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The Greatest Gift Ever Given | Warren Wiersbe Sermons | Warren Wiersbe | YouTubeToText
YouTube Transcript: The Greatest Gift Ever Given | Warren Wiersbe Sermons
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Summary
Core Theme
The central theme is the profound nature and immense value of eternal life as the greatest gift ever given by God, emphasizing its eternal, expensive, essential, extensive, and exclusive qualities.
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[Music]
you are listening to the teaching and
preaching of Dr Warren weby this message
was recorded while he served as pastor
of Calvary Baptist Church in Covington
Kentucky or the Moody Church in Chicago
Illinois for additional resources please
visit tofit you.com that's the number
two p r o p tu.com and now Dr Warren
weby we read the word of God from
two sections today from John
17 these words spoke Jesus and lifted up
his eyes to heaven and said father the
hour is
come glorify thy son that thy son Also
may glorify
thee as thou has given him Power Over All
All
Flesh that he should give eternal life
to as many as thou Hast given
him and this is life eternal that they
might Know Thee the only true God and
Jesus Christ whom thou has
sent I have glorified thee on the earth
I have finished the work work which thou
gavest me to
do and now oh Father glorify thou me
with thine own
self with the glory which I had with
thee before the world
5:9 if we receive the witness of man the
witness of God is
greater for this is the witness of God
which he hath testified of his
son he that believeth on the Son of God
hath the witness in
himself he that believeth not God hath
made him a liar because he believeth not
the record that God gave of his son and
this is the record that God hath given
to us eternal life and this life is in
his son he that hath the son hath life
and he that hath not the Son of God hath not
not
life these things have I written unto
you that believe on the name of the son
of God that you may know that you have eternal
eternal
life and that you may believe on the
our subject is the greatest gift ever
given and the Lord does not leave us in
doubt as to what this gift
is because in his high Priestly prayer
in John chap
17 Jesus tells us what it
is as thou Hast given him authority over All
All
Flesh that he should give eternal
life to as many as thou Hast given him
and this is life
eternal that they might Know Thee the
only true
God and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent
many of you listening to me right now
have received this marvelous gift of
everlasting life
I trust that you are enjoying
it I trust it's the very center of your
life I trust it's the thing that
controls our lives this greatest gift
that was ever
given but alas there are many many
people who have never received this
gift if God were charging for eternal
life I could understand why some people
would not receive it they might not be
able to
pay if God were forgiving required works
for eternal life I can understand why
many would not have it they might not be
able to
work but God is giving a gift graciously
graciously
lovingly God is giving eternal life and
yet there are multitudes that have never received
received
it now when you realize the
Wonder and the splendor
and the
greatness of this gift of eternal life
you really cannot help but receive it
and rejoice in it and want to share it
with other
people the tragedy is we take this gift for
for
granted we sing about eternal life and
we read about eternal
life we attend services and we give
thanks to God for eternal life but
somehow it loses its its splendor for
some reason it becomes drab ordinary and
this is
tragic and so today we want to meditate
on the greatness of this gift of eternal
life the greatest gift ever given and
perhaps the best way for us to
recapture some of the
glory some of the Splendor of this gift
is to examine this gift and to notice
once again the the qualities that make
this gift great what are the qualities
of this gift that make it the greatest
gift in all the world well I think there
are several of them and the first
obviously is
this it is an eternal
gift not
temporary not
passing not some recent
fad it's an eternal
gift thou Hast given him authority over All
All
Flesh that he should give eternal
life to as many as thou Hast given him
and this is life eternal the reason this
gift is so great is it because it
possesses the quality of Eternity it is
an eternal
gift now all of us have received gifts
that hardly lasted a week
this is one gift that lasts
forever but you must remember eternal
life is much more than just endless time
in fact it is not endless time it is no
time at all eternity does not involve
time God is eternal with God there is no
beginning with God there is no
ending CS Lewis said that we should
picture eternity something like this he
said get a long road roll of paper just
stretch out a roll of paper as far as
you can stretch it and then take your
pen and make a little line on that roll
of paper that is time as compared to
Eternity you see everyone's going to
live forever eternal life is more than
endless life everyone is going to live
forever the most blatant agnostic is
going to live
forever the most rampant unbeliever is
it's appointed unto man once to die and
after this the Judgment you say I don't
know Christ as my savior I'm sorry you
don't but I'm telling you you're going
to live forever but you'll be living in
an endless
death eternal life is not just quantity
of time eternal life is quality of
experience let me put it this way
eternal life is not life from
God eternal life is the life of God God
when you receive Jesus Christ as your
savior you participate in the very life of
of
God that's why the Apostle John
writes he that hath the son hath
