The Voice of Thanksgiving - Part 1 of 2

The Baptist Bible Hour now comes to you under the direction of Elder LeSaire Bradley, Jr. O for a thousand tongues to sing, my great Redeemer's praise, Thou the wisdom of my God and King, Thou triumphs of His grace. This is LeSaire Bradley, Jr. inviting you to stay tuned for another message of God's sovereign grace. Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus our blessed Redeemer, Sing, O earth, His wonderful love proclaim, Hail Him, hail Him, bias our angels in glory, Strength and honor give to His holy name.

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Is the loving purpose solely To preserve them pure and holy? I love this time of year. We've had a beautiful autumn season, bright sunshiny days, blue skies, gentle breezes. But I particularly look forward to it because of the Thanksgiving season. God's people should be thankful, of course, every day of their life. I trust that we all give thanks at mealtime. But certainly we should give thanks even when we get up in the morning, thanking the Lord for another night's rest in the due day. Thank Him throughout the day for the many benefits that we receive from His gracious hand. And I think it's good that our country has a day designated Thanksgiving Day. Now some people may say I'm thankful, but they say it in a generic sense. I'm thankful, but it doesn't necessarily mean that they are giving thanks to the one true and living God. To thank Him and to praise Him. And I hope that Thanksgiving Day will be a special day for you.

For many it is a time for families to get together and enjoy a special meal. But above all, we want to truly give thanks to God for His abundant blessings. The subject is the voice of thanksgiving.

The text, Psalm 26 verses 6 and 7. I will wash mine hands in innocency, so I will compass thine altar, O Lord, that I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving and tell of all thy wondrous works. That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving and that publishing is going to be to tell of the wondrous works of God.

Three things we want to think about as we look at this. First of all, simply to be thankful. Secondly, to pray thankfully.

And thirdly, to speak with the voice of thanksgiving. The importance of being thankful is seen throughout both the Old and New Testaments. After the building of the wall in the days of Nehemiah, it says in Nehemiah 11 17, Asaph was the principal to begin the thanksgiving prayer. They had built the wall in record time.

They had faced opposition from those who sought to interfere with their work and to greatly discourage them. But now they want to give thanks to God for the building of that wall so that the city might again be inhabited. Psalm 100 verse 4, Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Be thankful unto him and bless his name. The psalmist speaks of entering into the courts of God. We come here to his church today and certainly should enter it with thanksgiving.

Coming here to praise God. You've done that in the hymns that you have sung. Hopefully we do that as we come to him in prayer. We praise him and we acknowledge the truth of his word.

Seek to make application of it to our life. Psalm 105 verse 1 says, Oh, give thanks unto the Lord. Call upon his name.

Make known his deeds among the people. In so many of these references to thanksgiving, there is also connected this thought that we should be telling others about the greatness of our God. Talking about his mighty works from days past, acknowledging his providence, the unfolding of his wonderful blessings in our lives today.

Often we're intimidated. We hesitate to talk to others about the greatness of our God for fear that they're going to be offended and they're not going to accept us. But when we think about how great our God is, what wonders he has performed, what blessings he has showered upon us. How can we hold back that faithful testimony to talk of his goodness? Make known his deeds among the people. And then coming to the New Testament, the book of Colossians is full of references to giving thanks. Chapter 1 verse 3. We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you.

Paul loved the people in these churches to whom these epistles were written. And so he says, I am praying always for you and I'm giving thanks to God the Father. I'm thankful for you and I thank God for you. Then verse 12, giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. Chapter 2 verse 7, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Not just giving thanks, but abounding in thanksgiving. This is such a basic truth.

It's easy for us to pass over it and say, well, this is something I know. I know I ought to be thankful. I know I ought to be more thankful than I have been. But the scripture puts such tremendous emphasis on it. We have to look at it as a significant major Bible teaching. Obviously, just going through a few verses from the Old Testament and a few from the New, we're not beginning to scratch the surface about how many references there are to it throughout the word of God. But certainly as the apostle writes here, we are to be abounding with thanksgiving. That means we're going to frequently be going to the Lord, expressing our gratitude, and we're going to be ready to express it to others about how thankful we are for the goodness and mercy of God.

Then Colossians continuing in chapter three, verses 15 to 17. Sometimes people say, well, the Bible is so difficult to understand. That text is not difficult. That's very concise, very basic.

