The Ultimate ThanksGiving

[0:00] This morning's message is the ultimate Thanksgiving. And we'll be looking at two psalms this morning that deal with the subject of Thanksgiving.

[0:18] Please turn in the book of Psalms to Psalm 95. O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord.

[0:38] Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving. Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.

[0:53] For the Lord is a great God and a great King above all gods, in whose hand are the depths of the earth.

[1:06] The peaks of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for it was He who made it. And His hands formed the dry land.

[1:19] Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God.

[1:32] And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah, as in the day of Massa in the wilderness.

[1:51] When your fathers tested me, they tried me, though they had seen my work. For forty years I loathed that generation, and said they are a people who err in their heart.

[2:10] And they do not know my ways. Therefore, I swore in my anger. Truly, they shall not enter into my rest.

[2:23] Then please turn over a page to Psalm 100. Psalm 100.

[2:59] Psalm 100.

[3:29] In addition to the passages that Gary just read, we had a really extraordinary video this morning from Focus on the Family.

[3:40] And it was filmed in the Holy Land with Ray Vanderlaan as the narrator. And it was dealing with the subject of bearing the cross of Christ and following the Lord and exactly what that meant.

[3:57] And it certainly put things in a much clearer perspective for myself and I'm sure for many others as well. And it really ties in with the whole subject of thanksgiving.

[4:08] And it's not the believer. And it's not the believer who has an adequate appreciation for what God has done for him in Christ.

[4:21] And it must be a thanksgiving that he or she can render the right attitude of thanksgiving. And it must be a thanksgiving that is born out of an intelligent understanding.

[4:38] And the most dynamic thing that that will provide in the life of a believer is simply this. In other words, belief is designed to affect behavior.

[5:03] It is out of what we know and true that our spirit of thanksgiving arises that then results in an obedient lifestyle, not out of necessity, but out of desire and gratitude.

[5:20] We do not serve the Lord and worship the Lord and honor the Lord because we're afraid not to. We do it because it is the only logical, consistent thing to do that comes from a heart of thanksgiving.

[5:37] And that's what this day is really all about. And a great many people do not appreciate it or understand it. And really, we have no reason to chide the world for not understanding it or even expecting them to.

[5:51] Because they simply do not have the spiritual equipment that would allow them to do that. They are of all people, of course, to be most pitied. And insofar as believers are concerned, and I'm talking about those who truly know the Lord, the body of Christ or the people of God that actually existed before the body of Christ was ever founded, has always suffered from what I call a kind of spiritual anemia.

[6:27] The people of God have always had to contend with this. And what I mean by that, a spiritual anemia is kind of akin to a physical anemia.

[6:39] If you're feeling very poorly and no energy and no zest and no pep and you don't know why and you're a little bit concerned and you go to the doctor and the doctor takes some blood from you and does a sample on the blood, comes back and tells you, well, no wonder you feel weak and run down.

[6:59] You're anemic. What does that mean? That simply means that your body is lacking in the red blood cells or the hemoglobin that it needs to keep your energy level up.

[7:10] And you feel like you're just drained, sapped all the time. And you never can accomplish what you need to accomplish because you're just bushed continually.

[7:23] There are a lot of believers like that spiritually. They are spiritually anemic because they do not have in their spirit the information that is necessary to provide them with that spirit of thanksgiving and gratitude.

[7:39] And I cannot think of a clearer example of the people of God than those with whom Moses had to contend in the Old Testament. The Israelites out of Egypt are prime examples as reflected in an ongoing spirit of ingratitude.

[8:00] Because thanksgiving is the response to what one has learned about what has been done on their behalf.

[8:10] If you really get a handle on that, it will change your life for the rest of your life. And we do enter into it just a little bit with the salvation experience.

[8:25] But as the old saying goes, the gospel, salvation is the end of the gospel, but it's only the front end. And there is so much more to come afterwards that so many believers do not really take to themselves and appreciate.

[8:46] And that is what allows this spirit of thanksgiving and gratitude within them to just soar. It is akin to what the apostle Paul said when he wrote to the Philippians and he said, Rejoice always, evermore rejoice, in all things give thanks.

