WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:04.240 You to take your Bible and turn over with me to 1 Timothy chapter 4. 00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:06.480 1 Timothy chapter 4. 00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:18.000 Since Royal and I have been married, Thanksgiving's always included more than just the meal. 00:00:18.879 --> 00:00:26.719 Before the plates are filled, we pause around the table and each one of us offering something that we're thankful for. 00:00:27.199 --> 00:00:30.160 And doing that has shaped our Thanksgivings. 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:34.079 It's helped us to realize that the day is about more than a feast. 00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:38.479 It's about giving thanks to God, who is the giver of all good gifts. 00:00:38.719 --> 00:00:47.200 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. 00:00:47.759 --> 00:00:51.679 And I've noticed something during those times that we have them. 00:00:52.079 --> 00:00:54.399 We don't interrupt what we're going to do. 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:56.320 We invite them to join that. 00:00:56.640 --> 00:01:04.239 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. 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:08.879 And sometimes the table just grows quiet. 00:01:11.359 --> 00:01:27.439 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. 00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:34.000 It's almost as if gratitude is not a common experience of their life. 00:01:35.359 --> 00:01:41.040 But for us as God's people, thanksgiving is a regular posture of who we are. 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:42.400 It's not an option. 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:43.760 It shapes who we are. 00:01:43.920 --> 00:01:45.680 It is an expression of who we are. 00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:47.200 We're thankful people. 00:01:49.359 --> 00:02:05.599 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. 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:18.240 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. 00:02:18.879 --> 00:02:22.639 And as we'll see, Paul's statements are profound. 00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:37.280 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. 00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:54.000 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. 00:02:54.240 --> 00:03:01.120 And he puts this statement into it, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy. 00:03:01.759 --> 00:03:20.960 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. 00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:25.280 As we go through this passage, I want us to notice three things out of it. 00:03:25.439 --> 00:03:29.360 And the first is this that gratitude guards our heart. 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:31.360 Gratitude guards our heart. 00:03:31.599 --> 00:03:34.400 And Paul begins this chapter with a very sober warning. 00:03:34.479 --> 00:03:36.240 Let's take a look at it in verse one. 00:03:36.800 --> 00:03:52.479 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. 00:03:52.719 --> 00:04:03.439 They forbid marriage and demand abstinence from foods that God created to be received with gratitude by those who believe and know the truth. 00:04:04.159 --> 00:04:06.479 Now notice the distortion here. 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:13.199 Marriage and food, things created by God, were being rejected. 00:04:13.439 --> 00:04:17.040 And God's people were told that they ought to reject them. 00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:24.319 And instead of receiving them with gratitude, they were to reject them with guilt if they had actually partook. 00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:27.600 What a twist of truth this is. 00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:29.759 But this is nothing new. 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:37.360 In the Garden of Eden, Satan, tempting Adam and Eve, said, Did God really say? 00:04:38.480 --> 00:04:53.839 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. 00:04:55.920 --> 00:05:08.399 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. 00:05:08.959 --> 00:05:14.959 And in our day, a number of people are continuing this demonic doctrine. 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:34.319 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. 00:05:34.480 --> 00:05:36.399 Otherwise, you should abstain. 00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:46.800 As if God's design for marriage in this covenant-bound relationship was somehow less spiritual than abstinence. 00:05:47.600 --> 00:05:52.879 But Paul reminds us here that marriage is a gift, it's not a curse. 00:05:53.199 --> 00:06:04.560 And to forbid marriage and to forbid the intimacy within marriage that God allows is not holiness, it's actually heresy. 00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:10.079 There are others in our day who preach a diet-driven gospel. 00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:14.480 Don't eat this, don't touch that, just like the Colossians say. 00:06:15.279 --> 00:06:18.720 And if you do those things, then you will be pure. 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:28.800 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. 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:37.920 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. 00:06:38.160 --> 00:06:42.000 It's actually grace served to us every day. 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:47.920 There are others that tell us that the physical world itself is evil and anything within it. 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:57.120 And so we are to avoid art and music and recreation, as if deprivation was somehow the key to spirituality. 00:06:57.360 --> 00:07:03.920 Now, obviously, sinful people can take those vehicles and turn them into expressions of sin. 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:09.839 But in and of themselves, art and music and recreation are gifts from God. 00:07:12.079 --> 00:07:16.959 There are others who say that prosperity is somehow evil. 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:19.279 In our day and age, that seems to be a little more rare. 00:07:19.360 --> 00:07:23.040 We have a lot of prosperity preachers, but there is a flip side to that. 00:07:23.279 --> 00:07:29.360 There are those who would say that anybody who has any kind of prosperity is wrong. 00:07:29.600 --> 00:07:41.680 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. 00:07:42.720 --> 00:07:43.360 Yeah. 00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:50.480 And they used as their verse that Jesus did not have a place to lay his head. 00:07:50.720 --> 00:07:56.959 And so they wanted to be just like Jesus and have not a place to lay their head. 00:07:57.199 --> 00:08:04.720 And we were told that we were not holy because, well, we were renting an apartment at the time. 00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:12.560 And so the idea is if you have material blessings, and somehow you're less spiritual. 