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The Model Life: Adoration, Part 5 · CCC West Covina

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You know, the model life is a life that's built around
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thankfulness, not just joyfulness, and not just
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prayerfulness, but thankfulness. The trilogy of commands in First
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Thessalonians, chapter 5, verse 1617 and 18 exemplify the life
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of adoration, the life that truly adores God and worships
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God. And it's always marked by
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joyfulness, prayerfulness, and thankfulness.
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Over the last several weeks we have spent time looking at what
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it means to rejoice always, verse 16, what it means to pray
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without ceasing, verse #17 today, what it means to give
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thanks in everything. For this is God's will in Christ
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Jesus concerning you. The will of God is not just to
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be thankful. The will of God encompasses the
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trilogy of commands. God's design and God's desire
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for you is that you be joyful, you be prayerful, and that you
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be thankful. If you want to understand the
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will of God for your life, that's where it begins.
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If you're looking for God to guide you into a, a new job or
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or guide you into the person you are to marry or, or to guide you
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and making the right decision. And yet you have a a bad
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attitude and are ungrateful and you don't pray always and you
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have a sad heart and not a joyful heart.
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Guess what? You're not going to have any
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direction whatsoever because God's will for you is that you
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be joyful, you be prayerful and you be thankful all the time in
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everything. This was guy's not designed for
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us. This only one's for his
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children. So incredibly important every
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year at at Thanksgiving, which is about 12 weeks away, just in
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case you didn't know it's it's right around the corner.
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I always tell you that that Thanksgiving is not a holiday
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vacation. It's a holy vocation.
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We look at Thanksgiving is a time to get away, a vacation
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time, a holiday. You look at it for the wrong
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reason. It's a holy vocation.
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We've been called by God to give thanks.
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Listen to what the psalmist says in in Psalm 100, very familiar
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Psalm to most of us. Shout joyfully to the Lord, all
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the earth. In other words, be joyful.
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Serve the Lord with gladness, come before Him with joyful
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singing. Know that the Lord himself is
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God. It is He who made us in, not we
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ourselves. We are His people and the sheep
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of His pasture. We've been formed by God.
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We've been made by God. We are His people.
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Therefore, enter His gates with Thanksgiving and His courts with
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praise. Give thanks to Him.
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Bless His name, for the Lord is good, His loving kindness is
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everlasting, and His faithfulness to all generations.
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Come into His presence with Thanksgiving.
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Enter His courts with praise. When you come to worship the
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Lord, you come with a thankful heart, a heart filled with joy
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and praise to God. Did you come to church today,
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Grumpy? Did you come to church today
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with a bad attitude? Did you come to church today
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because things weren't going your way in the car on the way
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over? So many times we we get off
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kilter by by looking at all the negative circumstances instead
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of realizing all the things that God has done.
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I love what the psalmist says over in Psalm 116.
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He says in verse #12 what should I render to the Lord for all of
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his benefits toward me? So someone was to ask you a
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question and say, OK, what will you render to the Lord?
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What will you give to the Lord for all the benefits that he's
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bestowed upon you? What would you say?
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Psalmist answers. He says, I shall lift up the cup
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of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord.
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Because of all the things the Lord has done for me, I will be
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#1 prayerful #2 I shall pay my vows to the Lord.
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O may it be in the presence of His people.
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I will pay my vows. I will be responsible.
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Not only will I be prayerful, but I will be dutiful to to
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fulfill my responsibility. And then he says, precious in
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the sight of the Lord is the death of his godly ones.
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I will be hopeful for 16. Oh Lord, surely I am your
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servant. I am your servant, the son of
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your handmaid. You have loosed my bonds because
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I'm your servant. I will not just be prayerful,
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not just be dutiful, not just be hopeful, but I will be useful
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because I am your servant and I will be used by you for your
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glory. And then he says this to you.
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I shall offer a sacrifice of Thanksgiving and call upon the
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name of the Lord. I will be thankful.
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I will be thankful. Let me ask you a question.
