THE UNSPEAKABLE GIFT – Charles Spurgeon
The Unspeakable Gift
“Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift!” — 2 Corinthians 9:15
Paul had spoken of the liberality of the Corinthian believers and he had endeavored to stir them up to a prudent preparation for displaying it. “Now, therefore,” he said, “perform the doing of it, that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance, also, out of that which you have.” He closes his exhortation with this remarkable sentence: “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift!”—intending, no doubt, to express his own hearty thankfulness and to deliver a master stroke of argument for Christian liberality. Nothing can so excite God’s people to give to Him as the remembrance of what God has given to them. “Freely you have received, freely give,” is our Lord’s own argument. Gospel graces are best stimulated by Gospel motives. It is wrong to appeal to believers by reasons drawn from the law of works, for they are not under it. Children are to be ruled as children, not as oxen. Appeal should be made to renewed hearts by arguments distilled from the law of love, under which they live! Seeing that God has loved them with an infinite love, this love has become the most mighty of forces within them—“The love of Christ constrains us.”
Nothing can move a man to complete consecration to God like the fact that He so loved us that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. The Gospel is founded upon giving, and its spirit is giving. Buying and selling are unknown in spiritual things, unless we buy without money and without price. Payment is for the Law. Under the Gospel, everything is a gift. God gives us Jesus, gives us eternal life, gives us grace and glory, gives us everything, in fact, and then, moved by love to Him, we give ourselves back to Him and to His people. As it is the glory of the sun that he gives light and heat to our world, so is it God’s glory that He gives mercy and peace to the sons of men. And, moreover, as the sun is the author of reflected heat and is all the more valued because his beams can be reflected, so is God glorified by that part of His goodness which we are able to impart to others. God is glorified in the thanksgiving which is excited by the gifts of His people to the poor, as well as by their personal thanksgivings for His own gifts. He gives to us, and we thank Him. We give to others, and they thank God for the kindness which He has inspired in us. Thus, a round of thanksgiving to God is created by the spirit of giving, which first of all displayed itself in the unspeakable gift of God! We are as cups filled at the spring, and from us, the thirsty drink and praise the fountain!
Paul had been boasting of the liberality of the Corinthians, and he somewhat feared that by their delay, he might be made ashamed. He seemed almost alarmed lest he had said too much about their gifts. He could speak upon that subject and say all that should be said, but when he thought of what God had given, he could only cry, “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift!” You can readily put down in black and white and count up the largest contributions of the most self-sacrificing believers—but you cannot estimate the gift of God. You cannot estimate the value of God’s own dear Son—you could certainly give no expression to any estimate you had formed if it were in the least degree worthy of the subject. The love which is seen in Jesus is indescribable, infinite, unspeakable.
During this meditation, I desire to aid you, as the Holy Spirit shall aid me, for in my case, the power to speak of this unspeakable gift must itself be a gift. I trust it shall be given me in the same hour in which I shall speak. We will first consider that Christ Jesus is the unspeakable gift—but we are not going to be silent because of this—for our second head is that Christ Jesus is a gift to be very much spoken of! The unspeakable gift is to be forever spoken of by way of gratitude—“Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift!”
I. Christ Jesus Is the Unspeakable Gift
First, then, the eternal Son of God given by God unto men, Christ Jesus is the unspeakable gift, and He is so in many ways. To begin with, no man can doctrinally lay down the whole meaning of the gift of Christ to men. The Church has produced thoughtful scholars whom it has called, “Divines,” and described as “eminent theologians.” From these teachers, we have no doubt received much help in the exposition of the Word of God, and yet if we put them all together, they have never been able to unfold to us the entire meaning of the gift of the Son of God to men! The devout and studious have, themselves, cried out, “O the depths,” but they have not pretended to fathom this abyss of mystery.
Certain teachers have fallen far short of the mark and have done great mischief by their low estimate of the unspeakable gift. What they have said may have been true, but their sin has been one of omission—omission where none should have been possible. They have said far too little about Christ and have seemed to be afraid of extolling Him too highly. In the estimation of such persons, the gift of the Savior has been simply a display of God’s good will to the race and nothing more: Jesus was a Divine Philanthropist and nothing else according to their Gospel. This is to use other balances than those of the sanctuary and to give short weight to the great Householder!
