Are You a Thankful Christian?

Okay, very good. Good afternoon, everyone. And welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Brethren, I'm going to invite you to please open up your Bibles. Today we're gonna be going to the first letter of the Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians.

We're gonna be taking a little bit of a break from our study that we're going through the book of Romans. And today we're going to I'm gonna be sharing with you A little bit of an exhortation or a little bit of a call that I gave to some of the brethren on New Year's Eve on thankfulness that is found in 1st Thessalonians chapter five in verse 18. And I wanted just to share that with the church in a way of a sermon. So, as I said, I'm gonna be calling your attention to 1st Thessalonians chapter five. A very well known verse among Christians, in verse 18, where Paul is going to tell us that we are to give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

We're going to be reading together, brethren, from Verse 12 in 1st Thessalonians, Chapter five, verse 12 all the way until the end of the book on verse 28. But we're going to be only focusing on verse 18 and that beautiful verse there in which Paul tells us that Christians are supposed to give thanks in all things. We know circumstances for that is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus and the will of God in Christ for you. So let us, as we always do, let us come before the Lord and let us pray that the Spirit of God will help us as we examine the Scriptures together. And as we read the Scriptures that the Spirit of God will be among us for that, and that the benefit of it will be the glory of God and the edification of his people.

Let us. Let us pray together. Father, we come before you in the name of your son, Jesus Christ. We give you thanks, O Lord, for your patience towards us that you have forgiven us of our sins in Christ Jesus. You have extended our days today on this Lord's Day that you have made for us.

Lord, I pray that you will grant us by your grace the spirit of understanding of your word that you will speak to us and their faith will be strengthened in Christ Jesus, Lord. We're very feeble, we're very weak and very easily distracted with the thoughts that we have in inside of our heads and the things that happen outside of us. So we need to be strengthened in the inner person by your words. So we pray, Lord, that you will speak to us. We know that faith comes by hearing the word of God.

So I pray, Lord, that you will help us. Help us, please, to hear the Word of God, to have the Spirit of God in us that opens up the meaning of the Scriptures to us according to Your will. And that we will be not only exhorted, but we will be given consolation and we will be pointed to Christ Jesus. We want to understand what it is to be thankful as a Christian before You, Lord. So I pray that You will grant us the spirit of understanding to consider that and to be people that are thankful for the great salvation that we have in Christ Jesus.

Bless us as we consider this. I pray they will bless the brothers, the sisters, the children, and we even pray for... The families and the brethren were not able to be here today. We pray that your blessing will be upon them wherever they are, in whatever circumstances they are, Lord, that your hand will be upon them, that you will protect them and keep them and that you will continue to work in their lives. Bless us now in the gathering of the Saints as we consider the Scriptures.

And I pray that you will do this in Jesus name. Amen. 1st Thessalonians Chapter five are reading today is going to be from verse 12 until the end of the chapter verse 28. But as I said, we're gonna be focusing on verse 18, that beautiful verse in which Paul calls all Christians to give thanks in all circumstances. For that is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you or concerning you.

Let's read together. 1st Thessalonians Chapter five verse 12. This is the word of the Lord. We ask you, brethren or brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.

And we urge you, brethren or brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fated-hearted, Help the weak. Be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Verse 16. Rejoice always.

17. Pray without ceasing. 18 Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything.

Hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your Holy Spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful. He will surely do it.

Brethren or brothers, pray for us. Greet all the brethren or brothers with a holy kiss. I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

This is the reading of God's word. And as I said, I want us to focus our attention on verse 18, where Paul is going to give a quite clear instruction there to the Thessalonians and, of course, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit to all Christians. And that is that we are to give thanks in everything was the ESB says here to give thanks in all circumstances. Why are Christians to give thanks in all circumstances? Well, because these is the wheel of God in Christ Jesus for you or concerning you very clearly stated there.

We have that the wheel of God for us Christians is that we will give things not in some circumstances, not in the positive circumstances, but that we will give thanks in everything. in all circumstances. And what I want us to do is perhaps to ask ourselves a question. And that question is, Are you a thankful Christian? When you read this verse here, verse 18, not only with the purpose of understanding what the Apostle Paul says, but more importantly, with the purpose of being cleansed by the power of the word of God, we can ask ourselves the question, Are we thankful christians when you look inside of your life inside of your mind and in your past the things that providentially god has allowed you that you go through are you thankful to the lord for what the lord has made of you and for what the lord has done in you When you look into your family, your husband and your wife and your Children, or perhaps the absence of a husband of a wife or even the absence of Children.

Are you thankful for what the Lord has given you? Or perhaps are you thankful for what the Lord has not given you and you are satisfied in Christ Jesus? Are you thankful for what the Lord has done in your life? Or even perhaps when you look into your work, or your education and the things that the Lord has provided for you and the material things perhaps that he has given you in your life. Are you thankful to the Lord for the things that he has given you?

And even for those things that the Lord has not given you, are you satisfied? Are you thankful with the Lord for the Lord with the things that he has done in your life? When you consider the church and the brothers and the sisters or the place where you live and the country in which you live, are you thankful in all circumstances. Are you the Christian that Paul is exhorting here in verse 18, that we ought to be thankful in everything? That is the exhortation that the apostle is not only given to us here in verse 18, but that he's also given to the church of the Thessalonians.

If there's anything that we need to know about the church of the Thessalonians is that this is a church that face lots of affliction. Actually, the apostle tells us in chapter one verse six that the way that the Thessalonians received the word of the Lord and became imitators of Christ and imitators of the apostles was in much affliction and in much trouble. This is a church that we're going through much afflictions, persecutions on the apostle is going to call these people that perhaps lived in a very different way. to the way that we live as Christians in the 21st century. They are.

