Indescribable Gift 11-26-00 I feel led of the Holy Spirit to depart from our series on lessons from Exodus

to speak on a thankful heart. It is the same subject that we have encountered at the waters of Marah. There they had a choice to trust in the od they proclaimed in a son! of praise " to continue to walk in a joyful spirit in spite of conditions. #r they could trust in their senses and complain a!ain$ for!ettin! just who it was that called them his children. The verse that has been on my heart all week is in %&or '()*+), -.I/0. 13 1ecause of the service by which you have proved yourselves$ men will praise od for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the !ospel of &hrist$ and for your !enerosity in sharin! with them and with everyone else. 14 2nd in their prayers for you their hearts will !o out to you$ because of the surpassin! !race od has !iven you.15 Thanks be to od for his indescribable !ift3 /erse ), alone was on my heart but I read )* and )4 to !ive you some of the context. Thanks be to od for his indescribable !ift3 + surpassin! !race3 5ast week I didn6t reali7e we dwelt on the son! of Moses " a son! of praise and thanks " coincidin! with the be!innin! of the Thanks!ivin! week. It just happened to be where we were " by od6s divine providence. I be!an to think about how !ood$ how !racious od has been in leadin! us throu!h the last year " how we have learned and !rown to!ether and this verse just kept comin! up in my heart. 8e can be come so dull " unfeelin! " toward this indescribable of !ift for it is so constantly present with us we !row accustomed to it$ takin! somethin! so wonderful for !ranted. 8hen we take communion it is suppose to all come back to us afresh$ what He has done for us$ the wonder of bein! made ri!ht with od. 1ut I6m afraid that many times we only allow ourselves to !o so deep and no further. This verse says the !ift we have received is indescribable$ or in 9:/ " unspeakable. The word in reek is used only here in the 1ible. It means unable to convey. 5iterally it means the ne!ative of speakin! or conveyin! somethin!. 2 similar phrase today would be$ ;I can6t tell you how much that !ift means to me.< 1ut I want to convey it as much as I can and trust the Holy Spirit to add what is lackin!. 8e will continue to see the depth and hei!ht and width of this !ift throu!h our lives and throu!h eternity. To !et a taste of it we must first see what we are and what we deserve. 8e have inherited a rebellious nature that is opposed to od. Even thou!h He is our &reator who only has !ood intentions for us$ we refuse to acknowled!e Him$ and in fact i!nore Him$ doin! whatever we please. That is normal for mankind because man has inherited 2dam6s nature. This self+seekin! spirit really has no love for other6s$ only a desire to please self and if that costs others$ we don6t really care. #ut of pride we make a pretense of carin! because we want others to think hi!hly of us. That is self love in dis!uise. Since we know that od is !ood we must understand every rebellion a!ainst his will is pure evil. It is the same pride that inspired Satan to desire to exalt himself as !od. #ur sin declares the same intention.

=ou may say that is not your heart " and it may not be if you have had a chan!e wrou!ht by the !race of od " but either that has happened or you are deceivin! yourself. 8e all started with that nature. That nature will do anythin! to !et what it wants. It has no intention whatsoever of surrenderin! to the will of the #ne to whom it owes everythin!. If it was possible$ that old nature would dethrone od and try to take over in effort to find more !ratification for itself. #ver and over the Scripture says sin leads to death. That is the fruit of sin$ defiance of od. It destroys the thin!s that od has made$ shunnin! the value of those !ood thin!s and seekin! the destruction for any that would stand in the way. Self centered$ self promotin!$ just plain selfishness is the heart of every son of 2dam. 2nd that plainly and clearly deserves justice from a ri!hteous od. The just sentence for sin is death. Sin kills and so we reap what we sow. >emember :esus said whoever hates his brother is a murderer$ and so when we hate another for not actin! in a way that would please us$ we sow death. The reapin! of death is just. It is the ri!ht thin! for od to do. 1ut here is where that unspeakable !ift comes in. od set his love upon us. 8hy? I don6t know. 1ut I know He did. 2nd so to redeem what He loves He took the form of his own weak and limited creation. .ow that is indescribable. I don6t understand how He did that either$ but I know He did for you and me. He lived the law perfectly$ the very spirit of the 5aw to the finest detail and all the while experiencin! every pain and sorrow man can experience. Then He went to the cross to exchan!e all the ri!hteousness of his life with all the sin and rebellion of mine. Some swap3 8hy would He do that? 1ecause He decided to love you and me with a love I can6t be!in to fathom in its !reatness. =ou and I !et his ri!hteousness accredited to our account and He !ets our sin and the death it deserves. He faces the wrath of od and hell for the rebellion that was in my life toward my &reator. 2ll the u!liness of the crucifixion and hell are ri!htfully mine$ but He went in my place. 2nd in so doin! He defeated death and hell " somethin! I could never have done. Hallelujah " what a Savior3 .o wonder his name is 8onderful. That literally means " indescribable. Too !reat to put into words. The indescribable !ift of od is the !ift of himself to us. That is too ama7in! for me to !rasp the depths of but it is the declaration of Scripture. =et I can still choose to walk away from an exchan!e like that -my sin for his ri!hteousness0 and live in my rebellion$ my declaration of self as od. That is what I do every time I i!nore his leadin! and refuse to obey. 1ut if I accept the exchan!e " his peace and joy$ and ri!hteousness$ are mine. I am made ri!ht+ with the holy and just od who created me. 1ut the problem is no man seeks od. :ohn @(44 -.I/0 44 A.o one can come to me unless the Bather who sent me draws him$< So his !race steps in and causes my heart to hun!er after Him and the work of transformation be!ins. 2!ain and a!ain He draws me to a place I would not !o except his love desires more for me than I can ima!ine for myself. =ou know what He6s doin!? He6s refinin! me so I can know Him and love Him in a !reater way$ and then He uses me as an instrument. 2nd then He rewards me " #h it is reward enou!h to be loved so much and to have my mind renewed so that I am free from the !arba!e that used to pollute my mind and to be free of the destructive

