GIVE THANKS!

 

2003 By  Pastor Tony Cirigliano

Preached at Boone, NC 11/22/03

 

This Thursday is Thanksgiving. It’s a time of the year when we can be thankful for all the blessings the Lord gives us! Most of us will have a nice Thanksgiving with our family and maybe we can invite someone who might not have a family to have thanksgiving dinner with. Jesus said when you have a feast invite the ones who can’t pay you back – the crippled, the blind, and the poor.

 

Growing up in an Italian home, my mother who is 84 now used to make the greatest meals for Thanksgiving, and she would invite family and friends over. We'd start eating in the morning and end with cake, pies, nuts and coffee at around 8:00 at night! My Father who passed away in 1983 used to carve the Turkey, and my five brothers and one sister used to watch him do it and be quick to eat the pieces that were not good enough for the big platter. Now we usually eat Fri-Chik for Thanksgiving. But we still have the fresh bread, stuffing, and cranberry sauce, and the sweet potato, and broccoli casserole, and the pumpkin pie, and beans and corn, and nuts and good stuff!

 

We have so much to be thankful for this year! We may be getting a new church! We have seen many new members baptized in the three churches. We have seen babies born healthy and dedicated to the Lord! We have a great pathfinder’s club for our young people led by great dedicated leaders! We have seen one of our members lives miraculously spared – due to prayer – I'm talking about Sonia Mountain who was miraculously healed!  We have dozens of people interested in learning Bible truth! We have 21 Bible studies to give out today. We have our own Thrift Store and Health Food store with a dedicated staff. We have our own radio program on Sunday Mornings! God is good!  All the time!

 

Personally I have much to thank God for! I have a great wife and great children, and one grandchild! This is my 19th year in the ministry, and I have been blessed to be able to pastor in these three nice churches here till the Lord calls me someplace else. I have been blessed to have seen God use the Bible studies and books He’s blessed me to write and I get calls and letters from all over the world. The website at http://www.wbaj.net  has so far gotten over 80,000 downloads of Bible studies and audio sermons!

 

I’m thankful that my mother with was just in the hospital with cellulitus is now home and I’m thankful the Lord provided a way for us to go up and see our families this thanksgiving.

God is just too good to us, and we not deserving of a single favor – neither really are you – God just loves us and pours out His blessings! I am sure that each of you could stand up and tell of the many blessings the Lord has given you.

 

I thank the Lord that he called me from darkness into His marvelous light! I thank Him that he showed me the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ, and then led me to His truth, and now I can deliver heavenly messages for Him! I’m thankful that the Lord loved us enough to send the very best – His only begotten Son who alone can save us!

 

I’m thankful for God’s grace and His mercy without which we could never be saved! I’m thankful He came to give me a free gift – the gift of eternal life! I had nothing to pay Him for it – I can’t add a single thing to it! Nothing but the blood of Jesus can save us – nothing but the blood! How precious the truth of salvation being a free gift is!  His Mercy to us is NEW EVERY MORNING! We become righteous by faith in the Lord our righteousness!

 Speaking of righteousness by faith, I want to read a quote to you from a wonderful little book called Faith & Works by Ellen White. It contains a quote that is so powerful about how we are saved that it will forever banish the idea that we can do add anything to what Jesus did on the cross. It’s found on page 24:

 

“The Lord Jesus imparts all the powers, all the grace, all the penitence, all the inclination, all the pardon of sins, in presenting His righteousness for man to grasp by living faith--which is also the gift of God. If you would gather together everything that is good and holy and noble and lovely in man and then present the subject to the angels of God as acting a part in the salvation of the human soul or in merit, the proposition would be rejected as treason.”

 

That’s one of those statements you need to sit in a dark closet with a flashlight and keep reading it over and over until it finally sinks in! The Bible says it plainly, “For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works lest any man should boast.”- Ephesians 2:8-9. Jesus did 100% of the work of salvation! If He did only 99.9%, I could boast and say, "Sure Jesus you did 99.9% but hey, let's face it Jesus, if it wasn't for my 1/10 percent I wouldn't be here! I could boast about my 1/10 %! But the Bible says we have nothing to boast about! Paul says in Romans 3:27 that boasting is excluded! When we understand this great truth and are thankful for it, then we can do the right things for the right reasons – because we love the Lord and not in an effort to try and save ourselves!

 

Yes, we have so much to be thankful for this thanksgiving season!  How terrible it is to be unthankful. It is one of the most Hurtful sins to the Lord Jesus. We know this from the story we will look at today. Open your Bibles to Luke 17. Here we find the story of the 10 men who had leprosy.

 

The germ that causes leprosy gains entrance into the body through the membrane lining of the nose – it can be inhaled. Biting insects can also introduce the germ into the skin. Even today leprosy is treated as highly contagious. There are still great leper colonies in parts of the world like Calcutta. The Catholic nun called Mother Theresa did wonderful work among the leper colonies there.

