back to index2016-11-20 The Necessity of Thankfulness in a Christian's Life
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attention on this particular passage this morning. 00:00:08.000 |
We're not going to be on this passage, I'm just going to be reading this as an opening. 00:00:28.000 |
verse 11 through 19. "On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee 00:00:32.000 |
and as he entered a village he was met by ten lepers who stood at a 00:00:36.000 |
distance and lifted up their voices saying, 'Jesus, Master, have mercy 00:00:40.000 |
on us.' When he saw them he said to them, 'Go and show yourself to the 00:00:44.000 |
priests.' And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he 00:00:48.000 |
saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. And he 00:00:52.000 |
fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 00:00:56.000 |
Then Jesus answered, 'We're not ten cleansed, we are the nine.' 00:01:00.000 |
Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?' 00:01:04.000 |
And he said to him, 'Rise and go your way, your faith has made you well.'" 00:01:12.000 |
Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for this morning. 00:01:16.000 |
We thank you for the body of Christ that you have placed us in 00:01:20.000 |
that we may grow, keep each other accountable, to find 00:01:24.000 |
encouragement and strength, and to be able to worship and run this race together. 00:01:28.000 |
I pray, Father God, that the truth of your grace would 00:01:32.000 |
always sustain, strengthen, and encourage and feed us. 00:01:36.000 |
We pray this morning, Lord, as we search your word to know what it means to be 00:01:40.000 |
thankful. Help us, Lord God, to fix our eyes upon you, 00:01:44.000 |
that all that we glean from your word would be yours and not mine. 00:01:48.000 |
So we entrust this time to you, Lord, in Jesus' name we pray, amen. 00:01:52.000 |
Obviously this Thursday is Thanksgiving, I'm sure you are 00:01:56.000 |
aware of it. Either some of you guys are going out of town to visit your family or 00:02:00.000 |
family is coming in. And so I'm sure we're all aware 00:02:04.000 |
of it, but every year it seems like this holiday is 00:02:08.000 |
diminishing more and more. In fact, even the term Thanksgiving, I just 00:02:12.000 |
don't hear it much. I hear Black Friday and what kind of 00:02:16.000 |
deals are going to be on Cyber Monday. And some of you guys 00:02:20.000 |
probably already scoped all that out. I don't know if people stand in front 00:02:24.000 |
of stores anymore, because Cyber Monday, you can get it online. But it seems 00:02:28.000 |
like Thanksgiving is almost, just kind of gradually disappearing. 00:02:36.000 |
Thanksgiving, not just because it's Thanksgiving, but for Christians 00:02:44.000 |
as I said, not only is it because Thanksgiving is coming up, but I want 00:02:48.000 |
to search through the Scriptures this morning and look at four principles, 00:02:52.000 |
four things that the Bible teaches about why Thanksgiving 00:02:56.000 |
is essential in the Christian life. That a Christian that is 00:03:00.000 |
not thankful is an oxymoron. It is something that 00:03:12.000 |
those two terms don't go hand in hand. So, what I want to do is look at 00:03:16.000 |
four separate things that the Bible teaches. Again, today is a topical sermon 00:03:20.000 |
on this subject, and then we'll jump back into Romans next week. 00:03:24.000 |
The first thing that we see in Luke chapter 17, 11-19, 00:03:28.000 |
the passage that we just read, I think most of you 00:03:32.000 |
are probably familiar with this story. You had the ten 00:03:36.000 |
lepers. And again, those of you guys who know 00:03:40.000 |
about what it was like to be a leper at that time, that you were labeled 00:03:44.000 |
not only physically unclean, but spiritually unclean. So, it was required 00:03:48.000 |
by the Mosaic Law to keep a certain distance. One, for health 00:03:52.000 |
reasons, because they didn't want other people to get infected. But also for spiritual reasons. 00:03:56.000 |
They felt that they were an outcast. They had to live 00:04:00.000 |
outside the gate. And so everywhere they went they had to actually scream out, 00:04:04.000 |
"Unclean! Unclean!" so that they don't make anybody unclean by being 00:04:08.000 |
near the region. And this is the reason why when they hear 00:04:12.000 |
about Jesus that they from a distance are yelling out to Jesus, 00:04:16.000 |
"Have mercy on us! Have mercy on us!" By the time that Luke 00:04:20.000 |
writes Luke chapter 17, Jesus' fame has already spread. He's already 00:04:24.000 |
performed many miracles. So, if these lepers had any chance of 00:04:28.000 |
getting healed, it's to get Jesus' attention. 00:04:32.000 |
So, the passage that we look at they cry out to Him, Jesus has mercy on 00:04:36.000 |
them. And so He tells them to go show yourself to the priests. 00:04:40.000 |
And the reason why He tells them to do that, by Mosaic Law, if 00:04:48.000 |
if the leprosy does get cleansed, the first person that needed 00:04:52.000 |
to acknowledge that was the priest. Because they were the guardians of the temple. 00:04:56.000 |
And the religious community. So, the priest basically 00:05:00.000 |
had to do a thorough examination. And then they had to go through a cleansing ritual. 00:05:04.000 |
And then they would declare Him clean. And so to be declared 00:05:08.000 |
clean by the priest basically meant not only were you physically clean, but 00:05:12.000 |
you're able to now enter back into society. That you don't need to live outside 00:05:16.000 |
the camp. You can go back home, or wherever your home may be. 00:05:24.000 |
yourself to the priest. And the story goes that on the way that they are going there 00:05:28.000 |
the miracle takes place and they get cleansed. 00:05:32.000 |
But the point of this story is not simply about their miracle. Because 00:05:36.000 |
out of the ten it says that only one of them when they 00:05:40.000 |
recognized that they were clean, they turned around to go give 00:05:48.000 |
this man was a Samaritan. Not the nine Jews who were privileged 00:05:52.000 |
by His law and His presence and God's protection upon them, but 00:05:56.000 |
the Samaritan who was outside of the blessing of the nation 00:06:00.000 |
of Israel. That He's the one of all people that returns to give thanks. 00:06:04.000 |
But here's the part I want you to pay attention to. Starting from verse 17. 00:06:12.000 |
Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God 00:06:16.000 |
except this foreigner?" And he said to him, "Rise and go your way. 00:06:20.000 |
Your faith has made you well." Let me stop right there. 00:06:24.000 |
What does Jesus mean when He says your faith has made you well? 00:06:32.000 |
cleansed. But yet He singles out this one man and says your faith 00:06:36.000 |
is different than the others. And the distinction was that He was the only 00:06:40.000 |
one who returned and recognized the healer which was Jesus. 00:06:48.000 |
there is a distinction between His wellness and the other nine. 00:06:52.000 |
Clearly He's making a distinction because He's separating His faith 00:06:56.000 |
versus the others. When we take a closer examination 00:07:00.000 |
on the meaning of the word that He uses for well, here's 00:07:04.000 |
other ways that this word, "sodzo" is the Greek word 00:07:08.000 |
that is translated for well. This is how it's translated in other passages. 00:07:28.000 |
