-Transcript-
00:37 Amen. Thank you for joining me. Good to be here today.
00:41 Hope you’re having a wonderful day. Welcome to the cafe. Pastor Clark Covington, just thankful to be here today.
00:46 Thankful to talk about being thankful. Ain’t nothing wrong with being thankful. Amen.
00:54 Thankfulness breeds a gratitude in our hearts. It makes us more happy and at peace and it’s what God calls us to do. That’s what we’re talking about here today is thankfulness.
01:07 We’re in the third part of a four-part series on what Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5. Towards the end there, he wrote some information or instructions to the church at Thessalonica and he told them to rejoice evermore.
01:22 We talked about that, the idea of rejoicing in affliction and temptation and victory, the idea of praying without ceasing. So rejoicing evermore and then praying without ceasing.
01:33 We spoke about that, the idea of praying a routine, repetition, repentance, the three R’s as well as making sure that we’re saved, understanding how we should pray, how that all works.
01:46 And then the third part here today, in everything give thanks. 1 Thessalonians 5:18In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
01:58 How about that? In everything give thanks. Now Paul could have written, when things go well, thank God, or each day thank God at noon, or whatever it is. But he didn’t.
02:10 He said in everything. And you’re saying, Brother Clark, how can I give thanks if I’m at the funeral? How can I give thanks if I’m in bankruptcy court? How can I give thanks if I’m in divorce court?
02:22 How can I give thanks if my kid’s gone astray? Well, those are hard questions, and I believe my answer would be that you give thanks to God for His provision, for His providence, for His protection, for His promises, for all those things that He’s given you in the Bible to keep you together as you go through the struggle, as you go through this storm. Understanding that there’s much we don’t understand.
02:50 Now, I don’t know, I can’t speak for God beyond what’s in His Word, but I imagine that there are many things we don’t understand about heaven. There’s many things we don’t understand about earth, about what we go through each day,
03:02 and that there are things that God has shielded us from, information that God has kept back from us for this season. And so we must just thank Him knowing that He is good.
03:13 You understand that God’s character is good, that the character of God is one that loves, and that saw our need, and sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross for us, so that we, us sinners, while we were yet sinners, He did this, we, us sinners, could have everlasting life.
03:33 And beyond just being saved from hell and death and fire, God gave us a way to be brothers in Christ, to be co-heirs with Christ, to rule and reign with Christ, to have a purpose in eternity.
03:50 That’s God’s love, and that same God that did that, you know, the Bible says it pleased the Father to see Christ go through that.
04:00 That’s incredible. And the Bible also says, what good thing would He withhold from us? And the truth is, He won’t. He’s not gonna withhold any good thing from us.
04:09 Look at all the commands in the Bible, they’re for our good, amen. Yes, He’s holy, and they’re His instructions for us, His commands, but they’re for our good. The idea that we are to not lie, that’s for our good.
04:21 That we shouldn’t covet, that’s absolutely for our good. That we should not lust, that we should not be greedy, that we should not have pride, that we should not murder and kill, and these are all things for our good, Amen.
04:32 They’re meant to protect us and take care of us, and yet we see in His character this great love for us beyond just protecting us, but to bless us and to give us that expected end.
04:47 And so we must remember that character of God in 1 Thessalonians 5 18, and everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. We must remember that character in hard times, when we’re counseling someone maybe that is going through a loss, and we don’t know what to say.
05:03 Just trust that God has a reason for that, and if that lost person, the person that has passed away was saved, Amen, then we know that they’re in heaven with the Lord, and to be in heaven is better than to be on earth.
05:16 So again, there are things we can’t fully understand. When God won’t heal somebody, we may look at, oh God, how could you do that? And God’s saying, well I want them here with me, and it’s perfect here with me.
05:27 It’s a lot better here with me than where you’re at, so just trust me here, right? Just trust me, and I’m gonna give you what you need to get by.
05:35 Now what I love about this, is this mentions the will of God. Have you ever been in church, or talked to a brother and sister in Christ, and they just say, I just want to do the will of God, and I can’t figure it out, or I just don’t know what the will of God is for my life.
05:49 And it’s something many young people go through, but frankly many believers of all ages go through.
05:55 And here we see in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. You want to do the Lord’s will, here it is. We say we want to do the Lord’s will, then we should give thanks in all things.
06:09 And what is thanksgiving? It’s gratitude, it’s humility, it’s putting ourselves in the rightful place. I mean think about it, if you are thanking God for all that he’s done, you’re admitting that you weren’t able to do it on your own, were you?
06:22 I know a person that refused to go to the altar, they said that they didn’t see any need, and that was very honest, amen. And I think that if more people that would refuse to be saved, or go to repent to the Lord, whatever it may be, would just admit that they don’t see any need.
06:39 And when we thank God, and we say, oh Lord thank you for what you’ve given us, we’re admitting that we have a need, Amen. John 3:30, he must increase but I must decrease.
06:49 One of my favorite verses in the Bible, the idea of us decreasing and him increasing is, we’re admitting that we on our own can do no good thing, that we are sinful, that we mess it all up, that we have all kinds of issues, but that he is perfect, that he is wonderful, that he is lovely, and when he increases within us, that wonderfulness and that loveliness and all those good things will abound in us.
07:14 And so he must increase but I must decrease sounds at first like we’re losing something, but no we are gaining all the more when we have Christ ruling and reigning in our hearts.
07:26 The idea of God increasing in us starts with our submission to him. Again it’s this obedience and this love, thanking God in all things, because we are submitted to him and we are obedient to him.
07:37 You know Paul writes that he is a prisoner of Christ, a bond slave of Christ, and you know I think he meant that quite literally, like he is literally chained to Christ, he is on a mission for Christ, and that’s what he did, and he faithfully served the Lord obediently, understanding his role and not mincing words and realizing that Christ is Lord, that Christ is preeminent, that Christ comes before all.
