Overflowing with Thankfulness (Part 1 of 3)

You don't have to be a follower of Jesus to be thankful, and yet Christian gratitude should be distinctive.

Today on Truth for Life, we'll explore the difference between natural appreciation and the gratefulness that ought to mark a genuine believer's heart. Alistair Begg is teaching from the book of Colossians chapters 1 and 2. Well, I have just one phrase that I want us to take away with us this morning, and that is the final phrase of verse 7 of Colossians chapter 2, overflowing with thankfulness.

Overflowing with thankfulness. Paul is writing to these Colossian believers who have come to faith in Christ. He tells us, as a result of the ministry of Epaphras, whom he mentions there in verse 7 of chapter 1, and now, as Paul writes to them, he recognizes that because of all that Jesus has become to them of all the things that should mark them, one of the key characteristics of the Christian is to be a grateful heart. And so, he anticipates here in verse 7 of chapter 2 that when people, if you like, bump into the Colossian Christians, what will spill out of them is in part, at least, thankfulness—in the same way that if I go walking around with this glass of water, you bump into me unexpectedly, and it spills, what is in will come out.

And the picture is clear, concerning our character. If we are filled with bitterness, if we're filled with ingratitude, if we're filled with envy and with jealousy, then it won't take much of a bump for what is inside of us to spill out. And so says Paul, I want to ensure that you folks are marked by this thankfulness. The word that he uses for overflowing is a fairly common word, but Paul uses it not infrequently. It's the word that is used here for overflowing. It's the word that is used in 2 Corinthians 4, where he speaks about the grace of God overflowing in them and through them to the glory of God. And interestingly, it is the word that is used in the tenth verse of the tenth chapter of John, where Jesus says, I have come that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly.

So, let us be clear. The Christians in Colossae, as a result of their union with Christ, are to be overflowing with thankfulness. And so, let us consider, first of all, the foundation, and then an important distinction, and then thirdly and finally the expression of this thankfulness. Well, he says, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord—that's verse 6 of chapter 2—that takes us back to chapter 1. He says this gospel has come to you, and as a result of it coming to them, it has bore fruit within them, and this is ever since they heard it—we're still in verse 6 of chapter 1—and they understood God's grace in all its truth. In other words, he is describing there the conversion of the believers in Colossae.

He's not describing a shift from irreligious to religious, but a far more fundamental change than that. Here with these individuals whose lives were going in a certain direction, Epaphras had come into town and had begun to tell them about Jesus of Nazareth, that he was the one who fulfilled all of the prophecies of the Old Testament, that he was despised and rejected by people, and he hung upon a cross. And there on that cross he was bearing the sacrifice of sin. And if men and women would turn to him in repentance and in faith, then they would know peace with God and the reality of God's power at work in their lives. And numbers of people in the Colossian Valley turned in faith to Jesus. And having understood this story, they went on to live in light of it. I wonder, this morning, have you understood this story—to realize that the good news of the gospel is the news of the fact that Jesus of Nazareth has come on our behalf, that he has lived the kind of life that we should live but can't, and that he has paid fully the penalty that we deserve for the life we do live but shouldn't—so that all of our confidence in the face of life and all of its vicissitudes, in the prospect of death and all of its solemnity, is to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Prior to this experience, prior to this encounter, these individuals, verse 21, were alienated from God, and they were enemies in their minds because of their evil behavior. By and large, the notion that is abroad is that men and women are pretty good on the main.

The fact is that the television news and the reports in the paper contradict this consistently. If we're honest, we know that our own hearts are unruly and out of control, and we're turned in upon ourselves, and we prefer ourselves before we prefer others, and so on, if we're deadly honest. And we sometimes think that if we were a little more educated, we would have fixed it, but we're fairly bright, and we haven't. And every so often, if someone turns us to the Bible, we discover this ugly truth about ourselves. But it is actually, in some measure, liberating to realize, Oh, I get it now, for the reason that I feel alienated from people around me—the realism that I feel alienated from myself sometimes when I'm alone—is because the Bible says that I'm alienated from God, that God made me for himself, for our relationship with him, and I'm alienated from him. My mind is turned away from him. I don't think of him, I don't love him, I don't look for him, and frankly, my behavior isn't very good either.