The apostle is calling them to give thanks in all circumstances that in everything we are to give thanks to the Lord. And I don't know about you, but certainly to me, sometimes it's difficult. to be thankful in everything that has taken place in my life and even things that happen in my life. I find myself in difficulty to be thankful. Sometimes I find myself either indifferent to things that happen in my life or blessings even that the Lord gives to me indifferent without It's hard that sometimes he's not even touched by the blessings and the mercies of the Savior.

Or sometimes I can find myself being a complainer or a grumbler of the situation in which I find myself. But yet Paul is calling not only the Thessalonians, but all Christians to be thankful in all circumstances. So the question that we need to ask ourselves is, are you thankful in all circumstances? When you look at your past and your present and the expectations that you may have, of the future. Are you thankful?

Do you say thank you, Lord, in all circumstances? This is what I want us to consider this afternoon. I hope the time and the Lord helps us to bring the meaning of the words of the apostle and the spirit that we have here in verse 18. I want us to do a couple of things that are gonna help us understand the meaning of this text first. We're just going to explore what is the meaning of being thankful in all circumstances.

Is Paul actually calling us to be happy and thankful when evil or difficult things happen in our lives? How are we going to understand Paul that tells us very clearly here that we are to be thankful or to give thanks in all circumstances? What do we do with those circumstances that are not so nice, that are difficult to understand, difficult to face? Or even those situations in which there's persecution or trials or difficulties. How can we be thankful in everything?

How can we have this heart of thankfulness? So I want us, first of all, to explore the meaning of this exhortation, of this instruction that Paul gives us in verse 18. What does he mean when he tells us that we ought to give thanks? in all circumstances. Second, what I want us to do is to examine also from Paul and also the Scriptures in the New Testament.

What are some of those reasons that prevents us from being thankful in all circumstances? Because even though this is the will of the Lord that we will be thankful, we have to see the Scriptures, the example of the Scriptures and also the example of our own lives for us to know that sadly, because of the sin that is within us, we're not necessarily thankful in every single circumstance. So why is it that prevent us from being thankful in every single circumstance? Once we have done that, I will point you to the greatest example of thankfulness, and that is the example of the Lord Jesus Christ, who, because of his thankfulness, made a way for us to be thankful for the salvation that we have. So let us just start with the first one.

What is the meaning of what the apostle tells us there in verse 18? That Christians are to be thankful or to give thanks in all circumstances. What is the meaning of that? Well, we have that word there, thanks. And this is a word that is used approximately 34 times in the New Testament.

Paul is the one that uses that idea of thankfulness, of giving thanks the most. I think it's 24 or 25 times that the apostle uses that. And if we were going to take another word to understand the meaning of giving thanks or being thankful, that word will be grace. Grace is that which helps us understand what it is to be thankful. To be thankful is actually to have a recognition of a grace that has been given to me.

Actually, the connection between thankfulness and grace is so strong that even some languages still use expressions of thanks that are close to the word grace, like in Spanish we say gracias, and that means it is grace that we receive. So thankfulness is connected to this idea of grace. A simple definition is a recognition of grace. To be thankful, it is the person that recognizes that this person has received something, that something is grace. Now, this grace, as you know, is an unmerited favor, something that we receive that we do not deserve.

And hence, we have this recognition of that something that we don't deserve, and we are thankful for that. When a person walks through the doors of the church and then finds a friend or a brother and sister, they say, hey, good afternoon, how are you? And the other person says, I am well. Thanks for asking." And the meaning of that word, of that expression is, thank you for caring.

I do not deserve that you enter through the doors and that you ask me, how are you? I do not deserve that you are concerned about how my day is going, but you're concerned about it and you're asking me, how are you? Hence, I'm going to recognize grace of you caring for me and that recognition is me saying thanks so thinking or being thankful is this recognition of this grace what a puzzle is telling us there in verse 18 is that we as Christians are to recognize grace in all things that is our heart hearts are to recognize that he knows circumstances. There's something there of value for which we can have gratitude for something that we can have thankfulness. This is what a puzzle is actually telling us there.

And if we wanted, actually, to go deeper into the meaning of the biblical word of thankfulness, we could explore that which is opposite to be thankful. If I was going to ask you what is the opposite of being thankful or to giving thanks in everything, someone may say, well, in the English language, the opposite to give thanks or to be thankful is to be unthankful or to be ungrateful or to lack gratitude. And while that is, of course, the word that we do use to explain the opposite of what it is to be thankful. unthankful or ungrateful actually is better from a biblical point of view to examine the contrary of the opposite to thankfulness from the experience of what it is to be unthankful. And the two words that are the two experiences that are going to help us to understand even deeper the meaning of thankfulness is going to be first of all indifference and the other one is going to be complaining.

So an unthankful person, it could be, first of all, one person that is indifferent to the grace that they have received. Why? Because being thankful is to recognize the grace that I receive that I don't deserve. So to be unthankful is to be indifferent to the grace that I have received, and I do not care about that which I have received. So in the example that I gave you before, if someone comes to the door and says, Good afternoon, how are you?

The person I'm thankful simply walks away and an indifference does not pay attention, does not care with the grace that the other person has manifested in asking, how were you? An example of thankfulness or lack of it, we see it in Luke chapter 17. You may remember when the Lord Jesus Christ He's going to Jerusalem and on his way to Jerusalem, he find 10 lepers. You remember that 10 lepers and these lepers come to the way and then they say, Lord Jesus, please have mercy upon us. And then the Lord Jesus Christ says to these 10 lepers, just go and present yourselves to the priest.

