It is interesting to note that it wasn’t until we were at war, the Civil War to be exact, that our Thanksgiving holiday was officially recognized by Congress. It had started in the small Plymouth Colony in 1621 when the English Pilgrims feasted with members of the Indians who brought gifts of food as a gesture of goodwill. The custom grew in various colonies as a means of celebrating the harvest. In 1777, over 100 years later, the continental congress proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving after the American Revolution victory at the Battle of Saratoga. But it was twelve years later that George Washington proclaimed another national day of thanksgiving in honor of the ratification of the Constitution and requested that the congress finally make it an annual event. They declined and it would be another 100 years and the end of a bloody civil war before President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November Thanksgiving. The year was 1865. It might surprise you to learn that it took still another 40 years, the early 1900’s, before the tradition really caught on. For you see Lincoln’s official Thanksgiving was sanctioned in order to bolster the Union’s morale. Many Southerners saw the new holiday as an attempt to impose Northern customs on their conquered land. Thanksgiving today is a mild-mannered holiday full of football, hot apple pie, and family reunions. But that’s not a realistic historical picture of Thanksgiving. It is more often born of adversity and difficult times. So many of the greatest expressions of thanksgiving have occurred under circumstances so debilitating one wonders why people give thanks. It would seem the more reasonable response would be bitterness and ingratitude.
WHAT WE HAVE TO BE THANKFUL FOR
Psalm 92:1-4
1. WE NEED TO GIVE THANKS THAT WE HAVE A SAVIOR.
a. He is One with the Father who is the creator of all things. JN10: 30 “I and the Father are one." 8:28 So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.” 17:21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.
b. He finished the work He came to do. JN 4:34 "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 5:36 "I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me. JN 19:30 “he said, It is finished:”
c. He has saving power. JN 6:37 “However, those the Father has given me will come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” ACTS 4:12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." RM 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: TIT 2:11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. HB 5:9 once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him
2. WE NEED TO GIVE THANKS FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT.
a. His power is to convict us of our sin that we might seek forgiveness and right living. JN 16:8-11 “When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment. In regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”
b. That He leads us. RM 8:14 “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” Gal 5: 16 So I say live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature? They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
c. He produces fruit in us. GAL 5:22-23 But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. EPH 4: 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 5:9 for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth 10and find out what pleases the Lord. Col 3:12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever complaints you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
3. WE NEED TO BE THANKFUL THAT WE HAVE THE BIBLE.
a. It is the only inspired Word of God. 2 Tim. 3:16 “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right.” 2 PT 1:20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. 21For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
b. There is power in the Word as nothing else. HB 4:12 For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are. 1 PT 1:23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. JAM 1:8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever." Is 40:18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth,
c. It gives us the message that God is love. JN 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
4. WE NEED TO GIVE THANKS FOR THE PLAN FOR OUR SALVATION.
a. That our sins are completely forgiven. JER 33:8 I will cleanse away their sins against me, and I will forgive all their sins of rebellion.
b. That our lives are cleansed from all sins. 1 JN 1:9 God is faithful and reliable. If we confess our sins, he forgives them and cleanses us from everything we’ve done wrong. HB 9:14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death.
c. That we have assurance that we have been saved. 2 Tim. 1:12 And that is why I am suffering here in prison. But I am not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return.” HB 10:22 “let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” 1. An Undivided loyalty in the inner being. 2. A Faith that knows no wavering in trusting in and following Christ. 3. We have Total liberty from a sense of guilt, a liberty based on the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ.
5. WE SHOULD GIVE THANKS FOR THIS CHURCH.
a. That it has a mission. MT 28:19-20 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
b. That it is more powerful than hell. MT 16:18 and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it.
c. For its glory for eternity. EPH 2:7 That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. EPH 5: 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
6. WE NEED TO BE THANKFUL FOR THE BLESSINGS WE HAVE IN THIS LIFE.
a. We have food to eat. Rom 14:6 “Those who eat all kinds of food do so to honor the Lord, since they give thanks to God before eating.” 1 Tim 1:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. ACTS 14:17 Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy."
b. For a faith greater than sight. RM 1:17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith." 3:22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 1 COR 5:7 We live by faith, not by sight.
c. That are prayers are answered. 1 JN 5:14-15 “And we can be confident that he will listen to us whenever we ask him for anything in line with his will. And if we know he is listening when we make our requests, we can be sure that he will give us what we ask for.
7. We are thankful for heaven that a waits us in the next life.
a. There are great treasurers there. MT 6:20 Store your treasures in heaven, where they will never become moth-eaten or rusty and where they will be safe from thieves.
b. That our names are written up there. LK 10:20 “However, don’t be happy that evil spirits obey you. Be happy that your names are written in heaven."
c. That we have a home forever there. 2 COR 5:1 For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down—when we die and leave these bodies—we will have a home in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.
