back to index2020-11-22 Merry Thanksgiving
00:00:05.000 |
We're going to take a break from the study of Hebrews, 00:00:09.000 |
and we're going to be jumping into Philippians 2, verse 14-18. 00:00:25.000 |
"Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 00:00:27.000 |
so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent. 00:00:30.000 |
Children of God, above reproach, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, 00:00:34.000 |
among whom you appear as lights in the world, 00:00:37.000 |
holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory, 00:00:41.000 |
because I did not run in vain, nor toil in vain. 00:00:45.000 |
But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering, 00:00:47.000 |
upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, 00:00:53.000 |
You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me." 00:01:16.000 |
and make sure that it is your voice that we hear. 00:01:21.000 |
So we pray that you would protect our pulpit, 00:01:26.000 |
that all that we believe and all that we apply, 00:01:29.000 |
that it may be coming with your authority and your word. 00:01:40.000 |
So, did you know Thanksgiving is this Thursday? 00:01:47.000 |
but every single year we hear less of Thanksgiving. 00:01:53.000 |
In previous years, Christmas lights and Christmas trees 00:02:00.000 |
But I've heard more about Black Friday this year than I've done Thanksgiving. 00:02:06.000 |
I'm trying to look for who's actually talking about Thanksgiving. 00:02:09.000 |
All I've heard is what you can't do on Thanksgiving. 00:02:12.000 |
You're not supposed to do this, you're not supposed to do that. 00:02:15.000 |
Thanksgiving is a uniquely Christian holiday, 00:02:17.000 |
and I think part of the reason, it may not be all the reason, 00:02:20.000 |
but part of the reason why Thanksgiving is kind of slowly dying out 00:02:24.000 |
is because I don't think the secular knows what to do with this. 00:02:27.000 |
Because it's a unique holiday that was set apart for worship, 00:02:34.000 |
And I think it's important for us as Christians that, 00:02:39.000 |
but celebrating Thanksgiving is a reminder to us 00:02:42.000 |
that this is something that we ought to be doing regularly, all the time. 00:02:53.000 |
I want to share with you some of the things that's been bothering me. 00:03:00.000 |
we're living in a cul-de-sac, and before they moved in, 00:03:04.000 |
we had the reign of parking in our cul-de-sac. 00:03:10.000 |
and all of a sudden, this--it looked like some kind of daycare center moved in, 00:03:14.000 |
because they got all kinds of cars sitting outside. 00:03:17.000 |
Now, whenever we park, we have to maneuver with them, you know? 00:03:23.000 |
When you come home, park your car, make sure you park on the street first. 00:03:27.000 |
So we're going to dominate this, and then park. 00:03:32.000 |
it was like, "Oh, my gosh, they got like five cars out here." 00:03:35.000 |
Anyway, I'm getting some of that off my chest. 00:03:38.000 |
Ever since the pandemic--some of you guys know, 00:03:40.000 |
we live right by the train station, and then behind there's like a walkway. 00:03:44.000 |
And usually it's not used well, but ever since the pandemic, 00:03:48.000 |
people have been exercising there, hanging out there, 00:03:51.000 |
the teenagers are riding their skateboards up and down, 00:03:56.000 |
So every morning, I'm doing quiet time reading the Bible, 00:04:01.000 |
Anyway, I'm getting some of that off my chest, okay? 00:04:11.000 |
I went to Carl's Jr. to pick a hamburger for lunch, 00:04:15.000 |
and I asked them to give me extra lettuce on my Famous Star, 00:04:20.000 |
and by the time I got back, instead of giving me extra lettuce, 00:04:29.000 |
I was thinking, "If I wanted salad, I would have ordered salad," right? 00:04:33.000 |
And so that same day, I was coming back from Carl's Jr., 00:04:38.000 |
it was like a right turn right off of coming into, I think, Red Hill in-- 00:04:46.000 |
And I'm making a right turn, but you know one of those people 00:04:49.000 |
that always--they're intending to go straight, 00:04:54.000 |
You know what I'm talking about? You guys know what I'm talking about. 00:04:59.000 |
They're not trying to make a right turn, they're going to go straight, 00:05:03.000 |
So this guy, I was about to make a right turn, and then he wouldn't budge. 00:05:06.000 |
So I said, "Okay, I'm a pastor, so I better..." 00:05:09.000 |
So I just sat there waiting for the red light to turn, 00:05:16.000 |
and the first thing I see, his middle finger goes up. 00:05:21.000 |
And he said, "Yeah, I don't have a pleasant resting face." 00:05:25.000 |
So maybe he looked at me, and he thought I was angry, 00:05:29.000 |
and he just flipped me off, he's like, "Wow." 00:05:31.000 |
And that's with the lettuce wrap in the car, which I didn't know. 00:05:39.000 |
So I've been trying to deal with something that's been going on with Amazon. 00:05:43.000 |
They said that I owed back taxes for something that happened on Amazon, 00:05:48.000 |
and so I've been on the phone with them for the last three days, 00:05:51.000 |
for hours and hours, and I've talked to them over ten people, 00:05:55.000 |
and I've been trying to contact them through the phone, through the Internet, 00:05:58.000 |
I've gone to Amazon.com, and the only time they give any kind of response 00:06:05.000 |
So I was on the phone that day with Amazon, going back and forth 00:06:09.000 |
to the callers in India, to America, back and forth, back and forth, 00:06:13.000 |
