Thanks be to God

I've entitled my scripture today, my sermon today, Thanks Be to God. You know, I grew up in a smaller West Texas United Methodist Church, and it wasn't very liturgical. We didn't have a lot of liturgy, and I didn't hear that kind of stuff until I actually went off the McMurray and went to conferences, and when the guy would get up and read scripture, you might hear them say, Thanks be to God, you know, and I immediately am not a traditionalist, and I have to tell you, I knew a lot of those guys, and I thought they don't have a clue what they're saying. Thanks be to God, you know, and I was not being judgmental, I promise you. It was just a real experience for me. I thought, well, I'm not gonna join one of them Thanks Be to God guys, you know, but scripture has corrected me, and that's what part of scripture is all about, isn't it, and growing in the Spirit. It has corrected me because, and we'll look at these passages in just a minute, six times.

I think he didn't just write it. Kim can tell you there are times when I'm in my study writing a sermon, and you'd think I was having a Pentecostal shout-down meeting in there, because sometimes I just have to get up and shout. I get so excited about what the Word of God is saying, and so we're gonna look at those six shouts today. So let's pray that God will help us this morning as we study His Word. Lord, we pray that you'll come and speak to us through your Word today. Lord, it's gonna be a lot more about scripture than what I have to say, and Lord, I give you praise for that in Jesus' name, amen. Let me just set the tone for you in a few passages from the Old Testament that are precious to me.

I loved it today when we were praying before church, and Winfield talked about how a psalm had spoken to him today, personally spoken to him, and these psalms have always spoken to me. Psalm 100, 1 through 5. I love this. Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness.

Come before Him with joyful singing. Now, that doesn't say in tune singing, does it? Joyful singing. I can make a joyful noise to the Lord. It may be a noise, but I can make a joyful noise. Know that the Lord Himself is God. It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves.

What a statement. We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. We've studied a lot about the lost sheep here lately, haven't we? We are the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. You know, Kim and I have been to Jerusalem, and I can see those city gates, and I can see the courts in my mind when I read this. If you've never got to go, put it on your wish list to go to Jerusalem before you go home to heaven.

Give thanks to the Lord. Bless His name, for the Lord is good. His loving kindness is everlasting, and His faithfulness to all generations.

And jump over the 107 verses 1 and 2. I love this here. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. That's why we give thanks, because His nature is goodness. It's just not a just a general thanks. We're praising God because of His nature, His goodness, His holiness. For His loving kindness is everlasting.

I don't know about you, but I need a little bit of that long-suffering, patient kindness in my life, by the way I sometimes. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Shout! See what I'm saying? Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary. Hallelujah. We've been there.

All of us have lived outside the will of God, and been in the hand of the adversary. Thanks be to God. Thanks be to God. You know, I have told this story before, and I've always loved it. There's a family that was seated around their Thanksgiving table. As was their custom, everyone shared what they were thankful for, from the oldest to the youngest. They each took their turn and expressed their thanks.

When they came to the five-year-old in the family, he began looking at the turkey and expressing his thanks for the turkey, saying although he had not tasted it, he knew it would be good. Then he thanked his mother for cooking the turkey, and his father for buying the turkey. Then he said that he was thankful for the grocery store, for stocking the turkey. Y'all know where I'm going. Y'all been around those little ones when they get to praying, hadn't you? And the workers there who put it in the refrigerated section for his dad to find it. Then he said he was thankful for the checker of the grocery store who checked it out, and he was thankful for the farmer who raised it, and for the man who made the feed for it, and for those who brought the turkey to the store.

Having said all this, and the list went on and on for a little bit longer, having said all of this, he looked up solemnly and said, did I leave anybody out? And his older brother, only an older brother would do this. He rolled his eyes and said, you left God out. You left God out. And without batting an eye, this five-year-old turned to his brother and said, I was about to get to him. I was about to get to him. Now that soaks in on me.

