Five Good Reasons to Thank God

First Thessalonians, I'm going
to speak to you on the subject, Five Good Reasons to Thank God. Five Good Reasons to Thank God. In First Thessalonians, chapter
2, verse 13, For this cause also Thank we God without ceasing. I confess when I was seeking
some kind of leadership for a message tonight that the reason I picked
these two verses for my text, verse 13 and 14, is I was attracted
to this opening statement in verse 13. for this cause also
thank we God without ceasing. It's such a pleasant sound to
hear somebody thanking God, isn't it? The air is heavy with complaints,
the air is filled with murmuring, the air is filled with criticism,
and we hear so few voices raised in praise to God. Paul and Silas
and Timothy, who are together writing this epistle to the church
at Thessalonica, they say, for this cause, we thank God without
ceasing. This is one of the objections
I have to holidays. I'm not a holiday person. And
one of the objections I have to holidays is this, that being
prone to confine their goodwill to the Christmas season. Why
not have goodwill all the time? And then thanksgiving, they say
that's our most scriptural holiday, and I would agree with that.
It is the most scriptural holiday we have, but it's a poor substitute
because most people only think of thanksgiving one day a year. We spend a little time offering
a prayer or two that one day of thanksgiving to God. Paul
said, we thank God without ceasing. We thank God without ceasing.
Every day ought to be thanksgiving day. I received a letter just
15 minutes ago. It was sent to one of the members
of the Church, and it was addressed to me, and they brought it on
to church with them and gave it to me. There's a family down
in Georgia, very, very close friends of mine. Some of you
may know them. They used to live in Ashland.
They've lived down in Georgia a long time. Ed Ballard knows
them. He used to be a basketball coach in this area, coached at,
I think, Cumberland College or Center or Berea or somewhere
in this area, good friend of Ernie Chattin's and Bo McMillan's
and those fellas. He and his wife, Sally, loved
the gospel. They're precious people. I've
been in their home, and they're very, very precious people who
love the gospel. Two years ago, their 21-year-old
daughter killed herself, right at this time of year. They wrote
me and said, this is a sad time of year for us, a happy time
in the Lord, but very, very sad. And then they said to top all
that off, our other son, who is in a wheelchair, he's been
in a wheelchair all his life. He's about, how old Ed, 20, 21,
been in a wheelchair all his life. Well now he's having tremendous
problems. Last year was such a happy year
for Mike. Mike writes to me, I send him
tapes. But he won the Olympic wheelchair Olympics of Georgia,
but now this year he's in the hospital and very seriously ill. And I thought as I read that
letter, and I said this last Sunday in my message, God help
us, but he won't. God have mercy on us, but he
won't. All in the world we have to do
to find a problem greater than ours home with more clouds than
ours and somebody with a trial more severe than ours is just
open our eyes. Every day ought to be a day of
thanksgiving. I'm not talking about just for
material gifts and material wealth and material health and material
prosperity. I'm talking about just knowing
the Lord. Just having His grace and His mercy and sins forgiven.
Let's look at a few verses on thanksgiving. Turn to Philippians
4. Philippians chapter 4. Listen
to Paul here in Philippians 4 verse 6. He says, Be careful. Now that word is be anxious for
nothing. It's certainly the old English
of 1611 and 1620 uses words that mean to them what they're supposed
to mean to us, but don't. But the word there is anxious.
Be anxious for nothing. But in everything, by prayer
and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known
to God. With thanksgiving. Turn, if you
will, to Colossians 3, just over a page or two. Colossians 3,
verse 15. And let the peace of God rule,
not visit occasionally, let the peace of God rule in your hearts,
to the which also you are called in one body, and be ye thankful. Look at Colossians 4, verse 2.
