[0:00] Luke 17, Luke 17. One last time. Been here for a few weeks, a couple weeks.
[0:12] ! Luke 17, look at verse 11. Luke 17, verse 11. And it came to pass as he went to Jerusalem!
[0:22] that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met he ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off.
[0:32] And they lifted up their voices and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass that as they went, they were cleansed.
[0:46] And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back and with a loud voice glorified God and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks and was a Samaritan.
[0:57] And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? There are not found that return to give glory to God save this stranger.
[1:11] And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole. So in the last few weeks, we've been talking about those with no names and these with no thanks.
[1:22] We've been talking, doing a study on people whose names we do not know. The little boy with the five loaves and the two fishes. The girl who got Naaman to go to get healed and stuff.
[1:33] And different ones, you don't know their names, but they accomplish things. And so we've been talking about that. And as we've been talking about that, we talked about the fact that, first of all, these men had a miserable grief.
[1:46] They had leprosy. And we talked about leprosy and how it takes place with that. We talked about how they get diagnosed with leprosy by going to Leviticus and looking at what the priest did there.
[1:57] We talked about the fact that because of the leprosy, they had a separation that took place because they could not be around people. They had to go around being unclean, unclean, and they could not be with their friends and family and all of that.
[2:10] And then we talked about the fact that they came to Jesus. They heard Jesus was going to be there and they went and sought him out so that they could find mercy. They were looking for mercy that they could be healed.
[2:23] And they gave him an honored recognition because they say in chapter 17, verse 13, Jesus, master. They recognized him for who he was.
[2:35] They called him master. And they made a humble request. Have mercy on us. That's all they asked for. They meant probably to be healed, but they didn't ask that per se.
[2:48] They said, you know, have mercy on us. And then Jesus gave them a command that they were supposed to fulfill in faith. Verse 14 says, And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go show yourselves unto the priest.
[3:04] Leave here. Go to the priest. And we talked about the fact they've already been to the priest. That's why they have the diagnosis of leprosy. That's why they are going around separated from their friends and family.
[3:16] That's why they're calling out unclean, unclean. They've already been to the priest. But Jesus says, Go back to the priest. And they obeyed. And then, this next one.
[3:29] We talked about the one man coming back, the other nine not having gratitude. They were missing gratitude. That's the next thing we're going to talk about today. They're missing gratitude.
[3:41] So let's have a word of prayer, and then we'll talk about this. Dear Heavenly Father, we just thank you for this study that we've been doing, Lord. All these people, we don't know their names, but what an impact they've had on the lives of those throughout the ages because they learned to trust you.
[3:59] They learned to obey you. They set an example for us. And Lord, people may not know our names. It may not be a big deal about who we are, but we can trust you, and we can follow you, and we can have an impact on the world around us because we follow you.
[4:16] Lord, I pray that you would help us as we continue today, finish up today, to be reminded the importance of giving thanks for the things that you have done for us. Lord, just bless our time together now.
[4:27] Thank you for the folks visiting with us. Lord, I pray that you would just help us have good fellowship together. In Jesus' name, amen. So, missing gratitude. You know, they've been healed.
[4:41] And we usually think, okay, they've been healed, and this one guy came back, and the others didn't. He was the only one who was thankful. That's not necessarily so.
[4:53] I think the others were thankful as well. They just forgot to go back because they were so excited about going to their families and their friends and being able to be with them again.
[5:05] It was so exciting for them to be together. So, I don't think that they weren't thankful. They just did not express the thanks that they had. It says, the one came back, in verse 15, and when he saw he was healed, he turned back and with a loud voice glorified God.
[5:24] Verse 16, and fell down on his face at his feet giving him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. You ever notice the Samaritans seem to get it right and everybody else in the Jewish country, Jewish land does not?
[5:38] Nobody liked the Samaritans. Everybody hated the Samaritans. They were terrible people. No, no, no. But they seem to be the ones who get it right. They seem to be the ones paying attention. What's going on?
[5:49] And here's this man, he's a Samaritan, he comes back and he gives his thanks. They all should have, but he did. You think about it.
[6:00] Fred? I didn't see that he was the only oddball in the group who was an outsider and the rest of them figured what rest of them was actually Jews and he was not.
[6:13] Right. He was included with them in God's mercy. Mm-hmm. He was healed as well. Good point. Could be the fact that, yeah, he's an outsider and he understands.
[6:26] Margaret? But didn't other people actually get in trouble for not giving God the glory and keep those focused on God? Okay, yeah. Yeah. That was the point that the Samaritan, the one you would think would be the least grateful like that for Jesus.
[6:44] Yep. Acknowledge where that came from. Yep. And we're going to talk a little bit more about that and people who give thanks and people who don't here in just a second. These guys, can you imagine you're walking along toward the priest, you're being obedient, you did what was said, and as you're walking along, all of a sudden, you realize that you've been healed.