[9:10] Well, how can you do that? Why should you do that? Especially when you're having a bad day and things are going wrong and you've had all kinds of disappointments. But if you truly get a handle on who you are in Christ and what God has done for you in Christ, that in and of itself overcomes and transcends all the obstacles, all the disappointments, and all the heartaches.

[9:35] It's the only thing that really puts everything in perspective. And so many Christians do not have an appreciation to that, to enable them to do that.

[9:46] And it results in being a chronic grumbler and complainer and a griper. Just like the children of Israel coming out of the land of Egypt. Regardless of what God had done for them, one miracle of deliverance after another, whether it was the quail from heaven, the manna, the water from the rock, parting of the Dead Sea, it was never enough.

[10:08] And these people were dominated by a sense of ingratitude. It's just amazing. And it all stems from a lack of appreciation of who God is and what he has really done for you in Christ.

[10:27] Because once you get a handle on that, the oh, whoa, what did I ever do to deserve this, and all the rest of the griping that goes along with it just goes right out the window.

[10:38] When James wrote and said, count it all joy, brethren, when you fall into divers testings, many testings, count it all joy?

[10:50] What, are you crazy? Count it all joy? Well, again, it depends on your perspective. And perspective changes everything.

[11:01] When you are able to see your life and your world as God sees it, with his unlimited perspective, as opposed to the way we see it, which is very often wrong or incomplete, the difference is just incredible.

[11:20] And what God wants us to do is to view our situation and our world more through his eyes than through our eyes.

[11:32] And how are you going to do that? That brings you right down to the scriptures. And there's nowhere else to go. Because there is no other place on the planet where you will get God's perspective about anything other than in his word.

[11:49] And when we do not track in the word and feast on the word and understand the word, we are limited, we are confined of necessity to our own measly, little, griping, complaining perspective about what all is wrong with me and what all is wrong with the world and what all is wrong and why doesn't God do something and where is he when you need him and on and on and on it goes.

[12:17] This dynamic is designed to overcome any and every obstacle. And I found myself saying more and more when people say things to me like, Hey, Marv, how are you doing?

[12:31] My standard answer is becoming more and more better than I deserve. Better than I deserve. It was something to be thankful for. And I'm not just clichéing it or it's not pie in the sky by and by, but this, it all has to do with perspective.

[12:50] Perspective means how you see things. Your worldview. Let's go for a moment to Genesis chapter 39.

[13:03] Here's an example of behavior that is guided by belief. Genesis chapter 39. It's a fascinating account.

[13:13] I'm sure you're familiar with it. You'll recognize it right away when we get there. It has to do with Joseph. An old, old story. The temptation that was placed before him regarding Potiphar's wife.

[13:27] And I'm in Genesis 39. And let's just begin reading with verse 5, if we may. Genesis 39 and verse 5.

[13:38] And it came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house on account of Joseph. Thus, the Lord's blessing was upon all that he owned in the house and in the field.

[13:55] So he left everything he owned in Joseph's charge. And with him, there he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate. Now, Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.

[14:11] I guess today we would say that Joseph was a stud. Okay? Good looking, kind of an Adonis kind of guy. And it came about after these events that his master's wife looked with desire at Joseph.

[14:31] I remember the first time I ever read that it really struck me as strange because I didn't think women did that. I thought only men did that. Men looked upon women with desire but women looked upon men as, eh, take it or leave it, you know.

[14:47] But apparently I was wrong about that too. So I guess there is something in the female psyche that has an attraction to the male as well. And the text says that she looked with desire at Joseph and she said, lie with me.

[15:14] I don't think I need to be any more specific than what is recorded here. this was an invitation. She was attempting to seduce him.

[15:27] Now what is any red-blooded Jewish boy going to do in a situation like that? well, we all know machinations of the flesh and the temptations that does so easily beset us.

[15:47] But Joseph didn't do what any ordinary guy in his place would do. Because an ordinary guy in his place would say, what could I do?

[16:04] She threw herself at me. I mean, am I going to pass up an opportunity like that? You think I'm crazy? That might be the typical perspective.

[16:17] Especially given what's going on in our culture now with all of the sexual peccadilloes coming to light in the lives of some people of influence.

