"GIVE THANKS"

"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." -- 1 Thessalonians 5:18

We have great cause to ever give thanks to God. Those who trust Christ, in proportion to their faith, are content with Christ and with his wise and good his providence. And those who are content are thankful, thankful for all things and in all things (Eph.5:20;Phil.4:6), knowing that “all things are of God” (2 Cor.4:18;Rom.11:36).

Here are three reasons for constant thanksgiving to God. If God will enable us ever to think upon these three things, we will never lack for reasons to give him thanks, no matter what our outward circumstances may be.

Electing Love

Let us give thanks to our God for his free, electing love (2 Thess.2:13-14).If you are a believer, a child of God by faith in Jesus Christ, it is because God loved you with an everlasting love, chose you as the object of his grace, determined to save you before the world began, and separated you from the rest of mankind in his sovereign predestination.

Our faith in Christ is not the result of our free will. It is the result of God's sovereign will. God did not choose us because he knew that we would choose Christ. We chose Christ because God chose us in Christ before time began and caused us to come to Christ in the time of his love and grace (Ps. 65:4).

The Lord Jesus Christ

Let all who are redeemed by his precious blood give thanks to God for the unspeakable gift of his sovereign love, the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 9:15). God gave us his Son before the worlds were made in the covenant of grace. He gave us his Son in the incarnation to live as our Representative. The Lord God gave his Son to die as our Substitute under the sentence of his own justice. And the God of all grace gave us his Son to live and reign within us in regeneration. Having given us his dear Son, our heavenly Father has given us all things in his Son (Rom.8:32; Eph.1:3).Truly, Christ is the gift of God's love which is unspeakable!

Divine Providence

Let all who know him give thanks to God for his wise, adorable providence (1 Thess. 5:18). "In everything give thanks," because everything comes from God for your eternal, spiritual good (Rom. 8:28). "In everything give thanks," because whatever it is that you now experience, "this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." Whatever you experience, remember, your Father sends it. Therefore it is good. So "in everything give thanks."

AMEN

Grace Baptist Church of Danville - Grace For Today Radio Message #879

2734 Old Stanford Road - Danville, Kentucky 40422-9438

Donald S. Fortner, Pastor -Telephone 859-236-8235 - Email grace@mis.net