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by Ralph Bouma
“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.”
(Colossians 2:6-7).
Thanksgiving is one of the most blessed things we find in the worship of the Lord. We should notice how often in scripture thanksgiving is referred to as a worship service. Throughout the book of Nehemiah we see how people were used for continual thanksgiving before the Lord. David had a group of people who continually sang and brought thanksgiving to the Lord. The Lord is honored with thanksgiving.
We want to take notice that obedience, that is, serving the Lord, is the first expression of gratitude.
For instance, if we have little children who are thankful for what the parents have done for them, what is the first evidence of their true thanksgiving and gratitude? It is their submission or obedience to their parents. If they are walking in rebellion and disrespect to their parents, this would be the first sign of ingratitude.
The first ingratitude by humans was revealed in the Garden of Eden. The Lord had made Adam the king of the universe. He had set him over the birds and the beasts of the fields. What was it but a token of ingratitude that Adam and Eve disobeyed the Lord?
The Lord had set all things under their control, but He set the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the midst of the garden to see if they would realize they were yet riding in the second chariot. Adam was to humbly acknowledge that he was second in authority to the Lord. Adam was to demonstrate his gratitude and submission to the Lord by obedience to Him for all He had placed under him.
As our text says, it is by walking in the Lord Jesus that we demonstrate our gratitude. We are rooted and built up in Him.
Our gratitude to the Lord is first demonstrated by a spirit of godly fear. What does it mean to fear the Lord?
In Psalm 112:1 we read, “Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.” To fear the Lord means to have a holy reverence for the Lord and His will, to walk in ways that are pleasing to Him. To have a heart that is tender in the fear of God is to have a heart that is tender for the will of God. Obedience, that is, serving the Lord, is the first expression of gratitude.
In Psalm 116:16-17 we read: “O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.”
We serve the Lord by walking in the way of Christ, by walking in the way of the cross, crucifying the old man and our old desires of sin.
The psalmist had been loosened from the bonds of sin and rebellion, and he had come to serve the Lord. He demonstrated his thanksgiving by serving the Lord.
Serving the Lord will be the dividing line between the sheep and the goats on the judgment day. We read in Malachi 3:17-18: “And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.”
The Lord wants us to serve Him with an undivided heart. That is the first token of gratitude. This is where the dividing takes place between the righteous and the wicked.
We are to walk in the Spirit of Christ, and if we do not have the Spirit of Christ, we are none of His. The Spirit of Christ was a spirit of submission. It says in Philippians 2:8: “He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
We read in verses 9 to 11: “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
God the Father was so glorified with such submission to His will.
When we see how displeasing sin is to the Lord, then we understand that true thanksgiving is an acknowledgment of unworthiness. Then we will sing of His mercy as in Psalm 100:3: “Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”
David was singing of God’s mercy, which is undeserved favor. When we see the sinfulness of sin, then we understand that we have forfeited the least of His blessings through sin. True gratitude then is to sing of His mercy, to sing of His undeserved favor.
Continuing in verses 4 and 5 we read: “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.”
When we talk of true gratitude we are talking about mercy. We are talking about undeserved favor.
The psalmist understood that walking in righteousness was an expression of thanksgiving. Watch what we see in Psalm 101:1-2: “I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O LORD, will I sing. I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.”
He understood the words of our text, that if we are formed in Christ, we will walk in Him. We do not realize that from the beginning, from the front cover to the end cover of Scriptures, that the emphasis is on those who please the Lord by walking with hearts that are tender for His will. This is what pleases the Lord. The purpose of His creation was to be glorified by the obedience and submission of man.
Our text says: “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:6-7).
When we received Christ Jesus the Lord, we received Him as our righteousness, and righteousness is conformity of life to the divine law. We received Him as our atonement for sin, to take away the penalty of sin.
Thanksgiving is when our heart is melted, and our will becomes dissolved in the will of God. This is gratitude.
The gospel and thanksgiving begin with repentance. There is no such thing as contending that we are being thankful without a repentant spirit.