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:27.839 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. 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:30.319 That's the antidote. 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:34.960 Gratitude is the right response if you have wealth. 00:08:35.279 --> 00:08:53.759 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. 00:08:55.519 --> 00:09:10.159 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. 00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:15.279 And Paul cuts through the noise and says, these are gifts from God. 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:18.639 They're meant to be received for thanksgiving. 00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:25.679 So gratitude helps us to keep those distorting voices away. 00:09:29.279 --> 00:09:31.679 Notice how subtle this deception is. 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:36.240 It doesn't come right out and say that God isn't good. 00:09:38.639 --> 00:09:46.960 It tells us that certain things should be abstained from, as if they were more holy in the practice. 00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:54.159 But the follow-on is that it does actually destroy an understanding of God's goodness. 00:09:55.919 --> 00:10:03.200 When marriage is forbidden, the picture in this world of Christ and his church is obliterated. 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:11.600 When foods are told to be abstained from, it robs us of the reminder of God's provision for our daily bread. 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:20.080 This distorted teaching doesn't just rob us of our joy, it robs us of our testimony of the fullness of God. 00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:25.840 But if this deception distorts, gratitude guards us. 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:34.000 It keeps us anchored in Christ, it keeps us locked in to the one who has provided us all of this. 00:10:34.480 --> 00:10:45.039 And when we receive these gifts with thanksgiving, we say every day, this is from our Father, and he is good. 00:10:45.600 --> 00:10:46.559 He is good. 00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:51.919 Gratitude not only guards us, but it also grounds us. 00:10:52.159 --> 00:10:54.399 Take a look at verse 3 and 4. 00:10:55.360 --> 00:11:04.159 At the end of verse 3, God created these things to be received with gratitude by those who believe and know the truth. 00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:15.840 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. 00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:28.559 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. 00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:37.120 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. 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:40.320 This is very good. 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:49.120 But here's a deeper thought. 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:55.840 John chapter 1, the scriptures tell us that in Christ, through Christ, all things were made. 00:11:56.320 --> 00:12:07.679 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. 00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:16.799 Now, note this phrase that God created these things to be received with gratitude by those who believe and know the truth. 00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:18.559 Now, listen to this. 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:21.279 Gratitude is more than just saying thank you. 00:12:21.519 --> 00:12:26.240 Gratitude is recognizing that the Lord is the source of good things. 00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:32.720 And in that we see the Lord's generosity, even in the ordinary. 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:39.919 And the antidote to this false teaching is not just to say, well, we can do whatever we want. 00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:45.759 It is actually to receive with thanksgiving the things that God has given you. 00:12:47.679 --> 00:12:50.879 Jesus modeled this before feeding the 5,000. 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:53.600 He took the fish and the bread and gave thanks. 00:12:54.159 --> 00:12:56.559 Paul lived this out even in a time of difficulty. 00:12:56.639 --> 00:13:04.720 In Acts chapter 27, during a storm at sea, he took bread and gave thanks to God in front of the others. 00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:10.240 In the midst of that chaos, his gratitude was a testimony of faith. 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:26.960 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. 00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:30.480 And so to be able to say to a child, isn't that a wonderful gift? 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:32.960 Your brother gave that to you. 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:41.679 And some of our most precious family photographs are two boys hugging each other after they've gotten a gift from one another. 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:45.440 Royal and I paid for it, but you know, they got the hug. 00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:48.879 But it's fun to see. 00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:52.320 We teach them to be grateful for the things that they've received. 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:56.480 And so we can be grounded with thanksgiving. 00:13:56.879 --> 00:14:02.720 Eating a meal becomes an act of worship when we receive it with thanksgiving in Christ. 00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:08.159 Because before we eat, we look at the food and say, this is from God. 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:22.960 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. 00:14:23.919 --> 00:14:28.000 Gratitude can be a grounding thing in all of our conversations. 00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:40.799 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. 00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:43.200 And that comes from God. 00:14:44.879 --> 00:15:02.080 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. 00:15:02.960 --> 00:15:06.879 Gratitude can be grounding in our community, in our fellowship. 00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:16.480 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. 00:15:17.840 --> 00:15:27.600 Gratitude is grounding in all things, not just the big things of life, but in the routines themselves and even the unexpected moments. 00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:34.720 But gratitude not only guards us and grounds us, but it also guides us. 00:15:34.879 --> 00:15:36.639 Take a look at verse five. 00:15:38.080 --> 00:15:52.799 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. 00:15:54.080 --> 00:16:04.399 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. 00:16:04.799 --> 00:16:16.240 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. 00:16:16.799 --> 00:16:22.559 Daniel, in exile, would pray three times a day, and he would also give thanks. 00:16:22.799 --> 00:16:24.320 Daniel 6, 10. 