In 1 Thessalonians chapter number five this morning, we're gonna look at one verse, verse number 18, and use it for a springboard this morning, and this series of thoughts the Lord's given me for this next few services at our church. But verse number 18 of 1 Thessalonians chapter number five says, in everything give thanks. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus, concerning you, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you. Lord, for this morning, thank you I'm on the winning side. Lord, I could lose everything I've gained in this world, with my finances, my home, even my family. Lord, I don't like to think about it. Lord, I don't get up planning on it. But the truth be told, Lord, as hard and as difficult as it would be, Lord, if I had to start all over again, or if I lost everything, Lord, I'm glad that I'll never lose you. Lord, I'm so glad that you found me, a wretched sinner. And God, when I wasn't even looking for you, Lord, you knew exactly where I was. Lord, long before I ever knew anything about your grace and about your mercy, God, you were already working things out, Lord, that it might be explained and given to me one day. And Lord, I'm grateful for the day, Lord, on April 3rd, 2015, Lord, I ask you to come to my heart. Save me, Lord, you saved me, you changed my life. And I thank you, Lord, for this one. That's something that this world cannot take away, Lord. That's something that this world cannot snatch from me, because the world didn't give it to me. Lord, I've been born again, spiritually born into the family of God. A birth that will never run out, a birth that will never die. I thank you, Lord, this morning for just being so good to us. Thank you, Lord, for each and every person that was able to make it to the house of God this morning. Lord, we know who in our church are going through things, Lord, and all of us in one form or fashion are facing a battle or dealing, God, with the issues of life. Lord, help us, Lord, just to be an encouragement one to another. Lord, help us to lift one another up in prayer, and Lord, help us to do what we can physically to help each other. God, I thank you for the church this morning. Lord, I came with a heart that was full this morning to the grace of God. I pray, Lord, this morning that you'd hide me behind the cross of Calvary. I pray that you'd get me out of myself, Lord, and fill me with your Spirit. God, use me simply for your glory this morning. But, Lord, help us to leave out of here different than the way that we walked in. God, help us to leave out of here with the right attitude, Lord, with the right desires and the right mentality. Lord, because we're walking right back out into the world. God, help us to be that light shining in a dark world. I pray, Father, Lord, you just fill us and use us for your glory this morning. There's somebody here that doesn't know you as their personal Lord and Savior. Lord, I pray, Lord, through the message, Lord, by your means and by your ability, God, would you draw them unto yourself. God, show them the need of their salvation. Show them Calvary, where Christ died to pay for their sin debt. God, take them by the tomb, Lord, where you rose again the third morning, God, resurrection morning, and God, the Holy Spirit, would you just show them their need, and God, show them that you can and that you're willing to save them this morning. We love and we thank you. We look forward to what you have for us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen, and amen. 1 Thessalonians chapter number five, verse number 18 is a verse that's often misapplied and probably misunderstood this morning. It doesn't mean that everything that happens in our life will necessarily feel good in the moment. There's times in our life where me and you will go through things that are difficult and they're hard, and in the midst of it, it does not feel good. It does not instantly produce thanks in our life. It is things that we want to get out of. It's things that we don't necessarily want to deal with this morning. And at the same time, this verse doesn't mean as long as you just say, thanks Lord, that it means that you have given thanks. Have you ever had to teach your kids that when you say sorry, you better mean it? It's not just Hey, I'm sorry if you've ever raised siblings, you know what it's like They'll say it but definitely not mean it and she had to sit him down and say listen if you're not really Sorry, the best thing you need to do is figure out how to get sorry So you can actually say it with the right heart and the right the same is true in the Christian life This verse isn't telling me you just a flippantly to walk around and say in the everything's gone. Well, thanks Lord. I Thanks, there you go. I said it, therefore, I get credit for it. No, if our heart isn't right behind, that's why God doesn't just love a giver, he loves a cheerful giver, one who doesn't do it out of obligation, one who doesn't do it as if they're being forced to. We do it sincerely because we are grateful and we're thankful this morning. You say, preacher, you're just preaching on this because of the holiday. You're preaching on this because you made the announcement the next Sunday we're having Thanksgiving dinner at the church. Listen, I'm thankful for that. I love turkey, I love mashed potatoes, I love green beans, peas, they're growing on me this morning. But I love all those things, but listen, if the only time that me and you express gratefulness in our life is around the end of November, we're doing something wrong. We see here this morning what what Paul was writing to the church at Thessalonica What he was telling them under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost Was that the will of God for me and you not just the preacher but everybody that's been born as a child of God we have we want to do the will of God and so many times we get so We had so enamored with the