A Thanksgiving to Remember: Revelation 7:9-12
Thanksgiving Day in our country has deviated so from what it was intended to be. In 1789, George Washington had said: “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.” I realized this week that cultivating thanks to God sometimes sounds more like discipline than something that we should naturally be doing. Maybe it’s because we have grown so accustomed to the material things that we possess, that we fall short in giving thanks to the Giver of those gifts.
Sometimes we look at the people who have nothing or far less than we do and then we say to ourselves: If I don’t want to end up like them, I’d better give thanks. We warn ourselves that ungrateful people are losers, so we had better give thanks or risk losing what we DO have. The problem with this approach is that guilt is a terrible motivation for giving thanks.
On my “bad” days, I almost feel like talking back to the Scripture, “Don’t tell me I should be thankful! Can I just wear a “happiness jacket” on the outside?” Yet, giving thanks is clearly the will of God, so if it’s the will of God, I have to learn the secret of joy and thanks from the inside out. God certainly knows the difference between “giving thanks” and having a thankful heart, and I think we do too.
Open God’s Word to Revelation 7, where we have an invitation to join in worship with the countless multitude of believers who have come out of the great tribulation, whose sins have been washed clean by the Blood of the Lamb, the Lord Jesus. (As followers of the Lamb, we are in that number too!)
By FAITH we join in Revelation 7:9: “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. (In Christ, WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS!) 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." 11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying: (HERE IS THEIR SONG:) "Amen! (IT HAS BEEN FULFILLED. SO BE IT!) Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!" (LET IT BE FULFILLED!)
What a concert of Praise and Thanksgiving! I think the largest Christian concert I ever attended had around 30,000 people, and the magnitude of that many people singing praises to our God together was an experience I will never forget, but this chorus before the presence of God will be infinitely longer, and unimaginable this side of God’s Heaven. Look at the words of our Praise song.
1.Praise or Blessing: (Eulogeo): Our God, the Giver deserves Adoration with the Praise of Words. We do not provide. God does! Magnify Him. Celebrate with the praise of words and celebrate THE WORD. It is from HIM that ALL BLESSINGS FLOW… and so to HIM all Praise should flow, but ESPECIALLY for justification by FAITH through the Blood of Christ! We are seated in the Heavenlies on account of Christ.
We are reminded of that BLESSING each month as we partake of the Lord’s Supper: 1 Cor. 10:16: “Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ?” There is NO blessing without the Blood of Christ. There is inadequate knowledge of God and no access to God without the blessing of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. Glory (Doxa): The word often pertains to ones “opinion”. God doesn’t want your “opinion” as we think of the word; the only opinion that matters when it comes to “God” is God’s Opinion, not ours. God’s WORD alone teaches us who God is and so we are to GIVE to God the exaltation that He alone deserves according to the revelation given to us in His Word and by His Spirit. Give to God what BELONGS to Him. (Words and Actions) Praise Him for His magnificence, excellence, preeminence, dignity, grace of God. The Majesty and Supremacy of our God demands our exaltation. Glory be to Him!
We have sung so many times, the song “To God Be the Glory! Great things HE HAS DONE. Psalm 24:10: “Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty-- he is the King of glory.” Ps. 29:10: “Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.”
Remember Isaiah 6: “In the year of King Uzziah's death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. 2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings : with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory." The WHOLE EARTH IS FULL WITH HIS GLORY. THERE is NO ROOM for anything else BUT God’s Glory where He lives. We have to realize that in our Lives NOW. Glory belongs to God.
Praise and glory and wisdom be to our God.
3.Wisdom, (Sophia): God possesses all knowledge and all wisdom and they are given as gifts to man. No human understanding can stand against God’s Wisdom. Supreme intelligence and knowledge belongs only to God: “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!” (Romans 11:33) In Proverbs 4:11, God says: “I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths.” Prov. 21:30: “There is no wisdom and no understanding And no counsel against the LORD.” How could a Perfect God take the responsibility and penalty for sin upon Himself? Praise be to God for His Great Wisdom in Christ. 1 Cor. 1:24: To those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ (has become) the power of God and the wisdom of God to Salvation. We Confess, profess and give praise to God for HIS Unsurpassable Knowledge in Christ Jesus Our Lord. (“Salvation’s Song”)
4. Honor: (time) “Honor” is esteem given to someone of superior position; in this case it is respect given to the Supreme God, Maker of Heaven and Earth, the Redeemer of your Heart and Life, so we TRY to Honor God by falling on our faces in thanks and humility. We demonstrate reverence to recognize His Exalted Position. Our Lord and our God paid the price to buying our redemption. HE DESERVES ALL honor.