They were unclean. They could not present themselves to the priest that's why they were outside of Jerusalem but the Lord says go and present yourselves to the priest and the ten people of these ten lepers they obeyed by faith what the Lord Jesus has said to them so they go into Jerusalem and as they are going to Jerusalem you remember what happened the ten of them were healed they were healed of their leprosy but as they were going to jerusalem only one of them returned to the lord jesus christ and the one that returned was thankful manifested this grace that had received and came and acknowledged that it was the lord jesus christ the one who had healed them And the Lord Jesus Christ, only one returned from the ten that were healed. Nine of them were indifferent to the grace that had been given to them. One of them had a recognition of that grace, of that favor that was given to them. He was not indifferent, and he returned to the Lord Jesus Christ in thankfulness to the Savior for what had taken place.

To be thankful is a recognition of a grace that we don't deserve. To be unthankful is, first of all, this indifference to that grace, that we don't see it, we don't care about it, we receive it. We're indifferent towards that favor or towards that grace. We just simply walk away like the nine who received a grace and they did not come to the Lord to say, thank you. On the other side, we have grumbling or complaining.

That when the grace is given, then the person in a spiritual heart of unthankfulness receives that unmerited favor, that grace that comes from above. And instead of interpreting as something to be a blessing or something to be thankful for, then they complain about. And the better or the best example that we have in the Scriptures about those who grumble or those who are complainers about a grace that has been given is the people of Israel. people of Israel. You remember that they were in bondage in Israel, right?

And then the Lord came in his mercy condescended, and then he liberated them out of the slavery that they were in Egypt. And then he put them in this path through the wilderness with the promise that they were going to enter into the promised land. And in the promised land, they were going to receive rest. This was the blessing, the blessing of liberation, not only the blessing of liberation from the bondage of Egypt, but also the promise that I will be your God. I will give you my commandments and my law and I will be with you and I will take you to this promised land.

But as we go through the narration of the book of Exodus, we can see that the people of Israel took the grace of the mercy of the Lord that they had received. And instead of saying, thank you, Lord, for liberating us from the land of Egypt. Oh, thank you, Lord, for giving us the promise that we're going to be with you. Oh, thank you, Lord, for giving us the promise of this promised land that we're going to receive. They started to When they lacked food, they complained.

When they lacked water, they complained. When the path was difficult, they complained. The blessing that they had received now became the reason for them to complain. So Paul, when he looks back in 1st Corinthians chapter 10, he says that these people did not know what they had received. We're not to follow the example of these people that failed at these disobedient people of Israel.

They had a heart of unthankfulness to the grace that the Lord had given them. What Paul is telling us in 1st Thessalonians chapter five verse 18 is that the heart of the Christian is not to be indifferent. or a complainer in our circumstances, but rather that the heart of the Christian is meant to be one that acknowledges the circumstances in the hands of the Lord and, independently of those circumstances, is thankful. full that sees the grace and the mercy of God in everything the apostle is not saying only the positive things but the apostle is not only saying when you receive what you want but the apostle is telling us that that in everything we ought to give thanks so that in everything we are not to be indifferent like the nine who did not care about the blessing that they had received Or we are not to be complainers or grumblers or murmurs like the people of Israel that changed the blessing that they had received. But we are to be thankful.

So the question is that we ask ourselves in the light of these truths. Are we thankful to the Lord? Well, there are times in which we are indifferent to the things that he gives us. And when you simply walk away, not even acknowledging that comes from the Lord. Well, are we complainers or ramblers or murmurs of the things that happen in our lives?

And this situation is not worthy of giving things. Certainly, this situation that I'm going through on this thing that is happening in my life fits the requirements for me to be bleakly not to be thankful, but to complain about that goes against what the Apostle Paul says here in verse 18 that in all things or in everything we are to be thankful that we're to recognize the grace on the favor of God in every circumstance. But even if we wanted to go deeper, into this text. There are three observations that I want us to make. Now that we have examined the lexical aspect of the word, thankfulness, let us now go into the text and let us get the characteristics that the puzzle is going to give us of what it is to be thankful.

Three I'm going to give you depending on the time, but let us just pay attention to the first one. I'm going to explain it, I'm going to show it in the text, and then I'm going to show you what Paul actually also supports this. If we wanted to define thankfulness even deeper from the text, we could say that thankfulness or biblical thankfulness requires that we focus on the providence of God and not our focus on the circumstances. Once again, biblical thankfulness requires that our focus is in the providence of the Lord and not in the circumstances. And understanding the providence of the Lord is very important to face all of our circumstances.

Circumstances is everything that happens in our lives. But we ought to understand that even though our lives is a compilation of different events, All of these events are controlled by the providential hand of the Lord. We know and we confess that God is not a God that is without control of everything that has been created. But rather, we confess and we know that God is a God who is sovereign and who has all authority, all control and all power over everything that has been created. So we say that God is sovereign.

And because of his sovereignty over all things, He providentially works all things by his hand. So absolutely everything that happens, each one of your circumstances, each one of my circumstances, independently of how I experienced them, each one of them is under the sovereign control of God and in his providential care. Yes, he's not the author of evil. He's not the author of unrighteousness. But even the things that are dark in this world, even the things that are difficult to understand, even the things that are difficult to accept, are under the sovereign control of the Lord.

And we are to derive or to give thanks, not for everything, but we are to give thanks in everything. In the text, if you pay attention there to the prepositions that the apostle uses, he's actually intentionally going to use the preposition in all circumstances rather than for all things in English, even as it is in Spanish and also in Greek. When you say thanks, I'm thankful for my wife. I'm thankful for my kids. I'm thankful for my brothers and sisters.

