Warrior Creek Baptist Church
November
  • There Shall Be Showers of Blessing
  • Count Your Blessings
  • How Great Is Our God
  • We are leaving our examination of some of the apostle Paul’s teachings on thankfulness to interact with the apostle John. John wrote five books of the New Testament, the Gospel according to John, 1-3 John, and Revelation.
    Although the concept is present in 1-3 John, we will limit our treatment of it to clear connections. This leaves us with the Gospel according to John and Revelation.
    Lord willing, we will look at John’s Gospel this morning, and then consider Revelation next week.
    Our focus this month is on Thanksgiving, of developing a heart of gratitude which recognizes all the good that we have, however much or little of it we may have, comes from the hands of a good and gracious God.
    One such man is the apostle John. We will briefly discuss him before considering the two examples of thankfulness in the gospel that bares his name.

    I. THE APOSTLE WAS THANKFUL- John 13:23, 19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 20

    John refers to himself in his gospel account as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”
    Luke 9:51–56 “51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. 53 But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54 And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 55 But he turned and rebuked them. 56 And they went on to another village.”
    John was, like us, a sinner. He stood in need of God’s forgiveness and, like us, was undeserving of God’s forgiveness.
    Yet, God in His great love condescended and saved John, a point for thankfulness if there ever was one, and one that we saw several times in just two of Paul’s many epistles.
    John Owen, a Puritan preacher and theologian par excellence, wrote this about God’s love,
    “In this love he is glorious; for it is such as no creatures, angels, or men, could have the least conceptions of, before its manifestation by its effects; and after its manifestation, it is in this world absolutely incomprehensible.” John Owen, Works, I:330
    John readily acknowledged and relished God’s love for him. And this thankfulness for salvation is woven throughout his writings found in the New Testament.
    We need to keep this in mind as we work throughout the Gospel according to John as well as his other writings.

    II. CHRIST WAS THANKFUL- John 6:11, 23; 11:41

    One of the mysterious of the Christian faith is the incarnation of the Lord Jesus.
    Christ is God, truly God. But Christ in the incarnation, became truly man. John 1:1-3 and 1:14 clearly teach that Christ existed before creation and yet assumed a created body. Our forefathers in the faith provided us with a helpful summary of this mystery in 451:
    The Chalcedonian Definition
    Therefore, following the holy fathers, we all with one accord teach men to acknowledge one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance with the Father as regards his Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as regards his manhood; like us in all respects, apart from sin; as regards his Godhead, begotten of the Father before the ages, but yet as regards his manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, recognized in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation; the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence, not as parted or separated into two persons, but one and the same Son and Only-begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ; even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of him, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the creed of the fathers has handed down to us.
    And by the way, I have received some concerns from people about our study of and reciting of the Apostles’ Creed, and I am sure some might even wonder why we would cite the Chalcedonian Definition. But, as a Baptist pastor and theologian, Richard Barcellos said recently,
    “Sometimes it takes words outside of the Word to make sense of the Word.” Richard Barcellos
    Christ is fully man, and lived life with us. A part of that life is living with thankfulness to God.
    There are three direct references to Jesus offering thanks, two of which concern the same story.

    A. Christ was thankful for God’s power and provision- John 6:1-14

    The God-man Jesus has already started his ministry (beginning in John chapter 2 with the miracle of changing water into wine).
    In between chapter 2 and 6, we see Jesus healing the nobleman’s son (chapter 4:46-54, healed of a fever). Jesus also healed a sick man (for 38 years) by the waters in Bethesda where an angel would supposedly move the water and provide healing to the first dipper (John 5:1-18).
    For the rest of the chapter (5:18-47), Jesus is defending His divinity by offering many “witnesses” in accordance with the Mosaic Law.
    Now we come to chapter 6 and Jesus gives a physical, tangible display of His power. Crowds gathered to see Christ heal people who were sick (6:1-2).
    There were many people around, not only to see the miraculous power of Christ, but also for the Passover. Jerusalem would have been packed, and Jesus knew that the people would be hungry.
    This miracle was a test (6:6). And as Christ worked through the particulars with his disciples, He gave thanks.
    Just think about this for a moment. Christ, God in the flesh, gave thanks. To whom did He give thanks? To the Father.
    Jesus could have easily made stones into bread. He did, after all, change water into wine. He is the creator.
    Yet, Christ takes something ordinary, bread, and then the Father provides a remarkable miracle.
    If the Son of God offers thanks for God’s provision, how much more should we?

    B. Christ was thankful for the Father’s Work for His Disciples- John 11:41-42

    This is one of the sweetest stories in the ministry of Jesus. We have a group of close friends, and one of them, Lazarus, gets sick. Things are not looking good, and Lazarus’s sisters, Mary and Martha, begin to fear the worst.
    The sisters send word to Christ (11:1-3). Now, Christ knows that Lazarus will die in order to demonstrate His power to His disciples.
    Eventually Christ does arrive, but too late, in both Martha’s and Mary’s estimation. Martha, after a discussion with Jesus, knows that Christ is capable of raising Lazarus from the dead.
    Christ knows He is about to raise Lazarus from the dead. Death is incapable of stopping the Lord of life.
    Christ wanted His followers to know He truly is God in the flesh. He is the Son of God sent from the Father. And He gives thanks for that.
    Now, we are not the Son of God, but we are sons and daughters of God. We should be offering thanks to God for His work in and through us for His children.