 

Leprosy has a gradual onset, from two to three years. A person might have the germ in their system for years before they develop any symptoms. It is like AIDS in that respect. Those who work or live in areas of the world where this dreaded disease is a real threat know that any unnatural patch on the surface of the skin if lacking sensitivity to pain, or temperature might indicate a possible onset of this disease. Leprosy was and is especially feared because of the damage it can do to the human body. Details are too gross to go into in detail. Essentially, the one sick decayed while living! They were dead men walking!

Bones would be exposed and many other horrors involving the afflicted one’s appearance would take place.

 

In Jesus’ day, those who had leprosy were considered to be under the curse of God for some horrible sin they or their parents had committed. Seeing a leper approaching in the distance would cause men, women and children to flee in terror! Imagine having such a disease! No human touch. No one willing to give you a hug, or a pat on the back, or a hand-shake. Even people with AIDS get love, pity and warm embraces, but not so with the lepers! The Levitical law forbade lepers from approaching anyone under penalty of death.

Lepers had to yell, “Unclean! Unclean” or else be put to death by stoning! Often these lepers would gather in small groups of 4, 5 or 8 or ten. They were the homeless people of Jesus’ day. I have seen homeless people in New York City sleeping on grates to keep warm – but you could help them and at least buy then a meal in a restaurant so they could warm up. But the lepers no one wanted to help – you couldn’t even breathe air safely next to them!

 

A leper could not return to his or her family after the priest made the diagnosis. Imagine the mothers being taken from their children, and the little ones crying,  “Mommy! Mommy!” Fathers were taken from their family because of this terminal disease, and families were often left destitute. They were the most despised of people because of their disease – a disease they did not want – but got anyway! Sometimes in life we have to carry a cross we did not want, sometimes its even forced upon us like it was on Simon in the Bible who was forced to carry Jesus' cross. But when we carry whatever cross life may place on us, remember, that like Simon, Jesus was walking next to Him!

 

Back to the subject of leprosy. The ugly appearance made those who were afflicted with Leprosy even more feared!

 

Luke 17:11  And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.
12   And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:

 

Notice that these men were “afar off.” They were away from the commonwealth of Israel – without hope in the world. It is like those infected with the leprosy of sin. They too are apart from the kingdom of God. There were ten of them in different stages of the disease just as there are people who are more sinners then others – or at least may look that way.

What a pitiful sight they must have been to onlookers. You know, I wonder how we look to a holy sinless God? I wonder how pitiful we look in His sight? The Lord of glory and the Holy Angels see all that is done, and they hear every word spoken.

 

One very good thing about this small group of lepers is that they knew they were in great need, and they did something to effect their healing. They could not do a single thing to cure their deadly disease – no amount of washing would help. Just the same is it with the leprosy of sin – not a thing we can do can cure that disease – no works – no diet – nothing – but there is one thing the lepers did, and one thing those afflicted with the leprosy of sin can do!

 They can say what the lepers said:

 

Luke 17:13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

 

These lepers had heard about Jesus and they called Him “Master.” They said, “Master, have mercy on us.” Maybe they had heard of the blind being given their sight, the crippled enabled to walk, the lame restored. It was their great opportunity – Jesus was walking by their way! The chance might never happen again! The Bible says, “Now is the appointed time, now is the day of salvation!” And when Jesus heard the cry for mercy, He could not turn away. He said “He that cometh unto me, I will in no way cast out.” When no one else seems to care about us, when no one else can help us, or even come close to us, Jesus cares! He’s not afraid to approach the sinner – to bring words of eternal life!

 

Look with me at Luke 17:14  And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.

 

In order to be allowed back into society, the person with leprosy had to be declared clean by the priests. He was then given a token that allowed him or her to return home to their families. Jesus told them to “Go!” He told them to exercise their faith! They had faith because they listened to Jesus – they didn’t waver! They started walking to the priests with no visible sign of healing, but they went because Jesus said, “Go!” Imagine these ten lepers acting by faith and doing what Jesus said. As they were walking, the Lord began to do mighty miracles to these ten lepers. In fact, I think these are the most under-estimated of all of Jesus’ miracles, and yet this might be among the greatest! The horrible nodules on their skin begin to heal. New flesh appears – the ugliness is replaced by clean BEAUTIFUL SKIN! They notice it on each other!  Jacob, your face is restored! My feet are healed. "My toes have been put back! All ten of them experience the greatest miracle. But it’s no greater than the changing of a hard heart – the converting of the soul – the healing of the disease of sin that Jesus does for the one asking Him for forgiveness and mercy! The lepers were cured! Their shame and nakedness were no more! They could go home to their loved ones! Miracle of miracles! Sorrow was turned to great joy! All things became new!

 

Luke 17:15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,

 

One of them, when He realized what Jesus did for him turned back! He thought to himself, "Before I see the priest, before I enjoy my family again, I must thank Jesus!" The Bible says in a “loud voice” he “glorified God.” “I’m healed! Halleluyah!” He went back to say thank you Jesus! The other nine went on their way to the priests. But this one – in fact, he was a Samaritan went back and remembered to say “thank you.”

 

Luke 17:16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.

