Whatever you do in word or deed, whatever you say, whatever you're doing, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. Hello and welcome to the Truth Pulpit with Don Green, founding pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.
I'm Bill Wright. And today, Don begins a series titled A Christ-Filled Thanksgiving with part one of a message called With Thanks and Trust. Today, he'll take an in-depth look at the importance of thankfulness in the life of the Christian. And Don, thankfulness is something that we focus on every year around this time. We're thankful for our families, our jobs, our health, and so on and so forth. And of course, we should be thankful for those things. But today, we're going to hear about another kind of thankfulness, one that God wants every believer to experience. So could you tell us more about that?
Well, I'd be happy to, Bill. You know, my friend, the Word of God tells us that as Christians, we have so many additional things to be thankful for. The spiritual blessings that he has given to us that are unique to being a Christian.
Think about it. Christ died for our sins on the cross. Our sins are forgiven.
Christ is alive and he is at the right hand of God praying for us. Our salvation is secure. We have the indwelling Holy Spirit. All of these things and beyond that, we have the inerrant Word of God which certifies all of these things to our believing hearts. Yes, we're thankful this week. We have many things on earth to be thankful for, but the object of our greatest thanks is in heaven. And that's what we'll explore today on The Truth Pulpit.
Thanks, Don. And friend, let's join our teacher right now with today's lesson on The Truth Pulpit. I want to give you two primary dispositions of the heart for you to consider and to build upon as you seek to grow in Christ.
And to answer the question, how can I be righteous here? Well, we're only going to look at two, but they are attitudes which have a way of informing everything else, that frame your disposition toward everything else. And we could say that it's a thankful heart and a trusting heart.
A thankful heart, first of all, and a trusting heart, second of all. And those are vertical dispositions toward God, you might say. These are not attitudes that we have so much toward men, although we manifest them in our lives and others observe them, but these are attitudes of righteousness toward the God who saved us. How would you righteously respond to the God who saved you?
If you're thinking biblically and thinking rightly, you would be thankful toward Him and you would trust Him. These are vertical attitudes of which we speak here. And so let's look, first of all, at a thankful heart. In some ways, we're talking about Christian living 101 here.
This is basic, but we need the basics a lot of times to be reinforced to us. Let's think about it from this perspective, beloved. If Jesus Christ has genuinely saved you from your sin, and He has genuinely saved you from eternal judgment and damnation in hell, if He has really and truly done that for you, then your whole life should be framed with a settled attitude of thanksgiving toward Him, an attitude of gratitude that never loses sight of your guilt and shame and sin before a holy God, that never loses sight that the outcome of those things and the just thing, in one sense, for God to have done would have been to condemn you eternally. When you understand that, first of all, and then you recognize that Christ has saved you and delivered you and rescued you from that judgment and that damnation and that eternal destiny, when you recognize all of that, the only possible response that you could have is to be thankful to Him for that, right? How could you have any other settled, overarching disposition to the one who did that for you at the cost of His own blood and at the cost of His own life? I continually go back in my mind to what Jesus said in John chapter 10. In thinking about His atonement and His death on the cross, and He said that He voluntarily lays down His life for us.
No one has taken it away from Him. He lays it down on His own initiative, not because we could compel Him, not because we deserved that. We were undeserving, and in that condition, Christ loved us and did all of those things for us. Now, beloved, if that doesn't frame your entire attitude toward life and eternity, you need to spend some more time editing on the significance of what that means and to lay aside the issues of the day, the issues of life, the problems and all of that and just meditate on who Christ is, the eternal Son of God, what He did, He died an atoning death for your sins, and what the consequences of that are. This has radically, immeasurably, geometrically changed the reality of your eternal destiny.
We need to just stop and let that sink in for a moment and let that transcend and transform all of the other things that we tend to occupy ourselves with. See, it's a vertical attitude that says, Lord, I realize what you've done. I realize something of it. I see it in Scripture. I know I don't know the full extent of what it cost you and what your sufferings were like and what heaven's going to be.
I don't know it fully and exhaustively, but I know it in part. I know it truly, and I know that what that means is that you have given me, at your own cost, an immeasurably great gift that I could never have gotten on my own. And so what can I do but say thank you and let that be the shape of everything else that I proceed in life with? 1 Thessalonians 5, verses 16 through 18 says, Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything, give thanks.
Hear that again. In everything, give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do you see the simplicity of those words calling us to a comprehensive approach toward life? In everything, in every season of life, in sorrow and in joy, in poverty and in plenty, in all of those circumstances, have a disposition of thankfulness and gratitude toward God. This is what he wants from you. This is his revealed will for you. This is his command to us. And when we are mindful of who Christ is to us and what he has done for us, then that command is not a burdensome thing. It is a natural overflow of a heart that's been transformed by grace. It could be no other way.