location of God's will where does God want me to be and can I say that's important this morning? It's important where you go to church. It's important where you serve the Lord We don't want to get out of the will of God, but it's more than just a location this one It is a lifestyle is a choice that me and you choose to live Are we not just necessarily in the will of God, but are we doing the will of God? Here, Paul was telling him, he said, if you want to do the will of God, there is this element of giving thanks unto God. We have to realize this morning that this does not negate the fact this morning that the will of God, that this verse is true, one, that we can be thankful, not necessarily for all things, but in all things. There's some things that hurt, there's some things that are painful, but it's in the midst of those things we see God work that produces thankfulness in our life. So we see here this morning that we can be thankful in all things, and that being thankful is the will of God for us. He makes it real clear that in Christ Jesus, that means in the Lord this morning, we always have something to be thankful for. Therefore, it is the will of God as a Christian to be thankful. He doesn't want me and you walking around with our arms folded, upset and mad about everything. He wants me and you. The will of God for your life is to be thankful. Whether you do it here or halfway around the world on the mission field, whether you do it in your Sunday school class or at the choir hall, he desires for me and you to be thankful. To be thankful in what we're doing. So over the next few services, as we prepare for Thanksgiving, we're gonna deal with this thought of the will of God being thankful. being or giving thanksgiving this more we look in how we how we can do this portion of the will of God in our life by being thankful as it's outlined here in first Thessalonians 5 18 one of the first keys to being thankful is to realize some necessary truths about being thankful first of all thankfulness cannot be solely based on our circumstances If everything's good, then I'll be thankful. If everything's going great, then I'll be thankful for not every circumstance is a good one. Not every circumstances, bad things happen to good people. We can look at the life of Job. And you get in the beginning like we did in the middle of 2020, we looked at the life of Job. There was a lot of bad things, so to say, or so to speak, that happened in Job's life. And Job was a righteous man. Job was a just man. Job was a man who loved the Lord. And he lost everything. So it can't be based strictly on circumstances. Bad news doesn't have a prejudice. Bad news doesn't care how much you put in the offering plate. Bad news doesn't care what Sunday school lesson you teach, what song you sing in the choir, how many tracks you passed out this week, how many times you attend church. Bad news doesn't have a prejudice this morning. It rains on the just and the unjust this morning. So our thankfulness can't be solely based on circumstances. Life isn't fair. How many had a parent tell you that growing up? And you think, just wait, I'll prove you wrong. Just to find out they were right. Life isn't fair. I'm glad this morning that the Lord is righteous and just. but he doesn't give us what is fair to us. If we got what we deserve this morning, none of us would be here. I'm glad God deals with us in favor, with grace and mercy this morning. But here's the thing, thankfulness can't be solely based on our circumstances. If it is, we'll live an overwhelmingly ungrateful life because my natural inclination and your natural inclination is to find the worst in everything. To find the worst of every situation. If you're like me, I have to stop myself and say, no, there's actually good here. I remember watching a documentary about Fred Rogers from, what was that show that he had? It's good in the hood, that's not it, but that's all that's coming to my mind. this morning. Mr. Rogers' neighborhood, there it is, Mr. Rogers' neighborhood. When they interviewed Mr. Rogers, he said his mom told him when he was a young boy, he said, if you want to find the good in any situation, he said, look for the helpers. Look for those that are helping in the midst of panic. He said, and you'll find good. But I want you to notice this morning, if me and you are naturally, we're given to that inclination to find bad in everything. Oh yeah, overall my meal was good, but let me tell you how cold my hamburger was. Overall, thank you for the blessing, but now I gotta pay taxes on it. Those kind of things. You ever met somebody where you could give them a million dollars and they're upset, it's in the check and not cash. That's our natural inclination this morning. So if it's based on circumstances, me and you probably won't live a grateful life. A life that is full of thanksgiving and therefore we won't fulfill verse number 18 of 1 Thessalonians chapter number five. But we must realize that thankfulness can't be based solely on circumstances. Thankfulness must be completely based on concrete truth this morning. It must be based on the truth. Why? The truth never changes. The truth never fades away. The truth is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Here's the thing, we're living in a generation where they're trying to change the truth, but you can't do that, because the truth never changes this morning. It's when they realize that the truth never changes, then what is one or who is one that we can trust and one that never changes this morning? Malachi 3.6, for I am the Lord. I change not this morning. Me and you are gonna live a grateful life, a life full of thanksgiving if we're gonna do the will of God when it comes to being thankful. Our thankfulness cannot be tied to a situation, but it has to be founded and concreted in truth this morning. And the Lord is truth this morning. We see here, so the key to being consistently