book of the Bible, Leviticus chapter 7 verse 11. We'll look at verses 11 through 15. And I was really thinking about the message for this week and praying, Lord, what is the message you want me to bring to your people? And this offering of peace offering or sacrifice of Thanksgiving kept coming to mind. And so I did quite a bit of study on it. This was a great, great struggle. and studying it, and figuring it out, and just seeing what God had. But my, it's so rich. I love the Bible. Man, you just start digging in, and this book is so full of truths, and hope, and peace, and it's an amazing thing when we come to God's word. Leviticus chapter seven, verse 11. Would you follow along with me as I read? And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he shall offer unto the Lord if he offer it for a thanksgiving Then he shall offer, with the sacrifice of thanksgiving, unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil of fine flour fried. Beside the cakes he shall offer for his offering, leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offerings. Excuse me. And of it he shall offer one out of the whole oblation for an heave offering unto the Lord. And it shall be the priest that sprinkleth the blood of the peace offerings and the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for Thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day that is offered. He shall not leave any of it until the morning. Now, the subject of Thanksgiving is mentioned 40 times, about 40 times in the Old Testament. 30 of these references are in the Psalms. In the Old Testament scriptures, explicit direction is given for Thanksgiving offerings. as writes Lewis Barry Schaeffer. And he says, and praise and thanksgiving were especially emphasized in the revival under Nehemiah. Nehemiah chapter 12. The prophetic message of the Old Testament anticipates thanksgiving as a special feature in worship also in the coming kingdom. So one day when you and I, who know Jesus Christ as our Savior, when we're in heaven, we're gonna be continually thankful. We're in the best place you could ever be. We're in the presence of the Lamb who died for my sins and yours. We are in a place of no sorrow. I mean, it's going to be a feast of thanksgiving for eternity. Hallelujah. Amen. And turning to the New Testament, we find that the theme of thanksgiving is mentioned about 45 times. This form is offered both temporal and spiritual blessings. The Bible tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5.18, in everything give thanks. But pastor, you don't know what I'm going through. I don't. I don't. In everything give thanks for this is the will of God and Christ Jesus concerning you. True thanksgiving is a voluntary expression of a gratitude, a heartfelt gratitude for Christ. for the benefit that you've received. When someone does something for you, completely unexpected, and it is of great benefit to you, so often we say, I'm so thankful, I don't know how to repay you. Sometimes your mere response and graciousness and gratitude for what has been given is payment enough. Its effectiveness depends upon sincerity, as its intensity depends upon the value which is placed upon the benefit received. And so the idea is, you know, how many times, if there's something, when the church, we had had a church that had given some money to this church to help us with our building, and it was a substantial amount, and I remember when the pastor told me, I just began to weep, I said, God, I don't know how we could do it. And you did it through your people. I was so thankful. There was a great benefit, the receipt. I want you to look with me at 2 Corinthians 9. This is just my opening, my introduction today. But I'm excited for this message. It's exciting. 2 Corinthians 9, verse 10. laying some foundational principles on just being thankful. You know what? We would do well, and Christians ought to be the most thankful people of all people. It ought to be a continual thing, a continual proceeding of our lips of thanksgiving. My, Christian, we miss out. 2 Corinthians 9-11, now he that ministereth seed to the sower, both minister bread for your food and multiply your seeds own and increase the fruits of your righteousness, being enriched in everything to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. We are majoring on the bountiful provision of God. It might not be financial. It could be family. It could be friendships, relationships, provision, whatever the case. You see, thanksgiving is personal to you. No one can offer a word of thanksgiving but you. In Leviticus chapter 22, 29, when you will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Lord, offer it at your own will. Thanksgiving is a choice. Now, in this choice, how do I offer a proper sacrifice of Thanksgiving? As a sacrifice, at any time a Jewish person would bring a lamb or a goat or a dove or any sort of thing for a sacrifice, there is a cost involved. There's devotion. You know what, if there's a great friendship, there's a devotion and appreciation. When someone does something for you, there was a gentleman in my life, he was the best man at my wedding, he was there for me during some very hard times of life. I made some really dumb decisions, he came alongside me, he said, all right, Chris, let's get