SERMON GMT14-021
SERIES: Topical Messages:
Thanksgiving
SETTING: North Kelso Baptist Church
SERVICE: Sunday AM
SUBTITLE: The Duty of Thanksgiving
SCRIPTURE: 1 Thessalonians 5:18
SUBJECT: God demands thanksgiving
SUMMARY: God demands all believers to give thanks!
SCHEME: that believers live a life of thanksgiving
_____________________________________________________________
Our theme is: God demands thanksgiving
This
is a good reminder for us all that our Christian experience regardless of
circumstances is to be a life committed to the giving of thanks.
Proposition: God
demands all believers to give thanks!
Interrogatory Sentence: What is involved in
thanksgiving?
Transitional Sentence: Today
I want you to see the duty that God places on every genuine believer. God
commands all believers to give thanks. As we develop our theme today, we will
clearly see the will of God.
God’s
will is seen in:
1A THE DEFINING THE SUBJECT OF THANKSGIVING
2A THE DISCOVERING THE SOURCE OF THANKSGIVING
3A THE DETERMINING OF THE SCOPE OF
THANKSGIVING
4A THE DECLARING THE STATEMENT OF THANKSGIVING
CHRISTIAN LIVING IN A WORLD OF
CHAOS &
CONTRADICTION
The Duty of
Thanksgiving
1 Thessalonians
5:18
INTRODUCTION
1. Introductory Device
Thankfulness seems to be a lost art today. Warren Wiersby highlighted
this
problem in his commentary on Colossians. He told about a pastoral student in Evanston, Illinois,
who was part of a life-saving squad. In
1860, a ship went aground on the shore of Lake Michigan near Evanston, and Edward Spencer waded again
and again into the frigid waters
to rescue 17 passengers. In the process, his health was permanently damaged. Some years later at his funeral, it was noted
that not one of the people he rescued
ever thanked him.
Jesus faced this same attitude of thanklessness in his
ministry on this earth. He was on his
way to Jerusalem and when he came into a village,
he was met by 10 men who had leprosy. Jesus healed all ten. They left presumably to go show themselves
the priests in order to follow
the Law of Moses so that they could be declared healed. Sadly, only one of the ten men turned around
and came back and said “thank you.”
2. This is very similar to our Christian experience
today. Many times we do things, or give things, or help people out and rarely
do these people whom we helped say thanks. Of course we should not do anything
for anyone if we feel or think we need to be thanked.
3. The theme of our passage today is that God demands thanksgiving.
This is a good reminder for us all that our Christian experience
regardless of circumstances is to be a life committed to the giving of thanks
to God through the Lord Jesus Christ.
(Proposition) God demands that all genuine believers give thanks!
Interrogatory Sentence: What is involved in this
command?
Transitional Sentence: Today I want you to see the
duty that God places on every
genuine believer. God commands all believers to give thanks. As we develop our theme today, we will clearly see that
this is the will of God.
God’s will is seen:
1A AS WE DEFINE THE SUBJECT OF THANKSGIVING
So, first of all we need to define
thanksgiving. Our first step is to determine
the meaning of this word in its biblical context. To do this we will conduct a short word study.
[The
first step in doing a word study is to…]
1B Select the word to be studied.
The English word “give
thanks” in 1 Thessalonians 5:18.
“…in everything give thanks…”
2B Compare this word in multiple English
translations.
We do this in order to see
how different scholars and translators translated the Greek text with the
English word that most clearly convey the meaning of the Word
that we are interested in.
In our case, or in our word
choice, all the most prevalent or popular translations stayed with the
same translation that is in the
NKJV.
The Geneva Bible, the NASB,
The KJV, the ESV, the NRSV, the NIV, the NEB all translated the
Greek Word as “give thanks.” The only variation was in the
NLT which dynamically rather than literally translated our
word as “always be thankful.” So
there no surprises, no differences, and no interpretative challenges.
So, assuming the translators
were accurate, we can conclude that
God’s will for genuine believers is to “give thanks” in everything, or in all circumstances of life.