of how this passage really ought to be understood. Because 00:07:32.000 |
He can't be simply talking about physical healing because they were all physically 00:07:36.000 |
healed. So when He says your faith has made you well 00:07:44.000 |
inner healing. A spiritual healing. In other words, out of 00:07:48.000 |
the ten who were saved, only one was saved. Only one. 00:07:52.000 |
And the distinction between the nine and the one 00:08:00.000 |
Now, you may look at that and say, well, that seems like a harsh 00:08:04.000 |
line to draw just because one recognized and he returned to give thanks and the other nine 00:08:08.000 |
did not and they went out celebrating and forgot about Jesus. 00:08:12.000 |
But when you look at the context of the scripture and in the Bible 00:08:16.000 |
and specifically in the book of Romans, how man's rebellion is 00:08:20.000 |
described. I think it will make better sense to us what Jesus was saying here. 00:08:24.000 |
In Romans chapter 121, it says, "For although they knew God, they did not 00:08:28.000 |
honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in 00:08:32.000 |
their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened." 00:08:36.000 |
You see how Paul describes the rebellion of man? That they would not 00:08:40.000 |
recognize God and give honor to Him or give thanks 00:08:44.000 |
to Him. And in Romans chapter 121 it pretty much 00:09:04.000 |
to recognize is thanksgiving is an essential part of our salvation. 00:09:08.000 |
Thanksgiving is the essential part of our salvation. 00:09:12.000 |
It is what identifies a Christian and a non-Christian. At least that's how the Bible 00:09:16.000 |
describes it. The Bible describes a Christian as one who recognizes 00:09:20.000 |
God and gives honor and is thankful to Him. A non-Christian is one who 00:09:24.000 |
does not recognize Him, does not give honor and glory to Him. 00:09:28.000 |
So again to put it in a neat package basically a Christian is 00:09:36.000 |
You know years ago I remember reading a story, the testimony of 00:09:40.000 |
Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel and it really stuck with me. 00:09:44.000 |
And I remember he said that in the beginning of the Church 00:09:48.000 |
that the Church was beginning to thrive and they decided to buy this Church property 00:09:52.000 |
because of the growing number of people coming. And they got 00:09:56.000 |
into a mortgage situation and the payment for the mortgage was coming up and they were 00:10:00.000 |
short of the money. So he began to pray before God that the Lord would 00:10:04.000 |
provide for these things. And one day he said he got a phone call 00:10:12.000 |
exact amount that he needed for the payment. And so in his 00:10:16.000 |
testimony he gives how elated he was that that person somehow miraculously 00:10:20.000 |
God would convict him to give him the exact amount of money that he needed 00:10:24.000 |
to pay off this bill. And in the midst of his celebration 00:10:28.000 |
he took a step back and realized that his celebration 00:10:32.000 |
was off base. And the reason why he says that is 00:10:36.000 |
because he found more comfort in the promise of that man 00:10:40.000 |
than in God's promises. And in his testimony he shares 00:10:44.000 |
how in his own heart God revealed how closely 00:10:48.000 |
he was dependent upon man's promises. See he still didn't have the cash. 00:10:52.000 |
That man did not give the money. The money was not in the 00:10:56.000 |
bank. But because the man promised that I'm going to give you 00:11:00.000 |
sometime in the future if you need it I'm going to give it to you. That he felt more peace with that 00:11:04.000 |
than his ability to come before the Lord in prayer. 00:11:08.000 |
See at the core of man's rebellion against God is a refusal 00:11:20.000 |
"All flesh is like grass, and all its glory, like the flower of the 00:11:24.000 |
grass, will wither, and the flower will fail. 00:11:28.000 |
But the word of the Lord remains forever, and the 00:11:32.000 |
word is the good news that was preached to you." 00:11:36.000 |
You know if anything the longer I live the more I am 00:11:40.000 |
absolutely certain that nothing is for certain. 00:11:52.000 |
organizations, even churches they come and they go. 00:11:56.000 |
Anything that you have confidence in whether it's finances or works 00:12:00.000 |
things that you think are going to be permanent for the rest of your life is never 00:12:04.000 |
really permanent. Just like Peter says in this passage, 00:12:08.000 |
"All flesh, all flesh." He's not just talking about flesh or 00:12:12.000 |
physical flesh even though obviously that's a big part of it. Everything that is 00:12:16.000 |
physical, everything that you can sense with your senses 00:12:20.000 |
will eventually fade. The only thing that lasts forever is His Word. 00:12:28.000 |
where He says, "We chose not to give glory to the Creator 00:12:32.000 |
rather we created things and gave glory to the image that 00:12:36.000 |
we created for ourselves." That's at the core of human rebellion. 00:12:48.000 |
I was a part of this ministry back in college and that ministry happened to be thriving. 00:12:52.000 |
I wasn't leading it I was just a member. But it happened to be thriving and I remember 00:12:56.000 |
a friend of mine who was also a Bible major at that time wanted to have 00:13:00.000 |
lunch with me because he wanted to ask about that ministry. 00:13:04.000 |
And so he's a pastor so he wanted to know what we're doing and how the ministry 00:13:08.000 |
is being fruitful so that it can be applied in his ministry. And I remember having lunch with him 00:13:12.000 |
and he asked me, "Peter what are you guys doing that seem to be working?" 00:13:16.000 |
And I said, "You know I can't pinpoint any one particular thing 00:13:20.000 |
because I see this system in a lot of places." 00:13:24.000 |
But I can tell you again this is just from my observation 00:13:28.000 |
what I see a difference between these guys and what I've experienced 00:13:32.000 |
previously. These guys actually practice what they preach. 00:13:36.000 |
And he said, "What do you mean?" Well they actually pray. 00:13:44.000 |
read the Bible and memorize scripture and they actually do these things. 00:13:48.000 |
They don't just talk about it. And I remember telling him, "If you're asking me 00:13:52.000 |
what I'm observing that is different is that's what's different. 00:13:56.000 |
They're actually practicing and doing these things. They're not just talking. It's not just a doctrinal statement 00:14:00.000 |
that they have. It's not just on paper." And I remember his response to me was 00:14:04.000 |
"Peter, I'm a pastor. You're a Bible major. I'm a Bible major. We know this 00:14:12.000 |
And I said, "Well I can tell you what they're doing but I see the same thing in other 00:14:16.000 |
churches that aren't working. So if you're asking for a system I can 00:14:20.000 |
tell you what they're doing but I don't really think that's the thing because I was a part 00:14:24.000 |
of another ministry who practiced the exact same thing and it wasn't working." 00:14:28.000 |
But he just could not get over it. He's like, "Peter, if you don't want to share just don't 00:14:32.000 |
share, okay?" But I remember coming out of that so frustrated 00:14:36.000 |
because at the core of who we are, even when the 00:14:44.000 |
tendency to see, well what system? What system is working? 00:14:48.000 |
