“What Is A Christian, Part 44, Giving Thanks” by Romans
Last week we looked at President Lincoln's original declaration that we celebrate a Day of Thanksgiving and Praise to God for the physical blessings America enjoys. The Day was set aside to also acknowledge the Freedom that we enjoy, it being recognized as a Gift of God.
In addition I said that President Lincoln also acknowledged that God, “while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.” President Lincoln's humble and reverent appreciation of Almighty God resulted in the establishment of this annual celebration.
Then I reviewed many of the Scriptures of call upon God's people to be a thankful people, praying to Him and thanking Him at least daily for everything. Tonight, while we are still digesting our Thanksgiving meal and the leftovers created by it, and in keeping with our current Series, “What Is A Christian?”
I would like to devote this Discussion to our thanking God for His manifold blessings. God has poured these out not only on His people in particular, but also on His Creation in general. I give full credit to Torrey's Topical Textbook (article: “Thanksgiving.”) for the outline of Scriptures used.
As I said last week, our Thanksgiving to God should not be limited to the annual, 4th Thursday of November. Thanksgiving is a Good Thing: We read in Psalms 92:1: “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night.”
We should be thankful first and foremost that God gave us His Word of Truth. Without His Inspired Word we would not and could not know of all of the blessings and provisions He pours out on us,. We would not and we could not know Him or His Son or His Spirit, or what He has done, what He is doing, and what He will do.
It is only through the Word of God that we learn that through the Life, Death, Resurrection and perpetual Priesthood of Jesus Christ we have been called, forgiven, reconciled, justified and sanctified.
I commend President Lincoln for setting apart a National Day of Thanksgiving, but he limited his recognition of the Blessings of God to material and temporary Blessings, but far and above those temporary material Blessings, listen in these opening verses of Romans 5, to what we, as followers of Christ, should meditate on more, dwell on more, and thank and praise God for, every single day because of their Eternal import and impact.
Romans 5:1: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. 6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”
Thanksgiving Should Be Offered For Victory Over Death and the Grave: 1 Corinthians 15:54: “So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory...
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We read of our calling both in Jeremiah 31:3: “The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee,” and in Ephesians 2:12: “That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:”
We should be continually thanking God for His everlasting love, for drawing us to Him, and for the hope He has given us. Hebrews 13:15: “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”
Psalms 100:4: “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” Jesus confirmed this when He pledged in Matthew 24:35: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”
The continual availability of God's Word to us is a blessing because the Word of God gives us direction: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105). The Word of God also provides for our spiritual growth: Peter wrote, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2).
And, finally, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Thanksgiving Should Be Offered For Wisdom and Might:
Daniel 2:23: “I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter.”
We should thank God for the Gift of His Holy Spirit to recognize and accept and understand His Word. The Holy Spirit also empowers us to live by it. Jesus said in John 14:16: “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”
Thanksgiving Should Be Offered Always:
Ephesians 1:15: “Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:”
Thanksgiving Should Be Offered In Everything:
1 Thessalonians 5:15: “See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
1 Thessalonians 1:2:”We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father; Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.”
He called us out of the world and into His Church: 1 Corinthians 1:1: “Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.”
We are blessed with the care of godly pastors, the instruction of Spirit-led teachers, the Fellowship of likeminded believers , some with the love of like-minded spouses. Not all believers are married, and not all believers are blessed with spouses who are also believers. Those of us who, like myself, should be thankful for a godly spouse, and I am.
Unlike millions of our brethren throughout the world, we should be thankful that God allows us to live in a country where we can openly and publicly and freely declare our Election, and praise and worship Him according to our own understanding and conscience without being arrested, imprisoned, tortured and executed.
The Word of God is full of thanks to God. God has given us not just physical Life, but we were created in the Image and Likeness of God. Psalm 139:14: “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made:”
Additionally, as Christians, we are in the process of a spiritual creation with the end result of being in the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. Notice, 2 Colossians 3:10: “And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:”
We also read in Psalm 19:1 a verse that I believe few are thankful for: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.” I find it so beautifully ironic that atheistic scientists are discovering and revealing scores of examples showing how the Heavens declare God's Glory, and why we should be thankful of God's handiwork.
When realizing that scores of the forces of the Universe are set to exactly-correct settings in order to sustain Life. One scientist who is an atheist called it an exquisitely fine-tuned Universe that “knew we were coming.”
Many are not aware that earth exists in an area astrophysicists call “the Goldilocks Zone.” The earth is just the right distance from the sun. If we were too close, the oceans would boil away, and life would be impossible. If we were too far from the sun, the oceans would be a frozen block, and the earth would an arctic wasteland.
In addition, we are enveloped in multiple shields against radiation and deadly solar emissions. The Ozone Layer shields from lethal Ultraviolet Light, while the molten, flowing iron core of the earth creates the Magnetosphere, a 350,000-mile high Force Field, which deflects lethal solar winds and high-energy particles that are fired at us from the sun. This does not even take into account that the earth produces food for us which contains the vital minerals our bodies need for growth and health.
Consider, also, all the additional things worthy of giving thanks in just these next few verses: Colossians1:9: “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; 12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.”
One-hundred trillion centuries from now... Will we be thanking God for the blessing Lincoln named? The Coal mines? The Oil reserves? The forests or the other natural resources that America has been blessed with? Not in light of the incredible investment of love that God has made in us. We read in 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For he (the Father) hath made him (the Son) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
Matthew Henry writes of this: “{For} our encouragement so to do the apostle subjoins what should be well known and duly considered by us, namely, (1.) The purity of the Mediator: He knew no sin. (2.) The sacrifice he offered: He was made sin; not a sinner, but sin, that is, a sin-offering, a sacrifice for sin.
