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Not Remain Your Own?

Detractors have often described the Lord’s church as governed by socialist … or even communist principles.  They’ll point to verses like Acts 4:32 as proof, “… no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.”  In heaven, we are ruled by a benevolent monarchy with the King of Kings on the throne, but on earth do our possession really belong to the church and its leaders, forcing us to give, decide how to distribute them all?

I. Acts 5:1-14.  Wanting to look good to their brothers and sisters in Christ, Ananias and Sapphira “lied” to God and pretended to give the full amount for property they sold while keeping back part for themselves. Peter expresses that when it was unsold, it was their own, and when it was sold, it was at their disposal. This tells us that the church was not forcing Christians to give, but that it was an internal decision each made to be a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9).

II. 2 Peter 1:3-8.  Restored to His image because of Christ’s work in the gospel, Christians should desire to be like Jesus and to walk like Him in every way.  God gives us the opportunity to participate in His divine nature and escape the corruption of the world by continually adding virtues to ourselves.  Being generous and honest (2 Corinthians 8) in our giving, like the Macedonians in character, will help us not to be ineffective and unfruitful in His kingdom.

III. Matthew 5:13-16.  Because God made an example of Ananias and Sapphira, fear of God gripped the church and the a harvest of souls occurred.  It’s so easy today to live as a version of the world (1 John 2:15) while deceiving your fellow Christians, but we can not become salt without flavor! Instead, we must be light on a hill for all to see, so glory and thanksgiving will go to our God.

Is your thanks-living resulting in thanksgiving?

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Thank You, Lord!

While the ant scurries away, unworthy of the crumb it carries, I am aware of how I could bless (or overwhelm) its life with the entire cake I hold.  Such is God’s grace to us.  So, how should we respond?  Probably like Paul did for the grace God showed the Christians in Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:4-9).

I.  2 Corinthians 8:3-7.  A busy seaport city, Corinth was filled with immorality and idolatry, and despite the problems that Paul would address in his letters to them, he begins by giving thanks to God for the grace that He has shown them.  He later urges them to show grace in giving like the churches in northern Greece have shown, letting them know that God has so much more from His abundance that He can give them (2 Corinthians 9:6-8).  We, as they, might sing:

Thank You, Lord, for loving me And thank You, Lord, for blessing me.  Thank You, Lord, for making me whole And saving my soul.

Let us all with one accord Sing praises to Christ the Lord.  Let us all unite in song To praise Him all day long.

Please reveal Your will for me So I can serve You for eternity.  Use my life in every way, Take hold of it today.

Thank You, Lord, for loving me.  Thank You, Lord, for saving my soul.

II.  2 Peter 1:3-4.  Paul was thankful to God that He continued to give to the Corinthians and would sustain them until the end.  Since God has already given us His Son, all else is small in comparison (Romans 8:32).  He gives all we need for life and godliness through His great and precious promises so we might participate in the divine nature with Him and escape this corrupt world.  Our response should be a song of thankfulness from our hearts:

For all that You’ve done, I will thank You.  For all that You’re going to do.  For all that You’ve promised, and all that You are Is all that has carried me through, Jesus, I thank You! 

And I thank You, thank You, Lord.  And I thank You, thank You, Lord. 

Thank You for loving and setting me free, (how I) Thank You for giving Your life just for me.  How I thank You, Jesus, I thank You, gratefully thank You.  Thank You.

III.  Romans 7:21-25.  Paul was also thankful that Jesus was able to present them guiltless (Jude 24) because God is faithful.  And so, we can also trust in Jesus’ work in the gospel for us (2 Corinthians 5:21).  Access to the Tree of Life that was denied mankind to live forever (Genesis 3:22) is now opened to those who obey the gospel (Revelation 22:14).  Lamenting his struggle of the spiritual war waged within himself that we all share, Paul gave thanks to Jesus for his salvation:

How do you explain,
How do you describe,
A love that goes from east to west,
And runs and deep as it is wide?
You know all our hopes
Lord, you know all our fears
And words cannot express the love we feel
But we long for You to hear
So listen to our hearts (oh, Lord, please listen)
Hear our spirits sing (and hear us sing)
A song of praise that flows (a simple song of praise)
From those You have redeemed (from those You have redeemed)
We will use the words we know
To tell You what an awesome God You are
But words are not enough
To tell You of our love
So listen to our hearts
If words could fall like rain
From these lips of mine
And if I had a thousand years
I would still run out of time
So if You listen to my heart
Every beat would say,
“Thank You for the Life, thank You for the Truth,
Thank You for the Way.”