Who's doing it? And that's what we want to practice. 00:14:52.000 |
That's what we want to copy. So you have a church that grows. Everybody's going over there and it's like 00:14:56.000 |
oh that's how they're organized. That's how they do this. That's how they do that. And then they just kind of package 00:15:00.000 |
that and then try to recreate that in other places. At the core of that 00:15:08.000 |
credit to creation rather than the Creator? Of course we acknowledge God. 00:15:12.000 |
We sing songs. We have doctrinal stuff. Of course we read the Bible but what are you doing 00:15:20.000 |
why in everything that God has done in the Old Testament and New Testament 00:15:24.000 |
He goes exactly against the wisdom of man. Because if God 00:15:28.000 |
is seeking His glory, one, He's not going to use people who are going to 00:15:32.000 |
be in the middle and say, "I did it." He's not going to place 00:15:36.000 |
people in positions when things happen and they bare fruit, "Oh because that guy was smart." 00:15:40.000 |
Or "It's because he was organized this way." And then we end up giving credit 00:15:44.000 |
to other things rather than God. Okay we give some credit to God but it has to be 00:15:48.000 |
some other system. Some other things that are going on. There's a reason why He 00:15:52.000 |
uses uneducated people. Why He chooses the worst of sinners. 00:15:56.000 |
Because ultimately it's to take our eyes off of creation 00:16:00.000 |
and to look at the Creator. Because if at the core 00:16:04.000 |
of man's sin and core of his rebellion is a refusal to honor 00:16:08.000 |
God and to give thanks to Him, isn't that what He 00:16:16.000 |
us? So that we can recognize who He is? Isn't that what repentance is? 00:16:20.000 |
Repentance isn't simply, "You know I lied the other day 00:16:24.000 |
so I repent of that. You know I lost it in my heart, I repent 00:16:28.000 |
it of that." Justification happens not because you recognize 00:16:32.000 |
certain sins in your life. A particular sin in your life. 00:16:36.000 |
Justification, salvation happens when we recognize our whole 00:16:40.000 |
trajectory of life was wrong. Even when we did 00:16:44.000 |
good, it was for my glory. Even when we feed the poor. 00:16:48.000 |
Even when we love our families, it was for me. So it wasn't 00:16:52.000 |
just about one particular thing or several particular things. It's about 00:17:00.000 |
I gave glory to creation rather than the Creator. 00:17:08.000 |
thanksgiving is an essential part of what it means to be a Christian. 00:17:12.000 |
That's the identifying mark of a Christian and a non-Christian. 00:17:20.000 |
Second principle that we see is that the opposite 00:17:24.000 |
of thanksgiving, we often see it in bitterness and grumbling. 00:17:28.000 |
You know what is the opposite of thanksgiving? 00:17:36.000 |
Typically what squashes a thankful heart is bitterness 00:17:40.000 |
and grumbling. Hebrews chapter 12 verse 15, "See to it 00:17:44.000 |
that no one fails to obtain the grace of God, that no root of bitterness 00:17:48.000 |
springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become 00:17:56.000 |
Israel's history that what kept tripping them up 00:18:00.000 |
despite all the privileges that they had, despite everything that 00:18:04.000 |
the miracles that they provided, that God shown them, and the 00:18:08.000 |
victories that they were able to experience by the power of God, despite all of that, 00:18:12.000 |
what kept tripping them up? Well, 1 Corinthians 10, 9-10 00:18:16.000 |
it says, "We must not put Christ to the test as some of them did," them talking 00:18:20.000 |
about the Israelites, "and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble 00:18:24.000 |
as some of them did and were destroyed by the destroyer." 00:18:28.000 |
The reason why they were grumbling is because they didn't believe in God. 00:18:36.000 |
that's how God describes grumbling. It's because you didn't trust me. 00:18:40.000 |
You looked at your circumstance and you trusted it rather than me. 00:18:48.000 |
I mean when we look at it, you know, a lot of times you read the Old Testament and people 00:18:52.000 |
say, "Oh, God is so harsh and He's so judgmental." Right? 00:18:56.000 |
Until you understand the context, go read the Old Testament carefully, 00:19:00.000 |
especially the history of Israel. See if God comes out 00:19:12.000 |
my guess is you'll be thinking the same thing I'm thinking. 00:19:20.000 |
Why does a holy God put up with these people? That's probably what's going to enter your mind if you read it 00:19:24.000 |
consistently. The whole nation of Israel begins 00:19:32.000 |
And obviously they're coming and crying out before God because they're 00:19:36.000 |
being mistreated. They're in agony. They can't raise 00:19:40.000 |
their children and they're back breaking work from sunup to sundown. 00:19:44.000 |
And they're crying out to God. God says He hears their suffering 00:19:48.000 |
and He has compassion on them. So He raises a servant, Moses, 00:19:52.000 |
and He tells them to go, "Let my people go that they may come out and worship me." 00:19:56.000 |
So the whole reason why the nation of Israel even existed, why they even 00:20:00.000 |
started, because He had compassion. He heard their prayer. 00:20:04.000 |
But as soon, as soon as they come into some trouble, 00:20:12.000 |
11-12, as they're escaping, they're at the Red Sea 00:20:20.000 |
coming and they look, they think that they're going to get wiped out. So the 00:20:24.000 |
grumbling begins. Exodus 14, 11. They said to Moses, 00:20:28.000 |
"Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die 00:20:32.000 |
in the wilderness?" Dramatic. "What have you done 00:20:36.000 |
to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is it not this 00:20:40.000 |
what we said to you in Egypt? Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians 00:20:44.000 |
for it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness." 00:20:48.000 |
Have you ever read the Old Testament? Did you ever hear that before? 00:20:52.000 |
If they did say it they must have been murmuring it, because 00:21:00.000 |
what I read is when God shows up and He delivers a miraculously, 00:21:04.000 |
there is a celebration going on. Right? There is a parade going on. They are marching 00:21:08.000 |
out, "Yes, we are no longer slaves." Right? That's the last 00:21:12.000 |
scene that we see until they get to the Red Sea. And as soon as they see the Red Sea 00:21:16.000 |
and they see the army coming, they are like, "Why did you bring us out here? 00:21:24.000 |
Why did you just let us die over there and just bring us out here?" 00:21:28.000 |
It doesn't stop there. God performs a miracle. He opens 00:21:32.000 |
up the Red Sea. They are able to cross and God delivers them. And then 00:21:36.000 |
praise God. We have an awesome God. And then they walk 00:21:44.000 |
As soon as they get a little bit thirsty they start grumbling about water. Exodus chapter 00:21:48.000 |
15, 23. When they came to Marah they could not drink the water 00:21:52.000 |
of Marah because it was bitter. Therefore it was named Marah. And the people 00:21:56.000 |
of Israel grumbled against Moses saying, "What shall we drink?" 00:22:00.000 |
And they started complaining about not having enough water. 00:22:04.000 |
"Why did you deliver us from Egypt? They had water there." 00:22:08.000 |
