Introduction
Thankfulness seems to be a lost art today. Warren Wiersbe illustrated this problem in his commentary on Colossians. He told about a ministerial student in Evanston, Illinois, who was part of a life-saving squad. In 1860, a ship went aground on the shore of Lake Michigan near Evanston, and Edward Spencer waded again and again into the frigid waters to rescue 17 passengers. In the process, his health was permanently damaged. Some years later at his funeral, it was noted that not one of the people he rescued ever thanked him.
That is sad and glorious at the same time. He rescued all those people but not a one thanked him.
We have many people in this world living that way too. Christ has came and gave it all for all and more than not have no regard for Him.
What’s even sadder is that many of those are people in the church who say they are His.
They are not thankful to Him until times of need arise. Then they call out to Him with passion and if He does not answer as they want Him to answer, they turn away and hate Him.
This is sad and disturbing. But that is not how it needs to be. No we can be thankful in all things through Christ.
Did you know that you can be thankful in all things?
Did you know that there is no reason to get down and out in this world?
Did you know that as a Christian you can be joyous and thankful regardless what happens?
But it is that caveat that makes this possible: being a Christian.
If you are not a Christian then you have no real reason to be thankful. You have no real reason to be joyous.
In tough times and struggles you have nothing to cling to but fading worldly tings and people.
We as believers have so much more. We have an amazing blessing that fills us and strengthens us. We have eternal blessings and are conquerors through this amazing blessing.
We see this so so clearly in Romans 8:31-39 when Paul wrote by the guidance of the Holy Spirit
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:31–39 ESV
What an amazing passage of Scripture. If this does not encourage you and fire you up for the Lord. Then you need to read this section every day for a year. In that time you will begin to see that the Lord is for you.
You will see in that time that we can be thankful in all things because we are eternally blessed, we are eternally clear of all charges, we are conquerors of all things physical , and we are eternally secure because of Christ.
We Are Eternally Blessed
If God is for us who can be against us?
He who did not spare His son will give graciously all things.
This is eternal blessing if I do say so. We have an amazing savior who gave it all for us and because of that nothing can be against us. Nothing of eternal concern that is.
People will attack and cause grief. Let them. They are nothing more than a gnat or fly buzzing around.
We have the God of creation who gave His Son for us and since He did that, we can rest assured that He is for us in all things.
No one, I repeat no one can take that from you. You have an amazing savior who loves you and is with you always.
Wiersbe stated, “We do not need to fear the past, present, or future because we are secure in the love of Christ.” (The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 541.)
You are eternally blessed by the Lord if you are in Christ. If you are in Christ there is no condemnation for you.
Christ bore that and you are free. Your past is just that , the past.
You are living in the present looking towards the future.
Jesus is your present and eternal glory with the Lord is your future.
Remember that when you get slandered and attacked. Do not let Satan and his minions take your thanksgiving away.
Christ gave you eternal life when you believed. He washed you clean from your sins. He gave you glory and life, the world gives nothing but death.
Let it die while you live in joy and thankfulness with the Lord.
Trust me, God is for you if you are His. If you are not He is still for you in a way.
He sent His Son as verse 32 tells us. If He did that, do you not think He will take you and bless you too?
Yes, He will bless you and take you. He is an amazing God who loves us and is for us. He desires us to be saved and be His always.
As such because of Him…
We Are Eternally Clear
Who can bring a charge against us? Who can condemn?
The obvious answer is no one can because we are Justified by the Lord.
We have our amazing advocate before the Father because not only did Jesus die for us but He was raised and is at the right hand of the Father now.
We are declared righteous, in right relationship with God, through Jesus. We are justified, we are eternally cleared of charges. We are free in the Lord.
No one can condemn us now because Jesus has cleared us. Let people squawk and talk and mouth off. It is okay, you, if you are in Christ, are justified and clear. They hold no sway over you.
You are Christ’s and as such you are blessed and clear of any charge against you from the sinful and fallen world.
Christ has declared us righteous but Satan and his groupies want to accuse us, but we are clear and righteous in Christ.
Accusations against us fall on deaf ears before the Father because Jesus is interceding for us now as we speak. He is there and He does not allow any false accusation through nor does he allow sin through because He bore that at the cross. He is our savior and will always be our savior.
As our intercessor Jesus is before the throne now representing us so we do not have to.
He is for you and since He is you are eternally clear.
That is something to be thankful for. Jesus paid it all so we can have it all with Him in glory one day.
Here is another thought, Do you ever think that because you aren’t good enough for God, he will not save you? Do you ever feel as if salvation is for everyone else but you? At those times, make verses 31–34 your constant companions. If God gave his Son for you, he isn’t going to hold back the gift of salvation! If Christ gave his life for you, he isn’t going to turn around and condemn you! Christ will not withhold anything you need in order to live for him. The book of Romans is more than a theological explanation of God’s redeeming grace—it is a letter of comfort and confidence addressed to you. (Barton, Veerman, and Wilson, Romans, Life Application Bible Commentary, 170.)
This could be said that if you ever feel alone, abandoned, left out, left behind, know that since God gave His Son for you, He will not leave you behind. He is with you and for you and as such you will never be alone or abandoned. He is with you and you can take that to the bank.
That is why you can be thankful in all things. God is for you and nothing nor anyone can condemn or rail a charge against you.
