How do I develop a thankful spirit? Here's a first thought here. We develop a thankful spirit, first of all, when we remember our desperate condition before we met Jesus. One of the keys to you and me being a grateful people is that we take some time and regularly reflect on who we were before we came to Christ. What was our condition? before we came to Christ. You think about these lepers here. This was a horrible condition. If you're a leper in this day particularly, you are in a horrible condition. Leprosy was the most feared disease of its time. It's not so much feared today like it was then. Today, you still get leprosy. We don't hear a lot about it. There's about 200,000 cases of leprosy in the world. In our country, most of those are in Africa and Asia. And in our country, there's about 100 cases diagnosed every year of leprosy. But with treatment today, it's not a life-threatening issue. You can get treatment today for this and it can extend your life. But this was not the case in this day. It was a terribly feared disease into this day. It would almost be like what would be a while back AIDS. If you were told that you had AIDS, that was just a dreadful thing. Even now today with some of the advancements in medicine, there's medications that can be taken for that. But if you can just picture in your mind facing a disease for which there was no cure and which was a sure deadly disease that you would have in your life. A very painful disease leprosy was. But the physical pain was not the most terrible part of this kind of disease or disorder. It first meant they had to face isolation. Whenever you faced a leprosy, when that was your diagnosis in this day, You faced isolation. You were shut off from the family. You were shut off from friends. You were even shut off, in a sense, from God. In a sense that you could not go into the temple to worship. You were swept into these isolated colonies. And you were required, by the law there, if anyone ventured close to you, You were having to cry out to them before they got right up to you. You were having to cry out, unclean, unclean. You can read about that in Leviticus 13. That was the way it was. And that's why these lepers, as you see in the passage here... He met these ten men who were lepers, which stood afar off, the Bible says. That's why they had to do that, because they had to be out in isolation. It was a horrible thing. And not only meant isolation, it meant humiliation. This skin disease that they would have, that would affect a lot, oftentimes in their eyes, and it would affect their limbs, the numbness that would come in your hands and in your feet. It was just a very, very difficult, very painful, very difficult disease. But you can imagine living in this day and you're in isolation and having children just kind of look at you in your particular situation, perhaps even laugh at you, point fingers at you. You were definitely an unusual kind of figure there in your isolation. You can just imagine the humiliation of that. Imagine you having to rely purely on the pity of people as they're coming along that they might see you and have compassion on you because you were not able to be out and about and working and gainfully employed in this day when you had this disease. It was a very humiliating thing. And more than anything else, the humiliation is if you faced this disease, often it was seen as you have contracted this and you're suffering because of some sin in your life. It was often looked at this way in this culture. You're thought to be unclean. You're thought to be incapable of having a right relationship with God. And you're made to feel even isolated from God. This is the picture here of this disease. It was a horrible disease. But it wasn't only horrible, it was a helpless condition as well. In verse 13, we're told that as Jesus was about to enter the city, that these lepers who had to stand afar off, as I mentioned, they began to cry out to Jesus when they see him. Jesus, master, have mercy on us. And that was really all they could do. No physician could heal them. No medicine could cure them. They were completely helpless before the onslaught of this deadly disease. There's nothing that they can really, really do here. Now, what do you and I learn that will help us to be a grateful people from this kind of a situation? Well, just think about you and me. Think about us spiritually. Like the leper, we too were isolated from true intimacy with God. Like the leper, we too were outcasts from the kingdom of God. Like the leper, we too were in the process of losing everything to sin. Like the leper, we too were being destroyed. by that which was in our bodies. For them, it was a physical disease. For you and me, spiritually, what was going on in our bodies was this law, what Paul calls the law of sin and death. And that was what was working itself up in us. And we were helpless on our own to do anything about that situation, just like these lepers. We like to think that we are sufficient, that we are capable of handling life, but the truth is that we are born helpless. We cannot figure out life. We are helpless to stand against our sin and to stand against the devil who's behind all of that. We stand totally condemned by our sin and totally helpless. Just like Romans 5 and verse 6 tells us, for when we were yet without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. That was us. We were without strength. That means helpless. That's the idea of this word here. And that's who we were, like the leper. We were helpless to stop the destruction that we faced. And that's the way everybody comes into the world. Every person that we know comes in in this condition. And they're helpless. It's a real tragic kind of