Continue in prayer. And watch in the same, that is
in prayer, with what? With thanksgiving. Just a word of thanksgiving is
a scriptural prayer. Turn with me to 1 Thessalonians
5 verse 18. Listen to this. In 1 Thessalonians
5 verse 18. In everything give thanks. In everything give thanks. For
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Turn to
Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13 verse 15. Hebrews 13 verse 15, Paul writes,
By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise. Now
we don't bring bloody offerings to God. We don't bring slain
lambs. Christ is our lamb, effectually
slain, but we do bring sacrifices. And this sacrifice, he said,
is what? A sacrifice of praise to God
continually, continually, continually. That is the fruit of our lips. giving thanks to his name. It was Thanksgiving Day all year
round for Paul and Silas. Even when they were sitting in
the jail at Philippi, their backs lacerated, their friends gone,
sentenced to die, they were singing hymns and thanking God. Without
ceasing, he says, for this cause also thank we God. Without ceasing. These three faithful believers
were praising God. And I want you to look at the
reasons for which they were praising God. Now, first of all, they
give this reason. I've picked out five here. Here's
the first one. Because, verse 13, for this cause
also thank we God continually without ceasing because you receive
the word of God which you heard of us. Let me ask you something. What would it take to make you
totally happy? What would cause you to really
rejoice? Some of us can get pretty excited
when our local high school wins a trophy or wins a tournament
or wins a championship. Perhaps that's what it takes
to make you happy. Some of us can get pretty excited
if we win an automobile and a raffle. That makes some people happy.
Some of us get elated and float on cloud nine. If we go to the
doctor and have a little pain and he gives us a physical checkup
and we come out with flying colors, we feel good and we're happy.
Some of us like to see our names in the paper. That makes us happy.
We win a little fame, a little glory. Some of us get a promotion
and get a little more money and that makes us happy. We're successful.
What would it take to make you really tonight bubble over with
enthusiasm and joy and thanksgiving to God. Thank you, Lord. But
I'd like to think, as the Apostle Paul says here,
the thing for which I thank God most without ceasing is because
our people receive the Word of God. receive the Word of God. Paul says, for this cause I thank
God without ceasing because you receive the Word of God. Received
it. You say, why should that make
you so happy? Well, the first reason is because men by nature
do not receive the Word of God. Our Lord said, I've come in my
Father's name and you what? Receive me not. Let another come
in his own name, and him you will receive. In John 1 verse
11, he came unto his own, and his own what? Received him not.
Turn back to 1 Corinthians 2, listen to this. Most men, most
women, by nature, will not receive the Word of God. They'll receive
tradition, they'll receive custom, they'll receive human wisdom.
They will not receive, bow to, rejoice in, embrace the Word
of God. Just what God said. Look at 1
Corinthians 2.14. The natural man. That's the unregenerate man. Receive it not the things of
the Spirit of God. He doesn't receive them. They're
foolishness to Him, and neither can He know them, because they're
spiritually discerned. Most people will not receive
this Word. They'll receive what you say
about it, your interpretation of it maybe, but not His Word. But whether men hear it or not,
we must preach the Word of God. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 2.16,
we preach the word of God as a saver of life to some and death
to others, but it is a saver of Christ to all men. And then
over here in Ezekiel, I want you to look at this Ezekiel chapter
2, a passage over here that Charlie and I were talking about just
the other day. God sends his servants to preach his word whether
men hear it or not. In fact, he sends his servants
sometimes to preach the word and tells his servant before
he ever goes that they're not going to hear him. They will
not hear you. Now you go preach to them, but
they're not going to hear you. Listen to this. Ezekiel chapter
2 verse 3. He said to me, son of man, I
sent thee to the children of Israel to a rebellious nation. that hath rebelled against me,
they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very
day. They are impotent children, stiff-hearted. I do send thee
unto them, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord
God. And they, whether they hear,
or whether they will forbear, for they are a rebellious house,
yet shall they know that there hath been a prophet among them."
Whether they hear or not, you pray. Now watch the next chapter,
chapter 3. He definitely says to Ezekiel
here, they won't hear you. And he said to me, verse 4, chapter
3, Son of man, go, get thee into the house of Israel. Speak my
words to them. Thou art not sent to a people
of a strange speech and a hard language. I'm sending you to
the house of Israel. Not to many people of a strange
speech, and of a hard language, whose words thou cannot understand. Surely had I sent thee to them,
they would have hearkened unto thee. But the house of Israel
will not hearken unto thee. They will not hearken unto me.
For all the house of Israel are impudent, stiff of forehead,
and hard of heart. They will not hear you. But whether
men hear, or whether men do not hear, we must preach the word
of God. Because out there somewhere are some sheep who will hear.
