The Model Life: Adoration, Part 5

You know, the model life is a life that's built around

thankfulness, not just joyfulness, and not just

prayerfulness, but thankfulness. The trilogy of commands in First

1 Thessalonians 5 · chapter mention

Thessalonians, chapter 5, verse 1617 and 18 exemplify the life

of adoration, the life that truly adores God and worships

God. And it's always marked by

joyfulness, prayerfulness, and thankfulness.

Over the last several weeks we have spent time looking at what

it means to rejoice always, verse 16, what it means to pray

without ceasing, verse #17 today, what it means to give

thanks in everything. For this is God's will in Christ

Jesus concerning you. The will of God is not just to

be thankful. The will of God encompasses the

trilogy of commands. God's design and God's desire

for you is that you be joyful, you be prayerful, and that you

be thankful. If you want to understand the

will of God for your life, that's where it begins.

If you're looking for God to guide you into a, a new job or

or guide you into the person you are to marry or, or to guide you

and making the right decision. And yet you have a a bad

attitude and are ungrateful and you don't pray always and you

have a sad heart and not a joyful heart.

Guess what? You're not going to have any

direction whatsoever because God's will for you is that you

be joyful, you be prayerful and you be thankful all the time in

everything. This was guy's not designed for

us. This only one's for his

children. So incredibly important every

year at at Thanksgiving, which is about 12 weeks away, just in

case you didn't know it's it's right around the corner.

I always tell you that that Thanksgiving is not a holiday

vacation. It's a holy vocation.

We look at Thanksgiving is a time to get away, a vacation

time, a holiday. You look at it for the wrong

reason. It's a holy vocation.

We've been called by God to give thanks.

Listen to what the psalmist says in in Psalm 100, very familiar

Psalm to most of us. Shout joyfully to the Lord, all

the earth. In other words, be joyful.

Serve the Lord with gladness, come before Him with joyful

singing. Know that the Lord himself is

God. It is He who made us in, not we

ourselves. We are His people and the sheep

of His pasture. We've been formed by God.

We've been made by God. We are His people.

Therefore, enter His gates with Thanksgiving and His courts with

praise. Give thanks to Him.

Bless His name, for the Lord is good, His loving kindness is

everlasting, and His faithfulness to all generations.

Come into His presence with Thanksgiving.

Enter His courts with praise. When you come to worship the

Lord, you come with a thankful heart, a heart filled with joy

and praise to God. Did you come to church today,

Grumpy? Did you come to church today

with a bad attitude? Did you come to church today

because things weren't going your way in the car on the way

over? So many times we we get off

kilter by by looking at all the negative circumstances instead

of realizing all the things that God has done.

I love what the psalmist says over in Psalm 116.

He says in verse #12 what should I render to the Lord for all of

his benefits toward me? So someone was to ask you a

question and say, OK, what will you render to the Lord?

What will you give to the Lord for all the benefits that he's

bestowed upon you? What would you say?

Psalmist answers. He says, I shall lift up the cup

of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord.

Because of all the things the Lord has done for me, I will be

#1 prayerful #2 I shall pay my vows to the Lord.

O may it be in the presence of His people.

I will pay my vows. I will be responsible.

Not only will I be prayerful, but I will be dutiful to to

fulfill my responsibility. And then he says, precious in

the sight of the Lord is the death of his godly ones.

I will be hopeful for 16. Oh Lord, surely I am your

servant. I am your servant, the son of

your handmaid. You have loosed my bonds because

I'm your servant. I will not just be prayerful,

not just be dutiful, not just be hopeful, but I will be useful

because I am your servant and I will be used by you for your

glory. And then he says this to you.

I shall offer a sacrifice of Thanksgiving and call upon the

name of the Lord. I will be thankful.

I will be thankful. Let me ask you a question.

Does that characterize you today?

William Law, an 18th century writer and preacher, wrote a

book entitled A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life.

In that book he says this. Would you know who is the

greatest St. in all the world? It is not he who prays most.

It is not he who fasts most, it is not he who gives most alms or

is most imminent for temperance, chastity, or justice.

But it is he who is always thankful to God, who wills

everything that God willeth, who receives everything as an

instance of God's goodness, and has a heart always ready to

praise God for it. The greatest St. in all the

world is a St. that gives thanks unceasingly to God.

I wonder if you do that? Paul says we're to give thanks

in everything. In everything in Ephesians 5, he

says we're to give thanks for everything.

So when you think about that and you think, OK, I'm to give

thanks for everything, yes, that's what it says.

