My text this morning is a very familiar passage from John's Gospel. Let me get it on the board. And I'd like for you to read it with me. It's just two verses. This is the King James Version, and I've memorized it in the King James Version. I'm not going to memorize it in another version. I'd have to start all over again. but two very precious verses that will form the foundation of my message. So please read with me. 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. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. The grass withers, the flower thereof falleth away, but the word of the Lord endureth forever. Amen." Christmas has always been a season of gift-giving. People give gifts. In 2023, the retail sales at the end of the year in the United States was about $955 billion. And that amount is expected to rise this year to $989 billion. People give gifts at Christmas, nice gifts, increasingly expensive gifts. Further, we spend an amazing $2.6 billion on the gift wrapping that we use. You know that stuff that you rip off right away on Christmas morning and then throw away? $2.6 billion. I will always remember my childhood Christmas Eves. There were five of us in my family, and my mom had a sister who had five, so there were 10 of us. And we would assemble Christmas Eve for a dinner at my grandmother's house, and then we would open gifts. And when us 10 kids got to grandma's house, the first thing we would do is run to her front porch. And there on that porch, the gifts would be piled up to the ceiling. It was amazing. It was a veritable mountain of gifts, hundreds of them in my child's eyes. But you know, I don't remember any of those gifts, but I do remember the excitement of that night. And in the corner of the living room was my grandmother, just beaming as she watched us open our gifts. She loved her grandchildren. And this was a special night for her to express that love. You know, grandparents, don't ever underestimate your influence on your children's children. You are God's gift to them. Take that responsibility seriously. I don't remember any of the gifts, but I will never forget my grandmother. People today, people gave my dad gifts long ago. He was an accountant, and it was strange some of the gifts he would receive. One of the curious ones for me was he'd get tons of fruitcakes, and I would be the one that would have to carry them home. Do you know how much a fruitcake weighs when you're a little child? I never did like fruitcake. Our church's Samaritan's Purse initiative is about gift giving and evangelism. The Salvation Army bell ringers collect in order to give to others less fortunate. The United States Marine Corps Reserve has a longstanding Christmas program, Toys for Tots. Families give gifts to each other, especially to children. Sandy really gets into this. She just loves to give gifts, especially at Christmas. And perhaps that's partly because she was the best Christmas gift ever given to her mom on Christmas Day long ago. So Christmas has always been about gift giving. But all of that gift giving began somewhere. And I got news for you. It wasn't Santa Claus that started it from the North Pole. It wasn't family members who decided just to start giving each other gifts. It wasn't the government that started giving gifts to its people. In fact, on that very first Christmas day, the government, Rome, was intending to do the opposite, to take more from its people in raising taxes. The Magi, the wise men, brought gifts to give to the child Jesus in Bethlehem, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And that's a great and old example. But Christmas did not begin there. You see, my friends, God was the first gift giver. And He has always been giving gifts. He gave us life. And that is a precious gift in our present-day culture of death. God is the First Giver, and He has given us more than we will ever realize. God regularly gives us gifts. This Church is His gift to us. Our pastors are His gift to us. He has gifted each one of us and then given us to each other. John James 117 says. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." This verse tells us that the gift's source is God, that their substance is perfect and good, and that there's stability in this giving. There's no variableness in the giver who gives them to us. The scriptures also tell us that the rain falls on the just and the unjust. Now, rain in this passage is in a good sense. It's not in the Hurricane Helen or Milton sense. So no matter who you are today, you receive good gifts from our Heavenly Father. Matthew 5, 45b says, for he maketh the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust. Some call these gifts God's common grace, which is poured out upon all of us. People who do not even know God nor care at all about Him have received good gifts from Him, are receiving them as I speak. His goodness and mercy are but a few. God gives us the very breath that we breathe, and the food that we eat, He gives us all things. Christmas, however, is uniquely about God's gift-giving. These two verses describe the exclusive character of God's giving, His gift. They describe what God gave, why He gave it, its importance, and its impact, so let's look at them. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Christmas is first about God giving us what we don't deserve. So what did God give us at Christmas? God gave us His only begotten, His one and only Son. And how did he give us this gift? He gave and even delivered himself through the power of the Holy Spirit upon the Virgin Mary. He didn't use Amazon or FedEx. God became one of us at Christmas. He gave us Himself. God gave us His Son, Jesus, His one and only Son, that which was most precious to Him. He gave us the very best, not the leftovers, not the marred, not the lame, not the disease. It's why all of the Old Testament sacrifices brought to the tabernacle and to the temple had to be perfect, because they all pointed to the perfect gift that God would give centuries later, Jesus. So then why did God give us this precious, perfect, yet undeserved gift? God gave us His Son because he loved us. The word in this passage is from agape. I personally like the KJV word in 1 Corinthians 13. It's charity. A pure, willful, sacrificial love that intentionally desires another's highest good. John's Gospel speaks regularly of the Father's love for the Son and the Son's loyal love for the Father. In John 3.35, the Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. In John 14.31, but I do as the Father has commanded me, Jesus is speaking, so that the world may know that I love the Father. So they, the Father and the Son, love each other. But the Father and the Son demonstrated their love for us at Christmas. Jesus said later to his disciples in John 15, As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. And then John goes on in his epistle to explain this in 1 John 4. God is love. But this, the love of God, by this the love of God was manifested in us that God sent his only begotten son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Further, and even better, the text says he didn't just love us. But He so loved us. God gave His Son to us because He greatly loved us. And John explains that further in 1 John 3, 1. He describes the idea of God's love as being lavished upon us, being poured out upon us abundantly, precisely because it is undeserved. You know, some people wonder today whether they're really loved or not. Well, God loves you, my friend, more than anyone in this world could ever love you. And if he loves you, you are genuinely loved beyond your comprehension. And God displayed part of that love at Christmas. You know, one of my favorite short stories is O. Henry's, The Gift of the Magi. And I know Brother Bruce Cox used this illustration last year. My teacher said, repetition aids learning. So we're going to hear it again. Della and Jim Dellingham Young are a very poor couple. but the young couple is very much in love with each other. Christmas is coming, the plot is about how this very poor couple will secretly buy Christmas gifts for each other. Della only has a dollar and 87 cents to buy her gym a gift, it's not enough. The Dillingham Youngs have two real treasures in their home. Della's beautiful knee-length brown hair, Hair that O'Henry says would depreciate the Queen of Sheba's jewels. Jim loved Della's beautiful hair. Jim's treasure, a gold pocket watch that was a family heirloom. A watch that O'Henry says would make even King Solomon envious. Della's determined to buy her beloved Jim a precious gift. She decides, visits a local wig maker, and Madame Sophrony buys Della's hair for $20. Jim has been carrying his watch with an old, worn-out piece of leather, and Della decides to purchase a beautiful platinum fob chain for Jim's watch. It's the perfect gift for him. Jim has also secretly bought Della a gift, but when Jim gets home on Christmas Eve, he discovers that Della has cut her hair, and he's devastated. She sees it, and she seeks to placate it with her gift. Della gives Jim her gift. He opens it. It's the platinum fob chain for his watch, and Jim sighs. He then tells Della that he sold his gold watch to buy her gift. She opens her gift, and then Della sighs, and then they laugh together. For there was a beautiful ornamental set of combs for her hair. The two had sacrificed that which was most precious for the other, and they did so out of love for each other. It was their love that was truly the invaluable gift given that day. Well, Henry concludes, those who sacrifice material things for those they love are as wise as the magi who brought gifts to Jesus. Listen, my friends, God's love is the origin of His redemptive work in Jesus Christ. God sacrificed Jesus. He gave that which was most precious to Him for us. He sent His one and only Son to become our Savior. This precious and undeserved love is the love of Christmas, and such love remains undeserved to this very day. How deep the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure, that He should give His only Son to make a wretch His treasure. So then to whom did God give this precious and undeserved gift? God gave this undeserved gift, his son, to the world, the text says. The world is that moral order in rebellion against God. God gave his son to that, to the world. You know, that very thing that we're not supposed to love, according to 1 John 2.15. You see, God's love redeems us from the moral evil of the world. It takes us out of it. It buys us back from it. But our love so often likes to participate in the world. So he warns us in 1 John 2. Yes, God did give his son to save the elect. Those chosen before the foundation of the world But John 3.16 doesn't exactly say that. It says that God gave his son because he loved the world. The text does not say that God gave his son to the elect of the world, but God did give his son for the elect and the chosen and for the world. 