Hymns of Thanksgiving: My Heart Is Filled with Thankfulness

Text: Psalm 9:1-2

Theme: A believer, who’s heart is filled with thankfulness, will tell of God’s wonderful deeds, and rejoice in Him with songs that praise His name.

Date: 11/22/2020 File Name: Hymns_of_Thanksgiving_04 Sermon ID

This morning I want us to consider one last Hymn of Thanksgiving. It is a theme we’ve looked at now four weeks in a row. I suppose to some, it may seem like overkill, and some of you may be thinking, “Come on pastor… We get it. Were supposed to be a thankful people. Now let’s move on.” Some of you may be thankful that this is the last message on thankfulness.

I have spent such an inordinate amount of time on the theme of thankfulness this year because, in my opinion, it appears that the nation has forgotten how to be, let alone express, an attitude of gratitude for our lives, and the blessings that have come to us despite a pandemic, a three-month social and economic shutdown, and a raucous political season that hasn’t died down even after the election.

The two biggest retail holidays on the American calendar are Halloween, and Christmas. Billions of dollars are pumped into the economy by these two events. That alone explains why the Christmas decorations go up the same day the Halloween decorations are coming down in most retail stores. There is simply not a “market” for thankfulness.

Today an attitude of entitlement has replaced the attitude of thankfulness for too many Americans — including too many confessing Christians. The Bible warns us that this is a perennial problem of the human heart. The apostle Paul reminds us, “For men will become lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters … Unthankful, …” (2 Timothy 3:2). The prophet Jeremiah wrote, “Because my people have forgotten me … They have caused themselves to stumble in their ways,” (Jeremiah 18:15). My hearts desire as your pastor is that you “not stumble in your way” and to that end we’ve had this sermon series on thankfulness and gratitude based on Thanksgiving hymns from our hymnal. Psalms 9:1-2 says a believer, who's heart is filled with thankfulness, will tell of God's wonderful deeds, and rejoice in Him with songs that praise His name.

The last hymn we will consider is My Heart Is Filled with Thankfulness. It is one of the newer hymns in our hymnal. The words are by Keith Getty, and the music by Stuart Townend. Many consider this team the preeminent modern hymn writers in the world today. They have 32 songs in the top 500 most popular worship songs sung in the United States and Great Britain today. That’s phenomenal. Both these men were born in Northern Ireland, and both became the first musicians of the modern era to be awarded the OBE from Queen Elizabeth for their service to music and hymn writing. OBE stands for Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. It’s equivalent to our nation’s presidential medal of freedom — our highest civilian award.

The hymn is a song of heartfelt thankfulness that expresses the believer’s gratitude for the three tenses of our salvation — past, present, and future. Our hearts are to be filled with thankfulness for —

A Redeeming Savior

A Sustaining Savior

A Reigning Savior

The tune, written by Stuart Townend is simply entitled THANKFULNESS.

I. OUR HEARTS ARE FILLED WITH THANKFULNESS FOR A REDEEMING SAVIOR

My heart is filled with thankfulness

To Him who bore my pain;

Who plumbed the depths of my disgrace

And gave me life again;

Who crushed my curse of sinfulness

And clothed me in His light

And wrote His law of righteousness

With pow'r upon my heart

1. one of the chief criticisms of Getty’s hymns is over what I deeply appreciate about their hymns ... that they are deeply theological

a. one critic writes, “ ... much of their stuff reads less like beautiful poetry and more like someone reading a theology textbook”

b. everyone likes music that touches their soul, but in the Church we also need music that touches our minds

2. the first stanza of this hymn takes us backward in our spiritual journey to the moment of our justification

A. WE HAVE BEEN SAVED

“Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, ... , 9 who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,” (2 Timothy 1:8–9, ESV)

1. the stanza reminds us of the extent of our unrighteous — Jesus has plumbed the depths of my disgrace

ILLUS. The word plumb can have several meanings. Used as a noun, it refers to measuring true vertical—how straight is the object being measured. When it is used as a verb it means to examine minutely and critically. In 2 Kings, Isaiah and Amos God speaks of using the plumb line of His righteousness to measure His people. When He does their self righteousness always falls short of His standard.

a. the 1st stanza of the hymn indicates that God has made a minute investigation of our nature, has critically assessed it, and declared that we are woefully out of vertical

1) Jesus is the true vertical by which the Father compares us, and our lives are seriously crooked compared to the life of Christ

2) the sinner’s life is a disgrace ... we do not measure up

3) our righteousness is a filthy rags before God

ILLUS. Do you realize what God is saying there through the Prophet Isaiah? The very best about our lives; the parts of our lives that we want to trumpet to all those around us; the long faithful marriage, the successful business, the established career, our philanthropy, the awards and acknowledgments, the diplomas representing higher education, the nice possessions we worked hard for in acquiring ... God looks at all the very best our lives have produced, and tells us they will not get us a place in his eternal kingdom.

