Giving Thanks to God in All Situations by Zac Poonen

[Music] many of us have read unsure the Sermon on the Mount at Matthew chapter 5 6 & 7 have you noticed there there was one commandment that Jesus gave please turn to Matthew chapter 6 and in a space of about 10 verses he repeated something three times now Jesus whenever he repeats something it's always because he wants to emphasize the importance of it now I can't think of any other passage there in the Sermon on the Mount which he repeated three times in 10 verses exactly the same commandment I don't know whether you noticed it it says here in Matthew 6 and verse 25 for this reason I say to you do not be worried about your life what you eat Matthew 6:25 what you drink nor for your body as to what you will put on this into your life more than food and the body more than clothing and again he says in verse 31 do not worry saying what will we eat or what are we drink or what are we wear out because the non-christians the other ones are worried about all this and then of third time in verse 34 do not worry about tomorrow now when Jesus emphasizes something or says something three times in 10 verses it must be pretty serious it must be something that we must take heed to and it's in the context of you know being said we have enough to survive and particularly at this time in the history of what's happening all over the world people are thinking so much about that how are we going to survive and the the subject here is survival do not worry do not worry do not worry and there are one thing here he said as a cure for it verse 33 it's accurate so kill forward seek first verse 33 his God's kingdom and his righteousness all these other things that they are worried about will be added to you and it means you don't have to struggle for it God will just add it on to you so I have believed that promise for many years and I know through times of struggle health struggle financial struggle everything I said Lord I want to seek your kingdom first and I believe that all the things that the world is full of anxiety about will just get added to me without my struggling for it not that we don't have to work because Jesus said we have to work and we earn our bread through the sweat of our brow there's no place for laziness in God's kingdom Paul said in second Thessalonians 3 that if a man doesn't work a shouldn't eat so I'm not talking about avoiding hard work we all have to work hard to support ourselves but there's no need to be anxious along with our hard work is very important at this particular time that we live free from fear and anxiety one of the things that Jesus would frequently tell his disciples is don't be afraid why were you afraid very similar to don't be anxious so fear and anxiety was something that Jesus battled or warned against as much as sin we preached in the church the New Covenant is that we don't sin the New Covenant is also that we don't be of that we're not afraid and don't get anxious about anything that's just as important I mean just because they avoid getting angry and lusting with my you know I thoughts and avoid murmuring and grumbling and complaining and at the same time if I'm fearful and anxious I'm just sitting in another area I avoid the cliff on one side and fall over the cliff on the other side so this is very very important and what does it mean to see God's kingdom first in my early days I thought seeking God's kingdom meant I got into missionary work of warring preach or something like that but not everybody can do that what about a mother with small children at home how is she gonna go around the world preaching the kingdom of God is not bad the cure for anxiety and worry with Jesus said in Matthew 6:33 was seek God's kingdom first and these things you're worried about we get added on to you you don't need to worry about them the kingdom of God let me show it to you I hope you'll never forget this is described in Romans 14:17 as righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Spirit that's it so when you're seeking God's kingdom first it's not going out and preaching it is seeking after Romans 14:17 righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Spirit so to see God's kingdom and his righteousness first is to say Lord I want you to fill me with the Holy Spirit so that I'll have righteousness peace and joy in my heart only God can do that it's not at peace I work to myself by trying to claim this promise and that promise are remembering some words we forget these things but the Holy Spirit can bring peace in our hearts he's the author of peace so the other thing I want you to see is in Philippians in chapter 4 in Philippians chapter 4 also the Apostle Paul picks up the same word that Jesus spoke about in Matthew 6 he says the same thing Matthew Philippians 4 verse 6 be anxious for nothing so what is the solution he gives for that we saw the solution Jesus gave seek righteousness peace and joy in the holy spirit all the time Paul says here if you're concerned about something if you're worried about something concerned about what's going to happen to you or your children or the future or anything Philippians 4:6 take it to the Lord in prayer you know that song we sing o what peace we often forfeit all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer so he says take everything to God in prayer but the important point I want you to notice here is this see this is a command be anxious for nothing but so the solution for being anxious for solution for anxiety to be anxious for nothing guarding the fall here is pray with supplication supplication means specific requests prayer is general prayer supplication is specifically Lord this particular thing and don't stop there there's one more thing end your prayer with Thanksgiving when you pray make your request specific don't just say bless me be specific what you want and then end your prayer with Thanksgiving that means know normally we don't do that see we say prayer and say Lord this this this isn't Jesus may ramen but here he says learn to complete your prayer with Thanksgiving thank you Lord for hearing me and that's the thing that he cure you of anxiety says because when you do that the peace of God will be like a garrison like an army surrounding your heart and protecting you from anxiety and fear it's a wonderful thing when you think of these this Thanksgiving is something which we don't normally have in our prayer it's we pray for many