back up, let's go back and serve God. You know, Proverbs 24, 16, and that man, I mean, he was a great friend. It drove me crazy sometimes, but he was a great friend. And I still had a lot to learn, and this man knew about the Lord, and he was just a very gracious and compassionate man. And I had, there was a wonderful appreciation, thankfulness for him. A devotion, if you would, in following the God that he followed. Now Thanksgiving is in no way a payment for the benefit received. It is an acknowledgment, a gracious acknowledgment, writes Schaeffer again, of the fact that the one who received the benefit is indebted to the giver. We spoke about last week, Satan is a divider of relationships. He's an accuser. He is of a critical spirit. He wants to steal your joy. He wants to steal your appreciation. He wants to steal your life away into death and all sorts of various things that create much chaos in your life. He loves to do that. He is the epitome of unthankful and ungrateful. Tells us in Revelation 12, 10, the accuser of our brethren. I mean, he makes us feel unworthy of God. I can't even give thanks that I'm so unworthy. Oh, my friend, we aren't worthy, but he is worthy, and that's worth praising. He seeks to make us at odds with our brethren and our ungratefulness and envy. He seeks to destroy churches through division and quarreling. He wants us to major on the offenses and wrongs of others and overlook all of the goodness of God. Looking at the life of Job, Satan sought to get Job's heart and mind away from giving worship and adoration to God. I imagine, let me give you a couple of illustrations here. If you get a great, if you go to a car dealership and you get great service at this dealership, I mean, they go out of their way to make you feel pampered. They say, well, here's our rate, but you know, we're willing to go lower. And you're like, wow, I didn't think you could go that low. And maybe some, hey, we're going to give you a, we'll throw this on free for you. And you know, they go out of their way to help you. And you're like, wow, they're just genuine people. They're trying to do all they can. You are likely, because of what you have received in thankfulness, to tell your friends about it. Am I correct? Or imagine you go to a restaurant. They have good food, great service. I mean, it's hot food. Maybe the price is good. And you sit down, great atmosphere. And you tell your friends, you should go too. because it's a place where you receive some things that you're hoping you would have received, and what you maybe expect out of a good restaurant, and you're gonna want your family and friends to enjoy the atmosphere of that place. There's some devotion, there's some appreciation for what you've received. When you're hungry, you're gonna think of this place. You see, Thanksgiving brings with it devotion, appreciation, and commitment. The question is, how does a believer express a perpetual and continual thanks as we are commanded? Colossians 3, verse 17, and whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him. He says, whatsoever you do in word or deed, whatever you say and whatever act you do, ought to be willing and ought to be able to give thanks to God. That means there's no permission for doing wrong. And not to always bring God forth. And we think on these truths, this is a study I want to investigate this morning. It is exciting. And may you let your life be a living sacrifice of thanksgiving to God, let us pray. Father, I humbly come before you. I've been so blessed as I've studied this and wrestled with the truths of Your Word. Father, what a wonderful God You are. Lord, I trust I need Your help to radiate Your glory and Your goodness, and Father, how we as Christians can truly give an appropriate sacrifice of thanksgiving continually to You. Lord, I pray if there's anything in our lives that is holding us back as Christians from that wholehearted sacrifice, Father, I pray that today we would just submit and surrender. Father, we can rejoice with joy unspeakable. Father, we know that there will come times of sorrow and other such things in our lives as even the Apostle Paul But Lord, we know that we can keep coming back and keep coming back and keep coming back to the waters that never run dry. Father, should there be someone this morning that is not safe, who may be watching? Lord, they're not sure of their destiny. They hope, or maybe they're just curious. Father, I pray that you'd settle today that Jesus is the answer. Father, you take over this service and we'll follow you. I love you. In Jesus' precious name I pray. Amen. In Leviticus chapter 7, Kenneth Matthews, he writes a little bit of illustration here coming back to Leviticus chapter 7 and the feast that's going on here on the peace offerings. After the instructions regarding the handling of the holy blood of the sin and guilt offerings, the text here in Leviticus deals with peace offerings. The order, he writes, of the three offerings communicated an important message. The sin and guilt offerings came first, providing atonement and ritual cleansing, after which the worshiper could enjoy fellowship with the Lord and also peace with his neighbors. The peace offerings expressed communion between the worshiper and God. They were the only offerings from