It doesn't stop there. And then they get a little bit hungry. Food. 00:22:12.000 |
Exodus chapter 16, 2. And the whole congregation of the people of Israel 00:22:16.000 |
grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the people of Israel said to them, 00:22:20.000 |
"Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt. 00:22:24.000 |
We sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full. For you have brought us 00:22:28.000 |
out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger." 00:22:32.000 |
So it wasn't, if it wasn't for danger, if it wasn't for water, now 00:22:40.000 |
And so they eat a little bit of manna. And now they are sick and tired of manna. 00:22:44.000 |
So they start complaining about the type of food. Numbers chapter 11, 4-5. 00:22:48.000 |
Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel 00:22:52.000 |
also wept again and said, "Oh that we had meat to eat. 00:22:56.000 |
We remember the fish we ate in Egypt and cost nothing. The cucumbers, 00:23:00.000 |
the melons, the leeks, the onions and the garlic. But now our strength is 00:23:04.000 |
dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at." 00:23:08.000 |
I mean if it wasn't one thing, it was another thing. 00:23:12.000 |
And they said, "Well when are we going to get to the promised land?" 00:23:16.000 |
And then they finally get to the promised land in Numbers chapter 14, 2-4. They started 00:23:24.000 |
They said, "Well we need leaders." So God established Moses in Exodus chapter 17. 00:23:28.000 |
They start grumbling about the leaders. And then ultimately 00:23:36.000 |
says through Moses, "You are not grumbling against my leaders. 00:23:40.000 |
You are ultimately grumbling against me." Exodus 16-8. 00:23:44.000 |
Moses said, "This will happen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and bread 00:23:48.000 |
to the full in the morning. For the Lord hears your grumblings which you grumble 00:23:52.000 |
against Him. And what are we? Your grumblings 00:24:00.000 |
See the opposite of thanksgiving is grumbling. 00:24:08.000 |
His hand. See a grumbling heart will always find 00:24:16.000 |
Before we take a step back and say, "Wow, these Israelites, you know, 00:24:20.000 |
if I was in that situation, if I went through the Red Sea, if I had manna, I would not have been 00:24:24.000 |
that way." You know, we automatically think, "Oh, those people." 00:24:28.000 |
Right? "Those people. If I was there, if I saw Jesus 00:24:32.000 |
walking on water, you know, I would have believed and I would have done all of this 00:24:40.000 |
in a nation of Israel? There is a reason why they are given to us as an example 00:24:44.000 |
in 1 Corinthians 10. See they served as an example. They all 00:24:48.000 |
saw the miracles. They all ate the manna. They all were delivered through 00:24:52.000 |
the clouds. But only a few of them returned and 00:25:00.000 |
Look at ourselves. I mean, we're...think about 00:25:20.000 |
You know, our rights are being taken away. Injustice. 00:25:24.000 |
Now I know what the Middle East and Christians are going through. 00:25:32.000 |
We are so privileged with everything that we can possibly desire. 00:25:36.000 |
And when something doesn't go quite right, grumbling happens. 00:25:40.000 |
And if you really think about it, what is the root of grumbling and bitterness? 00:25:48.000 |
rebellion against God is basically saying, "I do not honor you. I don't give thanks to you." 00:25:52.000 |
You're not acknowledging God. The root of rebellion in our 00:25:56.000 |
hearts of bitterness and unthankfulness is not recognizing 00:26:04.000 |
in our inner being to establish what I think is right above 00:26:08.000 |
what is. If we believe that God is sovereign, 00:26:16.000 |
But where does bitterness come from? Where does grumbling come from? I think this is 00:26:20.000 |
where it needs to be, but this is where it is. 00:26:24.000 |
So the grumbling happens because I'm telling God 00:26:36.000 |
to my understanding of what is good and right, that's where grumbling 00:26:40.000 |
and bitterness comes from. Because I ultimately, I'm not grumbling 00:26:44.000 |
against objects. I'm grumbling against the one who 00:26:48.000 |
has the control to do anything about it. So if we're grumbling, just like 00:26:52.000 |
Moses said, you're not grumbling against this or that. Ultimately, you're saying to God. 00:27:12.000 |
who knows all things, has the power to do all things, has 00:27:16.000 |
orchestrated whatever situation that you may be in. 00:27:28.000 |
But where does bitterness and grumbling come from? Because we 00:27:32.000 |
don't get what we want. We think it should be a certain 00:27:36.000 |
way and it is not. So therefore, grumbling and complaining comes. So ultimately 00:27:40.000 |
what is that? We don't recognize God or to give thanks. 00:27:48.000 |
"The key to unlocking a heart of gratitude and overcoming bitterness and ugliness 00:27:52.000 |
and disrespect and violence is a strong belief in God, 00:27:56.000 |
the Creator, the Sustainer, the Provider, the Hope Giver. 00:28:00.000 |
If we do not believe we are deeply indebted to God for all we have or hope 00:28:04.000 |
to have, then the very spring of gratitude has gone 00:28:08.000 |
dry." The reason why there's ingratitude is because 00:28:12.000 |
we are not recognizing the Creator, Sustainer, Provider, and 00:28:20.000 |
somewhere else. We have put our confidence in our ability, 00:28:24.000 |
in our circumstance, maybe in other people. And that's where ultimately 00:28:28.000 |
grumbling comes from. That's why Philippians 2, 14, 16 says, "Do all things 00:28:36.000 |
almost sounds kind of like inhuman. Like how can you expect human 00:28:40.000 |
beings to never be grumbling? But here's why, verse 15, "That you 00:28:44.000 |
may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted 00:28:48.000 |
generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 00:28:52.000 |
holding fast to the Word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be 00:29:00.000 |
in vain." He says not to be grumbling and questioning 00:29:12.000 |
you guys are going to sit around the table and if you 00:29:16.000 |
have small children you're going to be asking, "What are you thankful for?" 00:29:20.000 |
I'm thankful for my Legos. I'm thankful that Christmas is right around the corner. 00:29:24.000 |
So, whatever I'm going to get that. Or if you're a little 00:29:28.000 |
bit more sophisticated and you're a little bit older and so you're thankful for your tests, that you 00:29:32.000 |
got a good grade on. You're thankful for the relationships. Or if you're a little 00:29:36.000 |
bit more godlier than that you may be thankful for the brothers 00:29:44.000 |
constantly send you encouragement notes. And so 00:29:48.000 |
we're all thankful for things that we can see tangibly. 00:29:56.000 |
But any human being, Christian or non-Christian, are going to be thankful for all 00:30:00.000 |
of these things. People who love me in my life, I'm thankful 00:30:04.000 |
for them. The non-Christians are thankful for them. 00:30:08.000 |
The toys that you have, a new job. Tell me a non-Christian who's not thankful 00:30:12.000 |
for that. The distinction between a Christian's thankfulness 00:30:16.000 |
and a non-Christian's thankfulness is that our thankfulness is unlike 00:30:20.000 |
the world because our thankfulness is coming from faith. 00:30:40.000 |
only thankful for things that the world is thankful for, how are we any different 00:30:44.000 |
