The "Giver" Who Keeps on Giving is presentation on the greatness of God is His gifts to us, the greatest being the Lord Jesus Christ.

1. The “Giver” Who Keeps on Giving”
By Samuel E. Ward
Part 1
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2. Introduction
God delights in giving the perfect gift.
The Bible tells us in James 1:17 -18 . . .
James 1:17-18 (NIV2011) 17 Every good
and perfect gift is from above, coming
down from the Father of the heavenly
lights, who does not change like shifting
shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth
through the word of truth, that we might
be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
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3. Jesus characterizes God’s “gifting” in
Matthew 7:11.
Matthew 7:9-12 (NIV2011) 9 “Which of you,
if your son asks for bread, will give him a
stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give
him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you
are evil, know how to give good gifts to your
children, how much more will your Father in
heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
12 So in everything, do to others what you
would have them do to you, for this sums up
the Law and the Prophets.
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4. Matthew’s story includes the visit of
certain wise men who followed a star.
Matthew 2:9-11 (NIV2011) 9 After they had
heard the king, they went on their way, and
the star they had seen when it rose went
ahead of them until it stopped over the
place where the child was. 10 When they
saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On
coming to the house, they saw the child
with his mother Mary, and they bowed down
and worshiped him. Then they opened their
treasures and presented him with gifts of
gold, frankincense and myrrh.
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5. How the wise men came to connect
this star in the sky as a heralding of the
coming of a king is not known, though
some scholars have suggested they drew
upon a prophecy made by Balaam in
Numbers 24:15-19 about 1400 years
before the birth of Jesus…
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6. Numbers 24:15-19 (NIV2011) 15 Then he
spoke his message: “The prophecy of
Balaam son of Beor, the prophecy of one
whose eye sees clearly, 16 the prophecy
of one who hears the words of God, who
has knowledge from the Most High, who
sees a vision from the Almighty, who falls
prostrate, and whose eyes are opened: 17
“I see him, but not now; I behold him,
but not near. A star will come out of
Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. He
will crush the foreheads of Moab, the
skulls of all the people of Sheth.
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7. 18 Edom will be conquered; Seir, his
enemy, will be conquered, but Israel will
grow strong. 19 A ruler will come out of
Jacob and destroy the survivors of the
city.”
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8. The wise men, called “Magi” in the
NIV text, came bringing gifts to the One
Who is God’s Greatest Gift to the world,
the Lord Jesus Christ—the Hope of the
World. As we meditate upon this
precious thought, let us do so by
considering . . .
I. The Magi's Perfect Gifts
II. God’s Perfect Gifts
III. God’s Indescribable Gift
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9. I. The Magi's Perfect Gifts
Matthew 2:10-11 (NIV2011) 10 When
[the Magi] they saw the star, they were
overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house,
they saw the child with his mother Mary,
and they bowed down and worshiped
him. Then they opened their treasures
and presented him with gifts of gold,
frankincense and myrrh.
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10. What made these gifts of gold and
incense and myrrh perfect? I believe that
there were two reasons why the Magi’s gifts
were the perfect gifts:
A. Their Gifts Were Symbolic.
John Stott writes, “Gold is the gift fit for a
King. Frankincense was in constant use by
the priests in the temple. Myrrh was used to
embalm the dead. In those three gifts we
see who he is, what he came to do, and
what it would cost him.”
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11. B. Their Gifts Were Practical.
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary says
this about the Magi’s gifts to Jesus: “The
gifts were simply expensive and not
uncommon presents and may have helped
finance the trip to Egypt.
Remember, that soon after Jesus was
born, Joseph was warned in a dream to take
Mary and Jesus to Egypt to protect the child
from King Herod. Traveling was expensive
and these gifts served as support for their
trip and stay in Egypt.
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