thankful is for us to anchor our thanksgiving to the Lord because no matter what, in Him there is always something to be thankful for this morning. Simply ask yourself, where would I be right now had it not been for the Lord? Where would I be at this moment if Jesus hadn't intervened in my life? Can I say the longer you dwell on that, all of a sudden you become thankful? I'm thankful this morning that my family's in the house of God. I'm thankful this morning that I'm saved by the grace of God. I'm thankful this morning that I have the truth of God's word. I'm thankful this morning that I'm not off in some cult somewhere believing some crazy stuff, but there is the truth that's been preached to me from generation to generation this morning, and I'm glad this morning where God found me. He didn't leave me there. Oh, you begin to think what God has done in your life, it'll produce thankfulness for you. But I want you to notice this morning, I want you to take your Bibles now and turn to Psalm 100 this morning. I want you to turn to Psalm 100 this morning, and I believe my introduction's probably gonna be longer than my actual points this morning, so if you just bear with me. Either we'll become thankful, or we'll just get tired of it this morning. I choose, I'm inclined to be thankful this morning. Life's better when you live it gratefully. You get to just enjoy the goodness of God. But I'm glad this morning when Paul wrote, for this is the will of God concerning you to give thanks and everything. It wasn't just, hey, give thanks and you better figure it out on your own. No, God has given us His word this morning. He's given us instructions this morning. This morning, we're gonna look at some motivators, things that ought to motivate us to give thanks. things that ought to give us the desire to give thanks. Now, I can't think of a better psalm this morning, a chapter in the Bible. My children have learned this verse, or this whole psalm, and before you give it to them, it's five verses this morning, that they can quote to you. And for a while there, I could quote it, and it's just one of those things that's come and gone. But if you look at Psalm 100, verse one, make a joyful noise unto the Lord all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord, He is God. It is He that hath made us. And not we ourselves, we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, into His courts with praise. Be thankful unto Him and bless His name. For the Lord is good and His mercy is everlasting and His truth endureth forever. to all generations this morning. We see here this morning, this is a psalm, if you have it, if it's marked in your Bible this morning, it says this is a psalm of praise. And can I say this morning, praise doesn't come from an ungrateful heart. Praise doesn't come from a bitter spirit. Praise doesn't come for somebody who's just filled with anger and malice. Praise comes from a grateful person. Praise comes from a thankful heart, someone who steps back and realizes how good God has really been to them and how great God has blessed them. They'll step back and they won't have a problem praising this morning. But I want you to notice this morning, we see the actions of praise. What does praise look like? Verse number one, it's a joyful noise. It's a joyful noise. So many times, we people over here that can't sing a lick, us over here that can't carry a tune in a bucket, us over here that have no musicals, that's our life verse. I can't make a good noise, I can't make a pleasant noise, but I can make a joyful noise this morning. Can I say praise is a joyful, whether it's on key or not, whether it sounds like what everybody else says this morning, when me and you step back and make a joyful noise unto the Lord, it is out of a grateful heart this morning. We see that the action of praise is a joyful, they're singing, look at verse, somewhere in there, verse number, five, four, enter into his gates with thanksgiving, enter his courts with praise, be thankful unto him, bless his name, make a joyful noise unto the Lord, come to his presence, verse number two, I knew it was in there, come to his presence, we're singing. I know, I claim joyful noise, but can I say that don't stop me from singing? Not too long ago, I was walking around the house, and I was trying to sing a song I had heard at a meeting, and I didn't know the chorus, I didn't know the verses, I just knew one line of it, and I sang it over and over and over again, all it was, and it said this, I'm thankful like David after Goliath. I just kept saying and saying before, I ain't never faced Goliath physically, but I've had some giants that I've watched God conquer. I've had some giants that I've watched God bring down. And before you know it, I was just singing it over. I'm thankful like David. I'm thankful like David after Goliath. And I say this morning, praise sometimes sounds like a song. You get to sing it to the Lord. Then there's thanksgiving and then there's praise. We see the actions of praise and we see the attitude of praise. Look at verse number, I should have wrote these down. Verse number two, serve the Lord with gladness. A thankful heart will serve God gladly. Be weary of them people that serving God is the worst thing they've ever done. Be weary of those who all they've got is complaints about serving the Lord. All they've got is bad stories and bad raps and bad testimonies. I've served the Lord and He's been so bad. Can I say that's not my story this morning? Oh, there's been some tough days. There's been some hard moments. But can I say the greatest thing I've ever done is to step out by faith and trust the Lord and give Him my life and give Him everything I've got. And I praise the Lord for it this morning. Sir, I'm not up here this morning. Nobody told me brother take you have to preach this morning You better preach everybody's gonna be mad at you. You better preach everybody's gonna look down