Category Archives: Thanksgiving

Thankfully Knowing the Holy, Thanksgiving, Ephesians 1:13-19, Enjoy God 5

THANKFULLY KNOWING the HOLY

Psalm 50:1-15; Ephesians 1:13-19

In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

Prayer for Spiritual Wisdom

15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power.

Intro: We had a dog named Rascal. He was a bad dog but he was a saved dog…

Asaph the Psalmist penned some of the most awesome Psalms in Scripture. In this ode to the Holy One that carries Prophetic undertones, which are seen in the writings of PaulAsaph calls on the people of the LORD to acknowledge His power and grace, while rebuking the heathenish backslidden who live among the faithful.

His challenge signals the deeper reality of life, that above all God requires “thanksgiving” (vv 14, 23). God does not need thanksgiving to bolster his own self-esteem, as if (in the words of C. S. Lewis) he were “like a vain woman wanting compliments, or a vain author presenting his new books to people who had never met or heard of him” (Craigie, Word Comm., Reflections on the Psalms, 79).

This passage is divided into 4 sections: a call to remember (vv. 1-6); a Prophetic proclamation from YHWH to His beloved people (vv. 7-15); a challenge of judgment to those who claim faith, without comporting their lives to real faith’s demands (vv. 16-22); and finally, a call to do what is honorable in His sight and receive His reward (v. 23), which leads us to praise God. There is no mistaking the intended recipients: this Psalm’s for you!

This is why the 5th verse declares God’s intent to: “gather my consecrated ones.” This Psalm identifies major components that God wants us to know about Him.

I) RIGHTEOUS: GOD’S ACTIONS DISPLAYED (vv. 5-6)

Gather My saints together to Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.” 6 Let the heavens declare His righteousness, for God Himself is Judge. Selah

Understand friends: God never does anything that is wrong; He always acts appropriately and correctly.

I know that can be difficult to grapple with when you are under the gun of trials and problems. Have any of us ever asked: ‘why me God,’ echoing Job’s laments? This is something most, if not all of us wrestle with on occasion. I want to assure you however, that God acts righteously.

That’s why we say: “God is… all the …” When we enter into times of doubt or confusion about God or His Word, we need to examine where those destructive activities are coming from: false beliefs can be extremely damaging, that proceed from our hearts: “Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34): in other words, our communication: which reveals our thoughts, emotions, and the intent of our actions, comes from our heart, which is the seat of our belief system.

The beauty of our God’s activities is well demonstrated before us and those who preceded us as His own:

  1. a) Paul extols the magnificent glory of the cross as the Father’s supreme demonstration
  2. b) Romans 3 tells us that we were all heading straight to Hell, traveling on the fast track (Romans 3: 10-23)
  3. c) The nature of God as just demanded His sense of justice be satisfied
  4. d) God’s love for the offspring of Adam called for Him to be merciful

The satisfaction of both clauses met in the violent place called Golgotha. It was in the place of condemnation that God served up justice for transgressors, and acted as the justifier of the fallen in one fell swoop. It’s ironic (funny) isn’t, how God’s righteousness made the way for mercy to be enacted, thus disarming the enemies volley of accusations against God’s sense of justice, being a judged individual. Jesus has borne our shame and carries the weight of the accusation we rightly deserve. When the enemy shouts his accusations, Jesus’ answer is, “yeah, so what?”

He didn’t violate His own rules in order to foster relationship: He paid the penalty with His own blood.

Graciously Connected

None of us should ever question the fact that the human race is indeed guilty of egregious sin. We all are fallen and are failures: This is why we have been signed, sealed, and delivered through Holy Spirit indwelling TO SHOW God’s love. So make sure that you lift up Jesus and that the love of the Father emanates through you. God’s love in is explosive: it breaks the heavy yoke of oppression others labor under.

Paul tells us that the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Romans 5:6).

 II) RESOURCES: GOD’S AVAILIBILITY (Verses 9-12)

I will not take a bull from your house, nor goats out of your folds. 10 For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. 11 I know all the birds of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are Mine. 12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you; For the world is Mine, and all its fullness.