life he that hath not the Son of God
hath not
life it's an eternal
gift I think it perhaps shocks people to
realize that salvation is not not just
wiping the Slate
clean if that's all it is then the next
time the Slate gets dirty we're done
for salvation is not just washing away
the dirt if that's all it is then the
next time you get dirty you're done
for salvation is not just forgiving the
past because if that's the case when you
step into the present or walk into the
future and disobey
God that's it salvation's much greater
than that when God Saves you he does
Wipe the record clean when God Saves you
he does wash away the stain when God
Saves you he does forgive all your
trespasses but he goes beyond that when
God Saves you he moves into you and he
gives to you his own life so that those
of us who are
saved are living right
now in
eternity time doesn't bother us change
and Decay All Around I see oh thou that
changest not abide with me oh Lord thou
H has been our Dwelling Place through
all generations when you have eternal
life and God abides in you and you abide
eternity though the outward man is
perishing the inward man is being
renewed day by
day though we sense in our own bodies
the rra aages of time we don't worry
about that because we are participating
Eternal our father is in heaven Eternal
our savior is in heaven Eternal the
glory that we're going to share is the
eternal glory of God this is what makes
this gift so great it is an eternal gift
you participate in that which had no
beginning you were chosen in Christ
before the foundation of the world the
lamb was slain before history ever began
to be
written you're participating in that
which has no ending and right now we are
God the unsaved crowd that lives on the
things of this world thinks we're
crazy because we don't need the passing
fads and the foolish
toys and the money wasting and time
wasting gadgets and
activities that fill up the pages of our
newspapers they think we're crazy but we aren't
aren't
crazy we're drinking at a well that is
too deep for
them yay we are launched upon an ocean
that's too vast for them
we have become participants in eternal
life God lives in us and we live in
God and we share a quality of life that
is so
wonderful that we don't want the toys
and the
Trinkets and the cheap things of this
world oh this is why this gift is so
great it's an eternal
gift it has a second quality that gives
it greatness and that's this it is an expensive
gift all of us have received gifts that
um though they didn't cost much were
precious to
us your child comes home from
kindergarten and says mother I made a
picture for you and you save that
picture or it would never auction off
anywhere for money but it's precious to
you but this gift of eternal life is the
most expensive gift ever given you see
our Lord begins this prayer with these
words father the hour is
come now you can trace that right
through the Gospel of
John in John Chapter 2 when they lacked
wine at the wedding Feast Mary came to
the Lord Jesus and said they have no
wine and he very gently and lovingly
said to her woman which was a tittle of
respect what is there between thee and
me my hour is not yet
come they tried to arrest him twice we
read in the Gospel of John and they
sought to lay hold on him but they could
not for his hour had not yet
come in John 12 our Lord is facing the
cross and he says father the hour is come
come
twice he says that in the Gospel of John
then in John Chapter 13 that is in John
CH 12 twice he says it in John Chapter
13 he meets in the upper room with his
disciples and the scripture says in
Jesus knowing that his hour had
come laid aside his garments and put on
a towel and washed his disciples
feet and now in John chap 17 he looks to
the father and says the hour is come
what hour the hour of his is suffering
death and
Resurrection the hour of his
glorification father glorify thy son
that thy son Also may glorify thee how
did he glorify the father by going to a
cross and dying by being buried by
raising himself from the grave and
coming forth in glorious
Victory the hour of his suffering and
death and Glory
he says in verse four I have glorified
thee on the earth I have finished the
work which thou gavest me to do what
work the work of redemption that's why I
say to you this gift is a great gift the
greatest of all gifts it's an expensive
gift I suppose each of us as parents has
known what it means to sacrifice to
purchase some expensive gift for our
children and then have them treat it
like it was
box you sacrifice to purchase that first
bicycle and he leaves it in the street
and somebody drives over it and it
hurts our Lord went to a cross to
purchase for us the greatest gift ever
given the most expensive gift how do we treat
treat
it Peter reminds us for you are
purchased not with silver and gold
but with the precious blood of Jesus as
of a lamb without spot and blemish nor
silver nor gold could obtain my
Redemption we had to have the death of the
the
Lamb that's why it's such a great
gift it's an expensive gift and my
friend if you reject this gift you are
saying to God it's too cheap I have
other things that are more important but
my son died that I might give you this
gift I have other things that are better
costly this is why the book of Hebrews
says if we sin
willfully after we have received the
knowledge of the truth there remaineth
no more sacrifice for
sin for if under the old Covenant those
who disobeyed received their just
retribution how much
more shall those under the New Covenant
who hear the word of God [Music]
[Music]
and despise it despise the blood of
Christ walk on the blood of Christ how
much more shall God judge
them oh my friend you reject this gift
you aren't rejecting some cheap
thing that someone found in a second
hand store you're rejecting a gift
