Today's Verse: Hebrews 5:12 (ESV)
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again dthe basic principles of the oracles of God. You need emilk, not solid food,
d ch. 6:1
e 1 Cor. 3:2
The writer, in this group of verses begins to warn his readers against the sin of apostasy. It is quite possible that many of the Jewish Christians were slow to understand the heavenly priesthood of Jesus, and the writer was cognizant, as well as disappointed in their spiritual maturity, considering it to be slothful or apathetic. It was not that they were having trouble learning. It was, according to several commentaries, because they were too lazy.
Today's Comments: Apostasy seems to be a recurring theme in our studies of the Bible. We are often even apostate when it comes to giving thanks to God, an appropriate subject on this Thanksgiving Day. Some of what I spoke about in my sermon this morning covers this subject. Here it is:
The lessons for today were:
And now the sermon:
Today, we celebrate, of course, the Feast of Thanksgiving. Most all people in this country celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, whether they are religious or not. And yet, this holiday has deep roots in Christianity and starts with the Puritans in England who, as victims of religious persecution and bigotry came to start a new life in a new land.
If you go to the Internet today to read how Thanksgiving really started, you will find several conflicting stories. In fact, from the standpoint of some Native American historians, the first Thanksgiving, which most believe was a gathering of Pilgrims and friendly Indians to celebrate and give thanks for the harvest, was actually an attempt to negotiate a land treaty between the Indians and the Pilgrims in 1621. Some anthropologists suggest that Thanksgiving arose from a Native American custom of giving thanks for the harvest that dates back to the Stone Age.
However, there is no argument over the fact that George Washington, in October of 1779, during his first year as President, signed a proclamation setting aside Thursday, November 29th as “A Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer.” That day was appointed (as the proclamation reads) “to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God.” The adjective “signal” here would mean “notably out of the ordinary.” And, as we shall see in the lessons for today, God’s many favors to His people have certainly been notably out of the ordinary.
In 1863, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the third Tuesday of November as a national holiday of Thanksgiving, and in 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday to the fourth Thursday in November, where we celebrate it today.
As we find in studying the history of this country, Thanksgiving had nothing to do with pre-Thanksgiving sales, Cyber Mondays, Black Fridays, and did not include early Christmas lights or decorations. We are not even sure that Turkey was eaten at that first Thanksgiving meal, when the Pilgrims and their Native American benefactors gathered. Some sources suggest that fish, and shell fish were served along with wild game, which might have included a turkey or two. We are, however, sure that Thanksgiving was exactly as its title implies--- a day of giving thanks to God.
You may have observed that I try to consolidate, simplify and summarize the points of my sermons, not so you can understand them, but so that I can. And so, in simple terms, I give the following three summary points:
• One: God provides and sustains us.
• Two: For that which God gives us, we should be thankful in our hearts.
• Three: We should always give thanks to God for what He gives to us, His people.
The Old Testament lesson reminds us that, even in adversity, God feeds and sustains His people. But here, feeding and sustaining mean much more than just turkey and stuffing. You see, God also sustains his people by teaching them about righteousness. Sure, God fed them with manna, and when they got tired, he threw in a few quail, as well. But, if we go back and look at why God’s people were in Egypt in the first place, we would find that God sent them there to be taught, trained, and disciplined. If God was going to build a nation of His chosen people, He was going to make sure that they could stand as a nation, a nation of godly and righteous people. He used Egypt as His training grounds, much like we use Fort Irwin for our desert troop training. God wanted to be sure that His people would be free from the influences of the pagan kingdoms around them. And culturally, Egypt was the only place in the Middle East which would not permit its people to fraternize with other cultural groups. And so, the Israelites were allowed to grow and become a nation within a nation. And at the right time, God hardened the heart of Egypt’s Pharaoh and readied the Israelites for their Exodus from Egypt and their return to the Promised Land.