1 Timothy 1:17: “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” He is not “a” king, but THE Sovereign Eternal RULER over all that exists. Give the rightful Honor to Him alone! All Praise and glory and wisdom and Honor and Power be to our God.
5. Power (dunamis) A small part of God’s inherent strength has been revealed to you in Creation, but also in Christ and in the Cross. His power has been revealed over sin and death at the tomb. His triumphant power has been revealed in the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus. His inherent and indwelling power has been revealed in your Life through the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:2-3: “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
6. Strength or Might (ischys- is-khoos') God has the UNWAVERING ABILITY to exercise His Power. His Spirit who lives within you, and God’s might and power in the Church, and Sovereign over all that He has made, is solid and inexhaustible. Eph. 6:10: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.” We are not strong because of the things we have or by what we have done, but because of the God in whom we believe.
7. What did I miss from the verse? I missed Thanks (eucharistia). Remember that the word for thanks is grounded in the GRACE OF God that brings forgiveness, reconciliation, and exceedingly great joy! The multitude of Heaven will never stop thanking and praising God for His Strength and Power to Save, and neither will I! Their faith has become sight! They will honor and bless our God forever, giving Him the glory that He deserves.
The early founders honored the Providential God, and urged the citizens of this nation to bow in reverence before Him, but we have seen God’s Glory in the Son, Jesus Christ. We give praise and thanks because we are citizens, not only of an earthly nation that has been blessed, but that we are citizens of the Kingdom of God and of His Christ. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.’ (John 1:14). Our day of thanksgiving should be expanded to a glorious expectancy of our eternal service to the King of a nation that is NOT of this world!
Hebrews 13:15 “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name.”
Our thanks may include feasting, football and family, but the King of Heaven has invited us to be thankful to HIM for the most important gifts ever given to those who would receive them: The Forgiveness of a Holy God and for the gifts of His Faithfulness and our saving Faith.
"Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!"
“Be Unto Your Name” and “Holy, Holy, Holy”
PRAYER: True Thanksgiving is an:
Acknowledgement to God of His Attributes and Infinitely Perfect Character. Thank you that the Lamb of God has become the Shepherd of His Sheep. His sheep hear his voice and follow Him forever. We do not follow the leader of this world but the Eternal God who rules over heaven and earth. Rom. 1: 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.”
Agreement with God (confession, profession, worship) Thank you for saving us from the penalty, power, presence and most importantly the pleasure of sin. From you alone comes deliverance, preservation, safety, Your Salvation is the greatest blessing to us. “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." Rev. 7:10
Attitude of Worship toward God. We agree with the psalmist: “Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your Holy Name and glory in your praise.” Psalm 106:47 You HAVE SAVED us, Your Salvation to us is the theme of our worship, just like it is the theme of our lives.
Action before God (jubilant and triumphant worship with exuberant hearts and voices.
The AMEN of your life. So let it be in my LIFE NOW as it is in Heaven among the saints and how it will be forever. You are our Amen and Amen. Proclaimed, anticipated, fulfilled, and someday fully realized. Great is your faithfulness to us, Almighty God.
“Great Is Thy Faithfulness” Prayer “When the Stars Burn Down”
OUTLINE
1. Blessing or Praise: (Eulogeo): Adoration to the Giver with the Praise of Words. (1 Cor. 10:16) No Blessing without the Blood.
2. Glory (Doxa): Give to God the exaltation He deserves. (Ps. 24:10, Isaiah 6)
3. Wisdom, (Sophia): Confess to God HIS Great Knowledge in Christ. (Rom 11:33, Prov 4:11, 21:30)
4. Honor: (time) Humble your Heart in the Presence of God. of the price paid or received for a person or thing bought or sold, the value which one deserves, reverence. 1 Tim1:17
5. Power (dunamis) God’s inherent strength has been revealed to you in Creation and in Christ. 2 Peter 1:2-3
6. Might or Strength (ischys) God has the UNWAVERING ABILITY to exercise His Power. (Eph 6:10)
7. Thanksgiving (eucharistia) Grounded in the GRACE OF God that brings forgiveness and joy. Rom. 1:21, John 1:14
True Thanksgiving is an
Acknowledgement to God of His Attributes.
Agreement with God (confession) saved from the penalty, power, presence and most importantly the pleasure of sin. deliverance, preservation, safety, salvation Your greatest blessing is what? Rev. 7:10
Attitude of Worship toward God. “Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your Holy Name and glory in your praise.” Psalm 106:47
Action before God (jubilant and triumphant 10 loud voice 11 worship God
He isThe AMEN of your life. So let it be in my LIFE as it is in Heaven
Jonah 2:9 NIV But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD."
Hebrews 13:15 “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name.”
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
