Thank You, Jesus!

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday, the 21st of November, 2021, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Our YouTube streaming channel is: 

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

The Apostle Paul is certainly a very interesting man.  As a Pharisee, he served the temple with zeal, carrying out orders given to him without hesitation, bringing in these converts to the New Way to stand trial for their blasphemes.  He was a good Jew, well taught and knowledgeable of the scriptures and the Law.

And then he was personally touched by Jesus and shown the truth.  From that moment on, once his eyes were opened, Paul almost constantly suffered persecution for his belief and his service to Jesus.  He was arrested, beaten, shipwrecked, threatened, mocked and ridiculed time after time.

But yet, through all of this, Paul was thankful to God and Jesus, for he knew he had been saved.  Nothing else mattered – none of the beatings or time spent in chains.  He had been living a lie, but now was set free by the truth.  Before, he was dead in sin, but now he was redeemed and freed to enjoy life eternal with God.  Through all the pain and torment Paul had to endure, he was always thankful.

Paul shared his thanks with us through his many letters, where he encourages us to be ever thankful, too – not just one day a year, but every day.  Please listen and follow along to what Paul wrote in his 1st letter to his young protégé Timothy.  I’ll be reading chapter 1 verses 12 through 17 and chapter 2 verses 1 through 7 from the New American Standard Bible…

1:12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, 13 even though I was previously a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; 14 and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. 15 It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost. 16 Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost sinner Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life. 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

2:1 First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made in behalf of all people, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. 7 For this I was appointed as a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

--1 Timothy 1:12-17, 2:1-7 (NASB)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for sending Your Son to earth as one of us.  Jesus is Your word in the flesh, who came to shed the light of truth into the darkness of a sinful world.  Thank You, Father, for Your loving mercy shown us.  Please help us truly be grateful in our hearts for all Your many blessings.  Help us show our gratitude by being a blessing to others.  And help us to do as You will and not just what we want to do.  Please keep us strong in our faith and of one purpose in our service to Christ Jesus.  Please keep us healthy and safe through these trying times.  And Father, please guard us from Satan and those who do his bidding.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us this morning.  May Your truth soak into every fiber of our being.  This we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.   Amen.

In his book Folk Psalms of Faith, pastor and author Ray Stedman tells of an experience preacher H. A. Ironside once had in a crowded restaurant.  Just as Ironside was about to begin his meal, a man approached and asked if he could join him.  Ironside invited him to have a seat.  Then, as was his custom, Ironside bowed his head in prayer.  When he opened his eyes, the other man asked, "Do you have a headache?"  Ironside replied, "No, I don't."  The other man asked, "Well, is there something wrong with your food?"  Ironside replied, "No, I was simply thanking God as I always do before I eat."  The man said, "Oh, you're one of those, are you?  Well, I want you to know I never give thanks.  I earn my money by the sweat of my brow and I don't have to give thanks to anybody when I eat.  I just start right in!"   Ironside replied, "Yes, you're just like my dog.  That's what he does too!"

Can a dog give thanks for its meal?  Can it express gratitude?  I think so.  I believe it says “Thank you” in its undying, faithful service to its master.

Now I’m sure Ironside meant that comment as a slight to the non-believer.  But sometimes I think we should be more like our dogs, who love us unconditionally.  We can say “Thank you”, for our meal and for all that God provides, but those are just words, no matter how many we speak.  We need to be more like a dog, and express our thankfulness in our undying, faithful service to our Master, Jesus.

This coming Thursday is our federally recognized and nationally celebrated Thanksgiving Day.  We know that the early Pilgrim settlers celebrated God’s grace and mercy with a fall harvest feast in 1621, while this New World was subject to English rule.  The very first Thanksgiving Day of these United States was proclaimed by the Continental Congress in 1777 with a document authored by Samuel Adams.  In October of 1787, President George Washington assigned Thursday, November 26th of that year, as an official day to offer thanks to the Almighty God for all He had done to establish and secure this fledgling nation.

The importance of a national day of giving thanks continued off and on over the years until 1863, while this nation battled with itself.  President Abraham Lincoln declared the last Thursday of November to be “a day of Thanksgiving and Praise”.  So for 158 years now, the United States government has recognized and set aside the last Thursday of each November as a day to give thanks to God for His many blessings in our life and the life of our nation.  For without those blessings, this nation may never have been born, and most certainly would not have stood these many years.