than the world? It is when we're under pressure. 00:30:48.000 |
When everything on the flesh looks like something is going wrong. 00:30:52.000 |
But we see beyond that because we know a God who's beyond that. 00:30:56.000 |
We know a God who is sovereign, who is in control. Even when everything 00:31:00.000 |
else looks like it has completely gone out of control, that we have a God who is absolutely 00:31:04.000 |
sovereignly in control. And that sovereign God loves us. 00:31:12.000 |
he not along with him give us everything? And if you believe that, that's the source 00:31:20.000 |
your health, not your friendship, not your support group, 00:31:24.000 |
not the people who love you, not your family. But because 00:31:28.000 |
a sovereign God who is in control of every circumstance, 00:31:32.000 |
what seems to be good, what seems to be bad, he is ultimately in control. 00:31:36.000 |
When we lose sight of that, that's where grumbling comes. 00:31:40.000 |
Because I have determined what is right. I have determined what is good. 00:31:52.000 |
a Christian. Grumbling is the opposite of what it means 00:31:56.000 |
to worship. And thirdly, Thanksgiving is at the 00:32:00.000 |
root of genuine worship. Thanksgiving is the root of 00:32:04.000 |
genuine worship. 2 Corinthians 4.15, "For it is 00:32:08.000 |
all for your sake, so that as grace extends more and more people, 00:32:12.000 |
it may increase in thanksgiving to the glory of God." 00:32:20.000 |
refusing to acknowledge God and to give thanks, then what is salvation? 00:32:32.000 |
isn't that what salvation is? To give thanks? People who are unthankful, 00:32:36.000 |
to be thankful, I mean to put it in a nutshell. 00:32:40.000 |
That He extended His grace, that thanksgiving may 00:32:44.000 |
increase to the glory of God. That's why in Psalm 104 it says, 00:32:48.000 |
"Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise." 00:32:56.000 |
What is God looking for in our congregation? In your personal lives? In your 00:33:00.000 |
family? What is He looking for more than anything else? 00:33:04.000 |
Worshippers who will worship in spirit and true worship. Not people who are going to 00:33:08.000 |
clock in and clock out. And you can do that even when you are praying, 00:33:12.000 |
clock in and clock out. You can clock in and clock out reading the Bible. You can clock in and clock out 00:33:20.000 |
Who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. So if worship is 00:33:24.000 |
directly linked to thankfulness, if you have a grumbling and complaining heart, 00:33:28.000 |
you can't be worshiping. You are not worshiping because 00:33:32.000 |
worship, every song that we sing, everything that we declare is to come 00:33:36.000 |
for Him and say, "Thank you, you are worthy." 00:33:40.000 |
But if you are complaining and bitter, how can those two things go 00:33:48.000 |
thanksgiving is at the core of worship. And that's what God 00:33:52.000 |
is seeking more than anything else. Let me ask you a question. 00:33:56.000 |
When are you the most thankful? If God is looking for true worshipers, and 00:34:00.000 |
true worship, the base of true worship is thankfulness, when are you 00:34:12.000 |
we are the most thankful that when we deserve, when we get 00:34:16.000 |
something that we really didn't deserve. Right? So 00:34:20.000 |
some of you college students, you know, if you have finals coming up, 00:34:24.000 |
you stayed up all night and you went to LA to get some boba, 00:34:28.000 |
you know, and you played video games and then somebody told you, you had to study, 00:34:32.000 |
or somebody told you, "I got a free pass, come to Disneyland with me." And you stayed up all night 00:34:36.000 |
going to Disneyland, you came back, and you probably studied for the finals in like two hours. 00:34:40.000 |
And then you took your test, and you got an A+. 00:34:48.000 |
Because you know you didn't deserve that. Right? You know you didn't, 00:34:52.000 |
you deserved an F, but you got an A. So you're thankful. 00:34:56.000 |
You're going to come to church like, "Thank you, Jesus." 00:35:00.000 |
During Thanksgiving, you're going to say, "I'm thankful for my A." Right? 00:35:04.000 |
If you're at work, you know, you didn't do the best job. You screwed up. 00:35:08.000 |
You made mistakes, lost millions of dollars, and your boss comes and says, "You know what? That's your mistake. 00:35:12.000 |
We've all done it. I'm going to give you a raise." 00:35:16.000 |
This Thanksgiving, you're going to be thankful. "I'm thankful for my 00:35:36.000 |
And your wife says, "I understand. You had a hard week. 00:35:44.000 |
And she makes you the best breakfast. "You're eating that. 00:35:52.000 |
Right? Yet, my wife made me the best food in the world. 00:35:56.000 |
We're the most thankful when we receive things that you and I know we don't deserve. 00:36:12.000 |
What is it that you and I have been given that we can't possibly even 00:36:20.000 |
If we made up a story of salvation, we would never make this story up. 00:36:24.000 |
Even if you've never heard of the gospel and say, 00:36:36.000 |
And the way that he saved us was he gave his only begotten son 00:36:44.000 |
When you buy a brand new car and a friend looks at it and says, "Hey, let me take you for a ride." 00:36:48.000 |
And that guy, you know, he's not the most careful, gentle person in the world. 00:36:52.000 |
He's got 30 tickets and he likes to take it for a spin. He says, "Let me take you for a ride." 00:36:56.000 |
You know, your immediate reaction is, "Yeah, do it, man." 00:37:00.000 |
You're going to think twice. It's like, "That guy's not going to take care of my car." 00:37:08.000 |
You don't want a little ding on it. You don't want him driving over, you know, the speed bumps 00:37:12.000 |
at 30 miles per hour. And you're going to think of your shocks and, "Is he going to pass gas in my car? 00:37:16.000 |
What is this guy going to do to my brand new car?" 00:37:20.000 |
And you're going to hesitate and you're going to be bitter that he even asked you 00:37:24.000 |
and put you in that situation. Because we value this car. 00:37:40.000 |
sent His only begotten son to die for us. What is it that 00:37:44.000 |
you and I have received that you and I did not deserve 00:38:08.000 |
giving us what you and I didn't deserve, wasn't He seeking 00:38:16.000 |
That that's the reason why He did what He did 00:38:20.000 |
to create a new creation that will worship Him in spirit 00:38:24.000 |
and in truth by giving us what you and I could not possibly even imagine 00:38:40.000 |
That's why in Ephesians 1, 7-10, it says, "In Him we have redemption 00:38:44.000 |
through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His 00:38:52.000 |
wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose 00:38:56.000 |
which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, 00:39:00.000 |
to unite all things in Him, things in Heaven and things on 00:39:12.000 |
is Thanksgiving. And then fourth and finally, Thanksgiving ultimately 00:39:16.000 |
is the evidence of genuine faith. Thanksgiving 00:39:20.000 |
is the evidence of genuine faith. James chapter 1, 2-3 00:39:24.000 |
you know that passage where it says, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials 00:39:28.000 |
of various kinds." You know when he wrote that letter 00:39:32.000 |
"Trials of various kinds" people were literally being 00:39:36.000 |