situation. Hopeless. And so for me to develop a spirit of thankfulness, it's important that I remember who I was, that I regularly remember who I was, the condition that I was in before I met Jesus Christ. That will help us be thankful people. when we take some time and reflect on who we were. But not only that, secondly, we ought to realize just what Jesus did for us. If you and I can take some time regularly and reflect not only what I was before I met Jesus, but also what Jesus actually did for me. Just like this one leper in verse 15, when the Bible says he saw that he was healed. We were told that these men, when they began their journey to the priests, they were cleansed. Jesus meets them on his way to Jerusalem. They're crying out to him, Master, have mercy on us. Jesus says to them, go take yourselves to the priests. And the Bible says that while they were going, they were cleansed. You may wonder, well, why did Jesus tell them to go to the priests? Why didn't he just heal them right there and that was it? Why did he tell them to go to the priests? Well, he did so because for a leper to reenter society, he had to be declared clean by a priest. And so that's why Jesus is telling them, go show yourselves to the priest. And it's interesting to think about that all of them acted. All of them, they weren't automatically then cleansed. And then they went to the priest. The Bible says while they were going, they were cleansed. So all of them actually leave Jesus in their leprous condition. And while they're headed to the priest, obeying what Jesus told them, then they are healed. But what's significant and the whole teaching that Jesus is emphasizing here in this passage is that there was one of them who reacted differently from the others. The Bible says that he saw that he was healed and when he saw that he was healed, he turned back, he glorified God and he came to Jesus and he fell at his feet and he gave him thanks, the Bible says. Now, why did this one react differently? He, the Bible says, saw that he was healed. He saw that he was healed. Now, I think the others, no doubt, knew that they were healed. But there was something different about this one. The Bible says there, He saw. The Greek word is the word Ido. It's a word that means to know, to see, to perceive. And this one. He's taking time here, he's taking time to note that he has been blessed, that something wonderful has taken place in his life, something terrific has happened to him. He was sensitive to the power of Christ that was working in his life and his perception then entirely changed. He took some time to reflect on that, to see that God had done something miraculously for him. And we ought to think about that. How often do we perceive? the blessings of God in our lives. He's always doing this. We're all here today. None of us is hungry. All of us are clothed. All of us have so many things that God is doing and continually does for us constantly. Isn't this true? He is such a faithful God. That he is constantly doing things for us and many of those things we're not even aware of. That's who he is. That's how loving he is. That's how kind he is. He's constantly, as the psalmist says, just showering us with these benefits. And you think about it, if you are a Christian here this morning. You can know some of these blessings. God sends rain on the just and the unjust, the Bible says. God in His kindness shows His love to the whole world. But then in particular ways, if you are here this morning and you not only enjoy all of these other blessings, but you have had your own soul redeemed by the blood of Christ, He has made you a new creature. You are one of the billions of people in the world who have heard the gospel and you received it and God saved you, then he has done something tremendously in your life. And we ought to be able to reflect on that. And part of our thanksgiving and living with a spirit of thanksgiving is recognizing what Jesus did for us. And it's going to be hard for me to be a thankful person if I don't grasp that on a regular basis. If I don't regularly reflect on the fact that I was a sinner headed for hell, but Jesus saved me and gave me eternal life in heaven. I must reflect on that regularly. But the devil is going to do his very best to keep my mind off of those things. He's going to do his very best there. He's going to constantly tell me how bad I have it, right? He's going to constantly tell me that. He's going to constantly tell me how everything is going wrong in my life. But it's when I begin to realize how much that I have in Jesus Christ, that's when I truly begin to become a thankful person. My heart begins to abound with love to God for what he has done for me and how he has graciously given so much to me. You know what keeps us from seeing this often? Is our high expectations. It's the pride that's in Ron that makes me have these expectations that keep me from being a thankful person. And the devil is always fanning the pride in our lives. The self-sufficiency, the expectations from God and others, that's the work of the devil in our lives. Perhaps the other nine saw in this an act of healing. Something that they were due. Something they deserved. We can develop that in our own life, such an inflated sense of our own importance that we take everything that's good that comes our way as though it were due us. First Timothy 6 and verse 6 says that there is great gain in godliness with contentment. When a person views the world as owing him or her everything, then contentment is never achieved. In our contentment with the great gifts that God has has granted to us, then we're able to see beyond the gifts. But we see the giver behind those gifts. If I'm constantly living in a world where I'm