Turning to First Chronicles chapter
16, let me remind you that we will have our holiday dinner
together Sunday. There'll be no service here Sunday
night, but we will spend the afternoon together Sunday after
service. And you men, if you will, go
downstairs and just set the chairs up. I think the tables are all
in place, but just set the chairs up for that so the ladies won't
have to do that getting ready Sunday. And you who are visiting,
you'll be welcome and wanted to join us if you're still in
town. And I promise you there'll be something to eat besides turkey.
All right. First Chronicles chapter 16.
In the Old Testament, under the
types and shadows of the law, God's people observed numerous
holy days and Sabbath days by divine appointment. Those ancient
feasts and holy days were designed by God to be specific, clear
pictures of redemption accomplished by Christ and of God's salvation
wrought in us by his goodness and grace. In this gospel age,
we are forbidden to observe any Sabbath days or any holy days. It is not a matter of option.
We are forbidden, Colossians 2, verse 16, to observe carnal
holy days. Why? Because Christ is our Sabbath. Every day to us is a holy day.
Because Christ is our Sabbath, every day is a day in which we
worship our God and to us a Sabbath day. A Sabbath of dedication
to the Lord our God. We worship God in spirit. We
don't need to keep, and we cannot keep, carnal ordinances of that
kind, keeping holy days and Sabbath days, and worship God in spirit
and in truth. The religious world incorporates
many religious holy days observed constantly by various groups
in various ways. You're familiar with Christmas
and Easter, of course. And those things, while I gave
up fighting Santa Claus and Easter bunnies a long time ago, but
don't fail to understand Christmas and Easter are not holy days
by any means. They are but ancient Babylonian
pagan holidays reserved by the Church of Rome and brought into
what's called the Christian calendar by Roman tradition. So we connect
no holiness or sanctity or religious or spiritual connection with
those days. They're just days on our calendars
when you don't have to work. And that's that's all you say
for it. And I'm happy that we have those occasions by which
men must be reminded of our Lord's incarnation and of his resurrection
as our substitute. But those are not days of any
significance. We do, however, as a nation,
observed Thanksgiving Day every year, the last Thursday of the
month of November, tracing back to our pilgrim fathers, men and
women who set aside a day in which to give thanks to God. And how thankful I am in his
good providence that God has arranged it so that everyone
in this nation in two days will at least by some constraint of
providence, be compelled to have some thought toward God, his
providence and his goodness. And we as believers certainly
have reason to give thanks to God. The title of my message
tonight is Happy Thanksgiving. And I hope you'll listen carefully
and God will be pleased to bless his word to your heart as it
has to my own. Here in 1 Chronicles 16, God's
servant, David, has brought the ark of God up to Jerusalem, leaping
and dancing before the Lord, because he understood what was
represented in that ark. He understood that ark represented
God's election, Christ's redemption, the accomplishment of grace by
Christ the Lord, and he leapt and danced before the ark as
he brought it up to Jerusalem. And as he brought it into the
place he had set aside for it, he gave this psalm to the children
of Israel. Verse eight. Give thanks unto
the Lord. Give thanks unto the Lord. Thanksgiving is always in season. Every child of Adam living upon
this earth ought to lift his heart to God in heaven, giving
thanks to him for his great mercy. Few do, but all should. And you and I who are born of
God ought to give thanks to Him continually for all things. We ought to give thanks to Him
continually for all things. No exception. Verse 8 again. Call upon His name. Worship Him. Lean on Him. Trust Him. There's no thanksgiving to God
until he is known and worshipped as God. Call upon his name. When men call upon the name of
the Lord, that means they worship God. It's not just speaking his
name, not just uttering his name, but it is worshipping him, calling
on him in adoration. Make known his deeds among the
people, all his deeds. Declare what God has done. in
creation, in grace, and in providence. Make known his deeds among the
people. Sing unto him. Sing psalms unto
him. Verse nine. There's no better
way to move our hearts to thanksgiving than by lifting our voices in
songs of thanksgiving. Back in the summer, one day,
maybe as early in the spring, Eric was helping his dad, Bo,
out here. And he was riding a mower that I think they broke the muffler
off of it a long time ago. And he was just whistling away. And I heard Bobby say, he must
be a happy fella. Listen to him whistle. We stir our hearts to praise
with songs of praise to our God. Stir our hearts to delight with
singing ourselves unto the Lord. Serve the Lord with gladness
David says come before his presence was singing Let our mouths be
filled with laughter and our tongues were singing that the
heathen may say The Lord hath done great things for this That's
how we ought to continually worship our God, giving praise to him,
so that as the heathen observe the delight of our hearts, as
the heathen around us observe our composure in the midst of
