Philippians (Lesson 45)

And thank you so very much for that kind word of introduction.

Thanks to each and every one of you for tuning in today.

I'm Brother James, and I greet you once again in the lovely name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

And I welcome you one more time to the Preaching of the Cross Radio Broadcast.

We are studying the Bible book of Philippians.

We have come to a short little verse that is full of weight and full of importance in the fourth chapter, Philippians and verse number four.

We read it together last time, spent our half an hour talking about its truth, and we're right back there on the program today.

Philippians four four says, Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.

Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.

The fruit of the Spirit is joy.

We have joy in our soul, despite our outward circumstances, because of the things which the Lord our God has done for us, is doing for us, and will ever continue to do for us.

In addition to this fourth verse, as we slip on down to verse number six, the Bible says, in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving.

Let your request be made known unto God.

Now there are reasons, biblical reasons why we should give thanks to God.

There are biblical reasons why we should be a joyful people.

Let's consider well let's let's go to some old testament passages.

Isaiah fifty one and Jeremiah thirty.

Here's a good reason for thanksgiving.

How about peace?

How about peace?

The Bible says in Isaiah fifty one beginning at verse three, for the Lord shall comfort Zion, he will comfort all her waste places, and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord, joy and gladness shall be found therein.

Thanksgiving and the voice of Melody.

In Jeremiah thirty, verse eighteen, thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwelling places, and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof, and out of them shall proceed thanksgiving, and the voice of them that make merry.

Now in these verses, God is turning the captivity of his people, the nation of Israel, and restoring them to their land in safety.

But you can place as a general heading over this idea that war is over and peace is come.

Now many in this modern generation in America don't know much about this concept, wouldn't understand it like our fathers and our grandfathers did, but many of you listening to my voice around this world would be incredibly thankful to God if the wars were over, if the bullets would stop flying, if the bombs would stop falling, if the strife that was costing the lives of countless souls would come to a halt, you would certainly be thankful to God.

I guarantee you when that uh what what was known as the Second World War in the in the Western world, I guarantee you when that uh when that battling and fighting and killing uh was over, when the Japanese finally said we're done fighting, and the boys came home to America, when Germany was finally subdued and the European nations knew a measure of peace, it was a happy day for the nations of the world.

Uh many of you may remember watching as a boy, Huntley, Brinkley, or uh Cronkite, but the rest of them, coming on every night and giving the mythical death count and the mythical wounded count, and how many Viet Cong were slaughtered today and how many American soldiers died today.

Let me tell you something.

Let me tell you something.

When that thing was over, I don't care if you were a hawk or a dove, when that thing was over, it was better to have peace than it was to have war.

And now around this world, this uh this killing and this bloodshed at the hand of uh Islam, some people pronounce it Islam, uh, these bombings and terror attacks and throat cuttings and the rest of it, when all of that is over, when all of that is over, it'll be a happy day for the world.

And men will give thanks to God when peace reigns on this earth.

Now peace is better than war.

Calm is better than unrest.

And when God brings peace in the place of war, when God brings calm in the place of trouble, men give thanks to God and rightly so.

Here's another reason why we should give thanks to the Lord and rejoice in the Lord.

Second Corinthians nine verse eleven says, being enriched in everything to all bountifulness which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.

Now the bounty of God or the blessings of God do not cause everyone to give thanks to God because some people believe they're just lucky, that's blasphemy.

Some people believe they are just fortunate, that's blasphemy.

Some people believe the government is their savior and provider and their God.

But those of us that are saved and born again, when we're enriched, the result is that we give thanks to God.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Praise him all creatures here below.

God has taken our lives and enriched them.

He has made them better.

He has done so by His bounty.

That is what the riches of God's grace, God's mercy, God's kindness, God's love, God's goodness, out of the storehouses of his treasures.

He has poured out upon us blessing after blessing after blessing, and because of that we give thanks to God.

When I look in my life and I realize how it has been enriched by God, then in turn I give thanks to God for these blessings.

I'll tell you we ought to we ought to just uh take the time, take the time to consider how wonderfully God has bestowed his bounty upon us, and then we should pause and give him thanks, take no credit to ourselves, never consider ourselves worthy or deserving.

Ah, but shouldn't we, shouldn't we give God thanks for his blessings on our lives?