3B Define the English word using an English
dictionary
Webster’s 7th New
Collegiate Dictionary (1969) defines thanks as:
·
Consciousness of benefit received
·
Expressive of thanks
·
Well pleased; as in the sense of being glad
·
Listed a synonym of “grateful”
The English equivalent means
to express an awareness of having received benefit resulting in
gratefulness.
4B Use an Exhaustive Concordance to locate
other usages of the
word choice by the author of the passage at hand
In other words, does Paul use
this word anywhere else in his writings that can help us determine
its meaning by its context.
Paul used this word two other times in the letter
he wrote to the Thessalonians. However, he did use
this word some 23 other times.
5B Define the word in its original language
Our word is the Greek word euxaristew. It is a verb and it is used
26 times in the NT.
Thayer’s Greek Lexicon defines it as “to be
grateful, full of thanks, to give thanks.
·
It is typical of
giving thanks @ the beginning of a festival meal or in general before eating
any meal. I discovered, which I very interesting, that when the Jews gave
thanks at their meal, they actually gave thanks for every item of food on their
plate, individually. By the way, this way you have Paul relating instructions
that include giving thanks twice involving the Lord’s Supper – thanks for the
bread and thanks for the Wine.
·
It means the
giving of thanks in the name of the Lord. It carries the idea that no petition
or prayer is to be made without the simultaneous
giving of thanks. In other words, we don’t come to the Lord with a list of
“gimmees” and not offer any thanksgiving at all for anything.
·
It is defined as
a life that is based on thanksgiving
·
Giving of thanks
begins with “Blessed are thou Lord.”
Paul’s emphasis is on the fact that we
give thanks which is rightfully due to the
Creator, our Creator. Why?
Because we owe God everything!
The prayer of thanksgiving is reserved
for God. I found that to be interesting. It
seems to be inappropriate to give thanks directly to God or the HS.
Christ is the mediator but
not the recipient. All things come to us by God because of Jesus Christ
through the HS.
For example: if we wanted to
offer thanksgiving for our salvation, we prayed like this: Father, God, I thank
you O my God for my salvation which you gave me by the atoning work of Jesus
Christ which was applied to my soul by the HS.
The
emphasis is that all things come to us from God. God is the
source. He is the giver. This is why is such a great sin to be unthankful, ungrateful,
and to complain or murmur.
Complaining suggests that we believe that God has
made a mistake or isn’t taking care of us properly.
This makes
the giving of thanks very serious!
6B Trace the origin of the word being studied
If you the tools you can trace the historical
development of your word. You see where it came from, if
it has changed in meaning, or how it came to mean what
it means.
7B Consult commentaries for additional
information
Commentaries can be tremendous tools in helping
you gain understanding of the meaning of a
word.
So our theme is God demands thanksgiving.
This
is a good reminder for us all that our Christian experience regardless of
circumstances is to be a life committed to the giving of thanks.
(Proposition) God demands that all genuine believers give thanks!
God’s will is seen in the
definition of our word.
God’s will is seen:
2A AS WE
DISCOVER THE SOURCE OF THANKSGIVING
The architect Frank Lloyd
Wright was given the challenge of building the
Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, one of the most earthquake-prone cities in the world. Hiss investigation showed that a
solid foundation could be "floated"
on a sixty-foot layer of soft mud underlying the hotel, which would provide a shock-absorbing but solid
support for the huge building. Shortly
after the hotel was completed it withstood the worst earthquake in fifty-two years, while smaller
buildings fell in ruins around it
The foundation was the source of the
strength of the building.
What is our foundation or source for
giving thanks in every circumstance or
situation that occurs in our life?
Well, naturally, most would blurt
almost immediately Jesus Christ. They wouldn’t
be wrong.
But our text helps to see the source
that Paul conveyed to the Thessalonians
that served as a foundation for their giving thanks in everything. We see two things:
1B Thanksgiving is a fruit of a joyful heart
(16)
“Rejoice
always…”
The Thessalonian
believers were no strangers to “joy unspeakable and full of glory. (1 Peter 1:8)
Paul is speaking of the great
joy which comes from the incarnation of Christ and from the
redemption from the cross.