[16:29] And there's only one reason that Joseph did not succumb. Just one reason. He had a different perspective. He didn't see the situation as the average person saw it.

[16:45] He saw it as God would see it. And I just love this man's answer. Look at what he says. He refused and said to his master's wife, Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge.

[17:09] There is no one greater in this house than I. In other words, Joseph is saying, this man has placed absolute trust and confidence in me and in my integrity.

[17:26] responsibility. He has put me in a position of responsibility that is awesome. How then?

[17:39] In other words, he hasn't, my master Pharaoh hasn't put anything off limits to me except you.

[17:51] and now you are suggesting that you should not be off limits too. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?

[18:10] And this too is something that a great many people do not understand because we tend to think that our sin is limited to the person against whom we commit it. but it's never limited that way.

[18:24] We do not have the ability to limit our sin when once we commit it. There is always the fallout factor that is not anticipated, that is not understood.

[18:37] And the typical response to this is, well, it's my life and it's my body and I'm not hurting anybody else. It's just been, no, no, no, no, no. You can't get away with that.

[18:48] Nobody is an island. Nobody lives alone. There is always the fallout factor. There is always plenty of hurt and disappointment and pain to spread around when someone engages in sinful behavior, but ultimately it is always, first and foremost, a slap in the face of the Almighty.

[19:10] It is an insult to God to act in a way that is contrary to His nature, especially when He has called you to Himself and redeemed you and made you one of His own.

[19:23] Your behavior is to reflect your gratitude, is to be reflected in your gratitude and your thanksgiving. I cannot think, I cannot think of a greater oxymoron than an ungrateful Christian.

[19:44] I mean, gratitude ought to just be our standard fare. always being thankful for all things in Christ. It's just something that ought to pervade the whole Christian community so that we could come across as a composite group of people, a body of believers, that are just joy filled because they know who they are and what they have been made in Christ and they are just overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude.

[20:19] That will affect your attitude. It will affect your agenda. It will affect your value system. It will affect your giving as well as your thanksgiving.

[20:34] It will impact every area of your life. Let's go for a moment, if we may, to the New Testament. And in Romans chapter 12, very familiar passage.

[20:44] We've been through it before, but it has been a number of years. Romans chapter 12. Where the apostle says, I urge you therefore, brethren.

[21:05] Now, I know some of you have been tracking with the series that we have been doing on Christianity Clarified and the subject of hermeneutics, which is the art and science of the study and interpretation of the Bible.

[21:20] And we have been setting forth numerous principles, solid concepts and ideas that ought to come into play when we come to a passage of scripture and we are searching for the meaning, the interpretation of it.

[21:35] And that's what hermeneutics is all about. Because if you cannot, if you cannot understand what a text of scripture is saying, then there is no way you can provide an intelligent response to it.

[21:53] It's impossible. So in order to be what we are to be and to do what we are to do, we need to know and understand what we're reading. And that's where hermeneutics comes in because interpretation of the Bible is an absolutely critical thing because after all, it is the Word of God.

[22:12] And one of the principles very early on that we learned is that chapter divisions are not inspired of God. Five hundred years ago, there were no chapters in the Bible.

[22:25] It was just one continuous book. And there were no verses either. Those are all added by men. And they are great in the sense that they allow us to locate a text.

[22:37] It gives us an address, chapter and verse, so we can turn to it and find it. But they weren't given that way in the original autograph. And that means, of course, the chapter divisions, many of which are unfortunate.

[22:49] They break up the continuity. They disturb the thought pattern. And here is a case like that. You've heard the cliche and you've heard me say it a number of times. You've probably heard every preacher say it. Whenever you come to the word therefore or wherefore in the Bible, you should always stop and say what it's there for.

[23:03] because it is indicating that there is a conclusion that is being reached. And the beginning of a chapter is a terrible place to start a conclusion.

[23:15] You want to put the conclusion at the end, not at the beginning. And when he says, I urge you, therefore, brethren, therefore, the word therefore means in light of everything that I've said up to this point.

[23:27] Therefore, ergo, conclusion, result, result, and when you start the chapter that way, it completely invades the continuity and it just disturbs the whole thing.

