Thanks Be Unto God

The speaker takes a break from their usual teachings on Colossians to focus on the holiday season. They discuss the commercialization of Christmas and emphasize the importance of remembering the true meaning of the holidays, which is to give thanks to God for the gift of Jesus Christ. They acknowledge that the holidays can be difficult for those who have lost loved ones, but encourage everyone to focus on the blessings and grace that God has given. The speaker introduces a series of messages titled "The Unspeakable Gift" and highlights the verse 2 Corinthians 9:15, which expresses gratitude for God's indescribable gift. They encourage listeners to meditate on this verse throughout the holiday season and reflect on the reasons to be thankful for Jesus Christ. You had your Bibles this morning. Turn to 2 Corinthians 9. You say, well, that's not Colossians. Yes, you are very right, and so we're going to take a break from Colossians. We hit it at a good point because we finished all the doctrinal part of Colossians, and then at the first of the year, we will get into the practical part of Colossians, how to live all of that out that we know. But I want to take a break this year for Thanksgiving and for Christmas and for the holiday season. 2 Corinthians 9 and verse 15 really deals with both seasons, Thanksgiving and Christmas, when it says, thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift. And so really we come down to what I want to tell you this morning is welcome to the holidays. Welcome to the holidays. Now, I'm not here to judge this morning, and you're in a very safe place with brothers and sisters in Christ. But how many of you have already put up your Christmas stuff before Thanksgiving? All right, we got a few. How many of you are waiting until after Thanksgiving and then you'll put up your Christmas stuff? And that's kind of the way our world works. Now, we might judge just a little bit here. How many of you put up your Christmas stuff before Halloween? All right, so we're not quite there yet, but, you know, Christmas, it just seems like every year we start celebrating it early and earlier and earlier. Right? It just seems like it just starts to happen. But when you think of the word holiday, I want you to understand that this came from a very old word that really meant the holy days. And really what we look at is coming into Thanksgiving is really the beginning of the holy days. When you look at the Jews, they start celebrating their fall feast about this time of year in the first of December. And so they're referring to the holy days of that. And then us as Christians, we celebrate Thanksgiving, what Christ has done for us. And then we celebrate Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ. And so really, it's kind of almost come into the idea that it's just one big celebration that's there. And some people put their stuff, decorate early for Christmas, some wait. And, you know, I always argue my wife, you cannot put up Christmas until after Thanksgiving. I've kind of given in the last few years. And hopefully when you look at this message today, we're going to just lump it all into the holidays. Amen. And so we are celebrating some holy days. And really the problem with decorating before Thanksgiving is the problem because most of us complain because of the commercialism of the day. And it's all the money and all of the profits that stores make. They were already putting Christmas stuff out this year in August, clearing the aisle. I would go in there to look for gardening stuff in Walmart and Home Depot, and they've moved all of that stuff out. And they've already replaced it with Christmas stuff back in August. And so, you know, it's the commercialization of everything. And we complain about society doing that. But I want you to understand, as Christians, when we think of the holidays, you should be thinking about Jesus Christ because that's what everything is about. Thanksgiving, yes, it's kind of a celebration of the pilgrims coming to America and the freedom of that. But as Christians, guess what? It's the thankfulness of everything that God has done for us and through us. And Christmas is about the birth of Jesus Christ. And for so many people, though, I want you to understand this is a very hard time of the year for a lot of people, because in a lot of people's lives, there has been death in their families and loved ones. And you know, you're celebrating these holidays, maybe for the first time, maybe for the 20th time without a loved one that you had. And I know from personal experiences that that's hard. That's tough. You know, every year, starting at Thanksgiving, from the time that I can remember, we always went to Kansas City. And that's when we spent with my grandparents on my mama's side of the family every year for Thanksgiving. We just knew we was going to grandma and grandpa's. And then, you know, we would celebrate the other grandparents on Christmas. And both of my grandparents are gone now. We were thinking the other day, you know, we were kind of laughing and remembering also that my mother-in-law, her birthday is right there at Christmas time. And when we get gifts, she would always open up her birthday presents before Christmas. But her birthday was after Christmas. But she just thought she needed to open up all of her presents. And you have these memories and you have all of this, but yet it's still a hard, difficult time. And some people have a hard time dealing with the mourning and all of that. And then there's other people that are just downright scrooges. You know, they just don't like anything. They don't want any change. They don't like any of the stuff that's going on. And I'll be honest, I'm somewhere kind of in the middle of it all. And here's what I think when it comes to the holidays. I enjoy certain parts of the holidays. I enjoy the parts about Jesus Christ. I enjoy tonight as we begin to start this holiday season. Tonight in our