adversity, as the heathen around us observe our worship and our
delight in the midst of heartache, they are made to understand the
Lord has done great things for them. Oh God give me grace every
day to live so as to make men stand in astonishment at what
God must have done for me. The Lord has done great things
for them. Talk ye of all his wondrous works. Our songs should ever be filled
with praise to our God for his wondrous works. Paul said, teaching
and admonishing one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. When
we speak of any event, any act, any blessing, any judgment, any
trial, any promise, any joy, any sorrow, we're speaking of
God's works. Understand that this is God's
work. This is God's work. Whatever
it is you experience, whatever it is you witness, this is God's
work for you. So let us talk of his wondrous
works with understanding. We ought ever to be conscious
of the fact and acknowledge the fact with humble praise that
God has his way everywhere all the time. and how that ought
to comfort our hearts, sustain our souls, and cheer our spirits. Verse 10 again. Glory ye in his
holy name. Glory in all that God is. His name represents what he is. All his character. Glory in his
holy name. Hold your hands here and turn
to Jeremiah chapter 9. Jeremiah chapter nine, verse 23. Thus sayeth the Lord, let not
the wise man glory in his wisdom. The word glory means to boast
or to trust or to rest in his wisdom. Glory ye. boast, trust, rest in his holy
name. But let not the wise man glory
in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might.
Let not the rich man glory in his riches, but let him that
glorieth glory in this. Now, here's something to rejoice
in, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord. I am the Lord, the Lord, which
exercise loving kindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth. For in these things, I delight,
saith the Lord. Back in First Chronicles 16.
First, it. Let the heart of them rejoice
that seek the Lord. Those who need him, seek him. Those who want him, seek him. Those who care for him, seek
him. Those who worship him, seek him. Those who trust him, seek him. Let those, the heart of them,
rejoice that seek the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord, Paul said. Rejoice in the Lord all the way
again. I say rejoice let your moderation
be known to all men for the Lord's at hand Now watch what it says
next Be careful for nothing Be careful for nothing But in everything
by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving Let your request
be made known to God Paul tells us to rejoice to rejoice in the
Lord and to rejoice in the Lord always, knowing that he's at
hand. Then he tells us to be careful for nothing. Not to worry
about a thing. Not to fret about a thing. Not
to carry a care. Oh, my soul. Not to carry a care. What you knew I've been to the
last couple of years But that's what it says in it Don't carry
a care and if we trusted him as we should we wouldn't carry
a care Be careful for nothing be careful
for nothing. How can that be? But in everything
by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving Let God know what
you need. Tell God the care of your heart. Tell God what's burdening your
soul. Let your request be made known
to God. And. And. The peace of God, which
passeth understanding. Oh, God, give me grace so to
trust you. So to rejoice in your goodness,
your wisdom, your grace, your providence, that I may cast all
my care upon you and the peace of God that passeth understanding. Peace that no tongue can describe
because no mind can comprehend. shall keep your hearts and minds,
shall stand as a guard around your heart and mind through Christ
Jesus, our Lord. All right, back in First Chronicles
16. Let's pick up in verse 11. Seek the Lord. And his strength,
seek his face continually. What's that mean? Remember his
marvelous works that he had done. his wonders, and the judgments
of his mouth. He only does wondrously. God doesn't do anything sort
of casually. He only does wondrously. Remember his marvelous works.
the works that he had done, his wonders and the judgments of
his mouth. Oh, you seed of Israel, his servant,
you children of Jacob, his chosen ones. He is the Lord, our God. His judgments are all are in
all the earth. Be mindful always of his covenant. Always be mindful of God's covenant,
the covenant made with Abraham. Covenant made with Isaac and
Jacob that covenant that represents his everlasting covenant of grace
made with Christ Jesus made with us in Christ before the world
began He says down here in verse 21 He suffered no man to do them
wrong Now I can read a lot of things
folks did wrong to them Pharaoh did them wrong the Egyptians
did them wrong the Canaanites did them wrong and Everybody
did them wrong. Everybody did them wrong. They
did wrong to one another. He suffered no man to do them
wrong. Well, either that's true or it's
a contradiction. And there's something here that's
not to be seen by the natural eye or the natural mind. That
which men did by which they sought to do them wrong was only that
by which God did them and so much more it is with God's
elect in Christ Jesus the Lord. He suffered no man to do them
wrong. Yea, he reproved kings for their sakes, saying, Touch
not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. Verse 23. Sing
unto the Lord all the earth. Show forth from day to day his
salvation. Show it everywhere all the time.