[23:41] So, I think that this is going back into chapter 11. And if we may just conclude in verse 33, for brevity's sake, of chapter 11, he says, oh, the depth of the riches, both, of the wisdom and knowledge of God, it's God's wisdom and God's knowledge that gives him his perspective.

[24:14] How unsearchable are his judgments and unfathomable his ways. for who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became his counselor?

[24:25] This is a quote from the Old Testament, and it is inserted here. If you've got a new American Standard Bible, yours is probably in capital letters as mine is, indicating that it's taken from the Old Testament, from Job 35 and Job 41.

[24:39] Or who has first given to him that it might be paid back to him again? For from him, and through him, and to him, are all things, to whom be the glory forever.

[24:52] I urge you, therefore, in light of that, keep that thought in mind, in light of that, that you, by the mercies of God, that simply means on the basis of the incredible mercy that God has provided for you.

[25:12] Mercy, mercy is the withholding of what is due, of what is deserved. Mercy is the withholding of the justice of God.

[25:25] And what Paul is saying is on the basis of God not giving you what you deserve, which should evoke tremendous gratitude within you, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies.

[25:40] And here, the word present, of course, is used as a verb. It's an action word. And sometimes it's used as a noun.

[25:51] And when the word present is used as a noun, we don't call it present, we call it present. So what Paul is actually saying is that we present a present.

[26:05] And the present that we are to present is ourselves. You make a present to God.

[26:19] And the text goes on to say, your bodies, that pretty well sums up everything that you are. Your body, the whole of your being, a living and holy sacrifice.

[26:36] Now, if anybody knew something about sacrifices, it was the Jewish people because they cut their theological teeth on the whole principle of sacrifice, animal sacrifice. Starts way back in Genesis.

[26:47] In fact, it's found as early as Genesis 3, where God slew an animal, sacrificial animal, to make a covering for Adam and Eve.

[27:01] So this concept of sacrifice goes all the way back. And it is predicated upon the principle of substitution, whereby the innocent dies for the guilty.

[27:17] That is not justice. Justice says the guilty dies for the guilty. That's justice. When the innocent dies for the guilty, that's grace.

[27:34] That's what Jesus did. That's completely contrary to everything and anything we know. And by the way, this whole concept of grace is probably the most foreign element that the world has to deal with when it comes to understanding Christianity.

[27:53] Because it's all about grace. And that's completely contrary to the way we think, the way we operate. It's not the way the world works. The world doesn't run on the axles of grace.

[28:05] It runs on the axles of justice. And that is pretty poorly administered most of the time. So here, our bodies are to be a living and holy sacrifice.

[28:19] And there is a real problem. There is a real problem that is encountered with the living sacrifice. And that is, when you slay an animal and lay it on the altar as a sacrifice to God, as they did in the Old Testament under the Mosaic system, I can assure you of this, the animal is not going anywhere.

[28:41] It just lies there and bleeds. That's all it's going to do. That's all it can do, because it's dead. But a living sacrifice is always faced with the temptation to crawl back down off that altar.

[28:58] And go your own way. And we are so good at that. We are so good at that. It's to be a permanent kind of thing.

[29:14] A living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And some translations render this, and I think that it's a good rendering, and theologically it certainly is correct, which is your logical, expected service.

[29:36] In other words, when we offer ourselves as a living sacrifice to God, we are doing only that which is our reasonable service, even then you have not gone above and beyond the call of duty.

[29:58] Now, that's an amazing thing. In other words, you can't go above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to rendering to the Lord what belongs to him.

[30:10] even if you wear a martyr crown, so what? Many have worn it before you, and the one who mattered most of all wore it also.

[30:24] No big deal. Not even if you give your life. Not that big a deal in comparison to what has been done for you and why it was done for you.

[30:38] This amazing love. If we, if we, and when I say we, trust me, I'm including myself. If we can get this concept imbibed in our soul and our spirit, don't tell me it will not dramatically affect the way we conduct our lives and the way we treat each other and the way we serve and minister and our value system and our agenda and everything else.

[31:05] After all, no one is ever expected to have a personal encounter with Jesus Christ and ever be the same. Two great reasons that God had in mind when he saves us.