So let's drill down just a little bit further. What exactly does it mean to give thanks? You know, it's easy to just kind of toss around terms and not really give much thought to what they signify. What does it mean to give thanks?
Well, I'm not trying to be technical here. Just to say this is that you express gratitude to God because Jesus Christ has given more to you than your sins deserve. Your sins deserve judgment. Christ acted on your behalf while you were still helpless, while you were dead in your trespasses and sins. Christ died for you. Christ rose for you. Christ ascended to heaven for you. Christ sent the Spirit upon you to give you new life. In all of your deadness, Christ did all of that as a gracious gift from a most worthy giver to a most unworthy recipient. And so you recognize that and you express your gratitude toward Him.
You think seriously and long and hard about the nature of His grace and you thank Him for what He has done. Lord, thank you. Thank you. I'm grateful. I recognize your generosity toward me.
I appreciate what you have done. You get the idea. Psalm 97 verse 12 says this, Be glad in the Lord, you righteous ones, and give thanks to His holy name.
Okay? So you get the idea. What I want to do in the next part here as we consider this thankful heart, I want to press upon you and expose you to the various areas of the Christian life where thanksgiving is found to be a direct result or right at the center of everything that it is supposed to be. You see, it's not simply one text from 1 Thessalonians 5 and everything give thanks. When you read certain passages of Scripture, you see that this is built into the very woof and warp and the fabric of what it means to be a Christian. And every important aspect of biblical spiritual life finds thanksgiving attached to it. And so turn to the book of Ephesians with me for a moment. We're just going to number these things off. I'm just going to go through these things very quickly.
I think there's five that I'm about to show to you. Number one, giving thanks is part of the Spirit-filled life. It is part of being filled with the Spirit. It is a result of being filled with the Holy Spirit. In Ephesians chapter 5 verse 18, Ephesians chapter 5 verse 18, which is easy to remember because it parallels 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 18, that's an easy way for us to start to stitch some of these themes in Scripture together so that we remember them more easily. Ephesians chapter 5 verse 18, watch this. You know about the command to be filled with the Spirit. Verse 18, do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation. But be filled with the Spirit.
And what are the results? What are the consequences of being filled with the Holy Spirit, of being filled with the Word of God? Well, there are consequences. You end up speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord. Look at it there in verse 20. Always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father. Always, this is a settled life disposition for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. In every circumstance, at all times, there is to be this attitude of thanksgiving, of gratitude toward God for Christ and what He has done for you. That is what the Spirit of God produces. That's one of the fruit of the Spirit that He produces in us is this thankful heart, this thankful attitude, vertically directed toward God and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I can imagine someone claiming to be a Christian and saying, well, I'm not a thankful person and I'm filled with the Spirit. Well, no, no, it doesn't work that way.
It doesn't work that way. You don't exempt yourself from this. The fact, perhaps, that you're not a thankful person and not marked by that is perhaps more likely, far more likely, an indication that you're just not filled with the Spirit. I'm not saying that you're not a Christian, but carnal thinking and carnal minds and carnal lives lose sight of this element of thanksgiving. The one who is submitted to God, who's filled with His Word, filled with His Spirit, finds himself filled with thanksgiving.
That's what the Spirit produces. You see, a thankful attitude toward God glorifies Christ. A thankful attitude toward Christ honors Him. And the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to give glory to Jesus Christ.
Jesus speaks about that in the Gospel of John. And so the Spirit produces this giving of thanks. And as a result of that, we see how a thankful heart is central to a righteous life.
But there's more. Secondly, we could say, kind of a second subpoint here, is that the Bible describes giving thanks as part of the worthy Christian walk. Giving thanks is part of the worthy Christian walk.
And for that, I want to turn now to the book of Colossians and just go through some passages in Colossians, which, as you know, is kind of a parallel text to the book of Ephesians, so you find similar themes there, similar structure. And in Colossians chapter 1, verse 9, Paul reports to the Colossians how he is praying for them. And what a blessing for a church to have a spiritual leader like Paul who prays for them. In Colossians chapter 1, verse 9, Paul says, for this reason also, since the day we heard of it, he had heard of their faith, verse 4, in Christ Jesus, the love which we have for all the saints.
He had heard about this, and now he says, since the day we heard of it, what has he been doing? Verse 9, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with all the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. This is an apostle praying for a true church that they would walk in a manner that is worthy of the Lord who saved them.
Well, what does that worthy walk look like? To please him in all respects, he goes on in verse 10. Well, what is it that pleases God? Bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience, joyously giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. Paul builds up his prayer to this great climax. He says, I pray that you would walk in a manner worthy of him, to please him.
