Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!Now thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift!Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift.
8 sermons cite this verse
… where Paul just takes a right turn at the very end. And he says, thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift. Y'all, it's like Paul can't help himself. Paul's like, you'll never, you'll never be asked to give to others. You never could give to others more than God has given to you. God's gift to us, Paul says, is inexpressible. Our God is not a God who ever approaches us with needs. Oh no, the God who died for your sins when you were his enemy, who will take care of all your needs today and tomorrow and the day after that, and then every day after that forever. That is a God, not a God who comes with needs. It's a God who comes for you to give something to you. You could never give to yourself so you can afford to trust and obey him today and experience the joy today that comes from leveraging your life today for other people's salvation and hearing them give thanks to God through your generosity. …
… is an example. Paul points to these churches in Macedonia. We're going to see him kind of lift them up as an example. And the second passage we're going to look at is 2 Corinthians chapter 9, verse 6 through 15. And what this is over here is basically some truths based on this example. So we're going to be all over the place going back and forth, just turning between these two chapters. But to try to get this picture, let's camp out on these two passages. 2 Corinthians chapter 8, verse 1. Paul writes, service to the saints. And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will. So we urged Titus, since he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. But just as you excel in everything, in faith, in speech, and knowledge, in complete earnestness, and in your love for us, Okay, go over to the next chapter. …
Whatever else you have done or have not done, you have received Christ. The act of faith was the putting out of your empty hands to receive all the fullness of the Godhead in receiving Christ. There are some precious experiences to which you have not yet attained, some lofty heights to which you have not yet climbed, but you "have received Christ Jesus the Lord." That is the distinguishing mark of all true Christians! Though you may not all belong to the same denomination, yet without a single exception this is true concerning you, whether you are old or young, whether you are well-instructed or ill-taught, whether you are full of faith or are troubled with many a doubt and many a fear, you "have received Christ Jesus the Lord." There is nothing in this fact to cause you one boastful thought. You have received, that is what emptiness does in order that it may be filled, that is what hunger does in order that its cravings may be satisfied, that is what the beggar in the street does when he craves and obtains alms. There is nothing of which you can glory in the fact that you have received, for I may further remind you that even your very receiving you have received! The faith by which you received Christ was as much the gift of God to you as was the Christ upon whom your faith was fixed. You know that it is so and, therefore, you also know that boasting is forever excluded from the fact that you are saved! You have received Christ Jesus, that is all. I hope you prize the Gift, and praise the Giver. I trust that you often cry with the Apostle Paul, "Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift!" And that your soul makes her boast in the Lord concerning the Savior whom you have received, but no other boasting is permissible even for a moment! …
CHRIST WAS INTRINSICALLY IN HIMSELF. The wonder is not only that God gave His Son, but that His Son was what He was. Paul says He is "over all, God blessed forever." Jesus Himself said, "Before Abraham was, I Am"—claiming the very name of the eternal Jehovah. In due time, Christ became Man and, as Man, He was very dear to His Father. Even His earthly mother could not look upon her Child with half the affection that His Father had for Him. He was a perfect Man and, therefore, lovely in His Father's sight. He was, indeed, Himself God and, therefore, One with the Father even while He was Man. The loftiest angel could not adequately preach to you upon this point—unto what, then, shall I liken the preciousness of this gift? Similes fail me, metaphors I have none, "no mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls, for the price of Jesus is above rubies." He shall not be given for gold, no, not for much fine gold. As for topaz, and onyx, and sapphire, and all other precious stones, these must not be mentioned in comparison with Him. Paul's expression is the only appropriate one, "Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift." Eternity alone can reveal the value of Christ! By the miseries of the Hell from which He saves us, let us measure Him! By the bliss of the Heaven to which He lifts us, let us estimate His worth! By the depths of ignominy and shame into which He dived, let us conceive of Him! By the glories He relinquished and by the agonies He bore, let us attempt to form some faint idea of His value! But this Pearl of Great Price is so precious that I am bold to say that if Heaven, and earth, and all the starry orbs could be sold, their united price could not buy such another pearl as this one which God has given to us in Christ Jesus! …
