1. It has been reported that Benjamin Franklin had a novel method for consistent improvement of his character.

2. It is said that he made of list of what he considered the essential elements of character. He then spent the rest of his life working on one item on the list each week.

3. Recently we suggested, at the conclusion of a sermon on the sins that Crucified Christ that we each pick a sin from the list and work on overcoming it for the coming week.

4. Although I have no desire to tell you what sin I chose, I can say that it helped me a great deal.

5. So for the next few weeks we are going to discuss one sin, each week, that many of us can strive to conquer.

6. The sin we are considering today is summed up in a word that has broken more hearts, destroyed more homes, caused more tears to be shed, created more hatred and damned more souls to Hell than just about any sin listed in the Bible.

7. It is the sin of Ingratitude.

8. It is a sin perhaps best illustrated by the story of the ten lepers.

A. V. 11: Jesus had just begun his final journey to Jerusalem. He knew that within a few days he would be falsely accused, beaten, and hanged on a tree to die.

1. Surely most of us would have been too preoccupied with our eminent demise to be worried about a few lowly lepers.

B. V. 12; Leprosy was a terrible disease. At that time in history it was incurable. Even today it is incurable -- it can only be arrested.

1. Describe the disease.

2. Only one hospital in US. in Carville, Louisiana.

3. Leprosy was a type of sin. As leprosy fouls and eats away at the body, so sin fouls and eats away at the soul of man.

4. Try to imagine how it would have felt to be a leper.

C. V. 13 – note the faith of these lepers was greater than that of the Pharisees.

D. V. 14 – When Jesus performed a miracle there was never any question about it. Flesh was restored. The impossible was done instantly.

1. Even modern medicine cannot duplicate what Jesus did in an instant.

2. 2 Kings 5:14 "So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean."

3. Imagine the wonderment and joy you would have experienced as you hatched your flesh restored to its original condition!

E. Vs. 15-18; comment

F. Note that the majority was ungrateful.

G. The Bible specifically mentions that the one that returned was a Samaritan. Probably, the other nine were so busy heading off to the priests that they just forgot about returning and thanking Jesus.

II. Is it possible that many of us (like the lepers) have become so preoccupied with other things that we are guilty of the sin of ingratitude without even realizing it.

A. Country — Do we really appreciate the country we live in?

1. Do we take the time to study the issues and vote for the right instead of what ever happens to benefit us personally?

2. Do we only talk about our country when we are unhappy about it?

1 Timothy 2:1-2 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, ² for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.

3. We live in a country where the poorest of the poor are living better than the average person in the second most powerful country in the world.

B. Flag — in our country we don’t solute it we burn it.

C. Teachers— have you thanked yours?

1. Public School Sunday school?

D. Preachers— from the past. Call them up, send them a letter thanking them

E. Elders & deacons and other Servants of God.

F. Children— Have you ever said thanks to your parents.

1. Have you said thanks to your parents in actions?

2. Do you help out around the house? Do you do your homework, to you carry your responsibilities?

G. Grown children — what do you do to show your gratitude?

(3 John 1:4 NKJV) I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

1. How long has it been since you called home?

2. How long has it been since you went home?

3. How long has it been since you said I love you (even if it made you or your parents feel uneasy).

H. Parents of children still at home— are you taking the time to say I love you to the children now while they are still home.

1. The day will come when you will look back on your life, and what you will remember will not be that extra shift or that extra commission check.

2. What you will remember is the all too few hours you had to spend with children that are grown and gone.

3. ILLUSTRATION: A young man in counseling with me worrying about his wife divorcing him after all the hours he had spent with his underground sprinkling system and the house. The marriage is gone and the house is sold.

4. The only thing you now have that will still exist years from now is your soul.

I. Parents and grandparents of Grown children—

1. Are you taking time to show your gratitude for the children and grandchildren God has given you.

2. Have you thanked God for them?

3. Do you spend time with them. I am amazed at the number of people who when they finally don’t have to worry about work schedules and vacation schedules won’t go to see their children and grandchildren.

4. They say, "I don’t like to drive." "I don’t like to fly."

5. Perhaps we should appreciate our children or grandchildren enough to make the trip any way.

6. You say, "We can’t afford it."

7. Seniors can fly very cheaply. And if you stay long enough you can save enough on groceries to pay for much of the fare!

2 Samuel 13:24-25 Then Absalom came to the king and said, "Kindly note, your servant has sheepshearers; please, let the king and his servants go with your servant." ²⁵ But the king said to Absalom, "No, my son, let us not all go now, lest we be a burden to you." Then he urged him, but he would not go;… .

J. The Lord.

1. We can show our appreciation by worship.

2. Saul, when humble, was used of God.

K. Church

Matthew 16:18 "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

Acts 2:47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

1. Song I love thy church O God.

1. One of the saddest stories I have ever read was of a boy at Northwestern University who swam out into the icy waters of Lake Michigan again and again to rescue the drowning victims of a shipwreck. He became paralyzed as a result of this. Years later when interviewed about the disaster he remarked that the only regret he had was the fact that one of the people whose lives he saved ever thanked him.

2. Gratitude can lead to our salvation.

Luke 17:19 And He said to him, "Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well."

Sermon History:

06-018-2003

David E. Parks