you'll turn back with me now
to first corinthians i'm going to be speaking from birth fifty
seven now thanks be under god which
giveth us the victory through our lord jesus christ that birth
of scripture alone shoots down all the free will doctrine. It shoots all the decisionism. It shoots down all of the false
prophets' messages, no matter where they are or what they are. Salvation is the gift of God
through his dear son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is what
he tells us. This is what's on the mind of
the believer When he comes to the grave, he said, now thanks
be unto God, which giveth us the victory. Gave it to us. We
didn't earn it. We weren't looking for it. He
gave it to us. The scripture that I'll be using
this morning came to me while I was studying our Sunday morning
Bible study of Jacob being a type of Christ. And in Hebrews 11,
it tells us about old Jacob leaning on his staff. He would come to
die, come to leave this world. He'd seen a lot of things, didn't
he? He'd seen the hand of God in a lot of things. And now he
saw Joseph's two little boys and he blessed them and now he's
leaning on his staff and it said he worshipped God. He worshipped
God. And this scripture came to my
mind, thanks be unto God which giveth us the victory. Now if
you and I have been truly called of God and his grace and providence
have attended our lives, We may, when the time comes, survey our
lives and how God has intervened and say with Paul, now thanks
be unto God. Thanks be unto God. But we're
not going to start saying it then. We're going to be saying
it now. That's the first words that comes
out of a man's lips when God says to him, thank God. Thank God. And of this I'm sure, if we're
not thanking him now, we're not gonna thank him then. That's just so. If we cannot
recognize his love and his power and his authority and his presence
and his blessings and his purpose now, not gonna dwell on him then. That's not gonna be the uppermost
thing on your mind. It'll be other things. of the
thing. But happy is that one who can
see these things now and from his heart give thanks unto God
for all his blessings. Now I don't know if time will
allow me to show you the scriptures that I've been looking at, but
let me show you as many as we have time for. These are things
which men were thankful for that we know that were elect of God. These
men, I don't have to question that. God's already told us that
they were, and he's preserved what they said. These were God's
elect. And these are all things included
in our text and contribute to that ultimate victory in Christ. You know, victory don't begin
when you die. That's what young people think. When you talk to them about being
saved, you're talking to them about the things of God and they
want to put it off. You know, I got a life to live
and then I'll deal with those things when I... It's not dealing
with those things when you come to die. Dealing with those things
are going on right now. Right now. So these are things
all included in our text and they contribute to that ultimate
victory in Christ. First of all, in 1 Corinthians
chapter 1 and verses 4 and 5, Paul thanks God for his grace
which was given to this church. These were Greek philosophers.
These were men who grew up around the the false gods and statutes,
and I mean, if you think about the ways I was, I don't know
why, but the cancer place where I take Cathy has just been infiltrated
with Catholicism, all kinds of writings and all of these statues
and all of these pictures and all of these holy days and all
of these things that were in the book, it just makes me want
to throw up. That's where the Corinthians
were. They grew up with that kind of thing. And they were
just consumed with idolatry. They were surrounded with it.
They were force-fed it when they were children. And they'd bend
down to the statues, and they bowed to the statues, and they
prayed to the false gods. And they'd bend down that road.
But God, in his grace, came to the Corinthians. And by grace,
he taught them the truth. And he saved them. We have what we have here in
this place by the grace of God. Who maketh thee to differ from
another? How come this little building
and this little group knows the truth? And those of you who know
it and have tried to witness it, you understand the multitude,
multitudes of people out there who don't. You have what you have here by
the grace of God. Paul said to these Corinthians,
I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of God which
is given you by Jesus Christ. That's where it all began, isn't
it? God blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world. All God's gifts are given to
us by way of His Son, Jesus Christ. And it is a special gift that
causes a church to be formed, and a pastor called, and a pillar
of truth to be established in a community. It's all of God's
grace. It's God's sovereign grace, and
it's a testimony of that, and most of them have it on their
side. But you say, there's churches
everywhere. Oh, I beg your pardon. I beg your pardon. There's buildings
everywhere. There's synagogues and temples
and tabernacles and mosques and whatever else they've thought
up to call them. But they're not churches everywhere.