which the offerer could eat a portion of the sacrificed animal. Let me give you an illustration. So you have the sin offering, and then you would have the trespass offering. So in the sin offering, I'm asking forgiveness for my own sins, which the priest offers the animal. Then there's a trespass offering if I've trespassed against a neighbor, and also with God. If I've trespassed against a neighbor, I offer an offering out of trespassing against my neighbor. God is saying, I want you to be right with me and I want you to be right with your neighbor. You can't be right with me and offer peace offerings and thanksgiving to me if you don't deal with your sin and you don't deal with a trespass against someone you've wronged or has wronged against. So there's a sin offering, there's a trespass offering, and then we come to the peace offering. And in the peace offering, the priest and yourself as the offerer and your friends could all eat of the meal together. As you give praises to God, it's a voluntary offering, you don't have to give it. The trespass offering, as you think about the sin offering, the trespass offering, the peace offering, Leviticus chapter six deals with the sin offering, then it deals with the trespass offering, Leviticus chapter seven, verses one through 10, and now we come to the peace offering, Leviticus chapter seven, verses 11 through 15. The trespass offering emphasized the damage done to others by the offender, while the sin offering emphasized the offender's guilt before God. The priest would examine the offender and determine which sacrifice was needed. Isn't it amazing how God has ordered and ordained, deal with the relationship with me first. You must deal with that sin offering. There is no getting to God apart from an offering. There's no getting to God apart from putting your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. You have no access to God. You have no access to the benefits of God if you are not a child of His. Now, once you accept Jesus Christ by faith, you can't lose it, but you can lose that sweetness of fellowship and relationship, but you can't lose who you are as God's child. The promise is still in effect, as we've been talking about on Wednesday nights. Nevertheless, with that being said, God says, deal with your sin. You enter, if I'm entering into the temple, and here is the gate, and I walk in, there's a brazen altar from which I make a sacrifice first. Then after that, there's a brazen laver, a wash pot of water. I need to wash myself. There's the relationship that started first. and sacrifice the offering of Jesus Christ, then there is a washing of the cleanliness before I come into his presence, and of any known sin that I may have, and there, then you come into the peace offering, and you know, the priest would enjoy designated portions of the animal, but the whole friends and family, they all partook of a sacrificial meal with the intent to just give God glory. And unlike all the other sacrifices, the peace offering entailed three subtypes. The sacrifice of thanksgiving, the vow offering, and the free will offering. The peace offering is because you've dealt with sin against God. You've dealt with sin against a neighbor, and now you have peace with God. See, if you don't deal with any sin that you have with God, you can't have peace. If you don't deal with sin that you've got against someone else, then you can't have peace with God. But if you've dealt with that, you can have peace with God. Hey, let's all come together. Let's enjoy a feast together. Let's give God the thanks. The vow offering is I've made a vow to God. I've accomplished the vow, and I just want to thank God for being able to accomplish the vow. So I'm going to give an offering for it. That's what the vow offering is. The free will offering is I just want to give an offering because I want to give thanks to God out of a joyous heart of generosity to Him. Hey, let's have a peace offering. Let's come together. I just want to praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Amen. You think about this. So you have a sacrifice of thanksgiving. You have a vow offering. You have a free will offering. Just because you have peace with God and you want other people to partake of the goodness of God. The Thanksgiving offering, it is what it's doing is it's recognizing the sacrifice of Thanksgiving, the first of the three subtypes of the peace offering is saying, I'm thankful that God has provided. Look with me at first Peter, Chapter two, we'll come back here, Leviticus, but first Peter, Chapter two. First Peter chapter two, verse two. First Peter 2.2, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby. If so be you have tasted that the Lord is gracious to whom coming is unto a living stone disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious. He also is lively stones are built up a spiritual. house and holy priesthood. Every one of us are priests before the Lord. And then it says something to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. I wanna offer up, this isn't a peace offering, I wanna offer up to God of my own heart. Verse three, if you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Oh my, isn't that a change of heart? We've tasted that God is good. You know that the book of Philippians