Gospel Brings Gratitude

I Cor. 1:1-5

Welcome to Thanksgiving Sunday here at Mountain View Baptist Church. During this time of the year, the calendar brings thanksgiving to remind us to be grateful for what we have. I am grateful for MVBC and you folks today for attending. You are a blessing. We should be thankful everyday of the year.

If you are a first time guest, we would consider it an honor to connect with you. Please drop by our welcome center so we might meet you.

Have you ever sat down and thought about all the things you have to be thankful for? The songwriter reminds us to count our blessings. .We certainly have much to be thankful for in many ways. Because we are physical people, we naturally think of physical things like our house, our vehicles, our family and certainly we should be thankful. However, what about the spiritual blessings or realities God gives us.

Here Paul is writing to a church which has multiple problems. He is writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to give Godly correction. In these verses he reminds them of the importance of being grateful.

You cannot help but notice that God is saying we should be grateful in every season of life, even in the problems. He points to the spiritual realities of being grateful. As we enjoy this coming week with family, friends, and a time of relaxation, take time to thank God for these spiritual realities. It would do well to sit down and count your blessings. Let’s look at three this morning.

Reality 1. . .

Grace of God

In God’s infinite wisdom, He has chosen to use grace as the way He deals with man. Psalm 103:14 “For he knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust.” Since we are sinful and weak, we approach God based on grace. This means we don’t earn His presence, we don’t qualify for His presence and forgiveness, it is granted by grace. That which we do not deserve. This is a tremendous blessing from God because we can have a relationship with Him because of grace.

Notice this grace is from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. It is woven throughout the redemptive plan of God as revealed in His Word. Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” The enjoyment of our relationship with God is by grace.

This grace is given daily when we take time to open the Bible and let God speak to us. Prayer is when we speak to God. It is amazing how people will say, I don’t know what God wants and yet they don’t read their Bible. The Bible is the way God speaks to us to reveal His will. Yes, He also directs us by the Holy Spirit but the Holy Spirit uses God’s Word to guides us.

As grace is first from God, so it is continually from him, as much as light is all day long from the sun, as well at first dawn or at sun rising.

Jonathan Edwards (American Evangelical Preacher)

Grace is given daily when we can walk, we can speak, and we see. We can comprehend with our minds. Grace is given for daily living as God walks with us through the valleys of life. It is the presence of God that goes with us in the disappointments, the heartaches, and the grief.

Do you know Him today? Have you accepted Him as your Savior? What does your relationship with Him look like? Are you closer to Him than you were last week, last month, or last year?

Why not start today? It is not what you do, but what you are in Christ. As you spend time with Him, you will value the grace of God.

The ultimate test of our spirituality is the measure of our amazement at the grace of God.

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Welsh Preacher and Writer)

Reality 2. . .

Peace from God

The only true peace comes from God. The prophet Isaiah was calling back Israel to God when he said Isaiah 57:19–21 “I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord; And I will heal him. But the wicked are like the troubled sea, When it cannot rest, Whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.” It seems the only time we recognize God’s peace is when we don’t have it.

He was reminding God’s people not to trust in the world to find peace. We are to trust in the only place where true peace comes

While it is good to know that we are heaven bound, it is also good to have peace in a world where there is not peace each day. Peace comes from God when we accept Him as our personal Savior.

When turbulent waters come, when the disappointments come, when the storms come, those without Christ will run to the bottle or to the pills or to the supposed pleasures of the world. When Jesus gives the only lasting peace. John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

Yes, there are ample substitutes for peace by the world. They may give you a temporary peace. When you go to the dentist, he or she may give you novocaine to numb the pain when you are having your teeth worked on. You may not feel any pain for a few hours but when the medicine wears off, the pain my likely come back. This is how the world’s peace is. It is a temporary sedation, a temporary pain relief but the pain will come back.

God’s peace will satisfy us through the deepest and darkest valleys of life. He is there with us each morning when awake and when we sleep at night. His presence gives us peace and as we know Him, we are sure He is our peace.

We can be thankful for the peace God brings to us.

What peace can they have who are not at peace with God?

Matthew Henry (Nonconformist Biblical Exegete)

If God be our God, He will give us peace in trouble. When there is a storm without, He will make peace within. The world can create trouble in peace, but God can create peace in trouble.

Thomas Watson

Today and everyday, we can give thanks to God for His grace and for His peace. We are living in this reality everyday when know Christ.

There was a man years ago who heard about the peace of God. His life was in shambles and turmoil. He asked his Christian friend, “if this peace is as good as you say it is, why don’t you live like it?” Wow! That is gut punch for sure. We can live in the peace of God when we spend time with Him, draw close to Him, and be grateful for what He has given.

Reality 3. . .

Enriched by God

In the middle of verse 5-Paul says we are enriched in everything by Him. Jesus tells us He gives us the abundant life in John 10:10. This life is overflowing with God’s grace and peace and His presence in our life.

The word enriched comes from a word that means a very wealthy person. The Corinthians were enriched with the gifts and blessings of God. They could speak with eloquence fluently and effectively. Paul was writing to be thankful for the tremendous enrichment given to them by God.

James 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

If a person has great knowledge and intelligence, it is because it is given by God. If a person can play a musical instrument or if a person is given great beauty it is because God gave it to them. If a person has ability to speak or organize or lead, it is given to them by God.

It is God who has enriched our lives. Think about all He has given to you. Your spouse, your children, your siblings, your health, your careers, your homes. Today, this week, and every day, we can say thank you, God. When we realize God has given us these things, we will not misuse them for our own selfishness.

Notice he mentions his relationship with the Corinthians as well. I thank God for you church family. When you face grief and hardship, you need someone to help you through the difficulties and your church families come alongside you. We sing together, we rejoice together, we cry together, and we worship God together. Without a church family, you can’t enjoy this kind of relationship Paul is talking about.

One day a mother was teaching her son to say thank you. His teacher had given each of her students a notebook and a pen. When the children went to tell the teacher thank you, the person in front said thank you. The teacher said, “don’t mention it.” So the little boy turned and left. His mother asked if he said thank you. No, the teacher said don’t mentioned it.

Today, we need to give God thanks. We need to mention it to God. It is easy to give thanks to that which we value. If someone gave you something of great value to you, you would without hesitation say thank you. God gave us salvation and it is the most valuable possession we have.

In just a minute, we are going to pray. Would you tell God thank you? Perhaps there is someone who has not accepted Jesus as your Savior, you can today. Eternal life is a gift from God. Will you slip out the back and let someone show you how you can accept Christ as your Savior?

If you are a Christian, have you been expressing your gratitude to God? Have you told Him thank for how your life has been enriched by Him? Sometimes Christians want to use God rather than worship God. When He gives us what we want, we are happy. However, what if God doesn’t give us what we want? We should be grateful. Will tell Him thank you?