Thanksgiving, Praise and Worship - Part 3

I remember a man who went to a restaurant. I don't know whether I should tell you the story. When he went to pay the bill, I mean, he ate quite a lot with his friends and all that, the manager of the counter said, it's free. I said, it's free? Why? He said, when I established the restaurant, I'm a child of God, I'm a Christian, I decided that the first person who I see bowing down and giving thanks for his food, I'll give him his food free. Now, there are not many believers who run restaurants in Bangalore, so you may not get that in there. But think of that. A lot of people don't give thanks in public. They're ashamed. Anybody see me? Imagine, I'll never forget what Charles Finney, who was, before he was converted, he was a lawyer, and God spoke to him one day for his salvation, and he left his law office and went into the woods. And he wanted to pray all alone, where nobody would see him. He was a respected lawyer. He doesn't want anybody to see him praying for salvation, or something like that. So he got all alone in the woods, and he knelt down, and suddenly he heard some rustling of the leaves. He got up. There was nobody there. And suddenly it hit him, the pride of his heart, that he was ashamed to be seen kneeling down before his creator. Repented of that pride. Oh God, I'm ashamed to be seen kneeling down before you, my creator, by some other fellow creature. Forgive me. He was converted. He was baptized in the Holy Spirit the same day. There's a lot of pride that prevents us from giving thanks in public. Learn to give thanks for the answers to prayer. And then verse 28. First of all, I said we give thanks to God because he's good. Verse 21, because he's answered our prayer. And verse 28, because you are my God. That's all. I give you thanks because you are my God. I don't need any other reason. You are my God. See what we progress from God is good, because he's answered our prayer, finally because God is God. So that's the position from which we learn to give thanks. David also said in Psalm 139, I was just saying this to the young people the other day, we need to learn to give thanks for the way he created us. I want to emphasize that because a lot of people have complaints against God for something that he did in their body, which they felt was not right. Psalm 139, verse 14, I will give you thanks for I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. You formed my inward parts in my mother's womb, verse 13. And I was telling the young people, you need to give thanks to God for the way he made you. The color of your skin, the shape of your nose and your eyes and everything else. It was he who made you and make a tremendous difference in your life. And you learn to give thanks, learn to give thanks for health. A lot of people think of their wonderful creation only when something goes wrong. It's a very good habit to give thanks. Lord, I thank you for a healthy body. If you studied a little bit about the functioning of the human body, I'll tell you, I read a little bit about it. It's an absolute miracle that we are alive even for one day. So many things have to be in such delicate balance. There must be so much of iodine, a fraction of a milligram, a fraction of a gram of potassium, various things like that. Otherwise, you'll go crazy. You'll say stupid things. You know, we have to learn to give thanks for so many amazing things in this body and so many things. It's a wonderful habit to develop. And when we come into the New Testament, notice what it says in the New Testament. This is just Old Testament we've been looking at. We read in Luke chapter 17, I think, where verse 11 about these 10 lepers who were cleansed. The thing I noticed in this story is verse 13, they raised their voices, all 10 of them. They shouted out, Jesus master, have mercy on us. That's prayer. It's good to raise our voice in prayer. But when they were healed, verse 15, one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back again with a loud voice. He didn't lower his voice. The same loud voice with which he prayed, with the same loud voice he gave thanks. Boy, you've understood something. When you know how to give, how to pray with a loud voice and then give thanks with a loud voice. But it's only one out of 10. I think the proportion is about one in 100 today. One out of 10 in that day. And was that serious? No. I mean, it was serious because Jesus said, weren't there 10 who were cleansed? Where are the nine? And as the Lord looks down from heaven today, he says, didn't I forgive so many people? Why only so few come back to give thanks? Didn't I answer a million prayers? Why only 10 people come back and say thank you to me? Does that, does the Lord observe it? This verse teaches us he certainly does. He certainly does observe when you've got something and you didn't come back to give thanks to him. He notices that because he sees there is one more ungrateful wretch who calls himself my child. Sad. You know, when this chap came back to give thanks, he got something more. He said, stand up, go, your faith has saved you. I think it meant not only that his body was healed, but he probably got salvation. Salvation is much more than healing. I mean, those other nine lepers may have gone to hell. Even if they lived 20 years without leprosy after they got healed. Do you know that there are many people whom Jesus healed who are in hell today? Thousands. There are places where it says Jesus healed all of them. There must have been thousands in Israel who got healed, but only 120 waited for the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Most people who are healed, who were healed even in Jesus' time, never came back to him for salvation. They were happy. We got what we wanted. You know, the person who comes back in humility and says, Lord, I'm deeply thankful for what you've done for me. He gets something more. And when you come back to God and give thanks, you get something more. And that's what you've missed for so many years. But not too late to correct it today. 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 18 says, There are many, many areas where we don't know the will of God. Many areas. We say, Lord, I wish I knew your will. But I'll tell you one area where you have no doubt about God's will. Okay. 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 18. This is God's will for you. Give thanks in everything. That's it. Okay. You want to serve God's will at least in one area. In everything, give thanks. In Ephesians 5, verse 20, it goes a little further. And says, in Ephesians 5, verse 20, It says, always. And in everything. All times, all situations. And in 1 Timothy 2, It goes one step even further. All things, all times. 1 Timothy 2, 1 it says, Give thanks for all people. That's a little more difficult, right? Some of these fellows, they don't feel like giving thanks. But you know that if you're a child of God and you're wholehearted. And your life is completely surrendered to Christ. There is absolutely no one on the earth who can harm you. I hope you believe that. Romans 8, 28 says, all things work together for good. For those who love God. Now, if you don't love God, you're not living according to His purpose. Then, of course, you're going to have a lot of problems. I'm talking to those who love God. And who only want to live for God's will on earth. For such people, I can give you a promise. For whom? You love God. You don't love money and earthly things. You love God. And your only aim in life is to do His will. Here's a promise for you. Every single thing. Yes, I mean every single thing. Romans 8, 28. Will work for your very best. Even if it doesn't look like that right now. It will ultimately work for your very best. Now, if Romans 8, 28 had said 99% of things work for our very best. Then I would say 99% of things I give thanks. I don't give thanks for things that are working for my harm. No. Why do I give thanks for everything? Because everything works for my good. Because I love God. And I'm only interested in doing His will. And therefore, I can give thanks for all people. Some of those people whom you can't stand. Who've done you harm. You know, the problem is not with them. You need to get your eyes open to Romans 8, 28.