Churches are made up of God's elect. That's his church. And whenever he says churches,
he's just talking about small groups of his elect. That's what
he's talking about. of all the church, man, there
was untold amount of churches in Asia, but he only talked about
seven of them in the book of Revelation. And I tell you this, when God's
chosen saints, when he's pleased to send them grace and teach
them the truth, they're thankful for it. They're thankful for
it. They're careful to try to maintain
it. They're sincere to support it.
And they're faithful to attend it. They're thankful for it. Secondly, in Romans chapter 16,
verses three and four, we're reminded that the privileges
that we now enjoy came at a great cost. You know how much it cost
you? Just getting up early and coming
to church. But that's not all that it cost.
These privileges that we enjoy right now came at a great cost.
In Romans chapter 16 and verse 3, Paul names two people who
helped him in the ministry. In verse 4, he said, who have
for my life laid down their own necks, unto whom not only I give thanks,
but also all the churches of the Gentiles. And brethren, there
have been a lot of sacrifice and suffering that you and I
can come into this place today and enjoy what we enjoy. Read
Hebrews chapter 11. And that's not to mention all
those who died for the gospel they believe. There'd be no gospel
witness at all. He talked about them being baptized
for the dead. That is, they'd go out here in
a creek or a river or a stream or a pond or whatever there was,
and they'd baptize this man, and he makes a public profession
of faith, knowing that the powers that be were gonna take him out
and kill him. Take him down to the arena and feed him to the
lions, make sport of him. They baptized for the dead. And we ought to be thankful for
the privileges we enjoy knowing that they come at a great cost. And then thirdly, we're to give
thanks that the gospel message we preach is always successful. Is it? Sure it is. It's always
successful. Listen to this, 2 Corinthians
2 verse 14. Paul said, Now thanks be unto
God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh
manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour
of Christ in them that are saved, and in them that perish. To the
one we're the saver of death unto death, and to the other
the saver of life unto life. Who's sufficient for these things?
The gospel's preached for more than just calling out of his
elect. It's preached to warn men. And
every time it's preached, it's successful. It warns men. Don't think you're gonna stand
in judgment and say, They never told me. I don't know what they
said, but I told you. And I've warned you, and I'm
free from the blood of those who gathered here this morning,
because I'm telling you right now the truth. But this gospel's
always successful. It's preached to warn the wicked,
to flee his evil way. It's preached to shut sinners
up to the Savior. It's preached to make known the
glory of God in Christ. And it's preached to reveal God's
condemnation of this world. This world's not in a vacuum. This world's under the wrath
of God. It's under the condemnation of
God. I was thinking about this this
morning and I added this line to my message. False religions
speak, they spend all their energy on making converts. Do you know
why? You know why that is? Why is
everything geared to get a man down the aisle, to get a man
to make a decision, to get a man to come to the front and sign
a pledge card, to do whatever the church... All their energy
is geared to make converts. You know why? Because their message
is not sufficient. I don't have to get you down
the aisle. My gospel's sufficient. It'll do the work. When Paul's
on the ears of God's elect, he'll be regenerated. He'll hear it. He'll repent. He'll believe.
He'll do all that God said he would do. And that's what Paul's
thanking God for. That no matter where he went,
that message was successful. Noah preached 120 years, had
seven converts. You know who the seven were?
of his own family. Was his preaching sufficient? You better believe it. God saved
them seven and he killed everybody else. Huh? We're thankful to God because
our gospel is always successful. And then fourthly, there's thanksgiving
to God for the earnest care He puts into the hearts of some
for the care and preservation of His churches. Listen to this
in 2 Corinthians 8 verse 16. Now there's a multitude of these
verses that you can find. I just settled on 10 of them.