And in everything, absolutely. But the question comes, do we do

that? And for the most part, we don't.

But you have to realize that that that thankfulness is is

what sets the Christian apart from everyone else in the world.

In fact, listen to what it says over in second Timothy chapter 3

2 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

verse #1 says. But realize this, that in the

last days, difficult times or perilous times will come.

For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful,

arrogant vilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful.

The characteristic of perilous times and and the word for

perilous or or difficult times is the same word used in Mark's

gospel to talk about a man who was demon possessed.

So he's talking about demonic times, the times that are

characterized by demons in times.

What is mostly characteristic is that people will be not just

disobedient to parents, but they're going to be ungrateful.

In fact, Romans one says it this way, Romans one verse #21 For

even though they knew God, they did not honor him, ask God, or

give thanks to God. The characteristic of the

unbeliever is that he will not give thanks to God.

Not that he can't, but he won't. He just won't give thanks to

God. And yet the believer is

characterized by a heart filled with Thanksgiving, filled with

gratitude, filled with gratefulness to their God.

So important. Turn in your Bible, if you

would, to Luke's gospel, the 17th chapter, Luke's gospel, the

17th chapter. You know the story.

It's a very familiar story, says in verse #11 when he was on the

way to Jerusalem, he was passing between Samaria and Galilee.

As he entered a village, 10 leprous men who stood at a

distance met him and they raised their voices saying, Jesus,

Master, have mercy on us. Now here are these 10 lepers.

They're in this in the outskirts of this village, and they see

Jesus coming. And the reputation of Jesus by

this time is, is all throughout the land of Israel.

Everybody knows who Jesus is. He's the miracle worker.

He takes the blind and causes them to see, takes the lame and

lets them walk, takes the dead and raises them up.

So here comes Jesus. And so these men who are, who

are filled with leprosy, see this as an opportunity to ask

Jesus to plead with Jesus to have mercy upon them and heal

them. I mean, if it was you, would you

not do that? Of course you would.

Here's the miracle worker. Here's the all powerful one.

Here's the one that can do what no one else has ever done.

Well, we, we need to ask him to have mercy upon us.

Look what happens next. When he saw them, he said to

them, go and show yourself to the priests in Luke 5, he he

touched the man with leprosy. He doesn't touch these men.

He doesn't say be healed, don't do that either.

He he wants to to test the meagerness of their faith.

You see, they already believe that Jesus is a miracle worker.

So they already believe in the power of Jesus.

They already believe in the reputation of Jesus.

So that's their faith. They, they, they believe in who

he is based on what he has done already.

And so he says to them, go and show yourself to the priest.

Why would we say that? Because Christ came to fulfill

all the law. And the law in Leviticus 17 and

18 would meant that the priest who are the inspectors of those

who are leprous, would determine whether or not they were healed

or not. And he wants them to go to the

priest, because 10 men who are filled with leprosy, who are

healed is an overwhelming example of the power of God to

the priest of Israel that they would not be able to deny.

And so he says, go and show yourself to the priests.

And so they all get up and they make their way toward the temple

in Jerusalem, so says. And as they were going, they

were cleansed. So uneventful, so low key, No

balloons, no whistles, no lights, no hoopla, nothing like

that. Just as they were going, they

were cleansed. This is a remarkable

understatement in the Scriptures, but that's what the

the Lord wanted to say. And then it says this.

Now one of them we saw that he had been healed.

Turn back, turn back, glorifying God with a loud voice and fell

on his face at his feet, giving thanks.

He was a Samaritan. See, this man wanted physical

cleansing, but he knew he needed spiritual cleansing, and so he

knew that. So he went back to the one who

cleansed him and glorified his name with a loud voice, No shame

praising his name, then falling down before him, because worship

is known by a thankful heart. Not only am I joyful and

prayerful, but I am thankful. It's the model life of

adoration. So he here, here, he adores his

God. He falls before him and gives

thanks to him. He recognizes his deity, He

understands his iniquity, and he cries out for mercy.

And Christ responds with three simple questions.

Were there not ten cleansed that, he says, but they're 9.

Where are they? Was no one found who returned to

give glory to God except this foreigner, this Samaritan?

Was no one willing to to exalt God?

Was no one willing to adore God, to worship God except this one

person? You see, they're, they're

indicative of Israel. They, they want Jesus to do for

them. When Jesus feeds them, they're

great. They love him.

When Jesus heals them, they are ecstatic.

But when Jesus preaches to them, they can't stand him.

They just love what Jesus does for them.