Is thankfulness the song of your heart?  Do you reflect on all the ways that Jesus helps you and what He has given you?  May you overflow with thanks to God for His grace that He’s already given You and love He’ll continue to shower you with.

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In All Circumstances

Americans have a history of rebelling against what they perceive is wrong.  From the Boston tea party through Rosa Parks to stadiums erupting in “Let’s Go, Brandon!” they find ways to let the status quo know how they feel.  So, how does a Christian rebel?  Perhaps in ways like 1 Thessalonians 5:18 begins by telling us to “give thanks in all circumstances.”  We’re not just thankful when things are going our way–but even when there’s no earthly way the things we are going through can be good (Mark 8:34-35).  Take that, world!

I.  Matthew 5.  To rebel against the world, we must choose man’s weakness.  The Sermon on the Mount is a Christian’s Declaration of Independence!  In it, Jesus turns all of man’s wisdom and weapons upside down.  In it we are blessed if we are poor in spirit, meek, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, and persecuted.  It’s only with God’s wisdom that we’re better off if we mourn or hunger and thirst for righteousness, and isn’t it weak to love our enemies, pray for those who persecute us, and turn the other cheek?  Yet, Jesus showed us at the cross that this denying of ourselves works!

II.  1 Thessalonians 5:14-22.  We must also choose God’s strength.  In the closing of his letter, Paul outlines actions that the Christians in Thessalonica could do to rebel against the world like admonishing the idle, encouraging the fainthearted, helping the weak, being patient and our brother’s keeper, doing good, rejoicing always, praying unceasingly, and giving thanks in all circumstances ….  Just as Jesus chose the Father’s will over His own (Luke 22:41-43), so must we if we are a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2).  It is only by doing what is most difficult that we carry our crosses!

III.  Matthew 27:28-31.  Finally, we must choose Jesus’ path.  We lose many, especially boys, when we only portray a meek and mild Jesus.  Both the Jesus who loves and judges must be balanced.  As the Lamb of God, He is concealed; as the Lion of Judah, He is revealed.  The same Jesus who asked the little children to gather to Him is the Word of God on a white horse with a sword coming from His mouth to strike down the nations.  We must be willing to drink His cup (Matthew 20:21-23) while we walk as He did (1 John 2:5-6).  Only then can we live in true rebellion against the world!

If you only live a little different in degree but not character than the world, then you are in a very silent rebellion against it.  How will you win souls for Christ with your example or your teaching if you’re not denying yourself, taking up your cross, and following Him?

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Give Thanks

In President Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1863, he told us to set apart and observe “a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.”  Though secular culture has made the day about food, family, and football, the holiday still retains the name.  But, does anyone ever ask, “To whom are we giving thanks?”

I.  Luke 17:11-14.  On the border between Galilee and Samaria, Jesus encounters an ethnically mixed group of lepers who had enough faith to call out to Him for healing (Mark 11:22-24).  Jesus tells them all–even those not part of the covenant–to go show themselves to the priests (Leviticus 13), and as testament to their faith, they all head towards Jerusalem while they still have the disease that makes them unclean and unable to mix with people.

II.  Luke 17:15-19.  All ten were healed, but only one turned back to thank Jesus–and that one was a foreigner to the covenant and Law.  From this we can see that God wants us to give thanks.  He doesn’t need our thanks, but He wants us to acknowledge His blessings to us in gratitude.  The healing happened before the Samaritan returned to give thanks and so wasn’t dependent on his action, but God approves of our ‘attitude of gratitude.’  Also, Jesus remarks that it was one who didn’t have the Law, sacrifices, temple, or priesthood who gave thanks when those who had the advantage of those things just continued on their way.  Alike under sin (Romans 3:9), we are all able to come to Christ through faith (Ephesians 2:12-15).

III.  Colossians 3:16.  God’s Word dwells in us richly when we sing with thankfulness in our hearts.  That’s the simple message of the song, “Give Thanks.”  Alike in sin, we are given God’s Son on the cross and at the tomb to overcome sin and give us life (John 3:16; Romans 7:24).  The result in us should be thankfulness in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18) as we recognize what God has done for us (Romans 8:31-32).  So, do you give thanks?

Give thanks with a grateful heart, give thanks to the Holy One,

Give thanks because He’s given, Jesus Christ, His Son.

And now let the weak say, “I am strong,”  Let the poor say, “I am rich

because of what the Lord has done for us.”

Give thanks,

give thanks,

give thanks!