    1. We should be thankful for the privilege of serving others.

    There is a bit of humility displayed here by the Lord Jesus. He does not buck at the service He is offering for these believers and to win the souls of others.
    Although He is God in the flesh, He stoops down to minister to these people.
    We should and must follow His example.
    Philippians 2:3–4 “3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
    Rather than looking down at service opportunities, like nursery, or Sunday school teaching, cleaning up after a fellowship, etc., as beneath you, or menial, offer thanks to God for the privilege of service and pray that God will use it for His glory and our good.

    2. We should be thankful for God’s work in others.

    Although not tied directly to our passage at hand, it does stand out throughout the majority of Scripture concerning thankfulness, as we have seen in the books of Romans and 1 and 2 Thessalonians.
    God’s work in others should inspire thankfulness!
    Gospel* Only way to be truly grateful
  • Amazing Grace
  • Missions work specifically, and caring for others generally, are some of the responsibilities of the church. We have heard a fascinating conversation between Ms. Joni and Ms. Lottie Moon, a lady who loved missions and worked to support the spread of the Gospel.
    We will see a glimpse at how the early church handled these issues, not only to help brothers and sisters in need, but to aid in the spread of the Gospel.
    The churches were teaming up to help other churches.

    I. God’s Grace is the foundation for Missions- 8:1

    This point is the most significant point of the sermon. It is from God’s work, first in salvation, and then in sanctification, and then in ministering to others.
    “The liberality of of the Corinthians was due to the operation of the grace of God.” Charles Hodge
    We have learned a little bit about Lottie Moon, but the pattern stays the same. God saved her and then motivated her to work with the Chinese people.
    Other Baptist missionaries, like William Carey and Adoniram Judson, also experienced the incredible grace of God and then were spurred into missionary efforts. We could talk of others as well.
    My point is that God saves us and changes us, and then we are moved to share this with others, all by the grace of God, as Paul himself describes in the previous letter to the Corinthians.
    1 Corinthians 15:10 NASB95
    10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.
    But this brings us to our second point of consideration…

    II. Challenges do not negate Our Giving- 8:2

    One of the remarkable aspects of the Macedonian churches was that their giving was not negated by the challenges of life. What kind of challenges did they face?
    8:2, “These afflictions were either those which they shared in common with their fellow-citizens, arising out of their social condition, or they were peculiar to them as Christians, arising from persecution.” Charles Hodge
    We see the many times challenges, both internal and external, afflict God’s people. We have the flesh, the world, and the devil, all actively fighting against us.
    We have the challenges that stem from living life in a fallen and imperfect world as well.
    And yet, the goodness of God in saving our souls moves us toward sharing this abundance with others, both in sharing the Gospel as well as ministering to physical needs.
    Lottie Moon faced many challenges, did she not? Leaving her home, learning an entirely new language and culture?
    As a church, and as individual members, we need to remember our giving is not dependent on our challenges, but is offered in spite of them.
    But this is inherently connected to our third point, that…

    III. Proportionate giving is the Guide- 8:3-4

    “…that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord…”
    Proportionate giving is the guide. There are some that God blesses with financial abundance, and there are others whom God blesses with other abundance, such as talents.
    You cannot give what you do not have. The question is, are you giving what you can?
    There are changes we can make in our lives to make sure we are using our time, talents, and possessions to minister to others. Do we need to make some changes?
    You see, all of this, the grace of God, the challenges we face, and the proportionate giving, all are helped or hindered by spiritual growth.

    IV. Spiritual Growth is the impetus of giving- 8:5-6

    They were concerned not primarily with helping in physical needs, or even gospel needs, but in growing in the Lord first.
    Two historical movements can be used to demonstrate the necessity of spiritual growth as the impetus for giving.
    The Social Gospel, a 20th-century movement, primarily in the US, moved the church to meet the social needs of people, at its best on par with the Gospel needs, and at worst over Gospel needs.
    The Social Gospel Movement focused on meeting physical needs, ensuring equality in society, and seeking fair wages for workers.
    A similar and yet more present example is found in the Social Justice movement. Now, I understand that is a broad term extending well past the borders of the church, but it has affected the church deeply.
    These two movements are not unhelpful in the sense that they do help the physical needs to others. However, they fall short because they do not stem from Christian growth. They may be loosely based on Christian truth (and to be honest, some times not even that!). But at the heart of it, they leave off the spiritual needs of people, which are far greater than the physical needs.
    “They gave themselves to the Lord.”
    Can that be said of you?
    Lottie Moon said,
    “Why should we not…do something that will prove that we are really in earnest in claiming to be followers of him who, though he was rich, for our sake became poor?” Lottie Moon, 15 September, 1887, Tungchow
    Believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ
    Live and grow in the Gospel of Jesus Christ
    Give as you are able for the Gospel of Jesus Christ

      • 1 Corinthians 15:10ESV

Warrior Creek Baptist Church
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