expecting things, I'm expecting God to constantly be pouring his blessings. I'm expecting you to be constantly serving me and blessing in those kinds of ways. I'm never going to live in a spirit of contentment and you wouldn't either. If you were constantly looking and expecting that you would do things from other people, and you were always looking for them, you would never ever live in a spirit of contentment. You would always be expecting something else. But when you live in a spirit of contentment, and you recognize, I don't deserve anything, but God in His kindness has done so much for me, then you begin to look beyond the gifts, but to the giver. The very one who gave you those things, the very one who's working behind all of those things. But we can sometimes be so expecting constantly as though we deserve these things. I came across this story told of two friends who bumped into one another on the street one day, and one of them looked forlorn, almost on the verge of tears. And his friend said, what in the world has the world done to you, my old friend? The sad fellow said, well, let me tell you. Three weeks ago, my great aunt, whom I hardly knew, passed away. I inherited almost 100 million dollars. His friend replied, well, that's a lot of money. The sad friend continued, well, then two weeks ago, a cousin I never even knew died and left me $85,000 free and clear. Well, sounds like you've been really blessed. No, you don't understand, he interrupted. Last week, an uncle died and left me $40,000. Now, the other friend was really confused and, well, then why do you look so gloom? And the sad friend replied, well, this week, nothing. Now, that's a person. who has great expectations, right? You will look at this as though, you were tremendously just blessed, but his expectations were so high that he was constantly looking weakly to be showered with everything as though it was due him. And you and I can be in that same space, right? Really, you can be in that same space. Matter of fact, often that happens, that happens in relationships. That happens with husbands and wives who are constantly expecting to be served by their spouses and then they don't get it and they're not content. Or family settings where we're constantly looking to be served or church settings where we're constantly looking to be served by others rather than being a servant. But when we constantly have these expectations, I'm always looking for the next gift, whatever that is, whether it's a kind word or a pat on the back or something tangible. I'm always looking for these things if I have these expectations. But if I recognize that I don't deserve a single thing, I actually deserve a destiny in hell apart from God. When I understand just a little bit about me that I do know, it is so ugly. But God, in his mercy, has forgiven me of all of my sins. And for me to live with a grateful spirit, that cannot be far from me. I have to constantly be reminding myself of who I was before I met Jesus. And then what Jesus did for me, the moment for me as a nine-year-old boy, when my twin brother and I, at the same night, you've heard it many times, got up by our bed, called Dad into the room, said, Dad, we want to be saved. And Dad sat down on the bed, showed us how we could have new life in Christ, and we asked Jesus to save us from our sins that night. And Jesus did that. I'll never forget the next day, this is vivid in my mind as a nine-year-old boy, I was sliding down the banister outside the stairs that went down the back of the house and I was thinking to myself, I got saved last night. And for we have to constantly be reminding ourselves of God's goodness to us or we'll never develop a thankful spirit. One day a woman who was Seeking to get right with God, she said to Charles Spurgeon, that famous 19th century preacher, one of my favorite preachers, she said to Spurgeon, if Jesus ever saves me, he will never hear the end of it. You know, that ought to be the spirit of all of us. Jesus now, for many of us in this room, maybe most of us can look back at a time and you can say, you know what? Jesus saved me from my sins. And that ought to be our response. He is never going to hear the end of it. I'm constantly going to be grateful for what Jesus has done for me. And then thirdly, recognize what Jesus did for us, we cannot do for ourselves. That's again, just another nuance here, recognizing my own dependence on God. You would have Perhaps expected all 10 men to run to Jesus and thank him for their new start in life. But only one did. The one leper who returned undoubtedly had just as great a desire to go to return to his family, to get back to his work, to resume his normal daily life. But there was a greater need in his heart that day. God had done something so significantly, he needed to go back. He had to go back. That was his heart. And this one leper was different than the others. He did three things, the Bible says. He turned back, he began praising God, and he fell on his face at the feet of Jesus, giving him thanks. God had delivered him from a very difficult situation. In 1637, amid the darkness of the Thirty Years' War, a German pastor, Martin Rinkart, wrote a hymn that we often sing at this time, Now Thank We All Our God. And that year, because of famine, Because of deadly diseases, Renkart is said to have buried 4,480 of his parishioners in one year. You read through that time in history, it was a very horrible time, very, very difficult time. That's an average of 15 a day. Amongst those people was his own wife. And in the heart of this time of great darkness and great sorrow with cries of fear outside his window. He sat down and he wrote this hymn that was actually intended to be a table grace that his children