things but thanking God is something from which we can get a lot more than we prayed for I want you to turn with me to Luke chapter 17 and so you know the story of the ten lepers who came to Jesus and asked him to cleanse them they raised their voice it says in Luke 17 verse 13 and said Jesus master have mercy on us and Jesus said go and show yourself to the priest Luke 17 verse 14 and as they were going they were cleansed now what would you do if you had leprosy for many many years you had to stay outside the camp that's the rule those days and you're cleansed completely healed you can live a normal life go back to your family I would think you should rush back to the Lord and say thank you for healing me but these nine did not go back I don't know why that could be so many reasons somebody may have said I think I was already getting a little better so this is not really a great miracle it's so easy to you know write off a miracle with so many other human reasons but one man and that man was not a Jew he was a Samaritan Jesus often spoke about the despised Samaritans as sometimes being more godly than the Jews you know remember the story the Good Samaritan the priest and the Levite ignored that man who was beaten on their roadside and the Samaritan went and picked him up and here also the one person who comes back to thank the Lord is a Samaritan it says here one of them verse 15 when he saw that he had been healed he turned back and with the same loud voice Luke 17 verse 15 with which we had with which he had asked for healing with the similar loud voice he glorified God now that means his Thanksgiving was as loud as his prayer and he was a Samaritan he fell at Jesus feet does Jesus expect us to thank him see here in verse 17 jesus answered and said weren't at ten people cleansed where are the nine so today when the Lord looks down at all the prayers ascending from his people to heaven Lord give me this give me that do this for me do this for my children and heal me etc etc out of ten prayers one person comes back to thank God that proportion is probably true even today I wonder that whether there's even one out of ten who come back and say Lord I'm so thankful with the same loud voice with which we pray see notice here with a loud voice he prayed saying master have mercy on us verse 13 all ten of them one man came back and with the same loud voice verse 15 said thank you Lord for healing me that's how we are to be prayer specific requests with Thanksgiving you'll be anxious for nothing and it's very often because we don't learn to thank God that we miss out on so many things God has for us I want to show you that right here some of you may not have noticed it in Luke 17 first of all I wanted to point out to you that Jesus expects us they come back and thank him see we don't have any right to expect people to come and thank us no it's wrong for us to expect people to come and thank us but it is right for Jesus because he is Lord God can is perfectly worthy to receive worship Thanksgiving we are not worthy to receive worship and we should not expect people to thank us we must thank people definitely we must teach our children to thank those who do something for them or give them something but we ourselves must not expect any thanks from anybody you remember that story not story but the truth with Jesus proclaimed in Matthew 25 the day when he will come back and sit on his throne and it says there in Matthew 25 that you know that story where all the nations are gathered in front of him and he's going to separate them and the righteous are on the right he's going to say to them Matthew five verse 34 come inherit the kingdom prepared for you because what is the reason I was hungry Matthew 25:35 and you gave me something to eat I was thirsty you gave me something to drink I was a stranger you invited me in I was naked you clothed me I was sick and you visited me I was in prison and you came to me and the righteous will answer Lord we don't remember that we never saw you we never saw you hungry we never saw you without clothes or we never saw you a stranger and we never saw you in prison or sick when was it and let's listen to this answer beautiful verse Matthew 25 verse 40 the king will say to them I say to you to the extent that you did it to one of these least brothers of mine not the rich well-to-do respected ones everybody goes and does good things for them but to the least to the poorest and the least you did something for one of my children the Lord says you did it for me these are my brothers you helped one of my brothers Jesus said you helped me I remember the Lord showing that verse to me once when I was thinking of a brother whom he had helped in our church a young brother the early days of CFC in Bangalore used to come to the meetings and his parents were family nobody was converted he was the only one he was a college student and he would visit us and many times he would stay stay at our home after the meeting at night he'd get up on his own go to the kitchen make coffee and have breakfast and go off to college again he was so much.we he treated our home like his own meat we're very happy to have him for years and then he got a degree and he went on and got a good job somewhere else and for many years I never heard a word from her I was so surprised I said this guy who we helped so much he's not even written a note to us so thank us for anything that we did that's the day the Lord spoke to me and said the fault is not with him the fault is with you I said Lord what is my fault we helped and we did everything the fault is you are expecting thanks from him which means you did not do it as unto me you did it as unto Him then the Lord reminded me of this verse in as much as you do it to the least of these my brothers you're actually doing it to me and the Lord said if you have done it unto me you don't expect thanks from that man you didn't do it to him you did it to me if you want thanks expected from me so I learned something that day that when I serve other people I'm not to expect thanks from any of them because I'm not serving them I'm doing it as unto the Lord please remember this it'll help you so often people say all that guy was so on thankful who do you think you are did you do it as unto the Lord or did you do it as unto a person I learned that is something and after that day I have never expected thanks from any human being or from alien believer I don't expect thanks in