that's known as the book of joy was written while Paul was in prison with chains on his feet, rejoicing. Paul and Silas there in the prison house singing hymns at midnight. See our thankfulness is not conditioned by circumstances, it's conditioned by a choice of the will. I choose to be thankful or not. Now there's sometimes it's a whole lot harder than others. I understand that. But there's five, if we look at the scriptures, as priests, we wanna offer these sacrificial, we wanna offering a peace offering. I'm right with God, I'm right with man, and I wanna offer a peace offering to God. As a priest today, and you as priests of God, we have direct access to God. We don't have to go to a high priest anymore. We have direct access to the throne of grace, amen? You and I, when I have struggles and troubles, I can just, wherever I'm at, I can pray and I can talk with God. And as an acceptable sacrifice, a thanksgiving to Lord, here's five acceptable sacrifices of thanksgiving that you and I can offer. I'd like to look at the first one, Romans chapter 12, verse 1. Would you turn with me there? The first of the five acceptable sacrifices of thanksgiving to God, Romans chapter 12, verse 1. I've entitled this first one, and I draw these truths. I was looking at some notes and some other things, but Adrian Rogers, and he had some good points, but the idea here, as you think on this, is presenting your person as a sacrifice of thanksgiving. You know the first thing that God wants? Is he wants you. You know what God's call is to do? Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all your heart. That's your person, that's all of who you are. That's my life, my thoughts, my dreams, my hopes, my vision, my relationships. I said, God, it's you. In Romans chapter 12, verse one, I beseech you therefore, Paul, here under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, is pleading, pleading with the brethren here of the Church of Rome, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God. That word acceptable is well-pleasing unto God, which is your reasonable service. It's only fitting if God has done what he's done to give us eternal salvation that I would, as a show of appreciation, say, God, you can do with my life as you want. It says a living sacrifice. I'm saying, God, I want you to develop my relationships. I want you to help me with just my mind and what I think about, my loves, my aspirations, my affections. I need you to help me. I want you to determine my path for the future. It says in verse two, and be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. If we are thankful, I will say God. You know what? As a young child, my grandfather, I love my grandfather, and I love being with him and just spending time, and my grandmother. If my grandmother or my grandfather asked me to go get something or do something for them, I would have quickly gone. I loved my grandparents. They asked me to do it. I mean, I'm not even questioning. I'm just going to do it. Because I wanted to please them. I've given myself. to doing what the request was. And God says a living sacrifice acceptable. It's only reasonable that you'll do what I want you to do with your life. I've got a plan. He's the creator. He made me. I'm saying, God, you can have all of me. There's my sacrifice. Number one. You have my life. Matthew 10, verse 38, he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me. When I say it's my life and I will do with it as I want and I will, all of these things, I am saying, God, I'm not thankful. Adrian Rogers writes, he said, you know, a lot of us don't want to be bound to the altar. I'll guarantee you that we don't. That's the reason why some men don't get married. They don't want to get bound down to marriage. Sure, they want to stay free. They want to be loose. That's the reason why some folks, this author writes, won't join a church. Did you know we have folks here this morning? They're not to come and join this church. You know why they won't join this church? They love to drop in and visit, but they don't want the responsibility of church membership. That's the reason why some people don't teach a class. Some of you have the gift of teaching, but you say, you know, pastor, we have a cottage over and thus and such a place. We don't want to get bound down. You know, that's the reason why some folks won't make a pledge to the building program. They say, well, now I don't believe in making commitment. They're married. They've got a mortgage on the house. A mortgage on the car, they don't believe in making commitments. What they mean is they believe in making commitments to everybody else except for Jesus. They just don't want to make a commitment to the most important thing. You know, I'll give as a spirit move, but I just don't want to be bound down. Hey, he says, I think it's pretty good to be bound down. I think it's pretty good to get devotion and discipline and say, I'm giving myself and that I am making a commitment. I'm saying, God, it's your life. You've redeemed me. I no longer have to worry about hell. I no longer have to be bound to the power of sin over my life. I can have freedom and deliverance and forgiveness and peace and rest. And Lord, when life is troubled and struggling, I can come to the only place I can