I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of 1 Thessalonians
chapter 5. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. I'd like to read one verse of
scripture. Verse 17. I'm going to read 17 and 18. Pray without ceasing in everything. Give thanks for
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. in everything, give thanks. You know, it's hard sometimes
to give thanks for everything. But the Spirit of God moved upon
the Apostle Paul to exhort God's people to be in remembrance of
the necessity of giving thanks. Giving thanks. In the book of
Luke, chapter 18, the Lord Himself speaking, said He spake a parable
unto them to this end, that men ought to always pray. and not to faint, to persevere
in praying and giving thanks. A believer prays. The first thing, the first mark
that the Lord himself gave concerning the conversion of Saul of Tarsus
was this, behold, he prayeth. And though we know that there's
no end to the reasons for which we pray, I was looking at this
passage of scripture yesterday. And as I thought upon it, I thought,
where is the end of things that we pray for and be thankful for? There's no end. Where are you
gonna find an end for thankfulness unto the Lord? And though there's
no end to the reasons that we give, the need to pray is burned
within our heart. I'd like to look at three simple
points this morning on this thing of prayer. thankfulness, prayer. Here's the first thing I want
us to notice. The Lord Himself gave thanks. Now, may the Spirit
of God lay that to my heart. That Christ Himself, and here
was my question concerning the Lord giving thanks. the Lord
praying. What did he pray for and give
thanks for? And whatever he prayed for, whatever
he was thankful for, that ought to give us a pretty good indication
of what we should be thankful for and pray for. This is what
I know he prayed for. He prayed, first of all, and gave thanks for. Temporal
blessings. These things that are temporal. Matthew 15, 36. Here he is, God Almighty. And
he took the seven loaves and the fishes and gave thanks and break them. and gave to his
disciples and the disciples to the multitude. The Lord gave
thanks for the temporal provisions of our bodies, for this food. I mean, we've all got something
to eat. We've all got some clothes on
this morning. We all had a place to stay last
night, and we all took a breath of God's air. And we too reminded of what the
Lord thanked his father for. We give thanks for the Lord's
providential provisions. Seven loaves and a few fish was
the provision for that day. And 4,000 men beside the women
and children were fed. He knows. He taught us to give thanks for
our daily needs. How little we thank God for. Here's the next thing I know
he thanked the Father for. He gave thanks for the work of
redemption. Here is the Redeemer. And the
Redeemer himself, at the last supper, It says, the Lord Jesus,
the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and when
he had given thanks, he break it, gave it to his disciples,
and said, take, eat. This is my body, which is broken
for you. This do in remembrance of me.
After the same manner also, he took the cup and said, this cup,
is the New Testament in my blood, this do as oft as you drink it
in remembrance of me." He gave thanks unto the Father for the salvation of His people. Thanks for the elements that
would be the symbols. We come together and we have
the Lord's table. Just a little piece of bread,
a little cup of wine. but how thankful we are for the
remembrance of that which he has done for his people. And
that taking of that element, those elements, bread and wine,
that's to be used by his people for the duration of mankind,
time. Thirdly, He gave thanks unto
the Father for His distinguishing grace toward chosen sinners. He thanked His Father. Listen
to this. Amazing, Matthew chapter 11.