any way I serve them I say Lord I'm doing it for you so we have got no right to expect things from anyone but Jesus he has every right to be thanked that's why he said in Luke 18 where are the nine only one person comes to give thanks I believe one of the things missing in the lives of many Christians is this attitude of Thanksgiving an attitude of gratitude to the Lord for what he's done and now I want you to see something wonderful here which you may not have seen in looks chapter 17 when this man came and gave glory to God you know it says here that when you give thanks to God you're actually giving glory to God how do we glorify God one way is by thanking him jesus said that in verse 18 this man has come to give glory to God and so Jesus said look at the reward he got I want you to see the reward he got for his Thanksgiving stand up on your faith your faith has saved you that's what the margin of my Bible says literally the translation there is your faith has saved you what did the other nine get healing what did he get healing plus salvation the others were healed of the leprosy and probably went to hell I don't know this man got healed of his leprosy and got into God's kingdom why because he just came back and with a loud voice thank Jesus for what he done so he got a million times more than the others who only prayed so what I learned there is you get a lot more from God when you learn to give thanks you know that wonderful word in Acts chapter 20 and verse 35 where it's a saying of Jesus that is not found in the Gospels and I don't know where Paul heard it fault must have heard it from one of his apostles and it's not written in any other four Gospels but it says I'm acts 20:35 that Jesus said once it is more blessed to give than to receive that's not in the Gospels that's in acts 20 verse 35 the words of Jesus it is more blessed to give than to receive when we give thanks to the Lord we get more blessing if I were to paraphrase it when you receive an answer to your prayer from God praise the Lord that is a blessing but when you give thanks to God for that answered prayer it's a greater thing it is more blessed to give than to receive so this is the one thing we saw in Philippians when you pray if you conclude your prayer with Thanksgiving it's like a garrison God puts around your heart that you're protected from anxiety and fear there's a lot of anxiety and fear in the world today people are afraid they'll get sick people are afraid that they may not have enough money to survive you don't know how long this coronavirus pandemic is going to continue how long are we going to live without jobs businesses are closing down and so many people are suffering I know many many people are suffering around the world but the children of God I think of that lovely verse in Psalm 37 a word of encouragement to all those who pursue righteousness you remember the kingdom of God His righteousness peace and joy this is a psalm of David most of the Psalms that David wrote he wrote and he was a young man a lot of them before he was thirty years old when he was a shepherd looking after his father's sheep but there were one son that he this is probably the last Psalm he wrote when he was 70 years old before he died he says in Psalm 37 and verse 25 I have been young I love this verse I quoted many many times to people to encourage them David says I been young and now I am old but in my whole life in all my 70 years I've never seen a righteous man for saving righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Spirit is the kingdom of God seek it seek to be upright never to cheat anyone never to do anything wrong be righteous be righteous and money matters be righteous in your conversation be righteous in your work and okay other people who achieve may make more money than you but you won't be forsaken by God it's impossible I believe that in all my life I have never seen a righteous person forsaken by God I can say that what David said and not only that here's the blessing beyond that I have not seen the seed of the righteous that means this the children of the righteous begging for bread in other words the children of the righteous get jobs who are the ones who have to beg for bread those who don't have a job but the seed of the righteous will never have to beg for bread and the seed means children children if you're a righteous man your grandchildren will get jobs they won't be begging for bread it's a wonderful thing to be a righteous person and a Christian must be a testimony to this truth I'm not anxious because I seek the kingdom of God I seek to be righteous in my life I don't want one cent in my bank account is not righteously honestly earned I want to pay back all my debts I don't want to cheat on my taxes I don't want to do anything wrong in my life I don't want to be unrighteous in any of my dealings with people okay people can cheat me but I don't want to cheat them I want to be absolutely righteous because I know then I will never be forsaken by God I know then my children will never look for a job I will never have to look for a job they'll have it my grandchildren will not have to look for a job none of them will beg for bread because I'm righteous I want to encourage you to do seek that and you see it be fulfilled I mean the Lord is coming so soon that you may not see your grandchildren but never mind you can still be a blessing in your life you will not be forsaken and your children won't be forsaken it's a wonderful thing when they are sick they will not be forsaken it's a wonderful thing to learn to be righteous and to give thanks to God for everything always giving thanks many people ask what is the mark of being fade with the Holy Spirit you know so many people have so many so many different understandings of how do I know I'm filled with the Holy Spirit well there are a number of things I could say but one of the things I see here in Ephesians 5 Ephesians 5 and says here in verse 18 be filled with the spirit if he ins 5:18 be filled with the spirit and 1 result of being filled with the spirit is you want to know whether you're filled with the spirit or not verse 20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God even the father know and we can give thanks for good things even the worldly people will give give thanks when something good happens to them but here it says giving thanks for everything and not some of the time all the time all the time for all things giving