receive help. Lord, I give you my life. That's the first offering is you say, God, just have me. I'll do whatever you want. This offering is not dead, it's alive, a wholehearted, complete devotion. It's reasonable service. And the second, so just think about that. The first thing, it's an acceptable unto God, it's an acceptable sacrifice. God, I'm yours. Number two, you present your possessions as a sacrifice of thanksgiving. You know the offering of praise here. in Leviticus chapter 7 included the ritual practice of a costly sacrifice. Look with me at Psalm 66, 13. I will go into thy house with burnt offerings. I will pay thee my vows, which my lips have uttered and my mouth has spoken when I was in trouble. I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings with the incense of rams. I will offer bollocks with goats, Selah. Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul. The psalmist is saying, I'm gonna offer you burnt sacrifices of fatlings with the incense of rams. There's a cost that is made As the priests and family gather together for this offering, they're giving other possessions to enjoy a feast together, to just exalt and magnify the Lord. Philippians 4.18, the Apostle Paul, but I have all and abound, I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing of God, providing for those in ministry. You know, the possessions, I'm saying, God, if what you, you lead me and I will do what you want, but you know, we help missions. We want to see the gospel go forth and the sacrifice of saying, God, I want to have others get the same blessing I've had. You know, the Bible tells us in Proverbs 3, 9, honor the Lord with thy substance and with the firstfruits of all that increase. I'm saying, God, it's yours. You know, the people would bring to worship the Lord and build a temple for him there with David in 1 Chronicles. Your sacrifice is willing. It's not under compulsion. You don't have to do it. Your sacrifice of giving to God is not going to merit, it's not going to get you to heaven. And God tells us he loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9, 7. He doesn't want you to do it grudgingly. Oh, I guess this is what I'm supposed to do. That's not what God wants. You know what? At Christmas time, how many of you want a gift from someone like, oh, I guess, here you go. Here's your gift. It's Christmas time. You give me a gift. I give you a gift. Here you go. I guess we need to exchange gifts because that's what we do at Christmas time, right? Ever feel like that sometimes? I don't know about you, but if someone's begrudgingly giving me a gift, I don't want it. Because you're like, well, I guess this whole compulsion thing and begrudging and complaining and moaning about it, you can keep it. Why would God want anything from us if we're just going to complain about doing it? It doesn't merit anything. If I'm giving praises and thanks to God, I'm doing it because I want to, out of my heart. So then the first thing you do is you give of yourself. Number two, you give of your possessions. Number three, your praise as a sacrifice of Thanksgiving. Hebrews 13, 15, would you turn with me there? The word Thanksgiving is to confess, declare, in Hebrews 13, 15, by him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God, what does it say? Continually. That is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. In this joyful communal meal as everyone's enjoying the fellowship and the time of socializing together, The fruit of my lips. There's a gentleman down south, and every time I see him, every time, if you've ever encountered this gentleman, you could attest to this, but every time he's like, oh, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, every time you see this guy, he's like, praise the Lord, you know? And he's joyful, he's a very joyful man, he's down there in Winkler. You know, such a blessing. You know, in Psalm 119, 108, You know, the Thanksgiving of Israel, of the Israelites, it wasn't a word of grace over a meal. Thank you, Jesus, for this meal. There's sometimes that, you know, you know, scripted prayer, you know, I can't, I'm horrible at remembering things, but anyways, you know, people pray for over their meals, some scripted thing, Lord, thank you for this, you know, and we do it in such a casual fashion. You don't come to church, you know, to praise the Lord, you bring your praises with you to church. You don't commence your praise here, you continue your praises here. What you're doing privately, we're doing publicly. You know, and the reason some of us do such a poor job of praising God is we haven't learned how to do it privately. Psalm 34, 1, I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. Look with me at Psalm 69. Psalm 69. Psalm 69. Psalm 69. Verse 30. I will praise the name of God with a song and will magnify him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs. What's he saying? Praise was above the actual sacrifice of an animal. Do you think God's concerned with our giving thanks to him? over and over and over again. The fourth thing that we have as prayer, or as a sacrifice of thanksgiving, going further from here, is our prayer. Presenting your prayer as a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Look with me at Psalm 141, verse two. Now, there's