We also know that, in the wilderness, God continued to test His people. It was not out of spite, but it was to build them up and continue their preparation to settle in the new land. Yes, God fed them with manna; but he also fed him by His word, giving them commandments and rules of life to live by. He taught them, as He teaches us today, that when we worship and obey him, he blesses us; but when we fail in our obedience and give in to our sinful desires, we separate ourselves from Him. And for all that He gives to us, we should give Him thanks. As the Old Testament lesson states, you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.
The Epistle reminds us that all we are given comes from God. As believers, we are sanctified or set aside by God, and through His grace, we are regenerated. Understanding this, then we are urged to put aside all wickedness, and not only listen to God, but to obey Him, as well, and do what He has told us to do: Love Him and worship Him. And, one way we show our thanks to God is by keeping His second great commandment: that of loving our neighbor.
The psalm reminds us that abundance comes from God. To paraphrase David, All things come of thee, oh Lord.
Finally, the Gospel gives us words from Jesus, as he gave the Sermon on the Mount. Here, Jesus is feeding His people: not with manna or with loaves and fishes, but with the Word of God. He is also teaching his disciples and preparing them for what is to come. The Gospel reminds us that our real needs are simple, and God knows what they are. If we first seek God, then He will subsequently provide for our needs.
As a New Testament example of one who, I think, illustrates the proper attitude of Thanksgiving, I would like to turn to the The Gospel account of Blind Bartimaeus. It tells about a person, blind from birth, who Jesus encountered along the road from Jericho to Jerusalem during travel to His last Passover. We read that Bartimeaus called out to Jesus, asking the Son of David to have mercy on him. Jesus then asked him, What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” According to The Bible Exposition Commentary, he addressed Jesus as Rabboni, the same words that Mary Magdalene used when she first saw the risen Lord (John 20:16). One might conclude, therefore, that Bartimmeus knew who Jesus was and that he had faith that Jesus could heal him.
Jesus' question to the blind man was designed to allow Bartimeaus to express and give evidence of his faith; not because Jesus needed that evidence, but because His disciples needed to be taught a lesson. The title with which Bartimeaus addressed Jesus acknowledged that his view of Jesus was something more than just man to man. It was servant to master and student to teacher. Bartimeaus addressed Jesus not only from the prospective of respect, but also from a position of reverence and trust. It confirms that the faith that this blind man had in Jesus was real.
At this time, Jesus was still teaching, using this moment to feed His disciples. Bartimeaus was an example in faith for them to follow. The blind man’s request was simple: to provide for only one need--- to see. Once that need was met, God would provide for the rest. Bartimeaus trusted that Jesus could and would provide. And, when Jesus heard him and healed him with the words “Go your way; your faith has made you well,” instead of leaving, the healed beggar, in response, followed Jesus along the road to Jerusalem. In contrast, remember the ten lepers who Jesus healed? How many came back to thank him? The answer was one.
Like the healing of Blind Bartimaeus, when the Holy Spirit works in our lives and gives healing to us, will we turn to follow Jesus Christ, or will we take things for granted and turn away from God, like the Israelites eventually did? Bartimaeus not only opened his eyes to see, but he opened his heart to follow, as well. And so must we.
Last Monday night, at my Talbot Bible Lands Class, where we are preparing and studying for our December and January trip to Israel, Dr. Richard Rigsby, our 85 year old professor, reminded us to think about Thanksgiving from a Christian perspective. It is true that we have a lot to be thankful for, including family and friends, prosperity, and plenty, liberty and freedom. But everybody has those things.
As Christians, we have other things to be thankful for, which are many and, in George Washington’s words, signal, and which the faith of Bartimeus reminds us about. We have the Son of David: the Christ, the one who can heal us, and the one who, through his death and resurrection, has given us eternal life for the price of only belief and faith in Him. Jesus deserves our thanks, and we should never forget that signal and unique gift of salvation and eternal life that He has given to us. Let us, therefore, as we celebrate this Thanksgiving holiday, give praise and thanks to God for all that He has given to His chosen people, and, as James reminds us, let us show our thanks in love for our neighbor, as well.