They were consumers, a lot like people today and in the church.

They go to church for what the church can do for them.

They are called consumer Christians.

Can the church do this for me? Can the church do that for me?

Can the church meet this need? Can the church meet that need?

That's the way the Israel was with with with Jesus.

Do this for me. Jesus He did because he's a God

of grace, mercy, compassion, and love.

Were there not ten? There were cleansed.

Where are the other nine? Where'd they go?

How come they're not with you? Do they not want to recognize

God and give glory to his name? He said to him, Stand up and go.

Your faith has made you well. The word for well is sodzo, most

common word for salvation in the Testament.

Your faith has saved you. See, the unbeliever doesn't care

to give thanks. There's a want to give thanks.

The believer cannot help but give thanks.

That's the difference. And that's why the model life is

filled with with adoration. And yet, yet we find it's such a

hard thing to be thankful in everything.

Turn with me in your Bible to another passage.

Again, another familiar one, but always good to be reminded.

And that's the passage in the book of Philippians, Philippians

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2. So we are to give thanks in

everything. First Thessalonians 518 we're to

give thanks for everything or for all things.

Ephesians 520 so Paul is going to turn that around and say

these words in Philippians 214 do all things, all things, all

things without what grumbling and disputing.

So in all things, give thanks, give thanks for all things, so

that in all things you do not grumble or complain.

The word for dispute is a is a word to question.

Do all things without questioning.

That's very hard for us, isn't it?

We always want to know the answer.

Why? Why?

Why do I have to do this? Why do I have to obey that

command? Why do I have to forget that

person? Why?

And God just give commands. He doesn't give suggestions and

he doesn't OfferUp an opinion. He just gives you commands.

And the word for grumbling is a is a word for complaining.

Complaining. Now maybe that's not you today,

but people have all kinds of things to complain about.

They complain because we have bagels and not doughnuts in

between services. Figure that.

Figure that they complain because there's not air

conditioning in the foyer. But there's a method to our

madness. It gets you into the auditorium

quicker where it is air conditioned.

But we complain there's no air conditioning in the foyer.

We complain about how long it takes to sign in our children to

take in the class. We complain about where we have

to park in the middle of someone on the outskirts of someone on

the other side of the auditorium.

We, there are so many things that we complain about.

We don't even think about it. If Paul says, I want you to do

all things without complaining, as a mother, I, I want you to,

to care for your children without complaining, without

grumbling, right? You ask the Lord for children.

The Lord gives you a gift, and then you complain about how much

time it takes to take care of the children.

Why would you do that? There are gifts from God.

If we find ways to complain and grumble, we complain because I

no longer can do the things I used to do when I didn't have

children, but now that I have children, I can't do those

things anymore. So I complain about not having

time to do those things and I begin to grumble and mumble.

You see, we find so many things to to complain and moan and and

groan about. And Paul says just the reverse

of Ephesians 520 and 1st. That's why it's 518 and

everything that you do, don't complain and do not grumble.

Do not question. So that what you will prove

yourselves to be blameless, innocent children of God above

reproach, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation,

among whom you appear as lights in the world, in order to prove

that you are different than the world, in order to prove that

you are a light in the world, in order to prove that you are a

child of God. It comes because you do not

complain and you do not question.

I love the words of Thomas Watson, that great Puritan

preacher and writer, when he said this.

By praise a Christian excels all the infernal spirits.

Do you talk of God? So does the devil.

He brought scripture to Christ. Do you profess religion?

So can the devil. He transforms himself into an

Angel of light. Do you fast?

The devil never eats. Do you believe the devils have a

faith of ascent? They believe, and yet they

tremble. But as Moses worked such a

miracle as none of the magicians could reproduce, so here is a

work Christians may be doing which no or none of the devils

can do, and that is the work of Thanksgiving.

Devils can't do that. Only the Christian can.

The world grumbles and Mumbles and moans and groans and

disputes, right? But the Christian, no, he, he

proves himself different than the world.

He's he's completely the opposite.

He's given thanks in all things and for all things.

I love the story that Spurgeon tells when he says I once heard

a a touchy story about a poor woman with two children who had

no bed for them to sleep in, and scarcely any clothes to cover

them. In the depth of winter.

They were nearly frozen, and the mother took the door of a cellar

off the hinges and set it up before the corner where they

crouched to sleep, that some of the draft and cold might be kept

from them. One of the children whispered to

her when the mother complained. Mother, what do those dear

little children do who have no cellar door to put up in front

of them, hmm? Spurgeon says.