(3.) The end and design of all this: that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, might be justified freely by the grace of God through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.
Note, [1.] As Christ, who knew no sin of his own, was made sin for us, so we, who have no righteousness of our own, are made the righteousness of God in him. [2.] Our reconciliation to God is only through Jesus Christ, and for the sake of his merit: on him therefore we must rely, and make mention of his righteousness and his only.”
But there is yet so much MORE! Galatians 3:29: “And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.” and Rom 8:16-17: “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ;”
Is it possible to downplay or take lightly what these verses are telling us? Is it possible to take these things that God has accomplished through the death of His Son? Because we belong to Christ. we have been grafted in as heirs to the promises made to Abraham. The Holy Spirit bears witness that we are not only the creation of God, but also the children of God!
Notice also Romans 8:15: “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” The relationship that has been established for us, that we receive not on our own merits but because of Jesus' work on the cross is closer than a Father/Child relationship. Abba is the MidEast term for “Daddy!” We are in a Daddy/child relationship.
And because of this we read the invitation in Hebrews 4:16: “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” We are invited to boldly come to the very throne room of God to obtain mercy and find grace. God hears and answers our prayers. But, more than that: Isaiah 65:24: “And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.”
We read in Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
He gives us Peace in John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid,” and also in Philippians 4:7: “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
He gives us wisdom if we ask for it: We read in James 1:5: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”
He gives us His Commandments to live happy and productive lives. We read in Psalm 103:7: “He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel. 8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. 9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. 10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. 13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. 14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.”
God blesses us with the continuing Priesthood of Jesus Christ: We read in Hebrews 7:24-25: “But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them,” and in Hebrews 4:15: “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”
I have only heard one minister at a Sunday School Session I attended several years ago quote this next amazing verse about how God feels about His children: Zephaniah 3:17: “The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.” Can you imagine that Almighty God rejoices over us with singing??? Should we not be sobered and continually thankful for the depth of His love?
We should also be thankful for God's longsuffering towards us. We read in 2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
We should all have Thanksgiving At the Remembrance of God's Holiness:
Psalms 30:4: “Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.”
Thanksgiving Should Be Offered To Christ:
1 Timothy 1:12: “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.”
Thanksgiving Should Be Offered Through Christ:
Romans 1:7: “To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.” Also, Colossians 3:17: “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”
Thanksgiving Should Be Given In the Name of Christ:
Ephesians 5:19: “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We Should Offer Thanksgiving On Behalf of Ministers:
2 Corinthians 1:8: “For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:
Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us. Ye also helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf.”
Thanksgiving Should Be Offered For the Reception and Effectual Working of the Word of God in Others: 1 Thessalonians 2:11: “As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children, That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.
For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe. For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God.”
Thanksgiving Should Be Offered For Deliverance Through Christ From In-dwelling Sin: Beginning in Romans 7:22: “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”
Thanksgiving Should Be Offered For the Triumph of the Gospel:
2 Corinthians 2:14: “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.”
Thanksgiving Should Be Offered For the Conversion of Others:
Romans 6:17: “But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”
Thanksgiving Should Be Offered For the Grace Bestowed on Others:
1 Corinthians 1:4: “I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:”
Philippians 1:3: “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”
Colossians 1:3: “We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints.”
Thanksgiving Should Be Offered For the Nearness of God's Presence:
Psalms 75:1: “Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.”
Thanksgiving Should Be Offered For All Things:
Ephesians 5:20: “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Thanksgiving Should be Accompanied by Intercession for Others:
1 Timothy 2:1: “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men, For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.”
2 Timothy 1:3: “I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day,” and Philemon 1:4: “I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers, Hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints.”
Thanksgiving Should Always Accompany Prayer:
Colossians 4:2: “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.”
Christians Should Be Resolved to Offer Thanksgiving:
Psalms 18:49: “Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name,” and
Psalms 30:12: “To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.”
Thanksgiving should magnify God:
Psalms 69:30: “I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.”
Notice, and give thanks for the opening thought of this next Psalm carefully:
Psalms 107:1: “O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.”
Matthew Henry has this to say about these Verses: “The words describe their case whom the Lord has redeemed from the bondage of Satan; who pass through the world as a dangerous and dreary wilderness, often ready to faint through troubles, fears, and temptations. Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, after God, and communion with him, shall be filled with the goodness of his house, both in grace and glory.”
We have been reviewing the many occasions of Thanksgiving, as we find it in Scripture under every imaginable circumstance. And we all have many things to be thankful for. Things given us by God directly, on a spiritual and physical level, and things which He gave us through fellow humans, both believers and non-believers, all of whom God set on our paths to intercept us.
2 Corinthians 9:11: “Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God.” (14): “And by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding grace of God in you. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.”
Matthew Henry writes of this: “Blessed be God for the unspeakable gift of his grace, whereby he enables and inclines some of his people to bestow upon others, and others to be grateful for it; and blessed be his glorious name to all eternity, for Jesus Christ, that inestimable gift of his love, through whom this and every other good thing, pertaining to life and godliness, are freely given unto us, beyond all expression, measure, or bounds.”
Above and beyond celebrating Thanksgiving Day annually, we should daily and continually Thank God for all that He is, for all that He has given you, and for the Eternity that He wanted you to share with Him intensely enough, that He sent His Son to pay for our sins, to die a merciless, savage and ignominious death in our place, so that each of us might have victory over the grave, and be able to enter into His joy for ever. He is worthy of our Thanksgiving.
This concludes this evening's Discussion, “What Is A Christian, Part 44, Giving Thanks.”
This Discussion was originally presented “live” on December 4th, 2024
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