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Does that characterize you today?
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William Law, an 18th century writer and preacher, wrote a
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book entitled A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life.
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In that book he says this. Would you know who is the
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greatest St. in all the world? It is not he who prays most.
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It is not he who fasts most, it is not he who gives most alms or
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is most imminent for temperance, chastity, or justice.
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But it is he who is always thankful to God, who wills
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everything that God willeth, who receives everything as an
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instance of God's goodness, and has a heart always ready to
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praise God for it. The greatest St. in all the
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world is a St. that gives thanks unceasingly to God.
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I wonder if you do that? Paul says we're to give thanks
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in everything. In everything in Ephesians 5, he
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says we're to give thanks for everything.
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So when you think about that and you think, OK, I'm to give
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thanks for everything, yes, that's what it says.
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And in everything, absolutely. But the question comes, do we do
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that? And for the most part, we don't.
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But you have to realize that that that thankfulness is is
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what sets the Christian apart from everyone else in the world.
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In fact, listen to what it says over in second Timothy chapter 3
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verse #1 says. But realize this, that in the
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last days, difficult times or perilous times will come.
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For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful,
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arrogant vilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful.
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The characteristic of perilous times and and the word for
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perilous or or difficult times is the same word used in Mark's
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gospel to talk about a man who was demon possessed.
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So he's talking about demonic times, the times that are
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characterized by demons in times.
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What is mostly characteristic is that people will be not just
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disobedient to parents, but they're going to be ungrateful.
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In fact, Romans one says it this way, Romans one verse #21 For
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even though they knew God, they did not honor him, ask God, or
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give thanks to God. The characteristic of the
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unbeliever is that he will not give thanks to God.
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Not that he can't, but he won't. He just won't give thanks to
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God. And yet the believer is
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characterized by a heart filled with Thanksgiving, filled with
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gratitude, filled with gratefulness to their God.
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So important. Turn in your Bible, if you
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would, to Luke's gospel, the 17th chapter, Luke's gospel, the
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17th chapter. You know the story.
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It's a very familiar story, says in verse #11 when he was on the
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way to Jerusalem, he was passing between Samaria and Galilee.
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As he entered a village, 10 leprous men who stood at a
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distance met him and they raised their voices saying, Jesus,
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Master, have mercy on us. Now here are these 10 lepers.
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They're in this in the outskirts of this village, and they see
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Jesus coming. And the reputation of Jesus by
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this time is, is all throughout the land of Israel.
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Everybody knows who Jesus is. He's the miracle worker.
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He takes the blind and causes them to see, takes the lame and
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lets them walk, takes the dead and raises them up.
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So here comes Jesus. And so these men who are, who
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are filled with leprosy, see this as an opportunity to ask
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Jesus to plead with Jesus to have mercy upon them and heal
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them. I mean, if it was you, would you
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not do that? Of course you would.
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Here's the miracle worker. Here's the all powerful one.
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Here's the one that can do what no one else has ever done.
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Well, we, we need to ask him to have mercy upon us.
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Look what happens next. When he saw them, he said to
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them, go and show yourself to the priests in Luke 5, he he
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touched the man with leprosy. He doesn't touch these men.
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He doesn't say be healed, don't do that either.
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He he wants to to test the meagerness of their faith.
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You see, they already believe that Jesus is a miracle worker.
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So they already believe in the power of Jesus.
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They already believe in the reputation of Jesus.
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So that's their faith. They, they, they believe in who
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he is based on what he has done already.
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And so he says to them, go and show yourself to the priest.
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Why would we say that? Because Christ came to fulfill
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all the law. And the law in Leviticus 17 and
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18 would meant that the priest who are the inspectors of those
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who are leprous, would determine whether or not they were healed
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or not. And he wants them to go to the
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priest, because 10 men who are filled with leprosy, who are
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healed is an overwhelming example of the power of God to
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the priest of Israel that they would not be able to deny.
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And so he says, go and show yourself to the priests.