Declare his glory among the heathen his marvelous works among all
nations For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised He
also is to be feared above all gods For all the gods of the
people are idols All the gods of the people are idols Brother
Cody Henson praying for us just a little bit ago back in the
office. I giving thanks to God for making
us to know the difference between God and gods. All the gods of
the heathen are idols. That which men call God, I don't
care what they call Him, Allah, Buddha, Jehovah, or Jesus, I
don't care what they call Him, all that men call gods that cannot
do anything Gods that want to do what they can't do, will to
do what they don't do, desire to do what they do not accomplish,
are no God at all. Our God rules everywhere, always,
all the time. Read on. All the gods of the
people are idols, but the Lord hath made the heavens. Glory and honor are in his presence. Strength and gladness are in
his place Given to the Lord you kindreds of the people given
to the Lord glory and strength verse 29 Given to the Lord the
glory due unto his name Bring an offering the calves of your
lip an offering of praise and come before him worship the Lord
in the beauty of holiness and Worship Him in the beauty of
His holiness and worship Him in the beauty of His holiness
given to you in Christ Jesus in the new birth. Worship the
Lord with a perfect heart, for He's perfect. Worship the Lord
in a righteous nature, for He's righteous. Worship the Lord in
perfect righteousness. That righteousness, He's made
yours, making you a new creature in Christ Jesus. That holiness,
He's made yours, giving you that holiness without which no man
shall see the Lord. Fear before Him. That is reverence
Him. Reverence Him. Not dread Him,
reverence Him. Not be afraid of Him, reverence
Him. Fear before Him all the earth. The world also shall be
stable, that it be not moved. Man, if you saw the news last
night, it didn't look that stable to me. Looks like everything
turned upside down. Oh, no. Oh, no. It's moving exactly
according to God's purpose for the good of God's people, for
the glory of God's son, the earth. All the earth, the world shall
be stable before him, that it be not moved, let the heavens,
verse 31, be glad that the earth rejoice. Let men say among the
nations, let men say among the nations, the Lord reigneth. Tell everybody everywhere God's
in charge. But people don't like to hear
that. That's a good reason to tell them. Tell folks everywhere the Lord reigneth,
Lord reigneth. Let the sea roar and the fullness
thereof. Let the fields rejoice and all
that is therein. Then shall the trees of the woods
sing out at the presence of the Lord. Because he cometh to judge
the earth. Now look at verse 34. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord. For he is good. For his mercy
endureth forever. Our God is good. Good in all his being. Good in
all his ways. good in all his judgments, good
in all his grace, good in all he does. The Lord is good. As a matter of fact, the very
name God is but an abbreviation of the word good. Our God is
good in all his character, in all his being, and in all his
works. Look at verse 34 again. Oh, give
thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth
forever. And say ye, Save us, O God of
our salvation, and gather us together and deliver us from
the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy name and glory
in thy praise. Blessed be the God of Israel
forever and ever. Amen. First Thessalonians 5 18
says, Rejoice in everything. Give thanks. everything give
thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning
you. You and I who are gods have great
calls to give thanks and if we trust Christ in proportion to
our faith in Christ we do give thanks to God and we do walk
in peace. In proportion to our faith in
Christ, we are content with him and with his wise and good providence. No wonder our Lord says to his
disciples as they're toiling in the tempestuous sea, Master,
carest thou not that we perish? He said, how is it that you have
no faith? Oh, how is it that we have no
faith? How is it that we have no faith? We constantly lean on the arm
of the flesh. We constantly lean to our own
understanding. We constantly lean to our own
wisdom and to our own wits. God teach me to lean on my Redeemer. Just in proportion, Mark Henson,
as we trust him, we're content with him and his providence.