b. our life is a disgrace because of sin

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.” (Ephesians 2:1–3, NIV84)

c. if you are here this morning, and Christ is not a part of your life—you’ve never consciously confessed his as Savior and openly professed him as Lord, then these verses in Ephesians describe your life

1) you are spiritually dead in you iniquity and sin

2) your true god is none other than Satan himself

3) you’re essential character is one of disobedience to God and the gratification of your sinful nature

4) your desires and your thoughts are more important to you than God’s desires and God’s thoughts

ILLUS. You are a dead man walking. It’s a phrase that refers to someone who is condemned and about to die. It is the fate of every sinner in the world. They are dead—spiritually dead—in trespasses and sin. They are dead men walking

d. if you are here this morning, and Christ is a part of your life—you need to remember that there is no room for spiritual smugness in your life

1) these verse describe what you life once was like, but you’ve been changed because of encounter with the Godhead and the redemptive work of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

3. the stanza reminds us of the height of Christ’s righteousness

a. look at what Christ has done for us

1) he bore my pain

2) he gave me life again

3) he crushed my curse of sinfulness

4) he clothed me in His light

5) he wrote His law of righteousness With pow'r upon my heart

b. our salvation is all of God ... we bring nothing to the redemptive event but our sin

1) the Apostle Paul reminds us in the 2 Timothy passage that our salvation, is not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace

B. WE HAVE BEEN SAVED FROM SIN’S PENALTY

1. the first tense of the sinner’s salvation is that we have been saved from sin and sin’s penalty

a. the theological term for it is justification

b. God has legally declared you, upon faith alone, in Christ alone, to be perfect, sinless, and righteous on the grounds that Jesus took all your sins and received your punishment

1) by his stripes you were healed

2. Is Your Heart Are Filled with Thankfulness for a Redeeming Savior Who Has Saved You From All Your Sin?

II OUR HEARTS ARE FILLED WITH THANKFULNESS FOR A SUSTAINING SAVIOR

My heart is filled with thankfulness

To Him who walks beside;

Who floods my weaknesses with strength

And causes fears to fly;

Whose ev'ry promise is enough

For ev'ry step I take,

Sustaining me with arms of love

And crowning me with grace.

A. WE ARE BEING SAVED

“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18, ESV)

1. the second stanza of this hymn deals with our current spiritual journey of the moment which is our sanctification

a. we are, according to 1 Corinthians 1:18 being saved

b. God does not redeem us at a point-in-time and then tell us, “OK, you’re saved now. Do the best you can because I need to move on to other things.”

c. no, no, no ... the promise is Lo I am with you always until the end of the earth

2. too often, we Christians, speak of our salvation only in the past tense ... “I was saved” ... and then we will share a day or the moment when Christ came into our lives

a. that’s good, but we must never forget that God’ saving grace is operative in our lives now as sanctifying grace

b. Getty gets at the heart of our day-to-day needs when he reminds us that we are full of weakness and full of fears

3. but in and through our weaknesses and fears Christ is at work

a. do you see what Christ does?

1) he walks beside us

2) he floods us with strength

3) he causes fears to fly

4) he gives promises that sustain us

5) he sustains me and crowns me with grace upon grace

B. WE ARE BEING SAVED FROM SIN’S POWER

1. if there is one thing that all of us should be deeply concerned about it is our practical holiness of heart and life; our sanctification of character and conduct

a. other things may have their due and relative importance, but according to the repeated word of Scripture, this is priority #1 for the believer

b. God has called us to and insists upon holiness in the midst of His people

2. it is God Himself who develops this holiness in us through the process of sanctification

a. sanctification is the theological term applied to the process which refers to the ongoing, progressive conformation of the believer into the image of Christ

b. in fact, our ultimate conformation to our Savior’s image was predestined by God

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." (Ro 8:28-29, ESV)

3. simply put, sanctification means that day-by-day you and I are to become more and more like Jesus

a. God is transforming us from God-hating, sin-loving sinners into God-loving, sin-hating saints

b. it is a process which happens naturally in a practicing Christian’s life

c. Paul gives us evidence of this inward process of sanctification when he writes to the Christians at Phillipi

"for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." (Php 2:13, ESV)

1) if someone who professes to be saved ends up falling away, their failure to endure to the end proves that their faith and profession were worthless, and that they were never truly saved at all, because God always finishes what He starts

4. Is Your Heart Are Filled with Thankfulness for a Sustaining Savior Who is Sanctifying You Day-by-Day?

III. OUR HEARTS ARE FILLED WITH THANKFULNESS FOR A REIGNING SAVIOR

My heart is filled with thankfulness

To him who reigns above,

Whose wisdom is my perfect peace,

Whose ev'ry thought is love.

For ev'ry day I have on earth

Is given by the King;

So I will give my life, my all,

To love and follow him.

