| The Christian Life | December 1941 |
The Gift of Gifts
“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.”—John 3:16
THIS is the season of the year when a large part of the world, in a vague sort of way, commemorates the birth of Jesus. We say it is in a vague sort of way, because, while there is much celebration of the event, and the term Christmas (Christ’s mass) is on the lips of millions, yet the real significance of what is supposed to be the origin of the gayety is almost wholly unknown. Actually, of course, the 25th of December is not the true anniversary of Jesus’ birth—the more nearly correct date being about the first of October—but consecrated followers of the Master are always glad for opportunities to glorify the Lord, and they rejoice in the privilege of praising Him for this marvelous gift at any and all times of the year.
The celebration of Christmas, as a feast day, or holiday, is participated in by countless millions who do not believe in Christianity. This is true even in what is left of the so-called civilized countries of the world. Active faith even in the nominal concepts of Christianity was probably never at a lower ebb than right now. In Great Britain, only eighteen percent of the people are regular church attendants. In this country the percentage is only a little higher, yet practically a hundred percent of the people will enthusiastically join in the celebration of Christmas. The reason is that it affords an opportunity for a brief respite from the almost entirely selfish outlook now inciting so large a degree of individual, national, and international hatred throughout the world.
There is a “good cheer” spirit associated with Christmas which is wholesome. For this short period in the year, at least, many get the idea that they should try to love their neighbors, and during the brief time that this spirit prevails we are given a partial glimpse of what will be possible in the way of human happiness when the true spirit of Christ is controlling the hearts and lives of all mankind three hundred and sixty-five days of every year. This is a hope that only the truth-enlightened can enjoy in these dark days when the “present evil world” is being destroyed.
To those who know the truth of God’s plan, and know of God’s love as it is revealed through that plan, this is a good time to be reminded that all the blessings we enjoy, both spiritual and material, represent the bounties of our God who is the greatest-of-all givers of gifts. God is love, and one of the principal ways in which He manifests His love is by His gifts. Many of His gifts are bestowed impartially upon both the evil and the good. The sunshine and the rain are among these. Others of His gifts are reserved for His special friends—those who have become His friends because they have manifested confidence in Him, and a sincere desire to serve Him.
RECOUNTING GOD’S BLESSINGS
The greatest blessings accrue from God’s gifts when they are accepted as from Hun, and He is given the glory. Indeed, the greatest of all His gifts—Christ Jesus—cannot bring the full and permanent blessing except upon the basis of acceptance. The Heavenly Father gave His Son in order that those who believe on Him might have life; and unless, through belief, either now or hereafter, this gift is accepted, it will be of no permanent value. While the unenlightened and unregenerate world will celebrate Christmas by “surfeiting and drunkenness” in many instances, appreciation of Jesus, the greatest of all gifts, can be best manifested by a whole-hearted acceptance of Him, and consecration to walk in His steps. And after all, it is only with such that God is specially dealing at the present time. True, “He loves the world of sinners lost, and ruined by the fall,” and that love is revealed in His Word, through the divine plan for enlightening and blessing the people during the Kingdom age now dawning; but now the saints are His peculiar care, and upon them He is showering the gifts of His love throughout the year. What rejoicing should be ours as we pause to examine these gifts, and to note how valuable and wonderful they really are!
In countless homes throughout the world, benevolent, parents will rejoice over their children as they watch them open their gifts and express their joy and appreciation as they discover what the various packages, contain. This childish delight and appreciation might well represent the humble appreciation we should manifest to our Heavenly Father, as we examine and reexamine His gifts to us. Referring to little children, the Master said, “Of such is the Kingdom of heaven.” Should not the manner of children in joyful appreciation of their gifts, teach us to manifest our gratitude to God, and show forth the childlike disposition which Christ commended to those who would be worthy of a place with Jesus in the Kingdom?
As already noted, the greatest of all God’s gifts is the gift of His beloved Son to be the Redeemer of both the church and the world. How much do we appreciate this gift? And how are we manifesting our appreciation? Genuine appreciation for gifts is displayed in their proper use. Our appreciation of the Redeemer, therefore, is shown in the manner in which we accept Him. A certain degree of appreciation would be manifested simply by our acknowledgment of the need of a Redeemer, and a mental assent to the fact that Jesus fills that need. But this is not full acceptance of the gift.
In order to fully accept the Redeemer, we must, as Jesus Himself explained, “eat” His flesh, and “drink” His blood. Such an appropriation of the gift is possible only through a full consecration to do God’s will. This means that we not only accept Jesus as our Redeemer, but that we look up to Him as our Guide, our Head. It means, furthermore, that we follow in His footsteps of sacrifice and suffering which lead to death. This is the only way in which anyone can wholly accept God’s greatest gift during this age. And only, through such an acceptance and use of the gift, can we manifest true appreciation for it.