Even there you see the little heart found cause for

thankfulness. Thankful for a cellar door that

just blocks some of the cold. Not all the cold, but just some

of the cold. And what do those children do

who have no cellar door to block the cold for them?

A heart of thankfulness. Now I know that most of us hear

this and think little of it. It's not that big a deal.

Oh, it's a big deal. Let me show you turn to 1st

Corinthians chapter 10, First Corinthians chapter 10 and let

1 Corinthians 10 · chapter mention

me show you how big a deal this is.

First one for I do not want you to be uninformed, brethren.

I don't want you to, the King James Version says.

I don't want you to be ignorant, brethren, that our fathers were

all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all

were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all

ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual

drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which

followed them, and the rock was Christ.

He talks about Israel's privileges and all that they had

as a unit, as a nation that came from God.

Verse 5. Nevertheless, with most of them

God was not pleased, for they were laid low in the wilderness.

This is a nice way of saying they died in the wilderness.

Here was this nation who received all these blessings

from God, and they received them all at once as a as a nation of

of 2 million Jews. But nevertheless, for a lot of

them, God was not even pleased with them.

So he killed them in the wilderness for six.

Now these things happen as examples for us so that we would

not crave evil things as they also crave.

This is an example. This is an illustration Paul was

telling the Church of Corinth. Look, these are examples of what

not to do. He says verse 7, do not be

idolatrous as some of them were. As it is written, the people sat

down to eat and drink, and stood up to play.

Nor verse 8 Let us act immorally, as some of them did,

and 23,000 fell in one day. Nor let us try the Lord, as some

of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents.

Nor grumble question as some of them did and were destroyed by

the destroyer. We understand where God would

kill those who committed idolatry.

We understand that God would kill those who committed

immorality. But why would God kill somebody

who grumbles? I mean, compare the two

grumbling, idolatry, complaining, immorality.

In our minds, they're like, whoa, there's such a difference

between the two sins. But in God's mind, sin is still

sin. And of course, the reference is

Numbers chapter 16, where they're in Numbers 16.

Numbers 16 · chapter mention

Cora Dathan in a Byram rebelled against the leadership of Moses

and Aaron, and God opened up the ground and swallowed them and

their families all alive, and then closed the ground over

them. And then 250 other men thought

that he could act like priests. And God sent fire down from

heaven and incinerated those men.

And the people complained. They grumbled, They questioned

Moses, and then questioning Moses, they were questioning

God. Why would God do this?

Why would God lead us out here and then kill us?

And God was incensed. So instead of plague and killed

14,700 of them, if it wasn't for Moses and Aaron interceding on

Israel's behalf, he probably would have killed every single

one of them. Grumbling questions and doubts.

God's sovereignty, His goodness, His mercy, His Providence.

When you begin to grumble and complain, you are saying, God,

you didn't do it good enough, or you didn't do it right, or you

didn't do it in my way, because my way is better than God's way.

You gave me this when I asked for that, You did this when I

wanted that and to begin to complain.

Husbands do it all the time, following in the footsteps of

Adam. When Adam said it's the woman

you gave me Lord, he blamed the Lord.

He grumbled to complain because of sin, because of the woman

that God gave him. See and see.

Isn't it a miracle that that that God doesn't kill us when we

grumble? Think about that.

Think. Think about your day.

Think about your week, how many times you complained about what

was taking place in your life, your family, your work, your

school, because things didn't go the way you thought they should

go. So you criticize, You moan, you

complain, you groan over and over and over again.

And God in his grace allows you to continue living.

That is a that is a walking miracle of God that you're still

alive today even though you disobey the commands of God.

So Paul says, do not grumble, do not complain about anything,

just don't do it instead in everything and for it just give

thanks to God. Can you do that?

If you're an unbeliever, you cannot do that.

You don't even want to do that. If you're a believer, your

hearts cry as Lord, I want to, I want to cry out to you and, and

thankfulness for what you've done.

Am I to thank the Lord for for a bad marriage?

Absolutely, absolutely. Because why is the marriage bad?

Is it just all on him or all on her?

Or do you play a part in it as well?

And bad is relative, is it not? To you?

Your bad marriage might be good to somebody else's marriage, I

don't know. But do you rejoice with the wife

of your youth? That's what Solomon says.

Rejoice with the wife of your youth.

But we want to complain about the wife of our youth because

she doesn't do what she used to do.

Well, that's no good. Who's that help?

We, we had to give thanks for everything in everything.