would say at the table. And he wrote this. Now thank we all our God with heart and hands and voices who wondrous things hath done in whom his world rejoices, who from our mother's arms hath blessed us on our way with countless gifts of love and still is ours today. You think about that, the words of that in that context during that day, through the grief and bloodshed, he looked to his Savior and was able to thank God for the many blessings that he still had. God was doing for him what he could not do for himself. Jesus did for those lepers what they could not do for themselves. Jesus did for you and me. What we could not do for ourselves. And the Bible is so clear on this, right? What you desperately need, you will never get on your own. All of us need Jesus. I will never get Jesus on my own. All of us need to do something with our sins. That's the most important question a man will ever ask in his life. What am I going to do about my sins? Because God is perfect and I am not. I am a sinner. And if I'm going to ever have fellowship with a perfect God, I have to do something about my sins. That's why the most important decision a person will ever make is that question, what am I going to do about my sins? And the Bible says there's only one thing to do with them. We run to Jesus for forgiveness. I will never get it on my own. And the Bible is so clear about that. The Bible tells us not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. It tells us in another place, for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. quoted from that passage. Now how could God be more clear? What I desperately need is the forgiveness of my sins. And God very clearly tells me in the Bible, I will never get that on my own. I will never be able to work my way to heaven unless I'm perfect. Because God is perfect. And so for me to fellowship with a perfect God, I've got to be perfect. I will never be on my own. That's why I'm so thankful that Jesus did for me what I could not do for myself. And Jesus can do that for you today, if you're here today and you've never placed your faith in Jesus, Jesus can and he wants to forgive you of your sins and he can do for you what you will never be able to do for yourself. The only way to God, Jesus said it this way, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to God, the Father, but through me, through Jesus. You say, well, what does he mean by that? Here's what he means. When Jesus came and walked on the face of the earth, he lived a perfect life. You and I break the law. He didn't break one ounce of it. He lived a perfect life. And God put his own son Jesus on the cross. to die for your sins and for my sins. And that's how we get a perfect standing. I'm not perfect, but when I asked Jesus to save me from my sins, knew what he did as a nine year old boy, he took my sins and he gave me the righteousness of Christ. He credited the righteousness of Christ to me because I came, I come to God depending on Jesus, not on Ron. And that's how I get a perfect standing. I'm covered in the perfect righteousness of Christ as God looks at me. That started in my life when I was a nine-year-old boy. That's the only way we come to Christ. I never get to God except through Jesus. And Jesus died for my sins. He died for your sins. And by simply saying to Jesus, I am a sinner and you are the Savior, And I want you to save me from my sins. I'm depending on you to do that and give me life in heaven. God will do that. He could save you today. And then there's one final thing I just want us to mention. In verses 17 and 18, this passage reminds us, number four, we have to realize that Jesus expects us to have a thankful spirit. I have to understand that I have to remember the condition that I was in before I met Jesus. I have to remember what Jesus did for me when I met him. I have to remember that what Jesus did for me, I could not do for myself. I am incredibly blessed that I heard the gospel and I received it and Jesus saved my soul. But then I have to remember, actually, God expects my thankfulness for what he's done in my life. He expects that. And you see that so clearly in the passage. As one thankful man worshiped at his feet, Jesus asked two questions. Weren't there ten that were cleansed? Where are the nine? Where are the nine? He says. And this question. It gives to us the heart of our Savior really shows his expectation. Wait a minute. Not one, ten, where are the nine? G. Campbell Morgan said it this way, where are the nine becomes arresting and revealing, showing as it does that he waits for the worship of healed souls and often is robbed of it. And that's true. Jesus has done so much for us and we often don't thank Him. We often don't come back. We often just get so set in our own expectations and we think that we do these things And we don't deserve a single thing. It's all the goodness and kindness of God in our lives that has given us what we have, eternal salvation. So I hope God will use this in our life today as a church in our lives individually. to help us to be grateful people. And if you are here today and you struggle with this and you find you are very often unthankful that you just don't even have eyes to see what God is doing in and around you. I hope you'll take this to heart this morning. Hope will remember the gratefulness of this one leper that was cleansed from the condition that he had. And I hope God will use it in our own lives to help us to be a grateful people. And if you're here today and you have never placed your faith in Jesus, I plead with you, while it is still today, the scripture says, while there's still time, the Bible says today is the day of salvation. So I would encourage you, don't leave without placing your faith in Jesus.