evening service, we will be observing the Lord's Supper and really focusing on Jesus Christ as we go into this holiday season. And I love our candlelight service. I love different aspects about Christmas because it focuses around Jesus Christ. And whether you are one of them that's excited and has already got decorations up and everything else, or maybe you're even to the other far extreme and you're a scrooge and you just wish that November and December get gone and passed us. I want us to understand this morning that the holidays are here, whether you like it or whether you don't like it. Guess what? We are in the holiday season. We are in the holy days of Christianity that is there. And so in this holiday season, it's time for us to render thanks to God for His wonderful blessings, the blessings that He has given us. The holidays are a time to celebrate God giving us the gift of God's Son for our salvation. And so when you look at this passage of Scripture this morning, as we enter into this holiday season, I want us to really focus in on this verse. And we're going to kind of be using this verse to kick off all for the next four weeks in messages and stuff. But he says, thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift. And so Thanksgiving is all about thanks be unto God. But Christmas is all about the unspeakable gift. And so I've kind of entitled this series of messages, The Unspeakable Gift, because that's what we're going to be talking about over the next several weeks. And so this morning, as we are focused on Thanksgiving, as we're focusing on the beginning of this holiday season, I want to share with you some thoughts that are presented here in this verse and in this chapter about giving thanks to God for all of the gifts that He has given us. See, He's the one that loves us. He is the one that offers grace and gifts to each and every one of us. And maybe as you go through this holiday season, I hope that you will take this verse and maybe write it on some things in your household. Some postcards or some sticky notes or take a marker and put it on your mirrors or whatever. And I want this to be the focus of our minds for the next several weeks as we go through this holiday season. Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift. It's going to be a holiday meditation for each and every one of us because this verse reveals to us, first of all, why we should be thankful to God. And the holiday season ends during all the times of the year. The holiday season comes in and it's about being thankful for Jesus Christ. And so notice, first of all, in the statutes of Scripture, we talk about what is the foundation of Thanksgiving. Why do we have Thanksgiving? Why do we celebrate Thanksgiving? And I want to get away from the secular part. I want to get away from the pilgrims and all of that. And I want to look at it from a Christian standpoint. We celebrate the foundation of Thanksgiving for the Christian is His unspeakable gift. It's what Jesus Christ has done for you and I. We sang all these songs this morning. Blessed Assurance, Victory in Jesus Christ, and other great words. Why are reasons for you and I to be thankful? And he uses a word here that's kind of neat because he says here in this, this unspeakable gift. Unspeakable. If you go through and you look at the Greek part of this, you will find that this is the only place in the entire Bible that this Greek word is used that they translate unspeakable. In other words, Paul, like a lot of preachers and stuff, sometimes you just don't have the right word that you want to use for something. And so Paul just basically, literally made up a word. And really the real translation, unspeakable is a good translation, but probably maybe a little bit better translation would be indescribable. Indescribable. And that's what Paul is saying here. He made up this Greek word to say the unspeakable, the indescribable gift that we have. And what is he talking about? About the unspeakable or the indescribable gift? He is talking about Jesus Christ. He is a gift to you and I that is so good, that is so great, that is so very wonderful that it cannot really be described. If we tried to summarize it, guess what? I could ask every single one of you and we would come up with something different about what Jesus Christ means to every one of us. You cannot fully, exhaustively explain everything about the gift of Jesus Christ. And if you are saved today, if you are a child of God and you need a reason to praise Jesus Christ, look no further than Jesus Christ. Look at Him as we begin this holiday season. If you need a reason for Thanksgiving this year, then look at Jesus Christ. Praise God for Jesus Christ and what He has done for us. You might be in turmoil today. You might be struggling financially. You might be having physical problems, emotional problems, mental problems. There may be stress in your life. You may be having spiritual problems. But listen, all of these problems can be solved and summed up in looking at Jesus Christ. And so we want to focus on Jesus Christ. If you take the time to consider who you are and all you have in Jesus Christ, you cannot help but leave away thankful. So walk away and be thankful. You will soon find out that you possess ample reasons for abundant thanksgiving today. When Jesus Christ came into the world, in Matthew 1 and verse 21, it says that God became man that He might give life to His people. His very name, Jesus, means He shall save His people from their sins. Who are His people? Who are His people? Yes, it's referring a little bit to Israel, but guess what? If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you're His people also. You're His people also. He came to save everyone, Jew and Gentile. And we become His people by accepting that salvation. So when we call on the name Jesus, we're saying that He has the ability to save. He has the capability to save. And then in Philippians 2, verses 5-8, He says, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. He became a slave. He became a servant so that you and I could become a child of God. What gift! What thankfulness! I mean, if that's all we've talked about today, that is enough. But you know, when it comes to the gift that God has given us, it doesn't stop just there. It goes on and on. He became poor in order that you might be rich. It tells us in 2 Corinthians 8, verse 9, it says that you, through His poverty, might be rich. He's left heaven. He left all the glories of heaven. He left everything in order that you and I might be able to go to that throne room of Him and inquire and acquire everything that is there. If you think about over the last year, the different studies and stuff that we have done on Sunday morning, and this is not an exhaustive list at all, but these are some of the things that we've talked about just this year that we possess in Jesus Christ. We talked last week about the forgiveness of sin. You know, Jesus Christ forgave us of our sins. He took all of my sins and He cast them as far as the east is from the west, buried them in the bottoms of the depths of the sea, never to be remembered anymore. And so, man, we've talked about the forgiveness of sin. We've talked about redemption from sin. That Jesus Christ redeemed us. In other words, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. He paid what we couldn't pay in order that you and I might have a relationship with God the Father. We've talked about Jesus Christ and possessing everlasting life. We've talked this year about being adopted as sons of God. We've talked about and sang about our home in heaven, that Jesus Christ, I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go, I will come again that where I am, there you may be also. We've talked this year about His abiding presence, always with us. His perfect promises, all of the promises that God has given us in His Word. We've talked about His everlasting love. We've talked about the amazing grace that He has given to us. We've talked about His boundless provisions that He has bestowed upon us. We've talked about His gift of His Holy Spirit to lead us, to guide us, to direct us. We've talked about His precious Word of God this year. We've talked about His glorious church that He bought with His own blood, that one of these days He will take and He will marry, that we are a spouse to Him. Wow, you go through that list and there's so many more, but that's just kind of the icing on the cake today of all of the ample reasons that we have to be thankful today. And so I want us to focus in on this Thanksgiving. And as we are thankful, guess what? It pours out into our praise and worship. It pours out into what we say and worship is what we do. And so when we're thankful, it happens in praise and worship, but that's just merely scratching the surface this morning. There's so much more that we could talk about about what God has done. And so really, I'm kind of like Paul. Thank you God for your unspeakable gift. Thank you for your indescribable gift. That kind of sums it up, amen? And so we ought to be thankful this morning. When we understand what is ours in Jesus Christ, it becomes so clear why we are told always to be thankful. Do you realize that Thanksgiving is the will of God? He tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5.18, in everything, give thanks for this is what? The will of God. People are always asking, well, Brother Donnie, how do I know what the will of God is? Well, start being thankful. That's where you can start, right? Start thinking about everything that God has done for you. This is the will of God in Jesus Christ concerning you. He tells us in Ephesians 5.20, giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 4.6 says, Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, with thanksgiving, with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. When we go to God in prayer, it should start with thanksgiving. Before we ask God for anything, we need to be thankful for what He's already given and what He's already done. And that's what He's saying there, with thanksgiving come to God. He wants to take care of you. He wants to give you more. He wants to love you more. He wants to gift you more. But He's not going to do it if we're not thankful for what He's already done. And so be thankful first. And that's the foundation of thanksgiving. Everything that Jesus Christ has done for us. But then notice the focus. If that's our foundation, where should our focus be? What should we be looking at? And when we look at this passage of Scripture, Paul begins this verse by focusing our attention on God Himself. He says, thanks be unto who? God. Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift, for Jesus Christ. And so Paul is telling us that the One that deserves to be praised is God the Father. It was His plan. It was His idea. It was His grace that was given and performed through His Son Jesus Christ. And guess what? Jesus Christ gives all glory to God. And we need to give glory to God. And so he starts with God. God is the One who divides the plan. God is the One that chose us as we study in Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 4. Before the foundation of the world, God already had a plan. And God is the One who puts us into that eternal plan. He's the One that loved us when we were unlovable. When we were sinners, Christ died for us. He was the One that came to us when we were dead in our trespasses and sin. God is the One who convicted us of our sins through the Holy Spirit and saved us when we believed and trusted in Jesus Christ. Listen to me very, very carefully this morning. If you are a Christian, if you are a child of God, you owe everything you have, everything you are, to Jesus Christ and to God. And so, man, He deserves our thanksgiving for all that He has given us. Paul put it this way in 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 10, But by the grace of God I am