You can understand that. The original word in the Greek language that is here translated grace also carries with it the very thought of thanksgiving. You are to sing with thanksgiving in your hearts, with grace in your hearts. And whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. And whatever you do in all things, whether you're going to work, whether you're going to school, whether you're interacting with friends and neighbors, whether you're eating a meal, whatever you do in all things, do all to the glory of God, giving thanks to God the Father. And then chapter four, verse two, continue in prayer and watch in the same with thanksgiving. So the emphasis throughout the scripture is very evident and certainly here in the Book of Colossians.

It is a major theme. What does it mean to be thankful? Well, for one thing, it means not to complain.

We covered that subject at great length in our message a year ago on the Sunday before thanksgiving. But we're just going to read once more a text pertaining to the fact that complaining is a problem. If God's people are complaining, they're clearly violating a specific commandment in his word that we are to avoid such a spirit. First Corinthians chapter 10, reading in the 10th verse, he'd been talking about the experience of the children of Israel, talking about the fact that God provided for them.

They drank water out of a rock and that rock was Christ. But with many of them, God was not well pleased and they died in the wilderness because they were complainers. So now he says, neither murmur ye as some of them also murmured and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now, all these things happened unto them for and samples, and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come.

Wherefore, let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. These people enjoying miraculous blessings, abundant blessings, a great deliverance, continued to complain. Whatever God did for them, it wasn't enough. They wanted more. They wanted an easier path full of complaints. Here, the inspired writer is telling us that God was so displeased with their conduct, with their constant murmuring and complaining that he destroyed them. Only a remnant that came out of Egyptian bondage finally entered the promised land. And the reason was their discontent, their complaining spirit. They were not thankful.

They were disobedient to God. Then he reminds us, let him that thinketh he standeth. If a person gets the idea, whatever the subject may be, if somebody said, well, I can tell you right now, I'm going to be guilty of being a complainer. Or if there's some particular sin that has troubled you in the past and now you say, well, that'll never bother me again. I know I can stand. Or there are certain things you're sure I would never go down this path. Just remember that if you reach the place, you are sure of yourself.

You're confident in yourself. I know that I can stand. I can resist.

Whatever temptation comes my way, you're treading dangerous ground. Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed, lest he fall. So what does it mean to be thankful? It means not to complain. To be thankful means to acknowledge that we are not worthy of God's blessings. Genesis chapter 32 verse 10, Jacob says, I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies and of all the truth which thou has showed unto thy servant. Not worthy. As soon as you get the idea that I feel like I'm entitled to some things, I'm not as bad as some people.

That spirit of the Pharisee creeps in. Lord, I think that I'm not as of the man. I'm not unjust. I'm not an extortioner.

Fast twice of the week. Give tithes of all that I possess. And you enumerate all the things you haven't done as far as great sins that would have offended God. So somehow down deep you get the idea. I deserve something.

You know, if you have some kind of a setback or difficulty, why did this happen to me? I don't think this is fair. That spirit of entitlement is prevalent in our culture today.

Where people have the general attitude. I deserve something. People ought to do something for me.

The government ought to do something for me. I'm entitled to it. That's a terrible spirit.

God would have us entertain the spirit of the patriarch Jacob. I am not worthy of the least of thy mercies. And if you live with that attitude and that spirit, you will be thankful. Because you know that whatever blessing you have, I didn't deserve it. Somebody might say, well, I've worked hard for what I have.

And why was it you were able to work? God gave you a healthy body to be able to do the job. God gave you a mind capable of reasoning as to what you had to do to finish the task before you.

God provided for you so that you had something to eat and had sufficient strength to go on the job. So it still comes back to the fact that what you have is yours because God has graciously given it to you. What are some of the things for which we should be thankful? We know that we ought to be thankful for our daily bread and we give thanks for that at the table. We ought to be thankful when we wake up in the morning for a new day and the breath that God has given us to breathe so we're still alive.

But let's think about some other things. We ought to be thankful that we know the Creator. Psalm 19 verse 1, the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork. You look all around at the beauty of God's creation.

The sun, the moon, the stars, the trees, the flowers, the oceans, the mountains. All of these things testify that God is a God of power, the great Creator. Six times in the first chapter of the book of Genesis it says and it was so.