thanks can you make that a goal in your life say Lord I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that my life will not have one bit of murmuring or complaining about anything about any circumstance all about any person if you got the habit of complaining about people you're not filled with the spirit that's that's certain whatever you may say you're speaking in tongues and all that it could be fake if you're filled with the spirit you'll be giving thanks always for all things and for all people I don't agree with them well I'm gonna give thanks for every circumstance I'm in thank you Lord for this then in the other I want to thank God for everything that comes into my life and some of the tough things that have happened in my life when I look back over my life I didn't become strong by the during the easy times in my life no I became strong through the trials God took me through so I give thanks for them I give thanks for my trials because that's what made me strong don't you want to give thanks to God for what made you strong and it's when God allowed me to go through severe testings and different times that's what made me a strong Christian that's what gave me a confidence in God that's what gave me boldness to tell other people that you can trust God and he'll never let you down see it's like these people who go to a gym to exercise now every instrument in a gym if you run to a gym you'll see every instrument there there are so many they have nowadays is meant to put some tension on some part of your body either your hand muscles or your leg muscles or your back muscles or your shoulder muscles every bit of equipment there is meant to put some tension or strain on some muscle of yours say boy strain yes that's how your muscle becomes strong that's how these people who go regularly to the gyms come out with strong muscles the people who don't subject their muscles to strain a fat and flabby the way our muscles develop is by subjecting them to some tension to strain it's the same thing spiritually that when God allows us to go through a trial as to make us strong and the people who've gone through the most trials are the strongest Christians in the world so we give thanks for all things there's no circumstance in which we do not give things in the Old Testament there were laws concerning giving it Thanksgiving offering to God in the Old Testament one of the laws was to bring a type you by the way the Old Testament title was never money you know that because they were not shopkeepers they were not people who worked in offices and earned a salary that right was never money tithe was grain or cattle because the Israelites were either farmers or shepherds and they would bring their sometimes they would sell it and bring money but otherwise they bring their grains and cattle and - they had to give it to the Levites you know the principle of tithing in the Old Testament let me explain to you there were twelve tribes in Israel and God said one tribe Levi is not going to own any land in Israel you know why God chose the tribe of Levi just for your information one day when everybody was worshipping the golden calf and they came out of Egypt Moses got so angry and he came down and said who will stand with me on the Lord's side and all the sons of Levi came and stood with Leah that time there were no priests came and stood with Moses and gods and the Lord and Moses told those sons of Levi now go out and kill all these idolaters and they went out and did that and he said don't spare your brother or sister or anyone and when they stood for the Lord they were the only tribe the sons of Levi who stood with Moses against this idolatry and therefore God gave them the priesthood it was a great honor that for the rest of Israel three always the priesthood would be you the Levites so God selected that one tribe not by drawing a lot but because they stood for him at a particular time and then these Levites were not supposed to own any property were not supposed to do any work so the other Israelites the other eleven tribes had to come and give their ten percent of their cattle or grain to the Levites so that they could live that's what the site was for now in the New Testament we don't give tights there's no commandment too tight after the Acts of the Apostles chapter two when the New Covenant began no such thing and anybody who preaches that today doesn't have a clue what the nudist New Covenant is all about it's only covetous people who keep asking others to give them their money pastors and preachers but what are we to give instead today what is the equivalent of the tithe in the New Covenant see everything in the Old Testament has got an equivalent for example Egypt from which the Israelites were delivered is a picture of the world Pharaoh it's a picture of Satan the blood of the Lamb is a picture of the blood of Christ which they put on the door and which saves us they're going through the Red Sea in and out of the picture of water baptism the cloud coming down from heaven is a picture of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and they're wandering in the wilderness is a picture of living under the law defeated and entering Canaan is a picture of overcoming sin victory over sin killing the lusts of the flesh the Giants of Canaan everything there has got a meaning here and what is circumcision is it cutting off of confidence in the flesh what is the equivalent of the Tyco in the New Testament let me show that to you how do i express my thanks to God the Israelites express their thanks by giving money or cattle or grain thanking God for it in the New Testament here is the equivalent and this is what is not preached many people are preaching the Old Testament standard of tithing but a New Testament it says here in Romans chapter 12 verse 1 in view of the mercies of God here's what I am asking you to give to God not 10 percent of your income why does he say in view of the mercies of God you see he has spent 11 chapters explaining the wonderful blessing of salvation he starts off in the first three chapters showing them you're all sinners and works his way all the way through chapter 11 please show us what a wonderful salvation Christ has purchased for us and then he says in view of all that God has done for you that's the meaning of in view of the mercies of God what are you going to give to God as an act of thanksgiving thank you Lord for dying for me on the cross money no God