He said, my sheep hear my voice. And this is what Paul is so glad
about. This is what he's thanking God
for. He says, we thank God continually without ceasing because you receive
the Word of God. How do you know when a man receives
the Word of God? I believe there are three or
four evidences. First of all, those who receive
the Word of God do not argue with it. I was preaching on the radio
a few weeks ago, and I gave this illustration. D'Arcy and I were
talking about it. She said it was such a blessing
to her, and this passage of Scripture is an unusual help to me. The
Apostles had been out fishing. They were experienced fishermen.
They were capable fishermen. But this night they'd caught
nothing, absolutely nothing, all night long without a bite.
They came in to shore and they were standing there in the early
morning light washing their nets, cleaning them up, scrubbing them
up, going to get some rest. The Master came down, the Lord
Jesus. And he said, Children, do you
have any meat? They said, No. He said, Well, push off from
the land a little ways. And I know they looked at him
in a strange manner, but they obeyed him. They got in the boat
and they pushed off and had their nets with them. He said, Now
cast your net over there on the side of the ship here. And Peter
looked up, and Peter, impulsive but spoke his heart, Lord, We've
toiled all night, and we hadn't caught anything. Now here's the
word. Nevertheless, at your word, we
let down the net. It may seem difficult, it may
seem impossible, it may seem foolish, but at your word, that's
what I'm going to do. Now people who receive the word,
they receive it that way. They don't argue with it. They
don't question it. They don't dispute it. But as
a newborn infant, they desire the Word that they may grow,
thereby they receive God's Word. That's what Paul said. I thank
God. He said, I've found somebody
who will receive God's Word. That's hard to find. The natural
man, to him it's foolishness, to him his way's better, his
thoughts are better, his wisdom is better. To the child of God
whose heart has been opened, quickened by the Spirit, awakened
by the Spirit, he receives God's Word without argument, without
dispute, without question. And more than that, he welcomes
it. Now turn to Luke 24. Here's the
next mark. in Luke chapter 24. In Luke 24,
verse 32, these disciples on the road to Emmaus had met the
Lord. They didn't recognize Him at first, but He later revealed
Himself to them, and He talked to them and preached to them
the Word, and this is their reaction when they left. Verse 32 of Luke
24, And they said one to another, Did not our hearts burn within
us while he talked with us by the way and while he opened to
us the Scripture? Isn't it delightful? Isn't it
precious? Those who receive the Word of
God receive it without argument, but they receive it with affection.
They embrace it. They receive it with love. They
rejoice in it. It's their delight. Didn't our
hearts burn within us while he opened to us the Scripture? Wasn't
that a delightful time as the Scripture was opened to us? And
then those that received the Word of God, turn to Psalm 119. Here's another mark. They do
not argue. They welcome it. They receive
it with affection. And they make it a part of themselves. Now, we don't master the Word.
The Word masters us. We don't question the Word. The
Word questions us. In Psalm 119, listen to David. I'm going to read several verses.
Let's look first at verse 11. Thy word have I hid in mine heart,
that I might not sin against thee. Blessed art thou, O Lord,
teach me thy statutes. Look at verse 15. I will meditate
in thy precepts and have respect unto thy ways. I will delight
myself in thy statutes. I will not forget thy word. Look
at verse 24. Thy testimonies also are my delight
and my counselors. Look at verse 34. Give me understanding
that I may keep thy law, yea, I shall observe it with my whole
heart. Look at verse 41. Let thy mercies
come also unto me, O Lord, even thy salvation according to thy
word. Verse 46. I will speak of thy
testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed. Verse
97, turn over there, verse 97 and 98. Oh, how I love thy law. The word law there is word. How
I love thy word. It is my meditation all the day. how I love thy word. A friend
asked me a few days ago, he said, do you believe that love for
the gospel is a sign of grace? Do you believe that love for
the gospel, a delight in the gospel, a joy at hearing the
gospel, is a sign of grace and a reason for assurance? And I
said, it's one of the best in the world. Unbelievers may profess
a love for God's Word, but they don't have a love for God's Word.
