crimes that he's committed
against society. however he is found guilty.
But it does mean that before God's court, Noriega
is forgiven by the grace of God. I hope that
you know the meaning of that forgiveness, that
God gives freely and sovereignly. How do we respond
to such grace as this? How do we respond to such
unselfishness on the part of God? Well, obviously
we can't pay God back for His grace. We can't
now do something that is going to say, well,
now here's what I'm doing for you because of
that, and it kind of pays you back, God. It doesn't
work that way. But what the apostle says in our
text is that because of God's grace that cannot
even be described in human words, that we ought
to be gracious in our giving. The grasp of God's
grace in our lives should cause us to let go
of what we tend to hang on to in our selfishness.
The story is told about two travelers. One was
greedy and the other was envious. As they were
traveling along, by and by an angel came and
walked with them for a time. And then it was
time for the angel to leave. And so before he
left, he said, I want to do something for you.
And he said to these two, greedy and envious,
I will grant the wish of the first of you to
make a wish. And then I will give a double portion
of that wish to the second one. Well, you can
imagine the dilemma that it put those two in.
Greedy didn't want to go first because he wanted
the double portion. Envy didn't want to make
the first wish because he would envy the double
portion that greedy got. And so there ensued
an argument, followed by a struggle. and then
a fight until one had the other by the neck almost
dead and then he relented. And he said, all right,
all right, I'll make my wish. And he said, I
wish myself blind in one eye. His wish was granted
and the other got the double portion. Envy. and
greed are totally counterproductive. When you
and I grasp and hang on to what God has put into
our hands in the first place, it only ultimately
corrupts us and destroys us. How much better
that we should recognize that the God we worship
is a God who gives. And that we allow that grace
to be very real in our lives as well. That because
He is a giver, we're givers. Let's pray. We sing
sometimes the hymn, All to Jesus I surrender.
All to Him I freely give. But before we ever
sang that song, Jesus, as it were, sang to us,
all to you I surrender, all for you I freely
give. Because of that great grace, you and I
can release what we hang onto. and invest with
God our time, our talents, and our treasures.
May that be the spirit and the attitude of our
hearts. Talk to the Lord about it right where
you're seated. Tell Him your response. Tell Him
your response to His indescribable grace. Let's
stand together, please, with our heads bowed
and sing. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me! Father, we recognize
you as the greatest giver in our church. And
how much you have given we can never fully define.
How gracious you are. And so now may your grace
overwhelm us and free us from sinful covetousness
and greed and envy. And enable us likewise to
be gracious in giving to others. In Jesus' name.
Amen.