O
give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever.
O give thanks unto the God of gods; for
his mercy endureth forever.
O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for
his mercy endureth forever.
Psalm 136:1-3
There is no greater characteristic of believing people than
thanksgiving. Of all people who enjoy good things in this life, Christian
people know of a certainty that all good things come from God. “Every good gift
and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights”
(Jas. 1:17). And of all good things that Christians possess, the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ is the greatest. “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable
gift” (2 Cor. 9:15).
In the
language of our New Testament, “thanks” comes from the same root word as “grace”
(charis). In this simple form, where
Paul might say “grace be to you” (2 Cor. 1:2), we also have “thanks be unto God”
(2:14) coming from the same word. When we add our English
eu (“good”) as a prefix we have the noun
(eucharistia) “thanksgiving” and also
the verb (eucharisteō) “to give
thanks.” To have thanksgiving in our heart (the noun), then, is to be in a
state of blessing because of “good grace,” such as “abounding therein with
thanksgiving” (Col. 2:7). To give thanks (the verb) is to express “good grace”
toward something such as “giving thanks unto the Father” (Col. 1:12).
We are
glad for the national recognition of “Thanksgiving” during the month of
November, though it isn’t the primary cause of thanksgiving in the heart of a
Christian. We are even sad to read the rewriting of this American tradition by
the eliminating of God’s providence toward the Pilgrim fathers, and the
redirecting of thanksgiving from God’s blessing to man’s own devices. We can
read that the Mayflower Compact begins with the words, “In the name of God,
amen.” The history of that group of 102 people is a history of English
separatists who sought a place to worship God by the dictates of their
conscience and the Word of God. Those of us who still believe we must worship
God in the same manner, are thankful for the opportunity to express our own
thanksgiving to God for His provision.
The
Scriptures admonish us to be a thankful people. Paul wrote to the Corinthians,
“Who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not
receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst
not received it” (1 Cor. 4:7)? Paul also reminded the unbelieving Areopagites,
“God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of
heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshiped
with men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life,
and breath, and all things” (Acts 17:24-25). It is when man thinks of himself
as God that he becomes ungrateful as if he himself made the world rather than
receiving all good things in the world. Here are only a few things for which
the believer is thankful.
Creation
The
Bible begins with the words, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the
earth” (Gen. 1:1). In the Psalms, David elaborated, “The heavens declare the
glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth
speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor
language, where their voice is not heard” (Psa. 19:1-3).
It is
fitting that Thanksgiving day was established in the fall of the year when the
leaves are painted and the ground is frosty white. In each season God clothes
the earth with special beauty: the new life and dazzling colors of youthful
spring; the powerful sun and productive season of summer; the lush colors and
wisdom of fall; and the hoary white of winter with its life ending freeze. All
will cycle again and again, bringing forth from their treasures things new and
old.
Again,
David writes: “Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great;
thou art clothed with honor and majesty. Who coverest thyself with light as
with a garment: Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain: Who layeth the
beams of his chambers in the waters: Who maketh the clouds his chariot: Who
walketh upon the wings of the wind: Who maketh his angels spirits; his
ministers a flaming fire: Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should
not be removed forever” (Psa. 104:1-5).
How
can a child of God keep from singing, “This is my Father’s world, and to my
list’ning ears, all nature sings and round me rings the music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world, I rest me in the thought, of rocks and trees, of
skies and seas; His hand the wonders wrought.” Or, “All creatures of our God
and King, lift up your voice and with us sing, Al-le-lu-ia, Al-le-lu-ia! Thou
burning sun with golden beam, thou silver moon with softer gleam, O praise Him,
O praise Him, Al-le-lu-ia, Al-le-lu-ia, Al-le-lu-ia!”
Food
Giving
thanks to God for our food is, perhaps, the most common expression of gratitude
to the One Who provides our daily provision. When the pagans of Galatia
supposed Paul and Barnabas were life-providing gods, Paul admonished them
quickly to turn to the true God “Which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and
all things that are therein. . . . Nevertheless, he left not himself without
witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful
seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 14:15, 17). The
Psalmist wrote, “He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the
service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth” (Psa. 104:15).
As well, “Who giveth food to all flesh: for his mercy endureth forever” (Psa.
136:25). Isaac Watts put this truth into song, “I sing the goodness of the
Lord, that filled the earth with food; He formed the creatures with His Word and
then pronounced them good. Lord, how thy wonders are displayed wher-e’er I turn
my eye: if I survey the ground I tread, or gaze upon the sky.”
Paul,
in encouraging the Corinthians in the grace of giving explained, “Now he that
ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply
your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness” (2 Cor. 9:10).
At the same time that God gives us food to eat, He supplies seed that will
multiply for the next meal, that is, if we are not so greedy as to eat it all
without giving some back! Paul told Timothy not to tolerate those who abstain
from meats because, “God hath created [them] to be received with thanksgiving of
them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and
nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: for it is sanctified
by the word of God and prayer” (1 Tim. 4:3-5). And that is why any human being
who recognizes God’s provision ought to say “grace” or “thanks.”
In an
amazing explanation of the resurrection of the body, Christ likened His own
death and resurrection to a seed that must fall into the ground and die before
it can be raised (John 12:24). Paul, expanding on the same thought, wrote, “And
that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain,
it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: but God giveth it a body as it
hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body” (1 Cor. 15:37-38). Every
plant which we eat is the result of this resurrection process. Something had to
die and be resurrected from the ground before we could eat. We do not eat the
pre-resurrection body, but of the plant that grows afterward. In striking
parallel, we have eternal life because we partake of the resurrected life of
Christ by faith. If we are compelled to thank God for our physical food, how
much more for our spiritual life!