doesn't want your money I'm probably the only preacher who praises God doesn't want your money he wants something more important than that God's not a beggar he's the ruler of the universe all the silver and the gold is his why does he want our money what does he want in view of all the mercies of God he wants your body present your body as an act of Thanksgiving so when we talk about giving thanks to God here is how I express my Thanksgiving to Jesus for dying for me on the cross I present my body to him now you see in the Old Covenant the presenting of the sacrifice on the altar they couldn't just bring a bullock and put it on the altar and give it up like that no the priest had to cut it up into pieces now I am often wondered if they're going to burn the thing in any case why waste all that time cutting that bull up into so many pieces that'll take such a long time why not just put the Bullock on the altar and burn it and say Lord here is the offering no the Lord said you must cut it up and so I see that there was a symbolism in there everything as I told you in the Old Testament has a symbolic meaning in the New Testament in other words when it says here romans 12:1 I beseech you brethren by the mercies of God present your body a living holy sacrifice which is the way you worship in the spirit you remember what Jesus told the Samaritan woman the true worshipers will worship in the spirit well here it is this is how we worship in the spirit by presenting our body as a sacrifice to God but not as a full body I have to cut it up Lord here are my hands here are my eyes here's my tongue I offer it all to God that's how I show my thanksgiving to God Lord I don't want to use my tongue or my eyes for anything simple from now on so Thanksgiving is not just with words it's by offering our body and it says in verse 2 by offering our mind so it's more than just using words words can be cheap like they say Lord thank you so much and we can go on like that but more than words it's the presenting of our body and if you have presented your body to the Lord and say Lord I want to show my Thanksgiving to you you gave your body for me on the cross you didn't just say nice words you gave your body to be crucified when we break bread Jesus remember jesus said this is my body broken for you you gave your body for me I want to give my body for you to express my thanks giving for all that you did for me and when I give my body to God like that I say Lord I have no more right on this body you can do what you like you can take it where you like you can do whatever you I will have no complaint I believe we can be it free from anxiety and fear concerning our body if you have presented it completely to the Lord I remember how the Lord spoke to me once through 1 Corinthians chapter 6 it's a promise that I very often claimed for came from the Lord in 1 Corinthians 6 it speaks about food and the stomach in the body in 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 13 he's talking in verse 12 about being must not being mastered by anything 1 Corinthians 6 verse 12 he says everything is lawful for me but I won't be mastered I won't allow anything on earth to master me and then immediately thinks of food because he knows that a lot of people are slaves to good food they are mastered by it but he says I refuse to be mastered by anything because I want only Jesus to master my life and so he says food that's for the stomach and the stomach is for food but one day God is going to destroy all of that so I'm not gonna worship food you know that all speaks about that twice it's very important to recognize this the worship of food is something that Paul the Holy Spirit speaks about twice one is here food is for the stomach and is in the context of I will not be mastered by the love for food verse 12 the last part in Philippians 3 he talks about some people Philippians 3 and verse 19 some people whose God is their stomach whose God is their appetite they worshiped their appetite they get upset if the food is not up to the mark they worship food and that is a shameful thing to glory and he says in Philippians 3:19 but coming back to 1 Corinthians 6 he says don't worship food but then he goes on to say don't use your body for immorality that's another thing people worship sex food and sex with two things a lot of people worship this is about that body is not primarily meant for food and sex God has created these desires and use them under control don't be mastered by either of them but he says you're in contrast this is what I want to show you in 1 Corinthians 6 13 the body is for the Lord give you a body to the Lord and here's the promise the Lord will be for your body that's fantastic I've many times said to the Lord Lord I don't want to use this body for anything other than what will please you my eyes my tongue my hands or even if I travel somewhere my feet I want this body to be entirely for you and you don't have to be a full-time Christian welcome for that you gots gotta live in purity even if you're a mother at home say Lord my body is for you and my my body is for the Lord that's my the way I read in Romans 12:1 that is how I express my Thanksgiving not just with words but presenting my body to the Lord as a living sacrifice my eyes my tongue my hands my feet my desires and everything my old body my body is for the Lord and the Lord says ok and I will be for your body that's a tremendous promise and I believe that we should claim that more Lord my body is for you and I want you for my body and we must teach our children that but they must give their body to the Lord as an act of Thanksgiving for Jesus having given his body for us if Jesus gave his body for us I'm not doing it just give some words to the Lord I'm going to get my body to him that's how I express my Thanksgiving to him and here's a promise and my body is for the Lord the Lord is for my body and I prayed that many times I said Lord my body is for you to the best of my knowledge my body is totally yours and I want to claim that you are there for my body for every need in my body for every sickness in my body for every physical need or anything there is a need my body you are there my body is yours and you are for my body and it goes on to say in 1 Corinthians 6 verse 19 this body is the temple of the Holy Spirit this body is for Jesus and His Holy Spirit comes and dwells in it and takes just like you know if you have a church building you take care of