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And so they all get up and they make their way toward the temple
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in Jerusalem, so says. And as they were going, they
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were cleansed. So uneventful, so low key, No
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balloons, no whistles, no lights, no hoopla, nothing like
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that. Just as they were going, they
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were cleansed. This is a remarkable
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understatement in the Scriptures, but that's what the
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the Lord wanted to say. And then it says this.
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Now one of them we saw that he had been healed.
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Turn back, turn back, glorifying God with a loud voice and fell
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on his face at his feet, giving thanks.
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He was a Samaritan. See, this man wanted physical
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cleansing, but he knew he needed spiritual cleansing, and so he
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knew that. So he went back to the one who
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cleansed him and glorified his name with a loud voice, No shame
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praising his name, then falling down before him, because worship
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is known by a thankful heart. Not only am I joyful and
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prayerful, but I am thankful. It's the model life of
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adoration. So he here, here, he adores his
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God. He falls before him and gives
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thanks to him. He recognizes his deity, He
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understands his iniquity, and he cries out for mercy.
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And Christ responds with three simple questions.
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Were there not ten cleansed that, he says, but they're 9.
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Where are they? Was no one found who returned to
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give glory to God except this foreigner, this Samaritan?
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Was no one willing to to exalt God?
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Was no one willing to adore God, to worship God except this one
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person? You see, they're, they're
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indicative of Israel. They, they want Jesus to do for
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them. When Jesus feeds them, they're
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great. They love him.
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When Jesus heals them, they are ecstatic.
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But when Jesus preaches to them, they can't stand him.
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They just love what Jesus does for them.
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They were consumers, a lot like people today and in the church.
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They go to church for what the church can do for them.
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They are called consumer Christians.
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Can the church do this for me? Can the church do that for me?
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Can the church meet this need? Can the church meet that need?
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That's the way the Israel was with with with Jesus.
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Do this for me. Jesus He did because he's a God
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of grace, mercy, compassion, and love.
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Were there not ten? There were cleansed.
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Where are the other nine? Where'd they go?
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How come they're not with you? Do they not want to recognize
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God and give glory to his name? He said to him, Stand up and go.
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Your faith has made you well. The word for well is sodzo, most
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common word for salvation in the Testament.
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Your faith has saved you. See, the unbeliever doesn't care
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to give thanks. There's a want to give thanks.
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The believer cannot help but give thanks.
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That's the difference. And that's why the model life is
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filled with with adoration. And yet, yet we find it's such a
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hard thing to be thankful in everything.
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Turn with me in your Bible to another passage.
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Again, another familiar one, but always good to be reminded.
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And that's the passage in the book of Philippians, Philippians
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chapter 2. So we are to give thanks in
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everything. First Thessalonians 518 we're to
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give thanks for everything or for all things.
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Ephesians 520 so Paul is going to turn that around and say
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these words in Philippians 214 do all things, all things, all
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things without what grumbling and disputing.
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So in all things, give thanks, give thanks for all things, so
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that in all things you do not grumble or complain.
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The word for dispute is a is a word to question.
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Do all things without questioning.
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That's very hard for us, isn't it?
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We always want to know the answer.
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Why? Why?
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Why do I have to do this? Why do I have to obey that
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command? Why do I have to forget that
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person? Why?
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And God just give commands. He doesn't give suggestions and
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he doesn't OfferUp an opinion. He just gives you commands.
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And the word for grumbling is a is a word for complaining.
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Complaining. Now maybe that's not you today,
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but people have all kinds of things to complain about.
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They complain because we have bagels and not doughnuts in
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between services. Figure that.
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Figure that they complain because there's not air
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conditioning in the foyer. But there's a method to our
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madness. It gets you into the auditorium
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quicker where it is air conditioned.
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But we complain there's no air conditioning in the foyer.
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We complain about how long it takes to sign in our children to
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take in the class. We complain about where we have
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to park in the middle of someone on the outskirts of someone on
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the other side of the auditorium.