We read in Luke 24:47 where the Lord Jesus Christ was commissioning His disciples to go forth and preach: “And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”
There is no remission of sins without repentance, but we must understand that there are two types of repentance. One we see throughout scripture is not acceptable to the Lord. It is a legal repentance, which is a remorse over sin because of the consequences of sin. We have a horrible remorse because we are so afraid of hell, and to escape hell and go to heaven, we want to get away from this sin.
Evangelical repentance, however, is remorse over sin for having offended such a good, loving God. Our hearts are grieved for having offended the Lord. It is when I have a repentance that gives me sorrow over sin because it caused the Lord to withdraw, and that now I do not experience His presence, and I do not have His love in my soul.
All this preaching of hell and damnation, being scared of the consequences of sin that drives us to Christ to flee the consequences of sin is not pleasing to the Lord. We must preach repentance, which is remorse over having offended the Lord. This makes sin become so sinful because it offends the Lord.
I see that it was my name written in the palms of His hands and that it was my sins that hung Him on the cross. I see that God was so angry with sin that He would place that wrath on His own Son before He would let that sin go unpunished. Then sin becomes so sinful because I see how it displeases the Lord, and that is the remorse in my heart. It is true repentance when I have remorse that my sin has separated the Lord from my soul.
Legal repentance does not lead to remission of sins. When the gospel is begun with the assurance that “God loves you, He has a great plan for your life,” the ultimate result is complacency. One becomes secure in a false peace without repentance or remission of sins. We become content in sin and have no desire to flee from it.
These pastors are not sent by the Lord, or they would have taught repentance for remission of sins
I want to show you something in Jeremiah 23:21-22: “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.” This is true, evangelical repentance.
How can we tell whether a man has been sent by the Lord to preach? We must ask: does his preaching cause them to turn from their evil ways? If all they preach is being justified in the blood of Christ, and they do not preach repentance and turning away from sin, my Bible says they are not sent by the Lord. Those pastors have not repented, nor do they teach repentance.
In Jeremiah 6:13 we read: “For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.”
They preach peace through the blood of His cross without repentance. Verse 14 says: “They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.”
They teach peace through the blood of the cross. They teach justification through the blood of Christ without teaching repentance.
Preaching of peace without repentance is daubing with untempered mortar. In Ezekiel 13:10 we read: “Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered morter.”
This is what we see in today’s religion. It makes no difference what church or denomination you go to, they will tell you they want you to be saved from hell by the blood of Christ, but how many of them teach a godly walk of life? How many teach true, evangelical repentance? How many of them teach the sinfulness of sin and that we should turn from sin? How many of them preach the gospel? How many of them preach what our text says about walking in Christ?
The ultimate result is legal repentance, and that is seizing upon the death of the Son for the inheritance, without the fruit of repentance, without any remorse over sin. They have never learned to hate sin.
We see this seizing upon the death of the Son for the inheritance in Matthew 21:34-38: “And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another…. But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.”
The Lord Jesus Christ said this to the Pharisees and scribes showing them they had no true remorse over sin.
Cain, King Saul, Ahithophel, Judas and Esau all showed great pain and regret of their past conduct because it exposed them to punishment, but they did not receive remission of their sins in this mere legal repentance. They never mourned over sin. Sin never became a problem to them. They never fled from sin.
Cain showed no remorse over having killed his brother. I want you to read what we see in Genesis 4:9: “And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?”
Cain showed much pain over the consequences of his sin. We read in Genesis 4:13-14: “And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.”
Cain had remorse over his sin because of the consequences of his sin, but it never once grieved him that he had slain his brother. It never once grieved him that he committed murder against the image of God.
King Saul showed no remorse over violating God’s commands. Look what we see in 1 Samuel 15:11-13: “It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night…. And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.”
Saul had not performed the commandment of the Lord. He had disobeyed the Lord.
Saul had a legal repentance. His honor was his concern. We read in 1 Samuel 15:30: “Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God.”
He confessed his sin, but he wanted to be honored. He was not concerned for the Lord’s honor. He was concerned for his honor.
Ahithophel and Judas had a legal repentance—and hanged themselves. They both had remorse over sin, but it was the consequences of sin.
Judas was brought to a legal repentance by the condemnation of the law. We read in Matthew 27:3: “Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders.”