It is true that God commended His love to man by the death of His Son, and none can say too much upon this point. But there is far more in the gift of Christ than mere goodwill. We are glad that these men admit the Divine benevolence, but we wish they could see more than that—for that view of our Lord which sees in Him only a display of benevolence to men does but dimly discern His character and value. Certainly, He is “unspeakable” by those who only think of Him after this fashion.
Others have spoken of Christ as a wonderful declaration of God’s opposition to moral evil. The death of Christ has been received by them as a vague expression of Divine displeasure against sin, of course not dissociating it from His benevolence toward men. Herein is truth, also, for how shall we ever see the purity of God more fully vindicated than in the exhibition of sin’s result in the mortal agony and death throes of our Divine Lord? Yet, if this is all that any man has to say, he has failed to comprehend the gift of God, for the great Father has done far more for men by the gift of His Son than merely to intimate the kindness of His nature and the results of moral evil.
We admit that in the death of His Son the Lord has declared His love to man and His hatred of sin, but He has done infinitely more—the Cross is not only a school but a hospital—the Crucifixion not only reveals man’s evil, but provides a remedy for it. Christ is not merely a lesson, but a gift—an unspeakable gift.
Some of our brethren dwell very much, perhaps none too much, upon the general aspect of Christ’s death toward all mankind. It is a grand fact that the human race is spared because Jesus died and that it is not only reprieved but lifted up from degradation and put in a position to hear messages of mercy which, if believed, will bring salvation. The Lord Jesus is described in Scripture as “the Savior of all men, specially of them that believe.” His mission is glad tidings both to Israel and to all people—all of Adam’s seed are affected by His death.
They do well who freely proclaim the common salvation—they cannot dwell too much upon its freeness, though I would have them not overlook its fullness and sovereignty. We like well to hear of the effect of the Incarnation and the Atonement upon the entire human family as placing it under a Mediator, but we would also hear of the special application of redemption and its actual results.
No one can say too much of the great redemption, the matchless propitiation—yes, though one should speak with the tongues of men and of angels concerning Jesus Christ in His relation to the human family—he need not fear that he would magnify the Lord too loftily. The sinner’s Friend, the mighty Savior, the gracious Pardoner cannot be too much spoken of, for under that aspect, He is truly indescribable!
II. Christ Is a Gift of God to Be Very Much Spoken Of
We delight, in addition to this, to speak of Christ’s special relationship to His own people, and we lay great emphasis upon the fact of His substitution in their behalf. We rejoice to speak of His bearing the sin of many, His being numbered with the transgressors, His being made sin for us, though He knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Our heart expands, our eyes overflow whenever we dilate upon His suretyship and consequent substitution. His wondrous condescending love in taking our place—His standing in the sinner’s place that we might stand in His place and be accepted in the Beloved—this carries our heart away, and we never weary of the theme! O Divine doctrine! Full of consolation! Teeming with highest hopes! Gladly would we preach forever the sublime truth of God of the substitution of our Lord for us! Yet if this were our one theme, we should still fail to express the unspeakable.
We are apt to think that when we have laid down this doctrine clearly and distinctly and have admitted all that others have well said, that we have believed and taught all that can be known concerning the gift of Jesus Christ to men. But, Beloved, I am persuaded that it is not so. Beside the purpose of declaring benevolence and censuring sin, of lifting up the race and of effectually saving the chosen, there is yet more to be subserved by the Incarnation and Atonement. The purposes of God are manifold and a wheel is ever within a wheel with Him.
I will not, at this time, even try to speak doctrinally beyond what I have already attempted, for we must stop somewhere and I will pause here, at the truth of His vicarious suffering—the gift is unspeakable when we have spoken our very best, and so let this suffice. I bid you peer over the brink upon which I would set you. Look down into this abyss of love. Be you sure of this, that this depth is unfathomable! It is idle to attempt a definition of infinity and, therefore, vain to hope to declare how wide, how high, how deep, how broad is the wondrous gift of God to the sons of men!