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We, there are so many things that we complain about.
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We don't even think about it. If Paul says, I want you to do
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all things without complaining, as a mother, I, I want you to,
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to care for your children without complaining, without
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grumbling, right? You ask the Lord for children.
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The Lord gives you a gift, and then you complain about how much
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time it takes to take care of the children.
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Why would you do that? There are gifts from God.
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If we find ways to complain and grumble, we complain because I
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no longer can do the things I used to do when I didn't have
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children, but now that I have children, I can't do those
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things anymore. So I complain about not having
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time to do those things and I begin to grumble and mumble.
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You see, we find so many things to to complain and moan and and
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groan about. And Paul says just the reverse
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of Ephesians 520 and 1st. That's why it's 518 and
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everything that you do, don't complain and do not grumble.
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Do not question. So that what you will prove
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yourselves to be blameless, innocent children of God above
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reproach, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation,
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among whom you appear as lights in the world, in order to prove
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that you are different than the world, in order to prove that
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you are a light in the world, in order to prove that you are a
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child of God. It comes because you do not
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complain and you do not question.
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I love the words of Thomas Watson, that great Puritan
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preacher and writer, when he said this.
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By praise a Christian excels all the infernal spirits.
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Do you talk of God? So does the devil.
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He brought scripture to Christ. Do you profess religion?
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So can the devil. He transforms himself into an
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Angel of light. Do you fast?
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The devil never eats. Do you believe the devils have a
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faith of ascent? They believe, and yet they
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tremble. But as Moses worked such a
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miracle as none of the magicians could reproduce, so here is a
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work Christians may be doing which no or none of the devils
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can do, and that is the work of Thanksgiving.
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Devils can't do that. Only the Christian can.
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The world grumbles and Mumbles and moans and groans and
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disputes, right? But the Christian, no, he, he
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proves himself different than the world.
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He's he's completely the opposite.
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He's given thanks in all things and for all things.
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I love the story that Spurgeon tells when he says I once heard
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a a touchy story about a poor woman with two children who had
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no bed for them to sleep in, and scarcely any clothes to cover
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them. In the depth of winter.
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They were nearly frozen, and the mother took the door of a cellar
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off the hinges and set it up before the corner where they
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crouched to sleep, that some of the draft and cold might be kept
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from them. One of the children whispered to
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her when the mother complained. Mother, what do those dear
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little children do who have no cellar door to put up in front
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of them, hmm? Spurgeon says.
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Even there you see the little heart found cause for
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thankfulness. Thankful for a cellar door that
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just blocks some of the cold. Not all the cold, but just some
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of the cold. And what do those children do
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who have no cellar door to block the cold for them?
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A heart of thankfulness. Now I know that most of us hear
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this and think little of it. It's not that big a deal.
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Oh, it's a big deal. Let me show you turn to 1st
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Corinthians chapter 10, First Corinthians chapter 10 and let
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me show you how big a deal this is.
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First one for I do not want you to be uninformed, brethren.
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I don't want you to, the King James Version says.
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I don't want you to be ignorant, brethren, that our fathers were
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all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all
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were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all
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ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual
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drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which
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followed them, and the rock was Christ.
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He talks about Israel's privileges and all that they had
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as a unit, as a nation that came from God.
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Verse 5. Nevertheless, with most of them
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God was not pleased, for they were laid low in the wilderness.
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This is a nice way of saying they died in the wilderness.
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Here was this nation who received all these blessings
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from God, and they received them all at once as a as a nation of
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of 2 million Jews. But nevertheless, for a lot of
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them, God was not even pleased with them.
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So he killed them in the wilderness for six.
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Now these things happen as examples for us so that we would
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not crave evil things as they also crave.
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This is an example. This is an illustration Paul was
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telling the Church of Corinth. Look, these are examples of what
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not to do. He says verse 7, do not be
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idolatrous as some of them were. As it is written, the people sat
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down to eat and drink, and stood up to play.