Judas Iscariot repented, but it was a legal repentance. He was not sorry for his sin. He was sorry over the consequences of his sin.
Esau showed great pain and regret of his past conduct because of the consequences of his sin, but he did not receive remission of sins in this mere legal repentance.
In Hebrews 12:16-17 we read: “Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.”
This is something a lot of people misunderstand. This does not mean that he was unable to repent or to feel sorry for his sins. The statement that he found no place of repentance means that Isaac refused to repent of having given Jacob the blessing instead of Esau. Esau was sorry and had remorse over the consequences of his sin. He had sold his birthright in a vain way. Esau asked Isaac to repent. He did not seek repentance in his own heart. He asked Isaac if he had a blessing for him also. He wanted Isaac to repent of having blessed Jacob. The fact that Esau was profane and had sold his birthright caused Esau no remorse. Sin was not his source of remorse. His source of remorse was that he had lost the blessing.
The psalmist asks in Psalm 116:12: “What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?” The answer is thanksgiving, but what is thanksgiving? It is true repentance, true remorse over sin.
FOR OUR SECOND POINT, let us consider how we must express our gratitude to God for all His benefits.
God cannot be pleased without godliness and righteousness. Let me explain to you the difference between godliness and righteousness. We read in Romans 1:16-18: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ…. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed…. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.”
Godliness is observing the first table of the law, that is, to love God with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our mind, that every motive of our heart is for the honor of God.
Unrighteousness is every violation of the second table of the law. It is every unright act against our neighbor.
The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against every thought in our hearts that does not love God above us. It is every idolatrous thought, anything that is placed ahead of the Lord. Unrighteousness is any act or any thought that would be in transgression of the second table of the law, which would be against our neighbor.
This teaches God’s wrath against sin, and that is where thanksgiving must begin. Thanksgiving must begin with a godly spirit, with a righteous attitude toward our fellow man. That is where gratitude must begin.
Our text says: “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:6-7).
The Lord Jesus walked in a godly, reverent, holy fear for the will of God. He delighted to do His Father’s will.
To rightly understand receiving Christ Jesus as Lord is to walk in Him in the way of the cross, that is, marking death upon everything that is against the will of God. Every thought of hatred against our fellow man must be put away. Every evil thought or every evil act is an act of unrighteousness. To walk in the way of the cross is to walk in the way of crucifying that old nature.
We must understand that Christ’s death on the cross was for the appeasing of God’s wrath against sin. We read in 1 John 4:10: “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” The word propitiation means the appeasing of His wrath.
We read in 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
The Father was never angry with His Son or with one of His loved ones, but He is angry with sin. It was the wrath of God coming down upon sin, because Christ was made to be sin for us. Therein was the appeasing, the propitiation of our sins. Therein was the appeasing of that wrath. What more demonstration do we see of His wrath upon sin than we see how His wrath came upon His own Son?
True gratitude must begin with knowledge of the wrath of God against sin to establish the need of repentance for the remission of sins.
When you and I learn to see how angry the Lord is against sin, then sin becomes so sinful. We do not do good works to be justified, but we see that every thought of ungodliness and every thought of unrighteousness are displeasing to the Lord, and they are signs of ingratitude.
Do we understand thanksgiving? Do we understand true gratitude? It makes our hearts tender before the Lord, to have a desire to do what is pleasing to Him. Not that we will earn heaven by it, but if we go to heaven, it was earned by the blood of His cross. It was earned by Him appeasing the wrath of God for us.
What then is the fruit of salvation? What is our evidence? What assurance do we have that we have salvation? It is that we know what it is to fear the Lord, that we know what it is to have a desire to do the will of God.
When Jesus cried in John 17:25, “O righteous Father,” Jesus saw His Father’s righteous and just wrath upon sin. Jesus also saw His tender Fatherly love for His church in sending His Son to appease that wrath by being the propitiation for our sins.
Such a paradox we see in that expression “O righteous Father.” On the one hand He saw the righteous demands of the Father in the law, and His just demands under the law that He had agreed to bear, which became the propitiation for our sins. On the other hand, He saw the tender love the Father had for His children that He would give His own Son to be the propitiation for their sins.