individuals that I've talked to, and they say, well, pastor, I'm just not very good at prayer. I don't know how to pray. Well, can I tell you first of all, you're not praying for me to think you're a good prayer. That's not really, that's not a good word, but anyways. You're not good at praying, let's, there we go, prayer. The new word, anyways. You're not praying for me to evaluate prayer is between you and the Lord, and we do pray publicly. But I'm talking with God in the presence of you there. Just as I, you know, maybe we're all here and after the service we start talking to one another, you're not evaluating what I'm saying to someone else based on how I say it, because I'm having a conversation with that person, just as we have a conversation with God. It's not about some grandiose, wonderful oration of man. I'm talking to God, I'm not giving him, trying to give him something that is of, you know, some weird academic nature. I'm giving him of my heart. Psalm 141 verse 2, "...let my prayer be set before thee as incense, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice." Look with me at Revelation chapter 5 verse 8. Have you ever thought about this, what God says in his Bible, in his Word? Revelation chapter 5, and under the same idea of your prayer being incense, Revelation 5 verse 8, the last book of the Bible, if you turn with me there, Revelation 5 8 and When he had taken the book the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb having every one of them harps and golden vials full of odors Which are the prayers of saints if you are a child of God were a saint and Your prayer to God from your heart. You might be saying, individuals might say, well, I'm not very well educated. It doesn't matter your education. You could have a little child that's praying to a very elderly senior. And anywhere in between, with any difference of education, it doesn't matter. Or any difference of financial means. Extreme poverty to extreme wealth. Either way, it doesn't matter. But God is saying, I'm just saying, God, I want my prayers. I'm going to talk with you. I'm going to spend time with you. When I wanted to get to know my wife, I spent a lot of time talking with her. We talked a lot on the phone. We talked in person. We texted. We still talk. And I'm going to present my prayer as a sacrifice of thanksgiving. I'm going to spend time just talking with him. You know, in Psalm 66, 18, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. And this brings me to my final fifth point, presenting your pure life as a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Would you look with me at Psalm 50, verse 23? You know, in all of these things, a sacrifice of thanksgiving is of a choice of your will to realize and consider the condition and the position of God and how much value you place upon him. If you place utmost value upon God, you're gonna place the utmost value that you can have, and that is your life, saying, God, I'll do what you want me to do. Doesn't mean you have to be a pastor. You could be faithful where you're at. Just something in a family, faithful in teaching, ministering through the church. God's not asking us to be above what he's called us to be, but he is asking us to say, hey, can I do something with your life? My grandmother was not very well educated, nor was my grandfather, but my grandmother, she got saved and she said, I want to go into the schools and I want to tell kids about Jesus. And she did, and she loved on these kids. She got into the bus ministry and started inviting kids from underprivileged homes and talking with them. And we'd go out and they'd say, hey, Grandma Lau. And they knew my grandma. They all call her Grandma Lau because she was, that's who she was, but anyways. Stop evaluating yourself as man sees it. How about we just evaluate as God sees it? God, you can have my life. And if you're going to have my life, you can have a pure life. I've dealt with the sin offering. I've dealt with the trespass offering. I have a peace offering. God, I just want to realize the peace that I have with you. In a pure life, as you look at Psalm 50, verse 23, Whoso offereth praise glorifyeth me, and to him that ordereth his conversation, that word conversation is your life, who ordereth his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God. What is he saying here? If you order your way according to the way God has ordered it, and I'm not saying we're like, oh, all the these and thous, and trying to follow all these things. No, I'm just saying, I want to know what God thinks and what he wants for my life, and as he gives direction, I just want to follow. I'm not trying to jump ahead, and sometimes we try to jump ahead and microwave Christianity so we're like some super saint overnight. It's not going to happen. You know how a marriage lasts 75 years, 80 years, 30 years? One day at a time. You know, ritual sacrifice of this peace offering had to match a worshiper's consecrated life. And as you think about this, the sacrifice was to be emptied of yourself. You know, in Psalm 51, 17, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, that will not despise. Romans 2, verse 4, or despises thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. In God's goodness, I'm like, Lord, I'm not making you happy. I know