Reading from Romans 8, beginning at verse 28. Here are the word of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he predestined, these he also called. Whom he called, these he also justified. And whom he justified, these he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? As it is written, for your sake we are killed all day long, we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Yet, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. Father, we thank You for Your Word and the comfort that it brings to us, and I pray that as I give an exposition of verse 32, that Your Holy Spirit would quicken this Word to our hearts. Bless this, Your people, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Well, Christmas is often associated with the grace of giving, and it is definitely that. Giving is a glorious thing. We taught our children to be generous right from the earliest days. But contrary to the title that's printed in your bulletin, I'm not going to be preaching about the grace of giving. I'm going to be preaching about a very neglected aspect, the grace of receiving, humbly receiving from the Lord. And believe it or not, that is a hard grace to implement. And I want to use just a few illustrations at the beginning to try to get across why I think that this is the case. When I was in 12th grade, I had a friend that absolutely refused to be treated. I would buy him a soda pop, and he would not take that. He'd be willing to buy things for you, but no, he would never take that. I would buy a candy bar, want to split it, no. It didn't matter how much you insisted, it just was too humiliating for him to receive anything from anyone that was out there. He was willing to give but not to receive. Now, in the physical realm, you probably recognize this is unusual because adequate requires we be both receivers and givers, right? Christmas does teach both aspects of that. But in the spiritual realm, no one is a receiver apart from grace. Now, you might doubt that, but according to Scripture, you can't even receive grace unless grace has already prepared your heart to receive that grace. I'll just give you one scripture. Paul said, the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God. That's an absolute statement. The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God. Pride is so entrenched in every human heart that we insist in doing things by ourselves. Now, those of you who have little children, you probably have experienced this from their youngest years, that children eventually come to a place where they want independence, you know, that they do things all by themselves. And if they can't even pronounce the word myself, self becomes the word that describes their independence. And even when you have actually helped them a lot, they still want to take the credit. I've done it all by myself. And they can have a temper tantrum if you don't let them do it. And so we are very prone to independence, even from childhood. that even as Christians we need to be reminded that our security does not rest in who we are, what we do, but it's in what God does for us. Now Paul's discourse in verses 31 through 38 of our chapter contain God's answers to our fears, and I think the only reason we have these fears is because we need to be reminded of the grace of receiving. We need to be reminded that our security does not rest in our actions, but in God alone. Paul asks in verse 31, if God is for us, Who can be against us? We might worry about whether we can stand up against our adversaries or the problems that face us, but Paul's answer in verse 32 is, hey, God's the one who gives us all things. If we receive the Son, we don't need to worry about any adversity. In verse 33, he asks, who shall bring a charge against God's elect? And when you look inside of your heart, You know, there's plenty of things that people could bring charges against you if they knew about it, and you might even wonder about God Himself. Are we going to lose our favor with God? Are we going to lose our standing with God? And Paul points out, You need to take your eyes off of how bad you are and how good you are and look not to your actions but to God's actions. His answer is, it's God who justifies. Our security rests in God and God alone. In verse 34 he asks, who is he who condemns? Whether it's your own heart that condemns you, or whether it's a friend, or whether it's the world, or Satan, someone else, again, he takes his eyes off of ourselves unto Christ. So Paul's answer is, it's Christ who died. So he's basically saying, we don't need to be looking to our own actions. If you had to deserve salvation, well, then it's hopeless. There'd be no point in Christ dying. He died. He's taking his eyes off of you. You deserve to die, yes. But he died as a substitute in your place. And he says, furthermore, is also risen, who's even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Now, I had one person say, yeah, nobody can pluck you out of the Father's hand, but you can jump out of the Father's hand. So maybe you could lose salvation by, you know, your own actions. And maybe because you've sinned so much, God's not going to love you as much as he loves someone else. But again, he takes our eyes off of our own efforts and abilities, and he says in verses 35 through 39, that there is absolutely nothing in life or death that can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. It's a marvelous chapter, and it's written to remind us of the grace of receiving. Your security, your joy rests on your understanding this principle. And I think our culture reinforces the exact opposite because there's competition right from the time you're in kindergarten when you get stars and you get grades in grade school and you get bonuses and promotions based on your work at your work. You know, when I was in grade school, I dreaded field day. I was not an athlete and everybody else, you know, gets the purple and the red and the blue ribbons. I got the consolation ribbon, the white ribbon, you know. And anyway, I always felt like a failure. But our culture reinforces this performance-oriented philosophy by saying different sayings. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Well, there's a sense in which that's true, but the saying, we make money the old-fashioned way we earn it, or the old adage, God helps those who help themselves, which, by the way, is not in the Bible. Don't quote that as a Bible verse, right? You remember in The Sound of Music, Maria falls in love with somebody she thought would never love her, and she sings, there you are, standing there loving me, whether or not you should. And then here comes the bad part. Some place in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good. You know, this is what makes God's grace so unacceptable to some people. It's so hard to receive. It's too humbling to our pride to realize that all that God has given to us is totally undeserved. God gives to us because He loves us, not because we're anything great. He gives to us knowing full well, hey, we will not be able to respond with an equal kind of giving. In fact, as we'll see in verse 32, we can never outgive the Lord. Christmas giving should be about grace, not performance. And when the world tells kids, better be good or Santa won't give you any gifts, they're ripping the grace out of Christmas. So today what I'm gonna focus on is just verse 32. I think it contains principles that can convince us that there is nothing we could do other than just give back to the Lord out of gratitude, not because we're trying to gain his favor. And the first point is that God's gift to us cost him a great deal more than we could ever hope to repay. Verse 32 says, he who did not spare his own son. To even think of repaying God in any way is insulting to God's grace and to his gift. We cannot pay God back. Now we can give back to him in gratitude. That's a different thing. But let's consider the cost of God's Christmas gift. Knowing full well all that the incarnation and the life and the death of Christ would entail, He still gave His Son. Knowing that His law could not be bent to favor Christ, Christ would have to bear the full brunt of the law if He was going to be a substitute for sinners. Knowing that horrible load, he still did not withhold the only sacrifice which could redeem us. He did not spare his own son. So I would encourage you to not think of the Father as like the ancient Greeks had a stoic God who was an unmoved mover. You know, no emotions, untouched by what happens to others. No, it cost the Father to have his only begotten son to be born into humiliation in a stable. It cost the Father to let his son face the ingratitude of men not having a place to lay his head. the hatred, the opposition of men, the relentless attacks of Satan, and yet he gave this precious gift to us. Even when his beloved son cried out in the pain and agony of having to be abandoned by the Father, because that was part of our salvation, And he cried out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He went through agony, but the father, I think, felt that same pain when he had to turn his back on his son during those moments. The only reason they went through it was because of the love that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit had for us. It was because of their agreement made from eternity past to redeem a people to themselves. So when you consider all that was involved on that first Christmas day, it ought to humble you to realize you can never out give God. Now consider the purpose of God's gift of the son. It says in verse 32, he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all. So it says here, the father did not spare his own son so that he could spare us. And it was not because of any lack of love that the father had for the son, but because of the wonderful matchless love that he had for us. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And he didn't give that costly gift grudgingly. He made it freely out of love. And if your heart does not melt when you think of the cost of God's gift, perhaps it will when you consider the character of those whom he spared, the us that is listed in this chapter. In Hosea 11 verse 8, God says to rebellious Israel, how can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like the Zebulun? My heart churns within me. My sympathy is stirred. I will not execute the fierceness of my anger. So he told Ephraim that he could not deliver them up, but he delivered up his son. That's a remarkable contrast. He could not deliver us up, but he delivered up the perfect one, and he did that so that we would never have to be delivered over to judgment. This is incredible. Matthew 1 tells us that it was for sinners that Christ was born, not for those who had done so much for him. When the father of Dr. Harry Ironside lay dying, He was trying to recall this vision in Acts chapter 10 of the sheep coming down that was filled with all of these wild beasts to illustrate God's gospel. And he was mumbling in his