and then I just was so tired, and I was on the phone for about two hours, 00:06:18.000 |
and during the two hours, there's long breaks in between, 00:06:20.000 |
so I said, "Wait a second, let me look this up, let me look this up." 00:06:23.000 |
And I've already gone through hours of this, and this is the ninth or tenth person, 00:06:27.000 |
so as I was grumbling inside, I was preparing this sermon 00:06:34.000 |
So I just wanted to get this off my chest, because when I think about Thanksgiving, 00:06:42.000 |
Every year during Thanksgiving, what are you thankful for? 00:06:45.000 |
Thank you for the family, thank you for this job, thank you for salvation. 00:06:48.000 |
And we have this road thing that we go through, 00:06:51.000 |
it's like, "Oh, I should be thankful for that." 00:07:00.000 |
For most people, it doesn't really take long. 00:07:03.000 |
We have to force ourselves, like, "I'm going to be thankful, I'm going to be thankful." 00:07:06.000 |
But what's bothering us is like always sitting at the tip of our tongue, 00:07:11.000 |
and the application, right, we always have to apply, 00:07:15.000 |
say, "Oh, I'm going to be more positive, I'm going to be more thankful." 00:07:18.000 |
But our heart condition naturally is to grumble. 00:07:21.000 |
Our natural condition is naturally to grumble. 00:07:28.000 |
The opposite of Thanksgiving, it's about grumbling. 00:07:30.000 |
So I'm going to be grumbling about grumbling this morning. 00:07:35.000 |
Apostle Paul is writing, even though he's writing this letter of joy, 00:07:42.000 |
you know that at the end of Philippians, he's asking, 00:07:45.000 |
because there's a division that's taking place between these two prominent sisters. 00:07:48.000 |
He's saying, "Hey, can you guys please help them out?" 00:07:51.000 |
And obviously that theme of division in this church, 00:07:58.000 |
even though there's a larger theme of rejoicing the Lord, 00:08:01.000 |
but the reason why he keeps reminding them to rejoice 00:08:03.000 |
is because there's an underlying division that's taking place in the church. 00:08:10.000 |
you'll see that that's kind of what he's touching upon, 00:08:14.000 |
and then he brings the main point at the end. 00:08:18.000 |
That's why he writes Philippians chapter 1, chapter 2, 00:08:21.000 |
"Don't be selfish, look up for other people, consider them better than yourselves, 00:08:29.000 |
not just so that we can understand Christianity, 00:08:32.000 |
it's because there was an underlying division taking place in the church. 00:08:37.000 |
And it is in that context, after he says, "Look at the example of Jesus Christ," 00:08:43.000 |
"Do all things without grumbling or disputing." 00:08:47.000 |
And the reason why he's saying that is because that was the underlying reason 00:08:53.000 |
"Do all things without grumbling or disputing." 00:08:55.000 |
The word for grumbling, another word is murmuring. 00:09:04.000 |
You know, you don't like something, and if you're an extrovert, 00:09:08.000 |
"I don't like this because of that. I don't like this because of that." 00:09:14.000 |
And that's the sound that you hear internally. 00:09:25.000 |
1 Peter 4:9, "Be hospitable to one another without complaint." 00:09:32.000 |
If you're complaining, why would you be hospitable? 00:09:35.000 |
See, he's talking about Christians who are trying to live their Christian life, 00:09:42.000 |
That's why he says, "Be hospitable without complaining." 00:09:45.000 |
Do what you're supposed to do without murmuring. 00:09:52.000 |
if there's one characteristic about the Israelites that's highlighted, 00:10:00.000 |
They had all kinds of problems during the 40 years. 00:10:02.000 |
In fact, they got into, one tribe, the Simeonites, 00:10:09.000 |
Half of their tribes get wiped out out of judgment of God. 00:10:13.000 |
But instead, the primary sin that is pointed out in 1 Corinthians 10, 10-11, 00:10:22.000 |
And it was their grumbling that led to the judgment of God. 00:10:26.000 |
When we think about grumbling, usually if we have all the list of sins 00:10:30.000 |
that we should be concerned about, sexual immorality, murder, slander, 00:10:34.000 |
you've got a bunch of things that we would think are highlighted. 00:10:38.000 |
We wouldn't think murmuring or grumbling to be one of those things 00:10:45.000 |
Yet, when the Bible warns us about why the judgment came to the nation of Israel, 00:10:50.000 |
one of the primary sins that he points out is that they were constantly grumbling. 00:10:55.000 |
In fact, the history of Israel starts with them grumbling. 00:11:02.000 |
And they were crying out, and God had mercy on them. 00:11:05.000 |
So he sends Moses. Moses challenges Pharaoh with the miracles. 00:11:09.000 |
And because of that, Moses doesn't immediately respond. 00:11:12.000 |
And so he makes it even harder for the slaves. 00:11:14.000 |
And then they start murmuring and grumbling about that. 00:11:17.000 |
When God delivers them and takes them to the Red Sea, it's like, "Whoa, we're trapped. 00:11:21.000 |
Why did he do all of that to bring us out here to kill us?" 00:11:24.000 |
And they started grumbling. So God opens up the sea, and they go to the other side. 00:11:27.000 |
They sing and celebrate. Soon as they get to the other side, Moses goes up to the mountain. 00:11:31.000 |
And he's taking so long. He came out here to abandon us? 00:11:35.000 |
So they make the golden calf. They start worshiping God. 00:11:40.000 |
And then you would think they learned their lesson. 00:11:43.000 |