I'm thankful for my work. I'm thankful for my blessings. You are thankful for certain things. What you say is that that person or that thing is the reason that you are thankful. I'm thankful for my wife, for my kids, for my family, for my brothers and sisters, for my life.

I'm thankful for that. But the apostle does not say that we are to be thankful for everything. Rather, the apostle tells us with the end or in that we are to be thankful in everything. And the ESV, in a very clever and very good way, uses the word circumstances to explain that in. Literally in the text what it says there is, in all give thanks.

But the ESV adds that word circumstances that explain what this preposition refers to this in all things. What the puzzle is telling us is that we are not to derive satisfaction from the things that happen to give thanks for all things, but rather that we are to be thankful in any situation in which we are placed. The thing or the event is not the reason that gives us the desire to be thankful, but that we are in that situation is that we need to give thanks. And in knowing the one who placed us in that situation is when we acknowledge that that is God's sovereign and providential who keeps us and who has placed us in that particular circumstance. So that's why I say that biblical thankfulness requires that we will not put our focus on the thing that happens.

Because if we put our eyes in the thing that happens, then there's going to be things that makes us thankful and things that do not make us thankful in the flesh. But if our eyes are placed on the hands of the Lord, who is the one who plays us in every circumstance, good, evil and bad, then we can trust in the one who has put us in that circumstance and we can be thankful in every circumstance, every single stage of your life, every one of the days that the Lord has given you, every one of the circumstances that you have faced. Every one of the circumstances that you will faced is not the result of random. It's not the result of, you know, just simply variables coming together or coincidence. Every single circumstance.

And every single stage of your life is the result of the sovereign hand of God and the providence of God that works in your life to place you where you are. And the Lord is not always going to put you in a situation that is nice and that you enjoy. The situations in which we face are also many times going to be difficult and painful. But when we know that there's someone who is in control of all of those things, independently of what they are, then we no longer look to the circumstance, but we look to the fact that we are in that circumstance, and the one who has placed us there is God's sovereign, and who in His providence controls us and keeps us, and we can have the perspective to be thankful in all things. I suppose that this is what James in the book of James says when he counts when he says counted all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patients, but let patients have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

So the situation of trial, even though it is not enjoyable, and perhaps in and of itself is not a reason to be thankful for, the fact that we know that God is the one who has placed us in that difficult situation, and the fact that we know that God is using that situation for the testing of our faith, that becomes now a sufficient reason to count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. Or when we go to Roman chapter five, then we know that we also rejoice in tribulation, knowing that this tribulation is going to produce character and endurance. And this is going to lead us to this hope that does not put us to shame because the Spirit of God has been given unto our hearts. This gives perspective that independently of the circumstance, there is someone who has a purpose for the Christian in that. And in that, we can say that we are thankful.

This is the powerful reality of perspective, that we have a God that keeps us and sustain us, and that he's the one that sustains everything that happens in our lives. And when our eyes are removed from that which we're going through and putting the one who holds all things together, then we can fulfill what is contained here, that we are to give thanks in all things. So first, we are to place our focus not in the thing itself, because we cannot be thankful for it, but rather we are to place our eyes in the one who holds all circumstances, and he's the one that places us in that circumstance, so that we can give thanks in all circumstances. Second, and this is also very important, we need to understand that thankfulness is not optional, but it's actually a commandment. As you see it there, perhaps you might not see it there in the English, but give thanks in all circumstances is an imperative and an imperative that makes it a commandment.

So here, the apostle is not given as a suggestion. Here, the apostle is not given as an option. Well, here, the apostle is not given as just simply an alternative of what Christians could do. What apostle is given us is a command. It's an imperative.

And the weight of this commandment is even deeper when the apostle tells us not only that we ought to give thanks, but rather, he also tells us there that this is the will of God. Pay attention there to verse 18. It says, give thanks that is in the imperative form. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. God expects, and in a sense, God requires that his people will be thankful, not in some circumstances, not in most circumstances, not in those circumstances that are more appealing for me to be thankful, that every variable is in place for me to be thankful.

But God expects and God requires, as an imperative and commandment, that His people will be thankful in every circumstance. And if we do not have understanding of the first thing that I said, the sovereignty and the providence of the Lord, He's the one that places in every circumstance, then we will not be able to understand Such a big requirement and such a difficult requirement for how can we'll be thankful when our child gets sick and die? How can we'll be thankful when I lose my job? How can I be thankful when there's persecution? How can I be thankful when I get sick at 40, 50, 60?

How can I be thankful when I generally suffer? If I do not have the perspective of the sovereign God that is above all of those meaningful and real pains that I can struggle with, then I'm not going to be able to be thankful even in the midst of my pain and my suffering and my uncertainty it is the requirement of the christian that even in the chaos and the confusion of my pain that my eyes will be placed upon him who is in control of all things past present and future so that i can fulfill the commandment of being thankful in all things. And of course, you know that obedience in the New Testament is not something that is done externally. It's not like you just simply say, Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord.

Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. He's not that just simply from the mouth that you ought to be thankful, but biblical obedience to the commandments of the Lord, as we have there in verse 18. is something that is expected to be from the heart. The Lord expects us that every one of his commandments, whether it's this one here in verse 18 or any other of the exhortations that he gives us in the word of God that will be obeyed in the spirit and from the heart.

So then that means that what these The verse he's telling us is that we Christians are to be in a position such that our heart, when we perceive the pains and difficulties of our lives and around us, that our eyes are fixed upon Christ and who he is as sovereign and as a ruler of all things. And in that perspective of those things, my heart is naturally inclined just to suffer and to have tears for the pain of whatever situation, but at the same time to rejoice. And to be thankful for God on what he's doing in us. That's what perhaps the apostle had in mind in first Peter, Chapter one, verse five and six, when he said, even if we suffer for a little bit, we rejoice in these things. Even if we suffer temporarily, we rejoice.