it the whole this is the real church building the body the Holy Spirit takes care of it so it's a wonderful thing to learn to give thanks with our presenting our body and our mind and expressing Thanksgiving in words so I was coming to the mark of being filled with the spirit be free to the spirit always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ I remember when somebody asked me brother he said I want to speak in tongues I said why do you want to speak in tongues is because you want to boast about it to other people so many people want to speak in tongues for some excitement or to boast to others I also got it God's not gonna give it for that I never I'll tell you honestly I never in my life well I did in my early days seek for tongues because the Pentecostals taught that and I was young and foolish those days but God never gave it to me thankfully then I said Lord that's not what I want I want to live a holy life I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that I can live a godly life and then God gave me the gift of tongues and I'm not expecting it I was not at all expecting it but that's helped me a lot to thank the Lord and talk to him when I'm under pressure but I remember when somebody asked me brother I want to gift of tongues I said you know that one of the main gifts one of the main purposes of the gift of tongues mentioned in 1 Corinthians 14 is giving thanks to God tongues is a means of expressing thanks it says and Cornelius's house when they spoke in tongues they were glorifying God so I said if you're not using your English language to thank the Lord well then why in the world should God give you another language you first start thanking the Lord in your own English language and when you get so full of Thanksgiving in the English language God may give you another language but if you're not even using your English language to thank why the one should God give you another language no so I seen that this spirit of Thanksgiving is so important many many good things come out of it so I want to encourage you I want to leave that with you and I pray that you will learn this as a habit heavens will be open over you if you learn to give thanks to God you know the Bible says that when we praise God we make a throne for him he comes to dwell in our presence as we praise Him and thank him me show you this worsen closing you know that the Apostles were waiting for the Holy Spirit to come for ten days in Jerusalem in the upper room what were they doing for 10 days and it's at the end of the ten days they were suddenly filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues what we're doing for those 10 days let me show you it's not written in a nice chapter to it only next chapter 1 and 2 it says they were waited 120 of them waited for 10 days but if you turn to Luke 24 you see there that after Jesus ascended the last four verses of Luke 24 the last four verses of Luke's Gospel he went to Bethany lifted up his hands and blessed them and while he was blessed them he parted and he ascended up to heaven and they after worshiping him returned to Jerusalem and they went to the upper room and what were they doing for 10 days they were continually praising God in the temple or in the room they were continually praising God they were praising God praising God praising God praising God and suddenly one day the hole they haven't been filled the Holy Spirit yet they continually praise God with whatever language they knew and suddenly the Holy Spirit fell on them and God said I'll give you another language to praise me also now praise the Lord to him who has more will be given if you use faithfully whatever you have thought it best you you remember the story of the man who took his one talent and make ten out of them and God and Jesus says the parable take it from that one man who didn't use his at all give it to him too and then he said to him who has will more be given meaning that if someone faithfully uses what he already has God will give him more so let's all begin by doing that which is very easy to do to discipline ourselves it's a discipline to learn to thank the Lord for all things for everything we can even thank the lord for what the world considers as bad things because of Romans 8:28 God makes everything to work together for good to those who love Him there are so many stories I can know from I can say from my own life rare things that appeared to be bad turned out for my good yeah times of pressure turned out to make me stronger things that appeared to be negative turned out to be positive and the greatest example I say is what is the worst thing that the devil did on this earth the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and that was the best thing that ever happened on this earth see how God turned the worst thing - the best thing so that's another lesson we learned from the cross not only that Jesus died for us but on the cross she's the Lord turned the worst possible thing that man could do to the very best possible thing for us so we learned lesson from that that whatever bad things can happen to us God can turn it to the best that's why we thank God even for things which don't appear good to us you the Apostle Paul he he considered himself a murderer he sanctioned the murder of Stephen and he persecuted Christians and so many things in his life I don't know what all but he missed main expressions like I am the least of all the saints in the world and the chief of sinners and yet what a wonderful way he finished his life because he had a rule he believed that the blood of Jesus cleansed him from all sin he believed that God did not hold him responsible and not God if God did not remember his past Hebrews 8:12 and he said Christ has become my righteousness so he did not live always thinking of what was behind he says in Philippians 3 forgetting the things that are behind and Paul had always concentrated on oh I've been such a mess I made a mess of my life and I did so many things against the Lord he would never have accomplished what he did yeah it's true that he did so many evil things in his ignorance or even deliberately perhaps God forgave him and he glorified the blood of Jesus Christ more than he glorified this sin people who are always concentrating on their past failure are glorifying their sin more than the sacrifice of Christ they don't see that it's up as a sin to glorify your own past failure more than the sacrifice of Christ on