08:01 Psalm 106:1, Praise ye the Lord, O give thanks unto the Lord, for heis good, for his mercy endureth forever. Psalm 106:1 tells us the same thing, to praise God, to give thanks to him, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever.
08:17 God’s mercy is upon us for an eternity. When we look at things, you know you sprain an ankle and you’re gonna have trouble walking for a couple weeks, you know you go through a battle, it may be here for a season, but God’s mercy is with us for an eternity. It never goes away, and we should praise him and give him thanks every day.
08:39 Philippians 4:6, Be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. We are to go to God and pray about everything, and part of that prayer life is thanking him for what he did for us and for how good he is to us. Psalm 107, O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever.
08:58 Again, very similar to Psalm 106, we are to give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, he is so good to us, his mercy endureth forever.
09:10 We are eternally blessed because of God, and hopefully we realize that here today. Psalm 100, Enter into His gates with thanksgiving.
09:16 I love that. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise. Be thankful unto him and bless his name.
09:23 If I’m honest here today, not every time that I’ve prayed, I’ve always appropriately thanked him. There’s been times that I’ve been frustrated, and I’ve gone to the Lord in prayer very frustrated. I had to back up.
09:36 Okay, wait, wait a minute God, you know that’s never good to tell God to wait a minute. Well let me start this again Lord, and again the Bible says that we shouldn’t have vain repetitions,
09:48 and so I guess I earn a little points there by not being too vain and just repeating things and being too ceremonial, but on the other end of it, I guess I could be, I admit, I can be a little casual in my prayer. And we should enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise.
10:01 Be thankful unto him and bless his name. You know, when I think of this, I think of the fear of the Lord, and when I think of the fear of the Lord, I think of the whale.
10:04 I took our little church, we took our church van, drove to Atlanta, went to the aquarium in Atlanta, and oh my goodness, if you ever get a chance to go there, it’s spectacular.
10:13 It’s a great testimony to God’s creation, and there was a whale, I think it was a whale shark, or something, it was just this huge, huge fish, amen, and you just look at this thing, you stand there, and there’s this massive acrylic glass, you know, 50 feet high, and this thing is swimming by you,
10:31 and you know, it’s just astounding to see that, and you say to yourself, God made that, you know, God made that. Like the astronaut in space, looking around all the planets and all the stars, God made that, Amen. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving.
10:45 We need to realize He’s fearful, he’s wonderful. Enter into his courts with praise. We need to thank him for a worm like us, for a speck like us of dust, for just being made out of the dirt, for God to say, I love you so much, that I’m gonna give you my only begotten Son, to die on the cross and to suffer.
11:05 I’m gonna give you new life in him as he is raised from the dead, so are you raised a new creature in Christ, Amen. To love us so much, to say, I’m gonna send you the comforter. This world is gonna beat you up, and you’re gonna have tribulation and trials, but you’re gonna have the comforter.
11:18 I love you so much, I’m gonna give you the comforter, and to send us the word, amen, the Bible, Amen. I’m gonna give you the Bible, and for people out there that need help, I’m gonna give you some preachers, and I’m gonna give you some teachers, and I’m gonna give you some some deacons, and I’m gonna give you all of these ministry workers to help you, to help to shepherd you along, Amen. God gave us so much.
11:44 He cares so much for us. Do we thank him? Do we enter his courts with praise? Do we sing his praises? Do we realize how blessed we are? Do we realize our eternal fate is glory?
11:53 Do we realize that we were more than conquerors in Christ? Do we realize that he has set us on that firm rock foundation, or are we going to sit around and bemoan things and complain and ask God why? And as a, again, as a human being, I am guilty of this too, Amen. I’m preaching to myself here today.
12:12 Look, we need to thank God. We need to praise him. We need to have earnest thankfulness, understanding our fate, not thanking God that I’m not like this sinner, and I’m not like this sinner, but thanking God that because I’m a sinner, he has saved me by His grace.
12:27 Oh, His wonderful grace. We couldn’t do it on our own. There’s no way to do it on our own, and the flesh wants to say, yes, you can, yes, you can, and the world wants to say, yes, you can, yes, you can, and God’s told us in His word, no, we can’t.
12:39 It’s only by Christ. Access to God only comes through Christ, and he gave us Christ, and he gave us his word, and He gave us the comforter, and we have to just thank him sometimes for being so good to us. Thank Him for the little things.
12:51 Thank Him for a blanket if you got a blanket. Thank him for shoes if you got shoes. Thank Him for another day if you have another day.
12:58 If you have one friend that’s more than most people have, thank him for that friend. You got a good husband or wife, thank him for that. You know, you got great kids, thank him for that.
13:08 Whatever it is, thank him for it. God’s providence, God’s provision is all around you, and he desires to be worshiped, and he desires to have glory. He desires for you to thank Him, for you to really praise him, for you to really realize just how big and wonderful he is, just how big his heart is.
13:26 Thank Him and praise Him. Thank Him for the children. Oh, look at the little children.
13:30 They’re wonderful. Who made the children? God made the children. Amen.
13:37 They’re such wonderful kids. The Bible tells us we have to be like a child to enter into heaven. Thank him for the kids today.
13:41 We take these kids for granted so often in our households, in the schools, and they go through so much, more so now it seems like than ever before. These kids are going through so much. Thank God for the kids.
13:52 And as you express this gratitude for all of his creation, and for him especially, your heart will be soft and tender to the ways of God. God will be able to use you more, and you’ll grow closer to him, all because you thanked him in everything, not just the good thing, but in everything, and in all things, thanking him. And I’m thanking you for joining us today.
14:13 Take care, God bless, and Amen.