Because we know that the testing of our faith, which is more precious than gold, will be found to be, when it is tested through fire, it will be found to be worthy and the revelation of the Son of God. That is that the testing of the trial is producing in the Christian that which God expects and requires of him or her so that the work will be completed in his children. And in that perspective is when the Christian can say, I am thankful in all circumstances. and by the Spirit to be obedient to the Lord, to this commandment that we have here. Third observation, and also very important here.

The apostle does not tell us only that we are to be thankful in every circumstance, not for every single thing, but also he tells us that this is the will of God as a commandment, but also he tells us that this is in Christ Jesus. Pay attention there once again to verse 18. Give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. There's a very powerful verse in Philippians, Chapter one, verse 19. You become their powerful, beautiful verse.

I'm pretty sure that you know which verse it is. Once you see their Philippians, Chapter one, verse 29. That gives us the perspective of what it is to be thankful, even in times of difficulty on why it is important that is in Christ Jesus. Remember this verse, Brethren in Philippians, Chapter one, verse 29. It says in Philippians 1 verse 29, For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ, you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake.

has been given to you, brethren, not only to believe in Christ Jesus, but also that you will suffer for his sake. He has been granted. It is a gift that has been granted unto you. And that gift is a gift of faith that you will believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. But that gift of believing in the Lord Jesus Christ does not come alone.

He comes also with the gift of suffering for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. And just as the Philippians, just as the Thessalonians, every single Christian is in a world that is not our world. He's in a stage of life that is not our ultimate and final stage of life. So the sufferings of this present time do not compare with the glory that is going to be revealed to the sons of God. And that perspective is only given to those who are in Christ Jesus.

The only reason why a person can give thanks when their child has died. The only reason why a person can be thankful to God when there's trouble or persecution. The only reason why a person can fill their heart with thankfulness when there are many foes and many enemies that come their way. The only reason why a sister can be thankful to the Lord for the pains and difficulties of motherhood, or the only reason why a brother can be thankful to the Lord when there's difficulties in their work, on the things that they do, it is because of Jesus Christ. The Spirit of Jesus in us is the one that granted perspective that this life is passing away, that Jesus Christ came into this world to die upon the cross, not to give us a better life in the present day, but to give us eternal life.

And that eternal life is not to have more money or a better car or a bigger house. That eternal life is to know Him and who He has sent, Jesus Christ, is to know God. And in that knowledge, There's sufficient reason for us to be thankful, even if the things of this world are crumbling, even if the things of our lives are not in the place that we wanted to be. Because when you look into the perspective of the sovereign hand of God, even though you may see that your life or situation or expectations are not according to the things that you wanted when you jump out of it, and then you see the perspective of the sovereign hand of the Lord, then you will see that the life of the Christian is never falling apart, but it's always falling into place because the life of the Christian is not controlled by the Christian himself or herself. The life of the Christian is kept in the hand of the one who loved him or her so much that he sent his son, Jesus Christ, to die upon the cross.

So independently, That things might not be in the way that I want them to be now. If my name is written in the book of the Lamb of God, then I know that He who has begun a work will bring it to completion, and that He is the one who has me in His hands and will bring me until the end. And independently of what the journey looks like, the most important thing is to be found in Christ Jesus. And to be found in Christ Jesus gives me perspective to be thankful in all circumstances. Because he died, he came, he loved me, and he gave me the promise that he was going to be with me until the end of the time.

So brother, sister, are you thankful? Are you a Christian that is thankful in all circumstances? What is it in your life? That is just so difficult that you cannot be thankful to the Lord. I'm not saying that you should be thankful for that which produces pain.

But in every circumstance, we are to be thankful to the Lord. What is it that is going to compare with the love of God in Christ Jesus, bigger or superior to the grace of God that does not allow you to be thankful in all circumstances? We ought to be thankful. But of course, there's sin that happens in us. And for that reason, I wanted just to show you the return to our text, not necessarily from our text, but I wanted just to show you at least a couple of things that prevents us from being thankful.

I've said that to be thankful is a recognition of grace, the grace of God in absolutely all things. I'm not to be indifferent to the grace of God in every single thing. I'm not to be a complainer of the grace of God, but I'm to be thankful for the grace that God manifests to me in every single circumstance of the Lord. This is something that is not only a commandment, but it's something that should be placed in my eyes in the sovereign providential hand of the Lord and not in the circumstance of the thing itself. Why?

Because Christ Jesus has died for my sins. Now, I want us just to explore and then see certain things that will prevent us from being thankful. I'm going to point you to, perhaps, depending on the time, one or two that are inside of us, and more importantly, one or two that are found in the character of the Lord. The first one is going to be pride. And for that, I'm going to point your attention to First Corinthians, Chapter four, verse seven.

I'm not 100% sure that that's the passage, but I hope that this is the passage. First Corinthians, Chapter four. Verse seven. The first one is going to be pride. Pride seen that is in us is that which prevents us from being thankful from the things that the Lord or the situations in which the Lord has put us.

Pride, the heart of pride. It is just to put yourself or put myself in a position that I do not belong. superior or higher of what it actually is, because I put myself in a position that is superior to what it really is because of this pride, then the things that I have and the things that I receive are either the accomplishment of my effort Or they are just simply not enough to satisfy what I deserve. Because I'm so good and I deserve so much that people around me are not giving me what I deserve. Or God is not giving me what I deserve.

Or the circumstances is not what I deserve. And in the end, I'm not going to be thankful with the things that happen. Verse 6 of chapter 4 in 1 Corinthians. I have applied all of these things, the apostle says. Verse 6 of Chapter 4, I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brethren, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.