He said, but thanks be unto God which put the same earnest care
into the heart of Titus for you. Now Titus was a preacher. He
would have preached anywhere God sent him. He would have preached anywhere
God sent him. But he had a special, a special feeling, a special
love for these Corinthians. And God gave it to him. God gave
it to him. And Paul was thankful. He put
the same earnest care into the heart of Titus that Paul had
for them. A young man asked me one time,
he said, how do you know where God purposed for you to be and
how did you know that that's where God wanted you to be? And
I said, well, I honestly believe in my heart that he gave me the
hearts of the people that were there and he certainly gave them
mine. That's it. He said, be thankful
for that. Be thankful for that. God puts
an earnest care into the hearts of some for the welfare of His
churches, and they're willing to spend and be spent to that
end. You're not going to do that unless
God gives you a heart for it. You're just not going to do it.
And Paul was thankful that he did. Fifthly, the Apostle Paul
tells us that thanks is to be given to God for His unspeakable
gift. It's not unspeakable in the sense
that we're forbidden to talk about it, but rather in the sense
of its depth and eternality and infinite wisdom. It's unspeakable. Where's the words that's sufficient
to describe it? Where is the man eloquent enough
to paint a picture of God's grace that's sufficient? John said if the world, if all
of the books written on the works of Christ, he said the world
couldn't hold the books. And Romans 11, having already
declared the mystery of the Gentiles, the reality of the Jews, suddenly,
it suddenly moves the apostle in his heart to praise God for
his wisdom. It was so far above him how God
was doing this thing with the Gentile because he was raised
a Jew. And he began to see the reality
and the value of the Jew versus the Gentile and how God in his
wisdom was doing this thing. And he suddenly just bursts out
in praise in Romans 11, 33. He said, Oh, the depth of the
riches both of the wisdom and knowledge
of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past
finding out. For who hath known the mind of
the Lord, or who hath been his counselor, or who hath first
given to him that it shall be recompensed to him again? For
of him, and through him, and to him are all things, to whom
be glory forever." Huh? Oh, my soul. Christ is God's
unspeakable gift. And where is the man that can
plumb the depth of it or weigh the value of it? It's unspeakable. In him are hid all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge. In him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. All things were made by him and
for him, and without him was not anything made that was made.
by him all things have their continuance. Christ is God's
unspeakable gift to chosen sinners and all those who know it are
thankful for it. Oh my soul, how thankful I am. I know whom I have believed. Sixthly, we who have and are
presently experiencing the grace of God and the salvation of our
souls are thankful for the means that God has used to draw us
to his son. You think about it? Oh, I think
about it often. I think about it often. I think
about his providence and how his providence worked in my life
to bring me to a preacher. And bringing me to that preacher
opened my heart to hear what he said and gave me a heart for
it. and a will to submit to it. Turn
with me to Ephesians chapter five. Ephesians chapter five,
and look down here at verse 20. We're talking about giving thanks
to God, recognizing all the means that God has employed to draw
you to Christ. Ephesians five verse 20, giving
thanks always for all things, unto God and unto the Father
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. What things? All things. Things you can see
and things you can't see. Yeah, I could probably number
on two hands the things that I really see. My soul, how many
thousands, untold thousands of things has God worked in your
life that you don't see, not even aware of? I've heard people say this and
for sure I've thought it even if I didn't say it. I sure wish
I had this and that to do again. I'd do it differently. You ever
said that? And while that might have a sound
of wisdom about it, I can assure you that it's not the wisdom
of God. It is not. I don't want to shock
you, but the scripture says, in Christ we have obtained an
inheritance, now listen, being predestinated according to the
purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his
own will. I cannot justify my sins and
my wicked behavior and my rebellion toward God, but I'm confident
that God arranged these things in such a fashion as to shut
me up to Christ. He used everything in my life
to bring me to Christ. And for that reason, I wouldn't
want to change a thing. But rather I want to be thankful
for all things, knowing that all things work together for
my good and his glory. Brother Fortner one time, he
gave us a picture of that verse. Like looking into Big Ben over
in England, looking into that big clock, you could see all
them gear, big gear, great big giant gear, big as a semi, and
then you come down here and here's a little gear, and then here's