What could be another reason for giving thanks to God?

How about in Colossians chapter number two?

Colossians chapter number two, good teaching.

Good teaching.

Colossians two six says, as ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him, rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

You know what people rarely thank God for?

The people who have taught us the truths of biblical Christianity, the people who have taught us how to live the Christian life.

It may be the minister, the Sunday school teacher by word.

It may be the brothers and sisters with whom we fellowship by example and deed.

It may be godly parents, it may be Christian grandparents, but my friend, you did not evolve into Christianity, and you didn't suddenly wake up one day knowing the Bible, all by your little old self, knowing how to live a life pleasing to God without any instruction or any guidance, from the very beginning when Jesus Christ taught his disciples, from the very beginning when he sent them out to teach all nations.

From that day to this, men that know the Lord have taught other men how to know the Lord, and men that have walked with God have taught other men how to walk with God, and men that know the Bible have taught other men the Bible, and we should be thankful to God for the blessing of having godly men and godly women in many, many different ways to teach us biblical truth so that we might more fully enjoy and experience this life, abundant life in Jesus Christ.

Well, here's another thing to be thankful for, and if you ever do without this for even a little while, you'll really appreciate it.

That's food.

Food.

I'm amazed at how many people eat like dogs.

Oh they might sit at the table and the dog doesn't.

They might use a knife and fork and spoon and the dog does not.

They may use a napkin to wipe their hands and mouth.

But I've noticed that when you put food in front of a dog, it does not pause to thank God.

It just starts eating.

I've noticed when you put food in front of a pig, it doesn't lift up its heart to heaven and thank God.

It just starts eating.

I've noticed that a lot of men, a lot of women, a lot of boys and a lot of girls, they just eat like animals, never pausing for a moment to tell God how much they appreciate his provision for them.

First Timothy four verse three says, forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.

For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving.

Now you can say I'm old fashioned if you want to.

I say it's Bible.

I don't want to put a bite of food in my mouth without bowing my head and thanking God that I'm not starving to death.

There are millions of people who have crossed this earth who lived and died without ever enjoying sufficient food.

There are people today, maybe some listening to my voice, who honestly do not know from one day to the next whether or not they are going to have sufficient food for themselves and for their families.

Famine could strike your nation today.

Pestilence could wipe out your crops tomorrow.

Political upheaval could take away your comfortable, well fed, easy life before this week is out.

And then and then you would pray.

And then we would call on God.

I'd say it's it's a a mark a remarkable thing how a hungry man can beg God for food, but how difficult it seems for a full man to thank God that he is not a hungry man.

Would you not at least admit to me today, would you not at least agree with me today that we owe a debt of gratitude to Almighty God for his daily provision for our temporal lives, and that we would do well to not take food and drink and a roof over our head and clothes on our back for granted, but that we would own these things as wonderful blessings from a gracious God and give him the thanks and the praise that he so deserves.

All right, maybe this next one's obvious, maybe it's not, but what about heaven?

What about heaven?

I want to thank God for peace, I want to thank God for enriching our lives, I want to thank God for good teaching, I want to thank God for food, but someday, someday we will thank God for heaven to be home safe and sound.

What a thought.

In Revelation 7 verse 11, the Bible says, And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces and worshiped God, saying, Amen.

Revelation 7:11

Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be unto our God for ever and ever.

Amen.

Do you know what we're going to do in heaven?

Among other things, we are going to give thanks to God.

When you consider where you could be, and then consider where you are, you are going to give thanks to God.

When you consider that you're not being tormented, but that you're knowing joy, when you consider that you're not in outer darkness, but in that place where the Lamb is the light.

When you consider that you're not burning, but that you're singing, when you consider that you're not among the devil and his angels, but with the Lord and his saints, you will give thanks, my friend.

When you realize fully, fully realize the price that Jesus paid to make eternal life possible for you, you will give thanks.

When you come to see your Savior face to face, when you enter into the reality of the fullness of his love, you will give thanks.

Heaven will not be a place of boasting but a place of praising.

It will not be a place of complaining but a place of thanksgiving.

I'm looking forward to that, aren't you?

Now sin is the result of an unthankful heart.

Come to Romans chapter number one.

I mentioned this on the last broadcast, but did not take a look at it, and we need to take a look at it.