bed, a great sheet and wild beasts and, and, and, and seemingly he could not recall what the next words were and then he'd keep repeating again, a great sheet and wild beasts and, and, and. And this really hits me. But a friend whispered, John, it says creeping things. And Ironside's father's eyes brightened and he said, oh yes, that's how I got in. Just a poor, good for nothing, creeping thing, but I got in, saved by grace. And I know that in Christ we need to put off the negative. But so many times I see, myself in that image. And it just blows me away that God could love me in any sense. So God in that passage is describing unsaved people as unclean. like those creeping things, you know, bugs, lizards, centipedes, or whatever other bug you don't care for, scorpions. We were like those creeping things. We were defiled, corrupt, sinful, vile, worthless, and abomination. And Romans 3 says this, there is none righteous, no, not one. There is none who understands. There is none who seeks after God. They have all gone out of their way. They have together become unprofitable. There is none who does good, no, not one. So here's the thing, the father gave his son for such people as that. Okay, he gave Christ for us who squandered his substance in a far country. You know, the prodigal son. For us who wandered, each one to his own way like sheep. To us whose every righteousness, Isaiah says, is as filthy rags in his sight. to us who are called children of wrath just like the others, to us who have resisted His Holy Spirit, rebelled against His laws, pursued selfishly our own wants and desires. God gave freely, not because we had given anything first to Him. And we can thank God for the incredible gift of the Son, which we'll never be able to match. It must be received with gratefulness. May God take away pride and give to us the grace of humbly receiving. Consider third, the logical conclusion that is drawn in verse 32 from God's great gift of the son. It says, he who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all, How shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Now, this is a kind of logic that argues from the greater to the lesser. If God has given the greatest, the costliest, the grandest gift, is he gonna withhold necessary things that we need that are much, much lesser? No, he's not going to withhold it. You could just think of a person who's given you a $1,000 painting, is he gonna withhold the wrapping paper or the string that you put the painting on the wall? No. If he's going to give you a beautiful jewel, you know, a ring, is he going to withhold the box that's hold it in? Oh, man, I can't afford to give you that box. No, he's not going to withhold that. The sad thing is, though, we tend to focus on what we don't have rather than on what we do have. We may not have physical health or wealth or security or approval from others or worldly success. But I never tire of quoting Ephesians 1, verse 4, that he has already blessed us with a bank account in heaven that we can draw on every day. He's blessed us, he says, with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So we may face tribulation like Mary and Joseph did, we may face distress, persecution, famine, and death, yet verse 37 says, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Now I wanna give you, this is not original to me, I read this from A.W. Pink, he had an article that I thought really helps draw out the comfort of this verse. He pointed out three logical conclusions that can bring us comfort. First of all, he says the great gift was given unasked. Did you ask Jesus to be incarnated or to die for you? Obviously not, he did that long before we even existed, right? And so if God already had you in mind, already gave you the gift of his son, Long before you ask, how much more will this generous God give to you who do ask Him for the things that you need? Second, Pink says, the gift of Christ costs the Father dearly. Pink says, will he not then give lesser gifts which cost him nothing except the delight of giving? And I mentioned, you know, the painting and the ring illustration. Third, the one gift of Jesus was given while we were still enemies. Let me read you Romans 5 verse 10. It says, for if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his son, Much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. So God gave the gift to enemies. Will he not be even more gracious to give to you who have been adopted into his family, who are friends, who have been cleansed with the blood of Christ? I think it's a beautiful logic. Well, finally, let's look at the freeness of God's gift giving. The verse concludes, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? And I want you to notice the tense of the verb there. He doesn't say, how has he not with him also freely given us all things? That's true. But this goes beyond that. This is in the future tense. He's saying, God's gonna continue to give just as generously as he has given to you in the past. Okay, so this means that every day can have the character of Christmas with the Lord when we come to him, asking him to be generous with us for that day. He loves to pour out things in our lives right now, and we can trust him and believe him for that. Notice also how God gives. Freely, he doesn't have to be coaxed into giving, okay? We do not have to overcome any reluctance on his part. The word freely speaks of God's eagerness to give to you. He loves to give to you. But this word freely also speaks of God's sovereignty. God is