Giving Grateful Praise

Summary

Ultimately with R.C. Sproul

Episode Summary: "Giving Grateful Praise"

Date: November 21, 2025
Podcast Host: Ligonier Ministries
Featured Teacher: R.C. Sproul (via archival audio)
Main Theme: The depth and importance of genuine gratitude to God, as illustrated in the biblical story of Jesus healing the 10 lepers (Luke 17:11–19).

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on the deeper meaning of gratitude in the Christian life, illustrated through the well-known story of Jesus healing the 10 lepers. R.C. Sproul challenges listeners to consider whether their greatest sin might be a failure to show proper gratitude to God, not just to feel it inwardly. The message highlights the difference between feeling grateful and acting on it through worship, service, and giving thanks for God's grace.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Weight of Ingratitude

• Opening Challenge (00:00):
  • R.C. Sproul opens with a probing question about personal sin:

    "If I would say to you, what's your most base sin, your worst action of evil, would you come up with something like failure to be grateful to God?" (00:00)

  • He implies most would not consider ingratitude as their gravest failing, yet suggests it is the root problem for many.

The Plight of the Lepers in Ancient Israel

• Historical Context (00:29–02:13):
  • Sproul details the severe social, familial, and religious consequences of leprosy in ancient Israel, highlighting the lifelong quarantine and isolation lepers endured:

    "...you suffered the worst of all possible kinds of quarantines...a solitary life, removed from the community, removed from your family, removed from the religious institutions of your day." (00:38)

Jesus’ Surprising Command

• Instruction to the Lepers (02:13–03:06):
  • Jesus doesn’t pronounce their healing but instructs them to go show themselves to the priests, which, according to Levitical law, is what one would do if cured.

    "If I tell you to go see the priests, I'm telling you to go check yourselves out and you will be clean." (02:41)

Sudden Healing and Its Immediate Effects

• Healing on the Journey (03:06–04:00):
  • As the ten lepers obey and walk, they are progressively healed together, leading to amazement and shared joy:

    "...one leper would say to the other, look at my hand, it's clean. And the other one would say, mine too, it's happening. And they were beyond themselves with joy and excitement as their bodies were being cleansed." (03:31)

The Divider: One Returns

• The Grateful Leper (04:00–05:37):
  • Of the ten, only one chooses to return to Jesus, moved by the need to express thanks directly—despite the urgency to regain his former life:

    "We've got all day to see the priests, but first we have to go back and see him and thank him and honor him." (04:44)

  • The nine, also grateful in their hearts, are too eager for restoration to stop.

Real vs. Expressed Gratitude

• Key Distinction (05:37–06:13):
  • Sproul emphasizes a crucial difference:

    "It's one thing to be grateful. It's something altogether to show it, to manifest it, to do. Gratitude, feeling and doing are not the same thing." (05:37)

The Root Problem: God “Owes” Us Nothing

• Fundamental Human Error (06:13):
  • The episode diagnoses ingratitude as stemming from an attitude that God owes us:

    "We think that God owes us everything that we receive and much more." (06:13)

Worship as the Proper Response

• Call to Action (06:13–07:32):
  • True gratitude is demonstrated in worship and service to God:

    "If a person is truly grateful, he shows it, and he shows it in worship and in service to God. This is why we're here." (06:21)

Jesus’ Question and Affirmation

• Jesus’ “Where Are the Nine?” (07:03–07:32):
  • Jesus’ response underlines the importance of returning thanks. He recognizes the one who returns:

    "...you came back to say thank you. You came back to give honor. You came back to praise God. Where are the rest?" (07:13–07:24)
    "And now Jesus said to him, arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well now. This poor leper was really clean." (07:28)

Personal Application

• Bringing It Home (07:32–08:04):
  • The episode concludes by applying the story to listeners’ lives, challenging them to manifest gratitude:

    "It's your story. It's my story. How do you show your thanks to Christ? How do you give glory and honor to your Redeemer? That's what we're about. Saying thank you." (07:32–08:04)

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On the root of sin:

  "Would you come up with something like failure to be grateful to God?"
  —R.C. Sproul (00:00)

• On the difference between feeling and action:

  "It's one thing to be grateful. It's something altogether to show it, to manifest it, to do. Gratitude, feeling and doing are not the same thing."
  —R.C. Sproul (05:37)

• On the true purpose of worship:

  "If a person is truly grateful, he shows it, and he shows it in worship and in service to God. This is why we're here."
  —R.C. Sproul (06:21)

• On Jesus’ expectation:

  "Where are the rest? He's speaking to the man. And the man's still on the ground."
  —R.C. Sproul (07:24–07:28)

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Notable Timestamps for Key Segments

• Introduction & Opening Question: 00:00–00:16
• The Plight of Lepers: 00:29–02:13
• Jesus' Command to Show Themselves: 02:13–03:06
• Healing Happens as They Go: 03:06–04:00
• One Returns to Give Thanks: 04:00–05:37
• The Difference between Feeling and Doing: 05:37–06:13
• Worship and the Practice of Gratitude: 06:13–07:32
• Personal Application and Challenge: 07:32–08:04

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Concluding Thoughts

R.C. Sproul skillfully draws out the heart of the biblical narrative by challenging listeners: being truly grateful means acting on that gratitude through worship, service, and giving thanks—not just feeling thankful. He reframes ingratitude as a deep and overlooked spiritual failing, calling Christians to a life of expressive praise.