the cross as if your sin is so great but even the center of the of Christ cannot cleanse it or as if God is a liar when he says I will not remember your sins anymore or that he's a liar when he says I have justified you in Christ declared you righteous you know the meaning of being justified having being we have peace with God being justified in Christ justified means just as if I had been righteous from the very first day of my life now I applied to myself Christ is my righteousness today I'm justified in Christ which means all these more than 80 years that I've lived on earth I have in God's eyes I'm a totally righteous person from day one I want to believe that because God says so when God told Abraham he was Abraham those days a br a.m. when he didn't have any children you're going to be the father of a multitude change your name to keep her hand father of a multitude and think of those days there was any place where to go to register to change your name he goes to the registrar's office and says I want to change my name to father of a multitude and the Registrar says well how many children do you have I don't have any so far he laughs at it but see today he has become the father of a multitude when you confess what God confess is not what you feel like confessing you see there's a mistake that some charismatic do they say just confess anything you like and it'll happen no I don't I'm not preaching that I'm saying confess what God has said in his word all things will work together for my good I confess it and I confess that God is and does not remember any of my past Hebrews 8:12 I confess it I don't have to live in gloom over that and I believe that God if he doesn't remember in other words lovely verses and lamentations I love this verse in lamentations and chapter 3 you know where lamentations is in after Jeremiah it says in lamentations in chapter 3 his mercies are new every morning lamentations 3 22 and 23 God's mercy is new every morning I'll tell you how I apply that to my life his mercy is new this morning means the Lord is saying to me I look at you as if you have never seen till today I've never been merciful to you to all your life I'd never be mercifully to you today today for example if I slip up today and I say Lord be merciful to me oh that's the first be merciful to you His mercies are new every morning so I don't believe anybody however great their sin may be should ever live in regret DOS grief continuous grief over their past failure yes initially when they repent there is sorrow and grief but not such that paralyzes us it you never allow past failures to paralyze us that is dishonouring to God we believe that the blood of Christ has cleansed us and justified us well it's difficult to you know define humility easily I would say it's the Spirit of Christ who humbled himself but one way I can know that my humility is genuine is that I get grace because God gives us grace only to the humble he resists the proud and if I am really humble God he'll give me grace 1 Peter 5 verse 5 and if God gives me grace I overcome sin Romans 6:14 so I just put these two verses together and find out whether I'm genuinely humble or not 1 Peter 5:5 also repeated in James 4:7 God gives his grace to the humble Romans 6:14 if I am under grace sin will not rule over me if I lose my temper I'm not humble because I didn't get grace if I had grace had to overcome their anger when I murmur and complain about something I've not got grace why didn't I get grace because I was not humble so for myself through many years this has been the test it's not acting humble or putting a head down or talking in humble language that's all counterfeit garbage to me this only solid proof is that sin does not have power over me because I'm under grace and I can be under grace only if I remain in humility if you apply that test you will never be deceived and we shouldn't get discouraged if you slip up sometimes I'll tell you I've slipped up more and more in the past less and less as in grow spiritually but I remember in times when I've slipped up and said Lord why did that happen and the Lord shows me some I don't ask why did I fall I said where was i proud because I know at that moment if I slipped up in my thought or slipped up in a word the Lord that was wrong why did I slip up I know the reason I didn't get grace I want and I know why I didn't great grace I was proud just show me where was i proud that's what I asked every time you slip up in any way an angry word a bad thought or someone righteousness go to God and say ask one question don't ask why you slipped up I'll tell you that now itself because you didn't get grace and don't ask why you didn't get grace that's because you were proud ask God the question behind all that where was i proud Lord and if you keep asking that you'll gradually come to the place of genuine humility where you're continuously under the grace of God no I stopped looking inward many decades ago when I was foolish I looked inside but you never find anything good in the flesh of Adam so I stopped looking inside and the passage of scripture that helped me the most was in Isaiah chapter 6 that when Isaiah looked up and saw the holiness of God that's when he saw his sin and he's very interesting to compare Isaiah chapter 5 with Isaiah chapter 6 if you read I don't have time to go through the whole thing but if you read Isaiah chapter 5 many times he says these words woe unto those people who are proud woe unto these people who get drunk all the time warn to those who call evil good and good evil warn to those who are clever in their own eyes woe unto them go under the water what he said was absolutely right as a prophet he was condemning people who are living in those sins but then as chapter 5 the chapter 6 of Isaiah he says I saw the Lord and then he says woe unto me this man who was condemning everybody else suddenly he saw his own knee he says I'm ruined because I'm a man of filthy lips he'll stand convicted about the way he used his done so I learned from that a lesson for my life many years ago that I will never look inside I'll get depressed I look up at Jesus and I look at his earthly life and I read the Bible I see his earthly life and I I get light on myself when I look at Jesus Jesus is the brightest light there is in this universe and if you look at him and look at his life that light we shine into you and he will show you where you come short and it's better than the Lord