Here's the Lord praying. Matthew 11, verse 25, 26. At that time, Jesus answered
and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast
revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in Thy sight. What did He thank the Father
for? What did He pray for? Temporal blessings. for the giving of Himself and
the redemption of His people, and for the distinguishing grace
of Almighty God. Here's the world and its false
religion that looks at election and predestination, God's choosing,
God's will, God's purpose, and they say, that's not fair. That's
not right. We believe in fairness and salvation,
and the Lord Jesus Christ thanked His Father. I thank you. I thank you. I thank you that
you've hidden these things from the wise and prudent. Why? Because it seemed good in your
sight. I thank you for that. Oh, that
I might be found thanking God for electing grace, thanking
Him that He would show mercy to me He thanked his father for
his sovereign pleasure to show mercy. Does God owe anybody an
explanation? It says he giveth, Job 33, 13,
he giveth not account of any of his matters. I heard someone say a member
of their family left just before they left this world. I said,
when I get to heaven, I'm going to talk to God about this, and
I'm going to find out why. I thought, no. No, we're not going to talk
to him about nothing. He gives no account of any of
his matters. Let me ask you this. Shall the
judge of all the earth do right? Yes, he will. I know this is
what the Lord prayed for. Why should we pray and give thanks? He did. He did. Here's my second
point. All men, everybody, everybody,
everybody born in Adam owes him a spirit of thankfulness. They
owe it to him. The book of Luke. Turn with me,
look there. Luke chapter 17. Luke 17. Luke 17, starting in verse 11. And it came to pass as he went
to Jerusalem that he passed through the midst of Samaria of Galilee. And as he entered into a certain
village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood
afar off. And they lifted up their voices
and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw
them, he said unto them, go show yourselves unto the priest. And
it came to pass that as they went, they were cleansed. One
of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and
with a loud voice glorified God, fell down on his face at his
feet, giving him thanks, and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus
answered and said, were there not ten cleansed? But where are
the nine? There are not found that return
to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him,
Arise, go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole. Ten lepers,
a picture of the totality of mankind in his fallen and helpless
condition, cried unto the Lord for help. Everybody does that when they're
in trouble. Everybody does that. Everybody cries out and says,
I'm going to trust God. I'm going to turn over a new
leaf. I'm going to do this, that, and the other. And the Lord was
pleased to show mercy to ten lepers. Doesn't it rain on the just and
the unjust? Doesn't it? Yeah. Are all men found to be thankful? I want you to note in verse 15
of that passage, Luke 17, 15. And one of them, when he saw
that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified
God. There's a beautiful picture.
of regeneration, realization, by faith. Here was one, it was
a leopard that was healed. But let me ask you this, whenever
Almighty God is truly pleased to save a sinner and reveal to
him, and he sees it, this one says, and one of them when he
saw, When he realized, by faith he beheld, that he was clean,
that Almighty God had done something for him, and cleansed him, and
saved him by grace, and washed him by blood, robed him in righteousness,
he turned back, he returned, and with a loud voice, unashamed,
I'm not ashamed of this gospel, The gospel of God's great. I'm
not. And what did He do? Who is He talking to? He was
talking to the Lord Jesus Christ. What did the Lord say He did?
He glorified God. That's right. God. One of them.
One of them. Thankfulness is a rare quality. Rare. How few truly give thanks. I wonder if I ever truly have.
The Lord asked, were there not 10 cleansed? Where are the nine? Many claim allegiance. Many claim to love. Many claim that they're thankful
to the Lord. And they make a verbal, outward,
you know, voice of praise. But only a believer has a heart
of thankfulness and appreciation. Only a believer will glorify
God. God's people admit we're not
thankful as we ought to be. We're not thankful as we want
to be. We're not thankful as we shall be, but God's people
are thankful. Pray without ceasing. In all
things give thanks. This is the will of God, Christ
Jesus. He prayed. And thirdly, my last point, believers
do give thanks. They do. They do. By the grace
of God, they give thanks, as the Lord did, for their temporal
blessings. They're thankful for the distinguishing
grace of God to save His people, the mercy of Christ to send,
you know, be sent, to give Himself, to redeem, deliver us from the
bondage of sin. They're thankful for His continual
deliverance and mercy. Oh, what He's kept us from. What
has he kept us from? But I'll tell you what, they're
all so thankful for God's people. Philippians, one of my favorite
passages of scripture. I think about this, I remember
writing a letter to Brother Henry and closed it with this scripture. Philippians chapter one. Philippians
1, verse 3 to 6. I thank my God upon every remembrance
of you. Always, in every prayer of mine
for you all, making request with joy for your fellowship in the
gospel from the first day until now. being confident of this
very thing that he which hath begun a good work in you will
perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. God's people are thankful
for each other. It thrills my heart to be able
to be here with God's people, to fellowship with you. to think
that almighty God would allow us the privilege to be able to
meet together, to have this time of love, peace, joy, comfort,
speak comfortably one to another. In everything, give thanks, for
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. May the
Lord bless these words to our heart for Christ's sake. Amen. All right, let's take a break.