Giving Thanks

ILLUSTRATION

A city missionary in London was called to an old tenement (multioccupancy) building. A lady was dying and in the last stages of disease. The room was tiny and cold, and the woman was lying on the floor. This missionary tried to help this lady and asked if there was anything she wanted, and this is what she said, “I have all I really need. I have Jesus Christ.”

Well, the man never forgot it, and he went out of there and he wrote these words: “In the heart of London City mid the dwellings of the poor, these bright golden words were uttered, ‘I have Christ, what want I more?’ Spoken by a lonely woman dying on a garret floor, having not one earthly comfort, ‘I have Christ, what want I more?’ He who heard them ran to fetch her something from the world’s great store, it was needless, died she, saying, ‘I have Christ, what want I more?’

God loves when people give thanks. Dear friends, can you say with deep thanksgiving, ‘I have Christ, what want I more?’

INTRODUCTION

One of the dangers of Christianity is to take the blessings of God for granted. If the stars come out only once a year, everybody would stay up all night to see them. We see the stars so often that we don’t bother to look at them anymore. I fear sometimes Christians have gotten accustomed to our blessings that we do not give thanks to God for them. Do you know that all of the feasts and festivals of Israel were set for thanksgiving? Well, today is the thanksgiving service for this year.

In the book King Lear Shakespeare wrote, “How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child.” “Ingratitude, thou marble-hearted fiend (demon).” Even Shakespeare recognized what it is to have ingratitude.

Ephesians 5:18-20 ¹⁸Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, ²⁰always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Here, apostle Paul is telling the quality of a Spirit-filled person. A spirit-filled person’s heart is filled with song, and it bursts out of him. Then a spirit-filled person turns toward God, and he says thanks. One of the aspects of worship to God is to be thankful. Giving thanks able to say in the midst of anything, good or even difficult, “God be praised, God be praised.”

When are We to Be Thankful? Always

Ephesians 5:20 …always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

When are we to be thankful then? Always. You say, “Pastor, you don’t know my problem.” Giving thanks in the midst of our problems recognizes that God is in control of your life and that God is trying to conform you to the image of Christ with all the things that occur.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

If you don’t know what God’s will is, then give thanks. This is the will of God.

Ephesians 5:17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

So, what is the will of God?

Ephesians 5:20 …always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

When God brings difficulties into our lives, when God brings trials into our lives and we gripe and complain and we don’t understand the meaning of James 1 which says: James 1:2-4 ²Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Therefore, thank God even when you are facing a trial because the trials have come to perfect us.

Three Categories of Thankful People

1. Thank God After the Blessing

They are the people who are thankful after the blessings. This is very easy. After God has just blessed you, you’re thankful.

Example

I was ill and the Lord healed my body. I’m so thankful. I did not have a job and God gave me a job. Therefore, I am thankful for the job he has given me. It is always good to thank God after a blessing.

Such thanksgiving is biblical. Look at Exodus chapter 14. The children of Israel have come to the Red Sea. Pharaoh is chasing them from behind and Moses lifts up his staff and the Red Sea part and they walk across. He says, “Well, if they can do it, we can do it.”. So, he marched the entire Egyptian army into the dried Red Sea road and the walls closed down and drowned them all. Therefore, they started singing to the Lord as their salvation.

Exodus 15:1-3 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: ¹“I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea. ²“The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. ³ The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name.

Exodus 15:11 Who among the God’s is like you, Lord? Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?

Exodus 15:18 “The Lord reigns for ever and ever.”

Then Miriam took the tambourine and sang: Exodus 15:21 “Sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea.”

This is thanks after the blessing.

In Revelation 15 when Jesus comes and defeats his enemies the redeemed of the world sang: Revelation 15:3-4 ^…and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb: “Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the nations.  ⁴Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous Acts have been revealed.”

They sing after the victory is won.

Friends, we need to give thanks for what God has done in our lives. There are always some victories won by God in our lives. God has given us victory over some wars in 2019. There is always something which God has done. We ought to say thanks after the blessings.

2. Thank God Before the Battle

This is the ability to give thanks even before the battle begins for the victory that is going to come. Now, this is where the people of faith come in. These are the people saying, “Lord I see a problem coming. I’m going to believe You for victory.”

Jesus stands by the tomb of Lazarus. Everybody around Him is crying. They’re all weeping. He says, “Remove that stone.” John 11:41-46 ⁴¹So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴²I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” ⁴³When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Now, that’s faith. That’s the ability to say thanks before the thing really even unfolds. Are you one of those people who says thanks in advance? You see something coming and you can believe God for the victory before it even arrives? 2020 is coming soon, can you give thanks to God for 2020?

In 2 Chronicles 20, God’s people, Judah, are about to have a war with a couple of real strong enemies: The Moabites, the Ammonites and the Meunites. See how Jehoshaphat overcame a battle that was ahead of him.

Jehoshaphat’s Secret

a. Prayer

Jehoshaphat is a faithful man of prayer. So, he goes to the Lord and tells the Lord all about it.

2 Chronicles 20:6-9 ⁶ “Lord, the God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. ⁷Our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? ⁸They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying, ⁹‘If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’

After prayer Jehoshaphat decided it is time to worship God.

b. Worship

2 Chronicles 20:18-19 ¹⁸Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord. ¹⁹Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.

When Jehoshaphat finished with his prayer and worship, he decided it’s time to thank the Lord.

c. Thanksgiving

2 Chronicles 20:21 After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: “Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.”

