I would like to speak today on this Sunday when
we especially remember a day of Thanksgiving.
I'd like to speak on, Oh, give thanks to the
Lord, for He is good. We're going to be looking
at a number of passages. We've already heard
Psalm 100 when Caleb read it. And I'm now also
going to read from Psalm 118, verses 1 through
4. Hear the word of the Lord from Psalm 118.
Praise the Lord. Blessed is the man who fears
the Lord, who delights greatly in his commandments.
I'm sorry, I turned to the wrong one. I apologize.
Psalm 118. O give thanks to the Lord, for he
is good, for his mercy endures forever. Let Israel
now say, his mercy endures forever. Let the house
of Aaron now say, His mercy endures forever.
Let those who fear the Lord now say, His mercy
endures forever. Let's ask God's blessing on
this time together in the word. Our Father, we
thank you for the privilege that it is to consider
this subject. We pray, Lord, that you would make
us a thankful people. And as we look into your
word today, help us to learn, to apply ourselves
diligently to it, Lord. and to see what all you
have to say. We pray that you would give us ears
that hear, mouths that speak, Lord, and we pray
that in all your spirit would be present with
us. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. The Bible repeatedly
commands and urges God's people to remember.
There are many exhortations to remember God's
great deeds. That is to remember his covenants,
his laws, his deliverance, the Sabbath, and Christ's
sacrifice and promises. He tells us to remember
all of these things. Over 200 times in the word
of God, we are commanded by both direct imperative
and by exhortation to remember. Now, why are
to we remember? This remembering is so that we
can recount the great works and deeds of God
to the next generation, who will then rise up
and tell their sons and daughters. And so the
wonderful works of God in time and in history
will be remembered. And our posterity will learn
to praise, to trust our triune God, and to give
him thanks. with a heart that is filled with
thankfulness. Since the triune God is our creator,
we owe him worship, and we owe him thanksgiving
from a grateful heart. This is due him by right
and by authority, and it is to be done at all
times. But in this week of thanksgiving, Next
Thursday being Thanksgiving Day, a day when our
sovereign nation has chosen to set aside a national
day of thanksgiving to God Almighty. We are called
to come with grateful hearts as a nation and
to render unto our Father what is due to Him.
Now there have been many national days of thanksgiving
from our very beginning as a nation. And I commend
the reading of some of them to you. Some of them
are quite moving. Some of them are quite profound.
Here's one from 1779, a proclamation by the United
States assembled. Whereas it becomes us humbly
to approach the throne of Almighty God. with
gratitude and praise for the wonders which His
goodness has wrought in conducting our forefathers
in the Western world, for His protection to them
and to their posterity amid difficulties and
dangers, for raising us, their children, from
deep distress. to be numbered among the nations
of the earth, and for arming the hands of just
and mighty princes in our deliverance, and especially
for that he hath been pleased to grant us the
enjoyment of health, and so to order the revolving
seasons that the earth has produced. Her increase
in abundance, blessing the labors of the husbandmen
and spreading plenty through the land. That he
has prospered our arms and those of our ally.
He has been a shield to our troops in the hour
of danger, pointed their swords to victory and
led them in triumph over the bulwarks of the
foe. that he has gone with those who went out
into the wilderness against the savage tribes,
that he has stayed the hand of the spoiler and
turned back his meditated destruction, that he
has promised our commerce, he has prospered our
commerce, and given success to those who sought
the enemy in the face of the deep, and above
all, That he hath diffused the glorious light
of the gospel. Whereby through the merits of
our gracious redeemer. We may become the heirs
of his eternal glory. Therefore resolved. That
it be recommended to the several states to appoint
Thursday, the 9th of December next, to be a day
of public and solemn thanksgiving to Almighty
God for his mercies and a prayer for the continuance
of his favor and protection to these United States.