killed for their faith. We had people who probably 00:39:40.000 |
were very rich, like Apostle Paul, because they met Christ. They were being 00:39:52.000 |
Their children couldn't function because they were followers of Christ. So when he says 00:39:56.000 |
"Trials of many kinds" he's not talking about, you know, I want Mexican food 00:40:00.000 |
but I can only find Korean food. We are not talking about the kind of trials you and I go 00:40:04.000 |
through. You know? And I know there is more than that. I'm just being, you know. 00:40:08.000 |
You know at work it's like, "Oh he's a Christian. Ha, ha, ha. Don't invite him to our break." 00:40:16.000 |
We are talking about people literally losing their lives 00:40:20.000 |
and their livelihood. So when he says, "Encounter trials of many kinds, consider 00:40:24.000 |
it all joy." He doesn't just say, "Hey, suck it up and bear it." 00:40:32.000 |
don't understand the context of this verse. If you don't understand the context 00:40:36.000 |
of the Gospel, it would make absolutely no sense. Not only 00:40:40.000 |
would it not make sense, it would be a tremendous burden. 00:40:44.000 |
It would be a tremendous burden to tell people to be joyful 00:40:48.000 |
while you're going through all of these things. And a lot of times 00:40:52.000 |
even as Christians we try to fake it because we know what it says. 00:40:56.000 |
We're not experiencing it but we know what it says. You know? 00:41:00.000 |
Just like if you have small children and you're trying to take pictures. And I know some of you guys 00:41:08.000 |
So when our, especially our boys when they were little, when they would take pictures 00:41:12.000 |
we would always say, "Smile, smile." And so they'll give you one of these. 00:41:16.000 |
You know what I mean? It's just one side. Their whole face, there's no smile. 00:41:20.000 |
It's just their lip is going up. Right? Sometimes that's what Christian joy 00:41:28.000 |
Like you want to curse and you want to say all these things but you're at church. 00:41:44.000 |
And you say, you say all of these things but in your, inwardly 00:41:48.000 |
it was just, you're dying. How can He possibly 00:41:56.000 |
Consider all joy when you meet trials of many kinds 00:42:00.000 |
for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness 00:42:04.000 |
and that steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete 00:42:08.000 |
lacking in nothing. Lacking in nothing what? Financially? Physically? 00:42:16.000 |
tangible. You don't taste faith. You don't see it. 00:42:24.000 |
And the only reason why you would face trials and consider it pure joy 00:42:32.000 |
It's because you believe that there is a sovereign God who is 00:42:36.000 |
orchestrating these trials to bring about perfection of your 00:42:52.000 |
you get a brand new car. You know get rid of your you know 1999 car 00:42:56.000 |
and you're going to get a 2017 brand new car. You know no one would have 00:43:00.000 |
any problems. Consider pure joy when you junk your 1997 car. 00:43:04.000 |
Because tomorrow you're going to get a 2017 car. 00:43:12.000 |
But the reason why Christians are called to do that is because the trade-off 00:43:16.000 |
is that God, the sovereign God, is using these sufferings 00:43:20.000 |
to bring about the perfection of faith. And only an individual 00:43:24.000 |
who believes that that is happening is the one who can really rejoice. 00:43:32.000 |
is evidence of genuine faith. Only an individual who is 00:43:36.000 |
genuinely believes the promises of God can be 00:43:40.000 |
genuinely thankful. Not fake it. Not give a fake smile. 00:43:44.000 |
Because you know a sovereign God is behind that. 00:43:48.000 |
You look at the life of Joseph. All his life, all he did was be faithful to 00:43:52.000 |
God. And as a result of that he got beaten. He was thrown into 00:43:56.000 |
prison. He tried to be faithful to his master and to 00:44:04.000 |
wife Potiphar. And as a result of being faithful he gets thrown into jail. 00:44:08.000 |
He's in jail and he tries to help people out. And as a result of that he stays even 00:44:12.000 |
longer. And at the end of his life, at the end of the 00:44:16.000 |
story we know what happens. His brothers who put him in that situation come and 00:44:24.000 |
This is Egypt. And this guy is very high up. He's a right hand man of the 00:44:28.000 |
Pharaoh. There is no public defender to defend 00:44:32.000 |
him. There is no innocent until proven guilty. I mean this is 00:44:36.000 |
the Pharaoh's right hand man. I mean he could have eaten his flesh and we would all 00:44:40.000 |
understand and say, "Okay, what you did to me I do to you tenfold." 00:44:52.000 |
But he doesn't do that. Why is he not bitter? 00:45:00.000 |
not carry out vengeance? He could have killed all of them and it would have been completely 00:45:04.000 |
justified. And yet remember what he says in Genesis chapter 50, 19 00:45:08.000 |
through 21. He says, "But Joseph said to them, his brothers, 'Do not fear 00:45:16.000 |
words he is saying God placed him there. "As for you, you meant evil against me but God 00:45:20.000 |
meant it for good. To bring it about that many people should 00:45:24.000 |
be kept alive as they are today. So do not fear I will provide for 00:45:28.000 |
you and your little ones.' Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to 00:45:36.000 |
not only was he not vengeful, he actually provides 00:45:40.000 |
for that family. That's not human. That's not a 00:45:44.000 |
normal human behavior. The reason why he was able to do that 00:45:48.000 |
because he believed in a sovereign God who was in control of all of these things. 00:45:52.000 |
That even though your intention may have been evil, God was not. 00:46:00.000 |
why only an individual who genuinely believes in that sovereign 00:46:04.000 |
and loving God can truly be thankful. That's why 00:46:08.000 |
in 1 Thessalonians 5, 16 to 18 he says, "Rejoice always." 00:46:12.000 |
Not simply because your bills are paid, not because 00:46:16.000 |
you're healthy, not because you got a promotion. 00:46:28.000 |
When you have money or don't have money. When you're sitting in prison 00:46:36.000 |
In every and all situation Paul says, "I have learned the secret of being 00:46:48.000 |
of that, it's not like he did yoga and he tapped into some inner 00:46:52.000 |
meditation that all of a sudden, boom, it opened up for him. 00:46:56.000 |
He's talking about seeing Christ in the middle 00:47:00.000 |
of all of these things. That's why he says you can be thankful 00:47:04.000 |
in all situations for this is the will of God. 00:47:12.000 |
people who did not honor God or give thanks to Him, opened our 00:47:16.000 |
eyes to see the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ and made us 00:47:20.000 |
people who honor and thank Him. That's the will 00:47:24.000 |
of God. Our salvation, our sanctification to make us true 00:47:28.000 |
worshipers of God was the will of God. So how important is 00:47:32.000 |
Thanksgiving for Christians? It is at the core of who we are. 00:47:36.000 |
And that is why he says, "Do all things without complaining 00:47:40.000 |
or grumbling." Because complaining or grumbling is 00:47:52.000 |
same time. So let me conclude with this. 2 Corinthians 00:48:00.000 |
though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being 00:48:04.000 |
renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction 00:48:08.000 |