00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:29.600 He's giving gratitude for his routine, even when he was exiled away from home. 00:16:29.919 --> 00:16:32.000 The Psalms are filled with thanksgiving prayer. 00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:33.440 Psalm 136. 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:38.960 Give thanks to the Lord for his good, his faithful love endures forever. 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:43.679 And so we can begin and end our days with prayer. 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:48.399 We can get up in the morning and say, This is the day that the Lord has made. 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:51.279 Let us rejoice and be glad in it. 00:16:51.519 --> 00:16:54.799 And that truth shapes our day. 00:16:55.120 --> 00:16:59.360 And at night we can echo in prayer what the psalmist said. 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:06.160 I lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, Lord, make me to dwell in safety. 00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:13.359 The word frames us, and prayer sanctifies the hours and the minutes and the seconds. 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:16.559 We can thank God for our abilities. 00:17:16.799 --> 00:17:28.960 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. 00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:42.720 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. 00:17:45.759 --> 00:17:49.920 Gratitude can shape and guide our relationships. 00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:59.359 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. 00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:12.000 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. 00:18:13.039 --> 00:18:30.559 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. 00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:39.680 The word again defines what those relationships look like, and prayer invites us to understand God's blessings in them. 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:51.200 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. 00:18:53.519 --> 00:18:55.599 We can be thankful even in interruptions. 00:18:55.839 --> 00:19:05.599 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. 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:09.599 And all of that turned into a gospel opportunity. 00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:20.319 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. 00:19:20.559 --> 00:19:31.599 And so that interruption was guided by the word that the Lord would move this moment for a purpose. 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:40.960 And prayer had Johnny recognize that God was making him miss a train for the purposes of the gospel. 00:19:41.680 --> 00:19:43.920 The word again reframes everything. 00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:54.880 It reframes our interruptions, it reframes our relationships, it reframes our abilities, it reframes our very days, it guides us. 00:19:55.599 --> 00:20:03.759 And prayer is the opportunity for us to be more aware and more grateful for all of the movements within it. 00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:13.920 So we stopped and we have stopped today to pause and to remember that every good gift comes from God. 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:17.359 And so Paul's message is very clear here. 00:20:18.160 --> 00:20:25.039 Don't let distorting devilish doctrines rob you of joy. 00:20:25.519 --> 00:20:33.599 You have a good father whose generosity fills out every corner of your life. 00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:43.839 Everything that he's created is good, and nothing that he's given you is to be rejected, but received with thanksgiving. 00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:49.200 Received with the understanding that Scripture gives you of what that is. 00:20:49.839 --> 00:21:13.200 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. 00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:16.880 Remember, gratitude can sanctify the routine. 00:21:18.160 --> 00:21:28.319 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. 00:21:28.799 --> 00:21:34.960 Naming thanks is more than a tradition, it's actually a testimony of faith. 00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:45.200 Well, we've talked about Thanksgiving as God's people, but we can't leave without remembering the greatest gift that is offered. 00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:55.519 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. 00:21:56.319 --> 00:22:02.559 Romans 6 tells us that if we want to earn our way to heaven, we'll get our wages. 00:22:02.799 --> 00:22:05.119 The wages of sin is death. 00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:11.039 But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 00:22:11.359 --> 00:22:15.200 And that gift is received not by our efforts, but by faith. 00:22:15.759 --> 00:22:20.000 For it is by grace that you've been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. 00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:25.680 It is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. 00:22:26.480 --> 00:22:37.279 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. 00:22:37.519 --> 00:22:48.640 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. 00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:50.799 What a beautiful word. 00:22:52.079 --> 00:23:03.359 And when you receive him, I guarantee that thanksgiving, despite how hard your life might be, will become the posture of your very soul. 00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:12.319 Because the scriptures tell us that a believer cries out, thanks be to God, for his indescribable gift. 00:23:13.759 --> 00:23:21.039 And from that moment on, you can join in on what it says here in 1 Thessalonians 5:18. 00:23:21.440 --> 00:23:24.160 Give thanks in everything. 00:23:24.720 --> 00:23:28.240 For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:30.480 Let's pray together. 00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:51.519 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. 00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:59.680 And that you, as a father, are filled with delight in the reception of these things with thankful hearts. 00:24:00.079 --> 00:24:07.119 Lord, I pray that you'd help us to be more sensitive to the innumerable gifts that we've received from your hand. 00:24:07.680 --> 00:24:14.559 And Lord, that we might even be thankful when we don't remember and don't recognize. 00:24:15.599 --> 00:24:26.880 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. 00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:34.640 There wasn't an evil thing on this earth, and you provided it for us. 00:24:35.920 --> 00:24:53.839 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. 00:24:54.960 --> 00:25:25.119 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. 00:25:25.839 --> 00:25:31.599 And so, Father, we pray that we would be indeed thankful people. 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:34.000 And we pray this in Christ's name. 00:25:34.319 --> 00:25:34.960 Amen.