on you I got up this morning grateful the fact I'm saved by the grace of God listen if I don't have three points and an illustration this morning I still had the Bible this I still had my testimony if I had just walked in here and just told you how I got saved That's how it would have been this morning, but I'm glad this morning. I'm serving him with gladness. I I got an attitude of praise, servant. Being thankful, being thankful. In verse number four, be thankful unto him and bless his name. We see the attitude of praise. We see the actions of praise, but verse number five. gives us the explanation of praise, gives us the motivators to thankfulness, the motivators to being grateful this morning, because a praising Christian is one who has a grateful heart this morning. I like verse number five, that little three-letter word at the beginning of it says, here's what I told you to do in verses one through four, and now I'm fixing to tell you why. How many are glad that sometimes God will answer the question why? God will tell you not just how to do something, not just tell you that you should do something, but let me tell you why you should do it. Can I say, I remember being in 12th grade literature class, and my literature teacher said, the hardest question you'll ever answer is why. I'm glad this morning, I look at you and I say, you ought to praise the Lord, you ought to worship the Lord, you ought to be thankful. Why? Well, I'm glad you asked. Verse number five says, I'm gonna give you three reasons, three motivators out of verse number five this morning why me and you could be thankful. Why me and you should be thankful. Every Christian should be thankful, be a thankful Christian because of the following motivators given to us in Psalm 105. Why should we be thankful this morning? Number one, we should be thankful because the Lord is good. We should be thankful because the Lord is good. I don't know about you this morning. I think I've probably already expressed it five different ways, but the Lord has been good to me this morning. Oh, you're just saying that, preacher, because everything's going great, everything's going wonderful. You're just saying that because Shiloh's in church this morning. You're just saying that because your family's in church this morning. You're just saying that because you drive a nice car and you've got a nice house. I'm just saying this morning, God has been good to me. You can take all of that away this morning. There's a moment in time where nothing else mattered. When I got saved by the great God was good to me more than he ever should have been to me this morning. But we should be thankful because the Lord is good. I think sometimes we undervalue that word good. Matter of fact, sometimes we even correct each other, don't we? Oh, he's not just been good to you, he's been great to you. Why don't you go correct the psalmist this morning? And Solomon said, for the Lord is good. Listen, David, David was a man that he could handle his own this morning. If he wants to call the Lord good, I'm just going to agree with him this morning. I don't want to fight David this morning. He killed a giant and a bear and a lion. That's not a fight I want to get into this morning. But he said, for the Lord is good. Can I say this one? In our vernacular, the word good is just a catch-all phrase. It is when we just don't have anything else to say. We can't really think of anything else besides good. I mean, it wasn't great, but it wasn't the worst. I was telling somebody about a restaurant here in town, Scania's. I said, either you love it or you hate it. Either either you either it's it's it's it's your favorite or your least favorite. I said in my book, listen, it's not the best barbecue I've had, but it's definitely not the worst barbecue I had. But it's always the same when I go there. I know what I get when I pull into that place. When I order what I order, I know what it's going to taste like. And I'm grateful for the consistency of it. But I would say it's good. It's good. But here the psalmist, this wasn't just a phrase or a word that he was just kind of thrown out there because he didn't have anything else to say. When the psalmist said the Lord is good, I want to give you some synonyms of that this morning. What was the psalmist saying this morning? When he said the Lord was good, he was saying the Lord was pleasant. The Lord was agreeable. The Lord was excellent. The Lord was rich. The Lord was valuable in estimation. David said, I looked at him and I began to think about all that he's done for me and all that he's done in my life and all that he's done for my family. He said, I had to step back and say he's valuable. He's valuable in estimation. He's better. And I say this morning, there ain't much better than God. Matter of fact, there ain't none better than God this morning. I know that's terrible English. You'll tell my teacher, I graduated. I ain't going back. But the Lord is better. When David was saying the Lord was good, he was saying the Lord was kind. Boy, how many of you know who we serve are kind? God. A God of grace and mercy. I can't get ahead of myself this morning, but a God that is kind. I'm glad when I learned out that some of the ways the preachers preached about God and taught about God, that he was ready to just chunk me out when I failed him, when I fell apart, when I faulted, but I found out when I did those things, God wasn't that way. God was gracious and God was merciful and God loved me. God was kind this morning. He's better. He's kind. David said the Lord is good. He was saying the Lord's right. The Lord's right. Ms. Ansley sang about it this morning. Listen, he chooses to do as he pleases this morning. And we can sit back and get upset about that. We can sit back and get mad about that. But I read in my Bible, Mark chapter number seven, the Bible says that Jesus has done all things well this morning. He hasn't done one