is preparing for us an eternal way to glory beyond all comparison. 00:48:12.000 |
As we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. 00:48:16.000 |
For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen 00:48:24.000 |
between a Christian and a non-Christian. We come to celebrate a God that 00:48:32.000 |
promises of things that we cannot touch. We celebrate 00:48:36.000 |
and rejoice knowing that one day that we will be in a heaven that 00:48:44.000 |
causes us to see a God that you cannot see with your flesh. 00:48:48.000 |
And that is the distinction between a Christian and a non-Christian. Isn't that 00:48:52.000 |
what happened to us when we got saved? When you believed and confessed 00:49:00.000 |
Did all the people around you all of a sudden become nice? 00:49:04.000 |
Did the school that you were trying to get into all of a sudden send you an acceptance? 00:49:08.000 |
Did all the people who were annoying you all of a sudden change their 00:49:12.000 |
personality to accommodate you? What has changed? 00:49:24.000 |
source of our thanksgiving is not our circumstance, 00:49:28.000 |
but being able to see our sovereign God behind all things. He who did 00:49:32.000 |
not spare his own son. How will he not along with him give us all things? 00:49:40.000 |
If God is looking for true worshipers and true worship, the base of 00:49:44.000 |
true worship is thankfulness, when are you the most thankful? 00:49:56.000 |
most thankful that when we get something that we really didn't 00:50:00.000 |
deserve. Right? So some of you college students, 00:50:04.000 |
you know, if you have finals coming up, you stayed up all night 00:50:08.000 |
and you went to LA to get some boba, you know, and you played 00:50:12.000 |
video games and then somebody told you, you had to study, somebody told you, "I got a free pass, 00:50:16.000 |
come to Disneyland with me." And you stayed up all night going to Disneyland. You came back 00:50:20.000 |
and you probably studied for the final in like two hours. And then 00:50:28.000 |
you are thankful. Because you know you didn't deserve that. 00:50:32.000 |
Right? You know you didn't. You deserved an F. 00:50:36.000 |
But you got an A. So you're thankful. You're going to come to church 00:50:40.000 |
like, "Thank you, Jesus." Right? During Thanksgiving you're going to say, "I'm 00:50:44.000 |
thankful for my A." Right? If you're at work, you know, 00:50:48.000 |
you didn't do the best job. You screwed up. You made mistakes. Lost 00:50:52.000 |
millions of dollars. And your boss comes and says, "You know what? That's a human mistake. We've all done it. 00:50:56.000 |
I'm going to give you a raise." This Thanksgiving 00:51:00.000 |
you're going to be thankful. "I'm thankful for my boss. 00:51:16.000 |
No breakfast, lunch, or dinner for a while. And your wife says, 00:51:24.000 |
It was tough. Let's do it next year." And she makes you the 00:51:28.000 |
best breakfast. You're eating that. So thankful. 00:51:36.000 |
Right? Yet my wife made me the best food in the world. 00:51:40.000 |
We're the most thankful when we receive things that you and I know we don't deserve. 00:51:52.000 |
didn't deserve? And you know where I'm getting at. 00:51:56.000 |
What is it that you and I have been given that we can't 00:52:04.000 |
If we made up a story of salvation, we would never make this story up. 00:52:12.000 |
gospel and say, "Well, God sent His Son to die 00:52:20.000 |
And the way that He saved us was He gave His only begotten Son 00:52:24.000 |
to suffer for us." I mean, think about it. When you buy a 00:52:28.000 |
brand new car and a friend looks at it and says, "Hey, let me take you for a ride." 00:52:32.000 |
And that guy, you know, he's not the most careful, gentle person in the world. 00:52:36.000 |
He's got 30 tickets and he likes to take it for a spin. He says, "Let me take you for a ride." 00:52:40.000 |
You know, your immediate reaction is, "Yeah, do it, man." [laughter] 00:52:44.000 |
And I think twice. It's like, "That guy's not going to take care of my car." 00:52:48.000 |
It's just your car. You don't want a little ding 00:52:52.000 |
on it. You don't want him driving over, you know, the speed bumps at 00:52:56.000 |
30 miles per hour. And you're going to think of your shocks. And is he going to pass gas in my car? 00:53:00.000 |
What is this guy going to do to my brand new car? 00:53:04.000 |
And you're going to hesitate. And you're going to be bitter that he even asked you and put you in that 00:53:24.000 |
sent His only begotten Son to die for us. What is it that you and I have received that you 00:53:48.000 |
He, by sending His only begotten Son, giving us what you and I didn't 00:54:00.000 |
That that's the reason why He did what He did? 00:54:04.000 |
To create a new creation that will worship Him in spirit and in truth 00:54:08.000 |
by giving us what you and I could not possibly even imagine 00:54:24.000 |
That's why in Ephesians 1, 7-10, it says, "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness 00:54:28.000 |
of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which 00:54:32.000 |
He lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making 00:54:36.000 |
known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which He set forth 00:54:40.000 |
in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things 00:54:44.000 |
in Him, things in Heaven and things on Earth." 00:54:56.000 |
And then fourth and finally, thanksgiving ultimately is the evidence of 00:55:00.000 |
genuine faith. Thanksgiving is the evidence of genuine 00:55:04.000 |
faith. James 1, 2-3, you know that passage where 00:55:08.000 |
it says, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds." 00:55:12.000 |
You know when he wrote that letter, "Trials of various 00:55:16.000 |
kinds," people were literally being killed for their faith. 00:55:20.000 |
We had people who probably were very rich, like 00:55:24.000 |
Apostle Paul, because they met Christ. They were being beaten and put into jail. 00:55:32.000 |
their wives were being put into jail. Their children 00:55:36.000 |
couldn't function because they were followers of Christ. So when he says trials of many kinds 00:55:40.000 |
he's not talking about, you know, "I want Mexican food, but I can only find Korean 00:55:44.000 |
food." We're not talking about the kind of trials you and I go through. You know? 00:55:48.000 |
And I know there's more than that. I'm just being, you know, you know at work it's like, "Oh, 00:55:52.000 |
he's a Christian. Ha, ha, ha. Don't invite him to our break." You know, persecution. 00:56:00.000 |
We're talking about people literally losing their lives and their livelihood. 00:56:04.000 |
So when he says, "Encounter trials of many kinds, consider it all joy," 00:56:08.000 |
he doesn't just say, "Hey, suck it up and bear it." No, he says, 00:56:12.000 |
"Consider it all joy." If you don't understand the context 00:56:16.000 |
of this verse, if you don't understand the context of the Gospel, 00:56:20.000 |
it would make absolutely no sense. Not only would it not make sense, 00:56:28.000 |
a tremendous burden to tell people to be joyful while you're 00:56:32.000 |
going through all of these things. And a lot of times even as Christians, we 00:56:36.000 |
try to fake it because we know what it says. We're not experiencing 00:56:40.000 |
it, but we know what it says. You know? Just like if you have small children 00:56:44.000 |
and you're trying to take pictures, and I know some of you guys, you know, accuse me of that. 00:56:48.000 |