I was about to get to him. You know, I don't know if this is a word, but I made it up. Our abouters sometimes doesn't even make it to first base, does it? Our abouters. I've been an abouter in my life. I'm about to get to him. Think about the the healing of the ten lepers.

We all know that story, don't we? How Jesus healed these ten lepers. And one of these lepers was a Samaritan. And the Bible says, this is amazing to me, they didn't just get healed right there on the spot. He said, go show yourselves to the priest. And as they were being obedient and walking to the priest, they're getting healed. That leprosy is falling off their skin and their skin is healing up.

I wondered about those who had lost fingers or limbs or whatever. If those limbs were stuck back on and those fingers were stuck back on. It says they were being healed as they were walking back to the priest. And what's interesting here, that one of them stopped and turned back and went back to Jesus. In Luke 17, 17 and 18, Jesus said, were there not ten cleansed? But the nine, where are they? Where are they?

Was there no one found to turn back to give glory to God except, and look who showed up, this Samaritan. One that was not a faithful Jew with leprosy.

A Samaritan leper. He came back. You know, I imagine those other nines were in the classification of a ballers. I'm gonna get to him. I'm gonna return. I'm gonna get back to him. But you know what's interesting?

Most of those folks never get back, do they? They never get back for all sorts of reasons. They never do return back and give glory to God and praise him. You know, I thought about, we've already looked at this in Luke chapter 12, the rich farmer who had a bumper crop. And he sat there and thought, what am I gonna do with all this?

Well, I'll just build me more barns. And he built all these barns and he said, what am I gonna do? Well, I'm just gonna eat, drink and be merry. I'm just gonna ignore the rest of the world and I'm just gonna pat myself on the back and sit back and ease and be merry. And then judgment comes. Judgment comes and Jesus likens this man to those who didn't return like the lepers. Jesus said, so is the man who lays up treasures for himself and is not rich toward God.

You know, you can have all the wealth in the world and still live in spiritual poverty. I know people like that. I know people like that, that have been blessed. They're about to get back to it, but they never do. Y'all know someone like that? Maybe you've been like that before in your life. You know, I answered questions of a preacher.

What's the will of God for my life? What's the will of God for my life? Well, if you want to read over in First Thessalonians chapter 5, there's a whole list of things given, but one of those that really sticks out and is applicable for us today is Paul said, in everything, give thanks. And listen what he follows it up with. For this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. It's God's will. I don't know about you, some families, and you might have been one of those kind of families, they just always complain.

Nothing ever seemed to go right for them. Nothing ever worked out for them. You just grew up in families that were complainers. Some of us might have grown up in families that were not that way. My mom, her name was Grace, and she literally lived that name, Grace. I remember when we had our lay witness mission at our church when I was a senior in high school, and on Saturday night, on Sunday night, it was actually Baccalaureate night, so we we had to leave early and get to Baccalaureate, so we kind of rushed through our deal, but it was a time where people in the church could come down and say what the Lord had done in their lives, and this is my mom. My mom comes down, and all she says, I'm not a speaker, but I'm so grateful, and if I went longer, all I'd do is cry.

That's all I'd do is cry, and I can guarantee you when people walked by her casket, they looked at her and said, I don't ever remember this lady complaining. She raised six boys, and I don't remember my mom complaining. Now, that didn't mean she wasn't a correction, and if she had to be, and that she wasn't a disciplinarian, she had to be.

My dad's off working. You know, my dad told her one time, well, just get the baseball bat after. But I cannot ever remember my mother being a griper or a I got to thinking about this, and here's what I want to say about Paul. The apostle knew that only, now this is pretty good. I even thought when I wrote this, this is pretty good. Whitfield, you know how preachers batter themselves. No one's going to brag on you, so I'm going to brag on myself here.

The apostle knew that only an attitude that is set in a position of gratitude will create a mind that is fixed on the altitude of heavenly things. You hear that? An attitude that's set in a position of gratitude will create a mind that is fixed on the altitude of heavenly things. So I've told you I wasn't very liturgical, but Paul corrected me where I was in United Methodist Worship Services and with all the people I've even caught myself saying, thanks be to God.

