Well, if you would join me in Luke 17, I know you were looking more forward to hearing them sing than me get up and talk, but God knows what we need, right? Luke chapter 17. How many of you would be interested in one activity that produces better sleep? Stronger immunity, a higher sense of self value, decreased stress, lower blood pressure, less anxiety, less depression, stronger relationships, higher levels of optimism and a greater life satisfaction. One activity that would produce all of that. How many of you would be interested? You say, pastor, what's the magic pill? What's the price? Well, the good news is it's not a fad diet. It's not a fitness program. It sounds too good to be true. And yet all of these come from one activity. In fact, not just all of these, but even more, and you're thinking, pastor's been watching the latest pharmaceutical commercial on repeat. No, in fact, this list of benefits comes without any side effects that are negative whatsoever. You're interested now, aren't you? What is the one activity that produces all of these it's a consistent practice of life Called the practice of gratitude I'm serious Gratitude Consistently practiced produces all of those benefits without any negative side effects. And I know we're 13 weeks away from Thanksgiving, so some of you were really caught off guard by that. But the next portion of our study through the gospel according to Luke really focuses our attention in a narrative on the theme of gratitude or thankfulness. Luke chapter 17 in your Bibles, if you would, begin following along as I read in verse 11. And it came to pass as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him 10 men that were lepers, which stood afar off. 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. 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 he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? They are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, arise, go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole. We have before us one of the accounts of great miracle performed by Jesus ten men infected with the dreaded disease of leprosy cried out to Jesus for help and Jesus worked and they experienced miraculous healing And as you follow the course of the story, they've already departed from Jesus when they experience the healing and when they do, one of 10 returns. To show gratitude. To express thankfulness to the one who had healed them. So Jesus asks a couple of pointed questions. Were there not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? If ten were cleansed, ten should have returned to say, thank you. I appreciate it. I appreciate you. I appreciate what you did for me. But only one came back. Ten were healed. Ten were set free. Ten were given a new lease on life. Ten were renewed. Ten were restored. But only one came back to thank Jesus. Were there not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? I'm challenged with the same question today, aren't you? Have you been healed? Have you been restored? Have you been set free? Have you been renewed? Have you been changed? Have you been given a new lease on life? The thief cometh but to steal and to kill and to destroy. I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundant. You see, if you're a child of God, If you have trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, you have been set free from the penalty of sin. You've been given a new lease on life. In fact, you've been given life anew, life again. You've been restored. You've been changed. Because of the life he lived, the death he died, and his resurrection from the grave, you have had these experiences. And so the psalmist says in Psalm 107, 1 and 2, Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy. In Luke chapter 1, John the Baptist's father, Zacharias, is filled with the Holy Spirit and is giving prophecy about his son, and then it transitions to prophecy about the Messiah. And as he speaks about the Messiah, he speaks of the Messiah as one who will come to give light in the land of darkness. who will come to set them free from bondage, who will deliver them from the hand of the enemy, that they may be able to serve him without fear in righteousness all their days. You see, friends, we who know Jesus Christ have experienced this. We've experienced new life. We have new life in Christ. We've been set free. We've been changed. We've been restored. We've been renewed. And so we should say so. And part of that testimony of saying so is a life of gratitude. A few years ago now, Stephanie Started a new practice with our children our children are no different than anyone else's children They're brought up in a pastor's home, but they have to learn the same things that we all have to learn. And a few years back, as we were dealing with our children regularly saying things like, I want this, and I want that, and this isn't fair, and that's not fair, and I don't want this. Stephanie began a practice, anytime we hear something along those lines, we report with, tell me something you're thankful for. But it's not just children who struggle with that kind of attitude, is it? One writer said it this way, people do not have to be taught to ask for and demand things, they have to be taught to give thanks. Let's examine our text, and from our text this morning, I'll have to move quickly, I wanna give you four scenes that we find, followed by four applications for our lives. Scene number one is the request. Verses 11 through 13 introduce us to these ten as Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem where he would lay down his life for every man woman and child He came to this village where ten lepers Came to him. They stood at a distance and they cried out Jesus Master have mercy on us these ten men were infected with a terrible