what I am. And His grace, His gift which was bestowed upon me was not in vain. But I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. By the grace of God, you are what you are. What are you doing with that grace that He's given you? How are you treating that grace? Paul said, Because of that grace bestowed upon me, I labored even more. Why did he labor more? So that the grace of God would even be greater in his life. See, the more we serve God, the more we live for God, the more God gives. And the more we receive from Him. And so, thanksgiving day in every day of our lives should revolve around our giving thanks to the One for what He has given us. And that is God the Father. He tells us in 2 Peter 1, 3, According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. Everything you need to live a godly life, everything you need to live life, guess what, has been given to us through Jesus Christ. Through the knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue. That's why Christmas Day should consist more than meals and presents. Christmas should be a day that we praise the Lord for His unspeakable gift. For His indescribable gift. That's why New Year's Day should be more than hog jowls, and black-eyed peas, and turnip greens, and all of this stuff. It should be a day of fresh, renewed commitment to Jesus Christ to honor the One who gave everything in order to redeem us. The question that I have this morning for myself and hopefully for you, is do you have plans throughout this holiday season to show God the blessings in your life? To thank Him. To thank Him. See, if you don't have plans, if you don't make plans now, guess what, it probably won't happen. And so right now, as we go into the holiday season, now is the time to set up plans. Every year, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, before we open any presents or anything, it has been a tradition as far back as I can remember, we always sit down and read the Christmas story. We focus on Christ before we ever open a present, before we ever eat a meal, before we do anything. We start the day. And so plan away. Plan away. I know for New Year's, every year I set aside the week after Christmas and I review my life. I look at the last year. I look at the last decade. I look at my life since I gave my heart to Jesus Christ. And I say, am I where I need to be? And then I make new commitments for the next year. God, this is what I need to correct. This is what I need to change. And so, man, we need to plan right now to go to Him in prayer and thanksgiving and thanking Him personally. We need to be prepared. We're going to have testimonial services throughout this month, because it's a time to share. It's a time to speak up. And you need to be thinking right now. You already have been warned. You know it's the holiday season. And so Brother Don is going to ask, does anybody have a testimony? So that you're not caught on guard, I'm giving you a head up. You need to be thinking what God has done for you. Have you thanked Him lately for His unspeakable gift? That is the foundation of our thanksgiving. But then lastly, look at our fruit of our thanksgiving. Because this is what the chapter is all about. Not to just pull one verse out of the context and make a sermon around it, but to use the context of 1 Corinthians 9. When Paul penned these words of verse 15, he did so for a reason. If you go back and you read chapter 9, you will find out that the entire chapter was calling for the Corinthian church to follow through on a commitment that they had previously made and they had given to the Apostle Paul to offer to help financially the poor people in the church at Jerusalem. And Paul was saying, you have made that promise. You have made that commitment. And now you need to follow through. You need to follow through. Look at what he says here in verse one. He says, for as touching the ministry to the saints. In other words, you promised to help the church at Jerusalem. I want to talk to you about ministry for just a minute. See, ministry is one of them words we don't use very often. But really, all of us are in ministry. All of us are to be serving God. And so how do we serve God? Paul says, here's one way, and I want to talk to you about that. He said, it is superfluous for me to write unto you. For I know the foreignness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia, that Acacia was ready a year ago, and your zeal hath provoked very many. Yet I have sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this behalf, that as I said, you may be ready. Lest happily, if they of Macedonia come with me and find you unprepared, we that say we not ye, should be ashamed in this same confident boasting. And here's the conclusion. Therefore, I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren that they would go before unto you and make up beforehand your bounty, whereof you had noticed before that the same might be ready as a matter of bounty, and not as of covetousness. Apparently, the Corinthians had not given their parts yet. Apparently, they have made promises that they would help out, but they haven't followed through yet. And Paul's saying, here, listen, I want you to understand, you have made a promise. You have made a commitment. That's the time for each and every one of us when we think about ministry. Let's go back to last year. Did you have a word of the year? Did you make a promise last year? Did you make a commitment to God last year? Guess what? You only have a few weeks to fulfill that promise. That's ministry. Are you doing what you're supposed to do? And sometimes we just need to be reminded, right? We get caught up in life and everything else, and we just kind of forget. You know what? I promised God something back there, and by February, I kind of forgot about it. So it's a time of renewal. It's a time of commitment. And so he's reminding them to come back. And he's telling them, encouraging them to be ready, because he's fixing to