[7:05] You just, all you did was obey his command to just go to the priest. That was it. And as they're walking along, they're realizing, I've been healed.
[7:16] And you're looking at one another. You know, we've been healed. And they're walking along and they're going toward the priest now and instead of going, unclean, unclean, they're going, I'm clean, I'm clean.
[7:27] You know, it's like, oh, I've been changed. So, you know, we think about those ten and we think about those nine and I still think they were happy, they were thankful.
[7:40] Again, it's the idea, did they express their thanks? And for us? Another one on that course is that this is one of the first instances where everybody in God's creation included including the Samaritan and they made no denotation between between the two.
[8:01] Yep. Yeah. Until it was identified he would prophesy. Yep. Yep. So, a lot of times we fail to give thanks to God for the things that he has done for us.
[8:18] You know, you think about how many times take a prayer meeting. You know, pray for this, pray for this, pray for that, pray for this, pray for that. How often, you know, you notice a prayer meeting, I always start off with any blessings, anything God has done because it gives us a chance to thank God for the things that he has done.
[8:39] You know, pray for this, pray for this, pray for this, pray for this. How often do we come back and say, thank you Lord for taking care of that? A lot of times we just go, oh, God answered that prayer.
[8:51] That's good. That's his job. You know, that's what he's supposed to do. He's supposed to answer prayer. So, okay, get good. And we don't come back and we don't thank him for the things that he has done for us.
[9:01] You know, the thing about it is we often thank for the answer to prayer. We thank for the thing that has been done. We thank for, but how often do we thank the giver?
[9:13] I was thinking about Mary Magdalene and how Jesus, for those who have been forgiven much, they're the ones who love much.
[9:25] Yep. And that expression just realizing God's mercy and love and coming back with love and the things we do and the things we do and the things we do and the things we do and the things we do and the things we do and the things we do and the things we do love and the giver.
[9:45] The other time also I've been blinded by the fact that I get to go back to my family. How's my business doing? How's this going on? What's happening on the farm and things like that?
[9:58] They may have been blinded also or let the world blind them to instead of where the hate that healing actually came from.
[10:10] Yep. So yeah, we need to be thankful for the giver. We're thankful for the gift but don't forget who gave it to you. Psalm 68, 19.
[10:21] Psalm 68, 19 says, Blessed be the Lord who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. He's giving us benefits day after day after day.
[10:33] He's meeting our needs. He's answering prayer. Do we thank him? You go to work. You may not be thankful for the job you have.
[10:43] You may not be thankful for this but are you thankful for the fact that your heart is beating? You're being able to breathe. God has given you the physical ability to go do the things you want to do. Psalm 68, 19.
[10:57] 68, 19. How about 1 Thessalonians 5, 18? 1 Thessalonians 5, 18 says, In everything give thanks for this is the will of God concerning you.
[11:09] So what is God's will for us? We always want to know what God's will is. We always take God's will as this place or that place or this job or that job. He says, In everything give thanks for this is the will of God.
[11:23] How are we doing on fulfilling his will that way? God wants us to be able to do things for him. He wants to be able to answer our prayers and things. But how often are we fulfilling his will just by thanking him?
[11:38] Here's an embarrassing thought. An embarrassing thought. The fact that we would not be thankful. But that happens so often. 1860. There was two boats out on Lake Michigan.
[11:53] One is called the Lady Elgin and it rammed into, rammed by the Augusta. near Evanston, Illinois. There was a ministerial student standing on shore, saw the whole thing happen.
[12:10] Ships going down, people are jumping off. And he went out numerous times to rescue people and bring them back in. And as he did that, he was out there so much in the cold water and stuff that it actually permanently damaged his health.
[12:29] For the rest of his life, he dealt with some health issues because of doing that and rescuing these people and stuff. Some years later, at his funeral, it was noted that not one person, not one, came back and thanked him for rescuing them.
[12:47] Not one. How often do we do that? I don't know if you notice when I pray, usually so often, I'll thank God for different things. Thank him for what he has done for different areas before I get into, you know, the request and before I get into other things in my prayer.
[13:04] Say, thank you God for doing this and thank you God for doing this. Thank him for what he's done. Look at verse 17 and 18. Jesus answering said, were there not ten cleansed and where are the nine?
[13:18] There are not found that returned to give glory to God save this stranger. And I think if Jesus had gotten a hold of the other nine and said, not even a thank you, they would have been embarrassed.
[13:33] They would have thought about it for a second and stuff, but like I said, I think they were so excited about going to do these other things, but remember to give thanks to the giver for what he has done. Margaret? As much as I get to say this, a thought came to me and some of them may have turned to him or even he said, well, that's your job.
[13:55] Yeah. Yeah. You know, that's why you're here. Well, that's why they wound up there, right? They'd heard the stories about Jesus being, healing people and stuff. So like, well, let's go get him to see what he can do.
[14:05] That's what he does. So, possibly. So, Psalm 106, one. Psalm 106, one. Praise ye the Lord. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever.
[14:22] That's a command. Praise ye the Lord. Give thanks unto the Lord. That's, you know, these men obeyed a command. Go see the priests. And as they're going, Psalm 106, one.
[14:35] As they're going, they're being healed. As they're obeying the command, they're being healed. This is a command. Praise ye the Lord. Give thanks unto the Lord. No.
[14:46] We need to be doing that and obeying what he has given to us and watch and see what happens. Jared? Sorry. First, that's long, it's five what? 18. Oh, okay. Five, 18.
[14:57] Yep. Yep. David, in 2 Samuel, is giving a song, prayer, in 2 Samuel 22, 50.
[15:10] 2 Samuel 22, 50, and he says this, Therefore, I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen. I will sing praises unto thy name.
[15:22] I will give thanks among the heathen. Remember that. Psalm 119, 62. Psalm 119, 62.
[15:33] At midnight, I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments. You know, I was thinking about that one. Do you ever have nights when you can't sleep?
[15:45] And a lot of people do. You know, I just can't sleep and stuff. And you're laying there and you're, oh, come on, Lord, why can't I go to sleep and stuff? And, you know, did you notice what he said?
[15:57] At midnight, I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments. What if you just start thanking God? God for the things he's done while you're laying there and wait?
[16:08] Just start thinking about everything that God has done. Fred? The other day, we were supposed to give thanks to Jesus.
[16:20] When did we thank God and when did we thank Jesus? Which one did? Both. Yep. Both at the same time. Because who is Jesus?
[16:32] Jesus is God. So, okay, so when, pick whichever name you want and thank him. Just thank, thank him for all the things he's done.
[16:44] You say, just thank God. Because Jesus is God, so okay. Just thank God. Thank God for Jesus' name. Yep. So, yep. So, yeah, just thank.
[17:00] Sometimes he gives us examples to remind us to be thankful. That's what this whole passage is about right here. To remember to be thankful. We need to be grateful for all the different things he's done.
[17:17] What happens when we're not thankful? You ever stop and think about that? Romans. You get a guilty conscience. You get a guilty conscience. That's one. When we're not thankful for what God has done for us, we just kind of brush it off.
[17:31] It's a coincidence. It's just, you know, that's the way it was going to work out. The universe came together. You know, Romans 1.21. Romans 1.21.
[17:42] Because that, he's talking about unsaved here and stuff. When they knew God, different people come to churches, sit in churches, listen to the gospel, and just reject it and go away.
[17:54] When they knew God, they glorified him not as God. Neither were thankful. But became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
[18:07] When we're not thankful for what God has done to us, when we don't express that thanks for what God has done to us, what does that do to our heart? You know, we start to just like, eh, okay.
[18:20] This has happened, and that's happened, and that's happened, and wow, look at all the coincidences in my life. Margaret? When I'm not thankful, I tend to get odd thoughts that try to pull me away from God.
[18:34] Mm-hmm. And that, like, well, yeah, but Fred worked for the food that's on the table. You know. Yeah. But in reality, God blessed Fred with the ability to work, to provide the food that's on the table, and it's all comes from God.
[18:51] Right. And like I said, God gave him the heartbeat. God gave him the breath. God gave him the ability. God gave him the intellect. God gave him all of those things.
[19:04] When we start to get away from what these lepers did, Jesus, Master. Remember, we talked about that last week. When we get away from that, things start going haywire.
[19:17] So. He says, look, when we get away from that, just like I said there in Romans 121, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful.
[19:29] So we need to be so very careful there. God desires to show us his power. He showed us a miracle of salvation. We have salvation.
[19:41] Through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came, gave his life, went to the cross, rose again, ascended back into heaven. That whole thing is a miracle. And God gave that to us.
[19:54] So that we could have salvation. Are we thankful? You say, yeah, I'm thankful for that. We're thankful when we're first saved. Now that you've been saved for 40, 50, 65, 66 years for me.
[20:11] you know, are we still thankful? Do we still thank him? Do we still understand the importance of what was done? And thank him for everything he's done for us.
[20:23] When it comes to the way that he provides for us, and he answers prayer, and the blessings he gives to us. Do we thank him? For all that he has done. Do we understand?
[20:36] Do we understand? We mentioned this before a week or two ago. We like to be appreciated. When we do things, we like to be appreciated. We like to know people thought what we did was important.