That's exactly what he says to these people. But he says the good news is, that's what you used to be. You were alienated, but now you've been reconciled. Elsewhere, he says, you lived in a dark place, and now you've been brought into the light. Elsewhere, he says, you were trapped, and now you've been set free. Elsewhere, he says, you were dead, and now you've been made alive with Christ. I hope you understand this, because this is clearly not simply the description of those who have decided to revamp their lives. I meet people all the time who are telling me they're revamping their lives. Yes, I'm turning over a new leaf. I'm making a change. It's wonderful.

I'm going to be more thankful this year than I was last year. Good. There's nothing wrong with that at all. I'm sure your wife is thrilled to hear it, for a start.

And your children, too. That's not the description here. The description is not of individuals who decided to revamp their lives. It is a description of those whose lives have been revolutionized by the saving grace of God—that they were once a certain way and now they've been made another way. That's what it means to be a Christian.

That's what it means to be converted. That's what it means to know God, a la the Bible. You see, ingratitude is one of the great marks of the unbeliever. When Paul writes in Romans chapter 1, he says that these people were ungrateful, that although they knew God, they neither gave thanks to him nor glorified him, but they worship the creature rather than the creator. By the time Paul writes his final letter to Timothy, in 2 Timothy 3, and he says, You're in for some tough sailing here, Timothy, before things get wrapped up, people will be lovers of the money, they'll be lovers of themselves, they will be ungrateful, inhospitable, and so on.

But ingratitude is in the heart of it. And one of the real indications that a person's life has been touched and changed by Jesus is that they overflow with thankfulness. They're just thankful. You see, thankfulness is the song of the Christian. Bitterness, complaining, anger, victimization—these are all part of the non-Christian's wardrobe. And in Jesus, says Paul to these Colossian Christians, you don't wear that stuff anymore. When you heard God's grace in all its truth, when you turned to him in repentance and in faith, he forgave all of your sins and he came to live inside of you.

He indwelled you. You are the dwelling place of God. Therefore, it is now incongruous for those of you who have been united with Jesus to go around wearing the clothes from your olden days.

Now, what is Paul doing here? He says, if you want to see the olden days, go to chapter 3 and verse 5. Here's the wardrobe from the olden days. What were the clothes from the olden days? That's the things that belong to your earthly nature.

Like what? Sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, greediness, which is idolatry. It's not impossible for these Colossian Christians to come out in this gear.

It is incongruous for them to come out in this gear. And the antidote to doing so is found in your union with Christ. It is because of our union with Jesus that we need not do this. And on account of our union with Jesus, when we do it, we need to drag the ugliness of it back to the place of our Christian conversion, the foot of the cross of Christ, and say, Lord Jesus Christ, this is ridiculous for me to be a bitterly complaining, immoral rascal. After all, you died for me. Forgive me, Lord Jesus.

Grand that I might overflow with thankfulness. So I want us to be very, very clear about this, that his call—that is, Paul's call to the believer—is on the basis of their union with Christ. It is on the basis of their union with Christ. If you don't understand that, then what you will hear me say is something that I'm not saying. Beck had a sermon on Sunday about how you're supposed to find some way to overflow with thankfulness, and you're to stop being ungrateful, and you're to start being thankful. I didn't say that.