Unbelievers may profess a love for the doctrines of Christ and
the promises of God, but there's no way in the world that they
can force themselves in their hearts to genuinely love this
Word. And if a man does love God's
Word and can say, As a child, Lord, teach me, nevertheless
it thy Word I submit, can receive it with affection and joy and
delight and embrace it and make it his? That's one of the best
signs in the world of grace and the presence of Christ, because
he himself is called what? The Word of God. All right, let's
go back to 1 Thessalonians 2. Paul said, for this cause, I
thank God. continually, because you received
the Word of God. Second reason. And when you received
the Word of God which you heard of us, you received it not as
the Word of men, but as it is in truth, the Word of God. Now here's one of the pitfalls,
here's one of the dangers. Paul thanked God. He thanked
God. that these people received the
word of God which he preached to them. But more than that,
he thanked God that they received it not as his word but as God's
word. Their faith was not in Paul,
it was in Christ. They built their hope not on
Paul but on Christ, not on Paul's word but on God's word. Turn
to 1 Corinthians 2. Listen to what Paul says here.
Brethren, 1 Corinthians 2, verse 1. And I, brethren, when I came
to you, I didn't come to you with excellency of speech or
wisdom declaring to you the testimonies of God. I determined not to know
anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And
I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching
was not with persuasive or enticing words of man's wisdom, but in
the demonstration of the spirit and power that your faith, watch
it now, should not stand in the wisdom of men. It better not,
but in the power of God. The gospel is true no matter
who preaches it. Paul said some men preach the
gospel out of contention, some men preach the gospel out of
strife, some men preach the gospel hoping to add to my affliction,
to my bond. But he said, I don't care, I
rejoice that Christ is preached. Anybody who preaches the gospel,
who handles the gospel, the gospel is preached and presented in
a vessel of clay. And I want you to see several
scriptures here. Now 2 Corinthians 4. 2 Corinthians
4, verse 7. When we get our classrooms back
here in the back, some of you men are going to be teaching.
Cecil, Charles, Don. And every one of us is going
to have to remember that though we're chosen vessels, we're vessels
of clay. And that's all. Look at 2 Corinthians
4, verse 7. We have this treasure, what treasure? The gospel, the grace of God,
in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power might
be of God and not of us. Gideon, you've got too many men.
You've got too strong a force. You've got too much power. You've
got to be whittled down and cut down in order that the glory
might be to God and not to you. Turn to 2 Corinthians 12, verse
11. Paul said, I thank God. Oh, how
I thank God you received the word. But I thank God you received
it not as Paul's word, or Silas' word, or Timothy's word, but
God's word. 2 Corinthians 12, verse 11. I am become a fool in glory,
but you compel me to do it. Some of them were saying he wasn't
an apostle. Look back at verse 10. I take
pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecution,
in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I
strong. I am become a fool in glory,
and you compel me, for I ought to have been commended of you.
But in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostle, though
I be nothing. Who is Paul? He said, Who is
Apollos? Who is Cephas? We are but ministers
by which you heard the word of God, so he that soweth is nothing,
and he that watereth is nothing, nothing. All of us aspire to
be something, and when we do, we lose the grace of God. Paul said, I thank God, oh, I
thank God that you received the word. I thank God you received
it as the word of God. And when you received it as the
word of God, you discounted anything being sold because a man said
it. Somebody said, well, Dr. Black says this, and Dr. White
says that, and Dr. Gray says this. Well, it doesn't
matter, they're all fallible. God's word is infallible. And
when a man can receive the Word that's preached to him as the
Word of God, not of men, but of God, not standing on denominational
principle or pride or prejudice, but standing because God said
it then and then only, can he claim a faith that shall not
shrink, though pressed by every foe, that shall not tremble on
the brink of any earthly woe? It's God's Word. It's God's Word. Now, the third thing for which
he praised God, he said, I thank God continually. First, you receive
the word. Secondly, you received it not
as the word of men, but as it is in truth, he said, the word
of God. Now, thirdly, I thank God that
that word which you receive effectually worketh also in you. The Word brought forth some fruit. A sower went forth to sow, and
the seed Christ said that he sowed was the Word of God. And
it was sowed effectually, because it brought forth fruit. And Paul
is thanking God that these people received the Word as the Word
of God, and it effectually, that word, effectually, you know what
effectually means, it got the job done. It effectually worked
in you, that belief. Now Barnard used to say this.