1 John 4.15 says, We have seen and testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Now, don't ask me to explain this. I can't. But it's what the text says. The text says world four times. And you can't explain it either. So just believe what it says. When you can explain to me the mystery of the Trinity, three persons in one God, then maybe we can understand this issue fully. We will marvel for all eternity, I think, when God explains it to us. God's Son, out of love and obedience to His Father, came to earth. thou didst leave thy throne and thy kingly crown, when thou camest to earth for me. But in Bethlehem's home was there found no room for thy holy nativity. O come to my heart, Lord Jesus, there is room in my heart for thee." Again, why did God give us this precious and undeserved gift? He loved you, and God gave His Son so that you might believe. You see, that moment in human history, God became one of us, so that we might understand who he is and believe. In the Old Testament, God was Israel's king, or at least he wanted to be. That is, until Israel selfishly wanted a king they could see, like all of the other nations. You see, they couldn't see God So they wanted a king they could see, so God gave them what they wanted, a king they could see, Saul and then David. But they still didn't get it. They struggled in unbelief and disobedience and idolatry. So God himself came in human flesh so that we might see and believe. God would be the king again, only now in human flesh, from David's line. I ask again, why? God gave His Son so that you might believe and have eternal life. We will all live somewhere for eternity. Life does not end when we die. God always wanted us to live with Him, but our first parents had other ideas. God wants to restore that which was destroyed in Eden by our sinful parents, and He will restore it. He's already started to do so in us. We will eat of the tree of life and live forever. Paradise will be regained. God sending Jesus to be born in Bethlehem is the demonstration and initial installment that it will be fulfilled as he has planned. So my friends, Christmas is about God giving us what we don't deserve. And you know what that is? That's grace. Jesus is the supreme example of God's grace toward us. But secondly, Christmas is also about God not giving us what we do deserve. So the secular Christmas tradition goes like this. If a child has been naughty rather than nice, a lump of coal is placed in his stocking on Christmas Eve, not a toy. We deserve far worse than a lump of coal. Every last one of us. Grace is about God giving us, he so loved us that he gave, what we don't deserve. But Christmas is also about God not giving us something, not sending something. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, the text says. David was a man after God's own heart, but he was not a perfect man. But David never forgot what God did for him, nor from where he came, and neither should we. Christmas ought to be a reminder to each of us of that from which God saved us. Israel repeatedly forgot what God did for them. They forgot how bad it was before God repeatedly rescued them. I get so frustrated reading the book of Judges. I think to myself, why don't these people get it? And then realize that I am just like them. David remembered the pit and the miry bog from which he came. In Psalm 40, he said, I waited patiently for the Lord. He inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction out of the miry bog and set my feet upon a rock. He later rejoiced in Psalm 103. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit. who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's." Brothers and sisters, we still do not deserve what happened at Christmas. Don't ever forget that. Christmas is about God not giving us what we do deserve. So then, what do we deserve? What do we deserve? We deserve condemnation, verse 17. You see, we deserve to be condemned because we're guilty. That's why condemnation ought to be ours. And you know something? No slick lawyer can get us out of what we deserve. No intentional or unintentional violation of some obscure legal technicality will set us free. No earthly ruler can issue a blanket pardon for our sin, any of it. We stand before God condemned, and rightly so. One commentator said, the Son of Man came into an already lost and condemned world. He did not come into a neutral world in order to save some and condemn others. He came into a lost world, for that is the nature of the world, in order to save some. But you know what? It's not, however, God's desire to condemn us, according to this text. It's not His desire to give us what we