[20:50] And we're made in the image of God. Do you think maybe he likes to know that the things he's done for us, we consider them important, we appreciate them? On the other side of that, when we are hurt, when we are sorrowful, because people disobey God, or don't follow God, it gives us just a glimpse of how God's heart must be.
[21:14] Mm-hmm. When we do that. Yep. So, he has done so much for us. You know, the importance, we can, we can, you know, be kind of thankful, but do we express that thanks?
[21:31] Do we show him? Do we talk to him? You know, Psalm 50, verse 23. Whoso offereth praise, glorifyeth me.
[21:43] And to him that ordereth his conversation, right, will I show the salvation of God. But whosoever offereth praise, glorifyeth me. Psalm 50, verse 23. See, when we're coming with thankful hearts, when we're coming offering praise to God, when we're, we're glorifying him.
[22:02] Example, I mentioned, I can't remember which verse it was, but anyways, I mentioned it, it's about glorifying him and everything, giving praise to him for the things that he has done. The average Christian, I would say, they go out among their family, they go out amongst the workplace, they go out amongst their friends, and as they're talking to their friends, and things are coming up and stuff, and, well, this happened at church, and that pastor said this, and these people at church said this, and these people did this, and they hear us do a lot of complaining.
[22:37] He says, whosoever offereth praise, glorifyeth me. What kind of God do they see, when we're talking about him? You know, we have the opportunity to go out, and be amongst people, who are not saved.
[22:53] Well, this happened at church, and that happened to this person, and, oh, you know what God did for me this week? God did this, and God did that, and God did this other thing, and God, they're going to see a whole different, perspective there.
[23:06] But we also have to remember, why we came to church? Did we come to church, to enter a popularity contest, or did we enter to praise God, and to follow worshipers?
[23:20] Yep. So, why did we come to church? To praise God. To worship God. So, that's what we should take from here, when we go out. There's a psalm that says, God in heaven, to praise the people.
[23:33] Yep. Yep. You want to show God to people? Praise Him. You'll see it. Psalm 105, 1.
[23:44] Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name, make known His deeds among the people. That's what we've just been talking about. Let me read that again.
[23:55] Psalm 105, 1. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name, make known His deeds among the people. See, another command for us to obey.
[24:10] You want to see faith at work? You want to see God working in your life, because we're obeying His commands? He says, go out and tell people what I've done for you. Go out and tell people how I've taken care of you.
[24:21] Go out and tell people how I've met your needs. Go out and tell people all these different things. You know, if you were to stop, you know, a lot of times at Thanksgiving, we'll take a day, and we'll stop, and we'll list things down, you know, that people, for other people that, you know, we're thankful for this, and we're thankful for this, and we're thankful for this.
[24:40] You know, we'll share those at Thanksgiving dinner, and things like that. If you were to sit down and make a list for yourself of things that you're thankful to God for, your salvation should be at the top of the list, right?
[24:55] Thankful for the salvation now. Our health, family, church, job, finances, relationships, success. There's all kinds of things that we should be thankful for, that what God has done for us.
[25:11] John 3, 27. John 3, 27 says this. John answered and said, a man can receive nothing except to be given him from heaven.
[25:26] Everything we have comes from God. Everything we have came from above. Well, James 1, 17. James 1, 17.
[25:36] Every good and perfect, every good gift and every perfect gift. is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights in whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
[25:47] It's everything we have that is good came from above. God gave it to us. So here's the slipper. He came back. He looked past the gift and remembered the giver.
[26:03] He remembered that God gave this to him. God did this for him. He recognized who Jesus was and he gave thanks for the things that he had done for him.
[26:15] One of the things mentioned last week was about the 10 going away and I pointed out that fact that, you know, did they all really get healed?
[26:28] Because he was the only one that returned and I pointed out, you know, it says, verse 14. He says, and when they saw him, he said unto them, go your way, yourselves unto the priest.
[26:44] And it came to pass that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them came back and everything. And then the last verse, 19, it says, and he said, arise, go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole.
[27:06] And I thought some more about that this week. They were all healed, says they. So every time it says they. But it says, this man, your faith has made you whole.
[27:17] I think there was more to it than just the healing. The fact that he came back and recognized where the healing came from. He recognized who Jesus was.
[27:29] I think he left there completely, spiritually, physically, and everything. He was made whole. Well, the rain fall from just and the unjust. Right. So, this healing was granted to them.
[27:43] Yep. They didn't look beyond. They didn't look beyond and he did. He came back for more. He's just like, wow, he healed me. I wonder what he can do for my soul. John, you mentioned John.
[27:57] I hope he said chapter and verse. Man can receive nothing except you've given him from heaven? John 3, 27. 3, 27. Yep. All right.
[28:09] We've got people coming in. Let's have a word of prayer. Father, thank you.