send some people to Corinth to pick up the money and the possessions that they promised that they would help these other brethren. And then look at what he says in verse 6. But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly. And he which soweth bountifully shall also reap bountifully. He reminds them in this passage of Scripture that God expects them to give out of a grateful and cheerful heart. That's what he says in the next verse. For every man, according as he purposes it in his heart, so let him give. It's not the amount. It's not how much you do. It's what you do. And when you make a determination, you say, God, I am going to do this, then God expects us to follow through. And if we want to be bountiful in our life, if we want to have blessings and God to continue to give, then guess what? We've got to do our part. And if we don't do our part, then guess what? God's not going to be able to give the way that He wants to give. And so that's what he's talking about here. So, as you have purposed in your heart, let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver. And so then he reminds the saints that God will take care of them. And so God's going to supply all of your needs. And so they don't need to worry about being obedient in their giving. They don't need to worry about that, hey, we've got Christmas coming up, and then guess what? After Christmas, we have taxes, right? And so the next few months, we're going to be out a lot of expenses and everything, but listen, God says, I will take care of you. I will provide for you. Look at what he says in verse 8. He says, God is able to make all grace abound towards you, that you, always having all sufficiency and all things may abound to every good work. Listen to me, when we look at Christmas and giving, you can't out give God. You can't out give God, because God is the one that gives us, and He takes care of us, and He supplies all of our needs. And he reminds them, look, he goes back to the Word of God in verse 9. He says, as it is written, He hath dispersed abroad, He hath given to the poor, His righteousness remaineth forever. God is in control. God is working. God is doing all of this. And he reminds them, and he says in verse 10, Now he that ministereth seed to the sower, both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase, look, the fruits of your righteousness. Remember, when we were saved, what were we? We were dead, right? We were dead. Christ made us alive, and He's given us the ability to minister. He's given us the ability to serve. But look, the fruit does not come unless we sow the seed that God has given us. God has given us the Word of God. He's told us and commanded us to go into all the world and preach the Gospel in what? We will have fruits of righteousness. Other people will come to know Jesus Christ. And that's what ministry is all about. And that's the word that he used there. He that ministereth seed. Ministry is simply sowing. It's spreading the Word of God. It's spreading and taking what God has given you and sharing it with other people. So look what he says in verse 11. Being enriched in everything to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. When God blesses the seeds that we have sown, and He gives the fruit of righteousness, you cannot help but get excited. You cannot help but be thankful. And then look at what he said. He says, being enriched to all bountifulness. We're told that their gifts to meet the needs of these poor Jewish believers will prove that their salvation is real. That what God has done for them. Do you think that you make a living? Or does God provide your living? Do you think that you are a great minister? Or does God equip you for ministry? See, that's the difference. And so see, I realize that what? Paul told us in 1 Corinthians, he said, he doesn't call many wise men to the ministry. He doesn't call many. He wants to take the foolish things in order that he might confound the wise. And so everything that happens in my ministry and in my life is because God has allowed it and worked for it. And so man, it causes me to be thankful for Him. And that's what he's talking about here. That they will know for certain that they are in the Gospel. The will of God is being thankful. Why are you thankful? Because God is fulfilling His promises. He's doing what He asked us to do. And He's fulfilling what He promised to do. Then look at verse 12. For the administration of this service not only supplieth the wont of the saints, but it is also abundant by many thanksgivings unto God. See, when we minister, when we give, when we live out what God has given to us, it not only benefits the other person, but it makes you more thankful. You know why a lot of people, and I'm just going to be honest with you, I'm not a medical doctor, but I am a pastor. So I can deal with the spiritual aspect. And I think the Word of God teaches this. A lot of problems with a lot of the depression, anxiety, mental health, is because we focus on ourselves. When we're focused on others and we are living for others, you don't have time to get within yourself. And so sometimes we do need medicine. Sometimes it is a chemical deal. But sometimes it's also a spiritual deal. We just need to start focusing on other people because God has called us into the ministry. And so it supplies their wants. And then when God answers your prayer, and God gives what He promises, then guess what? That makes you more thankful. And if we are more thankful, then guess what? We're going to do more. The more thankful you are, the more you're going to do, right? You know, I always, at Christmas time, was actually just a little bit better the few weeks leading up to Christmas and the few weeks after Christmas, right? I was always better. Why? Because I knew the better I was, the more gifts I would get, right? And then I would be good afterwards because why? They gave me so many gifts, so I'm thankful. If the problem is that for a few weeks, what