Theology can speak on many themes and she has much to say on this, but her voice fails to speak the whole. From the pulpit, when occupied by a gracious man, the confession freely comes that the heralds of the Cross are not able to tell all that is hidden in Christ Jesus! The gift is unspeakable for another reason—no man can ever set forth the manner of this gift. The way and method of the giving are unknown, perhaps unknowable and, therefore, unspeakable. Just think awhile. Do you understand and could you possibly explain the manner of the Father’s giving the Only-Begotten to us? For Jesus Christ is not only the Father’s Son, but He is God Himself, one with God! The gift of the Son is virtually God’s giving Himself to men!
The Inexpressible Grief and Glory of the Gift
There can be no separation between God the Son and God the Father, for, says Christ, “I and My Father are One.” “Believe Me,” He says, “that I am in the Father and the Father in Me.” Do you understand this? Is it not indescribable? Do not, therefore, be drawing hard and fast lines and speaking of Christ as suffering and of the Father as scarcely participating in the sacrifice, for this may grow into grievous error!
It has been laid down by divines that God is impassable and not capable of any form of suffering. It may be so, but I fail to see scriptural authority for the statement. That God can do what He pleases I do believe and therefore He can suffer, too, if He so wills. To me, a God who has no feelings is a great deal farther off from me than my Father who is in Heaven, who can be grieved by my sin and can feel for my sorrow.
It may be true that scripture only speaks after the manner of men, but then it is as a man that I understand it—and it does seem to me to reveal not only a living God, but a feeling God. Is God glorified by being petrified? Read Paul’s words to the Ephesian elders when he speaks of “the Church of God, which He has purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28). The blood of God—is not that a mistake? Certainly not, since Inspiration thus speaks.
Sometimes expressions which are mistakes in logic may be more accurate descriptions than the best-arranged sentences. The expression which looks to be a contradiction may better express the truth of God than that which is verbally accurate. Scripture is infallible and yet it uses none of the red tape of systematic theology. We swim in mysteries when we speak of the Father and the Son.
How, then, could God give the Son to die, He being one with Himself—shall any man explain it? Or, if he could explain the mystery, can he tell us what it cost the Father to give His Son? Can a mother tell us how it pains her heart to part with her child? Can any father tell us the anguish of losing his only-begotten? What must it be to give up your well-beloved son to be despised and spit upon, maltreated and murdered? No. You do not know what it is and, therefore, you cannot tell what it is!
You that have been bereaved of your dearest—you know the pang which tears the heart—but you cannot express your loss to others. Your grief is inexpressible. Who shall tell what the Father felt when He did, as it were, cast the Glory of the Well-Beloved to the dogs by sending Him among the wicked husbandmen, who said, “This is the heir, let us kill Him”?
Who shall tell what the Eternal felt when the brightness of His Glory, the express image of His Person, was bound like a felon and accursed like a criminal? When He was mocked as an impostor and scourged as a transgressor, rejected as vile and slain as worthy of death? To see His Well-Beloved hung up like a thief and made to bear infinite agony—what thought the Father of this?
True, “it pleased Jehovah to bruise Him. He has put Him to grief,” but not without great self-denial on the part of the great Father. All the agony of Abraham, when He unsheathed the knife to slay his son, was but a faint type of what it cost the Father when He gave the Only-Begotten that He might die for us!
The Gift’s Impact on Us
A further sense of the unspeakableness of this gift will come over you if you attempt to measure our Lord’s sufferings when He was made sin for us. None can declare the greatness of His sacrifice. Think of the Glory of Christ throughout all ages at the right hand of God and remember that all this was laid aside! What a descent from Heaven’s majesty to Bethlehem’s manger—from the Throne of Jehovah to the breast of Mary!
Think of the perfect nature of Christ’s humanity and its consequent rest in God, and yet He stooped out of His spirit’s peace to endure the contradiction of sinners against Himself! Think of His infinite perfections and boundless deservings and of the shameful contempt that was poured upon Him! The cruel asp of ingratitude stung Him and the serpent of malice bit Him—and all the while was He Lord of All. Every step of His way of love is full of wonders!