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Nor verse 8 Let us act immorally, as some of them did,
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and 23,000 fell in one day. Nor let us try the Lord, as some
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of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents.
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Nor grumble question as some of them did and were destroyed by
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the destroyer. We understand where God would
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kill those who committed idolatry.
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We understand that God would kill those who committed
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immorality. But why would God kill somebody
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who grumbles? I mean, compare the two
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grumbling, idolatry, complaining, immorality.
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In our minds, they're like, whoa, there's such a difference
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between the two sins. But in God's mind, sin is still
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sin. And of course, the reference is
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Numbers chapter 16, where they're in Numbers 16.
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Cora Dathan in a Byram rebelled against the leadership of Moses
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and Aaron, and God opened up the ground and swallowed them and
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their families all alive, and then closed the ground over
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them. And then 250 other men thought
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that he could act like priests. And God sent fire down from
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heaven and incinerated those men.
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And the people complained. They grumbled, They questioned
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Moses, and then questioning Moses, they were questioning
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God. Why would God do this?
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Why would God lead us out here and then kill us?
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And God was incensed. So instead of plague and killed
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14,700 of them, if it wasn't for Moses and Aaron interceding on
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Israel's behalf, he probably would have killed every single
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one of them. Grumbling questions and doubts.
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God's sovereignty, His goodness, His mercy, His Providence.
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When you begin to grumble and complain, you are saying, God,
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you didn't do it good enough, or you didn't do it right, or you
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didn't do it in my way, because my way is better than God's way.
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You gave me this when I asked for that, You did this when I
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wanted that and to begin to complain.
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Husbands do it all the time, following in the footsteps of
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Adam. When Adam said it's the woman
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you gave me Lord, he blamed the Lord.
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He grumbled to complain because of sin, because of the woman
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that God gave him. See and see.
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Isn't it a miracle that that that God doesn't kill us when we
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grumble? Think about that.
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Think. Think about your day.
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Think about your week, how many times you complained about what
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was taking place in your life, your family, your work, your
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school, because things didn't go the way you thought they should
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go. So you criticize, You moan, you
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complain, you groan over and over and over again.
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And God in his grace allows you to continue living.
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That is a that is a walking miracle of God that you're still
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alive today even though you disobey the commands of God.
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So Paul says, do not grumble, do not complain about anything,
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just don't do it instead in everything and for it just give
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thanks to God. Can you do that?
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If you're an unbeliever, you cannot do that.
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You don't even want to do that. If you're a believer, your
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hearts cry as Lord, I want to, I want to cry out to you and, and
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thankfulness for what you've done.
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Am I to thank the Lord for for a bad marriage?
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Absolutely, absolutely. Because why is the marriage bad?
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Is it just all on him or all on her?
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Or do you play a part in it as well?
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And bad is relative, is it not? To you?
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Your bad marriage might be good to somebody else's marriage, I
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don't know. But do you rejoice with the wife
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of your youth? That's what Solomon says.
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Rejoice with the wife of your youth.
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But we want to complain about the wife of our youth because
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she doesn't do what she used to do.
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Well, that's no good. Who's that help?
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We, we had to give thanks for everything in everything.
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And I know that some of you right now your, your wheels are
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spinning in your mind and you're looking for an excuse that says,
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you know God. I know that God does not expect
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me to give thanks in this situation or for this situation.
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I know you're, you're thinking that and you're going to ask the
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question, well, what do you mean that I in this situation or, or
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in this circumstance or or in this way or I know you're asking
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that question in your own mind. We all do.
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But can't we just rest in what God has said, because
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thankfulness reveals so much about our lives?
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It reveals #1 this is my outline.
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This is all introduction up to now.
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It reveals our conversion to Christ.
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That's the Philippians 2 says. It reveals our conversion to
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Christ. That's what Luke 17 said.
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We read about the 10 lepers, but listen to what Paul says in
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Colossians 2. Therefore, as you have received
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Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.
