PRE-DISPOSED to/for THANKSGIVING-II—Psalm 100:1-5
There is a tendency among business retailers to gear up early for Christmas.
This begins shortly after the Halloween push.
The shelves are beginning to get stocked with specifically Christmas items.—Christmas trees of all sizes, colors & materials, Lights, Baking goods, Candies, Ribbons, Brightly colored packages tied with pretty ribbons, Santa abounds, Magazine covers depict Christmas scenes usually founded on cold weather with snow & red outfits of various sorts..
Attractive displays, dedicated to Christmas, are being assembled & filled with ‘Christmas’ items.
They are placed strategically around the stores for maximum selling power.
But something very important is missing. & its been happening for years now.
Where is Thanksgiving? What has happened to Thanksgiving?
Christmas reigns at the expense of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving has been overwhelmed by Christmas! Because Christmas has become overwhelmed by business...& business has become overwhelmed by greed.
It appears that the perceived reasons for True Thanksgiving are losing ground in America.
Need:
?Is your Thanksgiving Thankful?
The Psalmist charged God’s people to have an attitude of thankfulness.
God’s people are expected to pre-disposed toward thankfulness.
Why are God’s people pre-disposed toward thankfulness? & to celebrate Thanksgiving?
?Are you pre-disposed to Thanksgiving?
This morning we discovered that People pre-disposed to Thanksgiving Enjoy...
1. PROCLAMATION(:1)
2. SERVICE(:2a)
3. SINGING(:2b)
4. KNOWLEDGE(:3a)
5. FAMILY / Belonging / Place(:3b-c)
6—People pre-disposed to Thanksgiving Enjoy...
God’s PROVISION(:3c)
Explanation/Argumentation:(:3c) Feeding/Grazing
:3c—“Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, & not we ourselves; We are His people & the sheep of His pasture.”
“Sheep of His pasture”—
Protection—Jn. 10:7-15—“Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves & robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, & will go in & out & find pasture. “The thief does not come except to steal, & to kill, & to destroy. I have come that they may have life, & that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. “But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming & leaves the sheep & flees; & the wolf catches the sheep & scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling & does not care about the sheep. “I am the good shepherd; & I know My sheep, & am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; & I lay down My life for the sheep.”
*Tranquility & Abundance—Ps. 23:1-6—“(A Psalm of David.) The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for Thou art with me; Thy rod & Thy staff, they comfort me. Thou dost prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; Thou hast anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness & lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
The Shepherd must provide for the sheep at every turn. Both Guidance(Rod) & Direction(Staff).
Illustration:
My Pachypodium Lamerii(small African tree w/thorned trunk)/4 ft. tall now/Fertilize it occasionally/Inside in winter—outside in summer/Re-pot it when needed/PROVISION
Our dog/Given love, food, water, shelter/PROVISION
Application:
?You Enjoy PROVISION?
?You pre-disposed to Thanksgiving?
7—People pre-disposed to Thanksgiving enjoy...
ENTRY to God’s HOUSE(:4a)
Explanation:(:4a)
:4a—“Enter His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, & bless His name.”
Why are we told to express these behaviors? Sadly, because it is possible to “enter” into worship services & God’s very presence with no joy or thankfulness at all. The Holy Spirit must be the inner driver compelling us to experience any emotional attachment to YeHoVeH.
God’s people(who proclaim, serve, sing, know, & submit to YeHoVeH, are thereby compelled to “enter” that which is securely His, i.e., His city(ies) his Temple, His Worship, His Presence, etc. They will gladly do this with an attitude of “thanksgiving.”
A court would be an open area within the King’s enclosures which He has willingly opened to His public respecters. There is more than one court for our God has many....There is room for all to approach Him in praise. And this very fact(room) is itself praiseworthy.
As His people, we will enter His very “courts”(enclosures) with “praise.” We are not prevented from entry for personal & corporate misdeeds, but we approach knowing full well that He is also our greatest Advocate.
“Enter”—awb bow’ bo—To go in, enter, come, go, come in—1a) (Qal)—1a1) To enter, come in, 1a2) To come—1a2a) To come with, 1a2b) To come upon, fall or light upon, attack (enemy), 1a2c) To come to pass, 1a3) To attain to, 1a4) To be enumerated; 1a5) to go.
“Gates”—rev sha`ar shah’-ar—Gate—1a) Gate (of entrance), 1b) Gate (of space inside gate, i.e. marketplace, public meeting place)—1b1) City, town, 1c) Gate (of palace, royal castle, temple, court of tabernacle), 1d) Heaven.
“Courts”—rux khaw-tsare’ (masculine & feminine)—1)Court, enclosure—1a) Enclosures, 1b) Court; 2) Settled abode, settlement, village, town. Strong—properly, To surround with a stockade, & thus separate from the open country; but used only in the reduplicated form ruux
“Praise”—hlht teh-hil-law’—1) Praise, song or hymn of praise. Strong—Laudation; specifically (concretely) a Hymn:-- Praise.