The cattle on a thousand hills” (v. 10) and all the beasts of the forest: His. This speaks of the wealth of the LORD, and His lack of need for our resources. In the greatest sense, God is the possessor of everything, and He doesn’t need us or our material possessions. He doesn’t even need us for fellowship (a common argument for salvation), as He lives in perfect fellowship with Himself and the angels of  heaven.

Asaph does enter into the idea of Covenant Relationship however, as Psalms 42-50 all relate to a theme: they belong to a community that desires to know and serve God! Arthur W Pink states that: “In our unregenerate days we had no regard for Him: never a mercy but what we abused. How zealous then we ought now to be in ordering our conduct to His praise, manifesting the genuineness of our repentance over the past by living wholly for Him in the present!” (Pastor, Moody Bible)

Living the life of faith with openness to the LORD and His grace should always remind us to veer away from rote practices that are mechanical and lifeless.

Equipped as Jesus

The father has given us an unrestricted access to the treasure of heaven. This is without measure. We’ve been granted ACCESS without limitation to the fullness of God’s RESOURCES.

This means that as the Father sent the Son, the Son likewise sends us to become a delivery system for reconciliation, agents of forgiveness, The Father didn’t send the Son with a message of condemnation. Nor should we take it upon ourselves to condemn: “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” John 3:17& John 20:21

 Psalm 50 is a call to faith with an end reward given for a live lived by FAITH (without which there can be no pleasing God (Hebrews 11:6). When it seems as if the darkness is pressing in with no way of escape, remember! The more fully and confidently we trust God, the more we walk by faith, the more room we give God to delight in us. God is pleased when we cling to Him in darkness: look to Him to keep His word!

Psalm 50 cinches up well with (Philippians 4:19): And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. We are rich when we count our blessings and examine His loving kindness. Remember though: God isn’t pleased with doubt toward His Word, or being suspicious of His love. This is why we are to never worry about how He will meet our needs. Trust that the one who feeds and cares for the birds will do so and more for you! (Matthew 6:26-31).

III) RESPONSIVENESS: GOD IS MOVED BY OUR FAITH (VV. 15, 23)

Call upon Me in the day of trouble… I will deliver you.” What an awesome STATEMENT: Double promise for a day of trouble! Trials are opportunities that allow God to prove Himself as faithful and worthy of our faith/trust

Think about twelve men and Jesus on a stormy sea: Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” 39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

What about Jerry? ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ (Jeremiah 33:3) This amazing Prophet of God learned about the knowledge of the Holy One in the crucible of affliction. In the midst of trial, he heard God call on him to call on Him for the invasion of the supernatural: invasion occurs when we learn to depend on God to go beyond our limitations. This is the power of the thief on the cross: he knew he was a sinner: he called out and Jesus guaranteed him paradise (Luke 23:43)

Power Given

We’ve been given assets that match the assigned task that the Father expects us to fulfill. Demonstrations of power are meant to be a portion of what we do, but they’re not the focal point. We have been commissioned and assigned, to express grace through a bold expression of faith.

ENACTING HOLY SPIRIT’S MINISTRY

It is the Holy Spirit’s desire to replicate the same purpose of life as Jesus demonstrated, as we open ourselves up to His ministry as generational SUBSTITUTES. Substitution follows the work of submission: “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” Holy Spirit desires to work the same traits of godliness that Jesus enacted into us. They’re designed to convince people of His reality and of His love for them.

This means that you are to SURRENDER to the Lord’s purpose in your life

This means that we have to come to terms with Jesus desires and concerns for people who do not know him. People really do need to hear about the greatness of God as we live our lives completely before them evangelistically. Lifestyle evangelism requires commitment and submission to a quality of life.

 Submitted Lifestyles

The essence of the spirit of substitution is Mark 16:15, which states that we are to: “Go into the entire world and preach the gospel to every creature.”

Conclusion

1)      At times, most if not all of us wonder about God’s intervention on our behalf

2)      Are you being pressed by circumstances or needs beyond your control?

3)      Do what Jerry did: call out to Him for your need today