Verse 7, here is just the reason why they are not to be fighting against each other. Verse 7, for who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? And coming from chapter three and chapter four, the apostle is referring to the grace that God has given to Apollos to do certain things and the grace that God had given to Paul to do certain things.

They were different. One bought water and the other one planted. But that was the grace of the Lord. Men will do something, but the growth will be given by the Lord. That is kind of like the context of everything that Paul was saying there.

So he says that which you have received is actually received. You have not produced it in and of yourself. He has been a gift that comes from the Lord, and every good gift, every perfect gift comes from above, from the Father of life, with whom there's no variation, no shadow of turning. So when I see my life and the things that I have and the things that I do not have, the things that I want to accomplish and perhaps I have not, everything that I have in my life is the result of the sovereign hand of the Lord that has determined that that is what I ought to have. And in receiving that from the Lord, I need to be satisfied in that is the Lord the one who gives and the Lord who takes away.

And the value of those things should not be determined what I think that I am. Because if I think that I deserve more of what I have, if I think that people should be perhaps better to who I am, or the way that I am, or perhaps people should come and pat me on my back and say certain things, then I am the sender that says, I receive or I need to have this thing. God is sovereign and in control and giver willingly of the things that we have. And that is what should keep us humble, understanding and knowing. That is anything in my hand, That has been granted by the grace of the Lord.

And my value should not be determined by what I think that I should be, but rather my value and my identity should be found in what Christ Jesus has done for me, brethren, and in that there's a lot of peace. Because when we think that we ought to be something that we are not, and then we see the chasm of what I want to be, and this I'm not, this either produces anxiety or frustration, and then it's a matter that you turn 50, 60, 70, 80, and then you realize that you will never do it, and then you look back, and then you say, I should have never wasted my life pursuing something that was never going to satisfy me. I should have never wasted my days putting my mind and my efforts into something that now I understand is not valuable anymore. I should have never wasted my energy and my heart into something that is going to pass away. I should have never thought that my value or who I am was defined by the thing that I was pursuing, but rather in the grace that's given from above.

The mind of Christ, according to Philippians chapter 2, was not a mind that was prideful, but was a mind that was humble, that He came to this world to die for our sins. He was in glory and He came to die. And the Apostle tells us that the same mind that was in Christ Jesus is the mind that we need to have. Not only looking out for our own interest, but looking for the interest of others. Because in humility, there is freedom from the bondage of what I want to do according to my own desires.

Pride. is something that is going to prevent us from being thankful in all circumstances. Pride leads us to entitlement. I deserve, I deserve, I deserve, I deserve, and I deserve. And when I do not get what I deserve, I am no longer thankful because I don't have what I want.

Pride leads us to envy, to compare one another, and you're no longer satisfied with the things and the grace that the Lord has given you. But now you are wanting to have what others have and the standard of other people. And in that comparison, then you are affected internally. That leads you to destroy relationships and also not to be satisfied in the Lord. Second, and very importantly, not only pride prevents us from being thankful, but second and very important, an unbiblical view of the sovereignty of the Lord.

Come with me to Romans chapter 8, to that very famous and beautiful verse. Unbiblical view of the sovereignty of the Lord. Very famous and beautiful verse that is found in Romans chapter 8, in verse 28. unbiblical or low view of the sovereignty or the providence of the Lord, it says there in verse 28. And we know that for those who love God, when all things, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans chapter eight, verse 28. And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose." So Paul says in 1st Thessalonians, chapter 5, verse 18, that in everything, in all things, we are to give thanks. And Paul also tells us that for those who love God, all things were together for good, those who are called according to his purpose. So the reason why I'm supposed to be thankful and satisfied in all things is because independently of the thing itself, I know that there is a sovereign God who is in control of all things.

And for those who love God by the grace of God in Christ Jesus, those things that work together for very good. It does not matter what it is. It does not matter how difficult it is. It does not matter how painful it actually feels. It does not matter the level of uncertainty that it produces.

It does not matter that we do not know if we are in Christ Jesus. Every single thing that happens in our lives works together for our good. And that requires a humble confession that I am not in control of my life. That even though I do eat food in order, perhaps, to have certain energy to live, and even though I try to go to sleep and to rest my body, and even though I try to drink water, even the depths of the functionality of my body and the little cell depends upon the sovereign hand of the Lord. He's the one that gives.

He's the one that takes away. He's the one that ordains. He's the one that sustains. And in that I can know that even though foes may come, and enemies may come my way, and sufferings and things may happen, all things work together for good. All things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose, a view of the sovereignty of the Lord.

that when something happens, brethren, we may not understand every single detail of the things that are taking place, but we do understand the one that is in control of that thing that is taking place. And in that already there is rest, and in that there's already a reason for us to be thankful. And finally, if you come to Romans chapter 3, there in verse 23, also we have an unbiblical, sometimes, or erroneous view of self. There's also a very famous verse there in Romans chapter 3, In verse 23, where the apostle have told us these Romans 3 verse 23, it says, for all have seen and fall short of the glory of God. The reason why many times we cannot be thankful in the way that we ought to.

Yes, it is because of the pride that is within our hearts that lead us to entitlement and lead us to envy and lead us to self sufficiency. And we are no longer impacted by the grace of God in the circumstances of our lives, but rather we are indifferent to it or we're grumblers or complainers. Yes, it is also true that one of the reasons why we are not thankful it is because we don't have a perspective of the sovereignty of the Lord. Thank you, brother. the sovereignty of the Lord and the providence of the Lord.