Argumentation:
1Ki 8:27—Solomon of the Temple—“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven & the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!”
It is not the building that houses God, but this building is fully dedicated to serving His honor.
Mk. 10:15—““Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it at all.””
Jn. 3:3, 5—“Jesus answered & said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.””.....“Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water & the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
Eph. 2:4-9—“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), & raised us up together, & made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, & that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
Heb. 10:24-25—“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love & good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, & so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Illustration:
N.C. State Legistative bldg./Location of the N.C. General Assembly/Legislative decisions by the House & Senate made there/Everything within its walls is dedicated to Legislation—not intended for any other purpose/ENTRY to God’s HOUSE
Application:
?You Enjoy ENTRY into God’s HOUSE?
?You Pre-disposed to Thanksgiving?
8—People pre-disposed to Thanksgiving enjoy...
God’s WITNESS(:4b)
Explanation:(:4b)
:4b— “Enter His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, & bless His name.””
His “gates” & “courts” give us cause to offer personal & corporate “thanks” to Him. They give us cause to “bless” that holy Name by which we love, serve, know, sing, submit & enter. To be a true blessing to God naturally involves our thankfulness directed to Him & being based on the facts of verse :5.
What exactly does it mean to bless God?
Deut. 16:15—““Seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the LORD your God in the place which the LORD chooses, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce & in all the work of your hands, so that you surely rejoice.”
Deut. 28:1-13—To Israel as they are about to take the Promised Land—““Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you & overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God: Blessed shall you be in the city, & blessed shall you be in the country. Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground & the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle & the offspring of your flocks. Blessed shall be your basket & your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, & blessed shall you be when you go out. The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way & flee before you seven ways. The LORD will command the blessing on you in your storehouses & in all to which you set your hand, & He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you. The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God & walk in His ways. Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, & they shall be afraid of you. And the LORD will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, & in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. The LORD will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, & to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And the LORD will make you the head & not the tail; you shall be above only, & not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, & are careful to observe them.”
God promised & blessed Israel by making their lives fruitful, accomplished, successful, fulfilled, satisfied, complete, etc.
* If God blesses in that way therefore....when we “bless” God, we actively commit & execute our heart, head, hands, energies, efforts, & the totality of our lives to ensuring the success of His will. How do we do this practically? Love God & love man:
Mk. 12:30-31—“‘And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, & with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.””
Mat. 28:19-20—““Go therefore & make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father & of the Son & of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; & lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.”
“Bless”—Krb baw-rak’—1) To bless, kneel; 2) (TWOT) To praise, salute, curse.
Argumentation:
Acts 1:8—““But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; & you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, & in all Judea & Samaria, & to the end of the earth.””
How do we become those witnesses?...
By fulfilling the church’s mission—To Love, Reach & Nurture others for Christ!
1Jn. 2:18-24—“Little children, it is the last hour; & as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, & you know all things. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, & that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father & the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son & in the Father.”
God’s Witness is living within the realm of our knowledge of God & living that out.
Illustration:
Gold Bond Medicated Powder since 1908 in New England/2 active ingredients— 0.15% Menthol & 1.0% Zinc Oxide/The mixing process was so simple that 3 men could fill an average of 10,000 cans in a normal morning’s work, freeing the owner to continue working 15 hours a week as a pharmacist....
Gold Bond Company rep/He or She must be fully committed to the company—believe in them & their product/That representative ‘blesses’ the company by convincing others to carry their product/WITNESS
Application:
?You Enjoy being God’s WITNESS?
?You pre-disposed to Thanksgiving?
9—People pre-disposed to Thanksgiving enjoy...
God’s GOODNESS(:5a)
Explanation:(:5a)
:5a—“For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.”
Three obvious reason(s) for entering into His “gates” & “courts” with “thanksgiving” & “praise” concern 3 flawless aspects of His character. He is worthy of our praise because:
1)(:5a)YeHoVeH is—in a word— fully & simply “good.” Every aspect of Him is “good.” He is the embodiment of “good.” If His picture could be incorporated as the dictionary term it would say it all. Thus man’s understanding of goodness should & can be, in actuality, determined by God.
“Good”—bwj towb—Good, pleasant, agreeable; excellent (of its kind); Rich, valuable in estimation.
Argumentation:
Gen. 1:31—“Then God saw everything that He had made, & indeed it was very good. So the evening & the morning were the sixth day.”
No “good” can arise from that which is not good. therefore God is good.
Ps. 86:4-8—“Rejoice the soul of Your servant, For to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. For You, Lord, are good, & ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You. Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer; And attend to the voice of my supplications. In the day of my trouble I will call upon You, For You will answer me. Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord; Nor are there any works like Your works.”
Ps. 119:68—“You are good, & do good; Teach me Your statutes.”