Some may say that the greatest of all God’s gifts is the gift of life, and in one way of looking at it, that is true. Certainly without life, no other gift of God could be accepted and enjoyed. But life itself, so far as the human race was concerned, had been forfeited because of sin. In order for it to be restored, the gift of the Redeemer was necessary. God is the fountain source of all life, and could bestow it upon His creatures without sacrifice to Himself. But when man sinned, and thus proved unworthy of the life which the Creator had provided, a propitiation for sin was necessary before life could be restored. To make provision for this God gave His Son, at great sacrifice to Himself, in order that the world might have life.
Viewed thus, from the standpoint of the cost of the gift to the giver, we have the most outstanding manifestation of God’s love in the gift of His Son. Here then we have the greatest of all gifts, and a reminder of the great attribute of the divine character which prompted it. “God so loved … that He gave,” is the way the text reads, and what He gave was at great cost to Himself. If we accept this gift, and accept it in the spirit in which it was given, we will want to manifest our appreciation by what we give; and nothing short of giving all we have can suffice to show adequate appreciation for such “love divine, all love excelling.”
THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Another important gift which the Heavenly Father bestows upon His children is that of the Holy Spirit. Jesus tells us about this, saying, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?” (Luke 11:13) Here Jesus indicates that the gift of the Holy Spirit is withheld until we ask for it. The reason for this is plain. No one could receive the gift of the Holy Spirit unless he earnestly desired it and prayed for it. And it follows, also, that asking merely with the lips would not bring this gift. Such a request must he so genuine that the whole being is brought into harmony with it and is prepared to receive it.
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God—His mind, His disposition. It is the spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, brotherly kindness, mercy and sympathy. It is also the “spirit … of power … and of a sound mind.” (II Tim. 1:7) It is, in short, all those qualities which are exemplified in God, and. revealed to us through the truth. By this Spirit we are begotten to a new hope of life. By it we are anointed to be ambassadors for Christ. By it we are sealed unto the day of deliverance. This same Spirit bears witness with our spirits that we are the children of God. Through the written Word it teaches, guides, comforts, strengthens, and inspires us.
From this we can see that to ask for the Holy Spirit implies that we want to get rid of our own selfish spirit. It means then that as a prerequisite to our successful asking for the Holy Spirit, we must renounce self-will, and present ourselves in full consecration to do God’s will. If we truly desire to be filled with God’s spirit, it means that we want to be like Him. It means that we will want. so much to be like Him that we will do all in our power to be emptied of self, and the spirit of selfishness, that we may be filled and controlled with the divine spirit of love.
Such an infilling of the Holy Spirit cannot take place all at once, nor in answer to a single request. We must continue to pray for the Holy Spirit, and. continue to prepare ourselves to receive it. The chief burden of all our prayers should he that the Spirit of God may take fuller control of our lives and we should ever strive to be more completely emptied of self. There is nothing that more effectively stands in the way of being filled with the Spirit of God, than the spirit of self—self-will. If we want our way in everything, then God can have His way in nothing, so far as we are concerned. If we want Him to have His way in everything, then the gates of our hearts are open for Him to come in and control our lives. Thus a sincere prayer for the Holy Spirit is a request for God to control our lives.
In order to be filled with the Holy Spirit it is necessary to do more than empty ourselves of self. Such a preparation alone would leave the way open to be filled with some other spirit. To be filled with the Holy Spirit, we must not only renounce our own will, but we must accept in its place the will of God. To accept His will, and be filled with His Spirit, we must make use of the means He has provided. In addition to praying for His Spirit, we must study His Word. God’s written Word is the channel of the Holy Spirit through which it flows into our hearts and lives.
God’s Spirit inspired the writings of the Old Testament. God’s Spirit came upon Jesus and inspired His ministry of precept and example. God’s Spirit inspired the apostolic messages of the New Testament. In short, the Bible itself is the product of the Spirit of God; and, as we study it and surrender our wills to its sacred influence, we partake of that Spirit. What a wonderful provision God has made for us in His Word! How could we know Him, hence desire to be like Him, unless He had revealed Himself to us through His Word? May we daily become more appreciative of this “boon most sacred from the Lord”—the Word of Truth.
SHOWERS OF BLESSING
In addition to these outstanding gifts, the Heavenly Father is daily showering His people with blessings, the extent of which is limited only by our appreciation and preparation for them. He gives us joy—the joy of faith, the joy of service, the joy of fellowship, the joy of communion with Him. He gives us “grace to help in time of need.” He blesses us with divine guidance. He forgives our shortcomings. He gives us wisdom and understanding. In short, He supplies all our needs. If He sees that we need trials, He gives them to us also. “No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.” (Psa. 84:11) We cannot fully appreciate what it means to dwell under such a canopy of divine love and protection. We cannot fully appreciate how rich we have been made by the blessings He so unstintingly metes out to us day by day. We are truly objects of grace divine.
What can we do in return for such grace? In our association with each other, we sometimes feel under obligation to bestow a gift where one has been given to us. Is there anything we can give to God that will compensate Him for what He has done for us? Surely there is nothing He needs in the way of material wealth. The cattle on a thousand hills are His; yea, the whole universe is His. He does not give solely with the motive of getting something in return. He gives because it is His nature to give. God is love, and because He is love, He gives. However, He does expect of His intelligent creation that, recognizing this divine principle of love, it should produce in them a ready response to His call.
While this is true, yet God makes it plain that there is a gift that we can bring to Him which He will treasure very highly. It is something that He could not have unless we give it to Him, and that’s why He treasures it so highly. He invites us to present this gift to Him, even as we ask Him to give us of His Holy Spirit. His invitation is, “My son, give Me thine heart.” (Prov. 23:26) God has the power to create the universe, and to destroy it, if He wishes. He is the source of all life, and whole nations to Him are but the small dust in the balance. But by His own law He will not interfere with our right to choose, our free moral agency. Hence, while He might destroy our lives, He cannot have our hearts unless we give them to Him.
But how God values the gift of our hearts when we do give them to Him! In the parable of the Lost Sheep, we are told that there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth. This “one sinner” in the larger lesson of the parable is probably the entire human race, and the lesson reveals the joy in heaven when those who oppose the divine will, finally decide to be obedient to it. Not many human beings in all the six thousand years of human rebellion have returned to God and given Him their hearts.
To give God our hearts means that we will seek to know and to do His will. It means that the doing of His will thenceforth will be the uppermost ambition of life. If we give God our hearts without reservation, it will mean that no “heart strings” have been left attached to the things of the world or of the flesh, to be pulled at by the desires of the flesh or the influences of the world. When we give God our hearts, we give Him all we have that is of value to Him, and its value to Him is in the sense that it is a “whole-hearted” gift.
Let us then, in giving our hearts to God make sure that our heart strings are attached to Him. And, let us ask Him to pull on those strings that we may be brought ever closer to Him. Yes, brethren, may our hearts be so fully given over to the Lord that we will be glad to be drawn ever nearer to Him, even though it be by means of very severe trials. To the extent that we carry out the terms of our consecration we should find the heavenly things pulling more and more strongly upon our heart strings; while the things of earth should be losing their appeal to us, and their power over us.
If our hearts, our affections, are set on things above, our treasures will be there also. Thus, although we are still this side the veil, we will be walking in newness of life. Our hopes, our aims, our ambitions all will be new. Our work will be the work of God, and not our own work. Indeed, we will be co-workers with God, for He will be working in us to will and to do of His good pleasure, while we work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.
THE CHEERFUL GIVER
There is considerable cheer connected with Christmas giving. Some of it is genuine, and some of it isn’t. Real joy comes from giving in the proper spirit. It is more blessed to give than to receive, the Scriptures tell us. This is specially true in connection with what we give to the Lord and to His service. Giving to the Lord should be cheerful giving, else it can’t be very acceptable to Him, “for God loveth a cheerful giver.” (II Cor. 9:7) Not merely with respect to money matters is this true, but in connection also with all the little sacrifices and offerings we make to Him and His cause.
If we would be pleasing to the Lord we must bring our lives more and more into harmony with that attitude which He approves. There should be heartiness, cheerfulness, promptness and zeal in every service we render. We cannot grudgingly serve the Lord and expect to be pleasing to Him. If we have thoroughly learned what a privilege we of this Gospel age have of laying down our all on the altar of sacrifice, in the assurance that it will be acceptable through Christ to Him, we should, indeed, rejoice in that privilege.
If our vision of God as the greatest of all givers, is clear, we will permit nothing to stand in the way of our knowing Him better and serving Him more faithfully. His love—manifested in all His wondrous promises, and revealed in His tender day by day care for us—should be constantly affecting our hearts and lifting us up to the higher table-lands of communion and fellowship with Him. Thus, seated in the heavenly places with the Father, and with Christ Jesus, and with the brethren, our lives will be all sunshine; not because we will have no trials, but because we have learned to know that God’s will is best for us even though He wills that we have these trials. If our hearts are fully and cheerfully given to Him., we will be able to trust Him, even though He slay us, knowing that in the end He will bring us forth as gold; and that finally, by His abounding grace, we will be a diadem of glory in His loving hand.
Happy are we then, dear brethren, if this season of giving finds us more than ever appreciative of God’s great gift to us—in fact, of all His gifts to us. And our joy will be increased, if we are keeping our sacrifices upon the altar, and particularly if our hearts are being drawn closer and closer to the Lord, and our lives filled and controlled ever more completely by His Spirit.