30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
lUKE 22 14-20 PARTAKING OF THE LORD’S SUPPER 06 Luke 22 17-19 A thankful person
📖 Luke 22:14-20
*FRIEND OF GOD*
Wed21Jul2021 - *A thankful person* - _Luke 22:14-20_ – PARTAKING OF THE LORD’S SUPPER (06) – Bible reading: _Hebrews 13:15-16_
The Lord wants us to always be thankful people. As we are thankful, there is great cleansing and healing that happens within us. We are released from all the bitterness and heaviness of heart. Resentment destroys us and makes us people who are inward-looking, without any vision for what the Lord is accomplishing.
The Lord has put within us the capacity to be thankful to Him, always.
_Luke 22:17-19 Then He took the cup, and *gave thanks*, and said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves; (18) for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." (19) And He took bread, *gave thanks* and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me."_
We have now come to the main part of the Lord’s supper, the drinking from the cup and feeding on the bread. We will be spending substantial time here so that we can get deep insight into the Lord’s supper.
Before we begin looking into the substance of partaking of the bread and wine, there is a matter here that is often not considered. This is the *element of giving thanks*.
_I Corinthians 11:23-24 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; (24) and *when He had given thanks*, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me."_
Before we partake of the bread and the wine at the Lord’s supper, we must first be, thankful people.
In this world, we experience bitterness, resentment and sorrow that weigh on us and destroys us. Even as we come to the Lord’s supper, we are not able to put away our burdens and we go through the Lord’s supper as a formality.
Friends, this ought not to be. *To partake of the Lord’s supper, we must come with a thankful heart*.
Jesus was always thankful. As we read the narrative of our Lord in the gospels, we find that He gave thanks, repeatedly, and on all occasions.
As the Lord instituted the Lord’s supper, He began by giving thanks.
_I Thessalonians 5:18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you._
Continuously, in life, we need to cultivate the heart as well as the verbal articulation of thankfulness to God.
Friend, how is it with you? Are you a thankful person? Are you able to give thanks always? Or, are you a person full of woes and complaints? Would you repent and ask the Lord to change you to be a thankful person?
When you start giving thanks, you will be changed, miraculously. You will be joyfully surprised at yourself.
Job went through immense suffering. How did Job respond?
_Job 1:21-22 And he said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; *Blessed be the name of the LORD*." (22) In all this *Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong*._
To say, “Blessed be the name of the Lord” is to say, “Lord, I thank you”. Even at the time of great suffering, Job was still thankful to God.
He never charged God with wrong.
It is one thing to be thankful to God when our problems are resolved and our difficulties have turned to good but it is entirely something else to be thankful to God when the problem remains and the difficulties are very much present.
_Habakkuk 3:17-18 Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls— (18) Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation._
It is when we are thankful in the midst of the difficult times of life, that we will rise with new strength and energy.
_Habakkuk 3:19 The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills. To the Chief Musician. With my stringed instruments._
In life, *when we are not thankful, we are actually charging God with the wrong*. This becomes a serious matter.
_Psalms 34:1 I will bless the LORD at all times; *His praise shall continually be in my mouth*._
_Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, *giving thanks to God the Father through Him*._
In all the work that we do, throughout the day, there needs to be a song of praise and thanks to God, on our hearts and on our lips.
_Ephesians 5:19-21 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, *singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord*, (20) *giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ*, (21) submitting to one another in the fear of God._
The experience of being thankful enables us to submit to one another. There is a correlation between a thankful spirit and harmony in the body of Christ. Where there is unthankfulness and grumbling, there will be divisions and acrimony in the fellowship of God’s people.
_Hebrews 13:15-16 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, *the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name*. (16) But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased._
When we are thankful, it also changes us to become those who do good and share. Whereas, an unthankful person, will tend to be self-centred and unable to think of others.
*Thought to ponder*
```Thankfulness to God is a way of placing God at the centre of our lives.```