Whatever comes. whatever comes. Trust in the Lord with all thine
heart. In all thy ways acknowledge Him
and He shall direct thy paths. Trust Him. Knowing that all things
are of God, you and I always to be at peace. And here
the Spirit of God specifically tells us that everything is of
God. Turn to Colossians chapter one,
Colossians one. In everything give thanks to
God and celebrate his praise. I repeat, thanksgiving is always
in season. If you and I are partakers of
Christ, saved by the grace of God, We have great reason to
give thanks to our God always and for all things. Look here
in Colossians 1, 12. Giving thanks unto the Father,
which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of
darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear
son. In whom we have redemption through
his blood the forgiveness of sins look at chapter 3 verse
15. He tells us the same thing Let
the peace of god rule in your hearts To the which also you're
called in one body and be ye thankful paul's admonition for
us to be thankful Is given because thanksgiving is the will of god
Thanksgiving is the secret to living in peace in this world. And Thanksgiving is an act of
faith most honoring to God. Thanksgiving is the will of God. Thanksgiving is the secret to
living in peace in this world. Oh, it's hard to be much disturbed
when you rejoice it. It's hard to be uneasy when you're
giving thanks and Thanksgiving an act of faith honoring to our
God be you thankful then for God's electing love praise the
Lord for he is good for the Lord is good sing praise unto his
name for it is pleasant for the Lord hath chosen Jacob the Lord
has chosen you to himself for his peculiar people Nobody ever chose me for anything Nobody ever wanted me for anything
Until God Almighty revealed to me his choice of me in Christ
the Lord And I don't blame them. I don't blame them. I wasn't
what you'd want to be around your family. I know what I am and I know the
hole of the pit from which I've been dug. And I rejoice in God's
electing love. God chose me. God chose me. Be thankful. for your redemption
by the precious blood of Christ. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he hath visited and redeemed his people. With him is plenteous
redemption, the psalmist said. Our redemption ought to be a
matter of great, unceasing, relentless thanksgiving Because it is a
particular, special, distinguishing, effectual, eternal redemption. Christ, by his blood, has redeemed
us. That means, Alan Kibbe, there's
no possibility of any evil befalling us. He's redeemed us with his
blood. He has redeemed us with the power
of His grace, and He day by day redeems us from adversity and
from the enmity of our foes by the arm of His omnipotence. Be
you thankful for the pardon and forgiveness of sins. To be redeemed
is to have your sins blotted out, past, present, and future. To have your sins never remembered
against you. To have God declare, I, even
I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions and will not remember
thy sins. To have your sins so thoroughly
blotted out that you can seem blessed as the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Be thankful for God's marvelous
grace of adoption. Behold. what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed on us that we should be called the sons
of God. Be thankful for that great, omnipotent,
irresistible grace of our God by which he sweetly forced you
into the arms of the Savior. You never would have come if
he hadn't. You never would have come if he hadn't. Be thankful
for that grace which promises ultimate conquest and triumph. Thanks be unto God who giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. As you gather with
your families Thursday, I would encourage you to lead them in
the worship of God, find some way to speak to them of God's
great work and his great grace to you. Perhaps you couldn't
do better than by simply reading the 103rd Psalm. Let's look at
it for just a minute. I'll wrap this up. Psalm 103. David says in verse one, bless
the Lord. Oh, my soul. All that is within
me, bless his holy name. Eulogize God. Speak highly of
God. Deliberately speak well of God
and take care never to speak lightly of God. Children of God don't allow the
habit of the world to become yours in thinking of God are
speaking of God. Don't take God's name in vain.