one on a spline turning this way, and then one with cogs on
it going that way, and all things work together, all working together
for our good and His glory. And here's the seventh thing. Being thankful for the presence
and power of God for giving us the ability to be partakers of
the inheritance of enlightened saints. Only enlightened saints
understand the inheritance that they've received. And it's the very light by which
they see it that's incorporated in that inheritance. And that
light is, of course, Christ. You can see that over Colossians
1 verse 12. Paul thanked God for that. My friend, faith and worship
and love and repentance and long-suffering and kindness are fruits of a
new birth. and of a new nature that's put
in us. Natural man can't produce these
things. Natural man cannot worship God. He can sing, he can dance,
he can play his guitar, he can beat on some drums, but he can't
worship God. Worship is the fruit of God's
spirit in him. And worship is the fruit of knowledge. You can't worship him that you
don't know. And you can't know him of whom
you're not heard. Faith and worship, love and repentance,
long-suffering, kindness, all these things, they're fruits
of a new birth and a new nature. A natural man will always look
at a believer as a fraud. You know why? Why is it he looks
at a believer and he sees him praying and he hears his testimony
and he visits with him and he goes home and talks about those
old hypocrites down at the church? Why do they always see the believer
as a fraud and a hypocrite? I'll tell you why. Because he
cannot find in himself what he sees in them. That's why. The natural man, he can't produce
it, Russell. He cannot produce it. He can't
produce that heavenly vision. He can't produce a new heart. God said, I'll make my covenant
with them in those days, and it'll stick. I'll write my laws
in their hearts and upon their minds. That is his law perfectly
satisfied, honored, and exalted in Christ. The natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God for their foolishness
unto him. He don't know nothing about them.
He can't see them. He don't understand them and
their foolishness to him. He finds no power in the gospel
to convince him of anything. He neither fears nor respects
God's ambassadors. He's not awed by the word of
God's promises, nor does he fear the penalty of his neglect. He's never been wooed by the
Spirit of God, therefore he writes another man's testimonies off
as though it were phony. And that man was a hypocrite.
In Ephesians chapter two, verse eight and nine, he tells us that
faith is the gift of God's sovereign grace. And then Paul tells us,
for we are his workmanship. God's workmanship created in
Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in. And every child chosen of God
to salvation is chosen to salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth. Those things go together. He
doesn't save a man no matter what. He saves a man by sanctification
of spirit and belief of the truth. And no man of himself can generate
the power and ability which enables him to believe and rejoice and
repent and believe. And no man of himself can rejoice,
worship, or find rest in the Redeemer. We give thanks unto
the Father which hath made us meet which hath made us meet to be
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in life. And then
here's number eight. We're thankful for the election
of God. Are you? Boy, I know people despise
it. They hate it. They condemn it.
They talk about how foolish it is. They talk about how wrong
it is. Well, not me. I rejoice in it. What if you
had the choice? Oh, my soul. We're thankful for the election
of God. There's three doctrines despised
by natural men more than any other. They don't like any of
God's truth, but they especially hate these three things. They
hate the doctrine of God's absolute, total sovereignty over all things. You won't get that far in a conversation
to one before he stops you and calls what you're saying into
question. They despise the very thought of God's absolute sovereignty
over all things, and especially over them. He'll show mercy to
whom he will, and whom he will, he'll harden. That's absolute
sovereignty. And then secondly, they hate
the vicarious particular redemption of Christ that died for his elect. Boy, they don't even like to
entertain the thought. They don't even like to hear
it when you read it to them out of the scripture. And then thirdly,
they hate the very idea that God took it upon himself to choose
a people to salvation for the glory of his name. But it's so
anyway. And it don't come across that
way to the guilty sinner. I always, when I think about
this election, I think about Barabbas, sitting down there
in that prison. And he couldn't hear too much
about what was going on, but he'd hear them when that voice
came up, and they, give us Barabbas, give us Barabbas. Well, he knew
he was a criminal, but he didn't know there was a lynch mob out
there crying for his death, crying for his skin. And then they said,
crucify him, crucify him. They couldn't hear all this stuff
that was going on in between. And then he hears these soldiers
coming down that hallway. And they get him, and they take
him out into the daylight, and they said, you're free to go.