disease and Completely cut off from their families from society because of it They were hopeless and helpless. There was no cure. There was no treatment for leprosy in the day. It was a death sentence But somehow they learned that Jesus was coming through town. And remember, we're getting toward the tail end of Jesus' ministry. So he's known, he's famous or infamous, depending on who you were in Israel during those days. They had heard about the things you do, and so standing at a distance, because the law required them to do so, they called out to Jesus for mercy. Every man, woman, and child has a connection with these lepers. The Bible tells us that leprosy is a picture of sin. Isaiah 1 verses 4 through 6 in particular describes leprosy in term or excuse me, sin in terms of leprosy. the things that leprosy does to the body, sin does to the spirit and to the soul. And like leprosy cuts off a person from society, so sin separates the sinner from God. Isaiah 59 in verse 2 makes this clear. In the New Testament, we find out that because of sin, we are aliens, strangers from God, without hope in the world, without God or His Son, we are cut off at a distance from Him. But just like Jesus came to the town where these lepers were, so God sent Jesus from heaven to this world full of sinners. what is man that thou are mindful of him and the son of that thou visitest him the psalmist wrote and that visitation took place when jesus was incarnated and became Human, he left the glories of heaven to come to this world sick with sin to people Separated from God because of sin that we might find mercy in him. He lived the life We couldn't he was perfect. He died the death we deserve death Separated from God my god my god. Why has thou forsaken me? He cried from the cross and he rose three days later from the grave and Notice how the lepers cried out to him, Jesus, his personal name, and identifies his purpose. Acts chapter four, verse 12 tells us, there is none other name, the name of Jesus, under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved. Master it's a title identifying his Position he is the Lord of heaven and earth the conqueror of sin death and howl for whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved and they said what have mercy on us Nothing and no one else could meet the need of Only jesus could and the same is true for you. The same is true for me Scene number two that was the request notice the restoration Jesus responds interestingly. Do you find it? Neat how jesus Performs miracles interacts with people who need miracles in different ways Sometimes he touches them Sometimes he speaks to them. Sometimes he's not even there and does the work. In one case, he spit into the dirt and made mud and rubbed it on the blind man's eyes and told him to rinse, and he was healed. In this case, he does something extremely unique. He doesn't say, be cleansed. He doesn't touch them. He simply says, go. Show yourself to the priest. Why would he do such a thing? This was what the law said should happen if you go back and study in Leviticus with different skin diseases, skin infections of which leprosy was one. When a person was cleansed of that infection, of that disease, They were to go present themselves to the priest so that the priest could declare them clean. And then they would perform a ritual cleansing and sacrifice as a way of giving thanks to God. Jesus has not healed these men. They're still infected their skin still shows the signs of leprosy and yet jesus says Go show yourself to the priest At that moment they weren't healed at that moment. He hadn't touched them He simply told them to go and do what they should do as if They had been healed The lepers didn't question They didn't raise an argument. They simply confidently obeyed. And as they made their way to the priest, they were completely healed. Do you know what happens to a sinner who calls on the name of Jesus in faith? The Word of God declares in clear terms that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, three words, four words, thou shalt be saved. There's no transformation that is required. There's no payment that needs to be made. There's no follow-up work that is necessary to receive that salvation. At the moment that a person cries out to God in faith for salvation through Jesus, they are completely, in that moment, saved. If you have called on the name of the Lord Jesus in faith, in that very moment you were saved, washed completely of your sin, made a child of God, given the Holy Spirit, and reserved a place in heaven for all of eternity, if you've not called on Jesus in faith, there is no other way to be saved from sin. only Jesus Christ and the blood that he shed at Calvary and his resurrection from the grave on the third day can cleanse a sinner of sin and give him a place in heaven, wash away and get rid of his condemnation only through Jesus. Scene number three, we find now rejoicing. In verses 15 and 16, The Bible says at the end of verse 14, and it came to pass that as they went, they were cleansed. Verse 15 and one of them. I don't know what the other nine thought. I don't know if they said anything. I don't know what they did other than continue on to the priest. But one of them, the Bible says, verse 15, turned back. and with a loud voice glorified God. I don't know how far they were from Jesus. Were they still within audible distance to where when this man turned back and began praising God with a loud voice, Jesus could hear it? Were they further on, out of sight, out of hearing distance, I don't know, but this man turned and with a loud voice began praising God, returned however far he needed to to Jesus, fell down at his feet. The Bible says, giving him thanks. There at the feet of Jesus, one out of 10 gave Jesus the praise deserved