To beseech him that he would be graciously pleased
to influence our public councils and bless them
with wisdom from on high, with unanimity, firmness,
and success. That he would go forth with our
hosts and crown our arms with victory. That he
would grant to his church the plentiful effusions
of divine grace and pour out his Holy Spirit
on all ministers of the gospel. that he would
bless and prosper the means of education and
spread the light of Christian knowledge through
the remotest corners of the earth, that he would
smile upon the labors of his people and cause
the earth to bring forth her fruits in abundance,
that we may with gratitude and gladness enjoy
them, that he would take into his holy protection
our illustrious ally. Give him victory over his
enemies and render him signally great as the
father of his people and the protector of the
rights of mankind. That he would graciously be
pleased to turn the hearts of our enemies and
to dispense the blessings of peace to contending
nations. That he would look in mercy down upon
us, pardon our sins and receive us into his favor.
And finally, that he would establish the independence
of these United States upon the basis of religion
and virtue and support and protect them in the
enjoyment of peace, liberty, and safety as long
as the sun and moon shall endure until time shall
be no more. Done in Congress the 20th day of
October 1779 and in the fourth year of the independence
of the United States of America. Samuel Huntington,
President, attests Charles Thompson, Secretary.
What an incredible statement of thanksgiving
and praise. This is our history. Now, it is fitting
that we do this, that we have this National Day
of Thanksgiving just before Advent and Christmas
as we observe it now. For not only do we give
thanks, at the end of the growing season for
a good harvest, for food that we have in abundance,
but our thanksgiving is also pointed to Jesus
at his incarnation, the one who became man in
order to save us from our sins, and he was made
flesh so that he might be the perfect sacrifice
for sins, thereby redeeming us and reconciling
us back. to this holy and righteous God. As we
think of these blessings and many more that we
receive from his fatherly hand, we say with David
in Psalm 116, what shall I render to the Lord
for all his benefits toward me? I will take up
the cup of salvation and call upon the name of
the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord now
in the presence of all his people. Psalm 116,
12 to 14. David then continues with the offering
of himself in worship as he cries out, O Lord,
truly I am your servant. I am your servant, the
son of your maidservant. You have loosed my bonds.
I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving.
and will call upon the name of the Lord. I will
pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of
all his people in the courts of the Lord's house
in the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Praise the
Lord. Now to render back, that is to render,
is to give back the thanks that is due to our
great Father. Thanksgiving begins in the heart.
It's with a heart that is filled with thanks
that then proceeds to the action of thanksgiving.
So we're filled with thankfulness and then we
give thanks to the Father. It is more than saying
thank you or just feeling thankful. It is a deeper,
more sustained state of being, a transformative
practice from the innermost part of our being
to God. This psalm speaks of worship. from the
heart in the presence of God's people. A thankful
heart that offers thanksgiving in the congregation
in a covenant renewal with God. This worship
that we are to give our Father is both private,
but it is also public. And so, saints, we are
not to neglect the public worship of God and
the giving of thanks in the assembly. And the
renewal of our vows before God in the congregation.
We need to make this the first priority of each
week. Gather together on the Lord's day. We renew
our covenant with him. We give him thanks. And
he feeds us from his word. Every week. When the
Holy Spirit comes upon a people. And cleanses
them from sin. The result is that they are filled
with joy and gratefulness. These are two of the
characteristics of a work of God, that God's
people are thankful and that they are filled
with joy. Gratefulness is the antidote against
the doldrums, against joylessness, against envy,
against bitterness. against complaining and murmuring
and many other sins. If this congregation is
to last for many generations, and I pray to God
that it will, and to affect and transform the
culture of this town through a robust Christian
faith, then we, dear people, must learn to be
thankful and joyful. And it needs to come out
of our fingertips, as it were. That gratefulness
and that joyfulness should be evident wherever
we go. We should be known as the people who love
God and are a joy to be around. They are filled
with joy. They're pleasant to be around. They're
a joyful or even a jolly lot. Now, there are
a number of good exhortations. in the word of
God to be thankful and give thanks in God's,
in his word. And we're going to look at those,
a number of them. But the first thing that we
want to do, number one is to whom do we give
thanks? I just read this morning. So there was
an email. I get some various news emails and
I just read a portion of the Thanksgiving letter.