Soon after—we're talking about days—they walk out into the desert. 00:11:47.000 |
It's like, "I'm so thirsty. Why did he bring us out here so that we could die of thirst?" 00:11:53.000 |
So they started grumbling. And then so God gives them water. 00:11:56.000 |
And then they move out a little bit further. It's like, "That's it? Water? 00:11:59.000 |
What about food? We're going to die out here." 00:12:03.000 |
So God gives them miraculous bread, manna, from heaven, literally falling down from heaven. 00:12:08.000 |
And they start eating that. And then soon after that, they're like, "That's it? Bread? 00:12:16.000 |
And they start murmuring and complaining about that. So God gives them quail. 00:12:20.000 |
Then after that, it's like, "Okay, we got meat. We got bread. We got miraculous water." 00:12:25.000 |
And God's in our midst. And this cycle happened all along the 40 years. 00:12:35.000 |
And the Bible teaches us that that was at the root of what caused them to seek idleship. 00:12:44.000 |
It's the constant grumbling and complaining and murmuring 00:12:48.000 |
that caused them to be discontent and covet what other people had 00:12:55.000 |
And the Bible says the reason why there's murder is because there's coveting. 00:12:58.000 |
And because the coveting comes from murmuring. 00:13:05.000 |
In Proverbs 23, 6-7, "Do not eat the bread of a selfish man or desire his delicacy." 00:13:14.000 |
He says, "For as he thinks within himself, so he is." 00:13:18.000 |
He says to you, "Eat and drink, but his heart is not with you." 00:13:22.000 |
"You will vomit up the more so you have eaten and waste your compliments." 00:13:27.000 |
He said even if a man who's constantly grumbling in his heart, he has a selfishness in his heart, 00:13:31.000 |
and even when he is being generous, he said, "Don't eat it." 00:13:34.000 |
Because that's not really a gift. It's going to turn out where you're going to end up vomiting. 00:13:39.000 |
So when an individual is constantly murmuring and complaining, 00:13:49.000 |
See, an individual who's constantly murmuring, it leads to disputing. 00:13:56.000 |
The word disputing in NIV is questioning, dialoguing. That's the literal word for that. 00:14:01.000 |
Where an individual who is constantly discontent begins to question everything. 00:14:08.000 |
And there's a difference between asking questions and questioning. 00:14:11.000 |
Asking questions is trying to figure out what is going on, why is this happening, 00:14:15.000 |
and questioning is, "I know what's right, why are you doing it that way?" 00:14:20.000 |
And when an individual is constantly questioning, there is no real answer, unless you submit to me. 00:14:29.000 |
"How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, 00:14:36.000 |
Do you notice how he says an individual who is walking according to the principles of this world, 00:14:42.000 |
he will eventually be identified with the sinners, stand in the way of sinners, 00:14:45.000 |
and then he will sit in the seat of scoffers. 00:14:49.000 |
Who's constantly questioning, murmuring, questioning. 00:14:54.000 |
In Isaiah 49 verse 5, this constantly murmuring and questioning eventually rises up to God, 00:15:00.000 |
because your circumstance, ultimately God is sovereign. 00:15:03.000 |
So if God is sovereign, why is he allowing this to happen? 00:15:10.000 |
How come these things are happening, and when we begin to question that, who are we questioning? 00:15:15.000 |
The only person who has any control over that, and it eventually rises up to God. 00:15:19.000 |
Isaiah 45 verse 9, "Woe to the one who quarrels with his maker, 00:15:24.000 |
and earthenware, vessel among the vessels of earth. 00:15:27.000 |
Will the clay say to the potter, 'What are you doing?' 00:15:31.000 |
Or the thing you are making say, 'He has no hands.'" 00:15:35.000 |
Much of the complaining and murmuring that happens in our heart is ultimately questioning, 00:15:45.000 |
Why did God put that guy in my life, or this person in my life? 00:15:53.000 |
So therefore, we're not asking, we're questioning. 00:15:57.000 |
Sinclair Ferguson, the professor at Westminster Seminary says this, 00:16:01.000 |
"A complaining or arguing spirit is an expression of ingratitude to God's providence." 00:16:09.000 |
Everybody knows how to be happy when God does what we want. 00:16:15.000 |
I want this, I want that, and when he answers my prayer, God is awesome, he's great. 00:16:20.000 |
But when it doesn't fit what we think has to happen, 00:16:24.000 |
he says it's an expression of ingratitude toward God's providence, 00:16:34.000 |
It is working against salvation rather than working salvation into every aspect of our lives. 00:16:41.000 |
Again, we wouldn't normally think of murmuring and asking questions and disputing 00:16:49.000 |
But the Bible says that when we question the providence of God, 00:16:55.000 |
We're asking God, ultimately, to question God. 00:17:01.000 |
Even when God asked Adam, "Why did you do that?" 00:17:04.000 |
He said, "Well, why did you put the woman here?" 00:17:12.000 |
He says we ought not to do anything without grumbling or disputing. 00:17:17.000 |
Because ultimately, that's what identifies as a Christian. 00:17:21.000 |
Forgiving, thankfulness is exactly what you and I have been called to be. 00:17:28.000 |
In verse 15, it says, "So that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, 00:17:33.000 |
children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation 00:17:37.000 |