there's something I'm doing I shouldn't be doing. So Lord, I'm going to make it right. The goodness of God should lead us to say, God, I just want to be pure. I want you to look with me at Leviticus chapter 7. I was thinking about this as I was studying and on this fifth and final point about having a pure life. It's to give all of my life, but then I also want to give God a pure life. I'm not saying that we don't have faults, that we don't have errors in our lives, but I am saying, God, I want to be pure. Lord, I want to be devoted to you alone. You know, the woman of Samaria that Jesus would speak to, He said, you've had five husbands, the man you're currently with isn't your husband. And she would go out and she'd tell people, he told me all that ever I did. She came to know and taste of the living water. The woman caught in adultery, Jesus didn't tell her, oh, you horrible woman, he said, go and sin no more. You can be pure. Your past doesn't define you. But if I'm going to bring these peace offerings of thanks, which God has called me to give, I want to give because I realize the value I'm getting from Him, and the wonder of God, and all that I've received from Him, and all the challenges that we have encountered. Leviticus 17, 19. If you were to bring that animal for a peace offering, there are some conditions to it. Look with me, verse 19, Leviticus chapter seven. And the flesh that toucheth any unclean thing shall not be eaten. It shall be burnt with fire. And as for the flesh, all that be clean shall eat thereof. But the soul that eateth of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings that pertain unto the Lord, having his uncleanness upon him, even that soul shall be cut off from his people. Moreover, the soul that shall touch any unclean as the uncleanness of man or any unclean beast or any abominable unclean thing and eat the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings which pertain to the Lord, even that soul shall be cut off from his people. If you were ceremonially unclean, you could not eat of the peace offering. How can I give God praises when I'm living in opposition of what he's called me to be? I can't give verbal lip service and be doing opposite of what I'm saying. I could say, I love my wife, and then be doing a whole bunch of other things against her. I could say, oh, she's the most wonderful thing, and then behind her back, I'm doing a whole bunch of garbage. You would say, pastor, your words are empty. And he's saying, if you're gonna bring a peace offering, deal with the sin. deal with the trespass against another, and then you can willingly deal, you can give the thanks that you're wanting to give. God is concerned with whether you're pure. It would do no good to go through all the rites of worship without authentic commitment to God. It would be as useless as a person who says his wedding vows of cherished love till death do his part, when all the while he has no intention of such enduring love, or a judge who officially recites the oath of integrity at his installation, but has every intention of using his new position for personal aggrandizement. The Hebrew prophets insisted that external religious acts must reflect a life of genuine obedience, not a substitute for devotion." End quotes. Kenneth Matthews. If I want to give thanks to God, I'm gonna have a life that is obedient. Obedience is a choice. You don't have to. Now, there's consequences. I'm doing obedience because I want to. You know what? My grandparents, they would ask me to do something. I would do it many times. My parents would ask me to do something, and I'd be like, there was a problem with my heart. There wasn't the appreciation of my parents like it should have been. There was for my grandparents, but there wasn't for my parents. In conclusion, turn with me to Psalm 107. The sacrifices of thanksgiving, this peace offering. Man, we should want to give it. Give our life. Say, God, you have all of my life, my talent, my treasures, everything. It's all yours. Do it as you please. Now, I'm not preaching. You do as God leads you to do. That's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. Some might say, well, give it to the church. I'm not saying that. I am not saying that. I am saying you do with your life and your treasures and all that God's given you as God leads you. In Psalm 107, verse 1, O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. If you're redeemed, you've been bought out of the slave market of sin. I should be thankful I'm no longer a slave. whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy, verse 21. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men and let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare his works with rejoicing. This morning, may we present our person as a sacrifice of thanksgiving. May we present our possessions, our praise, our prayer, and a pure life as sacrifices of thanksgiving. Final illustration. Sometimes our burdens become our blessings. In the book, Future Church, Jim Wilson, I don't know anything about this gentleman, writes about how having cancer and losing his voice is something he's now grateful for. Today, if God said to me, I'll give you that year back, you can go back to a cancer-free state, you can relive the year with your voice and without cancer, but you'll never know the loyalty you experience from a church that stood beside you. or the love that you came to know from your bride who lived her wedding vows and sickness and health before you, and you will never know that your brokenness is covered with my grace, I'd say no thank you, I'll keep the cancer. Out of the brokenness, I found peace. In the silence, I heard God. Gratitude isn't the byproduct of a Pollyanna experience. It is what happens to us once we've sunk our teeth deeply into life and tasted the bitter along with the sweet, the rotten, and the ripe. We have an attitude of gratitude when we jettison our provincial preoccupation with ourselves and stop living life with a sense of entitlement, a conviction that God owes us everything. 1 Thessalonians 5, 18, in everything, give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. God, I'm all yours, and I'll do it purely. That's how we offer a sacrifice of Thanksgiving appropriately. And this morning, if you've never accepted Jesus Christ as your authority, your Lord, would you reach out and ask him, you are guilty, and man, there is forgiveness waiting for you. You don't have to do anything for it, but you must realize you're a sinner that Jesus died for. And out of appreciation and thankfulness, you'll say, God, forgive me. I'll take that gift by faith. Forgive me of all the bad and every bad word I've ever said and done, and be my Savior. Would you forgive me today? And you know what? God will forgive you. If you repent, you acknowledge your condition as being lost, you acknowledge your condition as being a sinner under the judgment of God, and you just simply by faith ask him to forgive you, my friend, you are forgiven forever. And Christian, your sacrifice of thanksgiving must be sought with a heart seeking to be acceptable to the Lord. Let us willingly offer of ourselves before God as a true peace offering and find the unity, rest, and community with God and man that we seek. This morning, as the Word of God has gone forth, would you consider your sacrifice of Thanksgiving to God? As we come to the time of invitation, if I could have Mrs. Pack come forward, please. I'm not preaching this because I've somehow, I have not arrived. I'm still working on things in my life. But may each of us say, Lord, what are the areas in my life of myself, my possessions, my praise, my prayer, or a pure life? Am I offering a sacrifice at Thanksgiving to God? Any one of these areas or all of the above? Christian, may we have an acceptable sacrifice of Thanksgiving. As the music plays, I trust that you would just respond however the Spirit of God has spoken to your heart this morning. If you need to be saved, you need to ask Jesus to be your Savior. I'm not talking you're trusting in religion, you're not trusting in a baptism when you were a young kid, you're not trusting in some event that happened, you're trusting in the only time that you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of all your sins, you repent and in full acknowledgement realize you don't deserve God's grace but that Jesus paid it and you ask him to forgive you, you are forgiven. Forgiven today as a free gift and Christian I trust that we would have Thanksgiving continually from our lips and from our lives as we live out as a true sacrifice of Thanksgiving. If you're here this morning and you say, Pastor, I know I'm saved. I know there was a point in time in my life I accepted Jesus and God was working on my heart about something this morning and I'd like you to pray for me. Would you be willing to lift up your hand and I'd be happy to pray for you. I won't call you out. I won't say anything to you about it, but I will pray for you. Is there anyone like that? Just quickly slip up your hand and pull it back down and I'll be happy to pray for you. Anyone like that this morning? Maybe you're here and you say, Pastor, I don't know if If I were to die or if I breathe my last, where I'm going, I'd sure like to know. Would you pray for me that I'd settle that? I'd be happy to pray for you. Anyone like that this morning with uplifted hand? Would you pray for me? Some music will come to a close here shortly. I trust you would settle your relation with Jesus and Christian. There's something in your life that you're holding back. May we start to have an acceptable sacrifice of thanksgiving to our wonderful God. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, I thank you for this day. I thank you, Lord, for the Word of God. Father, an opportunity that as we looked at the peace offering, an opportunity to have peace with friends and family and those around us. Lord, if we are right with you and right with others, we can really have peace inside. Father, I pray that you'd help us. Father, I know that sometimes there's some real obstacles and challenges and stumbling blocks in our lives. Lord, we don't know how to give thanks. All we know how to do is look at the hard times and, Lord, how guilty I am of doing that. And I pray, Lord, that you'd help each and every one of us that profess the name of Christ to know how to appropriately be an acceptable sacrifice of thanksgiving. God, may you be glorified. Thank you for all that you'll do. We look forward to tonight. In Jesus' precious name, I pray. Amen.