In his 1st letter to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul tells us to give thanks in everything, in all conditions and situations.  And in his 1st letter to Timothy he himself gives thanks, thanks to Jesus.  And the amazing thing is that he is thanking Jesus for putting him – Paul – into service for our Lord, even though he was blasphemer, a persecutor of the church, and a violent aggressor before he came to know Jesus.  He is thanking Jesus for putting him into the service that saw him beaten, shipwrecked, threatened, and imprisoned multiple times because of that very service and belief in Jesus as Lord.

Of course, Paul isn’t thanking Jesus for the beatings and the rest.  He is thanking the Lord in spite of all he had to endure because Jesus came to save sinners, sinners just like him.  He is thanking Jesus for showing him the truth, for washing him clean of his sin, for leading him to eternal life in heaven.  And he’s thanking Jesus for using him as an example, that if he – the worst sinner of all – could be redeemed, then anyone could find redemption simply by accepting Jesus as Lord.

Thank You, Jesus!

And then Paul goes on to give us reasons why we should be thankful, as if we need more.  We should be thankful and prayerful in behalf of all people, even those we don’t love, or that don’t love us.  This not only might help us lead a more tranquil and quiet life, as Paul puts it, but mainly we should follow this advice because it is good and acceptable in the sight of God, who holds our fate in His hands.

God wants all people to be saved – all people – and to come to know the truth that is Jesus.  Jesus is the only mediator between us and God, the only bridge, the only way we can get back to our heavenly Father.  And He gave of Himself as a ransom for that very reason.  Thank You, Jesus, Lord of all!

Be thankful…  We who call ourselves Christian have the very best reason in all the world to be thankful, for God loves us so much that He sent His only begotten Son into this world that we might be saved.  And God, in His great mercy, gives us the faith to believe in His Son Jesus, to accept Him as our Lord, and to follow His commands.  We should thank our Lord with every breath.  We should sing His praises for all to hear.

We don’t know for sure the identity of the author of Psalm 100, but in that short psalm he makes a glorious declaration…

1 Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all the earth!

2 Serve the Lord with gladness;

Come before His presence with singing.

3 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.

4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,

And into His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

5 For the Lord is good;

His mercy is everlasting,

And His truth endures to all generations.

--Psalm 100 (NKJV)

Shout to the Lord with joy!  Serve Him with gladness – not because we should or we must if we want salvation, but because we want to!  Come before Him singing praises to His name, for He made us, we are His!  Be thankful to Him for He is good, He is merciful, He is the everlasting truth, He is God.

Later this week we’ll join millions of others in celebration and observance of Thanksgiving Day.  For many, it will be nothing more than a paid day off and an excuse to overeat.

But I think most folks will take the time to remember, and maybe even talk about, the good and dear things in their lives, those things they are most thankful for.  They’ll cherish their loved ones and friends, whether together with them or not.  They’ll be thankful for their meal, whether a feast at the family table, or a humble plate among other less fortunate folk at the homeless shelter or soup kitchen.  They’ll lift up a quiet prayer to our Lord, a simple “Thank You”.

Family, for those of us so richly blessed by our Father God, for those of us saved by the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus, every day should be Thanksgiving Day.  Every single day we should stop and take inventory of all that we have been given, all that we’ve been blessed with.  Every day, with every breath, our hearts should sing our thankful praise to the one true God and to Jesus His Son, who gave His all for us.

Thank You, Father!  Thank You, Jesus!

In the blessed name of Christ Jesus, our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for showing mercy to us poor sinners.  We disobeyed You from the very beginning but You never stopped loving us, and when the time was right, You sent Your own Son to offer us salvation.  Thank You, Father, for so great a love.  We believe that Jesus is Your Son, and we try to obey Him.  Sometimes, Father, we just have a tough time loving other people.  Sometimes we have trouble expressing how much Jesus means to us.  Please forgive us those moments of insecurity, those struggles with hatred.  Please help us remain strong and true during these frightening times.  Remind us of all the reasons we have to be thankful and for all Jesus has done for us.  Encourage us and strengthen us as we strive to carry out the work Your Son left for us.  Please keep us strong in our spirit, in our faith, and in our service to You and Jesus.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You from our hearts through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more faithful and true, putting all our trust in You and Jesus, and seeking Your help as we do so…

Lord Jesus, You came to this earth as a man of flesh and bone.  You came, knowing full well how it would all turn out, but You came anyway.  You came to fulfill God’s plan.  Thank You, Jesus, for coming in our behalf, and for taking our sins upon Yourself.  Lord, we ask You to help us be good servants and to obey You without hesitation.  Help us stay true to You and faithful no matter what may happen next.  And help us carry on Your work here on earth.  Strengthen our will to do what our Father God wills us to do.  Help us to be more loving, more understanding, kinder to all we encounter each day.  And please help us as we try to show Your love to everyone who crosses our path.  All this we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.