Daymond Duck

EIGHT GIFTS OF LOVE

Rom. 5:1-11

Prayer

The great preacher, Dwight L. Moody, once said, “I know of no truth that

ought to come home to us with such power and tenderness as that of

the love of God.”

The love of God is the greatest truth in the Bible.

As a preacher, I should drive it home with every ounce of vigor I can muster.

But there is a problem.

The Bible says the “love of God passes our knowledge” (Eph. 3:19).

So how do I describe something that passes my knowledge?

Paul described it like this.

He said, “When we were yet without strength, in due time, Christ died for the

ungodly.”

This tells us two important things about the love of God:

(1) Christ died to save us because we are too weak to save ourselves.

And (2) Christ died to save us because we are sinners.

The love of God is very unusual.

And Paul wanted us to know just how unusual it is.

He said, “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die;”

“Yet perhaps for a good man some would even dare to die.”

“But God commendeth his love toward us in that, while we were yet sinners,

Christ died for us.”

He was contrasting our love with God's love.

Our love is human love.

We would not die for a wicked person such as a murderer or a rapist.

And we would not let one of our children die for a wicked person such as a

murderer or a rapist.

Paul said, “We might die for a good person.”

We might die for the one we married;

For our children or our grandchildren;

For a good friend in rare situations.

But we would not die for a wicked person.

And we would not let our children die for a wicked person.

But God's love is greater than our love.

God's love let His Son die for sinners.

Then, God topped that off by giving gifts to these sinners.

Today, I want to talk about eight of these gifts.

The 1^st gift is peace with God.

Paul said, “Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God

through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Verse 1).

Now, let's be clear.

He was not talking about inner peace.

God gives us inner peace.

He does give us that peace that passes all understanding.

But that is not what Paul is talking about here.

He's saying we have a peace treaty with God.

We are no longer enemies of God.

Many of us have heard people say, “I've made peace with God?”

They mean they have accepted Jesus as their Saviour.

So when they go before the judgment bar, they will be going before a

forgiving Friend.

Let's think about something here.

If we have peace with God, then there must have been a time when we were

at war with God.

That's a frightening thought.

The lost are at war with God.

They are constantly asserting their independence from God.

They are in rebellion against God.

They may not think of it like this.

But they're not here;

Not praying;

Not worshiping.

They haven’t accepted Jesus.

They are in a state of war with God.

So, Paul is saying the war is over for those who have accepted Jesus.

A state of peace exists.

The 2^nd gift is access to God's grace.

Paul said, “We have access by faith into this grace” (Verse 2).

Our faith in Jesus opens the door to God's special favors.

We do not deserve an open door.

We have not earned an open door.

But God opens the door because He loves us.

His open door is prayer.

We can go boldly before the throne in prayer.

The 3^rd gift is the hope of being raised from the dead.

Paul said, "we rejoice in hope of the glory of God."

“Hope of the glory of God” refers to the hope of being raised in a new

glorified body;

The hope of seeing our loved ones again;

The hope of being restored to the original purpose God intended for our lives.

Death could be the end of us.

The Lake of Fire could be our future destination.

But the love of God turned all of that around.

When I was a rural letter carrier for the U.S. Postal Service, I often delivered

seed catalogs in the middle of winter.

It seemed a little silly to be thinking about planting seed in the middle of

winter.

But seed catalogs were a reminder that spring was coming;

A reminder that the earth would soon burst forth with a new glory.

They were a sign of hope.

Our faith in Jesus gives us hope.

He said, “Because I live, you will live also” (Jn. 14:19).

So, no matter how sick we get,

How dysfunctional our body gets,

How deep they bury us,

We still have the hope of being raised with a new glorified body.

The 4^th gift is cause to glory in tribulation.

Paul said, “we glory in tribulation also: knowing that tribulation worketh

patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope, etc.” (Verses 3, 4).

When trouble comes, and it will come, we can still find things to rejoice

about.

Some children break our heart.

Some financial problems never get better.

Some health problems never get better.

Some marital problems never get better.

But we can still find things to rejoice about.

We can be like Paul and Silas who, when cast into prison, prayed and sang

praises unto God.

We can reach down into our inner most being,

And rejoice because we know “all things work together for good to them that

love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.”

Joseph looked back over a life filled with disappointments because his

brothers sold him into slavery.

But he could say “ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good.”

Job looked back over the loss of his family, his health and his wealth.

But he could say, “though he slay me, yet will I trust him.”

We don't say everything that happens is good.

But we say good can come out of it.

We know who holds the future.

And we can rejoice because things are going to get better.

The 5^th gift is God's love.

Now, before we look at this, let us understand that Paul mentioned two

different aspects of God's love in our text.

First, he talked about God's love FOR us.

That's the death of Jesus on the cross.

And second, he talked about God's love FLOWING THROUGH us.

“The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts . .” (Verse 5).

Why do we give and serve at church?

There are many reasons.

But the best reason is because God's love is flowing through us.

This is very important because its a sign of our salvation.

The Bible says, “Love is of God and everyone that loveth is born of God and

knoweth God.”

“He that loveth not ---knoweth not God; for God is love.”

“If---we love one another---God dwelleth in us.”

“He that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God and God in Him.”

God's love flowing through us is a sign that God is dwelling in us.

The 6^th gift is the Holy Spirit.

Paul said, “The love of God is shed abroad by the Holy Spirit who is given

unto us” (Verse 5).

We are born again by the Holy Spirit;

Indwelt by the Holy Spirit;

Led by the Holy Spirit;

Sealed by the Holy Spirit.

We need to pay more attention to this;

To be more sensitive to the Holy Spirit in us;

To learn to listen to Him so we can be led by Him.

The 7^th gift is deliverance from God's wrath.

Paul said, “Being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath

through Him” (Verse 9).

God's love is too great to describe.

But God's wrath is too great to describe too.

It can afflict and destroy.

No one can hide from it;

Run from it;

Or, withstand it.

In the Bible, God's wrath is compared to a wine press that can squeeze

everything out of us;

To a fire that can consume us;

To a flood that can overwhelm us.

We would be wise to avoid God's wrath.

If we have accepted Jesus, we have avoided it.

It's not that we are worthy.

It's because God chooses to spare us.

It's an act of God's grace because of our faith in Jesus;

Part of the peace contract God gives to us.

The 8^th gift is atonement or reconciliation.

Paul said, “We also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we

have now received the atonement or reconciliation” (Verse 11).

We can rejoice because we have a new relationship with God.

Think about it!

We have been given a special relationship with the One who created and

controls everything.

In conclusion, God loves us.

And that's a lot to be thankful for.