among whom you appear as lights in the world." 00:17:41.000 |
The Bible describes our rebellion against God as not acknowledging him 00:17:48.000 |
It says in verse 121, "For even though they knew God, 00:17:51.000 |
they did not honor him as God or give thanks. 00:17:56.000 |
But they became futile in their speculations, and foolish heart was darkened. 00:18:01.000 |
And professing to be wise, they became fools, 00:18:03.000 |
exchanging the glory of the incorruptible God and an image in the form of corruptible men 00:18:08.000 |
and of birds and of four-footed animals and crawling creatures." 00:18:11.000 |
You notice here that the downward spiral of mankind's rebellion 00:18:17.000 |
begins by not acknowledging and honoring God or giving thanks. 00:18:24.000 |
They chose to give thanks to the created things rather than the creator. 00:18:29.000 |
You know, oftentimes when the Bible introduces God, 00:18:37.000 |
Usually when God is introduced, He's introduced as our creator. 00:18:41.000 |
So even before we get to the cross, the fact that He created us, 00:18:47.000 |
our natural relationship between the creation and the creator 00:18:50.000 |
is to acknowledge our creator and to give thanks to him. 00:18:53.000 |
Even before we get to the cross, the cross is that that creator that gave us breath, 00:19:02.000 |
you and I are even able to think and have conversation, 00:19:09.000 |
And that creator happens to love us and gave His only begotten son. 00:19:18.000 |
He revealed Himself as the creator has been given to us 00:19:22.000 |
and mankind rather worship the creation rather than the creator. 00:19:31.000 |
Speculation meaning their thinking, in their contemplation. 00:19:35.000 |
Because when an individual has a heart that is murmuring and grumbling and complaining, 00:19:50.000 |
Because of their wrong thinking, their hearts became darkened. 00:19:54.000 |
They professed to be wise but they became fools. 00:19:57.000 |
You ever meet somebody who's constantly murmuring and complaining 00:20:00.000 |
and their primary thing is, "You don't know!" 00:20:03.000 |
"You don't know what I know!" "You don't think the way I think!" 00:20:06.000 |
Well, the Bible says the reason why people don't think the way you think 00:20:09.000 |
may be because in your constant murmuring and grumbling, 00:20:14.000 |
just as the scripture says, it has affected your perspective. 00:20:18.000 |
And your perspective has affected your heart. 00:20:21.000 |
And because your heart was darkened and your speculation had become futile, 00:20:26.000 |
it says you think you're wise because you know something that other people don't know, 00:20:30.000 |
but in reality, you're the one who became a fool. 00:20:33.000 |
And it's that all of this downward spiral came because you refused to acknowledge and give thanks to God. 00:20:40.000 |
If you want to fit into this world, just be a good grumbler. 00:20:48.000 |
Because the world is more united on things that they hate. 00:20:53.000 |
You know, we try to have fellowships like what we love. 00:20:56.000 |
You want to see a tight-knit group who's passionate about something? 00:21:22.000 |
I don't know if you go to water coolers, I don't know if they have that anymore, 00:21:25.000 |
or boba shops, wherever you go to congregate, right? 00:21:29.000 |
If you want to fit in, just tell them everything that's bothering you. 00:21:39.000 |
I mean, just start talking about what's bothering you. 00:21:44.000 |
It's like, "Oh, you too?" "You too?" "You too?" 00:21:48.000 |
And then you have these people who hate this group on one side, 00:21:51.000 |
the other group who hates the other group on the other side, 00:21:53.000 |
and then they hate each other, and you sense fellowship. 00:22:01.000 |
And the way that you're connected is the things that you hate. 00:22:08.000 |
If you want to fit in, keep grumbling, keep complaining. 00:22:11.000 |
Let that be the primary thing that you talk about. 00:22:20.000 |
he calls us to be a light in this dark world. 00:22:23.000 |
Because the world is in rebellion against God, 00:22:26.000 |
constantly grumbling and complaining about God, 00:22:30.000 |
about the world, about politics, about everything. 00:22:36.000 |
because at the root of what it means to be a Christian is to give worship. 00:22:40.000 |
And at the heart of a person who worships is a thankful heart. 00:22:44.000 |
In Matthew 5, 14-16, "You are the light of the world. 00:22:51.000 |
Nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, 00:22:55.000 |
and it gives light to all who are in the house. 00:22:57.000 |
Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works 00:23:06.000 |
God said we are the light, and the purpose of why he put us to light 00:23:09.000 |
is so that in darkness he may put us on a pedestal and say, 00:23:12.000 |
"That's what God intended, to give glory to God." 00:23:14.000 |
Imagine if we were the light and we sat on the table, 00:23:17.000 |
and the whole time we're talking about is, "Those guys suck! 00:23:21.000 |
They suck, and those people suck, and those people suck too! 00:23:25.000 |
And then they suck, and they suck, and then what about these guys? 00:23:28.000 |
These guys suck, and they suck too! Believe Jesus with me!" 00:23:35.000 |
He says we were made to be the light to give glory to God, 00:23:41.000 |
to declare his glory and who he is and what he has done. 00:23:45.000 |
And that's why he says as Christians, as a light, 00:23:50.000 |
our primary thing that we are to declare to the world is of who he is, 00:23:59.000 |