that warren buffett wrote to all of his shareholders
warren buffett is one of the richest men in the
united states he's been very successful and in
through there he recounts a number of the blessings
that he has enjoyed and with his family and and
he goes on and it's and a lot of that it was
very good but then he comes he said he said i
thank lady luck i thank lady luck and at the
end The way he closed out the letter was that
on this day of Thanksgiving, thank America. It's
just, oh, it just, here's a man that has been
inordinately blessed. I mean, just incredibly
blessed by God. And he refuses to give God the
thanks. And so we must understand if we are to
be thankful people, and we are, If we know that
thankfulness and thanksgiving is a good thing,
who do we give thanks to? We give thanks to our
great Father, the Lord of creation, to whom is
due all thanksgiving, all praise and adoration.
Mr. Buffett, you need to give your thanks to
God. It's not America who's made you great. It's
not Lady Luck who has just blessed you. It is
God the Father Almighty who disposes all things.
And to Him we give our thanksgiving no matter
what state we are in. 1 Chronicles 16 verse 29
says, Give to the Lord the glory that is due
to His name. Bring an offering and come before
him. Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
And in a very similar way in Psalm 29 too. Give
unto the Lord the glory that is due to his name.
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. And
how great is our God. Hear this great creedal
and confessional summation. A compilation from
many scriptures of who he is and how great and
marvelous he is. There is one God. The only living
and true God. He is infinite in being and perfection.
He is a most pure spirit. invisible, immutable,
immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty,
most wise, most holy, most free, and most absolute.
Our God works all things according to the counsel
of his own immutable and most righteous will
for his own glory. He is most loving and gracious
and merciful and long -suffering. He is abundant
in goodness and truth. He forgives iniquity,
transgression, and sins. He is the rewarder of
those who diligently seek him. And he is also
most just and terrible. in his judgments he hates
all sin and he will by no means clear the guilty
meaning that he does not just look away for sin
requires atonement through blood God has all
life all glory and goodness and blessedness in
and of himself he alone is and unto himself all
sufficient he does not stand in need Of any creatures
which he has made. And he manifests his glory
in, by, unto and upon them. Upon his creatures.
He is the only fountain of all being. Of whom,
through whom and to whom are all things. And
he has the most sovereign dominion over all.
To do whatever he pleases to do in his sight.
All things are open and manifest. His knowledge
is infinite, is infallible and is independent.
He is most holy in all of his counsels, in all
of his works and in all of his commands. To him
is due from both angels and men and every other
creature whatsoever worship, service and obedience
he is pleased to require of them. This. Brothers
and sisters, is our God. In the unity of the
Godhead, there are three persons of one substance,
power, and eternity. There is God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. The Father
is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding.
The Son is eternally begotten of the Father,
and the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from
the Father and the Son. And it has pleased God,
the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, to manifest
the glory of His eternal power, of His wisdom,
and of His goodness, to create out of nothing
the world and all that is therein, all things
visible and invisible in the space. of six days
and it was all very good and in so doing he created
mankind in his own image male and female and
he commands all of mankind to worship him alone
with all of our heart our soul our mind and our
strength beloved this is to whom We give thanks.
It is to Him that we give thanks. For He is worthy
and to be revered. Number two, let's look at
a few texts that command the giving of thanks
and that show us how. We have already read Psalm
104 and 5. But there I just repeat it again.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving. And into
his courts with praise. As we come before God.
As we meet together. As we live our daily lives.