deserve. And this is a theme in both the Old and New Testaments. In Ezekiel 18, 13, God speaking, have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live. And in the New Testament, 2 Peter 3.19, the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. So we deserve condemnation, but that's not what God gives us. Further, we deserve to perish. according to verse 16. Perish doesn't mean annihilation, but it rather speaks of a final destiny of ruin in hell apart from God. Now, that's what we deserve. You may have rights under the US Constitution, but none of us have any rights before a holy God. We deserve to perish, to be punished for all eternity in a place of unimaginable torment. That's what we deserve. But that's not what God gives us. Paul tells us in Romans 6.33, for the wages of sin is death. But God does not give us what we deserve. He does not give us what we have earned by our rebellion. If God tarries, we will all die. but we will not all die twice if we are in Christ. Sandy's mom, Martha Jones, is with Jesus today, and Anne is there with her, and others from this church. And while we greatly miss them, and we know this will be our first Christmas without them, they are far better off than here with us. They are far better off than living here in their dying bodies. And their decaying bodies now await redemption. Martha Jones and Anne and others will never die again. Someday, death will die for all eternity. We all deserve death. but God spares us in Christ from the second death. In Matthew 18, Peter came to Jesus, and he was rather thinking big on himself, and he said, Lord, how often should I forgive my brother? Seven times? Jesus said to him, 70 times seven. And then Jesus told the parable. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle his accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him 10,000 talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold and his wife and children and all that he had in payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, have mercy with me and I will pay you everything. And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him his debt. Like the king in this parable, Almighty Omniscient God chooses to not remember one thing. You know what it is? Our sin. Our sin. A great debt we could never repay. He remembers it no more. Hebrews 8, 12, for I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more. What love could remember no wrongs we have done? Omniscient, all-knowing, He counts not their sum, thrown into a sea without bottom or shore. Our sins, they are many. His mercy is more. What patience would wait as we constantly roam? What Father so tender is calling us home? He welcomes the weakest, the vilest, the poor. Our sins, they are many. His mercy is more. What riches of kindness he lavished on us. His blood was the payment. His life was the cost. We stood neath a debt we could never afford. Our sins, they are many. His mercy is more. Praise the Lord. His mercy is more. Stronger than darkness, new every morn. Our sins, they are many. His mercy is more. You see, my friends, Christmas is about God not giving us what we do deserve, and that is mercy. But finally this morning, Christmas is also about God giving us to tell the world of His gift. The angels told the shepherds in Bethlehem long ago. The shepherds went to see the child and then they went and told others. The magi told Herod as they came in search of the newborn king. The good news should be, it must be shared with others. The word world again. in these two verses is mentioned four times. The world needs to hear of God's gift for God so loved the world and God wants the world to know about his gift. There are still billions who have not heard and he saved us and gave us so that the world might know. Think on that phrase with me. One commentator said of that phrase, for God so loved the world. What proclamation of the gospel has been so often on the lips of missionaries and preachers in every age since it was first uttered? For God so loved the world. What has sent such thrilling sensations through millions of mankind? For God so loved the world. What has been honored to bring such multitudes to the feet of Christ? For God so loved the world. What to kindle in the cold and selfish breasts of mortals, the fires of self-sacrificing love to mankind, as these words of transparent simplicity, yet overpowering majesty, for God so loved the world. You see, my friends, He wants the world to know. And He gave us to go tell them. I just read through Nahum in my daily Bible reading. And in Nahum 115, it says that there are beautiful feet that take the good tidings. Well, we are the feet God gave to bring the good news on the mountains of the world. You know, there are AGC chaplains deployed all over the world this month telling their troops of God's love for them in Jesus Christ. Some have believed and have been saved. Here is a sailor who trusted Christ this past year. He's being baptized on the fantail of a Navy destroyer in the Red Sea. Those three tubes behind the baptismal are torpedoes. This is a warship in a war zone. This ship was shot at by missiles and drones for nine months as it patrolled the Red Sea. But