Giving Thanks Always

 [Thankfulness is the secret to a happy and productive Christian life.] 

[What is the hardest thing in life:] 

            [To climb a fence leaning toward you?]

            [To kiss a girl leaning away from you?]

            [To give thanks in troubled times?] 

[Unthankful people are never happy people.  Unthankful people are filled with bitterness, fear, negativism, selfishness, self-pity.] 

[Illustration:  A preacher was on a train and was sitting across from a well dressed businessman.  Sitting next to him was a woman, gorgeously dressed with diamonds dripping off her fingers.  This woman was complaining about everything.  The preacher asked the man what his business was, and the man told him.  The preacher then asked if the woman was his wife.  The man replied, “yes.”  The preacher asked what the woman did for business.  The man replied, “She is in manufacturing.”  The preacher asked, “What kind of manufacturing.”  The man answered, “She manufactures her own unhappiness.”] 

[Unthankful people manufacture their own unhappiness.]

A.     When should we be thankful? (vs 20; Psalm 68.19; Lam 3.22-23; Philp 4.6) [– “Giving thanks always . . .”] 

1.      There are Four levels of life: 

a.       There are the Grumblers [– Lowest level - people constantly grumbling and complaining.  They can brighten up a room by just leaving it.] 

b.      There are the Ungrateful [– Next to the lowest level - They don’t complain, but they just don't give thanks.] 

c.       There are the Grateful [- Second highest level -  Grateful for the Obvious – These give thanks for the obvious blessings.] 

d.      There are the Earnestly Grateful [- The highest level -  Grateful for all things at all times – These give thanks to God for all things, all the time.  This is the secret joy.] 

2.      [The Bible teaches us to give thanks always – We are reminded that:] 

a.       [God gives us benefits daily.  Everyday should be Thanksgiving Day for us.] 

[Psalm 68:19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, . . .] 

b.      [Every day you get a fresh load of God’s mercies.] 

[Lamentations 3:22-23 ²² It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. ²³ They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. ]

c.       [ You should never pray without thanking God.] 

[Philip. 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.]  

3.      [Think and Thank - If you are thinking you ought to be thanking – Stephen Olford in preaching on thanksgiving once noted that thanksgiving is a matter of right thinking.  He illuminated this thought by noting,] 

a.       […Sir Moses Montefiore, the Hebrew philanthropist, had as the motto for his family, "Think and thank.” In the old Anglo-Saxon language thankfulness means "thinkfulness"; and this is how it should be. —Olford's Expository Preaching Outlines.] 

B.     What should I be thankful for? (vs 20; Eph 1.8-11; Rom 8.28) [– “Giving thanks always for all things . . .” - God tells us to be thankful for all things.] You should thank God for: 

1.      Your Faith (Eph 5.19; Col 3.16; Psalm 95.2; 105.2) [– The fact that you are saved should put a hope in your heart, a hop in your step, and a hymn on your lips.] 

[Ephes. 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;]  

[Colossians 3:16 ¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. ]

[Psalms 95:2 ² Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. ]

[Psalms 105:2 ² Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works. ]

[Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it!
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed through His infinite mercy,
His child and forever I am.]

[Redeemed, and so happy in Jesus,
No language my rapture can tell;
I know that the light of His presence
With me doth continually dwell.]

[I think of my blessèd Redeemer,
I think of Him all the day long:
I sing, for I cannot be silent;
His love is the theme of my song.]

[I know there’s a crown that is waiting,
In yonder bright mansion for me,
And soon, with the spirits made perfect,
At home with the Lord I shall be.]

[Refrain]

[Redeemed, redeemed,
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed, redeemed,
His child and forever I am.] 

2.      Your Fresh Water [– There are many in our world who do not have fresh water.  In India 75-80% of the population do not have safe water to drink.  2 million die annually from water related diseases.] 

3.      Your Dirty Dishes (Food) [– Many in our world would love to have dirty dishes to thank God for.  Dirty dishes mean you have just had a good meal to eat.] 

4.      Your Friends [– The Christian friends you have in the Lord Jesus Christ is a blessing beyond blessings.  And we ought to thank our friends, because it will cheer them up and build them up.] 

a.       [Illustration:  There was a woman who had taught as an educator for over 50 years.  One day a man want to send some one a thank you note and thought of her.  He wrote her a note of thanks for teaching him to read and love books.  He received a letter back the woman said.  Your letter is the first letter of thanks I have received after 50 years of teaching.  It came on a blue cold day, and it has cheered me like nothing else in many years.  It has brought a tear to my eye, thank you for your letter.] 

5.      Your Fortune [– The things that God has given and done for you.] 

a.       [Illustration:  A family had given a large love offering to their church in memory of their son who had been killed in a war far, far away.  On the way home the woman said to her husband, “Why don’t we give an offering of the same amount?”  The husband answered, “But our son is still alive.”  She replied, “What better reason is there to give an offering of thanks to our Lord!”] 

6.      [Why do we give thanks for all things?  Notice the all’s:] 

[Ephes. 1:8-11 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; 9Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: 10That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: 11In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: ] 

[Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for [toward an end] good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.]  

a.       [Illustration:  There is the fable of a man who discovered the devils barn where he stored his seeds.  The man discovered one very large pile of seeds.  The man asked, what are those seeds?  The devil replied, those are seeds of discouragement.  The devil said, I love to sow the seeds of discouragement every where I go.  The man asked, do they always sprout.  The devil replied, almost always.  But there is one place where they cannot sprout, and that is in a grateful heart.] 

C.     How do we give thanks always? 

1.      Give thanks in the Spirit (Eph 5.18-20) [– If you are not thankful you are not spirit-filled.] 

 [Ephes. 5:18-20 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;]  

2.      Give thanks in the Spirit unto the Father (vs 20; James 1.17, Rom 1.21) [– “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father . . .”]  

[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. ] 

b.      [Shakespeare said, “How sharper than a serpents tooth it is to have a thankless child.”  Ungratefulness is pagan.] 

[Romans 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; . . .]  

3.      Give thanks in the Spirit unto the Father through the Son (vs 20) [– “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;” - With the authority of the son.] 

a.       [Illustration – A farmer built a pile of brush which he was going to burn.  The next day he noticed a bird was building a nest in the brush, so he tore it up.  Again, the next day the bird was building the nest again, so the farmer destroyed it.  The bird must have thought, “What is this hateful hand that is destroying my nest?”  But it was not a hand of hate but a hand of love that destroyed its nest.] 

b.      [Illustration -  a man was ship wrecked on an island.  He had foraged around and built a hut, in which was his cooking fire.  One day he was looking for food when he saw smoke.  Upon returning he notice his hut had burned up.  He said, “God everything I had was in that hut and you burned it up.”  A few hours latter a boat rowed up, the men said, “We saw your signal fire and have come to rescue you.”] 

c.       [Paul wrote this epistle from prison.  From that cold dark place he wrote, “Give thanks always.”] 

CrossRoads Baptist, November 18, 2007