The Gospel
It is
because the gospel comes to us as grace, having nothing worthy of it in
ourselves, that Paul saw himself as a debtor to all those who have never heard
of its wonderful provision (Rom. 1:14). Having received what we do not deserve
makes us thankful and also obligated. The gospel came to us freely and it can
so come to anyone else. We can give thanks to God for the gospel of Jesus
Christ whether we are the recipients or whether we are the witnesses.
Paul,
the first and greatest Christian missionary, had a special relationship to the
churches. He was not only their spiritual father (1 Cor. 4:14-16) but their
first missionary (Phil. 4:15). The mutual feeling between the missionary and
the churches was one of thanksgiving for all that God had done. “Ye also
helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the
means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf” (2 Cor. 1:11).
Paul’s
relationship to the Philippian church was especially filled with gratitude
because of the trying circumstances that he and Silas found themselves in at
Philippi. In opening his epistle to the church Paul included a typical
missionary praise, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in
every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, for your fellowship in
the gospel from the first day until now” (Phil. 1:3-5). So also in the closing
chapter he wrote, “Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the
gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as
concerning giving and receiving, but ye only. For even in Thessalonica ye sent
once and again unto my necessity. Not that I desire a gift: but I desire fruit
that may abound to your account . . . . An odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice
acceptable, well-pleasing to God” (Phil. 4:15-18).
God
calls a man to go into His mission field and a church joins him in that effort
by prayer and finances. The results that come of it all cause both parties to
rejoice and to offer up thanksgiving to God which are like sweet-smelling
sacrifices before His throne. Neither the missionary nor the church are
investing for this life, for then they would be of all men most miserable (1
Cor. 15:19). But they are investing in righteousness which will last
eternally: “As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the
poor; his righteousness remaineth forever!” (2 Cor. 9:9).
In the
English Midlands in the 1700s, a small group of independent pastors met monthly
to pray for missions. Among them were Andrew Fuller, a bright and studious
pastor at Kettering, and an enthusiastic young man named William Carey, pastor
of a small, struggling church in Moulton. With a few of their pastor friends
they met on October 2, 1792 in the Inn of one of Fuller’s members, the widow
Wallis, and formed the Baptist Missionary Society. It was the first of its kind
in that it was a true “faith mission.” Support for missionaries would only come
from the offerings of their local churches. Each man gave what he could to
start the mission and the total amount was 2 shillings, 6 pence, a little over
13 pounds. Carey was so poor he could not give in the offering, so he proposed
that if they would give, he would go as the first missionary. His famous words
were, “I go to India to mine for souls; you hold the ropes.” Fuller took the
charge seriously and became the secretary of the mission for the rest of his
life. Carey went to India and died there, never returning to his home in
England. He is known today as the father of modern missions. For over 200
years many thanksgivings have been offered up to God for missionary work done by
faithful people and churches.
And So . . . .
Whether we sit at our bountiful tables and receive God’s blessing of food, or
kneel in our churches and thank Him for blessing and protection of our
missionaries, or simply stand in awe of God’s glorious beauty, let us do so with
a thankful heart.
We thank thee, then, O
Father,
For all things bright
and good,
The seed-time and the
harvest,
Our life, our health,
our food:
Accept the gifts we
offer
For all Thy love
imparts,
And, what Thou most
desirest,
Our humble, thankful
hearts.
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Discovering Baptist History
A Bird’s Eye View
With Debra
Conley
As we honor Veterans this month, it is
most fitting that I write about our visit to Dover, England. This massive and
beautiful coast has seen its share of war, battles, and still proudly, the huge
fortress of Dover Castle regales atop the White Cliffs. It was this coast, only
22 miles from France, that the first real foreign threat accosted England.
William the Conqueror, in 1066, crossed the Channel from Normandy and defeated
King Harold at the Battle of Hastings. French and English monarchs were entwined
with each other’s politics for centuries thereafter. The monstrous Dover Castle
was begun by the Romans in the 1st Century and added to with each
successive ruler. The war tunnels were originally built during the Napoleonic
Wars to defend the southern coast and have been used by most every English
sovereign.
It was from the White
Cliffs at Dover that some of the most impressive WWII English victories were
managed. The wartime tunnels are still as they were, the center for naval
operations, radar detection, and the defense of Kent. A secure hospital is also
located within the fortress. It was here that Admiral Ramsey directed the rescue
of forces from Dunkirk. Later, the 1940 Battle of Britain was orchestrated from
here with a new invention: radar. Winston Churchill, in honoring the RAF victory
over the German Luftwaffe, said, “Never in the field of human conflict has so
much been owed by so many to so few.”
Only 22 miles across
from Dover are the Normandy Beaches, visible on a clear day from the castle
hill. The world owes much to those who fought in Operation Overlord, which was a
major turning point in the Allied Victory of WWII.
The Castle and War
Tunnels are open for tours. From the train station at Dover Priory, take the bus
marked to the castle, tunnels, or cliffs. It is too far a walk to the coast from
the train station and still have time to view all there is to see. Boats
transfer from the Portsmouth harbor to Normandy daily.
Wherever I go, if there
is a notable body of water (Pacific Ocean, Black Sea, etc.), I try to take a
swim or wade in it just to say I’ve been in it. The day Rick and I were in
Dover, the water temperature felt like it was one degree above freezing and
swimming in our heavy overcoats seemed a little ridiculous. So I reached my hand
into the water and quickly shoved it back into my wool mittens. But I can say
I’ve been in the English Channel!
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