How do we approach God? We enter his gates with
thanksgiving. With the giving of thanks. We are
thankful to him. And bless his name. For the
Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting and his
truth endures to all generations. See how David,
when he wrote this psalm, he tied in the fact
that we give thanks with the truth about God.
That he is good, his everlasting mercy, and his
truth endures to all generations. Also, Paul
admonishes. In a number of places in the epistles.
Commanding and exhorting that we should give
thanks. Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 1. Therefore
be imitators of God as dear children. And walk
in love as Christ also has loved us. And has
given himself for us an offering. And a sacrifice
to God for a sweet smelling aroma. But. Fornication
and all uncleanness and all covetousness, let
it not even be named among you, as it is fitting
for saints, neither filthiness, nor foolish talking,
nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but
rather giving of thanks. Rather than all of these
other things, these sins, these should not be
named among us, but instead let us give thanks.
We are to be known for our giving of thanks.
1 Thessalonians 5, verse 16. Rejoice always,
pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks.
For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for
you. For each one here, it is the will of God
that we rejoice, that we pray without ceasing,
and that in everything we give thanks. Also Philippians
4, 6 and 7. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything
by prayer and supplication. With thanksgiving,
let your prequests be made known to God. And
the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and minds through Christ
Jesus. Are you filled with anxiety? Do you have
a lot of anxiousness? Do you do a lot of worrying?
Are you worried about things? Here we are told
and commanded not to be anxious, but that in
everything we come to the Lord in prayer, we
make our supplications before him, we give them
to the Lord, we ask him to work on our behalf
regarding these things that we're anxious about,
but we do it accompanied by thanksgiving. We
let our requests be made known to God, and then
God gives us peace, peace that passes all understanding,
and he will guard our hearts and minds through
Jesus. And then Colossians 1 verse 10. As we
walk worthy of the Lord and are strengthened
with all might according to his glorious power.
We are to be giving thanks to the Father who
has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in the light. Over and over again
as Paul is instructing the Gentile churches.
As he is writing to them. As he is spiritually
forming them in Christ. It's again, be thankful,
be thankful. Come with thanksgiving. Make your
prayer with thanksgiving. Live with thanksgiving.
Don't be known by your evil speaking or by your
callous and coarse jesting, but rather be known
that you are a thankful people and come before
him in that way and let that be spread abroad.
In Psalm 18, Psalm 18 is a song on the day that
the Lord delivered David from the hand of all
his enemies and from the hand of Saul. David
begins Psalm 18 with this affirmation of love.
He says, I will love you, O Lord, my strength.
And then he goes on in a quite lengthy way. He
speaks of the distress that he was in and in
a very great and marvelous poetic form of how
God answered him. He shows how God armed him
with strength and enlarged his path and gave
him victory. And as David ends the psalm, after
recounting all that God had done in delivering
him and in destroying his enemies, he concludes
with these words. Therefore, I will give thanks
to you, O Lord, among the Gentiles and sing praises
to you, to your name. So it is very clear, Old
and New Testament, all through the scripture.
We are to give thanks. God's people are to be
a thankful and thanksgiving people. So number
three, how then do we give thanks? Well, when
we give thanks, we remember why we are grateful.
That often begins by considering from whence
we have come or the pit that we were in or the
situation at a certain time. Psalm 18 was that
way, and I don't have the time to go through
it all. But David began by just remembering the
deep distress that he was in. I mean, he was
being hunted down like a wild animal by Saul,
who was the king and a very popular king at one
time in Israel. And he was being chased everywhere
through the wilderness because Saul had become
very jealous and was filled with an evil spirit.
And so David was in dire straits. So also we,
when we give thanks, let us remember why we are
grateful. And we remember what we have come from.
We remember what we have gone through. Here we
are enjoying this wonderful fellowship, the wonderful
blessings. that we have experienced in the fellowship
of this congregation. And as we do so, and as
we give thanks, we remember what it was like.
We remember the times of desert in our life.