[31:20] I'm sure there's probably a host that I don't know about, but there are two that really stick out in my mind. Two things that God wanted to accomplish when he saved you.

[31:30] One is change your destiny for eternity. That's the long haul. That's the eternal.

[31:41] And the other is change your life for now, for here and now. For if anyone is in Christ, he's not to be the same old person.

[31:52] He's to be a new creation. One for whom and in whom all things have passed away and everything has become new. That's supposed to be standard operating procedure.

[32:03] And as we grow and develop and mature in Christ, it is reflected more and more in not only our attitude, but in our actions. And when Paul says, it is your spiritual service of worship, it's another way of saying, you're not doing anything that isn't expected of you.

[32:27] That's supposed to be the norm. And do not be conformed to this world. Many of you, I'm sure, are familiar with a way that some popular translators have rendered this, and it's a pretty good rendering, too.

[32:44] It conveys the idea. And it's translated by some, and do not allow the world to cram you into its mold.

[32:56] Because the world has a mold. It has a way of thinking. The world has its own worldview, its own mindset, its own value system.

[33:07] And what they want to do is cram you into it. And when you refuse to be crammed into it, but you live apart from it, you can very easily become an intolerant nuisance.

[33:24] in fact, you may be disliked so greatly that some would deem you being unworthy of continuing to live.

[33:40] And even as we speak, there are literally, and I'm not speaking with hyperbole, there are thousands of believers being put to death in different parts of the world or facing death, many of whom will not be alive when the sun rises tomorrow.

[33:57] For the simple reason that they are believers in Jesus Christ. That's it. It's going to cost them their life. This ties right in with what Ray Vanderlaan was talking about this morning.

[34:08] Doesn't it, Ron? Indeed it does. do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed. That means, transformed means move from one place to another, or from one attitude to another, from one mindset to another.

[34:30] This is a dramatic change that is to be taking place within us, and it is realized by the renewing of your mind.

[34:41] what does that mean? It means that before you came to Christ, you had a lot of old stuff in your mind.

[34:54] You had a lot of old value systems, old ideas, old ambitions, old desires, and all the rest of that old stuff. And it was all in consort with the world.

[35:05] You were in step with the world, in league with the world, marched to the world's drummer. After all, it was the only one you knew. And when we are conformed to Christ, we move out of that, and the mind begins a process of being made over.

[35:26] How do you remake a mind? You remake a mind by pushing new stuff into it that forces old stuff out.

[35:37] God's God's world. When you get into the word of God, you see values and principles and goals and objectives and agendas that are developed there that are completely contrary to the ones that the world has.

[35:51] And you need to recognize the difference. So when you do, you have choices to make. There is tension that is set up in the psyche of the individual.

[36:02] Are you going to go this way or are you going to go this way? This is the way the world goes. This is the way most of my friends are. Frankly, I'm going to be out of step. I'm going to be considered an oddball if I go this way.

[36:16] So the temptation is don't renew your mind. After all, you're saved. You're going to heaven. That's all you need to worry about. Don't sweat the other stuff.

[36:28] Just go along with the flow. You know, go along to get along. Don't make a scene. Don't be a weirdo. Don't be different. The temptation is to be conformed to the world because it's so easy to do.

[36:46] Someone has said, even a dead fish can float downstream. It doesn't take much effort, you know. And that's the way some Christians are viewed.

[36:59] But be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove or demonstrate what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

[37:11] That is thorough, complete, finished. For through the grace given to me, I say to every man among you, not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think.

[37:23] That doesn't mean that you're not supposed to think highly of yourself, because you are. are. You are supposed to think highly of yourself because you are a person of value.

[37:36] You have inherent worth and dignity simply because you are made in the image and likeness of God. And that, in and of itself, makes you a worthy individual.

[37:50] So we are not to degrade ourselves. We are not to think, I'm a nothing, I'm a nobody. No, because in Christ you are someone. And after all, he paid the ultimate price to secure you.

[38:01] And that adds to your value. Jesus Christ has an enormous investment in you. Not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think, but to think so as to have sound judgment as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.

[38:24] And then he goes on and talks about ministering one to another in the body. And that's where this kind of a new attitude reflects itself and is shown.