It is because of this why…
We Are Conquerors of All Things Physical
Who or what shall separate us?
Tribulation?
Suffering and trials.
Distress?
Loss of family members, job, livelihood.
Persecution?
False punishment from hatred.
Famine?
No food or lack of food.
Nakedness?
Going without because you cannot get things needed.
Danger?
Fear of death and punishment.
Sword?
Weaponry
Will death and slaughter?
Paul answers with an emphatic
NO!!!!!!!!
He says nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.
He does not say we will not face these things.
We most certainly will face these situations and struggles. That is a fact and if anyone ever tells you that we will not they are liars.
Christianity is hated everywhere because they hate Christ. If they hated Him, Christ said, they will hate us (John 15:18).
Paul wrote elsewhere that if anyone desires to live godly in Christ will be persecuted (2 Tim. 3:12).
We will be assaulted and attacked. We will be hated. We will face death. We will be slaughtered before a cheering world.
But none of that separate us from the Lord.
Paul emphatically says that “In all of these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
God does not shelter us through trials and grief. He allows them because it grows us and matures us in our faith.
We see this clearly in Romans 5:3-4 “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.”
We receive power from Him to conquer.
We are super conquerors. We are ultra victorious through Him.
Jesus gives us victory and more victory. We have no reason to fear anything that comes before us, whether it be death, tribulation, distress, nakedness, or anything else listed because Jesus loves us and in Him we have the victory.
So someone insults you and tries to ruin your life. You Have Victory in Jesus.
You are broke and without clothing. You Have Jesus.
You are assaulted daily and are feeling weak and about to break. You Have Jesus. Do not give in you are in victory they are not.
The ones who insult and attack and shift to the world are not in victory because they are following a dying system. The world and all that is in it is passing away.
As Christians we are beyond all victory because we follow the one who will return and destroy all evil with the sword of His mouth.
Think of all the great leaders and victories of the past.
One stands out to me. Alexander the Great. He never lost a single battle in his world dominance. Next is the Roman Caesars who dominated for centuries. We surpass Alexander the Great and Caesar because of our faith in Christ. For high achievers, this is good news indeed. There is something better than winning. Perhaps the best way to grasp what Paul means is to realize that the experience of victory can be extremely selfish. To be more than conquerors means that our moments of spiritual achievement coincide with moments of realization that we have succeeded through him who loved us. The glow of the greatest victory dims in the light of Christ’s love for us. (Barton, Veerman, and Wilson, 171).
We can walk by the insults and attacks with the knowledge that it is our savior that made us conquerors. We do not need to lash out and become like the world. We are His and that meas we have ultimate victory.
One other thing that this non-separation means for us and another reason, maybe the most important is that…
We Are Eternally Secure
For I am convinced–absolutely certain of, the fact that nothing at all can separate us.
Paul does not only speak of present realities here but in his statement in verse 39 that nothing
Will Be Able
to separate us, is future tense and that means that nothing now or ever can separate us from Christ.
Remember Jesus is interceding for us right now with the Father.
Also, since the Father did not spare to send His Son, will he not do and graciously give us so much more?
We are His and as His we will always be His.
Paul is clear when he says this fact. Paul is absolutely certain, and remember he wrote this by the guidance of the Spirit these are not just words that a man said, these are God’s word through that man, that none of the listed experiences or forces can separate us.
These final experiences or forces named are: (1) neither death nor life (that is, nothing in our experience of living, nor in the cessation of that experience); (2) nor angels nor principalities nor powers (that is, no supernatural being whatever its exalted position); (3) nor things present nor things to come (that is, no eventuality already present or that will be present in the future); nor height nor depth nor any other created thing (that is, nothing at the highest level of existence or the lowest level or anything in between). (Zane C. Hodges, Romans: Deliverance from Wrath, ed. Robert N. Wilkin, 248–249).
Nothing in existence or that will come into existence can separate us from Christ, that includes you. If you have believed in Christ and believed in Him for eternal life, you are His and you cannot remove yourself from Him.
This is something to be thankful for. We are secure in Christ and as such our petty mistakes and sins are not going to separate us.
Our failures will not separate us.
We are His and He is interceding for us and He bore our sin so we could be the righteousness of God in Him.
Glory, glory, hallelujah what a savior.
We can be thankful and live a life full of joy and thankfulness to our savior knowing that we are His and will always be His.
We can go to Him and thank Him daily for the Life He has given us. We can be thankful and joyous unlike the 17 people Edward Spencer saved. We can and should go to Jesus with thanksgiving because He has saved us and continues to save us by interceding for us every minute of every day.
We are His and will be His evermore.
That is why we can be Thankful In All Things.
Conclusion
Once we have rested in and continue to rest in the Lord in everything in this world, we can be thankful for everything.
We can be like the Scottish minister Alexander Whyte. Whyte was known for his uplifting prayers in the pulpit. He always found something for which to be grateful. One Sunday morning the weather was so gloomy that one church member thought to himself, “Certainly the preacher won’t think of anything for which to thank the Lord on a wretched day like this.” Much to his surprise, however, Whyte began by praying, “We thank Thee, O God, that it is not always like this.”
That is what a thankful life is like. Even in bad times there is something to be thankful for.
Trust that the Lord has you and is with you in everything and that you are eternally blessed, clear, more than a conqueror of physical things, and eternally secure and you too can be thankful in all things.