We remember the times when we were crying out
to God, Lord, will you please gather together
a people, a people that will worship you and
honor you and a place where we can be at home.
We remember that. We remember the times. when
we were going through deep waters. Maybe it was
as a family. Maybe it was a really difficult
financial situation that we were in. Maybe it
was a time when we suffered the loss or the death
of a child or of a really dear friend or of a
father or a mother. We remember those times and
we become thankful. We exercise thankfulness
that God has brought us now to the place where
he has. Maybe you're going through a hard time
right now. Maybe you're going through a time
of great difficulty, a time of pain or a time
of loss. You can, with thankfulness, know that
God is at work, that you can rest in his sovereignty
and you can look forward to the time when you
will look back on the time that you're going
through right now with thankfulness for how God
rescued you. So I point you. to him, even if
you're going through a very difficult time right
now. How do we give thanks? Our prayers are to
be filled with the giving of thanks to him. Colossians
1, 3, we give thanks to the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus
and of your love for all the saints. Thank the
Lord. For your brothers and sisters here that
God has blessed you with. When you pray, when
you pray for people in the congregation, thank
the Lord for them. Let your prayers be filled
with thankfulness. In 1 Timothy chapter 2, as
Paul is exhorting how thanksgiving is to be done,
especially in the public congregation, he begins
with, Therefore I exhort, first of all, that
supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving
of thanks. be made for all men. Excuse me. How
do we give thanks? Our singing is to be a way
of giving thanks. This is emphasized as we look
at the various times of singing, both in the
Psalms as well as in the epistles. Be filled
with the Spirit, Paul says in Ephesians 5, speaking
to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing and making melody in your heart
to the Lord. giving thanks always for all things
to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, submitting to one another in the fear
of the Lord. Our singing is to be a way of thanksgiving.
This is another reason why it's so important
to learn to sing. It's important to be able to
come together and sing to the Lord, speaking
to one another. And so if you don't know how
to sing, then ask the Lord for the gift of it.
Go somewhere maybe where you can learn. Or come
to the psalm sings here. Psalm and hymn sings.
And as many of us have already. Learn to sing
together. This is again brought out in Ephesians
chapter 5. Verse 19. Let the word of Christ dwell
in you richly. In all wisdom. Teaching and admonishing
one another. In psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs. Singing with grace in your hearts to the
Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed. do
all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks
to the Father through him. We give thanks through
Jesus to the Father for all these things. Our
whole walk of life is to be the giving of thanks
to the Father who has given us a great inheritance.
Colossians speaks of this inheritance in this
wonderful prayer. Paul says, for this reason,
we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease
to pray for you and do ask that you may be filled
with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom
and spiritual understanding. And then here are
the requests that they would walk worthy of the
Lord, fully pleasing him, being fruitful in every
good work and increasing in the knowledge of
God, that they would be strengthened with all
might according to his glorious power for all
patience. and long -suffering with joy. And then
he prays that they would give thanks to the Father
who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light. And then again reminding
them in this prayer, reminding them as he is
praying for them, he says he has delivered us
from the power of darkness and conveyed us into
the kingdom of the Son of his love in whom we
have redemption. through his blood, the forgiveness
of sins. And there we have, remember when we
talked about God, who does not just look away
from sin, we have the perfect answer in the provision
of Jesus Christ, whom God sent, who reconciles
us to God, who forgives our sin, who cleanses
us and washes us clean. Number four, what accompanies
thankfulness? What happens when one lives a thankful
life and is full of thanksgiving? Generosity,
large heartedness, blessing others, even the
giving of gifts and of ourselves and grace toward
others. All of these come to us. Our blessings
that God comes as we are a thankful people. We
become a generous people. A large hearted people.
Where we bless others. We give gifts and we give
ourselves and we have grace. What accompanies
thankfulness? Singing and praise. We've already
talked about that. Also worship. Psalm 95, 1
and 2, O come, let us sing to the Lord. 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. We
cannot worship God properly if we are not a thankful
people. Because thanksgiving is integral to worship.