because of restoration. He expressed thankfulness at the work that had been done in his life. Scene number four is recognition. It's the recognition of Jesus. Jesus knew how many men were healed. You know, when this one came back, it wasn't as if Jesus thought, oh, I thought I healed 10, but I guess it was just this one. No, he knew that all 10 were healed. He knew that all 10 had been set free. He knew that all 10 were changed, all 10 were restored. Praise God for the one. But Jesus wondered aloud, were there not 10 cleansed? Where are the nine? I wonder if Jesus said it with a tone of disappointment, with a tone of rebuke. with a tone of surprise? I don't know. But it's clear, isn't it, that Jesus thought about, recognized that one had come, but nine others should have come to say thank you. These questions still echo through the centuries as Jesus still saves souls, still heals and restores the broken. Were there not 10 cleansed, where are the nine? These questions still challenge hearts today of those who have been redeemed and reconciled by the blood of Jesus. Were there not 10 cleansed, where are the nine? I'm concerned that many of us who have experienced the saving power of Jesus go on with the nine. rather than returning over and over and over again like the one. We experience the touch of Christ to save our souls and we go on rather than habitually returning to give glory to God. Today, I want to encourage you, be the one. Be the one. Now listen and understand, this is not a, well, once you come to Christ, everything in life is so good and so wonderful. No, you experience difficulties, you experience challenges, you experience hardships, you still experience life in a broken world, don't you? How much more important is it then to live lives of gratitude? You have so much to be thankful for. I have so much to be thankful for. We should live lives of gratitude. How can you be the one for applications number one? Recall His goodness. Do you remember? Can you think back to that moment that you received Jesus Christ? And what that moment was like for you in that moment? What it meant to you? I remember I was 10 years old. It was January 19th, 1996. at that small church that my dad pastored in Harrison, Illinois. Don't try to look it up on a map. It's not there. The evangelist was coming through our church to preach, and as he preached, I recognized that though I'd made professions of faith in Christ, up to that point, I had not truly understood That faith in Christ alone, apart from anything of myself, any works that I thought would add to or make up for anything like that, faith in Christ alone was what God planned for salvation. And on that night, I placed my faith and trust in Christ. And I remember, even as a 10-year-old boy, what that meant. how it impacted me in that moment, how grateful I was, how much I realized that God loved me and what he did for me in and through his son, Jesus Christ, and how much my destiny changed in that moment, not just in this life, but even more so in eternity. The difference between hell, the lake of fire forever, and heaven with God forever. What a change. And that is all due to the goodness of God. Friends, it's not of anything of myself that I can say today, I know I'm on my way to heaven, I know I'm a child of God, I know that Jesus is my savior, that God is my father, that I am a joint heir with Christ, that I have a place reserved in heaven for me, that I am no longer condemned, I am forgiven then, now, and forever. I can say those things, but not because of who I am or what I've done. I can say those things because of who Jesus is and what he has done. And friends, it is so important in your life and mine to go back over and over and over again to that moment when you knelt at Mount Calvary, recognizing who you were and what you were. and who He is and what He is and what He done for you. It's all because of the goodness of God. And as you go through your life, as I go through my life, we must go back to that time when we received Jesus Christ to recall his goodness. Number two, application number two, glorify his goodness. Do you know the truth is too many of us who have experienced the goodness of Almighty God are silent about it. I believe this with all of my heart. If we were as grateful for His goodness and salvation as we should be, we'd have no problem sharing it with others. But not only is goodness in salvation, how many other ways has God been good to you? Every good and every perfect gift cometh from above from the father of lights with Variableness neither shadow of turning so every good thing Every perfect thing in your life Gus guess who you owe it to Not your brilliance Not your skills not your your talents not your ingenuity to Him every good thing, every perfect thing you owe to Him. And yet too often, like the nine, we go on having experienced it, and we go on like the nine. I wonder, how many times have you prayed for something and in the moment it was answered didn't pause to say thank you to God. Has that ever happened in your life? I know it has mine. If you've been blessed by God, be like the one who returned to give thanks and with a loud voice glorified God. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord for his goodness, for his mercy endureth forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy. There is coming a day when we will join the saints of all the ages in a worship service in heaven. And oh, what a day that will be. What a worship service that will be. But friends, can I tell you, this is an amazing thought. I'm not sure that we'll have any more reason to give him thanks there than we do here. Do you understand what I'm saying? The very reason you'll give him thanks there, you can experience here, right? You'll give him thanks there for being so good to let you in there. Friends, he's already let you in if you know Jesus. You're as saved today as you will be then in that way. Give him thanks. And the reality is, no matter how silent we are here, we will lift up our voices there. He's put a new song. And I think it's interesting, don't you? The psalmist didn't write, he put a new song in my heart, did he? He put a new song in my mouth to open and to use my vocal cords to glorify him with my voice. The reality is it's not. It seems like it should be, but it's not. What comes naturally to us? Grumbling, complaining, focusing on the negative. That is natural humanity. There is a reason why they tell us that if I say something negative to you, it's gonna take 20 positives to make up for that one negative. Why? Because in our human nature that is fallen, that is broken in sin, we tend to focus on the negative. And in our human nature, We aren't grateful people. We're not thankful people We tend to focus on the negative and a negative side of our humanity comes out in that Even when there is something good We tend to find ways to give ourselves the credit for it So gratitude requires that we identify his goodness and that requires Humility. You know, it really wasn't because of me. It really wasn't about me and what I did. It was about him and what he did. Remember, there is nothing in you that makes you worthy of his love, his grace, his mercy, his goodness. As a lost sinner, you're no more able to save yourself than the leper could save himself. He couldn't pronounce himself clean. He couldn't wash himself and be clean. He needed Jesus Christ. In his goodness, the Savior did for you what you could never do for yourself. How outrageous it would be to now think or act as though I was somehow worthy of or had some hand in what his goodness did for me. I wonder, what kept the nine from coming back? You ever think about that? What kept them from coming back? I don't know the exact answer, but I would say that the one who came back certainly had to be humble enough to recognize, I couldn't do this. He did it, and I'm gonna give him thanks for it. Application number four, praise His goodness. You say, pastor, you already said glorify His goodness. There, I'm focusing on in general. Just glorifying God for the fact that he is good. The Bible tells us he is good. He does good. And you and I would say, yes, God is good all the time. But now let's be very specific. Do you make a practice of specifically, regularly, and sincerely thanking the Lord for his goodness? Not just in general, not just in the sense of I try to be a thankful person, but very specifically thanking God for his goodness. In particular events, in specific life experiences, for specific people. or things that He has blessed you with? Do you pause to give God thanks, to praise Him? When you are consumed with challenges, when you're consumed with the negative, when you're consumed with what you don't like when you're consumed with the things that you can find because you don't have to look hard to find them. The things you would grumble about. Are you able to turn that grumbling to glorifying? That thing that perturbs you to praise to God. because of his goodness. We don't have to be taught how to grumble. We don't have to be taught how to focus on the negative. We don't have to be taught anything to have intrusive thoughts bombard us, to pull us down, to drag us, as Ann Shirley would say, into the pit of despair. We don't have to be taught those things. but we do have to learn thankfulness and gratitude. But what better way than to turn our attention to the one who is always good, whose mercy endures forever? How do you practice gratitude? How do you practice thankfulness? Let me encourage you every day, when you open your eyes, when you awake, tell God thank you. At the moment you wake up, you may not wanna be awake at two in the morning. Tell God thank you. Start a praise journal. How many of you have ever used or practiced using a prayer journal of any kind? Start a praise journal. You might write it down with pen on paper. You might put it in the notes on your phone. Just different things to be thankful for. And let me encourage you, when you find yourself in a place where you're grumbling and you're complaining and Maybe life is difficult. Life has brought something to you that is very challenging and you feel pulled down. You feel discouraged, depressed. You feel the negativity of life weighing on you. Open up that praise journal. Look at the notes, the praise notes. And just go through some of those things that you have been able to thank God for and let God turn your heart and your mind back toward all that you have to be thankful for. Let me challenge you to begin to write some things down, to commit some things to heart and mind. Maybe today, this afternoon, you would just spend some time, maybe over lunch with your family, maybe just in some quiet time this afternoon, thinking about and writing down five of those things that you can give God thanks for right here, right now. and allow God to begin to turn your heart from being one of the nine to being the one. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord for he is good. For his mercy endureth forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. And by the way, when you do those things, don't just read out of your praise journal. speak it out loud. It's not by accident that the Bible talks regularly about lifting up the voice, crying out. There is something about more than just reading it and hearing it in that way in your mind, but speaking it out loud to give God thanks. Yes, there's a whole lot of benefits to gratitude. It really can do so much for you. And I promise you, there won't be any nasty side effects when you become a more grateful person.