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again dthe basic principles of the oracles of God. You need emilk, not solid food,
d ch. 6:1
e 1 Cor. 3:2
The writer, in this group of verses begins to warn his readers against the sin of apostasy. It is quite possible that many of the Jewish Christians were slow to understand the heavenly priesthood of Jesus, and the writer was cognizant, as well as disappointed in their spiritual maturity, considering it to be slothful or apathetic. It was not that they were having trouble learning. It was, according to several commentaries, because they were too lazy.
Today's Comments: Apostasy seems to be a recurring theme in our studies of the Bible. We are often even apostate when it comes to giving thanks to God, an appropriate subject on this Thanksgiving Day. Some of what I spoke about in my sermon this morning covers this subject. Here it is:
The lessons for today were:
And now the sermon:
Today, we celebrate, of course, the Feast of Thanksgiving. Most all people in this country celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, whether they are religious or not. And yet, this holiday has deep roots in Christianity and starts with the Puritans in England who, as victims of religious persecution and bigotry came to start a new life in a new land.
If you go to the Internet today to read how Thanksgiving really started, you will find several conflicting stories. In fact, from the standpoint of some Native American historians, the first Thanksgiving, which most believe was a gathering of Pilgrims and friendly Indians to celebrate and give thanks for the harvest, was actually an attempt to negotiate a land treaty between the Indians and the Pilgrims in 1621. Some anthropologists suggest that Thanksgiving arose from a Native American custom of giving thanks for the harvest that dates back to the Stone Age.
However, there is no argument over the fact that George Washington, in October of 1779, during his first year as President, signed a proclamation setting aside Thursday, November 29th as “A Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer.” That day was appointed (as the proclamation reads) “to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God.” The adjective “signal” here would mean “notably out of the ordinary.” And, as we shall see in the lessons for today, God’s many favors to His people have certainly been notably out of the ordinary.
In 1863, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the third Tuesday of November as a national holiday of Thanksgiving, and in 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday to the fourth Thursday in November, where we celebrate it today.
As we find in studying the history of this country, Thanksgiving had nothing to do with pre-Thanksgiving sales, Cyber Mondays, Black Fridays, and did not include early Christmas lights or decorations. We are not even sure that Turkey was eaten at that first Thanksgiving meal, when the Pilgrims and their Native American benefactors gathered. Some sources suggest that fish, and shell fish were served along with wild game, which might have included a turkey or two. We are, however, sure that Thanksgiving was exactly as its title implies--- a day of giving thanks to God.
You may have observed that I try to consolidate, simplify and summarize the points of my sermons, not so you can understand them, but so that I can. And so, in simple terms, I give the following three summary points:
• One: God provides and sustains us.
• Two: For that which God gives us, we should be thankful in our hearts.
• Three: We should always give thanks to God for what He gives to us, His people.
The Old Testament lesson reminds us that, even in adversity, God feeds and sustains His people. But here, feeding and sustaining mean much more than just turkey and stuffing. You see, God also sustains his people by teaching them about righteousness. Sure, God fed them with manna, and when they got tired, he threw in a few quail, as well. But, if we go back and look at why God’s people were in Egypt in the first place, we would find that God sent them there to be taught, trained, and disciplined. If God was going to build a nation of His chosen people, He was going to make sure that they could stand as a nation, a nation of godly and righteous people. He used Egypt as His training grounds, much like we use Fort Irwin for our desert troop training. God wanted to be sure that His people would be free from the influences of the pagan kingdoms around them. And culturally, Egypt was the only place in the Middle East which would not permit its people to fraternize with other cultural groups. And so, the Israelites were allowed to grow and become a nation within a nation. And at the right time, God hardened the heart of Egypt’s Pharaoh and readied the Israelites for their Exodus from Egypt and their return to the Promised Land.