[38:36] It simply means this, that when we understand who we are in Christ, the price that Christ has made for us, it will fill our hearts and minds with a sense of gratitude, optimism, joy, that will cause us to spend and be spent for Jesus Christ in the service and ministry of others and just get a whale, a bang out of life in doing it.

[39:03] And there's no drudgery involved, there's no have-to involved, it is just a joyful, exuberant kind of loving service that finds a fulfillment in doing so that nothing else can provide.

[39:22] that's, to me, that's what Thanksgiving is really all about. If your faith, if your faith has not impacted your behavior and your attitudes, are you sure you've got the real thing?

[39:48] I'd like to have a word of prayer and then I want to open it for a few moments of open form. Okay? Father, there isn't anyone on the entire planet who has more for which to be profoundly grateful than a believer in Jesus Christ.

[40:06] We are enriched in him, in all spiritual realities. We are plutocrats spiritually. We possess so much more than we know or understand.

[40:21] We are actually heirs of God and joint heirs of Christ. And we can't begin to fathom what that means. But we know that one day we're going to get a much greater appreciation of it than what we have now.

[40:37] But for now, every one of us, myself included, has plenty of room for growth, development, maturity, with the spirit of gratitude and thanksgiving, help us see that it all stems from our realization and appreciation of who we are in Christ, and once again, that incredible price that was paid.

[41:08] Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. Our prayer is that each and every person who is here right now may know the joy and the peace, pardon, sins forgiven, may have the assurance and the joy that comes with it, that heaven is their home, not because they've been good enough, but because Jesus Christ died as their substitute, and their faith is in him.

[41:37] May they realize that if they've never done so before, come to an appreciation of it. And if you were here this morning, dear friend, maybe some of this is new to you, maybe all of it's new to you.

[41:52] Question is, what are you going to do with it? It's decision time, something needs to be done, and you can leave here just as you came in and go your way, nothing's changed, or you can say, I want what Pastor Wiseman's been talking about.

[42:13] I want that peace and that assurance, I want the ability, I want the ability to be conformed to the image of Christ as opposed to the world.

[42:26] And although I have questions and fears and doubts, I know one thing, I know I have a need, I cannot meet it, and I know that that's why Jesus Christ came, and I want him as my Savior.

[42:40] Man or woman, boy or girl, if that's your decision, I can assure you that God is listening very intently. And right in the privacy of your seat, right where you are, you can say to God, who will eagerly hear you, Lord, I just know that I need you, and I want you, and I believe that you had me in mind when you died on that cross, and I want to put my trust and my faith in you, I want you to make me that new creation, and instill that sense of thanksgiving in me that I've never known.

[43:24] I want Jesus. Thank you for sending him and providing him for me. I take him as my own.

[43:36] And dear friend, if you've made that your prayer, you may be sure that there is joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner that repents, and joy over yours.

[43:50] Tell someone, let someone know that you've made that decision so they can be of encouragement to you. Thank you, Father, for the richness that we have in the Lord Jesus, and for all of the thanksgiving that's going to be rendered unto you, and you will deserve a lot more than that.

[44:11] But we are grateful for believers here in this assembly who have been able to comprehend the reality that belief does impact and change behavior, and that's part of the dynamic that you've provided.

[44:32] Thank you for each of them in Christ's name. Amen. Okay, I have you a question or comment. Got a few minutes. Anyone?

[44:56] Okay, John? Joseph was basically given the same choice as Adam and Eve, and he made the right choice basically to the saving of all Egypt and ultimately his own family.

[45:16] Yeah, yeah, exactly. I thought that was pretty interesting. Yeah, and at the expense of repeating myself on being a broken record, Joseph faced the same decision, as John said, that Adam and Eve faced.

[45:29] In essence, it was this. What do you accept as your authority? That'll settle it right there. Every time, that'll settle it.

[45:42] Joseph accepted God as his authority. That's what prevented him from caving in to the temptation. Simple as that.

[45:53] When Adam and Eve were confronted, they accepted the authority of Satan. And that's what enabled them to cave in.

[46:05] And, like I said, when they disobeyed God, you see, God, God was the focus of Adam and Eve's life.