I hear preachers use God's name, oh Lord, my God, such as that,
just taking God's name in vain. Don't do that. Don't do that. Don't speak lightly of God. Don't
do it. When you speak his name, speak
with deliberate reverence to give praise to him. In verses
two through five, David tells us, We speak highly of God. Let us recall The benefits of
his grace to us those things we've personally experienced
Bless the Lord. Oh my soul and forget not all
his benefits Who forgiveth all thine iniquities? Who healeth
all thy diseases Now wait a minute. Wait a minute Most of us here have got some
problems we haven't been healed of. Certainly soon, he will heal
all our diseases, no question about that. But here he speaks
of that which is a present tense reality. And it's connected with
the forgiveness of sins. You see, bodily health is not
necessarily a blessing from God. Physical health is not necessarily
blessing from God. It may be the very thing by which
God keeps you from trusting his son It may be the very thing
by which God blinds and hardens your heart But he who forgives
all your iniquities heals all your diseases He heals your soul
with his grace continually He continually forgives our iniquities,
but that was done in eternity. Yes, that was done at calvary
Yes, that was done when we call on his name. Yes, and that's
done day by day as we walk before him He forgives us consciously
in our own consciences our iniquities and heals our diseases There's
third thing who redeemeth thy life from destruction Why would
he speak of redemption after he speaks of the healing? Because
that's the way it's experienced. We were redeemed before we were
healed, but we didn't know it until we were healed. Who crowneth
thee with loving kindness and tender mercies. Kings and priests
we are in Christ Jesus, made kings and priests by God our
Savior, crowned with loving kindness and tender mercies and soon soon oh God shall set this crown
of gold on our head loving kindness and tender mercies so that thy
youth is renewed like the eagles what's that talking about? thy
youth is renewed like the eagles. As the eagles' feathers in the
molting season are renewed every year, so they that wait on the
Lord shall renew their strength. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. Because God continually renews
the souls of his people. He continually renews his elect
with his grace, renews us, giving us faith, renews us, revealing
himself, renews our souls continually by his work within us. In verse
six through 18, the Lord tells us we should extol him for all
his works of mercy and grace bestowed on all his church, on
all his elect collectively. Let's just pick up a couple of
highlights. Verse 10. He hath not dealt with
us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. Whereas the heaven is high above
the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As
far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions
from us. Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth
our frame. He remembereth that we are dust. Oh, how gracious God is. Isn't
that amazing, God? He remembers we're dust. Looks
like we ought to be able to remember that about each other. How quick we are to imagine that
God's people ought to be perfect. We're just dust. Corrupt dust. Dying dust. Just dust. Weak dust. Remember that next time you get
to thinking too hard about one of God's people. Just dust. And
if God remembers that we're dust, we ought to surely remember that
about one another and be compassionate and caring. I guess I wrote a couple of dozen
letters today and wish my friends Thanksgiving and tried to express
to them my concern that they know I rejoice in God's goodness
upon them. Oh, I read about Chris Cunningham
Bulletin this morning, early this morning. He expressed the
things he was thankful about, had the privilege of baptizing
them. his daughter Lauren and several folks in the congregation
there. I wrote to him, I said, your Thanksgiving is my Thanksgiving. How we ought to give thanks to
God for his blessings upon our brothers and sisters, upon his
people throughout this world in our generation. How we ought
to thank God for every indication of his blessings upon his church
and upon his churches throughout the world. And then We ought
always to give thanks to God for his glorious sovereignty
in the exercise of his universal providence. Verse 19. The Lord
hath prepared his throne in the heavens. His kingdom ruleth over
all. The Lord set his throne in the
heavens. And nothing touches it. Nothing
shakes it. He bids us come freely, but nothing
gonna move it. It's stable as God himself. And his kingdom rules over all. His dominion extends as high
as heaven, as deep as hell, as wide as the earth. It extends
through all time to all eternity over all things, all events,
and all men. His kingdom rules over all. Now, one more thing. Verses 20,
21, and 22. We ought to show forth God's
praise in our lives. Blessed be the Lord, ye his people,
that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening
to the voice of his word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye his
host, ye ministers of his that do his pleasure. Bless the Lord,
all his works and all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord,
O my soul. The way to express thanks. The way to express thanks to
God is to live for God. The way to express thanks to
God is to live for God. You're not your own. You're bought
with a price. The price of Christ's precious
blood. Therefore, glorify God in your
bodies and in your spirits, which are God's. I beseech you, my
brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, that you present
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto the Lord,
which is your reasonable service. Most reasonable thing on this
earth is for a redeemed sinner saved by God's free grace to
be completely sold out to the glory of God and the will of
God. Most sensible thing on this earth
for a redeemed sinner saved by God's free grace to be completely
sold out to God, the will of God and the glory of God. With that, I say to you, happy
Thanksgiving, and amen. I ask Cody to pass out this hymn. I actually meant to put it in
the bulletin last week. We've sung it before, but Lynch will
come and lead us in the hymn, Thanksgiving to our God. And
this will be our benediction.