I just didn't mumble it. There was some of us evangelicals, we sat back there and shouted it. That's what we did. And you can see the others that just wanted it to be a liturgical statement, look back and say, those guys, will they ever shut up? Well, I want to talk to you about the six shouts, the shouts, six times. Thanks be to God. Now, in one of the commentaries I read, and I thought this was great, thanks be to God isn't just a casual expression.

It is a declaration of faith, a proclamation of victory we have in Jesus. Now that's the real content of thanks be to God. I thought this was pretty good, too. It's about turning our abouters into shouters. You hear that? It's about me turning my abouter, I'm about to get to him where I do get to him and I shout. Hubbard can tell you that there were a group of us in college was known as shouters.

You know, we were just being true Methodist. You've heard the term, have you ever heard the term shouting Methodist? That was a label that outsiders and other folks put on Methodist because when they got together, they would shout.

Shout joyfully to God of the earth. Sing the glory of his name. Make his presence glorious. Shout to God. How awesome are thy works. When I was going to McMurray, there was a guy that came to preach at Aldersgate Methodist Church, a revival, and he was 90 years old at that time. J. C. McFeeders. McFeeders could take that.

I don't remember what that thing was. You put tension on this deal and you could pull this thing up like this, you know, exergenie or whatever. Y'all remember what that was? He did that in front of all us college students. I can remember Nick Farrell from Slayton who was a linebacker on the McMurray Indian football team and he had, you know, had those big old orange pecs and, you know, and Dr. McFeeders said, young man, come up here. Now, I'm sure McFeeders said it differently.

I couldn't tell, but he gets Nick up there and what McFeeders, he just looked like pulled through. Nick gets up there and can't budge it. He'd been doing this for 20 years. McFeeders had been doing it 20 years. There was an article written about him when he was 90. He skied, water skied 20 miles. He was still in that kind of shape at 90 years old and he preached on the baptism in the Holy Spirit that night and gave an invitation.

Of course, we were all flocking to the altar praying and asking God to fill us with the Spirit and McFeeders backed off in the corner. Aldersgate Methodist Church, a beautiful, long sanctuary and and pews and all the stuff up front and he backed off in the corner and would go, glory, hallelujah! And he would shout it for 30 minutes while we're over there praying. He's over there shouting. And I thought, man, this is a real shouting Methodist right here. He was shouting. And I imagine Paul was shouting these.

These words I'm going to read to you, I'm just going to read them to you, are sermons. You could make a sermon out of every one of these. So I call them the six shouts is what I call them.

Romans 6, 17 through 18. Freedom shout, but thanks be to God that though you were slaves to sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed. And having been freed from sin, you became, listen to this, slaves to righteousness. Now is that not something to shout about? Thanks be to God. You know, I'm gonna tell you the apostle of the church shouted, thanks be to God. Romans 7, 24 through 25 and 8 through 1 and 2, I call it another freedom shout, wretched man that I am.

This is when Paul's struggling with his natural man and his spiritual man and there's a battle going on between this. And he said, wretched man that I am. Who will set me free from the body of this death? You ever been there? When you want to do the right thing, but you're not doing the right thing. You don't seem to be able to do the right thing. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So then on one hand, I myself with my mind am serving the law of God. But on the other hand, with my flesh I'm serving the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. Hallelujah. Thanks be to God. That's what Jesus did for us.

1 Corinthians 15, 55 through 57, I call this the victory shout. Oh death, where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord. You see that? I don't have to live in a frame of moaning and groaning and griping.

I can live with my mind set on the things above where I give gratitude and praise in everything. In everything. 2 Corinthians 2, 12 through 15, the triumphal shout. Now when I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ I had no rest. He's coming for the gospel. And when the door was open for me in the Lord I had no rest in my spirit not finding Titus my brother. He's there but he can't find his brother Titus.