God said let there be light and there was light. He spoke and it came to pass. And not only do you stand, I hope, in admiration of what God has done and think about what a remarkable, astounding thing it is that God created all of this just with the word of His power. But think of the fact that you know Him. You know the Creator.

Generally people, if they know somebody that has accomplished a great work, know somebody who is prominent in politics or business or whatever, they like to let you know. I know that man. I know the man that designed that building. I know the painter that painted that scene. I know them.

But think about your situation. You know the Creator. He happens to be your heavenly Father.

Should you not give thanks for that? Thank you, Lord, that I know you, the Creator of all things. Spurgeon said, in the expanse above us, God flies as it were His starry flag to show that the King is at home. Ever since I read that statement years ago, every time I look up into the sky at night and I see the stars, I think the King is at home.

He's put the flag out to let us know He is there. Turn to the book of Revelation. It's reading in the fourth chapter, the eleventh verse. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created. Thankful to know the Creator. Thankful for His sovereign rule.

I've talked to people who would admit that God is the Creator and then suggest that at that point He took hands off and just let it run as He set it up. I'm glad to know He's still in charge. I'm glad to know that He's still ruling and reigning.

115 verse 3 says, But our God is in the heavens, He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased. Nothing is too hard for the Lord. Whatever He is determined to accomplish, He has done it and He will do it. He's never frustrated, He's never defeated, He never has to back off and say, here's something that I would like to have done, but it just didn't work out. I heard a preacher say on the radio not long ago, he's talking about a particular thing and says, friends, let me tell you something, that's what God Himself cannot do.

I cringe when I heard it. There is nothing but what God can do it. All things are possible with Him. We ought to give thanks for that. Sometimes it looks like the world scene is in chaos. There's trouble everywhere you turn.

There's violence, uprisings. But God is in control. The Lord is in His holy temple.

Let all the earth keep silence before Him. And then to be thankful for its promises. Colossians chapter 1 of the 20th verse, For all the promises of God in Him are ye and in Him.

Amen. Unto the glory of God by us. It simply says that all of the promises of God are yes, yes. They are reliable.

You can count on them. How wonderful are those promises? A promise like this, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper.

What a promise. Underneath are the everlasting arms. No matter how low you may sink, no matter how difficult the way, still underneath are the everlasting arms of the God that you worship. What a promise when He says casting all your care upon Him for He careth for you.

You can be at a place and time where you feel nobody understands and nobody cares. But for the child of God, you're never justified to make such a declaration because He cares. And He invites you to cast your care on Him. How often we take our burdens to the Lord and then we pick them up and carry them back again.

We're to leave them with Him. What a promise when He says that you're in the Father's hand and no man can pluck you out. What a promise when He tells us that though there are many who would stand in opposition to the children of God, that nothing can separate us from His love. What a promise when He tells us we need not fear because He said, I will come to deliver you in Isaiah 35. Over and over again, we can see the marvelous promises that God has given us. Sometimes promises are made and quickly broken, but not so with God. Every promise He has ever made, He has kept.

Every promise that He has made, He will continue to keep. Thankful for the promises of God. Thankful for the love of God. 1 John 3 verse 1, what love the Father has bestowed or lavished upon us that we should be called the sons of God.

What love is that? Loving us so much, though by nature we were rebels, by nature we're described as being at enmity with God. Not His friend, not loving Him, not seeking Him, but He loved us nevertheless. What love that now we should be called the sons of God, a part of His family. He is our Heavenly Father. He has bestowed or lavished that love on us. The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell.

It goes beyond the highest star and reaches to the lowest hell. The guilty pair bow down with care. God gave His Son to win.

His erring child He reconciled and pardoned from his sin. O love of God, how rich and pure, how measureless and strong, it shall forevermore endure the saints and angels song. Surely when we give consideration to the greatness of our God, the blessings of His sovereign mercy, how He supports us and holds us up from day to day in our travels here, we have so many reasons for which to give thanks. May we respond even in the words of our text to be speaking with the voice of thanksgiving. Now until we greet you again next time, this is LeSaire Brightly Jr. saying, may God richly bless you. O love of God, how rich and pure, how measureless and strong, it shall forevermore endure the saints and angels song. .