It's part of it. We cannot worship a right if
we have a bitter or an ungrateful heart. And
what else accompanies thankfulness? The fruits
of the Spirit. The fruits of the Spirit come.
What are those fruits? They are love. They are
joy, peace, and long -suffering, and kindness,
and goodness, and gentleness, and self -control.
These are the fruits. of the spirit that come
as we submit to God, as our sins are washed away
and we are a thankful people. Let's speak for
a bit on the confession of sin because the confession
of sin is so important so that peace and love
and joy can be restored and we can again give
thanks. So when you sin against God or you sin
against each other, be quick. to confess and
to repent, to turn to God and to do the works
befitting repentance. Why do we want to hang
on to our sins for so long? It simply corrodes,
it corrupts, and it's because we become selfish
or we're self -righteous. When you do something
against your wife, don't go to bed with it and
just let it stir up like a canker or like a cancer
in you. It will destroy your happen is it will
destroy your peace and it will break fellowship
between you and your wife or between you and
your husband. So do not hold on to it. When we
sin, let us come quickly. Confess the sin to
the Lord. Confess to each other. Let us be clean
and clear and right. Yes, that takes humility,
but God gives grace to the humble. So do that.
Set yourself to do that. When you sin, be quick.
to confess and to repent. When fellowship is
broken between you and God or between you and
someone else, do not be bitter or stew in your
mind, but confess, repent, be restored and healed
and back in fellowship and then give thanks.
We cannot be a thankful people if we are harboring
this kind of sin and destruction and holding
it close to us. Now the scripture also, number
five, gives us warnings about those who are not
thankful. There are two that I'd like to look
at. The first one is in the downward slide of
a people into gross idolatry and immorality that
is chronicled in Romans 1. It's a very incredible
and it's very sad to see that great downward
slide that happens in the latter part of Romans
chapter 1. But it begins, Paul says, with unthankfulness.
He says, for since the creation of the world,
his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made, even
his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are
without excuse because although they knew God,
they did not glorify him as God, nor were thankful.
but became futile in their thoughts, and their
foolish hearts were darkened. And one thing leads
to the next, which leads to the next, until you
see this great downward progression and destruction
at the end. Romans chapter 1. Number two, ungratefulness
leads to conflict and the devouring of one another.
Galatians 5 verse 15 says very candidly, But
if you devour, if you bite and you devour one
another, beware lest you be consumed by one another.
We see this in human relationships, especially
in marriage, but also in so many other applications.
When we're constantly snipping at each other,
biting each other, we're like that yappy dog,
always just finding something wrong. We become
very picky or we're always finding fault. We're
just looking at another and say, oh, you didn't
do that quite right. It will destroy marriages
and it will destroy congregations. If we are
filled with the spirit of nitpicking at each
other and biting and devouring and pulling down
and hating to see someone else prosper, it is
utterly destructive. And ungratefulness leads
to all of this. It destroys gratefulness. All
human relationships and especially marriage.
So let us be warned. About not being thankful.
When we look at the digression. The terrible
downfall of the people in Romans chapter 1. And
when we see the examples of biting and devouring
one another. Let's look now at just a few additional
applications. As we've looked at the word of
God. And the principles regarding being thankful.
How can we apply this? How can we remind ourselves?
to remember and to be thankful. Well, the first
one simply is, and I've mentioned this briefly
already, recount what God has done. Take great
glory in what God has done in the great deeds
of the past. Because God has done over and over
and over again, He has done great and mighty
deeds. I just read of the, at the beginning I
read in this proclamation of Thanksgiving how
they were recounting the mighty deeds that led
to the fourth year of being a nation. How God
so marvelously guided us and protected us. And
they were recounting that. We also must recount
what God has done. Recount the stories of the
difficult times in your past or in your fathers
or grandfathers that you know about. And see
what God did and praise him for bringing him
or you through those times. And praise him for
the good times that you now enjoy. As I look
back over our own lives, I remember specific
times of great, great difficulty. And how the
Lord sustained us. There was one time when...