single minute thing wrong this morning. Oh, that's a resting statement that me and you can take much rest and peace and solace in this morning. He does all things well. He's right this morning, but then he's ethical. Let me glad we serve a holy God. Oh, we're at Wednesday in the Word. We're at Good News Club Thursday. We taught on the holiness of God, that attribute about God, how God is holy. He's 100% perfect and pure and does every single minute to the smallest detail. He does right this morning, but he's ethical. Here's the thing, you'll become thankful when you realize that everything God does is good because God is good. That's all He can do is what is good this morning. We have a record of His goodness on display. Go read the book of Genesis. He gets done creating things. He steps back and says, yep, did a good job. Yep, that's good. Yep, that's right. I did it exactly how it's supposed to be. Why? Because that's who God is. He is good this morning. And if He is completely, entirely good, all He can produce is good. We see it in his creation. All that he gives is good. James 117, every good gift and every perfect gift from above coming down from the Father of lives, with whom is no variable, is neither shadow of turning. Everything that me and you have in our life, whether it's a blessing or a burden, everything that's come down from God to us this morning is good. Can I say this morning, the greatest gift he ever gave was his own son, who came down from heaven and walked this planet as a man, died on the cross of Calvary, resurrected again the third day, completing redemption's plan. Is that not a good gift this morning? Everything he gives, his creation is good. All that he gives is good. He can work all things. for good, Romans 8, 28. We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. Only a God who's 100% good could make that claim this morning. Me and you hopes that we could do that. We wish that we could do that. But here's the thing, me and you can't turn bad things into good by ourselves. When's the last time you were able to take Plato and separate green Plato from blue Plato? We can't do it this morning. All we can do is turn it into a bigger mess. But God can take that which is bad and that which is hurtful and that which is hard. He can turn it to good. I'm glad this morning God ain't a politician. I'm glad he didn't make this promise and not come through with it. How many have been in a bad situation that God turned for good? Oh, he's good this morning. He's good to us this morning. Can I say this morning, we preached on it Wednesday night about the sovereignty of God and how a sovereign God produces goodness in our life. And we see, when we see his sovereignty, we see his goodness. I preached on it Wednesday night and God reminded me of it on Friday night. I had to come up here Friday evening. To be honest with you, I pulled into the church parking lot Friday evening. I'm like, what in the world are all these callers doing here? They're doing a secret meeting. They're going to vote me out. Then I started counting. Oh, there ain't enough people here. I'm still safe. But no, I pulled in and they hit me. The ladies are going to the gala over at White Pawn. And I had to come up here to get some stuff ready for tonight. And so I went into my office, and some of the ladies had stepped in to use the restroom, got on the bus. They headed out. I got a phone call from Miss Norma. She said, preacher, can you come out here? She said, we're in the driveway. The door won't shut on the bus. I'm thinking to myself, what do you mean? The door won't shut on the bus. And so I walk out there, and lo and behold, there's Miss Bebe. Miss Bebe's already piddling with it with a screwdriver, trying to get it fixed. And she hands it over to me. I'm thinking, where in the world did she get a screwdriver from? And so I'm piddling with it, and me and my mechanic abilities, we ain't getting nowhere. Thank God for technology, I called Brother Kurt. I said, Brother Kurt, I'm in the middle, we're in the driveway and the door won't shut, it won't latch. And Kurt said, oh, that's no big deal, I know how to fix that. And he was trying to describe it to me, and I'm thinking, I don't know what I'm looking at. So we put it on video chat. And there was Kurt walking me through. All right, push this out, pull this, and lo and behold, it's fixed. Boy, God is good, ain't he? Because I originally wasn't going to come up here. Y'all would have been stuck by yourself. One of y'all would have been holding the door closed all the way to White Pond. But God and his sovereignty showed us some goodness that last night, or Friday night. Helped y'all get there safely and helped me get back home without any more problems. Let me ask you this morning, does the goodness of God ever produce thankfulness in your heart? You step back and think how good he's been to you. Makes a grateful heart this morning. How do you fulfill the will of God? Remember that God is good. Notice number two this morning we should be thankful because God's mercy is everlasting look at verse number five for the Lord is good His mercy is everlasting His mercy is ever let me ask you this one if you had to choose which one would you pick the grace of God? or the mercy of God? If you could only have one of those, which one would you pick? Now, before you get too far down that rabbit hole this morning, let me remind you, you don't have to pick this morning. You don't have to pick the grace of God or the mercy of God, because as a born-again Christian, I've experienced both, and I believe it's something that David had experienced in his own life. Yes, in that sense of salvation, I believe David believed on the Lord for his eternal security this morning, but at the same time, we see it in David's life. We see the grace of God in David's life when he became king. Because he wasn't royal material. Matter of fact, nobody else even thought he