Somebody might have said, “Well, you’re pretty presumptuous Jehoshaphat, because we haven’t had the battle yet. You’re going to praise the Lord first?”

See what Jehoshaphat said: 2 Chronicles 20:20 Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld……. He said, “We’re going to believe God for a victory we haven’t even seen.”

As they began to sing, the Lord confused the enemy, and they began to fight. 1 Chronicles 20:24-25 ²⁴When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped. ²⁵So Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothing and also articles of value—more than they could take away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it.

God had promised them the spoil of the land, so it was theirs by right. They didn’t even have to fight the war. They believed God and they gave thanks to God before the battle even started and the victory was theirs.

God wants your thanksgiving before the battle even begins.

Remember after the blessing, thanksgiving is easy. Before the battle, thanksgiving is harder. But the hardest of all is:

3. Thank God in the Midst of the Battle

That’s tough. You can give thanks after the blessings and you give thanks in anticipation of the victory, but can you give thanks it right in the middle of your battle?

In the book of Daniel, The king set out a decree that nobody else should be worshiped or prayed to but him. This did not bother Daniel.

Daniel 6:10 Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

Daniel 6:11 Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help.

Daniel 6:16 So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den.

They took him and threw him in the lion’s den, but that was all right. He was going to give thanks to God in the midst of the trouble.

Do you remember Jonah? He was asked to go to Nineveh, but he took the ship for Tarshish. God sent a big storm and the people in the ship threw Jonah into the sea. A great fish came and swallowed Jonah up. Jonah is awake floating around in there. And then in the belly of the fish Jonah starts to pray.

Jonah 2:7 “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.

Jonah 2:9 But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’”

“I, with shouts of grateful praise.” Jonah is thanking the Lord here. God liked that thanksgiving and prayer so much that he commanded the fish to vomit Jonah to dry ground.

In Acts 5 the early church is being terribly persecuted. Acts 5:40-41 ⁴⁰His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. ⁴¹The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.

They were thankful right in the middle of the beatings.

Come to Acts 16. Paul and Silas are in prison and their feet are stretched as far as they could be and locked in stocks. They are in unbelievable pain and what are they doing? Acts 16:25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Singing thanks and praise to God.

You come to Philippians chapter one; Paul is going through difficulty. He is a prisoner. He is about to be executed and his heart is just filled with thanksgiving.

Giving Thanks When It Takes Faith

ILLUSTRATION

In the late 1800’s George Mueller operated an orphanage that at one time had 1,000 orphans. One morning there was no food to eat, but he called all the children and staff together and prayed thanking God for the provision of food, even though no food was on the table. A few moments later a baker knocked on the door. He told Mr. Muller that God had led him to bake bread the night before and give it to the orphanage. Before the bread was given to the children, a milkman knocked on the door. He said that his milk truck had broken down and he wanted to give the milk to the orphanage. George Muller gave thanks, even when it took faith to do so.

ILLUSTRATION

Joni Eareckson who was paralyzed after an accident said in her book, “Giving thanks is not a matter of feeling thankful; it’s a matter of obedience.”

So, when do you give thanks? Always

For what do you give thanks? For all things

Ephesians 5:20 …always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

How do we give thanks? In Christ’s name

Ephesians 5:20 …always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our greatest example for thanksgiving: Jesus Christ

Jesus was thankful to God.

John 6:11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

John 11:41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. He was thankful all through His life.

He who had everything in glory came to this earth and humbled Himself, became a servant, was spit on and scorned and despised and rejected and crucified, and He didn’t deserve any of it and yet He was thankful.

ILLUSTRATION

According to a medieval legend, two angels were sent to earth. One had the task from the Lord of gathering together all the petitions and the other had the task of gathering the thanksgiving. The angel who went to gather the petitions couldn’t carry the load back. The angel that went to get the thanksgivings came back with a few in his hand. Well, this is a legend, but I think sometimes that is a reality.

When do we give thanks? Always

For what do we give thanks? All things

How do we give thanks? In Christ’s name

To whom do we give thanks? God the Father

Ephesians 5:20 …always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God is the father from whom every good and perfect gift descends. Everything comes from Him.

Listen, if you’re filled with the Spirit, toward yourself, you’ll sing; toward God, you’ll say thanks.

Attitude of People Towards Thanksgiving

In closing, you have three possible ways to respond. There are three kinds of people when it comes to thanksgiving. Let us look to the gospel of Luke to see them.

a. People Who Never Give Thanks

See the number of times ‘I’ id mentioned in this passage. Luke 12:16-21 ¹⁶And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. ¹⁷He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ ¹⁸“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. ¹⁹And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ²⁰“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ ²¹“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

Six times he says “I.” He didn’t think he owed God anything because he didn’t think God was the source of anything. He thought he did it all by himself. Look what I’ve done, I’ll spend the rest of my life consuming my own accomplishment.

These are people who aren’t thankful for anything. They just think they did it, they earned their own fortune, they made their own way in life.

b. People Who Give Thanks But Are Hypocritical

Luke 18:10-14 ¹⁰“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹²I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ ¹³“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ ¹⁴“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

c. A Few Who Genuinely Give Thanks

Luke 17:11-19 ¹¹Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. ¹²As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance ¹³and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” ¹⁴When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. ¹⁵One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. ¹⁶He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

That’s true thanks. The rest got what they wanted, and what they wanted was their needs fulfilled. Some of us are satisfied to get what we want, and we don’t even think about Christ. Only a few truly give thanks.