Col 3:12 And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;
13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.
14 And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.
15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
1 Thes 5: 16 Rejoice always;
17 pray without ceasing;
18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Tim 2: 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men,
2 for kings and all who are in authority, in order 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 desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Rev. 7: 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
12 saying, "Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen."
Let us consider Thanksgiving from these three: duty, description and benefits.
1. The Duty
Washington’s Thanksgiving address, Lincoln’s thanksgiving address.
The First Thanksgiving Proclamation
- George Washington
Thanksgiving Proclamation
City of New York, October 3, 1789
Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and Whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me "to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanks-giving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness."
Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks, for his kind care and protection of the People of this country previous to their becoming a Nation, for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his providence, which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war, for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed, for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national. One now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.
And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions, to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually, to render our national government a blessing to all the People, by constantly being a government of wise, just and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed, to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shown kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord. To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and Us, and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.
Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Address
It is the duty of nations as well as of men to owe their dependence upon the overruling power of God; to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord.
We know that by his divine law, nations, like individuals, are subject to punishments and chastisements in this world May we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins; to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people?
We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has grown.
But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.
Intoxicated with unbroken success we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.
It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole of the American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every pad of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.
-President Abraham Lincoln
16th president of the USA (1863)
Both of these begin by declaring the duty of all nations to recognize God’s blessing in thanksgiving. Both of these addresses were during or soon after a great war.
Thanksgiving is a part of our human response before the living God. It reflects our proper position before Him. It not only acknowledges who God is, thanksgiving reminds us of who we are. I can not discover my own true identity apart from it. Those who do not give thanks walk in the darkness of illusion and lies. Romans 1: 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
The person who is not thankful to God has lost touch with truth. He knows neither who God is nor who he is. Conversely, thankfulness helps to open our hearts and eyes to know God and ourselves and others in truth.
2. The Description
What does thankfulness look like? Do we all know? Think of thanksgiving at your house. What happens? Most of us gather with family and friends and have a huge feast! We eat ourselves into uncomfortable bliss. Why isn’t thanksgiving a day of fasting and isolation? Why don’t we deny ourselves and go off somewhere cold and uncomfortable and lonely and seek feelings of misery and hardship to express thanks?
That would be totally contrary to the meaning of the attitude! Thankfulness inherently carries the notion of joy and celebration of blessing. Think of the stories in Luke 15 of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son. What happened when each of these were found? There was a celebration of thanksgiving! Gather the friends and family! Cook the best food! Rejoice together in thankfulness!
By the way, did you know that thankfulness is worship? What does that say about what church should be like?
Some of us worry about church becoming entertaining. Well? What do we really mean by that? Do we mean that we should come together and be a bunch of miserable grumps before the Lord? Is worship a matter of serious soberness and solemn somber? Don’t you kids have any fun! Jesus loves you and you’d better not enjoy yourself too much or he’ll be displeased!
God help us! The problem of the idea of entertainment is that MOST of it is done to distract us from the joy of the Lord! Worldly entertainment attempts to counterfeit the rejoicing due to our God! Worldly entertainment is a demonic substitute for the true joy and enjoyment of God’s gifts and glory and our blessedness before him!
Listen to the word of God about what worship should look like: 100:1 (A Psalm for Thanksgiving.) Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing.
3 Know that the LORD Himself 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 His gates with thanksgiving, And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him; bless His name.
5 For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting, And His faithfulness to all generations.
Does that sound like having a good time? Do you dare to have fun in the name of the Lord? Did not God create the ability to enjoy and have fun? Did not God make man and woman in his own image and after his own likeness and bless them and say be fruitful and multiply? Is that not fun?
The problem is that we tend to seek the thrill of pleasure in forbidden ways. It isn’t pleasure that is the problem, it’s disobeying God that is the problem.
Entertainment of ANY kind that distracts us from God ANYWHERE is the problem. We have been conditioned to think that the only place we can’t have entertainment is in church! As soon as you walk out these doors, you are free to go for it! But not during worship! Excuse me, but that is DEAD WRONG!
God’s word says: Whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it mightily as serving the Lord and not men!
3. The Benefits
Life here and in eternity finds ultimate fullness in thankful worship of God. Even the angels and living creatures closest to God are constantly pouring out thanksgiving and praise to Him who sits on the throne. It would appear that rejoicing in thankfulness and ecstatic praise is just what happens when those who belong to God stand in full awareness in His presence. The awe of terror is only in disobedience and rebellion. The awe of joy and celebration are only in being found forgiven and cleansed unto holiness before Him.
2 Thess. 1: 6 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you
7 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.
8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power
10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.
Eternal glory and unending joy await all of us who are in Christ. Thankfulness now is but a dim glimpse of that which is in store for those who are saved. Horror and fear now are nothing beside that which will fall on all who are lost.