We don't have a biblical view of that. But thirdly, many times, my dear brother and sister, it is because we do not have a biblical view of self. The Bible tells us that we have fallen short of the glory of God. And while it is true that the Lord has paid for the price of our sins, and it is true that the penalty of our sins has been paid, and there is no death for those who are in Christ Jesus, while it is even true that we have eternal life and that we don't only have death, while it is true Even up to the moment in which we are taken up to glory, sin is going to be present in us and among us. And the presence of that sin is enough still to send us to the hell that we deserve.

But God has manifested His grace in granting us something different. So many times, in order for us to have a better perspective of our circumstances, we should not be so much paying attention to the things that are not... we want them according to the things that we want. But rather, we should pay attention to the things that we have received, the blessings that we have received, and to know that we don't deserve any of those blessings that we have received because we have fallen short of the glory of the Lord. And what we actually deserve from God is His wrath upon us, is His judgment upon us.

That is what we genuinely deserve because of the sin that is in us and among us. But God has been so good and gracious to us that he did not only send his only son to die upon the cross for our sins, but in sending his son providentially, he also granted many blessings that we do not deserve. Has the Lord given you a wife, a husband or kids? This is a blessing that the Lord has given you that you do not deserve. Has the Lord given you the blessing of being alone.

I'm not having someone to rely but to rely in the Lord. This is a blessing that has been given to you as a child of God from the Lord. Has the Lord given you a strength or health? This is a blessing that has come from the Lord. Has the Lord given you perhaps infirmities in your flesh that draw you closer to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ?

This is a blessing that comes from the Lord. We do not deserve anything good. because of the sin that we have committed, but if we received it, this is purely because of the grace of the Lord. And the more that we understand how much we do not deserve any blessing coming from above, the more thankful that we are, even if we have little. because we do not deserve any that comes from above, brethren.

It is our pride, it is our low perception of the sovereignty of God, and it's our exalted view of self that many times take us to the point in which we say, I don't like this thing. I do not accept this situation. I don't like it. This is not fair. Brethren, every single bad thing that happens my way, I deserve it.

Every good thing that comes my way, I don't. Every single good thing that comes... Every person that has a manifestation of grace and love towards me, I don't deserve that. I deserve their hatred. I deserve their slander.

I deserve their punches in my face. That is what I deserve. But when, by the grace of God, anyone or any person manifests a grace towards me, that is the grace of God being granted unto me for something that I don't deserve. And I'm going to be thankful. Brethren, we ought to be thankful in all circumstances.

All of these thankfulness of the Christian brethren. It is rooted in the glorious thankfulness of Christ Jesus. With this, I finish. Please come to look at the 22 when the Lord help us to see this here. Look, Chapter 22, please.

You may know, perhaps you may know, perhaps that the actual word for thankfulness is Eucharist, you know, like you've heard these perhaps in the Catholic Church, how they come to the table, they call that the Eucharist. And the meaning of that word is actually to give thanks. It is to give thanks, to be thankful. That is the word or a recognition of grace. Actually, the Catholic theology of of the Eucharist is a thankfulness of the Catholic people as they partake of that.

And, of course, we reject every part of what they say there. But the truth is that this word Eucharist, it is actually the heart of the word thankfulness. Why? Because the Lord Jesus Christ, as he's partaking with the disciples and instituting the table, he's going to receive the wine and he's going to receive the bread. And as he received, he is going to Eucharist.

If you want, he's going to give thanks. And if you understand the symbolism here off the bread, that is his body. And if you understand the symbolism of the blood or better, the wine that is the blood of Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ receives both the bread and he breaks it and he got into the disciples. And then he takes the wine and then he divided or separated, and then he gives that to the disciples. We know, of course, for the context of Luke and the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, that the institution of the table, it is a shadow of the breaking of his body and the shedding of his blood.

The Lord Jesus Christ give thanks not only for the provision of physical wine and bread, but he's giving thanks for the breaking of the body and for the breaking or for the dividing of the wine. And he's given thanks upon the institution of this better and new covenant Let us read together this glorious moment that we always read it together every Sunday. But now here we can see the thankfulness of the Savior as he's going to break his body and shed his blood for the forgiveness of sins, he says in verse 14 of chapter 22. And when the hour came, he reclined at a table, a table and the apostles with him. And he said to them, I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffered.

For I tell you that I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks... Now the order, it is glorious there in verse 17 and 19. And he received, he gave thanks, he broke it, and he gave it. This is the sequence of the two things there.

Verse 17, and he took a cup, he received a cup, and when he had given thanks, he said, take this and divide it among yourselves. The bread is broken into parts, the cup is divided. So divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. That was with the wine.

It comes with the bread. Verse 19. And he took bread. Once again, he received bread. He took the bread.

He took bread. And when he had given thanks, that is the Thanksgiving, the Eucharist, he gave thanks for the bread that he had received. Then he divided the wine. But now he breaks the bread. He broke it and he gave it to them.

He receives the wine and the bread, his body and his blood. Then he gives thanks for the provision of the bread and that wine, both for the meal that they were sharing there together, also for the institution of this new Passover for the people of God. And then he breaks that, he breaks the bread and he divides the wine and he gives it to the disciples. This is the heart. This is the shadow of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ that God had provided in his son, the body and the blood that were going to be broken and that was going to be shed for the establishment and the institution of a better covenant on behalf of those who received the broken body and the shed blood.

They were going to be recipients of the sacrifice of the one who was the one that was being eaten and broken in that same table. The Lord Jesus Christ was given things that there was a way now that the father had instituted for his people to be liberated. Because even though the wine and the bread were broken and there was I was poor there on that night, this is going to be funny. Full consummation and the next day when the Lord Jesus Christ is actually going to die upon the cross and His body is going to be broken and His blood is going to be shed. And from that point onwards, all Christians look back to what happened on that night in light of the establishment of this glorious burial covenant that Jesus Christ was the sacrifice that was needed.