It'd be silly to say that. Because that's not what Paul says, and I'm trying to say what Paul said. Paul says, Since you heard God's grace in all its truth, since you were reconciled to God, although previously alienated, since you once lived in darkness and now live in light, since you were once trapped and have now been set free, since you were once dead and you've now been made alive, the dynamic for the gratitude that flows from you is the dynamic of the gospel itself. So that is, one of my friends recently wrote, Purposeful, perpetual thanks to God is absolutely central to Christian character. Well, if that is the foundation, as we discover it here in Colossians, are we then to assume that only the believing Christian is capable of gratitude? Well, that brings us to our second point, and to the distinction, which is an important distinction. It's not found solely in Jonathan Edwards, but Edwards helps his readers in the religious affections in his book The Religious Affections to distinguish between what he refers to as natural gratitude and gracious gratitude.

I'm not going to spend long on this, but it's an important distinction. Natural gratitude is that of which anybody is capable. Everybody, just by virtue of life, has an appreciation for good gifts. Something's gone wrong with you badly—you bang your head really badly, or you're suffering from a condition—when you're no longer able to recognize that life, family, employment, leisure, freedom, a warm bed, a cold drink, sunshine, and so on—all of these things make for the potential for a grateful heart. And by nature, each of us is capable of such expressions of gratitude, not in the truest sense but at least in some measure. Natural gratitude starts with the stuff, starts with the things that we're given, starts with the benefits which accrue to us. Gracious gratitude starts with God himself. Gracious gratitude recognizes the character and the goodness and the love and the power and the excellencies of God himself regardless of any favors or enjoyments. And thinking along these lines, I went to Luke just to see whether William Jay, in his book which he wrote for fathers in 1820, to help them guide their children and their wives in prayer on a daily basis in the morning and evening, I went to see if William Jay had any prayers for Thanksgiving Day, and he had one for the morning and one for the evening, and I said, Well, I bet his prayer is going to be an expression of gracious gratitude. And of course, I wasn't at all surprised, and here is how his prayer begins. I won't give it all to you. This is a prayer for Thanksgiving. Now, just check how long it takes to get to the turkey and Aunt Mabel coming in from Minneapolis and her flight on time.

Okay? O God, you are very great. I'll change it from thou to you. You are clothed with honor and majesty.

You cover yourself with light as with a garment. You walk upon the wings of the wind. When we reflect on the glory of your majesty, we're filled with wonder at the vastness of your condescension. For you condescend even to behold things that are in heaven.

What then is man, that thou art mindful of him, or the Son of man, that you visit him? We rejoice that we are under the governance of a being who is not only almighty but perfectly righteous and wise and good, and that all things in our world are appointed and arranged by your paternal agency, that your providence numbers the very hairs of our head, and that a sparrow falleth not to the ground without our heavenly Father. Hitherto has the Lord helped us.

We bless you now for personal mercies. If we are called, it is by your Word. If we are renewed, it is by your Spirit. If we are justified, it is freely by your grace.

It is in you we live and move and have our being. Your goodness has always been near to us. And on and on and on he goes, till finally he says, And we thank thee for relative benefits.

Relative benefits! What is this prayer but an expression of gracious gratitude? And that brings me to my final point, because the final point is, well, how is this gratitude expressed? How is it expressed? Well, it's expressed in all kinds of ways.

Now, somebody just gave me their email address about ten days ago, and the email address is luckydog at such and such such and such. And I thought about the person, and I thought about the address, and I said, You know, I think that is a genuine expression of humility on this person's part. That they're saying, You know, I have a tremendous amount to be thankful for. The distinction between them and William Jay here is that the individual who sees life as the unfolding of chance—and you may see life that way this morning—the individual who sees life as the unfolding of chance almost inevitably welcomes the events that are enjoyable and favorable and resents those that are unpleasant or objectionable. Makes sense, doesn't it? After all, we don't know where we came from, we don't know where we're going. It seems that we're in a bit of a pickle now, and I resent that.