could be king until Samuel showed up and his own father said, oh yeah, I forgot about my son out there in the field. And he becomes king, probably the greatest king of Israel outside of the Lord, who's the king overall this morning. But we see the grace of God, David being chose as the king of Israel. But we see mercy in David's life when he fails and he remains king. Because Saul had been king. Saul had failed. Saul had chose the world over God. David made a terrible choice. David made some bad choices this morning, but yet God let him keep the kingdom. Why? What's the difference between Saul and David? David was repentant. David owned up to his sin. And here's the thing, there is mercy for me and you this morning. There is mercy with God this morning, but it takes me and you being honest. Here's the thing, if we're not gonna be honest about our sin, we don't think we need mercy this morning. When we look at our sin like God looks at it, we beg for mercy. Because we know as a just God what he rightfully could do, what he rightfully should do this morning. But I'm glad this morning that he's not going to do that to me. And if you've been saved by the grace of God, he's not going to do that to you. Hell is not your future home this morning if you're saved by the grace of God. Heaven is, it's not even my future, heaven is my home right now. I'm already seated in heavenly places. Why? The grace and mercy of God this morning. But here David was telling us, he said, hey, we ought to be thankful because His mercy is everlasting. His mercy is beyond comparison this morning. We have to realize that out of all the adjectives David could have used to describe the mercy of God, he doesn't use awesome, he doesn't use wonderful, he doesn't use supreme. He doesn't use magnificent. He doesn't use amazing because there was a song that was going to get later on in history and that would mess everything up. He doesn't use great. He doesn't even use good like he did before. He picks everlasting. He said, the Lord, his mercy is everlasting. Wow, what does that mean, preacher? What does everlasting mean? It has a continued existence. It's eternal. It will last forever. Preacher, why haven't you joined the God is done with everything moment? God is done with the United States. God is done with America. God is done with Hephzibah. God is done with the independent Baptist movement. God is done with this. God is done with that. Because last time I checked, his mercy is everlasting this morning. His mercy is everlasting. Though His mercy could change our nation, it's far more personal than that. Listen, I'm not saying God is done with America. I'm just glad this morning God is merciful to me. I may not be able to change America, but I thank God that God changed me this morning. I'm glad that I've experienced the mercy of God. Listen, I was saved by grace, and I know His grace will supply all of His needs, but it's of the Lord's mercies that were not consumed this morning. We lied to act like we have good excuses and reasons for our sin, but in reality, we're without excuse this morning. Thank God for mercy. We didn't have an excuse good enough to get us out of the wrath of God this morning. But God's mercy was good enough and great enough to get us out of the wrath of God this morning. I'm glad that there is mercy for a repentant heart. How many are glad today that you got saved? When you went to the Lord and the best you knew how, you asked Him to come into your heart, you asked repentance of yourself. I mean, you did what the Bible told you to do this morning. I'm glad He didn't turn you away. He didn't look at you and say, oh, I just ran out of my last ounce of mercy. Sorry. No, His mercy is everlasting this morning. How much is too much and how far is too far? I don't know because I can't find an ending point for everlasting mercy this morning. It just keeps going and going and going this morning. I like to explain it this way, mercy and grace is like looking at the horizon. When you stand here at the beach, if you've ever been down to the coast, the beach, whichever one you go to, if you've ever been down there, you look out that way, you can see the ocean, you can see the sky. Here it's evidently different, but the farther you look out, they just blend together. You can't tell where one stops and one begins. It's kind of like mercy and grace this morning. There's parts in our life where we see the grace of God, there's parts in our life where we see the mercy of God, but the longer we live and the more thankful we are, the more we look at it, the more we observe it, we realize they kind of blend together. And I'm grateful for both of them this morning. And I'm glad I don't have to choose mercy or grace this morning. Let me ask you, has the fact that God has been and continues to be merciful to you been enough to make you thankful? Preacher, how do I do the will of God in being thankful? Remember, he's good. Remember, his mercy is everlasting. These are motivators to help me and you. Remember to be thankful. Then notice number three this morning. We should be thankful because God has truth. God is truth this morning. Look at verse number five again. For the Lord is good, point number one. His mercy endureth. His mercy is everlasting and His truth endureth to all generations. We live in a day of subjective truth. We no longer just get the truth. We get their truth, his truth, her truth, your truth, my truth. Everybody has their own opinion about truth. That's the problem. Opinions aren't truth. Opinions aren't necessarily truth this morning. They hardly ever seem to say the same thing either. Nobody ever agrees anymore, do they? Nobody agrees on anything anymore. I mean, you put a thing on Facebook saying, I love McDonald's. And I'm going to disagree with you. Because I don't love McDonald's. And so everybody's constantly going against these things this morning. It's subjective truth. But the reality