It took me a while to understand what he meant. But he's a good
deal older than I was, and he'd come over a whole lot more territory,
but I'm older now than he was when I met him, and he said this
to me back yonder years ago. You don't really believe anything. till you experience it. You don't
really believe anything till you experience it. That's what
Paul is saying right here. Thank God you receive the Word,
the Word of God, and yet effectually, experimentally, experientially
worked something in you. Here are some examples. First
of all, Paul knew the Old Testament scriptures, he knew the law,
but one day he said, the law came and I died. Not logic, not
the power of logic, not the power of persuasion, not the power
of reasoning, not the power of rhetoric, the law came in the
Spirit of God. And Paul said, I died. Sin became not a doctrine, but
an experience. Inability became not a doctrine,
but an experience. Guilt became not a doctrine,
but an experience. And I died. Here's another example. He said, God who separated me
from my mother's womb called me by his grace, was pleased
to reveal his Son in me." Christ was actually revealed in me. Now to the legalist, Jesus Christ
is a law. He's a set of rules. To the ceremonialist,
Jesus Christ is a form. To the emotionalist, Jesus Christ
is a feeling. To the theologian, Jesus Christ
is a doctrine. To the sectarian, Jesus Christ
is a creed. To the born-again believer, Jesus
Christ is his life. This is eternal life, that they
might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou
hast sent, one day by spirit. Oh, I believed all my life that
there was one called Jesus who was born in Bethlehem. You have
too. You believed all your life there's
one who called himself Jesus who went about doing good. You
believed all your life that one called Jesus died on a cross,
was buried and rose again. Has there ever a time in your
life you didn't believe that? Mentally? Never was. You've been singing, Jesus loves
me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so, since you were able
to talk. Well, you haven't always believed
that. not savingly. You had a mental knowledge of
it, a mental acceptance of it, but one day, or over a period
of days, you experienced the reality of that person called
Jesus Christ, who came into this world as your representative
and took upon himself your awful, unclean flesh and faced for you
as your representative before the holy law of God, the perfect
demands of God's righteousness, and met in his body on the tree
all the wrath of God in your place, and bore your awful, hell-deserving
sins, and poured out his blood to cleanse you, and redeem you,
and atone for your sins, and was buried, went to the grave,
the darkness of the tomb, in your place, and came out victorious,
and ascended to the right hand of God, and there he is, your
life. But one day you experienced it.
And in your building, he's become the chief cornerstone. In your
poverty, he's the unsearchable riches. In your hunger, he's
the bread of life. In your thirst, he's the water
of life. In your garden, he's the rose
of Sharon. In your heart, he is the beloved.
In your sickness, he's the great physician. In your darkness,
he is the light. In your world, he's the King
of kings. In your study, he's the truth.
In your guilt, he's the mediator. In your sin, he's the Savior. In your ear, he's the glad tidings
of great joy. In your eyes, he's the one altogether
lovely. In your mind, he's the wisdom
of God. In your death, he's the resurrection
and the life. In your song of redemption, he's
the Lamb that taketh away our sins. Oh, there's a difference. There's a difference. You received
the Word of God, and you received it not as the Word of men. You
became followers not of men, but of God. You received it as
it is in truth, the Word of God, and that Word effectually worked
in you and brought forth an experiential knowledge of Jesus Christ. Now
the fourth thing, quickly, for which he praised God, and he
says, verse 14, For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches
of God, which in Judea are in Christ Jesus. I thank God, Paul says, that
those who believed on Christ in Thessalonica have the same
characteristics of those who believed on Christ in Judea.
There is one family of God. There is one body of Christ.
And there is a family resemblance in heart and character of all
who are saved, whether they live in the 20th century or whether
they lived in the first century. They are alike. Oh, I know that
people talk about a lot of changes, progress, modern times. Well,
there's been change in clothing, but take all the clothing out
of here. There's been change in housing, there's been change
in transportation, but take all the cars away and all the fancy
buildings and put us down in our naked selves and the people
of the first century and there's no difference. We're all lost
and undone, sons of Adam. We're all brought to see our
inability and our need. We all have to be born of the
same Spirit. We all look to and believe in
and trust in and embrace the same Savior. We all rejoice in
the same Word. It hasn't changed. It's the same.