His becoming one with us according to the flesh is a great marvel. Imagine, if you can, of what it must mean that “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” Incarnation is but the first step, but of that first descent of love, who shall declare the mystery? And this was merely the beginning—He became a Man that He might go further and become man’s Substitute. Try, if you can, to conceive of Incarnate God as having sin imputed to Him, transgression laid upon Him!
Why, the very idea must have been horror to His perfect spirit! Imagine justice with its iron rod, bruising and pounding the innocent Son of God with vicarious griefs borne for us!
“Much we talk of Jesus’ love,
But how little is understood!
Of His sufferings, so intense,
Angels have no perfect sense.”
“Your unknown sufferings,” says the Greek Liturgy, and unknown they must forever be. O Jesus, what a price it was that You paid! What griefs they were to which You bowed Yourself till You were covered with a bloody sweat! O Lord Jesus, the brightest spirit before Your throne who has dwelt with You ever since Your Ascension cannot tell us what You endured! Your groans are an unspeakable gift!
How was it that He died who is the Resurrection and the Life? And how was it He bore sin, even He who is none other than eternal Perfection? None of us can speak here, for He is the unspeakable gift.
Conclusion
I ask you to follow me in another line of thought while I still talk upon the unspeakable. None can describe the gifts which have come to us through the gift of Christ. Think of what we have been delivered from—think awhile of what you were by nature and what you would have continued to have been had not Grace interposed—and what you would have become if Jesus had not been given to save the lost.
Ah, my brothers and sisters, we are fallen already, but the full results of the Fall are not seen on earth. The ripe result of sin is gathered in the dark region where castaways dwell forever, finally banished from hope! They dwell where the ring of the Sabbath bell is never heard, for they rest not day nor night. They are where the voice of Mercy can never enter, for this doleful knell tolls through that dreary land with awful tone, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still.” And you and I might have been there, now, and shall be there yet, if Jesus Christ is not ours. Yes, and the brightest saints in Heaven, upon whom the eternal light has risen never to set, would have been now in the outer darkness, weeping and wailing and gnashing their teeth if it had not been for this unspeakable gift!
The distance between the unfathomable depth of deserved woe and the unutterable height of infinite Grace and Glory, an angel’s wing cannot measure! Therefore it will always be impossible to tell the height and depth of this unspeakable gift.
But now think, for a while, what are the gifts which we enjoy at this hour. There is, first of all, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His Grace. We are washed, washed in the blood, clothed in the righteousness of the Son of God, adopted into the family of the Eternal and, “if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ”!
There comes to us, by way of adoption, all the provision, nurture, education, and paternal love which the heavenly Father gives to all the children of His family. Brothers and Sisters, I have not time to mention, one by one, all the Covenant blessings. All things are in the Covenant, whether things present, or things to come, or life, or death—all things are yours and you are Christ’s and Christ is God’s—and all these things come to us through Christ. God spared not His own Son and, in giving Him to us, He has also freely given us all things. Now, who is he that can speak of such a theme as this? For if he does but dwell upon the blessings which flow to us from Jesus Christ, he must be lost in wonder!
Other gifts may amaze us, but this utterly overwhelms us! If the streams are fathomless, who shall find a plummet to measure the fountain? I preached last Lord’s-Day night to a great congregation that had come for many miles and, being faint and thirsty, they emptied many buckets of water which were set for them. Their thirst consumed a great quantity, yet an observer might soon have known how much they drank. But who shall tell what the earth drinks in during a single thunder shower? Who shall measure the floods which roll down the great rivers? Who shall compute the volume of the sea? Yet all these are finite and may be reckoned up in order—our Lord Jesus Christ is Infinite. Of man’s gifts to man we may readily make an estimate, but when you come to the gift of Christ, arithmetic is baffled and even imagination is outstripped.
Other themes we may hope to compass by study and careful speech, but before this we are dumb with astonishment. Boundless grace, unutterable mercy, divine love—these are heavenly things, and tongues of clay can never fully declare them!
Charles Spurgeon