When we learn to understand true gratitude, we learn to see that the Holy Spirit glorifies Christ by revealing God’s wrath upon sin, and what Jesus paid to appease that wrath for His church.
We read in John 16:8: “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.”
That word reprove in the original means to convince or to convict or to reprove. What does it mean to convince us of sin? It means that we become convinced in our hearts how displeasing sin is to the Lord. What does it mean to be convicted of sin? Some say it means that you come under the conviction of God’s wrath and that you see hell open in front of you. That is not necessarily true. To be convicted of sin means that our hearts are convicted of the sinfulness of sin.
The Apostle Paul was on his way to Damascus on his mad career to destroy the church, but in an instant he was changed from a lion to a lamb and asked God, “What will you have me to do?” He became a different man in an instant. He was convicted of sin. He was convicted that destroying the church was against the will of God. He repented, and he was converted in an instant.
When the Holy Spirit shows us the wrath of God upon sin in the sacrifice of Christ, we learn to see what it says in Romans 7:13: “That sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.”
Sin becomes exceedingly sinful, not because hell and heaven are the issues, but because we see what it brought upon our dear Redeemer. We can see how He had to bow under the will of the Father as an act of obedience. He lay down His life, and now we must walk in His life. As an act of obedience, we must be able to sacrifice our lives to the Lord, that our lives now become lives of holiness, that we no longer go on in the pleasures of this world and sin.
The Apostle Paul writes many things in the Book of Romans. Chapter 7 is rich about this, showing how Paul saw the pollution of sin, and how he saw the sinfulness of sin, but I do not know that I have ever read one place where he saw the condemnation of sin in a way that it brought hell before him.
The Apostle Paul was converted in an instant. Not everyone will experience the condemnation of the law and the lightning and thunder of Mount Sinai, but I will tell you what every person will experience who experiences the work of regeneration. They will know what it is to be convinced of sin, to be convicted of sin, that sin becomes exceedingly sinful, and that we have a desire to come to the fountain that is open for all sin and uncleanness to be cleansed from sin. Sin becomes the most hated thing of our lives.
We read in Romans 2:4: “Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?”
It is the goodness and love of God that leads us to a true remorse over sin. It gives us true remorse for having offended the love and the goodness of God.
True evangelical repentance is real penitence: sorrow or deep contrition for sin as an offense and dishonor to God, a violation of His holy law, and the basest ingratitude toward such a loving God.
True thanksgiving is a heart tender for the will of God, a loving desire to do His will, not out of a fear of hell, not out of a selfish motivation. It is out of a desire to do what is pleasing to the Lord that we might experience His nearness and His love.
We learn to see our names in the palms of Christ’s hands while He was appeasing the wrath of His Father upon our sins. Then the power of that love draws us from under the power of sin unto Him.
We read in Isaiah 49:16: “Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.” Every scar we see in the palm of His hands is my sin. My sin, my name, put that scar there. When we see this, sin becomes so sinful. It becomes so grievous to us that we would offend such a loving God. While He was appeasing the wrath of the Father, our names were engraved in the palms of His hands. Sin becomes the basest ingratitude toward God.
True gratitude or thanksgiving is a godly heart, a desire to observe that first table of the law, to love God with our hearts, souls and minds. It is to love our neighbors as ourselves. We see that our neighbor was created in the image of God. The power of that love draws us away from the power of sin. Sin loses its fascination. It loses its attraction, and the power of sin is broken. That is what draws us unto walking in the ways of the Lord.
FOR OUR THIRD POINT, let us consider how God is glorified by true thanksgiving.
The psalmist saw how pleasing true gratitude was to the Lord as he said in Psalm 69:29-30: “But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high. I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.”
When our hearts are truly in the right place before the Lord, His name is magnified.
Continuing in verse 31 we read: “This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.”
In other words, King Saul disobeyed the Lord to bring the choicest of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice to Him. Then Samuel asked King Saul whether sacrifice was better than obedience. The Lord had to forgive the sin of disobedience by putting the sacrifice on the altar as an offering. The sacrifice is not more pleasing than obedience. True gratitude, or submission to His will, pleases Him.
