Go with me if you would, back
to Colossians chapter three. Colossians chapter three, let's
read a few verses here. Beginning at the end of verse
11. The very last line of verse 11
says, Christ is all and in all. Verse 12 says, put on therefore
as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness,
humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one
another and forgiving one another, If any man have a quarrel against
any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all
these things, put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule
in your hearts, to the which also you are called in one body,
and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell
in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one
another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with
grace in your hearts to the Lord and whatsoever you do in word
or deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks
to God and the father by him. You know, sometimes you feel
certain things and you can't always put your finger on why. I know you've experienced that.
Sometimes you feel like you're having a good day. Sometimes
it just dawns on you, I'm having a good day. Sometimes you feel
like you're having a bad day, which translates to sometimes
you're happy, sometimes you're sad. And there are times when you
can't exactly put your finger on why. I know we have all felt
down, you know, maybe just a little depressed and somebody will say,
why? I don't know. Can't put your
finger on why. I have been feeling something
lately and I'm very sincere in this. I want to just very simply Tell you this,
that's what the whole message is. I just want to simply tell
you this, but I've been feeling something lately and that thing
is thankful. I have been feeling thankful
and I know that I have a lot of reasons to be thankful, but
I can't exactly put my finger on which one it is. I can't put
my finger on. Why exactly, but I sincerely
have, there are a lot of things in my mind, some of them I'm
gonna bring up here, but I'm thankful for feeling thankful. I'm in a moment, you know how
we go through moments. Well, I'm in a moment and I'm
very thankful for it. I'm thankful for the fact that
I feel sincerely, sincerely thankful. Thankfulness is a gift from God. I'm convinced of that. True thankfulness. I mean, honest, sincere, true
thankfulness. That is a gift from God. It's something that he puts in
the hearts of his people. And even though that thankfulness
extends to other things in life, it carries over to Other things
in this world in Colossians three, right here, I found some things
that all of God's people can put their finger on and really know why they are
thankful, really know why they are feeling the way that they
feel concerning some things that are, that make us thankful. Recently,
we had a message from the end of Colossians three, verse 11,
which says Christ is all and in all. And I'd like to start
right there. God's people are so thankful
for the fact that Christ is all and in all. Just so, so thankful. I say this all the time because
I experience this all the time, but there are things that we
know, and then sometimes we get ahold of them. And then same
thing, it'll go back to we know it, and then every now and then
we'll get ahold of it. And just in that moment of the
Lord allowing us to get ahold of the fact that Jesus Christ
has been made to be all I need, all I need. Christ is all I need. That just makes me so thankful. Just so, so thankful. He is all
of our hope. It's so wonderful to know where
your hope is. You can put your finger on that.
You know where your hope is. I sure do. I can put my finger
on that one. He's all of our hope. He is all
of our payment, all of our offering. We know he's all of our satisfaction
and we know that God is satisfied because he's the payment. He's
the offering. He is all of our redemption.
He is all of our inheritance. You just think about the fact
that we get an inheritance, really. We get an inheritance. Things
seem to fall apart down here, but we have a sure inheritance
reserved for us, and it's Him. He is all of our desire. He is all of our message. I am so thankful that when I
sit down every now and then this thought goes through my mind,
I'll sit down and open up the scripture and the thought is
now what? There's only one answer. There's
only one message. He's all the message. He is all we need. Aren't we so thankful for that?
He's all we need. Colossians 3, look right here
at verse 1. It says, if you then be risen with Christ, seek those
things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand
of God. Set your affection on things
above, not on things on the earth. For you are dead and your life
is hid with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life shall
appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory. Aren't you so thankful for that?
When he comes back, he's coming back. He is coming back. This is not fairy tale. This
is not tradition. He is coming back. He is coming
back. A real man is coming back. He's
emptying heaven when he does. All the angels, all the brethren,
everything's coming with him. When he comes back, it's going
to be a terrible experience in both ways. And to some, the horror is going
to hit that he has come back. But for us in Christ, because
Christ has been made to be all that we need, it's going to be
glory. When he comes back, we're going
to appear with him in glory that fast boom and glory. Now that's something that we
can be thankful for and put our finger on. So thankful for the
fact that Christ is our all and in all. That story of Happy Jack,
the huckster, that's what he said. I'm just a sinner, nothing
at all, but Jesus Christ is my all and in all. And they all
noticed, he's happier than we are. Thankful, just thankful. Verse 12, if you look at Colossians
3, verse 12, it says, Put on therefore as the elect of God, God elected a people to save. Had he not done that, nobody
would have been saved. Nobody would have been saved.
You know, you tell the truth of election to people and that's
something that they don't want to hear. They just don't want
to hear it. But had God not elected a people to save, nobody would
have been saved. Every human being was headed
into destruction. Every single human being. But
because the Lord God reached way down for some, and pulled him out. God elected
to stop. Every soul was just running into
eternal fiery destruction. And God put his hand in front
of some of them and stopped them. Stopped them from what they wanted
to do. And because he did that, he delivered them from going
down into the pit. And we can't understand that
really and enter into that and appreciate that. We can say,
yeah, that's so, that's what he did. But you think about that,
he delivered us from the pit. God chose to save a particular
people in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we are so thankful for the
fact that number one, he is all, he's our all. And number two,
God chose to save Some of us centers in him. You know, while
this world, so many are crying, what you did was not fair. That's
what so many people are crying. That was not fair. Don't we sincerely
cry from the depths of our soul? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for your election. Thank you for being our all.