Mk. 10:17-18—“Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, & asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.”
He stumbled upon the truth of Jesus’ Divinity & spoke better than he knew.
Illustration:
Making all the stoplights on my way to church—is a ‘good’ thing—but it is a single event of goodness/
A farmer would consider a pig ‘good’ because he can sell every part of it.
We speak of people being ‘good’ cooks, drivers, school teachers, people etc. But these are all very limited in scope/God is perfectly good & thus all His thoughts & actions are perfectly good/GOODNESS
Application:
?You Enjoy God’s GOODNESS?
?You pre-disposed to Thanksgiving?
10—People Pre-disposed to Thanksgiving enjoy...
God’s LOVINGKINDNESS(:5b)
Explanation:(:5b)
:5b—“For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.”
Three obvious reason(s) for entering into His “gates” & “courts” with “thanksgiving” & “praise” concern 3 flawless aspects of His character.
He is worthy of our thanksgiving because:
1)(:5a)YeHoVeH is—in a word— fully & simply “good.”
2)(:5b)Secondly, YeHoVeH lives out an “everlasting” never-ending “mercy/lovingkindness.”
This word(“Mercy/Lovingkindness”) takes into account many facets of God’s heart—(per the KJV it is variously translated— “mercy” 149, “kindness” 40, “lovingkindness” 30, “goodness” 12, “kindly” 5, “merciful” 4, “favor” 3, “good” 1, “goodliness” 1, “pity” 1”
“Mercy/Lovingkindness”—dox kheh’-sed—1)Goodness, kindness, faithfulness; 2)A reproach, shame. From—dox khaw-sad’; a primitive root; properly, perhaps To bow (the neck only in courtesy to an equal), i.e. to be kind.
More than a mere acknowledgment but also includes compassion.
Argumentation:
Lam. 3:19-23—“Remember my affliction & roaming, The wormwood & the gall. My soul still remembers And sinks within me. This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. Through the LORD’S mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”
Ps. 36:7—“How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.”
Ps. 103:17-18—“But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting On those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children, To such as keep His covenant, And to those who remember His commandments to do them.”
Eph. 2:1-9—“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses & sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh & of the mind, & were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), & raised us up together, & made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, & that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
Mat. 18:21-22—“Then Peter came to Him & said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, & I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”
Illustration:
Summer time/Pool open/Inevitably have a toad or two in the water/I always rescue toads(with a net) from the pool/Flail around the endless pool with no way out/Without intervention of that which is beyond them they will eventually drown & get sucked into the skimmer(path of refuse) otherwise/They cannot save themselves/& some may even avoid the net/God’s LOVINGKINDNESS
People are the same—they will eventually end up in hell, unless they allow God to rescue them.
Application:
?You Enjoy God’s LOVINGKINDNESS?
?You Pre-disposed to Thanksgiving?
11—People pre-disposed to Thanksgiving enjoy...
God’s FAITHFULNESS(:5c)
Explanation:(:5c)
:5c—“For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.”
Three obvious reason(s) for entering into His “gates” & “courts” with “thanksgiving” & “praise” concern 3 flawless aspects of His character. He is worthy of our praise because:
1)(:5a)YeHoVeH is—in a word— fully & simply “good.”
2)(:5b) YeHoVeH lives out an “everlasting” never-ending “mercy/lovingkindness.”
*3)(:5c)YeHoVeH is ultimately “faithful,” not only to the present generation but to every single generation from the first man to the last man.
“Truth/Faithfulness”—hnwma em-oo-naw’—Firmness, fidelity, steadfastness, steadiness.
“Generations”—rwd dowr—Period, generation, habitation, dwelling.
Argumentation:
Lam. 3:21-26—“This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope & wait quietly For the salvation of the LORD.”
Illustration:
I love Winesap apples/They come from specific type of apple tree/The tree is always faithful to its task, purpose/God’s FAITHFULNESS
something ultimately faithful to deliver its appointed end
Something steady
Application:
?You Enjoy God’s FAITHFULNESS?
?You Pre-disposed to Thanksgiving?
CONCLUSION:
Action:
People pre-disposed to Thanksgiving enjoy...
6. PROVISION(:3c)
7. ENTRY(:4)
8. WITNESS(:4)
9. GOODNESS(:5A)
10. LOVINGKINDNESS(:5b)
11. FAITHFULNESS(:5c)
1. PROCLAMATION / Release(:1)
2. SERVICE(:2a)
3. SINGING(:2b)
4. KNOWLEDGE(:3a)
5. FAMILY / Belonging(:3b-c)
Don’t let retail & wholesale markets determine your joy.
CELEBRATE THANKSGIVING!....& celebrate it in the Lord....
.....because Christians have every reason to be thankful.
Presented 11/21/2010pm to:
Needmore Baptist Church
1620 Mt. Vernon Rd.
Woodleaf, NC 27054