tendencies of sin. I have purposes with eternal conseCuences and a life of lastin! meanin!$ what more could I ask? 1ut then He lays up for me eternal reward I can lay at his feet. 2s our eyes start to open day by day to all the !oodness He has for us and all that He is workin! in and throu!h our lives$ we just stand back and marvel. 2s was talked of in the retreat$ even the trials and refinin! fires are precious expressions of his love and so needed in our lives to work in us his own character. 5ook where we started and look where we end in this passa!e( Eph %()+)D -.I/0 1 2s for you$ you were dead in your trans!ressions and sins$ 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kin!dom of the air$ the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 2ll of us also lived amon! them at one time$ !ratifyin! the cravin!s of our sinful nature and followin! its desires and thou!hts. 5ike the rest$ we were by nature objects of wrath. 4 1ut because of his !reat love for us$ od$ who is rich in mercy$ 5 made us alive with &hrist even when we were dead in trans!ressions++it is by !race you have been saved.6 2nd od raised us up with &hrist and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in &hrist :esus$7 in order that in the comin! a!es he mi!ht show the incomparable riches of his !race$ expressed in his kindness to us in &hrist :esus. 8 Bor it is by !race you have been saved$ throu!h faith++and this not from yourselves$ it is the !ift of od++9 not by works$ so that no one can boast.10 Bor we are odEs workmanship$ created in &hrist :esus to do !ood works$ which od prepared in advance for us to do. 8e start as od hatin! self+seekin! in!rates " with the same nature as Hitler and all the potential for evil that he or :udas had. 8e end up in the ima!e of the Son of od " transformed into his likeness. >omans F(%' -.I/0 29 Bor those od foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son$ that he mi!ht be the firstborn amon! many brothers. % &or *()F -.I/0 18 2nd we$ who with unveiled faces all reflect the 5ordEs !lory$ are bein! transformed into his likeness with ever+ increasin! !lory$ which comes from the 5ord$ who is the Spirit. 8hat an unspeakable !ift$ this abundant exceedin! !race. In the reek the word ;surpassin!< means to over shoot. I have a tar!et I6m tryin! to hit but I overshoot it. 14 2nd in their prayers for you their hearts will !o out to you$ because of the surpassin! -this overshootin!$ !one beyond the limits0 !race od has !iven you. 15 Thanks be to od for his indescribable !ift3 % &or '()4+),-.I/0 od !ave you !race but it was above and beyond3 He went overboard with his dispensin! of this indescribable !ift " manifested in his only Son. He brou!ht you out of certain destruction like the Israelites at the >ed Sea " throu!h on dry !round$ destroyed your enemy " death$ and made you his own children. That means your od6s heir. The 2postle Gaul says since :esus died$ you !et it all. He says in >o F if od would not stop at !ivin! his beloved Son up for you$ is there any !ood thin! He will not !ive you? od is the executor and :esus6 will says$ ;my ri!hteousness I6d like to be !iven to each of my children.< 2nd the Bather says$ ;That6s the plan$ to make them all like you.< #h and then we could !o on and talk about heaven and rulin! and rei!nin! with Him$ in his presence forever$ unhindered by this body as we know it. 2nd our new

bodies$ but that we would be another messa!e. Thanks be to od for his indescribable !ift. 5ets be a thankful joyful people because of who our unchan!in! od is. 5ets not let circumstances blur our vision as to his unchan!in! love and devotion to see you entirely his. &onsider all that is yours in &hrist :esus and the love the Bather is investin! in you. &onsider that the #ne who be!an the work will be faithful to complete it$ and then thank od for his indescribable !ift. Thank him everyday for all He is to you and all He6s doin! in you. I have wondered if when :esus said$ ;2s often as you eat this bread and drink this cupH< He may have meant whenever we eat or drink to think of his life and death for us$ reali7e He himself is our spiritual sustenance. I want to close with this prayer Gaul prayed for the Ephesians and prayin! it for you this mornin!. Gart of that wonderful overshootin! !race to me is the &hrist in you my brothers and sisters in :esus. Thanks be to od for his unspeakable !ift3 Eph *()4+%) -.I/0 14 Bor this reason I kneel before the Bather$ 15 from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.16 I pray that out of his !lorious riches he may stren!then you with power throu!h his Spirit in your inner bein!$ 17 so that &hrist may dwell in your hearts throu!h faith. 2nd I pray that you$ bein! rooted and established in love$18 may have power$ to!ether with all the saints$ to !rasp how wide and lon! and hi!h and deep is the love of &hrist$ 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowled!e++that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of od.20 .ow to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or ima!ine$ accordin! to his power that is at work within us$ 21 to him be !lory in the church and in &hrist :esus throu!hout all !enerations$ for ever and ever3 2men.