Thank you for choosing to save a people in yourself. Verse 12
says, put on therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved
bowels of mercies, mercies upon mercies upon mercies. I am so
thankful for his mercy. I am so thankful for his mercy.
I'm so thankful for his kindness toward us as verse 12 says, his
humbleness of mind toward us, his meekness toward us, his long
suffering toward us. That's his patience toward us.
Hold your place right here and turn over to Psalm 103. Psalm 103 verse one, it says,
bless the Lord, oh my soul and all that is within me, bless
his holy name. Why? Why? Verse eight, the Lord is merciful
and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. Do you know,
Children have a way of trying their parents. And that's what
we do every single day. That's what we do every single
day to our Lord. But the Lord is merciful, He's
gracious, He is slow to anger, and He's plenteous in mercy.
Verse nine says, He will not always chide, neither will He
keep His anger forever, He hath not dealt with us after our sins. He dealt with us after Christ's
payment. He has not rewarded us according
to our iniquities. He has rewarded us according
to Christ's righteousness. That means everything that He
did in His perfection as He walked this earth for 33 and a half
years, every single thing He did, the response of God the
Father was, well done. Well done, well done, well done. And that is how God the Father
has rewarded us in Him. Well done, well done, well done,
well done. That thought, you just thought,
well done. That feeling you just had well done. Aren't you so thankful for that?
And then all of this iniquity that thought we just had and
that feeling we just had, he rewarded Christ. According to
that verse 11 says for as the heaven is high above the earth,
so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as
the East is from the West, so far hath He removed our transgressions
from us. And I love this verse, verse
13. Like as a father pitieth his
children, and do parents pity their children? So the Lord pitieth
them that fear Him, for He knoweth our frame, He remembereth that
we are dust. As for man, his days are as grass,
as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind
passeth over it, and it is gone, and the place thereof shall know
it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is
from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him. And
his righteousness is unto children's children. And I'm so thankful
for that. Just so thankful. Doesn't hearing that, doesn't
that make you thankful? Thank God for the fact that Christ
is all, He's our all, made to be all for us. Thank God for
His election. And thank God for His mercy.
His mercy and His compassion that is brand spanking new every
single morning. Faithful, faithful. All right,
now hold your place here in the Psalms and go back to our text. Colossians 3 verse 13, it says,
forbearing one another and forgiving one another, if any man have
a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do
ye. Turn with me to Psalm 130, back
into the Psalms to Psalm 130. Psalm 130 verse 1, it says, out
of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let thine ears be attentive to
the voice of my supplications. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark
iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness
with thee that thou mayest be feared. Have you ever truly been
forgiven by somebody, anybody in this life? Somebody that you
did something and hurt them. I mean, you did them wrong and
you know, you did them wrong and you hurt them and you begged
them. I mean, just sincerely begged
them for their forgiveness and they gave it to you. They honestly,
sincerely gave it to you. If so, if you've ever been in
that case, do you remember how thankful you were that they forgave
you? Well, listen to this. There is
forgiveness with him. There is forgiveness. Where is
that forgiveness? It's in the Christ who is all. He is all of our forgiveness.
There is forgiveness with him. Verse seven, right here in Psalm
130, it says, let Israel hope in the Lord for with the Lord
there is mercy and with him is plenteous redemption and he shall
redeem Israel from all his iniquities. How much forgiveness do you need?
How much do you need? That makes me so happy. So thankful. Go with me back
to Colossians chapter three, Colossians three, verse 14. It
says, And above all these things, put
on love. Charity means love. Thank God for His love. We just sang, oh, the love that
sought me. Oh, the blood that bought me.
Oh, the grace that brought me to the fold. Wondrous grace that
brought me to the fold. You talk about love. that God
the Father would send his own son to be the propitiation. That word means the covering,
the atonement, but one plain definition is the bloody victim. That he would send his own son
to be the bloody victim for our sins. The song says, and when
I think that God, his son, not sparing sent him to die, I scarce
can take it in that on the cross, my burden gladly bearing, he
bled and died to take away my sin. Go through your life in
your mind, go through that, that those small years of rebellion,
and then go through that. older childhood years of rebellion
and then go through your teenage years of rebellion and then go
through your twenties years of rebellion and just keep on going. Just keep on going. He bled and
died to take away my sins. Then sings my soul. Thank Thank
you. Thank you for the love you had
for us. Thank you for commending your
love to us, even while we were yet sinners and dying for us. That great love deserves great
thanks. Verse 14 says, and above all
these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. I thank God for unity. That's one of the things that,
that as I was thinking about all this, I could put my finger
on one of the things that was making me just so, so thankful.
The Lord has given us some unity. He has given us a true unity
with each other. I thank God for the unity that
he has put within these walls inside this congregation. Our
Lord said there must be heresies among you. That means divisions.