2 Corinthians 4.15, "For all things are for your sake, 00:24:03.000 |
so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people 00:24:05.000 |
may cause the giving thanks to abound for the glory of God." 00:24:09.000 |
Look what Paul says. Paul says the gospel is continuing to go out. 00:24:13.000 |
More people are converting. For what purpose? 00:24:15.000 |
"So that more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God." 00:24:22.000 |
So he describes conversion as people who were not thankful to be thankful, 00:24:28.000 |
to have thanksgiving in their heart to give glory to God. 00:24:31.000 |
If you have a murmuring heart, we're not saying that we should never ask questions, 00:24:36.000 |
that we should never have disagreements. That's not what he's saying. 00:24:39.000 |
He's talking about a spirit of constantly murmuring. 00:24:45.000 |
That's the sound. That's the secret sound of a complainer. 00:24:50.000 |
Because that's what I hear behind this thing. 00:24:58.000 |
I'll give you an announcement and I can look it in your faces. 00:25:01.000 |
Some of you guys are, "Huh? What's going on?" 00:25:06.000 |
I see it. I may be wrong, but there's constant murmuring. 00:25:14.000 |
And he says as Christians, our core being of who we are is to give thanks. 00:25:19.000 |
You cannot give thanks. You cannot spend all week just murmuring, complaining, 00:25:24.000 |
talking about what's wrong and then come into worship and say, "You're so good, God." 00:25:30.000 |
You may be saying that, but internally you're saying, "What's wrong with them?" 00:25:35.000 |
That's actually what's going on in your head and your heart. 00:25:42.000 |
At the core of who we are, people who refuse to acknowledge God and give thanks, 00:25:47.000 |
that he made us worshipers of God because he fills our hearts with no other response, 00:25:53.000 |
no other logical response than to give our lives as a living sacrifice. 00:26:02.000 |
But he also said, "If I just said, 'Stop it,' we'd all leave kind of frustrated." 00:26:12.000 |
If our natural instinct is to grumble, right? 00:26:16.000 |
I gave you a short list of things that I was struggling with this week. 00:26:20.000 |
I could probably fill that page with about three or four pages of problems, right? 00:26:29.000 |
If you guys have Thanksgiving dinner, you might sit around and talk about, 00:26:36.000 |
And you have to really--not just this rote answer, "I'm thankful for my parents." 00:26:41.000 |
I'm thankful for what you're really thankful for. 00:26:44.000 |
You kind of have to take some time to actually think through. 00:26:59.000 |
But then to actually practice that, starting from lunch, 00:27:06.000 |
Until next Thanksgiving, you say, "Hey, stop it!" 00:27:17.000 |
"Holding fast so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory 00:27:20.000 |
because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain." 00:27:23.000 |
What does it mean to hold fast the word of life? 00:27:25.000 |
If he doesn't want us to grumble and complain, 00:27:30.000 |
And the remedy for that is to hold fast the word of life. 00:27:33.000 |
1 Corinthians 15, 1-3, "Now I make known to you, brethren, 00:27:36.000 |
the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, 00:27:44.000 |
the gospel is the reason why you're able to stand and be sanctified. 00:27:48.000 |
"By which you also are saved, if you hold fast the word 00:27:51.000 |
which I preached to you, that you don't drift from that, 00:27:58.000 |
For I delivered to you as of first importance 00:28:00.000 |
what I also received, that Christ died for our sins 00:28:04.000 |
So what he is saying is to hold fast to the gospel 00:28:12.000 |
I was justified, and tell me something more deep." 00:28:19.000 |
Jesus, very last activity that he had before he went to pray with them, 00:28:26.000 |
And in different places they have different words. 00:28:29.000 |
You have the Lord's table, you have the sacrament, 00:28:33.000 |
But one of the words that is used for the Lord's table is "Eucharist." 00:28:39.000 |
The Eucharist is literally the word in Greek, "Euchariste," 00:28:46.000 |
So part of the core meaning of the communion table 00:28:50.000 |
is to come and when we receive the elements, to give thanks. 00:28:55.000 |
And that's exactly what Paul is trying to get at. 00:28:58.000 |
The reason why there is constant murmuring and questioning 00:29:02.000 |
is that we have drifted away from a thankful heart for what God has done. 00:29:07.000 |
And so we tend to focus on what is not going right, 00:29:11.000 |
and we rarely talk about thankfulness of God. 00:29:14.000 |
So when you examine your life and your speech, 00:29:17.000 |
how often are you genuinely thankful for your salvation and what God has done? 00:29:25.000 |
we talk about it in a certain given time of fellowship 00:29:29.000 |
when you have questions that you have to ask, 00:29:31.000 |
but how often when you look at your conversation 00:29:34.000 |
are you actually responding to the grace of God? 00:29:38.000 |
"Man, I don't deserve this grace. God is so good to me." 00:29:42.000 |
How much of your conversation is that and how much of it is like, 00:29:44.000 |
"Yeah, yeah, God is so good. He's so awesome. 00:29:46.000 |
But man, what is wrong with this? What is wrong with that?" 00:29:54.000 |
In fact, our whole study of the book of Hebrews, 00:30:00.000 |
he keeps saying over and over again, "Hold fast, hold fast, hold fast, hold fast 00:30:08.000 |