Had a severe financial setback. We hardly had
any food in the house. And someone from our church
brought a large turkey. They blessed us with
a large turkey. We ate for meals. Several meals
from that turkey. And it was such an overwhelming
blessing. Then the Lord blessed and prospered.
And now we look back and we tend to forget. But
we need to recount that. And remember, this is
what God did. And he blessed this family. He
used this family to bless us and to sustain us
with this gift of, I don't know, 25 or 30 pound
turkey. It was really incredible. We need to
remember those things and pass them on. What
are the stories of your past? What can you tell
your children or your grandchildren? Or do you
know any of the stories from your forefathers?
Or have any been handed down to you? What difficult
things did you come through where God brought
you out with a mighty hand and an outstretched
arm? Use that time to spur thanksgiving and praise
for what God has done, how he brought you through.
And then there are the stories of history and
there are the stories in the word of God. Read
the story, but don't just read the story internally
and silently. Tell your family about it. Tell
your children or others about the wonderful works
of God. Psalm 78 brings this out in a multi -generational
way. How that? He commanded them that they are
to tell these stories so that their children
would then rise up and tell their children who
would then rise up and tell their children of
the mighty deeds of God. Trials are indeed a
part of life, and God is working his purposes
out through trials. James 1 tells us to count
it all joy when we fall into various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces
patience. And it's true. It certainly does. There
may be ways for you to set up monuments or establish
records that can be told, maybe even writing
histories or even just making a photo album of
times that the Lord brought you through. Times
when your great -grandchildren can look back
and know at least a little bit about you and
what happened and how God was great. Tell these
stories to your children and your grandchildren.
Second application is, how do we cultivate thankfulness?
When we are to pray without ceasing, how do we
pray without ceasing? We know that God has called
us to work, and absolutely, we need to work.
I mean, there's duties that need to be done.
There's many things. We're called to work and
to provide for ourself and our family. So how
can we be constant in prayer? How can we continue
in this? Well, one of the ways... to cultivate
thankfulness and to pray without ceasing is to
learn how to have sentence prayers, to be God
conscious throughout the day. When you experience
a blessing, oh, thank you, Lord, for this. When
you come home and you're tired and you sit down
in your chair, oh, Lord, thank you for this.
When you sit down in the meal, we thank God for
the food, but really thank him for it, for the
good food, and thank those who helped to prepare
the food for you. Learn how to pray sentence
prayers all the time. I mean, it happens sometimes.
I do some mechanical things. I'm not a mechanic
by trade, but living on a ranch, you have to
do things. You know how it is. You're trying
to get this bolt in, and it drops out of your
hand, and where did it go? You just cannot find
it. There's a sentence prayer. Lord, please help
me find this bolt. Yeah, God cares even about
the very little things of life. Learn to just
breathe a quick prayer to God, to be God conscious
all the time. And I think that that's one of
the ways that we can fulfill that commandment.
But also cultivate thankfulness in doing it.
You crawl into bed at night. Oh, I feel so comfortable.
Thank you, Lord, for this bed. Thank you for
this warm covers. Thank you for this wood fire
in the morning. Thank you for a stove that I
can cook this meal on. Thank you for this little
one that you've entrusted me with. Thank you
for this coat, Lord, that keeps me warm outside
and it feels so good. Thank you for a warm vehicle
to get into. Thank you for electricity that we
can have here as we enjoy the heat and the light
and can enjoy a warm meal here just a little
bit later. Thank you, Lord, for all of these
things and let us be God conscious and thereby
giving him thanks in all of the little things
of life that will keep us oriented toward God
as well as help to guard from sin. Cultivate
thankfulness with sentence prayers. Now, at the
beginning of the sermon, I made this statement.