purchased by the blood of the Son of God
it's an eternal gift it's an expensive
gift I notice thirdly that this gift is
the greatest of all gift because it is
an essential gift it's something you
have to have now we've all received
gifts we didn't need someone has defined
Christmas is that time of the year when
you spend money you don't have for
people you don't know on gifts they
don't need and that may be true I
suppose each of us has somewhere in the
house a stuffed owl that was given by
somebody and when that person comes to
visit us out from the attic comes the
stuffed owl or in from the basement or
the garage comes the moose head or that
ugly vase all of us have gifts people
have given to us that embarrass
us they aren't
essential but you start talking about
life and you're talking about a
necessity not a
luxury and this is life eternal he's
talking about a gift that is absolutely
essential the whole theme of The Gospel
John tells us why he wrote the
book and many other signs did Jesus
which are not written in this book but
these are written that you might believe
that Jesus is the Christ the son of God
and that believing you might have life
through his name life through his name
and as you go through the Gospel of John
as though John puts a huge neon sign
life you go into chapter 3 and he says
the only way to get this life is through
again as Moses lifted up the serpent in
the wilderness even so must the son of
man be lifted up that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish but
have eternal
life in John chapter 4 this life is
compared to a well of Living Water that
Springs up in your heart and keeps you
satisfied so you don't have to go
drinking at the dirty systs of this
world in John chapter 5 this life is
compared to
Resurrection he that heareth my word and
believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting
everlasting
life and shall not come into judgment
but is passed from Death unto
life chapter 6 says life is compared to
bread I am the bread of life he that
believeth on me shall never hunger I am
the living bread that came down from
heaven which if a man drinks of me and
die he's the Water of Life he's the
bread of life in John chapter
10 life is compared to a Shepherd taking
care of his
sheep Jesus said my sheep hear my voice
and I know them and I give unto them
eternal life and they shall never perish
neither shall any man pluck them out of
my hand my Father which gave them me is
greater than all and no man shall pluck
them out of my father's hand so from the
beginning to the end of this book God is
talking about
life not physical life spiritual life
not the life you got from your mother
and father the life you get from Eternal
God it's an essential
gift Jesus uses an interesting word in
verse two thou Hast given him Authority
over all
flesh flesh Now by All Flesh he means
all human beings but he could have said
that thou Hast given him authority over
all people he didn't say people he said
flesh you know why he was describing how
weak we are you know what you are you're
flesh in the Bible flesh means Fallen
human nature the body is strong the
flesh is
weak flesh can't come up with anything eternal
eternal
Peter says all flesh is as grass and the
grass man doesn't have any eternal glory
man is just
flesh but Jesus Christ comes and says I
know your flesh and flesh means
death God looked upon All Flesh and it
flesh how amazing it is that God says to
you and to me I have something essential
I have something you need eternal life
you're just flesh you keep living the
way you're living and you'll die without
life without hope but I want to give to
you eternal life it's a birth you must
be born again it's water that satisfies
your thirst it's resurrection power that
takes you out of the graveyard of sin
hunger it's an essential gift my
friend you may have been listening to
the preaching of the word of God week
after week and year after year and
you've rejected this gift you know what
you're saying you're saying I don't need
it but my Bible says you do need it you
must be
born again
it is an eternal
gift if you want to have eternal life
instead of Eternal death you have to
receive this gift oh you're going to live
live forever
forever
somewhere either in the presence of God
in the glory of eternal life or away
from the presence of God in the tragedy
of Eternal
either life or death you're going to live
live
forever and if you receive this gift
you'll have eternal life in heaven
forever it is an eternal gift and it is
an expensive gift you can't earn it and
you can't buy it and you can't deserve
it but you can receive it by faith it's
already been paid
for it's an essential gift you have to have
have
it there's a fourth quality to this this
gift that makes it so
great it is an
extensive gift it's for
everybody some of you will remember one
of the greatest Saints That Ever Walked
the face of this Earth Dr Walter
Wilson in my early Christian experience
I thank God for the Privileges I had of
hearing Walter Wilson preach he was so
practical and down to earth and he
helped me as a young Christian I never
will forget a sermon he preached about John
John
3:16 God so loved the world that he gave
and Dr Wilson put it so beautifully I
just want to share it with you he said
suppose you had to buy a gift for
everybody in the world one gift for
buy is there any one gift that everybody
would need we say buy them a book
everybody can't read some people are
blind well buy them a record you can't
buy them a record some folks don't like
music haven't got phonographs and some
of them can't
hear a chair oh some folks are lying in
beds they can't sit
up clothing well what part of the world
would you buy it for might be too heavy
for one place and too light for another
food some people are allergic to
things and Walter Wilson in his own