Paul also knew that because of
persecution, trials of everyday living, there was a danger of the
believers forgetting that source of their
joy. Joy is not a result of family, friends, possessions, money, and etc.
So Paul urges the Thessalonians to always experience
that joy.
Regardless of pain, sorrow,
trials, or heat-ache believers can be and
are to be joyful.
·
The Christian is a brand new creature
·
The Christian has an entirely new perspective – genuine
believers cease seeing things as the world sees them and sees them as God sees
them
Listen, the problem is many
believers think they have to manufacture or conjure up this joy.
It isn’t hard to be joyful
when things are good. It is harder to maintain joy when things are going so
good.
It is the wicked who are
known for being unthankful!
“…because, although they knew
God, they did not glorify Him as
God, nor were thankful…” (Romans 1:21, NKJV)
Of course one of the sins of
apostasy is unthankfulness –
“For men will be lovers of
themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to
parents, unthankful, unholy…”
(2 Timothy 3:2, NKJV)
Since the bible tells so
clearly that every good gift and every perfect gift comes from the Father of
lights, the sin and the guilt of being ungrateful or of
ingratitude is huge!
So,
giving thanks in everything and in every situation is built on the foundation
of the joy that God gives to each believer.
There
is a second foundation that we see in this passage, and is that…
2B Thanksgiving is a fruit of a praying heart
Where does this joy come from?
“…pray without ceasing…”
Rejoice always is
followed immediately by prayer. Paul is saying that in order to maintain the joy he
speaks of is fellowshipping with
God through prayer. Paul means that there can be no decline in regularly praying to
God.
·
The believer is to be regular in constant prayer.
We are to pray in our prayer closet
We are to pray in our corporate service
We are to pray alone, or with people
·
The believer is to maintain an uninterrupted spirit of prayer
At any time, in any situation the
believer is to be ready and able to communion with
God
·
Prayer that Paul
is talking about is not to be or to have what you think you need to be happy,
it is asking God to enable you to draw on what you already have and what you
already are – to draw on that joy.
For example:
Acts
4
·
Peter and John
were preaching to the people
·
Pharisees and
priests had them arrested
·
There were questioned
about their “authority”
·
Peter told them
regardless of what happens they were preaching the word of God
·
Pharisees saw how
bold they were that they were believed
·
Pharisees threatened
them, severely threatened them
·
Look at how they
prayed:
‘Now
Lord, look on their threats, and grant to your servants that will al boldness
they may speak your
word…”
They didn’t pray that their wood be no persecution or threats. They didn’t pray for the easy way.
If you are short on joy then you are short on prayer. They
go together.
So our theme is God demands thanksgiving.
This
is a good reminder for us all that our Christian experience regardless of
circumstances is to be a life committed to the giving of thanks.
(Proposition) God demands that all genuine believers give thanks!
God’s will is seen in the
definition of our word.
God’s will is seen:
3A AS WE
DETERMINE THE SCOPE OF THANKSGIVING
King
George, at the close of the Revolutionary War, in which he had lost thirteen colonies, proclaimed a day of
thanksgiving because of the return of peace.
His chaplain said to him, "For what would your majesty have us give thanks? For the fact that you
have lost thirteen of the brightest jewels of
your crown?" "No, not for that," said the king. "Because we
have added millions to our national debt?"
"No, not for that," said the king. "Because tens of thousands of people of the same race
and religion have been destroyed?"
"No, not for that," said the king. "Why, then," insisted
the chaplain, "and for what shall
we give thanks?" "Thank God," said the king, with great vehemence — "Thank God, because matters are no worse."
The scope is not
that hard to determine is it?
“…in everything…”
That should
be pretty self-explanatory. The Greek Word is panti.
When it is used without the article it
means every, every kind or variety.
So it means we are to give thanks in
everything or anything whatsoever. It
doesn’t leave anything out. If you have any doubt about what to give thanks in …
Listen to
John Gill on this passage:
In everything give thanks,.... That
is, to God the Father, in the name of Christ;
see Ephesians
5:20 thanks are to be given to him for all
things, as the Ethiopic version
renders it; for all temporal good things; for our beings, the preservation of them; for food and raiment, and all the
mercies of life; for the means of grace,
the word and ordinances, and the
ministers of the Gospel; for spiritual blessings, for electing, redeeming, regenerating, adopting,
pardoning, justifying, and persevering
grace: for a meetness for heaven, a right unto it, and a good hope of it; and especially for Jesus
Christ, for such an husband, such an head,
such a surety and Saviour, and advocate with the Father, as he is; and for life, peace, joy, comfort,
righteousness, and salvation in him: and
thanks should be given to God in every circumstance of life; in adversity, as Job did; when not in so
comfortable and agreeable a frame of
soul as to be wished for, since it might be worse, and is not black despair; even under the temptations of
Satan, since they might be greater
and heavier, and since the grace of God is sufficient to bear up under them, and deliver out of them, and since
there is such a sympathizing
high priest and Saviour; and in afflictions of every kind, since they are all for good, temporal, or
spiritual, or eternal.
This is in accordance with and exactly
what Paul said to the Ephesian Church:
“…giving thanks always for all things to God
the Father in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ…” (Ephesians 5:20, NKJV)
So the scope is
pretty vast, it is pretty wide. Most of us want to give thanks in the good
times and for the good things. But we would and often do complain when
circumstances are not so favorable.
So Paul tells the
Philippian believers:
“Do [the pleasant and fun things] all
things without complaining and disputing”
[fighting] (Philippians 2:14, NKJV)
So our theme is God demands thanksgiving.
This
is a good reminder for us all that our Christian experience regardless of
circumstances is to be a life committed to the giving of thanks. Thanks to God
through the Lord Jesus Christ.
(Proposition) God demands that all genuine believers give thanks!
God’s will is seen in the
definition of our word, God’s will is seen in the source of thanksgiving, and
God’s will is seen in the scope of thanksgiving.
Fourth and finally, God’s
will is seen:
4A AS WE
DECLARE THE STATEMENT
OF THANKSGIVING
It is important to see the grounds and the reason why God
demands that genuine believers give
thanks, or be people of gratitude.
“…this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” [18]
For the record, Paul is not speaking of or referring
to the entire will of God. God’s will in general involves
many things.
Paul adds the phrase in Jesus Christ for you to show the
absolute centrality of Christ to
Christianity. God has revealed his will through the Lord Jesus Christ.
More than that, there is power in Jesus Christ that enables
the child of God to be able to fulfill
this demand by God.
It is not just Paul saying this – this is from God. This is
the result of the redemptive work
of God.
So our theme is God demands thanksgiving.
This
is a good reminder for us all that our Christian experience regardless of
circumstances is to be a life committed to the giving of thanks.
(Proposition) God demands that all genuine believers give thanks!
[Well,
let’s wrap this up, shall we? And in more than one way!
CONCLUSION
A lady once asked John Wesley if he knew that he would die at midnight
the next day, how he would spend the intervening time. He replied, "Why,
madam, just as I intend to spend it now. I would preach this evening at
Gloucester, and again at five tomorrow morning; after that I would ride to
Tewkesbury, preach in the afternoon, and meet the societies in the evening. I
would then go to Martin's house...talk and pray with the family as usual,
retire myself to my room at 10 o'clock, commend myself to my Heavenly Father,
lie down to rest, and wake up in glory."
He knew his duty and he was willing to do his duty!
[Exhortation…]
And So, I
exhort you as genuine believers to be obedient to God’s command to
rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks.
Remember
David said in Psalms 143:10
“Teach me to do Your will, For you are my God; Your Spirit is good. Lead
me in the land of uprightness.” Let’s pray! J
Benediction Blessing:
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all! (2
Corinthians 13:14, NKJV)
1 comment:
Most interesting and enjoyable to read Gregg,
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