And he said, what? He said, another's been chosen
to die in your stead. Huh? Now, I'm telling you, when
the guilty sinner hears election, it's the best news he ever heard.
You think that's good news to Barabbas? Oh, it was good news
to me. then actually we're told to be
thankful for our Lord's wise arrangement of and sovereign
authority over all the powers that be. Listen to this, 1 Timothy 2 verse
1. I exhort therefore that first
of all supplications That is making requests for others who
may not know how to make it themselves. Making supplications and prayers
and intercession and giving of thanks be made for all men. Now, he's not talking about every
man, woman, and child here. What he's talking about here
is prayer for all sorts of men, all sorts of women. Because in verse 2, if you want
to know what the gist of this thing is, he tells you there
in verse 2, for kings and for all that are in authority, why? Why do we need to pray for them?
Why do we need to make supplications for them? Why do we need to be
thankful to God for them? Some of them are rotten apples.
Why are we thanking God for them? Listen to this, that we might
lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. What would it be like to live
in this world without law? Huh? Well, I'll tell you. In Romans 13, 1, we're told that
there's no existing power but that of God and all the rest
are ordained of him. Then in verse four he goes on
to tell us that these powers are being used of God to minister
to us in a general fashion. To restrain men, to punish evil
doers, and we're not to withhold our tribute or taxes knowing
the real reason why they're here. They said to Christ they were
going to trick him and trap him. Who do we pay tribute to? They're going to get out of paying
taxes. He said, whose image is on the coin? Give it to him. Give it to him. Now, government
in itself is crooked. I don't even have to tell you
that. You already know that. If you have a TV, you ought to
know it. It's crooked. But God overrules
it. And he uses it in a general fashion. They don't even know they're
being used, and God uses them, that we might lead a quiet and
peaceable life in this world. And we're to give thanks for
it. We're to make intercession for them, seeing that they're
ignorant of God, and ask that God would help them to do their
jobs well, and maybe even save some of them. He did that Roman
centurion. He saved him. What about that
Philippian jailer? Saved him. And Paul talked about
many, many in the palace that heard the gospel through him,
and God had him locked in prison. And then lastly, we're to give
thanks unto God's name, unto his name. Hebrews 13, 15. By
him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God
continually. Now watch this. That is the fruit
of our lips giving thanks unto His name. God's name is His character. It's what constitutes His Godhead. The believer praises Him for
His name because His name is what gives them hope. It's what
gives them assurance. God is just. and God is gracious
and merciful. So if God saves a man, he must
save him in a way that's consistent with his justice. And if he saves
him in a way consistent with his justice, then who's gonna
condemn him? Isn't that Paul's argument over
there in Romans chapter eight? Who is he that condemns? It's
God that justifies He saved us in a way consistent with his
name and therefore we glorify his name. He called Moses up to the top
of Mount Sinai and there he descended in a cloud and he proclaimed
the name of the Lord, Exodus 34, 5. And here's what he said
concerning his name. Exodus 34, verse 6. The Lord
God He said, that's who I am, I'm the Lord God. Merciful and
gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth,
keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression,
and sin. And that will by no means clear
the guilty. The very fact that our God's
nature is to be merciful and gracious, gives hope to guilty
sinners when they find it out. He's gracious. And while God's
name is nothing more than a point of argument and debate to some,
it's the very cause of the lips of his redeemed to praise his
glorious name. And that name is manifested so
clearly in the person and work of God our Savior. All my soul. Is that name important? Acts
4, 12 says, neither is there salvation in any other, for there
is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must
be saved. And God saves a man and reveals
his name to him, I guarantee you he'll be thankful for it
the rest of his life. Every time he thinks on the name
of God, he gives him praise and thanksgiving.