THANKS-LIVING
By Alvin Gage
No, that is not a typographical error. As Thanksgiving Day rolls around I wonder how many of us think about really giving thanks for His manifold blessings on our lives. Do we really live as though we were thankful to Him? We see so much in God's Word about thanksgiving that I have listed a few of these verses.
"And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the Lord, offer it at your own will" (Leviticus 22:29).
"In the days of David and Asaph of old there were chief of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgiving unto God" (Nehemiah 12:46).
"That I may publish with thanksgiving and tell of all thy wondrous works" (Psalm 26:8).
"Offer unto God thanksgiving: and pay thy vows unto the most High" (Psalm 50:14).
"I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving" (Psalm 69:30).
"Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms" (Psalm 95:2).
"Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name" (Psalm 100:4).
"And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing" (Psalm 107:22).
"I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord" (Psalm 116:17).
"Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God" (Psalm 147:7).
"I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord" (Jonah 2:9).
"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God" (Philippians 4:6).
"As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him: rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught abounding therein with thanksgiving" (Colossians 2:6,7).
"Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving" (Colossians 4:2).
"Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen" (Revelation 7:12).
"Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people" (I Chronicles 16:8).
"O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever. O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever" (Psalm 136:1-3).
"Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 5:20).
"And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him" (Colossians 3:17).
"In every thing give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (I Thessalonians 5:18).
"By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks unto his name" (Hebrews 13:15).
"We give thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned" (Revelation 11:17).
For the Christian every day of the year should be a thanksgiving day. But more than that every day should be a thanks-living day. Our lives should tell that we thank the Lord and praise Him for what He has done for us. Our lives should tell that Christ is our all-sufficiency.
Giving thanks amid trials and tribulations is difficult, but it helps to enrich the Christian life. That is why God reminds us: "In everything give thanks." This is His will for us. It is for our benefit, and for His praise. And let us start living our thanks.
In "The Evangel."
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The One in whom I trusted satisfied the Godhead. If God be fed in Christ, shall I be hungry and seek elsewhere? His flesh is meat indeed and to those who trust in Him there is no longer hungering and no longer thirst.
-- Geoffrey T. Bull.
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"Who shall deliver me . . .?
"I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord -- thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
Romans 7:24, 25 & I Corinthians 15:57.
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1st In A Series
HIS INCARNATION
By incarnation we refer to that divine act in which the second Person of the Triune God is embodied in human nature, flesh, and form.
It is not difficult to describe the entrance of ordinary men into the world. We say they are "conceived" and "born." Such terms express origin of life.
It is not so easy, however, to describe the entrance of the Son of God into human existence. The New Testament writers had to find terms which would describe, not the beginning of personal existence, but the coming into the world of One who (as God) has always personally existed.
Here are some of the ways they described Christ's entrance:
"The Son of man came." "(He) came down out of heaven." "Christ Jesus came into the world." "God sent . . . the Son." "He was manifested." "(He) emptied himself." "(He) hath been made a little lower than the angels." And many more.
In Galatians 4:4 we are told the method by which the Lord became incarnate. "When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law." He came by virgin birth -- made of a woman. This has nothing to do with His origin, as the expression "God sent forth his Son" would indicate, but was simply the door of entrance into this world.
The Bible throughout clearly teaches the incarnation of Christ. It affirms that it is in fact the test of religious truth and error. The incarnation of Christ is the acid test of everything else.
In 1st John 4:1-3 we read, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of God." Why this exhortation? "Because many false prophets are gone out into the world." But how shall we prove them? "Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit that confesseth not Jesus is not of God: and this is the spirit of the antichrist . . . "
It is simply this: those who believe in the eternal Son's incarnation are God's people; those who do not believe are not God's people. The unbelievers may stand up and vehemently claim to be of God, but they are not, rather they are of antichrist.
To disbelieve the facts of the first coming of Christ, affects your belief in His second coming also. "Many deceivers are gone forth into the world, even they that confess not that Jesus Christ cometh (back) in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist" (II John 7). It follows naturally, those who do not believe in His incarnation, do not believe in His bodily return.
At Christ's ascension into heaven, following His passion and resurrection, two heavenly messengers spoke to His disciples: "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven? this Jesus, who was received up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye beheld him going into heaven." (Acts 1:11). He shall come just as He went -- in the flesh. To disbelieve this, whether you occupy a pulpit or a pew, labels you as a deceiver and antichrist.
Is it important, then, that we believe the second Person of the Triune God was embodied in human nature, flesh, and form? It is all-important! Our belief on this point bears on everything else we believe. If we go astray here, we go astray everywhere. We may profess a lot but if we miss the mark at this point we prove that we possess nothing of God.
Let us therefore "prove the spirits, whether they are of God," and ourselves, whether we are of God. Let us properly exalt Christ, giving to Him all the glory due Him.