We all are just sinners saved by grace. God is the same. Sin is the same. Salvation is
the same. The Word of God is the same.
The heart is the same, right? We just clothe these bodies in
a different type of clothing, we're riding in different type
of transportation, living in different houses, but Paul says,
thank God, brethren, you're just like those in Judea. Just like
them. Just like them. And then last
of all, here's the fifth thing I hurriedly clothe. For he says
in verse 14, you also have suffered. like things of your own countrymen,
even as they have of the Jews. Paul thanks God for the affliction
of those believers. Now, afflictions are good for
us. We don't know anything, this generation doesn't know anything
of physical suffering for Christ's sake. But all who believe in
Christ and preach the gospel of Christ are going to be acquainted
with four kinds of trials. They're going to be trials from
within, they're going to be trials from without, they're going to
be trials from above, and they're going to be trials from beneath.
But this is a mark of sonship, whom the Lord loveth, he chastened.
This is a mark of faith, for God sends these trials to perfect
our faith. These are trials that enable
us to lean more on Him. Paul said, when I'm weak, then
am I strong. Why? Because I lean on Him who
is strong. When I feel like I can do without
Him, then I'm really weak. But when I feel that without
Him I can do nothing, then I'm strong. These trials are to enable
us to help others, to sympathize with them, If a brother be overtaken
in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit
of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted or
tried." Let me look up several scriptures, and we're closed.
2 Corinthians 12. Let's look at these quickly, and then I'll
let you go. 2 Corinthians 12, verse 7. 2 Corinthians 12, 7. Paul writing here. lest and lest I should be exalted
above measure through the abundance of the revelations that were
given to me. There was given to me a thorn
in the flesh, the messenger of Satan, this is a trial from beneath
and from above, to buffet me lest I should be exalted above
measure. And for this thing I besought
the Lord three times, that it might depart from me. And he
said to me, My grace is sufficient for thee. My strength is made
perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will
I rather glow in my infirmities that the power of Christ may
rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in
infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecution,
in distresses, for Christ's sake." That's when he said, when I'm
weak, I'm strong. Now turn to Acts 14. Here's another
verse I want us to look at. Verse Acts 14, 22. Acts 14.22. Now look at this. It says in verse 21, When they
had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they
returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and to Antioch, confirming
the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in
the faith, that we must, through much tribulation, enter into
the kingdom of God. One other verse, this is the
last one, Philippians 1.29. Philippians 1.29, Paul says this, For unto you it is given in the
behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer, but also
to suffer for his sake. Five good reasons to thank God.
You received the Word of God. And you received it, not building
your hope on the foundation of flesh, but as the Word of God.
And it bore fruit. It worked effectually in you.
It brought forth love and joy and peace. long-suffering, patience,
gentleness, goodness, kindness, meekness. It brought forth the
fruit of the Spirit. It did an effectual work. And
you became just like those believers back yonder in Judea, just like
them, bearing the same heart, love, and characteristic. And
then, Paul said, you were persecuted. You began to have to suffer.
You began to face trial. Satan's not going to sit still
while God moves. And you began to suffer trials
from above and without and from within. But he said you got to
learn to glory in these infirmities because when you realize just
how unable you are, you have to turn to him who's able. And
how naked you are, you turn to him for clothing. How weak you
are, you turn to him for strength. Our Father, we give thanks for
this precious, precious part of thy word. How delightful! And how we can, in our spirits,
enter into this prayer of thanksgiving. O Lord, forgive us when we complain. Forgive us when we get depressed
and downhearted. Forgive us, O Lord, when we doubt
Thy purpose. For Thou art almighty and sovereign. Thou doest all things well. Give
us a heart of thanksgiving and praise continually without ceasing. Let us be able to thank God in
everything to give thanks, and especially and particularly that
we might learn to thank Thee, O Lord, for the good things.
for the real things, not just for these carnal things, not
just having our way, but seeing that the Lord has his, rejoicing
in those things that will last, those things that are permanent,
those things that result in the glory of Christ Jesus our Lord.
I use the message in a powerful way to accomplish our purpose.
For Christ's sake we pray, amen.

Five Good Reasons to Thank God

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Five Good Reasons to Thank God

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About Henry Mahan

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