is, if we live by subjective truth, there is no joy in that. because subjective truth changes. It's like sinking sand or shifting sand. You can't build your life on subjective truth. We see it play out in front of us every day in our culture, in our society. We see people who have ascribed to this subjective truth. Their life just falls apart. Why? Because you can't build on that. You cannot build on sinking sand and it doesn't last forever. I mean, Jesus gave that parable. He said there's this man who builds on sinking sand, and when the storms come, it tumbled it over. His home was gone. But here's a man who built his rock on truth this morning. on the reality of the gospel, on the reality of God this morning. He said, hey, that's the reason why the Bible is so great this morning. That's the reason why Christ is so great. It's not because we simply get all the blessings of life. It's not because I've got money in the bank. It's not because I get nice things. It's because when the storms come, I can still stand. Because I'm standing on the one that never changes this morning. We see here this morning that the Lord's truth isn't subjective this morning. Yet here David said his thankfulness was tied directly to something that the Lord possessed and proclaimed and was and is, and that is truth this morning. His truth endureth to all generations. Here's the thing, if the Lord doesn't change, and we talked about Malachi this morning, neither does his truth. Truth never changes this morning. What's the first thing Satan attacked in the garden? Hath God said, is what he really said true? Can I tell you this morning, what he said was true this morning. That's the first thing Satan has attacked. It wasn't God's creation. It was the truth that God had already declared to Adam and Eve. He didn't tear down the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He didn't tear down the animals. He didn't kill Adam and Eve. And half God said, is that not the spirit and the age that we live in still today? There's nothing new under the sun. There's an attack on truth this morning. I pray often for these young people because they're growing up in a generation that they're going to face things that me and you never faced before. When I was growing up, there was no such thing as gender fluidity. When I was growing up, there was no such thing as you can use whatever restaurant you identify with. Restaurant. Whatever restroom you identify with, you can use whatever restaurant you want to this morning. All right? As long as you take me with you, and we'll have a good time. But he doesn't change. His truth doesn't change. But notice this. The truth still got to us. Notice it. He attacked it in the beginning. Here we are in 2021. Look what we still have. Truth. Why? It endureth to all generations. How does truth endure to all generations this morning? What does that even mean? You look at the word endure up, it literally means even to. We have truth even to today. We have truth until today. We have truth during today. It endures for all generations. How are we going to be effective in this generation? Oh, preacher, we have to become entertaining. We have to put on a show. Preacher, if you're going to draw people in, you've got to put on a show, because that's not the answer this morning. Entertainment is not the answer this morning. Oh, preacher, we have to be convenient. We have to go back to Facebook. We've got to go back to having church in our pajamas and having all that wonderful stuff at the house. Preacher, I'd much rather sleep on my couch listening to you preaching in the pew this morning. And I say this morning, we don't have to be entertaining, we don't have to be convenient, nor do we have to be compromising. Out of all three of those, that last one's the one that bothers me the most. I'm sick and tired of watching men who started off right, who started out right, who believed right, who did right. All of a sudden, now they've got to change, not because God has led them that way, not because it's not what the scriptures teach. They've simply changed because they're trying to draw people in. Listen, if there's one thing you're gonna give to me, it's somebody who's not going to compromise. It's not worth it. I've seen the inroads of it. I've seen the other side of it. I watched somebody that I love dearly and I care much for preach, and at the same time, you could tell it was like a square peg in a round hole. I had to turn it off. I couldn't keep watching it. Because there was this sense of compromise, apologizing for things that they believed wholeheartedly. There's things I believe wholeheartedly. I believe in the King James Bible. I'm not going to apologize for it. I'm not going to say I'm sorry that we use the King James Bible. I'm going to say, hey, listen, we use the King James Bible. I don't know what else to tell you besides that. We must be willing to stick to what has endured through all of generations. What is that, preacher? The truth of God. What does our generation need? Truth. Because they're not getting it anywhere else. They're getting subjective truth. They're being lied to. They're getting the smoke and mirrors show. High time Christians stand with the truth and say, this is truth. Endures to all generate will preach what exactly is truth John 17 7 sanctify them through thy truth thy word is Truth all preacher. No, it's it's the textbook. It's the newspaper. It's it's the it's the Educators the legislators. It's all that's the bills. No, it's the Word of God this morning There's nothing more true than the Word of God this morning and that ought to produce thankfulness and that I Out of everybody in this world, God didn't leave us without truth this morning, but God has given us truth. Let me ask you, did you read it this week? Did you read it this week? What, preacher, what is truth this morning? It is the word of God. One of the greatest motivators in our life is to