Oh, Give Thanks to the Lord, For He is Good!, 11/23/25

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

Psalms 118:1–4

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

1 Chronicles 16:29

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

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

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,

1 Thessalonians 5:16

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

Colossians 1:10

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

1 Timothy 2 · chapter mention

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

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

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

Romans 1 · chapter mention

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

Romans 1 · chapter mention

leads to conflict and the devouring of one another.

Galatians 5 verse 15 says very candidly, But

Galatians 5:15

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

Romans 1 · chapter mention

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

2 Corinthians 5:11

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

Hebrews 12:22–24

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.