Subject: Thanksgiving
by Rick Welborne
Isaiah 45:1-3 (NKJV)
1 "Thus says the LORD to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held-- To subdue nations before him And loose the armor of kings, To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut:
2 'I will go before you And make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze And cut the bars of iron.
3 I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden riches of secret places, That you may know that I, the LORD, Who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel.
1 "Thus says the LORD to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held-- To subdue nations before him And loose the armor of kings, To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut:
2 'I will go before you And make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze And cut the bars of iron.
3 I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden riches of secret places, That you may know that I, the LORD, Who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel.
Psalm 100:15 (NKJV)
1 Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!
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.
--Tonight we are wrapping up this series on going thru the double doors and with us just celebrating Thanksgiving I believe it would be fitting to talk about being thankful.
--Jehoshaphat is being attacked by the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites. He gets word the vast army is coming against him. He inquires of the Lord in what to do.
--He proclaims a fast and encourages the people of Judah to seek God for His help…they come from every town. Jehoshaphat leads them in prayer:
2 Chronicles 20:612 (NIV)
6 and said: "O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you.
7 O our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?
8 They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying,
9 'If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.'
10 "But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them.
11 See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance.
12 O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you."
1. When we decide to do what is good and right and when we decide to go through the double doors we can expect many enemies.
–After Jehosaphat decided to do what was good and right and to encourage others to do the same...he ends up with many adversaries...sound familiar.
--When we try to do what is right...we have a battle on our hands. Pastor Rick, it seems to me that the attacks are getting more and more intense:
Revelation 12:12 (NKJV)
12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time."
–Jehoshaphat and the people chose to believe that the battle was the Lord’s and chose a weapon that I believe will help us thru those great and effective doors...thanksgiving!
2 Chronicles 20:1722 (NIV)
17 You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.'"
18 Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the LORD.
19 Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the LORD, the God of Israel, with very loud voice.
20 Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the LORD your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful."
21 After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: "Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever."
22 As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.
–I believe that we should..."Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever."
–We are trying to do the right thing...I hope we are trying to do the right thing...and as we do the battle lines will be drawn. In every battle there are wounds!
Jim Cymbala - Those whom God uses, He bruises
Isaiah 53:10 (NLT)
10 But it was the LORD’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the LORD’s good plan will prosper in his hands.
–Paul received a thorn in the flesh and had to deal with the guilt of killing Christians. Joseph went thru about 22 years of abuse before rising to power.
–Moses spent 40 years on the backside of a desert after killing an Egyptian. David chased by Saul and had to hide in caves.
–Peter denied the Lord...shame. William Booth salvation army - nerves made him dysfunctional at times...wife spoke...John Wesley was falsely accused by his wife and she would lie to the press about him.
–Anyone who has served God for any length of time can show you the scares of ministry. Wow, Pastor Rick, I am really feeling lifted up into the heavenlies.
–Remember Jehoshaphat when the enemy was coming and please note that they had not been defeated yet. "Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever."
William Ward - God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say, ‘Thank you?’”
Psalm 100:15 (NKJV)
1 Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!
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.
H. U. Westermayer– The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.
2. Many believers forfeit the double doors by their lack of thanksgiving.
–One of the most debilitating curses of those who know Christ is to forget to be thankful!
Romans 1:2021 (NKJV)
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
John F. Kennedy - As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.
Psalm 95:13 (NKJV)
1 Oh come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with Psalms.
3 For the LORD is the great God, And the great King above all gods.
–Let me give you some really good news before I let you go today. We seem to do like the old song “Looking for love in All the Wrong Places”
–We are looking for our source of help and yes even our source of thankfulness in all the wrong places. My pay check is not the source...my job...my employer...not the source!
–The democratic party nor the republican party is my source...they do not hold the key!
Matthew 16:1319 (NLT)
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
14 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”
15 Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being.
18 Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.
19 And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.”
–Life Church, who do you say Jesus is? Is He Who He says He is? Are you filled with thanksgiving?
–We should be thankful because He is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. We should be thankful because Who Jesus is has been revealed to us by His Spirit thru salvation and our encounter with Him!
–We should be thankful because Jesus said He would (emphatically) build His Church of which we are a part!
–We should be thankful because Jesus said He would give us (not democrats or republicans) the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven!
–We should be thankful because keys open doors even if they are the gates of hell and we are going thru those great and effective doors to see our miracles and our prodigals!
–We should be thankful because what happens on this earth is not determined by a politician, a govt, or society but by the children of God who hold the keys to the Kingdom of God! Life Church, we hold those keys!
1 Thessalonians 5:1618 (NKJV)
16 Rejoice always,
17 pray without ceasing,
18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Gerald Good - If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness. It will change your life mightily.
Estonian Proverb - Who does not thank for little will not thank for much.
William Arthur Ward - Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.
3. We can get thru the double doors because Jesus is the Door (the Gate)!
John 10:9-11 (NKJV)
9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
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