under no obligation to give anything to anyone. He's not a debtor. We don't deserve anything. And so that word freely indicates that God is sovereign. He can give or withhold from giving from anybody that he desires to. If it was of necessity, then it would not be able to be said to be given freely. The only necessity is from himself, his own character, his promises, okay? But the word freely also indicates that God's gifts cannot be purchased. He places no price on his gifts. Sometimes people think that they're going through rough times because, you know, they don't deserve better times, or maybe God's angry at them, or he doesn't love them as much as he loves others. But nothing could be further from the truth. This chapter goes on to speak of difficult times that people went through, very difficult times, yet none of those things separate us, what does it say, from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. The only reason God could love any of us is because he sees us as being united to the Son and he loves the Son. That's why he says he loves us with the same love that he loves the Son, right? So, nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. That's where our security resides. It's in Christ, not our performance. Next, we ought to rejoice over the comprehensiveness of this promise. How shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? all things, God never leaves His children with less than what they need. He may leave us with less than what we want, but not with less than what we need. He gives everything necessary for His glory and for our good. In fact, He had earlier said, that he causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose. So nothing given to us in life, including the difficulties we face, fails to be for our good. And all of that, without exception, is a product of grace. It is free. So are you in need of pardon? Then he says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Are you destitute and having a hard time making ends meet? Well, 2 Corinthians 9.8 says, God is able to make all grace abound toward you that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. You need grace to help you, you know, sustain you through some thorn in the flesh. Well, Christ says, my grace is sufficient for you. Philippians 4.19, my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory. But I want to end with a very important qualifying phrase. It says, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? The blessings that He gives, all the blessings that He gives are only given with the Son. If you have never received Christ as a gift of salvation, you've never put your trust in Him, then you cannot expect God to give you any other blessings. These blessings only come when we have the Son, and perhaps there are some here who have never put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You have a hard time receiving gifts. You think you have to do something to deserve heaven. It's too humbling to admit that everything you have done in life is, as the Bible says, counted as dung, dung in God's eyes. If you're in that category, far from having the gift of God and this Christmas, the wrath of God remains on you because it's not been transferred to the son. So we have to give our sins and say, Lord, take my sins. You died in place of those who put their trust in you. I cast my sins on you. I receive your righteousness for myself. And in faith, trust and follow him. It's then that you find God's favor, his generosity, his blessing. So accept him today. Christ is not available to those who want to earn God's favor. He's only available to those who, like beggars, are willing to humbly receive him. But we as Christians can fall into this trap occasionally as well. We often desire things that would actually come between us and Christ. Right? He doesn't say he's going to give us things apart from Christ, but with him. So the book of James says that we sometimes ask amiss so that we might consume things on our own lusts. We're not asking in a Christ-centered way. And those things would actually come between us and Christ. The Father doesn't give everything that we want. All God's blessings are given with the Son and are congruent with, I can't think of the right word, with being united with Him, conformed to His image, and they must be working together for our good. And when they're consistent with that purpose, our generous God provides freely. So come to Him, trust Him, pray to Him, rejoice in His provisions, embrace the grace of receiving. Amen. Father, we thank You for the incredible gift of Your Son. And as I consider myself in that sheet coming down to Peter filled with creeping things, I'm so grateful that you took us, you took me, you changed me from the inside out. You turned me into a new creature. You gave me a destiny, a hope, a purpose in Christ. And I don't want to ever think of my life apart from Christ. Help us, Father, to be Christ-centered every moment of our days. And help us, through being Christ-centered, to have confidence that if you are for us, who can be against us. Give joy to this your people. Give to them everything that they need to be able to pursue you in righteousness. Thank you for this glorious day of Christmas. What a wonderful reminder it is of all that we have in you. Thank you for the time that we can feast together and fellowship together afterwards. And we pray that you would be with us, that you would bless us with your presence. We pray all of these things in Jesus' name. Amen.