2. Wherewithal then shall a sinful man atone for any the least of his sins? With his own works? No. Were they ever so many or holy, they are not his own, but God’s. But indeed they are all unholy and sinful themselves, so that every one of them needs a fresh atonement. Only corrupt fruit grows on a corrupt tree. And his heart is altogether corrupt and abominable; being “come short of the glory of God,” the glorious righteousness at first impressed on his soul, after the image of his great Creator. Therefore, having nothing, neither righteousness nor works, to plead, his mouth is utterly stopped before God. 3. If then sinful men find favour with God, it is “grace upon grace!” If God vouchsafe still to pour fresh blessings upon us, yea, the greatest of all blessings, salvation; what can we say to these things, but, “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift!” And thus it is. herein “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died” to save us “By grace” then “are ye saved through faith.” Grace is the source, faith the condition, of salvation. …
13. By the same fruits shall you distinguish this voice of God, from any delusion of the devil. That proud spirit cannot humble thee before God. He neither can nor would soften thy heart, and melt it first into earnest mourning after God, and then into filial love. It is not the adversary of God and man that enables thee to love thy neighbour; or to put on meekness, gentleness, patience, temperance, and the whole armour of God. [see Col. 3:12–14; Eph. 6:11] He is not divided against himself, or a destroyer of sin, his own work. No; it is none but the Son of God who cometh to “destroy the works of the devil.” [1 John 3:8] As surely therefore as holiness is of God, and as sin is the work of the devil, so surely the witness thou hast in thyself is not of Satan, but of God. 14. Well then mayst thou say, “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift!” [2 Cor. 9:15] Thanks be unto God, who giveth me to “know in whom I have believed;” [2 Tim. 1:12] who hath “sent forth the Spirit of his Son into my heart, crying, Abba, Father,” [Gal. 4:6] and even now, “bearing witness with my spirit that I am a child of God!” [Rom. 8:16] And see, that not only thy lips, but thy life show forth his praise. He hath sealed thee for his own; glorify him then in thy body and thy spirit, which are his. [1 Cor. 6:20] Beloved, if thou hast this hope in thyself, purify thyself as he is pure. While thou beholdest what manner of love the Father hath given thee, that thou shouldst be called a child of God; [1 John 3:1] cleanse thyself “from all filthiness of flesh and Spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God;” [2 Cor. 7:1] and let all thy thoughts, words, and works be a spiritual sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God through Christ Jesus! [Rom. 12:1, 2]
In order to this, we continually declare, (what should be frequently and deeply considered by all “who would not make void the law through faith,”) that faith itself, even Christian faith, the faith of God’s elect, the faith of the operation of God, still is only the handmaid of love. As glorious and honourable as it is, it is not the end of the commandment. God hath given this honour to love alone: Love is the end of all the commandments of God. Love is the end, the sole end, of every dispensation of God, from the beginning of the world to the consummation of all things. And it will endure when heaven and earth flee away; for “love” alone “never faileth.” Faith will totally fail; it will be swallowed up in sight, in the everlasting vision of God. But even then love, — 2. Very excellent things are spoken of faith, and whosoever is a partaker thereof may well say with the Apostle, “Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift.” Yet still it loses all its excellence when brought into a comparison with love. What St. Paul observes concerning the superior glory of the gospel above that of the law may with great propriety be spoken of the superior glory of love above that of faith: “Even that which was made glorious hath no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. For if that which is done away is glorious, much more doth that which remaineth exceed in glory” Yea, all the glory of faith, before it is done away, arises hence, that it ministers to love: It is the great temporary means which God has ordained to promote that eternal end. …
Yes, and if Christ is meat and drink, what need there is of a real reception of Him. If you get meat and drink, you cannot make any use of them unless you eat and drink them. Take meat to a hungry man—hold it out on your finger and ask him, "Don't you feel better?" "No," he says. "Look at it, Man; look at it!" "No, I feel more hungry." "But cut it! Here is the knife." "Oh," he says, "what is the use of that? You mock me! I need to get it between my teeth! I need to get it worked into my system, or else it is of no use to me." Hearer, of what service is it to you that you come and listen, Sunday after Sunday, some of you, but never decide to trust Christ and take Him into your soul? Why, you do but hear me, as it were, pour out the water, and you do not drink! You see it sparkle as I speak of it, but you do not receive it. What is the good of it to you? Oh, you will perish, some of you—you will perish with the bread within your reach—with the clean brook of Eternal Life flowing at your feet! Oh, why this folly? It is not so in other things. Men are not satisfied with seeing gold—they want to take it home and put it in their pockets! And how is it that they are content with hearing about Christ—with talking about Christ—but never asking for real faith, and for vital union with the Lord Jesus Christ? See to this, I pray you—and see to it soon—or death will see to you! …