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THE CONCEPT OF 'THE TREE"
Who can fathom the immeasurable cost to Christ of meeting all the necessity of the planned atonement? He, who would purge our sins, must Himself be made sin, ere we could stand accepted in His righteousness. He, who would be our peace, must first become accursed, ere we could be at one with God in Him. He, who would be our joy, must first be Man of Sorrows, ere He could bring us singing to the courts above. As the Mediator, He must be made perfect through suffering. As Testator, He must needs die to bring us into His inheritance. As Minister of the sanctuary, He must needs be touched with the feelings of our infirmities and maintain us in the house of God with His own blood. All His life on earth from the first day to the last, in all its moments, and in all its places, was utterly controlled by the need to die in the perfect appointment of God. All His steps were mastered by the concept of "the tree."
-- Geoffrey T. Bull
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WHY WAS THIS MAN BORN BLIND?
JOHN 9
The birth of a child is a happy occasion. "Children are an heritage of the Lord." Parents' hearts rightly thrill at this miracle of God and His favor to them when He presents them with a small "bundle of joy."
This must have been the feelings of a young Jewish couple in Jerusalem in the first century A.D. Their joy knew no bounds when a son was born to them -- until one day they discovered that their infant son was blind, BLIND!
They knew what this meant. He could never be like other boys. Their own lives would be drastically different from others with sighted children. Their hopes that he would follow in his father's footsteps and take up his father's trade were dashed upon the jagged rocks of disappointment. Their world fell from under them the day mother noticed the baby's eyes did not follow the object swinging in front of his face. A tragic turn of events.
They knew that many of their neighbors would accuse them of committing some terrible secret sin to cause this in their child. The gossips of the neighborhood would converse over the back fence what it might be. Even the disciples, many years later, when they saw this blind man sitting and begging, and knowing he was born blind, asked Jesus, "Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?"
"Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents," replied Jesus. Sin was not the reason for his blindness. "But that the works of God should be made manifest in him." There were higher purposes at work. This physical impairment was destined to bring glory to God and eternal good to the man. What was disappointment at first, proved to be God's appointment at last.
Indeed the blind man had spent the first years of his life greatly handicapped. As a lad he was left out of games and sports, and no doubt was very lonely. As an adolescent he was laughed at by unthinking contemporaries because of his seeming awkwardness, and was more than once embarrassed. As an adult he was left to shift for himself, earn a living as best he could, was reduced to panhandling to keep body and soul together, and was often despised for being a nuisance. His lot was certainly not an enviable one.
How often he must have wished for normal eyes like those who passed him on the street. How many nights must those sightless eyes have soaked the pillow with tears before falling asleep. He had feelings; this was something his neighbors forgot sometimes. He may have more or less gotten used to his poor circumstances and the thoughtlessness of others, but down in his heart he longed for something better. He may have long since given up hope of anything better, resolutely resigning himself to his fate, but there still burned that small but unquenchable flame of desire deep inside him.
He did not know the purpose of his plight. Maybe he thought it was the result of personal sin, his own or his parents'. Little did he realize that God had plans for him. He had no idea that this blindness was to bring glory to God and such unspeakable good to himself. In fact just to compare him with others on his street, one would imagine that he was further from God's kingdom than most. The proud pharisee for instance.
There was little comparison. The pharisee had everything, the blind man had nothing. The pharisee was on the top rung of society, the blind man was on the bottom rung. The pharisee prayed publicly, long and loud, fasted often, ministered and administered frequently in the temple, in fact did all the things good religious people do. The blind beggar had none of these good works in which to boast.
But this is reasoning on purely the human level. God's thoughts are higher than man's thoughts. He reasons on the divine level. He sees not as man sees. He judges not on outward appearances. He chooses not as man: "But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world . . . the weak things . . . base things . . . despised, yea, and things which are not."
In the eyes of the world this beggar was one of those "things which are not." If ever there was a person who was unimportant to this world, and for all practical purposes a nonentity, a nothing, a nobody, certainly it was this poor blind man. Those around him were convinced of it and the more they mistreated him, the more he became convinced of it. If they were to choose the man of the year from his community, he certainly would not be the choice of anyone.
But God chooses not as man chooses. He chooses "nobodies" in which to manifest His works: "that no flesh should glory in his presence." This man knew he possessed no merit that God should favor him. Had not he spent his entire life learning this? He had nothing in which to boast. So God chose him to display His grace.
"And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth." Jesus "anointed the eyes of the blind man . . . and (he) came seeing." The religious leaders questioned him later as to how such a miraculous thing could be, having been performed by a "sinner" (they considered Jesus a blasphemer against God for claiming to be on an equality with God). The man assures them he knows nothing of their theological questions, but "one thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see."
Meeting the man at a later date, having heard he had been excommunicated from the synagogue, Jesus asked him, "Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" The man "answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him."
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). Here was a man called according to God's purpose. What was the resulting "good"? HE MET JESUS! It was worth all the years of loneliness, abuse, and poverty, to finally behold the Son of God and to feel His healing touch and to hear His gracious words. "I believe," said he. "And he worshipped him."