Don't make it just a verse that you memorize. 00:30:11.000 |
Don't make it just a doctrinal statement that you believe. 00:30:16.000 |
May it affect your heart, may it affect your speech, 00:30:26.000 |
You know, at the core, when we say, "Hold fast to the gospel 00:30:33.000 |
first, why it deals with our grumbling is, first and foremost, 00:30:37.000 |
holding on to the gospel, holding fast to the gospel 00:30:41.000 |
causes us to remember that we have absolute, eternal security. 00:30:46.000 |
No genuine Christian is constantly living in nervousness. 00:30:50.000 |
"Am I going to make it? Am I not going to make it?" 00:30:54.000 |
like, eternal bliss versus eternal damnation, eternal. 00:30:57.000 |
Hell and fire versus euphoria, you know, forever. 00:31:08.000 |
versus winning the biggest lottery and you're living day to day, 00:31:12.000 |
like, "Oh, am I going to get this or am I going to go to..." 00:31:14.000 |
He says, "No, the gospel teaches us that we have absolute security in Christ 00:31:18.000 |
because we did not earn it, we cannot lose it." 00:31:21.000 |
So holding fast to the gospel that we profess, 00:31:25.000 |
it gives us a solid ground that can never be shaken. 00:31:33.000 |
We celebrate the eternal security that we have in Christ. 00:31:36.000 |
So holding on to the gospel message that we profess 00:31:40.000 |
gives us the foundation that we need to build this house. 00:31:46.000 |
that no matter what happens, he works all things together 00:31:49.000 |
for those who have been called according to his purpose. 00:31:52.000 |
So he orchestrated everything to get us here, 00:31:56.000 |
and he's also orchestrating everything to make us make sure 00:32:01.000 |
will carry it on to completion in his sovereign hands. 00:32:04.000 |
That no matter what may be happening in your life, 00:32:07.000 |
no matter what may have happened, no matter how tragic, 00:32:09.000 |
no matter how confusing it is, why he is doing what he is doing, 00:32:16.000 |
He who did not spare his own son, how will he not along with him give all things? 00:32:22.000 |
If he loved you enough, if this sovereign God loved you enough 00:32:26.000 |
to give his only begotten son, why would he spare what you need? 00:32:31.000 |
Why wouldn't he protect you from what harms you? 00:32:34.000 |
Why would he allow these things to happen if he gave the most and most precious thing? 00:32:43.000 |
that despite whatever may be happening in our life, 00:32:46.000 |
God is completely sovereign, and we trust him. 00:32:49.000 |
And third and finally, the word of truth, the gospel, 00:32:53.000 |
reminds us of the reward that's coming in Christ. 00:32:57.000 |
That ultimately the gift is not what is external. 00:33:03.000 |
You know, very thankful for the families who are adopting children. 00:33:08.000 |
Obviously before they're adopted, they're in foster care, 00:33:11.000 |
and you have people who are temporarily taking care of them, 00:33:13.000 |
and then when they come to the United States or wherever they're coming from, 00:33:20.000 |
You know, nice home, you have loving parents, you have living in Orange County, 00:33:24.000 |
get to come to church and be loved by community, I mean, it's so much better. 00:33:32.000 |
they may look at the external circumstance and the food that they have 00:33:38.000 |
But at some point in their maturity, they're going to realize 00:33:40.000 |
that the real gift that they have is the parents who love them. 00:33:44.000 |
And the reason why they have everything they have 00:33:46.000 |
is because they were adopted by these loving parents. 00:33:50.000 |
And that the Scripture says that the gift of the gospel is not the external things. 00:33:55.000 |
Sometimes we may have it, sometimes we may not have it. 00:33:58.000 |
But ultimately, the ultimate gift is Christ himself. 00:34:02.000 |
And that's why he means when Paul says in Philippians 3, 8, 00:34:05.000 |
"In view of the surpassing knowledge of knowing Jesus Christ," 00:34:09.000 |
everything else became rubbish in comparison. 00:34:17.000 |
and it affects our heart, and it affects our thinking, 00:34:31.000 |
And so that's what he means by constantly holding fast. 00:34:40.000 |
And that's why we sing these songs. That's why we gather together. 00:34:42.000 |
If you have a room full of murmuring people, stay away. 00:34:48.000 |
People always say, "Oh, we're not united. We should have more activities to get people united." 00:34:53.000 |
If you have a room full of complaining people, oh my gosh. 00:35:00.000 |
Just because you get a lot of people together doesn't mean there's going to be unity. 00:35:05.000 |
You got a lot of people who are discontent with murmuring, complaining, and questioning, 00:35:10.000 |
and you think somehow all of a sudden you're going to go there and things are going to change. 00:35:17.000 |
A murmuring, complaining spirit tends to spread. 00:35:20.000 |
And that's why the Bible says to deal with divisive people, 00:35:27.000 |
But if you have a room full of people worshiping God, 00:35:31.000 |
thankful in their heart, have you ever had a fellowship, 00:35:34.000 |
whether it's four people or five people, they're just happy to be there. 00:35:39.000 |
You may have had a bad day, all of a sudden you show up and you just forget. 00:35:43.000 |
And you're like, "Oh, wow, that's right. Things are good." 00:35:47.000 |
And a fellowship of the church is meant to be a gathering of people who've been affected by the truth, 00:35:54.000 |