while all of that was going on, this sailor came to Christ. This will be his first Christmas as a Christian. You see, he has received that which he does not deserve. And he has not gotten what he does deserve. And you know, he received it because God called a pastor from Muscatine, Iowa to become a Navy chaplain and serve aboard this ship. And that chaplain delivered God's great gift to this sailor, and he trusted Christ. You know, I want to thank you, Subaru, for supporting AGC. with your gifts and your prayers. Over 110 missionary chaplains will proclaim the Christmas message all around the world this month, and you have invested in their mission. But I got news for you. God wants you to go also. Your neighbors need Christ. You have family members that need Christ. Christmas is a season when we can uniquely share Christ. I just want to encourage you, start a conversation. Ask somebody that you don't know, hey, have you got your Christmas shopping done yet? They'll usually say no. And then lead into it, have you ever wondered where this tradition of giving gifts this time of the season ever began? I'm gonna tell you, that conversation will always lead to God giving us His great gift, Jesus Christ, and it'll give you the opportunity to tell them about Christ. God sent His Son into the world so that the world may know and be saved. God's gift has come to you and you have believed, but the world does not yet know what God has done for them. We must tell them. God gave us to tell them. It is our mission to tell them. Down in a lowly manger, our humble Christ was born and brought us all salvation that blessed Christmas morn. Go tell it on the mountains, over the hills and everywhere. Go tell it on the mountains that Jesus Christ is born. In 2 Kings 30, Samaria, The capital of the 10 northern tribes was about to be destroyed by a huge Syrian army. They were out of food. They had few weapons. They were starving. And the prophet Elijah comes to the king and he says to the king, good news, the city will not be captured. And the very next day, the people would have all the food they wanted to eat. It was almost incredible to believe. Well, there were four lepers who lived outside the gate of Samaria. They were unclean and starving, just like everyone in the city. And the text says, and they said to one another, why are we sitting here until we die? If we say, let us enter the city, the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. So come now, let us go over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare our lives, we shall live. And if they kill us, we shall but die. So they arose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians. The four lepers discovered that the Lord had caused the Syrians to flee in great fear, and they left behind all of their goods. And the text goes on. And when these lepers came to the edge of the camp, They went into a tent and ate and drank, and they carried off silver and gold and clothing and went and hid them. Then they came back and entered another tent and carried off things from it and went and hid them. Then they said to one another, we are not doing right. This is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until morning, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore, come, let us go and tell the king's household. So they came and called the gatekeepers of the city and told them. Of course, the city was spared by God's mercy and grace. We are not doing right. This is a day of good news. My friends, Christmas Day. is a day of good news, and it must be shared with those who are starving and dying all around us. So you see, Christmas is about God giving us a gift that we don't deserve. That's grace. But it's also about God not giving us what we do deserve, and that's mercy. But finally, it's also about us It's also about God giving us to tell the world about God's great gift, and that is gospel evangelism. So Christmas is about gift giving, and our country will spend close to a trillion dollars this year on gifts, and 2.6 on the wrapping. You can give no greater gift, no more precious, no more wonderful yet undeserved gift this Christmas season than the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you're here today and you don't know Christ, God has a gift for you, the best one you could ever receive, one that will transform your life for the good for the rest of your life. Christian, God has been faithful, giving to us. Will we be faithful in telling others about His great gift? May God help us to do so. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You today for giving us what we don't deserve, Your Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Savior. And Lord, we also thank you for sparing us from that which we genuinely deserve. Help us, Lord, to realize that because of what you have done for us, we need to go and share that gift with others. I pray, Lord, that you'll bless every member of this church and help them to look for opportunities both with their families and their neighbors and their friends. to be able to share your wonderful gift in Christ so that they might come to know Him. Glorify yourself through our lives, I pray in Jesus' name, amen.