Are you, my reader, afflicted in some way? Have you considered this possibility, that perhaps God has His hand upon you to bring you to Christ? This affliction may well be your introduction to the Son of God. "But who is He?" you ask. He is "the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father," who fellowshipped with the Father "before the world was," and even now sits at the Father's right hand exalted. "By him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth . . . all things were created by him, and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist."
He it is whom the Father gave to the world to reconcile sinners to Himself. "He . . . spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all." "God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him." "He loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation (God-accepted sacrifice) for our sins." "The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world."
"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." "This is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life." DOST THOU BELIEVE ON THE SON OF GOD? You have seen from the passages above who He is and what He has done for you. You have seen what is required of you. You have been brought face to face with the Son of God. "Thou hast both seen him (in this message), and it is he that talketh with thee (from the Scriptures)." What will you do with Him? The blind beggar believed and worshipped. Will you believe on Jesus Christ and make Him the object of your devotion?
"But," you say, "I am afflicted and suffering." So much the better. This disappointment may be God's appointment. God may well have brought you to this place and hour to meet His beloved Son. "But I am lonely." Jesus is the Friend who sticketh closer than a brother. "But I am abused, misunderstood, taken advantage of." Christ loves you and died for you. "But I am poverty stricken." He became poor that ye through His poverty might be rich. "But I am a nobody." God chooses such. "But I have nothing to live for." You may now live for Him who died for you. The Lord lives today and is seeking such thus to glorify His name.
May your heart-felt response be: "Lord, I believe!"
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It cannot be too firmly maintained, that each sin is an infinite evil and therefore requires the expiation of infinite merit. But you have all infinitudes in Christ.
-- Things Concerning Himself
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SOMETHING BETTER
"Now thanks be unto God, who always leadeth us in triumph*
in Christ . . . " (II Corinthians 2:14).
* (Margin, Scofield Reference Bible.)
When Moses died Joshua was appointed leader of Israel. Under his leadership much of the promised land was conquered. After the death of Joshua, Israel was left without a leader for awhile. Without a strong, spiritual leader they soon gave way to temptations and "did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgot the Lord their God" (Judges 3:7). As a result the Lord chastened His people in His hot displeasure.
"When the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer (saviour) to the children of Israel" (Judges 3:9). For the next 300 years, and through a succession of 13 judges, the history of Israel was an up and down experience. While the judge was alive, the nation was "up" spiritually, when the judge was dead, they returned and corrupted themselves more than the previous generation. (See Judges 2:16-19).
God knew His people needed a strong leadership. The judges, dedicated men filled with the Spirit of God, provided that leadership at that critical time in Israel's history. As applied to that period, the verse at the head of this article might read: "Now thanks be unto God, who always leadeth us in triumph in Othniel . . . Ehud . . . Deborah and Barak . . . Gideon . . . Samson . . . or one of the other God-appointed saviours.
But God has provided something better for His people today. Today the verse reads: "Now thanks be unto God, who always leadeth us in triumph IN CHRIST." In Christ is our victory. This tends not to be an up and down spiritual experience, for God "always" leads us in triumph in Christ.
Our experience is so much better because we have a greater Saviour. The judges were limited in power. Our Christ tells us: "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth" (Matthew 28:18). The judges were limited by time. They lived their life span and then died. But Christ, having died rose again, and lives forever, and promises His own, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).
We are sinners (indeed, saved sinners, but sinners nonetheless). If left to ourselves certainly our "downs" would be far more frequent than our "ups." We could do no better than struggling, leaderless Israel. We needed a Deliverer. God provided One, even our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He went down by way of the cross to the lowest hell, that we might rise to the highest heaven. He gave His life that we might live. He lives that we might never die. He upholds us by His grace and power and has promised never to leave us nor forsake us.
It is through Him that God always leadeth us in triumph. May we learn constantly to keep our eyes fixed upon Him, to stay close by His side, to rest in His power, to rely upon His grace, to rejoice in His presence, and to triumph through His leading.
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GOD LEADETH US IN TRIUMPH
God leadeth us in triumph,
Through Jesus Christ always;
With grace and mercy 'round us,
He guides us through our days.
He gives to us the vict'ry,
Though life would bring defeat;
Yea, more than conquerors are we,
In Him we are complete.
And though our hearts be aching,
Our bodies racked with pain;
Blessed promise of His Word:
His sons we still remain.
The Evil One would bind us,
Christ came to set us free;
And where the Lord -- the Spirit is,
There's perfect liberty.
The Tempter's power is broken,
The captives now set free;
To purchase our redemption,
Christ died upon the tree.
Ne'er more shall we surrender,
To doubts along the way;
As Christ has died to save us,
He lives for us today.
And when our journey's over --
Of earth we take our leave,
Our Lord awaits us yonder,
Our person to receive.
So why at all be servile,
To Satan all our days,
When God leads us in triumph,
Through Jesus Christ always?
-- a.e.g.
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