shows me rather than I look inside because if I look inside I may not see everything wrong and I mean I congratulate myself instead of seeing that which needs to be cleansed away see I do not preach that Jesus will heal every sickness of yours I've never preached that my life because it is not taught in the New Testament when I say my bodies for the Lord the Lord is from that body he gives me what I need in my body to do his will for example I'm more than 80 years old I need it for the Lord wants me to do something he like to give me a certain amount of ability more than the average person who's 80 years old and if the Lord wants to put me in a bed and I have to do my ministry from there I say fine I'm willing you accepted the Lord is still for my body I don't dictate to the Lord how he should handle my body for example the Apostle Paul he had a a sickness which he called it thorn in the flesh now I personally believe that that was an eye infection that he had which was probably some type of us or something that was coming out of his eyes all the time and the reason I say that but but let me come to that later in 2nd Corinthians 12 he called it a messenger of Satan a thorn in my flesh 1 second Corinthians 12 verse 7 and he prayed Lord heal me taken away it's a messenger of Satan I should not be having a messenger of Satan to affecting my body take it away take it away he prayed three times and the Lord answered if he had not heard an answer in three times neither prayed 300 times the point is not that he prayed three times the pray point is he prayed until he got a word from the Lord saying I'm not going to take away that sickness that sickness is to Humble you because you are you're having so many revelations you've written scripture you're planted churches you know the greatest servant of God on earth you are in danger of getting becoming proud Paul and this is necessary to keep your humble and the reason I say it was a I and think it was I can't be dogmatic about it but I think it was a nice sickness because it says in Acts chapter 16 that he was planning to go somewhere and then the Holy Spirit stopped him and he had he got stuck in a place called Galatia he didn't plan to go to Galicia but because the spirit of Jesus did not permit him to go on the worst acts 16 verse 6 when they were in the Galatian region they got stuck there they could not move forward the Holy Spirit stopped them acts 16 6 that is in Galatia but we don't know in acts 16 how he stopped when he come to Galatians chapter 4 he is writing to them saying you know that the first time I preached to you act in Galatians 4:13 was because of a bodily illness I had he calls it an illness that means he was going through Galatia not planning to stop there go somewhere else and he became sick that's what he says and because he was sick here to stay in Galatia and he preached the gospel to those Galatians region and so many people got converted so that's one way God stops his sermons from going somewhere else where they shouldn't go by making them sick and they got to stay there so he says in Galatians 4:13 because of a bodily illness that's how I ended up preaching the gospel to you the first time and then he says this bodily illness of mine verse 14 was not something that you despised now if it were an inward sickness like blood pressure or diabetes or something people can't see it it was obviously something visible and if it was something hidden under his clothes it wouldn't have been visible must have been something on his face that was reasonable that people look at him and loathe him he says you did not load it you did not detest me but my appearance of sickness in my face what is it but I bear you witness verse 15 you would have pulled out your eyes and given it to me to replace my seat guys that's why I believe that bodily illness was a sickness of his eyes maybe some type of pus flowing down his face as he was preaching and saying Lord this is disgusting people will detest me heal me heal me this is a thorn in my flesh and the Lord said now he'll be the greatest servant of God of your generation but to protect you from fright so that I can always give you my grace that sickness will remain so his body was for the Lord and he allowed the Lord to do whatever he want the Lord was for his body and if it included illness in order to keep him humble so be it so that is the balanced understanding of my body is for the Lord and the Lord is for my body the Lord is going to make a sickness to prevent me from going somewhere else because he wants to me to be in this place and makes me sick so that I stay here so be it Lord my body is for you and you are for my body let me read one more verse in Romans chapter 8 for I am convinced that in all these things he says in verse 37 we are more than conquerors through him who loved us in every situation verse 35 tribulation distress persecution famine nakedness peril sword or to go to Galatians for sickness in all these things we overwhelmingly tada any of these things not by tribulation not by sickness nothing we're going to be more than conquerors because we have convinced that nothing will separate us verse 39 from the love of God in Christ Jesus that to me is the balanced understanding of physical health and sickness God will give us enough health to serve him till the end of our days but he decides that in what way he will be for our body and the same applies to our children I believe that like Paul prayed for healing from sickness we should pray for healing for every sickness that comes to us or to our children but then we leave it to the Lord to decide what way he'll be glorified and we accepted let's bow our heads in prayer Heavenly Father we know that our human nature is so utterly Adamic nature is so utterly selfish and self-centered that we never think of giving thank you only think of asking asking us deliver us from that Lord and help us to have the Spirit of Christ of Thanksgiving to you and to one another help us to glorify you by this means and help us to use our body for your glory we presented to you the pray in Jesus name Amen [Music]

Channel: SermonIndex.net

Views: 2,998

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Keywords: Revival, Character Of God, Free Sermons, Video Sermons, Jesus Christ, What Is The Gospel, SermonIndex, What Is The Truth, Zac Poonen

Id: X03nJBXyjgk

Length: 63min 43sec (3823 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 06 2020