We also know that, in the wilderness, God continued to test His people. It was not out of spite, but it was to build them up and continue their preparation to settle in the new land. Yes, God fed them with manna; but he also fed him by His word, giving them commandments and rules of life to live by. He taught them, as He teaches us today, that when we worship and obey him, he blesses us; but when we fail in our obedience and give in to our sinful desires, we separate ourselves from Him. And for all that He gives to us, we should give Him thanks. As the Old Testament lesson states, you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.
The Epistle reminds us that all we are given comes from God. As believers, we are sanctified or set aside by God, and through His grace, we are regenerated. Understanding this, then we are urged to put aside all wickedness, and not only listen to God, but to obey Him, as well, and do what He has told us to do: Love Him and worship Him. And, one way we show our thanks to God is by keeping His second great commandment: that of loving our neighbor.
The psalm reminds us that abundance comes from God. To paraphrase David, All things come of thee, oh Lord.
Finally, the Gospel gives us words from Jesus, as he gave the Sermon on the Mount. Here, Jesus is feeding His people: not with manna or with loaves and fishes, but with the Word of God. He is also teaching his disciples and preparing them for what is to come. The Gospel reminds us that our real needs are simple, and God knows what they are. If we first seek God, then He will subsequently provide for our needs.
As a New Testament example of one who, I think, illustrates the proper attitude of Thanksgiving, I would like to turn to the The Gospel account of Blind Bartimaeus. It tells about a person, blind from birth, who Jesus encountered along the road from Jericho to Jerusalem during travel to His last Passover. We read that Bartimeaus called out to Jesus, asking the Son of David to have mercy on him. Jesus then asked him, What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” According to The Bible Exposition Commentary, he addressed Jesus as Rabboni, the same words that Mary Magdalene used when she first saw the risen Lord (John 20:16). One might conclude, therefore, that Bartimmeus knew who Jesus was and that he had faith that Jesus could heal him.
Jesus' question to the blind man was designed to allow Bartimeaus to express and give evidence of his faith; not because Jesus needed that evidence, but because His disciples needed to be taught a lesson. The title with which Bartimeaus addressed Jesus acknowledged that his view of Jesus was something more than just man to man. It was servant to master and student to teacher. Bartimeaus addressed Jesus not only from the prospective of respect, but also from a position of reverence and trust. It confirms that the faith that this blind man had in Jesus was real.
At this time, Jesus was still teaching, using this moment to feed His disciples. Bartimeaus was an example in faith for them to follow. The blind man’s request was simple: to provide for only one need--- to see. Once that need was met, God would provide for the rest. Bartimeaus trusted that Jesus could and would provide. And, when Jesus heard him and healed him with the words “Go your way; your faith has made you well,” instead of leaving, the healed beggar, in response, followed Jesus along the road to Jerusalem. In contrast, remember the ten lepers who Jesus healed? How many came back to thank him? The answer was one.
Like the healing of Blind Bartimaeus, when the Holy Spirit works in our lives and gives healing to us, will we turn to follow Jesus Christ, or will we take things for granted and turn away from God, like the Israelites eventually did? Bartimaeus not only opened his eyes to see, but he opened his heart to follow, as well. And so must we.
Last Monday night, at my Talbot Bible Lands Class, where we are preparing and studying for our December and January trip to Israel, Dr. Richard Rigsby, our 85 year old professor, reminded us to think about Thanksgiving from a Christian perspective. It is true that we have a lot to be thankful for, including family and friends, prosperity, and plenty, liberty and freedom. But everybody has those things.
As Christians, we have other things to be thankful for, which are many and, in George Washington’s words, signal, and which the faith of Bartimeus reminds us about. We have the Son of David: the Christ, the one who can heal us, and the one who, through his death and resurrection, has given us eternal life for the price of only belief and faith in Him. Jesus deserves our thanks, and we should never forget that signal and unique gift of salvation and eternal life that He has given to us. Let us, therefore, as we celebrate this Thanksgiving holiday, give praise and thanks to God for all that He has given to His chosen people, and, as James reminds us, let us show our thanks in love for our neighbor, as well.
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