Oh, no, it seems that the pickle has gone, and we're now in a time of peace. Therefore, I'm very happy today. You see, that's one of the distinctions, because a Christian recognizes that their life is not at the mercy of some arbitrary and impersonal force—that we're not bobbing around on the sea of chance, that we're not held in the grip of some blind, deterministic power. But rather, as William Jay has said in his prayer here, all of the things that come our way in our lives are under your paternal guidance. In other words, you are our heavenly Father. So that is how thanksgiving or thankfulness overflows. So when the news is overwhelming—when the news is overwhelming—the believer can thank God that God sits enthroned over all the military, political, social, and economic forces of our day.

The Christian can face illness, disappointment, bereavement, unemployment, difficulty, sorrow, in the awareness of the fact that the God who has promised to look after the sparrow is profoundly involved in the life and circumstance of those whom he has made the special objects of his love. That is the foundation, and that is the expression of such gratitude. And this kind of overflowing gratitude will do a number of things. One, they will turn our gaze to God and away from ourselves and our circumstances. Will turn our gaze to God and away from ourselves and our circumstances.

And frankly, most of us could do with a solid dose of that to begin with. Secondly, such overflowing gratitude defends against the devil's insinuation to despair and to distrust. Overflowing gratitude, thirdly, protects from pride.

Protects from pride. It will eradicate from our vocabulary this phrase—here it comes—"I deserve more than this." And it will eradicate from our vocabulary this phrase—"I don't deserve this." And fourthly, it will allow us to rest in the realization that God's loving purpose is being worked out in experiences that are not only pleasant and encouraging but also in the experiences that are unsettling and painful. Because after all, expressions of gratitude for all that is pleasurable holds no surprise, cuts no ice. It is only by grace that we learn to overflow with thankfulness in all circumstances.

In all circumstances. That doesn't mean an inane grin. That does not mean the denial of that which is painful and difficult. But it's still overflowing thankfulness.

Jonathan Edwards died as a result of receiving a smallpox vaccination. And when the news reached Sarah, his wife, she wrote to her daughter, What shall I say? A holy and good God has covered us with a dark cloud. Now, first of all, notice the honesty in that. There's no superficial triumphalism. There's no, Oh, well, your dad's gone. Big deal. You know, after all, let's just sing a few songs and get on with life.

No. A holy and good God has covered us with a dark cloud. In other words, he was not taken out by chance as a result of a smallpox injection. A smallpox vaccination took him out under the overruling providence of God, who, looking upon his servant, determined that this would be a fine way to bring him home to his eternal reward. And God always does what is right and never gets his time wrong.

He has covered us with a dark cloud. But he has made me adore his goodness, that we had him—namely, your dad, Jonathan, my husband—for so long. He didn't live very long, which is an indication of how thankful she is, because he wasn't around for a very long time. But my God lives, and he has my heart. And, oh, what a legacy your father and my husband has left to us. We're all given to God, and there I am, and there I love to be. What a letter from your mom on the death of your dad.

Where does that come from? Not from natural gratitude. Natural gratitude rails against it. Gracious gratitude says, I am covered by a dark cloud.

But… Does your heart overflow with thankfulness? We're listening to Truth for Life with Alistair Begg I hope you are benefitting from this collection of Thanksgiving holiday sermons. If you've missed any of the messages in this series, or would like to share a message with friends, all of Alistair's teaching can be listened to for free through our mobile app or on our website at truthforlife.org. Just search for the series titled Thankful Living. And if you have young children or grandchildren, be sure to request your copy of the family Christmas devotional titled Promises Made, Promises Kept. It's a hardcover book written to bring families together during the Christmas season. With this book, you will enjoy taking children through the Gospel story, giving them a fuller understanding of the true meaning of Christmas. Ask for your copy of Promises Made, Promises Kept today when you donate to Truth for Life using our mobile app or online at truthforlife.org slash donate. Thanks for joining us today. While thankfulness is certainly expressed with words, tomorrow we'll learn how overflowing gratitude is also revealed in overflowing generosity. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life where the Learning is for Living.