[46:19] And when they disobeyed God, their focus was transferred from God to themselves and their children, we don't understand, and I'd be the first to admit it, we do not understand the spiritual dynamic that occurred in the life of Adam and Eve when they disobeyed God.

[46:47] we don't know how that works. Something in their psyche was changed so that they were not the same.

[46:57] And we do know this, we do know that one of the first consequences of their sin was guilt. And they had never known guilt before because they'd never done anything to feel guilty about.

[47:10] but now guilt is emotional pain that is caused from the violation of a standard.

[47:22] And when we do that, we feel guilty. We're supposed to. They didn't have that capacity before but now they do. And it's played out in their progeny.

[47:37] They passed that on. You see, whatever Adam and Eve experienced by way of change when they partook of that fruit, and I'm not suggesting, I don't know what the fruit was, neither does anybody else because the Bible doesn't say.

[47:53] It just says it was tree, fruit, and we think it was an apple but we don't know what it was. And I'm not suggesting that there was some chemical composition in that mysterious fruit that somehow changed their system, their psyche, their makeup.

[48:15] I'm not, I'm saying, I don't know how it worked. I know that something occurred in their being that was different from the way God made them.

[48:27] He didn't create them that way. Because as God had created them and they were part of creation, he was able to include them in the pronouncement that, it was all very good.

[48:39] That included Adam and Eve. But when they disobeyed him, God was no longer able to say that. It wasn't very good. Things had changed. And whatever it was that we perhaps one day will understand how the dynamic altered, altered the very being of Adam and Eve and made them different from what God had made them so that it is a permanent part of their being that they passed on to Cain and Abel.

[49:17] And you know what happened from that story. And from every generation up to this present, there has been the continuation, the passing on of that dynamic, whatever, however it was, called Sin.

[49:35] It is the human what shall we say? Just call it the the human sin that what's the word I'm looking for?

[49:56] Senior moments. You've got to love old people. Yeah, well, anyway, it permeated their being and they passed it on.

[50:07] And you know, every generation has passed it on. No generation has escaped it. Hey, don't you understand this is why people kill each other? Do you understand that? Do you understand this is why people steal and lie and cheat?

[50:21] This is why nations go to war? Do you understand that? And this, by the way, is the only place on the planet where you will find the explanation for why the world is the way it is.

[50:36] It's the only place you'll find it. It's right there in the book. And the only person who escaped this curse, this disease, this disease called sin, terminal, that's the word I was looking for, like terminal cancer, were all infected with a terminal disease called sin.

[50:59] It's going to kill you. It's going to kill you. It's going to ruin your body. And the only one who ever escaped it was Jesus Christ. And he would not have escaped it if it had not been for the virgin birth.

[51:14] Because that's what provided the dynamic for him to avoid being cursed with sin like everyone else was. That's why he and he alone was the spotless lamb of God without spot and without blemish.

[51:32] Utterly unique. And I'm going to close with this because I forgot to mention it earlier, but we've got on the table in the back where the, I think that's where the brown cloth is back there.

[51:45] there's a stack of CDs that are volume six of the person of Christ and they are in red and green paper sleeves.

[51:59] They're for your use or for your distribution. And they all deal with the person of Christ, beginning with his uniqueness all the way through his crucifixion, his death, resurrection, the whole nine yards.

[52:10] Twenty-two segments, each just about three and a half minutes long dealing with some aspect of the person of Christ. And we gave these out last year for Christmas and some people include them in their Christmas cards and you distribute them to friends and neighbors and we'll make as many as you can distribute and they are back there.

[52:30] And the red ones and the green ones, they're identical. There's just a different color sleeve, but they all have to deal with the person of Christ. And it's fairly comprehensive and I think you will enjoy it and many of you are already familiar with it.

[52:46] So would you stand please? Father, we're truly thankful for what we know and we even want to be thankful for what we don't know because we know you've got treasured up, stored up things for us, for our blessing and benefit that are just mind-boggling.

[53:10] And one day we'll know the full impact of them and we're even grateful for those things and we look forward to understanding them and appreciating them so we can render to you the appropriate Thanksgiving due to your name.

[53:25] In the name of the Savior we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.