happens? We forget. And we go right back to our old nature. And so man, ministering helps us to stay faithful to God. Look at what he says in verse 13. While by the experiment of this ministration, they glorify God, for your possessed subjection unto the gospel of Christ and for your liberal distribution unto them and unto all man. Notice he uses the word there while by the experiment of this ministration. This thing that God has set up. God has set up that we serve. We're not saved to go to heaven. If we were saved to go to heaven, we would already be in heaven. But God saves us that we might minister. Heaven comes later. It is a result and a fruit of our righteousness of doing what we are supposed to do. And so he says, God has left us here for an experiment. And I'm going to ask you during these holidays, will you experiment with me? Will you trust God and serve God and do what God has asked you to do and see if God does not liberally distribute unto everybody and take care of you also? I want you to experiment and try God. And then look what Paul said in verse 14. And by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding grace of God in you. In Romans chapter 15 and verse 25, Paul said this. He refers back to the church at Corinthians in Romans. He said, but now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints, for it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. It hath pleased them verily and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of the spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them the carnal things. The churches in Asia sent back physical gifts. They ministered to those that were at Jerusalem. And because they did that, God was glorified. God was thanked. And God was praised. And what happened? That gave proof that even them dirty Gentiles, them dogs, have given their life to Jesus Christ and God has accepted them. See, we don't work for our salvation. But James says our works prove our salvation. And that's what Paul is saying here. And so what does this have to say to us this morning? As we look at this and we begin this holiday season, this message this morning should remind you that you have been given so much in Jesus Christ, that God has blessed us with so many unspeakable and indescribable gifts. But He also tells us that to those that have been given much, much is to be required. We have a responsibility. We have. And so Jesus said it this way. He says, But he that knew not and did commit things worthy of strife shall be beaten with few strifes for unto whosoever much is given of him shall be much required. And to whom men have committed much of him they will ask the what? The more. Why? Because God wants to work you to death? No, God wants the glory. He wants to be thanked. The more we do, the more praise goes to God. In Luke 12, John 14, 15, he says, If you love me, keep my commandments. Keep my commandments. And so we have an obligation to serve. We have an obligation to work. In Malachi 3, verse 10, he tells us there, he says, Bring on the first day of the week. My slide just went crazy. Where did I go? Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be meat in my house and prove me, prove me now, herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it. As we go into these holidays, this time of thankfulness, he tells the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians chapter 16, he says, Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store, ten percent, twenty percent, fifty percent. It doesn't say that, does it? It says what? As God has prospered you. As God has prospered you, that there be no gatherings when I come. And so as God blesses us, what are we to do? We are to bless others. And by blessing others, God's going to in return bless us so that we can bless more and be more of a blessing. Listen to me. If you have a grateful heart, if you have a thankful heart, then you have a giving heart because God loved us. And what? For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Do you realize that God is thankful for you and He gave His Son? And so, man, our thankfulness, our gratitude will come. A grateful heart is a giving heart. And when there's a lack of giving, it always shows a lack of gratitude. A person who will not give is a person who is ungrateful for what they have been given. You remember the rich man? Instead of giving and sharing, what did he do? He built more barns. He stored up more of what he had. And God rebuked him, didn't He? He said, you need to tear down your barns and share with those that are in need. And so giving shows a grateful heart. And so the question that I want to leave you as we go into these holidays today is are you grateful for all of the things that you've been given in Jesus Christ? Are you grateful? If you're grateful, you'll be given. And we're not just talking about money. We're talking about ministry. Giving of your time. Giving of your talents. Giving of your praise, your words, your actions. Listen, God has every single thing from the head to your feet. And He says whatever you have, wherever your ministry is, whatever God has led you to do, means going to the whole world for Him. And He will bless us. That's the foundation and the focus of this Thanksgiving. And it will be the best for God's love. And so as we go into this week, are you grateful for everything Christ has done for us? It will be seen in how you go to your job in the morning and how much you give. Are you worried more about what you've got to do to take care of your family and your loved ones and everybody else and what you're thankful for and how much God has given you? We've got to turn our holidays, Christmas and Thanksgiving, into coming holidays. And we put more of a focus on your being than on Jesus Christ. The focus this week has been on Jesus Christ. And if we are thankful for what Jesus has done for us, then we will be for our Christ. And as we sing that verse, I want you to listen. Page 413. Praise.