So it's kind of like coming to a chiropractor. 00:35:57.000 |
Any of you who've had a bad back or something, you go to a chiropractor, 00:36:03.000 |
And you're like, "Oh my gosh, that feels so good." 00:36:06.000 |
And then you're able to walk, the pain goes away, and it just felt so good. 00:36:09.000 |
See, the gathering of the believers in the corporate body is kind of like a chiropractor. 00:36:16.000 |
Because our natural tendency as we walk on this earth is like, 00:36:19.000 |
"Oh my gosh, that guy flipped me off again. Salad for lunch? Come on. 00:36:26.000 |
And then we gather together to worship, "Click, click, click." 00:36:35.000 |
I don't understand what's going on, but he is sovereign. 00:36:41.000 |
That's what the corporate gathering was meant to be. 00:36:44.000 |
To recalibrate, constantly recalibrate, and to give thanks to God. 00:36:54.000 |
But fourth and finally, he says, "We need to learn to be thankful." 00:36:57.000 |
That's not something that we just turn on and off. 00:37:00.000 |
Verse 17, "But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering," 00:37:06.000 |
The book of Philippians is oftentimes titled as the book of rejoicing, 00:37:12.000 |
Paul is writing this sitting in prison, chained to a Roman guard. 00:37:19.000 |
And he's writing to the people who are sitting on the outside, 00:37:25.000 |
When he says, "I'm being poured out as a drink offering," 00:37:28.000 |
drink offering in the Old Testament was kind of like a benediction. 00:37:32.000 |
You gave all your burnt offerings or thank offering and guilt offering. 00:37:37.000 |
And at the very end, they would give a pour-out offering, right? 00:37:43.000 |
Drink offering was kind of like a benediction. 00:37:47.000 |
So what Paul means by, "I am being poured out as a drink offering," 00:37:52.000 |
He's sitting in prison, and I could possibly die. 00:37:55.000 |
But he says, "Even though I'm being poured out as a drink offering, 00:37:58.000 |
upon the sacrifice and service of your faith." 00:38:05.000 |
and he was quietly trying to take care of his family. 00:38:07.000 |
He said, "No, he was risking his life to go to these dangerous places 00:38:15.000 |
And in the end, he actually gets beheaded, and he dies. 00:38:20.000 |
"Even though I'm being poured out as a drink offering for the sake of your faith, 00:38:28.000 |
You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me." 00:38:38.000 |
I mean, I don't know how many times in the years that I've been in ministry, 00:39:03.000 |
Esther knows, because I usually grumble to her. 00:39:22.000 |
I understand why an angry God who is almighty and powerful, who is holy, 00:39:26.000 |
would wipe us out and punish us for our sins. 00:39:30.000 |
I don't understand why a holy God who doesn't need us 00:39:35.000 |
with the constant grumbling and complaining that we do 00:39:53.000 |
I don't know how God is patient with the world for this long. 00:40:02.000 |
I'm going to die for your faith, but he says, "I rejoice." 00:40:12.000 |
In 1 Thessalonians 5.18, he says, "In everything, give thanks, 00:40:19.000 |
Hey, Pastor Peter, you don't know my situation. 00:40:23.000 |
You don't know the kind of stuff that I've seen. 00:40:37.000 |
So when he says, "Give thanks for everything," he means everything. 00:40:47.000 |
Not just for the things that's going to lead to something better. 00:40:53.000 |
Because our salvation is secure, our God is sovereign, 00:41:02.000 |
Philippians 4.11-13, he says, "Not that I speak from want, 00:41:06.000 |
for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am in." 00:41:21.000 |
Holy Spirit is speaking to him, explaining the gospel to him. 00:41:24.000 |
And he's explaining to the rest of the world, writing the New Testament, 00:41:27.000 |
about the grace of God, the mercy of God, the love of God. 00:41:31.000 |
I mean, this is a guy who was stoned in Lystra, 00:41:43.000 |
At least, I don't, you know, we hear stories about it. 00:41:46.000 |
But this guy literally was stoned and walked back in. 00:42:05.000 |
We hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, and we convert it. 00:42:10.000 |
We saw the glory of what that is, and we believe, and we convert it. 00:42:15.000 |
And then for whatever the reason, we want to be more sophisticated, 00:42:18.000 |
and then we want to learn systematic theology, 00:42:21.000 |
we want to learn all this stuff. It's like, "Oh, those were young Christians." 00:42:24.000 |
You know, you haven't been a Christian as long as I have. 00:42:27.000 |
You haven't read as much as I have. You haven't experienced as much as I have. 00:42:30.000 |
But the most mature Christian is the one who is the most 00:42:39.000 |
So I'm not saying that none of that is necessary. 00:42:42.000 |
The more we learn about Christ, the more we should be affected. 00:42:51.000 |
You can have a PhD, and you can bear a lot of fruit, 00:43:01.000 |
We're opening up our mouth, we're singing the songs, we're attending Bible study, 00:43:07.000 |
Because worship is something that happens when we're genuinely thankful, 00:43:13.000 |
And it's encouraging to me to hear that Apostle Paul had to learn this. 00:43:19.000 |
in every and all situations, where Christ became more valuable 00:43:28.000 |
where we have a tendency to have him be so precious 00:43:37.000 |
He learned. So we also need to learn to be content. 00:43:43.000 |
but every day. To learn to be true worshipers 00:43:46.000 |
in spirit and in truth. So let me finish with this one story 00:43:49.000 |