But I don't want them. And I want to pray that God will
keep us from them as much as he will allow because I desire
unity. I thank God for unity. The unity that I feel with each
one of you. That's something that we can
put our finger on and The thing that unites us is Christ. The bond of perfection, he said,
that's Christ. That's what unites us. Christ
himself stayed upon Jehovah hearts are fully blessed. Finding as
He promised perfect peace and rest. Verse 15 says, and let
the peace of God rule in your hearts. I thank God for the peace
of God. The peace that God has established
for us, the quietness of our souls over our eternal state,
just such a quiet, quiet, peaceful, eternal state. In Christ we have
nothing to fear. Nothing. In Christ we have nothing
to dread. What have I to fear? What have
I to dread? Leaning on the everlasting arms.
In Christ we have nothing to argue about. We have nothing
to divide over. In Christ If it's all on him, it's perfect
peace, peace with him. It's peace with each other. I'm
thankful for that. Verse 15 says, and let the peace
of God rule in your hearts to the, which also you are called. Thank God. He has not left me
to myself. Thank God. He drew me away from
worshiping and serving my self. That's something we've all done.
That's something we were also prone to do. Thank God. He drew me away from that desire
to only worship and serve myself and called me to him. Aren't
you so thankful for the fact that you've been called. You know, we just beg God for
people. We beg God for people's souls. Lord, please save them.
Please save them. Please call them. It's life and
death. It's heaven or hell. It's. Aren't
you so thankful that he has called us? Wouldn't we be thankful if he'd
call us again? Wouldn't you be so thankful if
he would call you right now? You know, he called us. Wouldn't you be thankful if he
called you again right now? Wouldn't you be so thankful if
he spoke to your heart? Wouldn't you be so grateful?
Lord, call me today. Call me tomorrow. Samuel said,
speak Lord, thy servant hereth. Please, please speak to me. I am listening for your call. I'm listening for your call.
I remember somebody giving the illustration a long time ago
of the little boy who was sitting in church with his hands cupped
around his ears. He was just sitting on the pew
like this with his hands cupped around his ears. And his mom
looked at him and said, what are you doing? He said, well,
the preacher said, that the Lord calls his people. And if he calls
me, I wanna hear him. I hope he calls me. If he calls
me, I wanna hear him. I wanna hear him. I'm so thankful
that he has called me. I'm so thankful that he will
call again. He'll call again, Samuel, Samuel,
he'll call, the Lord called again. When he calls, what does he say? When he calls, if he calls you,
what will he say? When he calls somebody, what
does he say? This is what he says. You are
a sinner in need of a savior. And I am the savior of sinners. Come to me. That's what he says. Verse 15, and let the peace of
God rule in your hearts to the which also you are called in
one body and be ye thankful. Verse 16 says, let the word of
Christ dwell in you richly. in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing
one another in Psalms and hymns, in spiritual songs, singing with
grace in your hearts to the Lord. I am so thankful for the word
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I am as sincere as the Lord
will allow me to be. I am so thankful for this word. If we didn't have this word,
we would not have anything. We would not have anything. If
we did not have this word, we would not have anything. The
doctrine of Christ, the gospel itself. I am so thankful for
the fact that God has given this to us to read, to preach, to
sing. We were singing those songs just
a minute ago and I was thinking, boy, what a privilege and blessing
it is that we get to sing these songs. All of it with grace in
our hearts to the Lord. Grace in our hearts. That means
the gift of God. Grace is a free gift. I'm so
thankful for grace. I am so thankful for sovereign
grace, God's grace, free grace, amazing grace, the wonderful
grace of the Lord Jesus that is so much greater than all my
sin. How shall my tongue describe it? Where shall its praise begin? Taking away my burden. setting my spirit free, for the
wonderful grace of the Lord Jesus reaches even me. Oh, how thankful we are for the
fact that Christ is all, just so thankful, Christ is all. So
thankful that God held an election and chose to show mercy because
of it. How thankful we are that there
is forgiveness with Him. True, true, sincere forgiveness. And that forgiveness has brought
love and unity and peace to us. How thankful we are for the fact
that God has called us and given us His Word, the Word of His
grace. Because of that, verse 17 says, And whatsoever you do in word
or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. Just like when
we pray, we communicate to our God and then we close our prayer
by saying, Lord, we are saying all of this in Jesus name. We're saying all of this in the
name of the Savior. In the name of the God-man, in
the name of the mediator, in the name of the one who has made
intercession on our behalf, we're coming to you in His name. Our communication is only because
of Christ, for Christ's sake. As it is up there, may it be
down here. Verse 17 says, whatsoever you
do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. All of it in the name of the
Savior, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him. He is
the reason that we're thankful. He is the reason. We have every
reason to be thankful in Him. Every reason. Every child of
God can put their finger on that right there. They can say, that's
it. That's it. It's because of Him. All because of Him, I'm thankful.
All because of everything we have in Him, I'm thankful. I
feel thankful. I just feel so thankful. So may
that keep going. May the Lord keep that feeling
with us. All right, let's all stand together.