be thankful. The thankfulness is that we have the word of God at our fingertips, at our possession this morning. Most Christians have an ungrateful attitude simply because they don't know the truth about the Christian life. They've heard somebody complain about it. They've heard somebody give a bad opinion about it, and they've believed that to be truth. I thank God for my Bible. Because my Bible has straightened me out more times than I can even count. This one has reminded me that the Christian life is not a miserable life. The Christian life is matter of fact a life that is full of joy, abundant joy. I come that you might have life and have it more abundantly. I rejoice. We're in Good News Club and we're talking about rejoicing. It just flows. I rejoice. I'm glad to be saved by the grace of God because I have the truth this morning. And God reminds me on a daily basis how much He loves me, how much He cares for me. Here's the thing, most Christians are ungrateful because they don't know the truth about the Christian life. They know the truth about salvation. They've been saved by the grace of God. They've got that figured out. They don't know the truth about sanctification. They don't understand that when God takes us through a valley, when God takes us through a storm, when God takes us through a tough time, when God takes us through those things that are hard to give thanks in the moment for, He's not doing it because He's punishing us. He's doing it because He's trying to make us more like, you know, The kind of Christian that can give thanks on the most difficult days isn't a super Christian, but it's one that simply knows the truth. They know the truth of God's word this morning. It's amazing. The Bible, the Bible used to be a governing truth in America. You speak governing truth in America. You go read about those pilgrims. You go read about those men and women who came over this country. This wasn't just something they picked up on the weekends. They lived by it. Matter of fact, you read some of our earliest documents. You read the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States of America. We hold this truth to be so evident that all men are created equal. They didn't come up with that. It's in the Word of God. We have these unalienable rights that are given to us by God. They got that out of the word of God. This used to be a governing truth. Now, it's just ceremonial. It's a ceremonial truth in America. Prove that, preacher. Let me ask you, what did Joe Biden put his hand on when he swore in as the president of the United States of America? Put his hand on the Bible. Let me ask you, do you think he believes and follows and lives by the Bible? Ceremonial truth. Have you ever been in a courthouse? What do they swear on? A Bible. Can I say I watched a man swear on the Bible and then lie through his teeth in the courthouse? Ceremonial truth. It's governing truth nowadays. Listen, it's old-timey, it's old-fashioned. You Baptists can have that, but we've moved on. We've got new truth. There ain't no new truth. It's the same truth that's ever been around. It's the same truth that we need today in America this morning. We see here the same thing will happen in our Christian life. When this is removed as governing truth in our life, gratefulness goes out the window. Because when you rely on your feelings, and you rely on your circumstances, and this just becomes ceremonial to you, oh, I know what it says, preacher, but I don't believe it. I mean, I know what the Bible says, but I feel this way. When me and you begin to rest on our feelings instead of the word of God, ungratefulness will come into our heart. But we allow the truth of God's word to just manifest itself in our heart. David said that he hid his heart, or hid the word of God in his heart, that he might not sin against God. And I say when you eat and you're hot and all the way, it'll keep us clean and pure in this world, but it'll produce thankfulness in our lives this morning. The Bible used to be governing truth in America, now it's just ceremonial truth, and don't ever let that happen in your life this morning. When are you, when you are consistently in the, let me ask you, when you are consistently in the Word of God, whether reading it, listening to it, as you're going through your daily life, I understand, you know, listen, if you've got a hour ride, hour long ride into work this morning, I don't suggest that you pull your Bible out. as you're driving down the road. But with technology nowadays, you can pop a CD in, you can pull up it on your phone, you can listen to it. I don't care how you're getting it in, just get it in. Whether you're reading it or listening to it, or if you take up learning how to read Braille, do it that way. That's how you want to go about it this morning. But I just want you to get it in, because here's the thing. Look at your own life. When you were consistently in the word of God, day in and day out, did you not notice a difference in your life? I'm not talking about the Lord blessed you and he, oh, preacher, I read my Bible and there was a thousand dollar check in the mail. I'm talking about when you read your Bible and God gave you the verse that allowed you to be thankful in the midst of a storm. Allowed you to be thankful in the midst of a trial. Allowed you to be thankful in the midst of a hard day. You weren't thankful necessarily for what happened, but you were thankful that God was there with you. He was there right there by your side. When you were consistently in the word of God, can you notice the difference in your attitude? Your thankfulness is tied directly to your relationship with the word of God. Preacher, how can we be thankful? What are some motivators? One, remember the Lord is good. The Lord is good this morning. Remember the Lord is merciful. Remember the Lord is truth this morning. Those are things that will motivate me and you to be thankful.