inimitable way went right down the shopping
shopping
list and everything he named he crossed
off he said there's only one gift in all
the world that's good for everybody and
that is the gift of eternal life and that's
that's
true everybody needs it all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God
everybody can have it Jesus died for all
thou has given him authority over All
Flesh that he should give eternal life
to Those whom thou Hast given
him yeah have here the sovereignty of
God and the responsibility of
man do all need salvation yes did Christ
die for all yes can all be saved yes
will all be saved
no will you be
saved you can be for whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved in John 6:37 our Lord puts it this
way way all that the father giveth me
shall come to me that's Divine
sovereignty and him that cometh to me
responsibility and so if God speaking to
your heart just now and you have never
received this gift of eternal life it's
not God's
fault God Is Calling You by his Spirit
through his word and you can come and
receive salvation it is an extend ensive
gift everybody needs it everybody can have
it there's a fifth quality to this
gift and Jesus makes this very clear in verse
verse
three it is not only an eternal
gift an expensive
gift an essential gift an extensive
gift but this gift is is an
exclusive gift there's only one place
you can get
it I read New Yorker magazine each week
because I enjoy the
cartoons then after I enjoy the cartoons
I go back and read the copy because it's
beautifully written don't always agree
with the philosophy but I enjoy what I
read I also enjoy the advertising it's
probably among the most expensive
advertising anywhere in the country and
you Turn the Page and here's a picture
of a beautiful diamond surrounded by
emeralds surrounded by
Sapphires and they want
$182,000 for
it one of a kind only one place to get
it and often I've smiled and said well
long after those things have gone I'm
going to have the gift God gave me
there's only one place to get it it's an
exclusive gift this is life Eternal that
they may Know Thee the only true God and
Jesus Christ whom thou has sent Jesus is
saying when you know me you know God he
that has seen me has seen the
father suppose that verse said and this
is life eternal that they may Know Thee
the only true God and Isaiah the
prophet oh no it doesn't make sense and
DL Moody
no and Jesus Christ Our Lord is putting
himself on the same level as God
God and he's saying there's only one
place you can get this gift you've got
to come to
me for there is none other name under
Heaven given among men whereby we must be
be
saved oh people say to me oh there are
many roads to Rome there are many roads
to New York that's right and I'm glad
lost but there's only one road to
Heaven Jesus Jus said I am the way the
truth and the life no man comes to the
father but by me how exclusive can you
get and people look at us and say well
you Christians are so exclusive that's
right we know the only true God every
other God is a false god every other
savior is a false savior every other way
there is a way that seeth right unto a
death and my friend if you don't come
God's way you don't
come it is an exclusive
gift because you have to have a personal
relationship with God when he says that
they may Know Thee he doesn't mean to
know it with your head I knew a great
deal about Jesus before I ever got saved
I'd been in Sunday school I'd been
confirmed but oh there came a day when I
met him I knew
him in the Bible to know means much more
than intellectual understanding it means
personal reception it's the word that's
used for the love between a husband and
a wife the most intimate
relationship among human beings to know
and here he is saying to be saved means
to know God through Christ to have a personal
relationship in other words you can't be
saved without
Jesus Thou shalt call his name Jesus for
he shall save his people from their
sins he that hath the son hath life he
life possessing this wonderful marvelous
glorious gift ought to be be the most
exciting thing in all the
world if you've never come and received
this gift that's the greatest thing you
could ever do to
come but to reject this gift since it is
the greatest gift in the world means
your rejection is the greatest sin in
the world God can forgive murder and God
can forgive adultery God can forgive
rejection and this is the
condemnation that light has come into
the world and Men love Darkness rather
than light because their deeds are evil
he that believeth on him is not
condemned but he that believeth not is
condemned already because he hath not
believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of
God it's an eternal gift if you reject
it you get Eternal
death it's an expensive gift if you
it's an essential gift if you reject it
you're missing the one thing you need
more than anything else
life it's an extensive gift if you say
no somebody else will say
yes but you've
rejected it's an exclusive gift you
can't get it any place you want to get
it you've got to get it from
Jesus he's the
Savior this is the greatest gift in all
the world
and it's a
gift you can come to him and receive the
gift of eternal
forever why will you
die why will you say
no as the Savior
yes gracious father we give thanks for
this marvelous
gift and we pray together that those of
us who have received it might rejoice in
it and share it with
others and that those who have never
received might come today and receive
Christ we pray in Jesus name
amen all of Dr Warren web's material is
owned and managed by Script text the
material contained in this podcast is
copyrighted and is for personal use only
not to be duplicated or sold without
prior written consent from script text [Music]
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