 

Can you imagine the grateful heart of this man? Jesus had healed Him completely! He knew the Master – the Lord loved him! The other nine may have been Jews – of the lineage of Abraham, but they didn’t come back to glorify God. Sometimes the children of the world are wiser than the children of light! It was Thanksgiving Day for this second good Samaritan!

 Weeping at the feet of Jesus is the highest place we ever can reach! It is the safest place to be in this entire universe – at the feet of  Jesus!

 

Luke 17:17  And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
18   There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.
19   And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

 

Jesus said, “Where are the other nine?”  They were all healed, but where were the others? Why didn’t they take time to say thank you? Jesus takes note of those who do not have a thankful heart. Jesus said that this one - the one that came back to thank him was now "whole." He had received spiritual healing and forgivness of sins while the others received only physical healing!

 

No matter what – we have much to give thanks about – eternal life! Forgiveness of sins!

We have friends, family, a nice home, jobs, the truth of God’s Word and His Law- salvation full and free! All this and heaven too! I have come to the conclusion that there are too many Seventh-day Sadventists! We need more Gladventists who with a loud voice glorify God and thank the Lord for all that He has done for us!

 

Many years ago, Jesus changed my life. He cured me of the terrible disease of sin and death! He forgave me, and gave me His righteousness to cover my filthy rags! He did heart surgery on me – a quadruple spiritual by-pass! I thank Him every day and say HalleluYah!  The Bible says, “The joy of the Lord is our strength in Nehemiah 8:10. Paul told us that it is God’s will for us to give thanks in every thing!

 

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

 

On September 8, 1860, the Lady Elgin, a crowded passenger steamboat floundered off the shore of Lake Michigan just above Evanston. The boat had developed a leak in its boiler room and was taking in water. It was sinking. Many watched the sad scene from shore.

 Edward W. Spencer, a promising student in Garrett Biblical Institute where he was studying for the ministry was one of those watching from the shore. He saw a woman clinging to some wreckage far out in the cold breakers. Spencer threw off his coat and shoes and swam out through the heavy waves. He succeeded in getting the women back to shore safely. Seventeen times in three hours Spencer braved the strong waves, and rescued seventeen people. Finally, he could go no more and collapsed in a delirium of exhaustion.

 He was taken to the same hospital as the ones he rescued. They went home in a few hours, Spencer was there for 21 days and nearly died. He developed a heart problem and crippling arthritis. He never recovered from that day and was never able to complete his studies for the ministry – his dream of becoming a minister was drowned in the cold waters of Lake Michigan. He lived a quiet Christian life, and died in California when he as just 41 years old. There was a newspaper story about his death, and in the story it was reported that not one of the seventeen people he had rescued ever came back to say thank you.

How unthankful human nature can be! How selfish it can be!

 

We can be unthankful by not doing for the Lord. We receive so many blessing from God, and yet when He is in need of our help, sometimes we have no time for Him. When He needs us to go and speak to one of His children, we’re sometimes too busy! When he needs finances for His work, we sometimes say “No Lord, I can’t spare any money.”

Oh Lord help it to be a joy for us to return thanks unto you, and to take part in your work!

I wonder if the cured leper who gave thanks went and found other lepers and said, “I know a Man who can heal you!” We can give thanks by working for the Lord, by supporting His cause, by building up His work.

 

Angels protect us. We have a ticket to heaven! No one can snatch us from the Lord’s hand!

This thanksgiving – let us truly give thanks!

 

Psalm 13:6 says, “I will sing unto Yahweh the Lord, because He hath dealt bountifully with me!”

 

In Psalm 110, verse 4 it says, “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him and bless His name!”

 

The Hymn writer put it so beautifully:

 

“Now thank we all our God

With heart and hand and voices,

Who wondrous things hath done,

In Whom His world rejoices.

 

Whom from our mother’s arms

Hath blessed us on our way.

With countless gifts of love,

And still is ours today!

 

On November 29th, in the year 1623, Governor Bradford of Massachusetts made the first Thanksgiving Day Proclamation. It was three years after the Pilgrim’s settled at Plymouth Rock.There were his words:

 

“Inasmuch as our great Father has given us this year and abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, beans, vegetables, and has made the forests to abound with game and the sea with fish, and inasmuch as He has protected us from the ravages of our enemies, has spared us from pestilence and disease, and has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our conscience . . .Now I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye pilgrims, with your wives and your little ones, do gather at ye meeting house . . . On Thursday, November 29th, in the year of our Lord 1623, and the third year since ye pilgrims landed on ye Plymouth Rock, there to listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings. Signed William Bradford, ye Governor of ye colony.”

 

I think that decree from Governor Bradford is still a good one! Today we can “listen to ye pastor” and give ye thanks to Almighty God! On the way out – there will be a deacon at the door with an offering plate – if you would like to, you can give a special thanks offering to the Lord for all His blessings. It’s a tangible way to give thanks. If you have been healed by Jesus – give thanks! If you need a healing – do as the lepers did, cry out  "Master, have mercy on me!" He will never turn a needy one away. Remember He said, "He than comes to Me, I will in no way cast out."