There are rich promises for those who please the Lord with true gratitude. Watch what we read in Psalm 50:14-15: “Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” The Lord gives a rich promise as a reward for true thanksgiving.
David said he would magnify the Lord with thanksgiving (Psalm 69:20). The vow was that David would magnify the Lord with thanksgiving.
Vows of thanksgiving are a pleading ground in prayer. When David came before the Lord pleading to be delivered from his enemies, he was pleading his vow of thanksgiving.
In Psalm 35:17-18 we read: “Lord, how long wilt thou look on? rescue my soul from their destructions, my darling from the lions. I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people.”
Freewill offerings are also an expression of gratitude. The Lord looks upon tithing, giving unto the Lord of the firstfruits of our increase, giving to the Lord of the blessings He gives us. We read in 1 Chronicles 29:8-9: “And they with whom precious stones were found gave them to the treasure of the house of the LORD, by the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite. Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the LORD: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.”
We must give thanks for our rulers. The rulers we have had in this country are human beings with many shortcomings. They are criticized by many people, but one thing we know, we have a President who comes out against open profanity. He comes out against abortion. He comes out against ungodliness, and he comes out against unrighteousness. He cannot do everything he would like to do, but how thankful we should be that we do not have a President who would condone abortion and who would be openly profane and would be openly irreverent to the Lord. I believe the Lord tells us that we must give thanks for our rulers.
Look what we see in 1 Timothy 2:1-3: “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour.”
We must be thankful to the Lord that we are in a land of freedom, that we have rulers who lead this country in a way that we may be able to live lives of quietness, of peace, in all godliness and honesty. It is acceptable in the sight of the Lord that we have hearts of gratitude for the fact that He has given us such rulers.
We read in Ephesians 1:15: “Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints.”
Scripture shows us that godliness and righteousness go hand in hand. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is that spirit of godliness, loving God above all, with our hearts, souls and minds. Righteousness is our right acts toward others. The Lord looks upon our hearts. Is it our heart’s desire to do that which right to our fellow man? Is it our heart’s desire that our love is to the Lord?
Thanksgiving must be made without ceasing. Continuing in verses 16 and 17 we read: “Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.”
Thanksgiving is not just once a year on Thanksgiving Day that we give thanks. The Lord wants to see a heart of gratitude without ceasing. This is what is acceptable to the Lord—that we return to Him with gratitude.
I want to share with you as a closing remark what we find in Hebrews 12:11: “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”
God treats His family like any intelligent father treats his children. The father chastens his children to break the rebellion of their hearts. A little child will come back to his father after having been chastened and put his arms around him and say: Daddy, show me love. I love you.
We see here the peaceable fruits of righteousness and conformity to the divine law. A righteous heart is one that conforms to God’s will. Our will of rebellion is broken, and now we must thank the Lord for His loving, tender, Fatherly care in giving us a spanking when we need it, to break our hearts of rebellion, and to bring us into subjection to His will, which yields those peaceable fruits of righteousness.
I have eight children, and no two are alike, and the Lord’s children are the same way. With one, His chastening hand has to come on them much harder than another. One child will break into tears with just a look or a frown of rebuke, and another child may need many stripes. The Lord does not chasten and strap His children because they are children. He straps them to break the rebellion of their hearts, but what the Lord wants is that peaceable fruit of righteousness. He wants that heart of subjection and of submission to His will so He can come and embrace us with His love and reveal the precious things of Christ to us.
He does not cast His pearls before swine though. He will not take His blessings and cast them before us while we are walking in rebellion. When our hearts are broken, and when rebellion is broken, and when sin becomes truly sinful, we understand what it is to experience the tender love of the Father, and that He now brings us to see the blessedness of that propitiation of our sins in His Son.
Then we learn to know what it is to walk in Christ.
See Also:
Thanksgiving Eve Sermon -- The Thankful Jesus
by Eldon ReichHow to Offer True Thanksgiving (Psalm 92:1-4)
by Cooper AbramsA Thanksgiving Sermon based on Luke 17: 11-19
by David ZersenA Day of Publick Thanksgiving and Prayer
by Charles HenricksonThanksgiving Day Sermon
By Katerina K. Whitley
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