He's been led to be there. But taking my leave of them, he was released from them, I went to Macedonia. But thanks be to God, listen to this, who always, always, always leads us in triumph in Christ. It's not just sometimes. It's an always. He leads us in triumph in Christ and manifests through us. I'm triumphal and I'm manifesting and manifest through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.

That should be our life in Christ. I'm triumphal because not something we earn or do or muster up. It is a gift from Him. When I abide in Him, He abides in me. And what does it produce? What does it produce? A sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.

This is a triumphal shout of evangelism. The sweet aroma of Christ. You and I would not be sitting here today if the disciples had not been forced and scattered to bring the gospel. That's one of the gospels in America today. Because Christians brought the gospel here. And we have triumphal experience in Christ. You're not here by chance.

You're not sitting in these chairs by chance today. You're sitting there because somebody brought the gospel.

2 Corinthians 8, 16, and 17. I just call this a reality shout. But thanks be to God who puts the same earnestness on your and your behalf in the heart of Titus. Now that's a pretty bold statement. Earnestness on your and on your behalf in the heart of Titus. For He not only accepted our appeal, but being Himself to you on His own accord.

You hear what that's saying? He has accepted the call to bring the gospel. Titus has. Because he was earnest. It was reality in his life. That's what I want you to hear there. Every day you get up, we ought to pray.

God, thank you. Because wherever I go today, may I take the gospel of Christ in true earnestness. Every opportunity. If you feel that little urge of the Holy Spirit, take it. When you need to say something to a waitress, take it. When you need to say something to a mechanic, take it. I had a guy in my office one day bragging on my mechanic back in the back, Jake.

He said, I'd really like to tell him how much I appreciate him and that I think he has a gift from God. I said, don't tell me that. Go back there and tell him that. Well, he just marched himself right back there and told him. Now, you may think I'm weird, but I want to tell you, you have a gift from God. And I want to thank you for using your gift. Every opportunity.

When the Holy Spirit nudges, take it. 2 Corinthians 9.15. The indescribable shout. But thanks be to God for his indescribable gift. And if you look at the. The context of that, it's talking about. Grace. And the graceful one. Who we? Called Jesus.

Thank you, Jesus. If that wouldn't change your attitude every day you hit the floor, if you just said, thank you, Jesus. You have gifted. Me with your grace and I don't deserve it. But you've given me your grace. Thank you, Jesus. You know, how do you conclude this?

And so we're going to take communion. And and I thought it's so interesting.

In Luke 2219. It says in when Jesus had taken some bread. And I've blown right by this before. And given thanks. He broke it and gave it to his. Disciples and said to them, this is my body which is given for you.

Do this in remembrance of me. Given thanks. Here is the Savior. Of the world at the last communion. Before it becomes a communion for the church. Any any takes the bread and he breaks this bread. But before he passes it.

He gives thanks. It wasn't just an expression. It it was absolutely a moment of worship. He was thanking the father. Think about it. Dad. We're fixing to wrap this thing up.

And my body. It's fiction to be. Cruelly beaten. And my side. They're going to stick a sword through my side. And they're going to crown me. Blood is going to flow.

They're going to nail me. They're going to crucify me. Thank you. That's crazy, isn't it? Thank you. Father. It didn't just start in the garden where he surrendered. It started.

Way back even before the last supper. But this is a culmination. It says when he took the cup in in Luke's gospel said in the same manner. But let me give you verification of what that means in Matthew 26 27 and 28. And when Jesus had taken a cup. And given thanks. Given thanks. Given thanks.

He gave it to them saying drink ye also. For this is my blood of the covenant. Which is poured out for many. For forgiveness of sins. Thanks be to God. It's not just a casual expression guys. It's reality. It's victory. It's indescribable. It's triumphal. It's freedom.

Do you see that? Thanks be to God.

I say Hallelujah. That's more West Texas for me. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord.