Doug McMasters: You to take your Bible and turn over with me to 1 Timothy chapter 4.
Doug McMasters: 1 Timothy chapter 4.
Doug McMasters: Since Royal and I have been married, Thanksgiving's always included more than just the meal.
Doug McMasters: Before the plates are filled, we pause around the table and each one of us offering something that we're thankful for.
Doug McMasters: And doing that has shaped our Thanksgivings.
Doug McMasters: It's helped us to realize that the day is about more than a feast.
Doug McMasters: It's about giving thanks to God, who is the giver of all good gifts.
Doug McMasters: And over the years, we've been able to share our Thanksgiving meals not only with other believers, but from time to time with those who do not yet know Christ.
Doug McMasters: And I've noticed something during those times that we have them.
Doug McMasters: We don't interrupt what we're going to do.
Doug McMasters: We invite them to join that.
Doug McMasters: And we'll pause and introduce the day and introduce what we're about to do and ask them to express something for which they're thankful.
Doug McMasters: And sometimes the table just grows quiet.
Doug McMasters: And for those who don't know Christ, who don't live with a posture of gratitude toward God, I've come to realize that sometimes pausing and stopping to reflect upon what they should be grateful for is a very unusual and perhaps even uncomfortable thing for them to do.
Doug McMasters: It's almost as if gratitude is not a common experience of their life.
Doug McMasters: But for us as God's people, thanksgiving is a regular posture of who we are.
Doug McMasters: It's not an option.
Doug McMasters: It shapes who we are.
Doug McMasters: It is an expression of who we are.
Doug McMasters: We're thankful people.
Doug McMasters: The passage that we're going to look at in a moment tells us that even in the apostolic times, there were false teachers who were forbidding the church to do things like marry or to eat particular types of food, things that God had created and that were good.
Doug McMasters: And Paul reminds Timothy to make sure the church realizes that even in a world filled with deception, God's people are called to receive his gifts with thankfulness.
Doug McMasters: And as we'll see, Paul's statements are profound.
Doug McMasters: He says in verse 4 and 5 that we'll look at in a little bit, that everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it's received with thanksgiving, since it's sanctified by the word of God and by prayer.
Doug McMasters: And just a couple chapters further in, 1 Timothy, chapter 6, verse 17, Paul is telling Timothy to instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant, but to set their hope, not to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God.
Doug McMasters: And he puts this statement into it, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy.
Doug McMasters: And so tonight, as we prepare ourselves for the day of thanksgiving and for our evening of thanksgiving, here's what I'd like for us to anchor our hearts with: that God's generosity fills every corner of our lives, and that we honor Him when we express our thanksgiving for all those gifts.
Doug McMasters: As we go through this passage, I want us to notice three things out of it.
Doug McMasters: And the first is this that gratitude guards our heart.
Doug McMasters: Gratitude guards our heart.
Doug McMasters: And Paul begins this chapter with a very sober warning.
Doug McMasters: Let's take a look at it in verse one.
Doug McMasters: Now the Spirit explicitly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared.
Doug McMasters: They forbid marriage and demand abstinence from foods that God created to be received with gratitude by those who believe and know the truth.
Doug McMasters: Now notice the distortion here.
Doug McMasters: Marriage and food, things created by God, were being rejected.
Doug McMasters: And God's people were told that they ought to reject them.
Doug McMasters: And instead of receiving them with gratitude, they were to reject them with guilt if they had actually partook.
Doug McMasters: What a twist of truth this is.
Doug McMasters: But this is nothing new.
Doug McMasters: In the Garden of Eden, Satan, tempting Adam and Eve, said, Did God really say?
Doug McMasters: And wanted to distort the goodness of God, who had given them freely to eat everything from the from the garden, barring one thing, and made them think that, well, all that they had wasn't quite good enough.
Doug McMasters: In the early church, Gnostic groups taught that the material world was evil, and that physical things and like food and like marriage were suspect and even wrong to do.
Doug McMasters: And in our day, a number of people are continuing this demonic doctrine.
Doug McMasters: There are voices, just as Paul talks about here, who tell us that real holiness means rejecting marriage or avoiding marital intimacy altogether, or only having marital intimacy if you have a determined plan to have a child.
Doug McMasters: Otherwise, you should abstain.
Doug McMasters: As if God's design for marriage in this covenant-bound relationship was somehow less spiritual than abstinence.
Doug McMasters: But Paul reminds us here that marriage is a gift, it's not a curse.
Doug McMasters: And to forbid marriage and to forbid the intimacy within marriage that God allows is not holiness, it's actually heresy.
Doug McMasters: There are others in our day who preach a diet-driven gospel.
Doug McMasters: Don't eat this, don't touch that, just like the Colossians say.
Doug McMasters: And if you do those things, then you will be pure.
Doug McMasters: Now, obviously eating certain things and not eating other things might make you more healthy, but it certainly won't make you more holy at all.
Doug McMasters: The scriptures tell us here that food is created by God and is to be received with thanksgiving, and that a meal is more than just fuel.
Doug McMasters: It's actually grace served to us every day.
Doug McMasters: There are others that tell us that the physical world itself is evil and anything within it.
Doug McMasters: And so we are to avoid art and music and recreation, as if deprivation was somehow the key to spirituality.
Doug McMasters: Now, obviously, sinful people can take those vehicles and turn them into expressions of sin.
Doug McMasters: But in and of themselves, art and music and recreation are gifts from God.
Doug McMasters: There are others who say that prosperity is somehow evil.
Doug McMasters: In our day and age, that seems to be a little more rare.
Doug McMasters: We have a lot of prosperity preachers, but there is a flip side to that.
Doug McMasters: There are those who would say that anybody who has any kind of prosperity is wrong.
Doug McMasters: And I met some of them when I was in Bible college, and uh our preaching class went to Boston Common, and we did some preaching and some evangelism on Boston Common, and I ran into a group called the Have Nots.
Doug McMasters: Yeah.
Doug McMasters: And they used as their verse that Jesus did not have a place to lay his head.
Doug McMasters: And so they wanted to be just like Jesus and have not a place to lay their head.
Doug McMasters: And we were told that we were not holy because, well, we were renting an apartment at the time.
Doug McMasters: And so the idea is if you have material blessings, and somehow you're less spiritual.
Doug McMasters: Paul in 1 Timothy 6 tells the rich not to be arrogant and not to trust in those things, but to receive them with gladness, with gratitude, and to express themselves with generosity.
Doug McMasters: That's the antidote.
Doug McMasters: Gratitude is the right response if you have wealth.
Doug McMasters: And then there are other others who tell us that we need to be separate from holidays, we need to stay away from certain clothing, we shouldn't join in certain cultural traditions, as if abstinence and human regulations are meant to be the way people should live.
Doug McMasters: The fullness of Paul's heart pours out here as he tells us that God has given us great things to enjoy, that we have freedom in Christ, that we aren't bound in that kind of legalistic bondage.
Doug McMasters: And Paul cuts through the noise and says, these are gifts from God.
Doug McMasters: They're meant to be received for thanksgiving.
Doug McMasters: So gratitude helps us to keep those distorting voices away.
Doug McMasters: Notice how subtle this deception is.
Doug McMasters: It doesn't come right out and say that God isn't good.
Doug McMasters: It tells us that certain things should be abstained from, as if they were more holy in the practice.
Doug McMasters: But the follow-on is that it does actually destroy an understanding of God's goodness.
Doug McMasters: When marriage is forbidden, the picture in this world of Christ and his church is obliterated.
Doug McMasters: When foods are told to be abstained from, it robs us of the reminder of God's provision for our daily bread.
Doug McMasters: This distorted teaching doesn't just rob us of our joy, it robs us of our testimony of the fullness of God.
Doug McMasters: But if this deception distorts, gratitude guards us.
Doug McMasters: It keeps us anchored in Christ, it keeps us locked in to the one who has provided us all of this.
Doug McMasters: And when we receive these gifts with thanksgiving, we say every day, this is from our Father, and he is good.
Doug McMasters: He is good.
Doug McMasters: Gratitude not only guards us, but it also grounds us.
Doug McMasters: Take a look at verse 3 and 4.
Doug McMasters: At the end of verse 3, God created these things to be received with gratitude by those who believe and know the truth.
Doug McMasters: And here's the grounding sentence for everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.
Doug McMasters: So Paul counters the distortion of truth with this statement that God has created things that are good, and they are not to be rejected, but received with thanksgiving.
Doug McMasters: And this echoes Genesis chapter 1, when God looked out on all the things that he had made and he made a pronouncement of them.
Doug McMasters: This is very good.
Doug McMasters: But here's a deeper thought.
Doug McMasters: John chapter 1, the scriptures tell us that in Christ, through Christ, all things were made.
Doug McMasters: And so our gratitude that's grounded is grounded in the fact that Christ our Savior, the eternal word, has given us these things and Himself.
Doug McMasters: Now, note this phrase that God created these things to be received with gratitude by those who believe and know the truth.
Doug McMasters: Now, listen to this.
Doug McMasters: Gratitude is more than just saying thank you.
Doug McMasters: Gratitude is recognizing that the Lord is the source of good things.
Doug McMasters: And in that we see the Lord's generosity, even in the ordinary.
Doug McMasters: And the antidote to this false teaching is not just to say, well, we can do whatever we want.
Doug McMasters: It is actually to receive with thanksgiving the things that God has given you.
Doug McMasters: Jesus modeled this before feeding the 5,000.
Doug McMasters: He took the fish and the bread and gave thanks.
Doug McMasters: Paul lived this out even in a time of difficulty.
Doug McMasters: In Acts chapter 27, during a storm at sea, he took bread and gave thanks to God in front of the others.
Doug McMasters: In the midst of that chaos, his gratitude was a testimony of faith.
Doug McMasters: Think about shaping the heart of a child, particularly at Christmas time or at birthdays, when you teach the child not only the wonder of receiving a gift, but also to recognize the love behind the gift itself.
Doug McMasters: And so to be able to say to a child, isn't that a wonderful gift?
Doug McMasters: Your brother gave that to you.
Doug McMasters: And some of our most precious family photographs are two boys hugging each other after they've gotten a gift from one another.
Doug McMasters: Royal and I paid for it, but you know, they got the hug.
Doug McMasters: But it's fun to see.
Doug McMasters: We teach them to be grateful for the things that they've received.
Doug McMasters: And so we can be grounded with thanksgiving.
Doug McMasters: Eating a meal becomes an act of worship when we receive it with thanksgiving in Christ.
Doug McMasters: Because before we eat, we look at the food and say, this is from God.
Doug McMasters: Marriage becomes a testimony of covenantal love when we recognize, even in the mundane, ordinary, day-to-day days, that God has given us this wondrous thing.
Doug McMasters: Gratitude can be a grounding thing in all of our conversations.
Doug McMasters: When someone talks to us or teaches us or encourages us or even shares with us a correcting statement, we can recognize that people are involved in our lives for the purposes of good.
Doug McMasters: And that comes from God.
Doug McMasters: Gratitude can be grounding even when we take a walk and we notice a sunrise or the crispness of the air in the autumn, the rhythm of the seasons, a reminder of God's artistry and all the changes that we see.
Doug McMasters: Gratitude can be grounding in our community, in our fellowship.
Doug McMasters: Just like Al prayed a moment ago, thank you, God, for New Hyde Park Baptist Church, a recognition that the fact that we're God's people together is a gift from him.
Doug McMasters: Gratitude is grounding in all things, not just the big things of life, but in the routines themselves and even the unexpected moments.
Doug McMasters: But gratitude not only guards us and grounds us, but it also guides us.
Doug McMasters: Take a look at verse five.
Doug McMasters: Since it is sanctified by the word of God and by prayer, nothing is to be rejected if it's received with thanksgiving, since it, the gift, is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
Doug McMasters: Now, here's the anchor point that gratitude's not just a feeling, it's rooted in God's truth and it's expressed through prayer.
Doug McMasters: Scripture helps us understand that all the things that we have are good, and prayer acknowledges our dependence upon Him and moves us to thankfulness for what we've received.
Doug McMasters: Daniel, in exile, would pray three times a day, and he would also give thanks.
Doug McMasters: Daniel 6, 10.
Doug McMasters: He's giving gratitude for his routine, even when he was exiled away from home.
Doug McMasters: The Psalms are filled with thanksgiving prayer.
Doug McMasters: Psalm 136.
Doug McMasters: Give thanks to the Lord for his good, his faithful love endures forever.
Doug McMasters: And so we can begin and end our days with prayer.
Doug McMasters: We can get up in the morning and say, This is the day that the Lord has made.
Doug McMasters: Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Doug McMasters: And that truth shapes our day.
Doug McMasters: And at night we can echo in prayer what the psalmist said.
Doug McMasters: I lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, Lord, make me to dwell in safety.
Doug McMasters: The word frames us, and prayer sanctifies the hours and the minutes and the seconds.
Doug McMasters: We can thank God for our abilities.
Doug McMasters: When we walk, when we work, when we create, we can remember passages like Acts 17 and verse 28 that says, In Him we live and move and have our being.
Doug McMasters: And in prayer, we acknowledge that all of our strength, that all of our skill, that all of our creativity are not engendered out of us, but given to us by God Himself.
Doug McMasters: Gratitude can shape and guide our relationships.
Doug McMasters: When we read words like Ephesians, when it says to encourage one another, or 1 Thessalonians 5.11, where it says to build each other up.
Doug McMasters: And it frames us and guides us for how we're to relate with one another, that we have responsibilities of encouraging the growth and development of one another in Christ.
Doug McMasters: And so whether we send a text or make a call or sit with a family, or we have someone send us a text or give us a call or sit next to us, we recognize in prayer that these moments are gifts from God for the purposes of encouragement and love.
Doug McMasters: The word again defines what those relationships look like, and prayer invites us to understand God's blessings in them.
Doug McMasters: And even in interruptions, even in interruptions, the word reminds us that a person's heart plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps.
Doug McMasters: We can be thankful even in interruptions.
Doug McMasters: We got a taste of that when Johnny talked about a man he met when he missed his train and got a hold of a person who lived in his area by the name of Fabio.
Doug McMasters: And all of that turned into a gospel opportunity.
Doug McMasters: And even when uh Johnny was here with us and walking around in the city, he was texting and sending pictures back to Fabio and saying, This is what I'm experiencing.
Doug McMasters: And so that interruption was guided by the word that the Lord would move this moment for a purpose.
Doug McMasters: And prayer had Johnny recognize that God was making him miss a train for the purposes of the gospel.
Doug McMasters: The word again reframes everything.
Doug McMasters: It reframes our interruptions, it reframes our relationships, it reframes our abilities, it reframes our very days, it guides us.
Doug McMasters: And prayer is the opportunity for us to be more aware and more grateful for all of the movements within it.
Doug McMasters: So we stopped and we have stopped today to pause and to remember that every good gift comes from God.
Doug McMasters: And so Paul's message is very clear here.
Doug McMasters: Don't let distorting devilish doctrines rob you of joy.
Doug McMasters: You have a good father whose generosity fills out every corner of your life.
Doug McMasters: Everything that he's created is good, and nothing that he's given you is to be rejected, but received with thanksgiving.
Doug McMasters: Received with the understanding that Scripture gives you of what that is.
Doug McMasters: And so as we enter into this Thanksgiving week tonight and Thursday, let us cultivate gratitude, not just for the feast that we're about to enjoy, but for the ordinary moments of every day, that morning coffee, that laughter of your children, that work that you do with your hands, that rest that you receive at the end of a hard day.
Doug McMasters: Remember, gratitude can sanctify the routine.
Doug McMasters: And just as my family pauses before the plates are filled to give thanks, we as God's people can do that, not just on Thursday, but every day.
Doug McMasters: Naming thanks is more than a tradition, it's actually a testimony of faith.
Doug McMasters: Well, we've talked about Thanksgiving as God's people, but we can't leave without remembering the greatest gift that is offered.
Doug McMasters: The scriptures tell us that the greatest gift that humanity could ever receive is the gift of God of salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Doug McMasters: Romans 6 tells us that if we want to earn our way to heaven, we'll get our wages.
Doug McMasters: The wages of sin is death.
Doug McMasters: But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Doug McMasters: And that gift is received not by our efforts, but by faith.
Doug McMasters: For it is by grace that you've been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves.
Doug McMasters: It is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Doug McMasters: And so if you've never trusted Christ, today is the day to open your heart to the greatest gift you could ever receive: the gift of eternal life.
Doug McMasters: And the scriptures say that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved.
Doug McMasters: What a beautiful word.
Doug McMasters: And when you receive him, I guarantee that thanksgiving, despite how hard your life might be, will become the posture of your very soul.
Doug McMasters: Because the scriptures tell us that a believer cries out, thanks be to God, for his indescribable gift.
Doug McMasters: And from that moment on, you can join in on what it says here in 1 Thessalonians 5:18.
Doug McMasters: Give thanks in everything.
Doug McMasters: For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Doug McMasters: Let's pray together.
Doug McMasters: Father, we thank you for the protecting supply that you give us in helping us to recognize just how great and glorious and generous you are to give us the things that you've made so that we might enjoy them.
Doug McMasters: And that you, as a father, are filled with delight in the reception of these things with thankful hearts.
Doug McMasters: Lord, I pray that you'd help us to be more sensitive to the innumerable gifts that we've received from your hand.
Doug McMasters: And Lord, that we might even be thankful when we don't remember and don't recognize.
Doug McMasters: We pray, our Heavenly Father, that as we're guarded by those things, that you would ground us in this understanding of who you are, that you are good and all that you made is good.
Doug McMasters: There wasn't an evil thing on this earth, and you provided it for us.
Doug McMasters: The variety of all the plants, the diversity of all the landscape, the wonder of the animal kingdom, all for us to see and to behold and to receive and a recognition that you're a God who creates wonderfully.
Doug McMasters: And Father, we pray also that we might be guided by our gratitude, guided with thankful hearts to recognize every moment of every day, every relationship, every effort, all of the things that fill our moments and our minds, that we would be guided into thankfulness through your your word and through expressions of dependence and thanksgiving in prayer.
Doug McMasters: And so, Father, we pray that we would be indeed thankful people.
Doug McMasters: And we pray this in Christ's name.
Doug McMasters: Amen.