And that he was thankful for that sacrifice that was needed so that we can be thankful when we look back that we can join the many saints that throughout the ages have been thankful for the provision of the body and of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that were broken and shed and through whom now we can hear the voice of the Spirit through Paul that says give Thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." If it was not because of Christ, we could not give thanks. If it was not because of Christ, we could not obey the commandment. If it was not because of Christ, we could not hear the will of God. If it's because of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, that we can find, through the Spirit of God, the empowerment that is necessary for us to be thankful in all circumstances.

So as I started, my dear brother, sister, let me just ask you this question. Are you a thankful Christian? When you look into your life, your past, your present, your expectations of the future, when you see to your husband, your wife, or the lack of it, your children, or the lack of them, when you see your circumstances, your brothers, your sisters, your church, your people, your work, your study, your education, your future, when you see the country in which you live, when you see the things that you go through, the health that you have, or the lack of it, when you see the mind that you have, or perhaps the absence of it, but when you see your abilities or the absence of it, When you see everything that the Lord has granted and not granted to you, can you join Paul and say that you are thankful in all circumstances? Because this is the will of God. might the Savior give us the perspective of heaven, brethren, that we need so that we will find value in that which is eternal and that we will learn to deal with that which is temporal in light of identity that is found in heaven.

That whether it's good or bad that comes our way, we may see it in light of the sovereign God who sustains all things. And in that we can find the strength that is needed for us to be genuinely thankful for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for us. Amen. Amen. Let us pray.

Father, we give you thanks. And we pray, Lord, that you will grant us the spirit of Christ to be thankful in all circumstances. We praise you, Lord, for what you've done for us in Christ Jesus, the salvation of our souls and the forgiveness of our sins. I pray, Lord, that you will help us and teach us, Lord, to see our lives in perspective of this glorious truth that you have given us, Lord. When we see our trials, our sufferings, Lord, please help us to see them in perspective of who you are and what you have done.

Help us, Lord, please, to understand the trial, the difficulty, the pain, and the sorrow in light of who you are and what you have done. Help us, Lord, please not to look or try to derive thankfulness from the event or action itself, but help us to be thankful in every circumstance because our focus is not in the circumstance itself, but in the one who holds us and places us in that circumstance, the sovereign God. Help us, Lord, to be obedient to this commandment of your scripture, that we are to give thanks in all things. Help us, Lord, please, to fulfill your will and to be thankful in all things. Help us, Lord, please, to rejoice in the fact that we are in Christ and in rejoicing in that, to be thankful in all things.

Or if we have been, and many times we have been indifferent or we have been grumblers or complainers or murmurs about the things that happened, Lord, I pray that you will grant us a deeper insight into your control of all things, your sovereignty, and you help us, Lord, to be thankful in all things. We do not want to be like those nine lepers that continue their way to the priest when they could have returned to the feet of the Son of God. We do not want to follow the example of the people of Israel, that even though they had the manifested presence of God among them, and they saw the mercy of God being manifested and taking them out of Egypt into and through the wilderness, that they complained for food or drink or water or the absence of it. Lord, what we desire for our belly or what we desire for our lives will not be so big in our minds that we will complain against the one who has given us his son. Help us, Lord, to be thankful for what you've given us.

Lord, if you have made us husbands, help us, Lord, to be thankful for our wives. If you have given us wives or spouses, Lord, help us to be thankful for them, Lord. Help us, Lord, not to be focused on what is not and what is lacking, but help us, Lord, to be focused on the things that you have granted us. If you have given us children, Lord, help us to be thankful for the life of each one of our children. If you have decided, Lord, that we are to be alone, that we don't have a wife or we don't have a husband, but that we are on our own, help us to be thankful, Lord, for that, to be satisfied in you and in your ways.

If you have not granted us children, Lord, help us to be satisfied and thankful in that. If you have given us health and strength in our body, Lord, we give you thanks for that which you have given us. But even if you have given us infirmities and have allowed us, Lord, that we will experience trouble and difficulty in our bodies and weakness in our body also, we give you thanks in that, Lord. And we pray that you will use our sorrow and our difficulties and our pain to draw us closer to you. We give you thanks, O Lord, for the brothers and sisters that you provided, and we also give you thanks for the ones that you have not provided.

We give you thanks, Lord, for the city and the country in which we have placed us. We give you thanks, Lord, for the things that you have granted us. I pray, O Lord, that you will help us to see all things in perspective of who you are and that you will protect us, Lord, from a heart of pride, a heart of entitlement, a heart of envy, a heart of resentment, a heart of bitterness, rather that you will help us to be content, to be satisfied, to be thankful for what you've given us, and in the grace and in the blessings that you have bestowed upon us, that we will be faithful and diligent in doing things for your glory. As we're going to partake of this table, Lord, and as we read these words of this Eucharist, of this thanksgiving of the Savior to the Father for the provision of the Lamb of God, through his breaking and the shedding of his blood, a new covenant was instituted, that we will also give thanks with him, that if it was not because of the institution of that covenant, of that new covenant in the breaking of the bread and in the shedding of the blood, there will not be reason for us to be thankful, but there will be reason only for us to be fearful and to be running away. But because of that glorious covenant and because of that glorious night and that glorious day in which you died upon the cross is that we can be certain that we belong to a better and new covenant and that in him we can find not only the forgiveness of our sins, but also the promise that one day we will be with you.

Help us, Lord, to be thankful, we pray in Jesus name. Amen.