A. WE SHALL BE SAVED

“Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:9–10, ESV)

1. according to the third stanza we worship a Savior who reigns above

a. our Christ is in his kingdom seated at the right hand of the Father constantly making intercession for us

b. if you give Him your life and all you will one day stand before the King clothed in perfect righteousness

ILLUS. John Bunyan envisioned the glorious conclusion of the Christian life when he depicted Christian and Hopeful as passing into the Celestial City at the conclusion of Pilgrim’s Progress: “I saw in my dream the two men enter the gate. As they did, they were transfigured. They had garments that shined like gold. Harps and crowns were given them. The harps for praise and the crowns for honor. Then I heard in my dream all the bells in the city rang again for joy. It was said to them, “Enter into the joy of your Lord.”

2. the theological term for this transfiguration is glorification and it is the third tense of our salvation

a. the day is coming when every believer will be completely and fully redeemed, and at that moment we shall become like the Savior

b. God the Father will present to His Son, a bride — a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” (Ephesians 5:25–27, NIV)

3. we may not know all the details of our future, but we know that there is going to be a happy ending because God has promised us that there would be

“Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.” (1 John 3:2–3, NIV)

B. WE SHALL BE SAVED FROM SIN’ PRESENCE

1. one day Jesus Christ will remove the presence of sin from the believer forever

a. he will save us even from the presence of sin because the day is coming when He will take us from this world into heaven to be with Him forever

2. because this is true we can look forward through struggles, through challenges, even through our own death to a glorious eternity

IV. APPLICATION

1. how do we respond to the good news of God’s redemptive work in our life, past, present, and future?

A. YOU NEED TO ASK YOURSELF: IS MY SOUL REDEEMED?

“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” (2 Corinthians 13:5, ESV)

1. the Apostle uses two verbs – examine and prove (or test) to emphatically instruct his readers to do a critical spiritual introspection

a. the Apostle Paul wants his readers to know for sure that they are indeed in the faith

1) he writes this, because in every congregation there are reprobates – literally, the word means counterfeits

2) he refers to people who – for one reason or another – think they are Christians, but who have never truly believed upon the Lord, Jesus Christ

3) their life is a testimony to godlessness, self-indulgence, disobedience, and neglect of the things of God

b. true faith testifies to intimate fellowship with the Father and his Son

2. most of you know the Gospel

a. you know that all of us are sinners

b. you know that none of us are righteous enough to earn our ways into Heaven

c. you know that Christ redeemed us, purchasing our souls out of condemnation

d. you know that Christ has risen from the dead that me might have eternal life

e. you know that faith in Christ makes us righteous before God and makes us citizens in Heaven

3. you know the Gospel, but have you believed the Gospel?

4. if you examine yourself this morning, and find no real evidence that you have trusted Christ, I plead with you to do so this morning

a. hear the gospel call, heed the prompting of God's Spirit to openly, unashamedly repent of you sin, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and confess Him as Savior and Lord

B. YOU NEED TO ASK YOURSELF: IS MY SOUL RELIANT?

1. do you trust God? – I mean do you really trust Him day-by-day?

ILLUS. I heard a story some years ago, about a tourist who came too close to the edge of the Grand Canyon while trying to peer down into its depths. Losing his footing, he plunged over the side. As he slide down the steep walls, he clawed and scratched trying to save himself. After he went out of sight, but just before he fell into space, he encountered a scrubby bush which he desperately grabbed with both hands. Filled with terror, he called out toward heaven, "Is there anyone up there?"

A calm, powerful voice came out of the sky, "Yes, there is."

The tourist pleaded, "God, is that you? Can you help me? Can you save me?"

The calm voice replied, "Yes, I can. What is your problem my son?"

"I fell over the cliff and am dangling in space holding on to a bush that is about to tear loose. Please help me," the man cried.

The voice from above said, "Do you believe?"

"Yes, yes, I believe."'

"Do you have faith?"

"Yes, yes. I have strong faith."

The calm voice said, "Well, in that case, simply let loose of the bush and everything will turn out fine."

There was a tense pause, then the tourist yelled, "Is there anyone else up there?"

2. imagine how God must feel when we are not reliant on Him!

a. He is perfect

b. He has done all things well!

c. He is almighty!

d. if He can't be trusted who can!

3. are you daily trusting in the Savior who walks beside you; who sustains you with arms of love?

a. are you growing in your faith?

C. YOU NEED TO ASK YOURSELF: IS MY SOUL READY?

1. are you ready for Jesus to come back; are you looking forward to his kingdom?

a. weather you believe that the Rapture could take place before this worship service is through

b. of weather you’re one of those weirdos like me who believe Christians will go through the Great Tribulation . . .

c. are you ready for the glorious appearance of our Lord?

Is your heart filled with thankfulness for the redemptive work of God in your life; the God who has saved you, is saving you, and will completely save you in the end? Will you rejoice in Him with songs that praise His name?