God's Gift, Freely Given, But Rarely Accepted

I. Introduction

Friday morning, as I was sitting down to write this message, my phone rang. It was my good friend asking if we were going to be contributing anything to their garage sale this weekend. Now, with this being City-wide Garage Sale weekend in Carthage and my bank account looking somewhat anemic, it didn’t take me long to decide this wouldn’t be a bad idea. So I loaded up the truck with some boxes that we’d dedicated long ago to our own planned garage sale and went over there.

My friends were nice enough to allow us a good section of their front yard as well as a few tables to set up on, so I started unpacking. Early shoppers that were there were all too willing to help me unpack as they rummaged through to boxes as quickly as I set the stuff out.

In less than an hour, I’d made a pretty-good amount of money. In two hours, I’d nearly doubled that amount. Finally, I got everything unpacked and put out for everyone to see. Sales, I’m happy to report, were brisk. In fact, I was pretty certain that before the end of the day, I was going to have to go back to my garage for more stuff.

But surprisingly, there was one item that, while I was certain would sell quickly, got passed by. The item was a stroller that we had left over in our yard after this year’s Marian Days. I’d put a price on it of $1. As Friday drew to a close, most of the items I’d taken over were sold; but that stroller remained.

Saturday morning, as predicted, we had to bring more stuff over and put it out. And, as we put the stuff out, I made certain to put that stroller in a prominent location where everyone could see it. But again, people just passed it by.

At around 9:30, an idea struck me and so I quietly went over to the stroller and replaced the price tag that said $1 with one that said simply read “Free”.

The day wore on and countless people came and went. Some of them looked at the stroller, pushed it around even, and some of them didn’t give it more than a passing glance. I started to wonder about it. Had my price tag fallen off? I checked and it hadn’t. Women came in, carrying babies, which I thought would surely mean they’d choose it; but they too passed by it.

“Check out that stroller,” I’d call out to them, “I can make you a great deal on it!” But that would just result in either a smile of acknowledgement or they’d ignore me completely.

Even when we decided to post a sign that said “50% off marked price” for all our remaining items, the stroller went ignored. Or it would get shoved out of the way so people go get a better look at something else.

I was amazed. Here was an item that, when it was brand new, sold for about $90; but now, in a garage sale, people seemed to have no interest in it even though I was giving it away for free.

At the end of the day, the stroller remained among the items that went unsold. Since the main goal of the garage sale was that nothing went back home, the stroller, along with a truck load of other items, was donated to the Carthage Crisis Center where I have no doubt it will find a good home.

As you may have guessed by now, though, God taught me a very good lesson yesterday. He showed me that a gift, though freely offered, can be rarely accepted.

II. What is the Gift?

So, what is this gift that God has offered up to us, freely, but is rarely accepted? For the answer, turn with me to Romans 5:14-18:

Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.

God’s gift to us is His Salvation, given to us freely. Here in Romans, Paul contrasts the gift of salvation with human sin. Our own efforts cannot earn us God's gift of salvation. It is given only by faith in His Son Jesus Christ. Paul again draws a contrast of the gift of salvation with our own deeds or works in Ephesians 2:8-9:

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Paul tells us here that no matter what we do, how good we are toward other people, or how good of a life we lead, God’s gift of salvation cannot be earned or purchased. It is something that we have been given as a gift.

How is salvation a gift? First, we must consider what a gift truly is. Webster’s dictionary defines a gift as “something voluntarily transferred…to another without compensation”. Did you catch that? A gift is something voluntarily transferred or given. No one forced God to give us this gift just as no one truly forced Jesus to die on that cross. That was done voluntarily for each one of us.

And then, did you catch the second part of that definition? A gift is given “without compensation”. In other words, it’s not something we have to pay for because someone else has already paid for it. Our salvation, this gift from God, has already been paid for with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. There’s a hymn that illustrates this called “Ten Thousand Angels”. It’s not in either one of our hymnals, but the chorus goes like this:

"He could have called ten thousand angels

To destroy the world and set Him free.

He could have called ten thousand angels,

But He died alone, for you and me."

He could have easily called ten thousand angels to save Him as He hung on that cross. But instead, He died for you and me. And He did it because He loves each one of us.

And that gift from God, once we receive it, promises eternal life as we see in Romans 6:23:

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

III. Are You Holding Out for a Better Offer?

So, if we know that acceptance of the free gift from God is salvation which promises eternal life, then why is it that so many people refuse to accept it? Are they holding out for a better offer?

Well, I take you back to my story about the stroller. Here was an item that was offered up for free. It wouldn’t cost anyone anything if they were just willing to take it. But instead, many of them just ignored it. They were more interested in the other items on the tables we had laid out for them. Even the women who were pregnant or had a baby in their arms, walked right by what could have been the deal of the day for them.

I bet most of you sitting out there know someone who is doing the same thing with God’s gift of salvation. They’d prefer to sleep late on Sunday mornings instead of attending church. They’d prefer to watch television instead of reading their Bible or spend time in prayer. They’d prefer go hunting or fishing, claiming that “the outdoors is my church”, rather than acknowledge the One who created it all.

In making this choice, they’re ignoring the gift that God is offering them. They’re passing it by as easily as those people passed by that stroller. Hebrews 2:1-3 tells us:

For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?

The writer is telling the Jews, who believed the angels were the mediators of the old covenant, that if every sin committed received punishment, then how could they ignore the gift of salvation that comes from Jesus Christ?

Hell is filled with people were not opposed to Jesus but instead chose to drift off to damnation because they neglected to respond to the Gospel. These are people who know the truth, who even believe the truth, who are well aware of the good news of salvation provided in Jesus Christ but who never are willing to commit their lives to Jesus Christ. And so they drift on past the call of God into eternal disaster. And just like those people who chose to ignore a free gift yesterday, so many people today make an even worse choice by ignoring the free gift that God is offering them.

Even when that gift is pointed out to them, as I did to those shoppers yesterday, calling out to them to stop and notice what was right in front of them, people pass right by what God is offering them. I know this morning, around the world, there are countless preachers and ministers, calling out to those in their churches to take advantage of what God has for them, only to see those people walk out after the closing hymn.

Do they think a better offer is going to come? Perhaps. There are churches out there that refuse to teach about salvation in favor of teaching that good works and deeds are all that’s required to gain entry into Heaven. Or worse yet are those churches that don’t teach anything at all but instead choose to bring a message that will appeal to it’s member’s good will and feelings. 2 Timothy 4:3-4, Paul tells us:

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

That time that Paul predicted is now. And because of it, as people turn away from the truth, they are turning to other sinful things. The most abundant of which would have to be the sin of love for one’s self. Social media like Facebook and Twitter have given ordinary people the ability to become celebrities famous for deeds that a generation ago would have been considered embarrassing or conceited. Of course, this makes our jobs as Christians even harder, as we strive to turn people away from their sinful ways, their new-found fame gives the Enemy a foot-hold to prevent them from hearing the truth.

Once they find out that there is no better offer than the one God is offering them, in many cases, it’s too late. God’s offer has never required a multiple-choice answer, it’s either yes or no.

IV. The Offer Will Expire

Another thing about God’s offer is this: it’s a limited time offer. Whether your time will end with your death or with the rapture, once the time is up, and you’re standing at God’s judgement, it’s over.

2 Corinthians 6:1-2 tells us:

And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain—for He says, “At the acceptable time I listened to you, and on the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”

None of us knows when our last day on earth will be. Doctors tell cancer patients they have only a few weeks or months to live but then are amazed when a patient outlasts their grim prediction by a matter of years. But regardless of that, we all have an expiration date. Eventually, we will all die.

We’ve all heard stories of death-bed conversions of people who lived sinful lives denying Jesus and the Gospel only to be converted sometimes hours before their deaths. Even the last time I brought you a message, I told you the story of the thief who was crucified along with Jesus and how, on that day, Jesus told the thief he would be with Him in Paradise. There are a lot of people who hang their hopes for an eternal future on stories like this. They believe that their deaths will be peaceful ones where they are given one more chance to accept God’s gift of salvation. The question is, though, what is the likelihood that your death will be a peaceful one? And, even if you do spend your last hours in a bed surrounded by your loved ones, will you have the consciousness to make such a decision?

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that God doesn’t have the capability to forgive someone at the last minute, I’m saying we may not have the capacity or ability to ask for it.

Late Friday afternoon, at the garage sale, as we were preparing the pick up our tables for the day, a man came up and asked about a certain item we’d had out that morning but had sold hours earlier. “I saw it as I was driving by but I decided not to stop then, now I wish I had,” he told us. I heard the man say this and couldn’t help but think of the parable of the rich man and the beggar which is found in Luke 16:19-31:

“Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house—for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Jesus’ story tells us of the regret that we will have if we die and never accept the gift of God. But more than that, it gives us some insight into what Hell will be like. It is a place of torment and fire. A place where we will burn but never be destroyed. But most of all, it is a place of torture because those who are condemned there will be able to look up into Heaven and see what they are missing. A constant reminder of what they missed out on because of the choices they made and the regret from the consequences of those choices. I honestly cannot imagine how horrible such a place would be and I pray each night that such a place is not in the future for me or my loved ones.

But, the truth is, we are only here for a short period of time. A hundred years at best. In that short period, we are given a choice to make. We can accept the gift that God is offering us or we can spend an eternity in damnation. I look out at these empty pews around you and think about those who made a different choice this morning.

We have a limited time in this world. A short time to accept God’s gift and live in obedience to Him. A short time that we have been given to lead others to Christ.

V. Conclusion

About twenty five years ago, I used to work in construction. One of the projects I was assigned to was a hazardous waste clean-up site. The site was a lagoon on the Army Corps of Engineers’ list of the most toxic sites in the country. It was a dump site for Dow Chemical and the worst thing in it was the chemical benzine. Chemicals of all sorts had been dumped into this lagoon and had saturated the soil in and around it. Due to the toxicity of the materials, it was decided that we could not just scoop it up and haul it way; we had to dispose of it there on the site. A huge incinerator was brought in that was powered by diesel fuel and propane gas. This incinerator looked like a rocket turned on it’s side with an opening on both ends. The hazardous material, the liquids and the solids were put into this incinerator and they were burned up. The incinerator ran twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. In order to reduce the materials that went into it to clean ash, the temperature of the fire inside was over 1,200° F., the temperature that soil burned. If they were burning metals, they turned it up to over 4,000° F., the temperature that most metals burned.

I tell you all this because I am reminded of this when I read this passage from 2 Peter 3:10:

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

This is Peter’s account of the Earth’s last day, a day of intense heat. I have stood near a device that produces that kind of intense heat. It is both amazing and frightening at the same time.

But it doesn’t compare to the heat that awaits you in Hell if you don’t simply accept the God’s gift of salvation.

However, the simplicity of God’s gift is this: Jesus died and rose again for you, to forgive you, that you may have life. He didn’t just do it, but He did it for you. That message is the pure and simple Gospel message.

It probably sounds too good to be true. There are those would say “You mean to tell me a sinner gets to go to Heaven because Jesus died on the cross for them. Surely a person must contribute something to their salvation. There must be some laws to be kept, some rules to follow, or at least some good works that have to be done.”

James 2:10 says:

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.

Galatians 5:3 also says:

And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law.

Then our conclusion must be clear: Though none of us deserve it, God’s gift, freely given, will insure that we’ll find our place in Heaven. And when this simple truth is understood, God’s gift becomes that much more precious.