that's always a reminder to me of encouragement. 00:43:52.000 |
You know, yesterday we had Ryan and Mel's wedding. 00:43:55.000 |
Cindy and Alex also got married in the valley. 00:43:58.000 |
Ryan and Mel, you know, I was intimately involved with that. 00:44:04.000 |
and some of you guys who know the story, because of the COVID situation, 00:44:07.000 |
was not able to have their wedding where they originally planned. 00:44:13.000 |
like 3 a.m., they were scrambling, "What are we going to do? What are we going to do?" 00:44:16.000 |
I said, "Well, at least maybe just have it at church, you know, 00:44:22.000 |
they were putting things together, and so we just kind of 00:44:28.000 |
guests to come and to visit. And so a lot of us were able to come and see them 00:44:31.000 |
and participate in all of that. And obviously, 00:44:34.000 |
I've known Mel since she was a freshman in college. 00:44:40.000 |
So, you know, we're kind of burdened, because I wanted them to have a good wedding. 00:44:43.000 |
I don't want the wedding to be something that they're going to look back years later 00:44:46.000 |
and say, "Oh my gosh, this COVID ruined our wedding." 00:44:52.000 |
members in our church who are going through that, 00:44:58.000 |
But those of you guys who participated, I mean, it went well. 00:45:04.000 |
And I really feel, and I think they would agree, that it was an answered 00:45:10.000 |
from the wedding actually benefited from what happened. 00:45:13.000 |
Again, I'm not going to go into the details of that. 00:45:19.000 |
But you know, one of the weddings that I always remember, 00:45:22.000 |
years ago, there was a couple in our church who was getting married. 00:45:28.000 |
You know, we're doing counseling, you have two parents 00:45:31.000 |
who were going back and forth of what they wanted, 00:45:34.000 |
what venue they wanted, and they didn't really seem to care, 00:45:37.000 |
but it was the two parents, you know, like they have a lot of opinions 00:45:40.000 |
going back and forth, and they were deciding to do it at this one venue, 00:45:43.000 |
and at the very last minute, they said, "Oh, they didn't like it." 00:45:46.000 |
And so they had to change. So it's like, "Okay, okay, we'll just do whatever you want." 00:45:49.000 |
And so the dad, the groom, said, "You're going to have it at our church, 00:45:55.000 |
Their outside courtyard is uglier than ours." You know what I mean? 00:45:58.000 |
And so that's where they're going to have the reception. 00:46:01.000 |
We're going to have to, "Okay, let's just do it." And so they changed it in the last minute. 00:46:07.000 |
just decided on his own to invite the whole church. 00:46:13.000 |
and it must have been like 400 or 500 people who showed up. 00:46:16.000 |
So some of you guys know what I'm talking about. 00:46:19.000 |
And so by the time we finished and went out, the real guest didn't have food to eat afterwards, 00:46:22.000 |
because after we took the pictures, the church people came out, 00:46:25.000 |
and they just happened to have an event that Saturday at church, 00:46:28.000 |
so anybody who was there ended up eating all the wedding food. 00:46:31.000 |
On top of that, right before they went into the wedding, 00:46:34.000 |
the people were supposed to set up a little platform and a cover, 00:46:40.000 |
The people who hired just brought it and just dumped it on the ground and said, 00:46:43.000 |
"If you want to set it up, it's going to cost you $500." 00:46:46.000 |
So they were blackmailing them. So they said, "Well, you didn't pay for the setup. 00:46:55.000 |
and obviously it's like, "Oh my gosh." And I was upset for them. 00:46:58.000 |
And so what are we going to do? So he basically got blackmailed, 00:47:04.000 |
And right before the wedding started, one of the moms came up to me and said, 00:47:10.000 |
And so I said, "I can speak Korean, but not to that extent 00:47:13.000 |
where I can just impromptu give a message in Korean. 00:47:19.000 |
So I went, and I just kind of fumbled through this and that. 00:47:22.000 |
I tried to translate what I was saying back and forth. 00:47:25.000 |
And I was saying, "Oh my gosh, this is horrible," from the beginning to the very end. 00:47:40.000 |
I'm like, "Your wedding day? Did you forget?" 00:47:43.000 |
I wanted to sit down, "Did you forget what happened at your wedding?" 00:47:49.000 |
It was difficult." I said, "So why do you say that was your happiest day?" 00:47:52.000 |
He says, "Because I got to marry my best friend." 00:48:07.000 |
But he said it was the happiest day of his life. 00:48:22.000 |
that becomes the primary thing, and the actual marriage becomes a side issue. 00:48:34.000 |
about our children, about our plans, our goals. 00:48:40.000 |
and then it just sucks us dry in our worship. 00:48:46.000 |
and we're neglecting what's at the core of why he saved us, 00:48:58.000 |
for what the church was meant to be, to worship. 00:49:07.000 |
we'll give plenty of attention to Christmas after Black Friday, 00:49:37.000 |
worst possible case that you and I can think of right now, 00:49:49.000 |
But even in the worst case scenario for a Christian, 00:49:58.000 |
that's the worst case scenario for a Christian. 00:50:01.000 |
So I pray that that reminder would cause us to worship him 00:50:34.000 |
I pray, Lord God, that in this thanksgiving season, 00:50:37.000 |
as the world begins to marginalize it more and more, 00:50:58.000 |
So we pray for your grace, we pray for your blessing. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.