In Romans 1, verses 29 to 31 is a list of horrible sins that fallen men commit against God and against man.

Romans 1:29–31

But people don't start out that way.

Verse 24 says God also gave them up.

Verse 26 says God gave them up.

Verse 28 says God gave them over.

When something goes horribly wrong in the relationship between a creature and the creator, all this dreadful sin results.

The sins are not the problem, the sins are the result of the problem.

Now do you want to see what the problem is?

Look back at Romans 1 verse 21.

Romans 1:21

Because that, here's the cause, the cause for which God gave them up.

The cause for all the sins.

Because that when they knew God they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful.

Sin is a result of an unthankful heart.

That's why the Lord said, When you get the people together, thank God.

Lead them in thanks to God.

Teach them to give thanks to God.

Sing thanks unto God.

Be occupied with thanks to God.

It is the great preventative medicine that will keep you from a multitude of sins.

Now look at Jonah.

Look at Jonah.

I said on the last broadcast and showed you from the Bible that sacrifices in the Old Testament were a result of God doing for a man or giving to a man.

They were not the means whereby someone bought God's favor.

They were expressions of thanksgiving to a God who had bestowed favor upon them.

Now, look at Jonah chapter one and verse number seven.

Jonah.

Jonah's swallowed by a great fish.

Jesus said it was a whale.

So it's Jonah and the great whale fish, Matthew 12, 40, Jesus called the great fish a whale.

And Jonah was in the belly of this fish three days and three nights.

Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God from the fish's belly, crying, By reason of mine affliction unto the Lord.

Verse 4.

Jonah 2, verse 4.

Jonah 2:4

Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight.

Verse 7.

When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.

Now let me ask you something.

Jonah, down in the depths of the deep blue sea.

Jonah in the belly of the whale.

There he is.

What animal can he burn?

What meal offering can he bring?

He cannot come to God by way of Levitical sacrifice.

It's impossible.

Verse 9, but I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving.

I will pay that that I have vowed.

Salvation is of the Lord.

And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

You know what God said?

What if you don't have an animal?

What if you don't have a lamb?

What if all you got is two mites?

The Lord said, No, the sacrifice I'm looking for is a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

That's Psalm 51.

The only sacrifice Jonah offered was thanksgiving to God with his lips.

And God said, That will do, that's good enough, and out he came.

Why?

Salvation is of the Lord.

God doesn't need 200 pounds of beef or 50 pounds of lamb, he wants your heart.

You can bring every animal in the zoo and not give God your heart, and He's not having you.

But if you give Him your heart, give Him your heart, you will see that salvation is of the Lord.

He's a good God.

Now all these verses we read in the Psalms and so forth in the last broadcast, they're all about the voice of thanksgiving being used as a sacrifice to God.

Don't you think it would please the Lord if we spent more time just saying thank you?

If we became occupied with thanking God, instead of asking for things, I am persuaded that we would know a greater measure of joy in our lives.

Instead of just checking in when we need something.

You know, I didn't pray much today because I didn't need much.

What if we just spent time thanking God?

I said this during the whole course of my ministry.

People come to me all the time and they're depressed and they're down, and I tell them, every one of them, I tell them the same thing.

I say, if you go home and get in a quiet place and start thanking God for everything you can think of to thank Him for, you will not stay depressed.

You will not stay down.

You see, we get down because we're occupied with what we don't have.

Thanksgiving, thanksgiving will get you occupied with what you do have, and that my friend will change everything.

It really will.

What the Lord wants, what the Lord desires is that you and I know the full joy and the complete rejoicing that is possible to us in and through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ as we live our life yielded to his control.

And yielded his control means, means obviously that we can thank him for everything because we know he loves us, we know his way is best, we know that he has no intent whatsoever to harm his own.

And so we rejoice in the Lord always.

And we repeat it again I say rejoice.

Why?

God is good.

He's always good.

He's never anything but good.

He never, never ceases to bestow his blessings upon us.

My friend, would you please become more occupied with what God has already done for you than with what you would like him to do next?

Would you begin to replace fear with thanksgiving, doubt with thanksgiving, unhappiness with thanksgiving, sorrow with thanksgiving?

Would you make a determined effort to be thankful and see and see if you will not find yourself rejoicing in the Lord for all the great things that He has done for you?

Well, I'm Brother James.

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