Well, what is it that pleases him? That you're strengthened with his power, with his might, and what does that produce? It produces this life of giving thanks to the Father, this vertical dimension of gratitude. And so a walk that is worthy of the Lord is a life of giving thanks.
To phrase the question in a different way, how can I be righteous here is the same question as saying, how can I walk in a manner that is worthy of the Lord? Well, what I want you to see is that the culmination of Paul's prayer is that it would produce a thankful people in response to the work of Jesus Christ. And so a worthy walk is marked by thanksgiving. But there's more.
There's more. And what I don't want you to lose sight of what we're doing here, we've made the assertion that a thankful heart is central to a righteous life in the Christian walk. And what we're doing is we're showing you multiple passages of Scripture that reinforce that theme, looking at it from different perspectives, and that thanksgiving is found in the heart of these matters. And so we've seen that it's part of the Spirit-filled life, Ephesians 5. It's part of a worthy walk, Colossians 1, but there's more. Number three, giving thanks is the mark of a mature faith in Christ, a mature faith in Christ. Colossians 2, beginning in verse 6. Colossians 2, verses 6 and 7. He says, therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, see, they are true Christians, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted, and now being built up in Him and established in your faith.
All right? So he says, now that you are in Christ, I want you to grow up. I want you to mature. I want you to be built up and established in your faith. Well, what happens in an established faith? Well, just as you were instructed and overflowing with gratitude, overflowing with gratitude, that this just spills out. This just bubbles out like an ever-flowing spring in the woods someplace, always bubbling out, bringing forth the clear, clean water of gratitude toward the Christ who saved you. And so you see Paul speaking about calling them to a maturity of faith, and the outcome of that maturity is marked by gratitude. And so a mature faith in Christ is known, is recognized by one who gives thanks. But there's more.
There's more still. Fourthly, giving thanks flows from the Word of God. It flows from meditating on the Word of God, understanding it, considering it, thinking about it, applying it to your life, growing in it, asking questions that you might expand your knowledge and understanding still more, wanting to grow in obedience, not simply in head knowledge, because the Bible says that knowledge makes arrogant.
Knowledge on its own simply makes a man arrogant, even if it's spiritual knowledge, but love edifies. Well, Colossians chapter 3 verse 16 says, Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another, with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. This is paralleling, obviously, Ephesians 5, and look at what he says. Singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him, through Christ, that is, to God the Father. And again, beloved, what I want you to see is that this is utterly comprehensive. There is no aspect of life that is outside of this. Whatever you do in word or deed, whatever you say, whatever you're doing, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
And so I hope that you're beginning to see how utterly comprehensive this is. This is not an obscure theme in the New Testament. This is written all over the pages of the very nature of what Christian living is supposed to be like. If we are Christians, God intends for us to be thankful people. And we develop that gratitude by remembering our Lord, remembering His death and resurrection on our behalf, remembering His presence with us always, even to the end of the age, remembering that He is guiding our life into an eternal state of utter perfect bliss and blessedness. I just want to ask you, how could anyone know those things and not be thankful?
This is inescapable, isn't it? And so we've seen that this gratitude is the mark of a Spirit-filled life, a worthy walk, a mature faith. It flows from the Word of God, but there's still more. Number five, there's still more, where Scripture is emphasizing this theme. Giving thanks is central to a prayerful life. A meaningful prayer life is found with an attitude of thanksgiving. Colossians chapter 4 verse 2, where the apostle says, Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of surprise, thanksgiving.
And he goes on and adds a personal request in the midst of his prayer and his call for them to pray. But, you know, you think about the spiritual disciplines, the disciplines of grace, you know, of Bible reading and prayer, and we see condensed in this passage right together, wrapped around the Word of God, wrapped around prayer, is this theme, this transcendent theme of thanksgiving. I hope that you're beginning to see how impossible it is to live a meaningful Christian life without this spirit of thanksgiving being central to it all.
Turn back one book to the book of Philippians, Philippians chapter 4 verses 6 and 7. He says, Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Once again, you see the theme of thanksgiving, and once again, beloved, you see it in a comprehensive call and description about life.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by contrast, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. That's Don Green reminding us that thankfulness is one of the telltale signs of a Spirit-filled life. Well, you've been listening to The Truth Pulpit, and Don Green will bring you the second half of today's lesson on our next broadcast. Until then, if you'd like to find out more about this ministry, just go to thetruthpulpit.com. When you're there, you'll find all of Don's messages at no cost to you, along with a host of other free resources. Be sure to check it out today. Again, that's thetruthpulpit.com. I'm Bill Wright, and we'll see you next time right here on The Truth Pulpit.
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