...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.
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...