Final Reflection:

"How do you show your thanks to Christ? How do you give glory and honor to your Redeemer? That's what we're about. Saying thank you." (07:32–08:04)

Transcript

[Teacher]

If I would say to you, what's your most base sin, your worst action of evil, would you come up with something like failure to be grateful to God?

[Student]

And if a person is truly grateful, he shows it in worship and in service to God.

[Teacher]

We read in verse 12, as he entered a certain village, he met 10 men who were lepers who stood afar off. Now we know of course, that once you had been diagnosed with leprosy in ancient Israel, you suffered the worst of all possible kinds of quarantines. Not a quarantine that would last a week or two weeks, but it would be a quarantine that would last for the rest of your life, unless by some marvelous means you were cured of that leprosy. You were sentenced to a solitary life, removed from the community, removed from your family, removed from the religious institutions of your day. You were a social pariah. And the only fellowship that you could have with other human beings would be with other lepers. And so there were reasons why lepers gathered together in groups such as this group of 10, because that was the only companionship that they could enjoy was with other miserable human beings. And now as they are outside the village and Jesus approached while they were standing afar off, they lifted up their voices because Jesus was at a distance. And so they shouted out to him, jesus, master, have mercy on us.

[Student]

And when he saw them, he said to them, go show yourselves to the priests.

[Teacher]

A citation from the book of Leviticus, where it was the priest who was authorized to make the diagnosis in the first place of leprosy. And if a person were recovering or if it was a false diagnosis, it would take the priests declaration to free them from the quarantine. So Jesus didn't say, be clean, you're healed. He said, go see the priests. Which meant what? This is not an idle mission. It's not a fool's errand. If I tell you to go see the priests, I'm telling you to go check yourselves out and you will be clean.

[Student]

And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed again.

[Teacher]

Not when they just first saw Jesus, but after they started on their journey to see the priests. While they were walking along the road.

[Student]

All of a sudden their fingers are becoming whole, their toes are being healed.

[Teacher]

And the horrible sores on their body were vanishing. And one leper would say to the other, look at my hand, it's clean. And the other one would say, mine too, it's happening. And they were beyond themselves with joy and excitement as their bodies were being cleansed. With every step they took on their way to the priests.

[Student]

But one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned.

[Teacher]

Imagine 10 lepers in a group watching.

[Student]

Each other suddenly being made whole. They can't wait to get to the.

[Teacher]

Priests because they know if they go to the priest and the priests pronounce them clean, then in that moment they can go home again. They can see their wives again, they can embrace their children again, they can go to church again.

[Student]

So they say, let's go.

[Teacher]

Hurry up.

[Student]

And one says, wait a minute. Wait a minute.

[Teacher]

Wait.

[Student]

We're clean, aren't we? Yes, it was Jesus who made us clean. We've got all day to see the priests, but first we have to go back and see him and thank him and honor him. The rest of the lepers says, we don't have time for that.

[Teacher]

The first one says, aren't you grateful? Grateful? How can you not be grateful? I'm sure all 10 of them were grateful. No question that they were grateful. You can't be healed of leprosy like that and not be grateful.

[Student]

Their hearts were filled with gratitude, but not so filled that they want to detour and have to go back to say thank you.

[Teacher]

See, beloved, it's one thing to be grateful. It's something altogether to show it, to manifest it, to do. Gratitude, feeling and doing are not the same thing.

[Student]

If I would say to you, what's.

[Teacher]

Your most base sin, your worst action of evil? Would you come up with something like failure to be grateful to God?

[Student]

Hardly.

[Teacher]

But this is our fundamental problem.

[Student]

We think that God owes us everything that we receive and much more. And if a person is truly grateful, he shows it, and he shows it in worship and in service to God. This is why we're here. We've been made clean, and we come to give praise, and we come to give thanks. So Jesus answered and said, am I having a problem with my math? Did I not just heal? 10. Where are they?

[Teacher]

Where are the other nine?

[Student]

Oh, sir, they're on the way to the priest like you told them. Yes, but you came back to say thank you. You came back to give honor. You came back to praise God. Where are the rest? He's speaking to the man. And the man's still on the ground.

[Teacher]

And now Jesus said to him, arise, go your way.

[Student]

Your faith has made you well now. This poor leper was really clean. Do you see it? It's your story. It's my story. How do you show your thanks to Christ? How do you give glory and honor to your Redeemer? That's what we're about.

[Teacher]

Saying thank you.

[Narrator]

Thank you for listening. Ultimately with RC Sproul is just one of many podcasts produced by Ligonier Ministries. Check the show notes to find others you might enjoy, or search for Ligonier Ministries in your favorite podcast app.

[Student]

Sam.