The Thankful One

2018 ABC

Hebrews 13:15

Thanksgiving By Him: Expressions of Worship

Verse 15 – Therefore… by Him (Christ)… let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His great name.

There are many texts that speak of giving thanks, all throughout the Bible… this is to be the normal activity of God’s people – They gave/give thanks to God, continually.

Psalm 9:1 – I will praise you, or thank you, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works. Psalm 136:1 – Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Colossians 3:17 – And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

And this morning: All who want to do God’s will: 1 Thessalonians 5:18 – “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” This is the will of God… that we are thankful and that we give thanks.

This is to be our expression of worship as we live for Christ day by day… our daily expression of worship.

Now it doesn’t take a Christian to walk down hospital halls, mental clinics, and visit nursing homes to quickly be thankful of some things. It doesn’t take a Christian to visit homeless camps and shelters, burn or cancer centers… to walk away saying “I should be thankful or grateful.” It doesn’t take a Christian to watch the news and what is going on around the world to conclude… “We have it pretty good; I am thankful.”

But: By what are we thankful? By feeling good, having stuff, and by having family alone? By what or who are we grateful? Having money, food, house and car?

To whom to we express our thankful hearts? To the wind? To other human beings?

Now: It is good to be thankful and to give thanks for all of these… and more… It is also good to be thankful and to express thanksgiving to other human beings… But, is this where thanksgiving is birthed and sustained?

The text says “By Him” let us give praise and thanksgiving, and that this is fruit of our lips.

As seen throughout the book of Hebrews, sacrifices were extremely important under the Old Covenant system. But, now under the New Covenant, there is no need for animal sacrifices because the Lamb of God has come as the final sacrifice for sin.

So… now what do we do? Well, now… by Him and through Him… we offer sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving to God… not sacrifices of animals but sacrifices praise and thanksgiving.

“Don’t we have to be priests to offer sacrifices?” 1 Peter 2:5 and 9 says that all believers are priests before God.

If you are a child of God today, you are a holy priest today, and you can bring sacrifices to God. As a believer you come to Him as your Lord and Savior, to lay down your life for Him… and daily we present our bodies as living sacrifices to Him, offering Him fruits from our hearts and lips.

Praise and thanksgiving are New Covenant sacrifices that we, priests, bring to God today. And they are pleasing to God.

The only question is… are we bringing them to Him? As we have already read: This is the will of the God, that we bring these sacrifices to Him… But… Are we in His will today?

Most of the time we are only in His will when we feel great and everything is wonderful… but, what about when things aren’t great and everything is not wonderful…?

It is going to be only “by Him and through Him” that we will be able to praise and give thanks.

For we to continually obey God and do His will in this… we will need to remember a few things and have them in our hearts… if we will offer daily sacrifices unto Christ.

Psalm 9:1 – You will need to remember His marvelous works.

Psalm 106:1 and 136:1 – You will need to remember that He is good and His love and mercy endures forever.

1. Remember God’s marvelous works.

2. Remember that God is good and His love, and mercy endures forever.

*We need to: Remember what God has done all through time. Remember what He did in the beginning of time. Remember how He spoke out creation, creating mankind in His image. Remember how He made provision for His creation all throughout History… and remember what He has done for you throughout your story.

“All throughout my days, when no sight of songs of praise… I shall ever set my gaze upon that which He has done.” -R.L.

3. Practical thing: Turn to Philippians 4:6-7 - When you pray, and as you remember God being good… and you remember His works… Do you remember to give thanks first?

Before supplications? Before request? Before our list of needs? Will you remember to thank Him first?

Lay your sacrifice of praise down first. Lay your sacrifice of thanksgiving first. This is right and fitting… before we begin making our requests. Come before His courts with Thanksgiving… first.

And I believe that this will change our prayer life and it will lift our spirit in Christ.

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The Word of God teaches us that times of suffering, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness and threat of death, these things come and go, and physical death comes to us all… this will be the constant way of life so as long as we live…

Shall praise and thanksgiving be appropriate and right?

While all these negative things are constant… there is another thing, another Person Who is constant...

What is that? Christ, The Source, of our Thanksgiving remains constant as well… His love, His Person, His Mercies and Grace does not change… God does not change.

So, therefore, constant thanksgiving can be a reality… in the midst of a life that is affected by trouble upon trouble.

This is what and Who the Pilgrims had as they made their journey here to America. They sold their houses and left all behind… in the Name of God, by the Grace of God and for the Glory of God, to worship their God freely, in spirit and in truth.

But, their story is not a romantic story. They had so many problems trying to get here… is was not easy. They left England in July 1620 and had to turn back twice because the Speedwell didn’t float so well and was leaking.

Next, they left out on the Mayflower on Sept. 6, 1620 and sailed through 66 days of fast and furious seas – They were violent and dangerous days, filled with sickness, freezing, starvation and death. Half of the people died.

But, it is amazing to read how they would continue to give thanks to God and ask for His guidance throughout these experiences.

How could they continue to give thanks? They knew their God. They knew His marvelous works of old and throughout their own lives. They believed that God was good and that His love and mercy endured forever… and it was going to be By God and Through God that they would enter into their promise land and receive the reward of their faith.

And so, it will be with us as well.

Christ is our Well that we are filled and that we draw from.

We have the Life to be eternally grateful and thankful; and now we have the ability to fill heaven storehouses with our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.

In Luke 17:11-19 Jesus heals these 10 lepers from their disease, and 9 of these runs away without ever coming back to Jesus to give Him praise and thanksgiving.

Are we of the nine today? Or will we be like the one who sees the marvelous works of God, the love and mercy of God, the salvation of our God… and respond the way the one did: The right way…

With Praise and Thanksgiving.