We put up fake smiles. So when our, especially 00:56:52.000 |
our boys when they were little, when they would take pictures, we would always say, "Smile, 00:56:56.000 |
smile." And so they'll give you one of these. 00:57:00.000 |
You know what I mean? It's just one side, their whole face, there's no smile, it's just their lip is going up. 00:57:04.000 |
Right? Sometimes that's what Christian joy looks like. 00:57:12.000 |
and you want to say all these things, but you're at church. 00:57:24.000 |
All things work together for good. And you say, 00:57:28.000 |
you say all of these things, but in your, inwardly it was just, you're dying. 00:57:40.000 |
all joy when you meet trials of many kinds, for you know 00:57:44.000 |
that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, and that steadfastness 00:57:48.000 |
have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 00:57:52.000 |
Lacking in nothing, what? Financially? Physically? No. Your faith. 00:58:04.000 |
You can't put that in the bank. And the only reason why you would 00:58:08.000 |
face trials and consider it pure joy is because 00:58:16.000 |
that there is a sovereign God who is orchestrating these trials 00:58:24.000 |
So the payoff, you may not be able to see it, 00:58:32.000 |
if by sacrificing today, that tomorrow you get a brand new car. 00:58:36.000 |
You know, get rid of your, you know, 1999 car, and you're going to get a 2017 00:58:40.000 |
brand new car, you know, no one would have any problems. Consider it pure joy 00:58:44.000 |
when you junk your 1997 car. Because tomorrow 00:58:56.000 |
why Christians are called to do that is because the trade-off is that God, 00:59:00.000 |
the sovereign God, is using these sufferings to bring about the perfection 00:59:04.000 |
of faith. And only an individual who believes that 00:59:08.000 |
that is happening is the one who can really rejoice. 00:59:16.000 |
of genuine faith. Only an individual who genuinely 00:59:20.000 |
believes the promises of God can be genuinely thankful. 00:59:24.000 |
Not fake it. Not give a fake smile. Because you know 00:59:28.000 |
a sovereign God is behind that. You look at the life of 00:59:32.000 |
Joseph. All his life, all he did was be faithful to God. 00:59:36.000 |
And as a result of that he got beaten, he was thrown into prison. He tried 00:59:48.000 |
And as a result of being faithful he gets thrown into jail. He's in jail 00:59:52.000 |
and he tries to help people out. And as a result of that he stays even longer. 00:59:56.000 |
And at the end of his life, at the end of the story, we know what happens. 01:00:00.000 |
His brothers who put him in that situation come and they recognize him. 01:00:08.000 |
And this guy is very high up. He's a right-hand man of the Pharaoh. 01:00:12.000 |
There is no public defender to defend him. There is no 01:00:16.000 |
innocent until proven guilty. I mean this is the Pharaoh's right-hand man. 01:00:20.000 |
I mean he could have eaten his flesh and we would all understand and say, "Okay, 01:00:24.000 |
what you did to me I do to you tenfold." Right? 01:00:32.000 |
End with vengeance. Yes! But he doesn't do that. 01:00:40.000 |
he not angry? Why does he not carry out vengeance? 01:00:44.000 |
He could have killed all of them and it would have been completely justified. 01:00:48.000 |
And yet remember what he says in Genesis chapter 50, 19 through 21. 01:00:52.000 |
It says, "But Joseph said to them, his brothers, 'Do not fear, for I am in the 01:00:56.000 |
place of God.'" In other words he's saying God placed him 01:01:00.000 |
there. "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. 01:01:04.000 |
To bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are 01:01:08.000 |
today. So do not fear, I will provide for you and your little ones.' Thus he 01:01:16.000 |
Not only did he not kill them, not only was he not 01:01:20.000 |
vengeful, he actually provides for that family. 01:01:24.000 |
That's not human. That's not a normal human behavior. 01:01:28.000 |
The reason why he was able to do that because he believed in a sovereign 01:01:32.000 |
God who was in control of all of these things. That even though your intention may 01:01:40.000 |
That's why we're thankful. That's why only an 01:01:44.000 |
individual who genuinely believes in that sovereign and loving God 01:01:48.000 |
can truly be thankful. That's why in 1 Thessalonians 5, 16 to 18 01:01:56.000 |
simply because your bills are paid, not because you're healthy, 01:02:08.000 |
When encouragement or discouragement. When you have money or 01:02:12.000 |
don't have money. When you're sitting in prison or 01:02:20.000 |
situation Paul says, "I have learned the secret of being content." What is that secret? 01:02:28.000 |
Christ. In the midst of all of that, it's not like 01:02:32.000 |
he did yoga and he tapped into some inner meditation 01:02:36.000 |
and all of a sudden, boom, it opened up for him. 01:02:40.000 |
He's talking about seeing Christ in the middle of all of these things. 01:02:44.000 |
That's why he says, "You can be thankful in all situations 01:02:52.000 |
The will of God is to make people who did not 01:02:56.000 |
honor God or give thanks to Him, opened our eyes to see the glory 01:03:00.000 |
of the gospel of Jesus Christ and made us people who honor 01:03:04.000 |
and thank Him. That's the will of God. Our salvation, 01:03:08.000 |
our sanctification to make us true worshippers of God 01:03:12.000 |
was the will of God. So how important is Thanksgiving for Christians? 01:03:16.000 |
It is at the core of who we are. And that is why he 01:03:20.000 |
says, "Do all things without complaining or grumbling." 01:03:32.000 |
You can't worship and grumble at the same time. 01:03:36.000 |
So let me conclude with this. 2 Corinthians 4, 16-18. 01:03:44.000 |
outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. 01:03:48.000 |
For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us 01:03:52.000 |
an eternal way to glory beyond all comparison. As we look not 01:03:56.000 |
to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen 01:04:00.000 |
are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." 01:04:04.000 |
That is the distinction between a Christian and a non-Christian. 01:04:08.000 |
We come to celebrate a God that we cannot see. 01:04:12.000 |
We put our hope in the promises of things that we 01:04:20.000 |
knowing that one day that we will be in a heaven that we are not there yet. 01:04:28.000 |
that you cannot see with your flesh. And that's 01:04:32.000 |
the distinction between a Christian and a non-Christian. Isn't that what happened to us when we got 01:04:36.000 |
saved? When you believed and confessed and repented, 01:04:40.000 |
did you get a better house? Did all the people 01:04:44.000 |
around you all of a sudden become nice? Did the school that 01:04:48.000 |
you were trying to get into all of a sudden send you an acceptance? 01:04:52.000 |
Did all the people who were annoying you all of a sudden change their personality to accommodate 01:05:08.000 |
thanksgiving is not our circumstance, but being able 01:05:12.000 |
to see our sovereign God behind all things. He who did not spare his own son. 01:05:16.000 |
How will he not along with him give us all things? Let's pray. 01:05:24.000 |
ask the praise team to come out, let's take some time to come before the Lord in prayer, 01:05:36.000 |
material things that we ought to be thankful for,