And I know that some of you right now your, your wheels are

spinning in your mind and you're looking for an excuse that says,

you know God. I know that God does not expect

me to give thanks in this situation or for this situation.

I know you're, you're thinking that and you're going to ask the

question, well, what do you mean that I in this situation or, or

in this circumstance or or in this way or I know you're asking

that question in your own mind. We all do.

But can't we just rest in what God has said, because

thankfulness reveals so much about our lives?

It reveals #1 this is my outline.

This is all introduction up to now.

It reveals our conversion to Christ.

That's the Philippians 2 says. It reveals our conversion to

Christ. That's what Luke 17 said.

We read about the 10 lepers, but listen to what Paul says in

Colossians 2. Therefore, as you have received

Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.

How did you receive Him? By faith or by grace through

faith, right? So you walk by faith, by the

grace of God, have you been firmly rooted and now being

built up in Him and established in your faith just as you were

instructed and overflowing with gratitude.

What a statement. Overflowing with gratitude,

because what thankfulness does is reveal my conversion to

Christ. There's been a transformation.

I'm not like the Pagan world. I'm not ungrateful.

I'm not unthankful. I am not the person who just

tries to consume from God. I really want to obey God and

thank him for what he's done and give praise to his glorious

name. So it reveals my conversion to

Christ. 2nd Corinthians 915 Thanks being to God for His

indescribable gift. I'm not so sure we understand

the indescribable nature of the gift of God, because if we did,

we'd be giving thanks all the time.

Fact. You got to get used to it

because the Book of Revelation says this.

And when the living creatures gave glory and honor and thanks

to him who sits on the throne, to him who lives forever and

ever, the 24 elders which is the church will fall down before him

who sits on the throne and will worship him who lives forever

and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne,

saying, Worthy are you our Lord and our God to receive glory and

honor and power. For you created all things, and

because of your will they existed and were created. 4

Living creatures stand around the throne of God, always saying

holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.

Worship him, praise him, honor him with Thanksgiving.

And they haven't been redeemed, for living creatures have not

been redeemed. They're spirit beings, they're

angels. But us, we've been redeemed.

And so a thankful heart reveals #1 my conversion to Christ #2 it

reveals my commitment to the will of God, my commitment to

the will of God. In other words, this is the will

of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

What? That you give thanks in all

things. So now I'm, I'm going to reveal

my commitment to God. Lord, not only am I converted by

you, I am committed to you so much so that I will purpose in

my heart to give thanks to you in everything.

Remember Jonah, the will of God was for Jonah to go to Nineveh

to give thanks and everything. Jonah wasn't about to give

thanks nor go to Nineveh. He went the opposite way.

And you know the story so overboard, swallowed by a great

fish. He's in the belly of the fish

and listen to what he says in the belly of the fish.

While I was fainting away, verse 7 of Jonah chapter 2, I

Jonah 2 · chapter mention

remembered the Lord. It's always good to remember the

Lord, especially when you're in the belly of a fish.

I remember the Lord, and my prayer came to you into your

holy temple. Those who regard vain idols

forsake their faithfulness. He did.

He forsook His faithfulness. He forsook His commitment

because he regarded vain idols. It's in this case was him the

worship of himself that he would not go and preach the gospel to

the Ninevites because they were an ungodly nation.

And those who regard their idols always forsake their

faithfulness, their commitment. Why do we forsake our commitment

to giving thanks to God? Because we have another idol,

something more important to us than the true living God.

So he says. But I will sacrifice to you with

the voice of Thanksgiving that which I have vowed.

I will pay salvation from the Lord.

Then the Lord commanded the fish and vomited Jonah up on dry

land. Maybe, just maybe, God is

patiently waiting for your situation, your attitude to say,

Lord, I have forsaken my commitment.

I will sacrifice to you with the voice of Thanksgiving.

I will thank you that I am single and not married.

I will thank you that I am married but can't have children.

I will thank you that even though I want to be physically

better, I know that Your grace is sufficient for me.

And I thank you. And maybe it's that time that

God throws you up out of your situation onto solid ground.

I don't know. But I do know this Thanksgiving

reveals my conversion to Christ. It reveals my commitment to the

will of God. What else does it reveal?

Well, you're going to have to come back next week.

Figure that one out. Let's pray.

Lord, we are grateful for today. Truly, Lord, you are a great

God. Forgive us for our ingratitude.

Pray that all of our lives will be challenged today to live for

the glory and honor of Your name.

Then we might give praise and Thanksgiving to you in Jesus

name, Amen.