When the Holy Spirit comes on a people, they
are filled with... This is one of the characteristics
of a work of God, that God's people are thankful
and that they are filled with joy. And that thankfulness
and joyfulness should be evident wherever we
go. What hinders this? What stops you or me from
being known as a thankful and a joyful person?
Maybe it is that you have not learned how to
walk through trials with joy. Maybe you're going
through a trial and you don't know how to do
it with joy. Maybe you're overburdened with the
cares of life and have not learned that Jesus
tells you to cast all of your cares upon him.
So maybe you haven't given them to the Lord.
Perhaps, as you hear this sermon, Maybe you have
not experienced the new birth. Maybe you don't
know what it is to love God with all of your
heart and mind and have been made alive through
the operation of the Spirit. And so to you, I
would say, repent and believe. Turn to Christ.
Trust in Him with all of your heart. Maybe you
think that being joyful is putting on a show.
You're just doing that for show. No. No, it's
to come. I mean, that can happen, but it's a
false joy. It's a spurious joy. It's a pasted
on smile. It's a smiling on the outside when
you're filled with rottenness on the inside and
it will show. Maybe you don't understand God's
covenant mercies and his sovereignty so that
you think that you have to be the Holy Spirit
or that you're so intense. That you look through
life only as an evangelistic enterprise in which
you go around all day, burdened all the time,
and you become a killjoy, a morose, the equivalent
of the old man holding the sign all the time
by the road. The end is near. Maybe you're that
kind in your heart or in your mind. I do not
speak against attempting to persuade men. Indeed,
as Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5 verse 11, knowing
therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade
men, but we are well known to God and I trust.
are well known in your consciences. But how should
we persuade? I am arguing that we persuade not
by a fake face that has a pasted on smile or
by walking around all the time breathing denunciations,
but by being genuinely joyful, a pleasure to
be around, filled with grace, delight in God's
goodness, his sovereignty, and enjoying his great
creation and his good gifts. It's a total worldview
shift. If we can look that that is the way God's
people are to be, to be characterized like that.
When we look at evangelism and serving God through
fear of hell. or fear of not pleasing God, or
fear of anything, then we are driven to live
with that mindset. But God desires, yes, faithful
witnesses. And we are faithful witnesses when
we love God, when His commandments are not grievous,
because our obedience flows out of an infectious
love for God. First John five and verse three,
for this is the love of God that we keep his
commandments and his commandments are not burdensome.
Someone asks you, how are you doing? Oh, better
than I deserve. Or I'm rejoicing in the goodness
or the mercy or the faithfulness or the nearness
or the kindness of God and the love of his people.
Live with joy to everywhere you go. When the
Lord comes to Zion. And redeems his people. And
they follow after righteousness. Isaiah prophesies
in chapter 51 verse 3. That the Lord will comfort
Zion. He will comfort all her waste places. He
will make her wilderness like Eden. And her desert
like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness
will be there. They will be found in it. Thanksgiving
and the voice of melody. This is the characterization
of the people of God. Let us go for this, dear
brothers and sisters. This, her desert like the
garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be
found in it. Thanksgiving and the voice of melody.
Brothers and sisters, we have come to Mount Zion.
We are living in the time that Isaiah prophesied.
For Jesus has come. He has made Jew and Gentile
one in Christ. And we are receiving this. kingdom
this glorious kingdom go read Hebrews 12 verse
22 through 24 again how that we have come to
Mount Zion and to the heavenly Jerusalem so let
us then in the words of Psalm 100 make a joyful
noise to the Lord all you lands serve the Lord
with gladness come before his presence with singing
Know that the Lord, he is God. It is he who has
made us and not we ourselves. We are his people
and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his
gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with
praise. Be thankful to him and bless his name
for the Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting
and his truth endures. to all generations. Let's
pray.