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How did you receive Him? By faith or by grace through
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faith, right? So you walk by faith, by the
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grace of God, have you been firmly rooted and now being
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built up in Him and established in your faith just as you were
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instructed and overflowing with gratitude.
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What a statement. Overflowing with gratitude,
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because what thankfulness does is reveal my conversion to
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Christ. There's been a transformation.
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I'm not like the Pagan world. I'm not ungrateful.
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I'm not unthankful. I am not the person who just
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tries to consume from God. I really want to obey God and
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thank him for what he's done and give praise to his glorious
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name. So it reveals my conversion to
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Christ. 2nd Corinthians 915 Thanks being to God for His
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indescribable gift. I'm not so sure we understand
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the indescribable nature of the gift of God, because if we did,
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we'd be giving thanks all the time.
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Fact. You got to get used to it
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because the Book of Revelation says this.
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And when the living creatures gave glory and honor and thanks
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to him who sits on the throne, to him who lives forever and
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ever, the 24 elders which is the church will fall down before him
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who sits on the throne and will worship him who lives forever
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and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne,
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saying, Worthy are you our Lord and our God to receive glory and
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honor and power. For you created all things, and
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because of your will they existed and were created. 4
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Living creatures stand around the throne of God, always saying
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holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.
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Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.
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Worship him, praise him, honor him with Thanksgiving.
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And they haven't been redeemed, for living creatures have not
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been redeemed. They're spirit beings, they're
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angels. But us, we've been redeemed.
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And so a thankful heart reveals #1 my conversion to Christ #2 it
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reveals my commitment to the will of God, my commitment to
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the will of God. In other words, this is the will
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of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
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What? That you give thanks in all
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things. So now I'm, I'm going to reveal
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my commitment to God. Lord, not only am I converted by
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you, I am committed to you so much so that I will purpose in
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my heart to give thanks to you in everything.
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Remember Jonah, the will of God was for Jonah to go to Nineveh
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to give thanks and everything. Jonah wasn't about to give
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thanks nor go to Nineveh. He went the opposite way.
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And you know the story so overboard, swallowed by a great
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fish. He's in the belly of the fish
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and listen to what he says in the belly of the fish.
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While I was fainting away, verse 7 of Jonah chapter 2, I
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remembered the Lord. It's always good to remember the
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Lord, especially when you're in the belly of a fish.
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I remember the Lord, and my prayer came to you into your
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holy temple. Those who regard vain idols
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forsake their faithfulness. He did.
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He forsook His faithfulness. He forsook His commitment
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because he regarded vain idols. It's in this case was him the
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worship of himself that he would not go and preach the gospel to
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the Ninevites because they were an ungodly nation.
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And those who regard their idols always forsake their
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faithfulness, their commitment. Why do we forsake our commitment
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to giving thanks to God? Because we have another idol,
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something more important to us than the true living God.
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So he says. But I will sacrifice to you with
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the voice of Thanksgiving that which I have vowed.
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I will pay salvation from the Lord.
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Then the Lord commanded the fish and vomited Jonah up on dry
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land. Maybe, just maybe, God is
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patiently waiting for your situation, your attitude to say,
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Lord, I have forsaken my commitment.
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I will sacrifice to you with the voice of Thanksgiving.
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I will thank you that I am single and not married.
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I will thank you that I am married but can't have children.
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I will thank you that even though I want to be physically
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better, I know that Your grace is sufficient for me.
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And I thank you. And maybe it's that time that
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God throws you up out of your situation onto solid ground.
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I don't know. But I do know this Thanksgiving
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reveals my conversion to Christ. It reveals my commitment to the
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will of God. What else does it reveal?
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Well, you're going to have to come back next week.
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Figure that one out. Let's pray.
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Lord, we are grateful for today. Truly, Lord, you are a great
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God. Forgive us for our ingratitude.
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Pray that all of our lives will be challenged today to live for
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the glory and honor of Your name.
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Then we might give praise and Thanksgiving to you in Jesus
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name, Amen.