Thanks Giving Eve Services/Sermon in Seattle 21.11.2012

In Jesus' name, we'll continue our Thanksgiving Eve services. Get with that prayer of faith that God would yet bless His word according to His will and then to His eternal glory. We'll read from the eighty-fourth Psalm, the first four verses. In Jesus' name.

How amiable are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts.

My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. Yea, the sparrow hath found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even Thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house.

They will still be praising Thee, Selah. Amen.

First of all, in the beginning, I would like to relay the greetings of love and God's peace. About a month ago, Karina and I were able to go to the ministers and wives camp there at Camp Kippa, and it was truly nice and good to be there. We had much warm discussion visiting about matters of the kingdom.

We had discussions on forgiveness in the home and values of the Christian home and had much warm discussion there. And there was truly a spirit of unity and many greetings from there. And also then more recently from Alaska, the brothers and sisters there, at the beginning of this month. I was there, and they wished also to send their greetings.

We've already been able to hear through our dear brother and be reminded about thankfulness and how we have much reason to give thanks.

I'm thinking of this turn this evening. I wasn't aware that it was a turn until recently here, and this Psalm came to my mind, though, that this Psalm is a familiar Psalm to all of us. It is a Psalm for the sons of Korah. We may remember from the Old Testament who was this Korah. He was an elder and had been a child of God with the children of Israel there with Moses.

But matters with Korah and his followers weren't well. Sin came on their heart and their conscience, and they rose up against Moses and against God. And we can remember even in the Old Testament book of Numbers, how they all gathered together there. And Moses went up then before the elders and related here before everyone from the sixteenth chapter of Numbers.

And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own mind.

If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men, then the Lord hath not sent me. But if the Lord make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit, then you shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord.

And it came to pass as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them. And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. They and all that appertained to them went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them, and they perished from among the congregation.

We can't even really imagine how this must have been where they were gathered at a meeting, all of them together. And then Moses took his turn speaking. And then we could imagine the ground opening up and then coming right back together. And those that were disobedient, taken, and swallowed up.

But here then, in this Psalm, we see the thanks come from the heart of the Psalmist.

How amiable are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts.

Another word for you young children for amiable is pleasant. We remember the children of Israel used to gather at services there in tabernacles or tents. It was their place of worship. This is a picture how pleasant is God's kingdom.

My soul longeth, yea, even fainted for the courts of the Lord. I'm not old enough to really remember the time of the last major heresy, but have grown up with the scars. And as many of you here have, who have family members, mothers, fathers, or brothers or sisters, or even perhaps children who were with this heresy.

But we as young people have many times heard you elders relate of those times and how there were many things going on that were contrary to God's word: open leniency, people going to ball games, young people and many listening to the music in this world, and many, many examples that we have heard and been reminded of. And how then God saw it fit that his kingdom would be cleansed.

There would be this separation. And so it has been throughout time that God has cleansed his kingdom just like back when we read this account of Korah, how they perished in heresy and unbelief and how there have been many.

So here, when we're able to be here tonight, don't we have much reason to be thankful, dear brothers and sisters? When we examine our own life of faith, each one of us, can we say that I'm here because I've been a good believer? No.

No. But only isn't it this, that God and his rich grace, God's rich mercy has allowed us to continue, each one of us, to believe. And it has been nothing from ourselves. We find no, rather, is it more like those words of our brother Paul when he spoke to those brothers and sisters in Rome, the Roman believers. Here in the seventh chapter of Romans, the eighteenth and the nineteenth verses, perhaps, we'll read.

For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not. For the good that I would, I do not. But the evil which I would not, that I do.

Hasn't this been more our experience?

We are so prone to sin. We fall every day, many times a day in our flesh, this old portion that we have. It doesn't like to hear about sin, but doesn't our spirit, dear brothers and sisters, rejoice that we can hear in God's kingdom, in our time even, be reminded about sin, to be instructed, to be taught, and then so much more when we've also been able to hear even so much more importantly of the forgiveness, the message of the gospel.

And dear brother, dear sister, your sin be forgiven me. Here, the psalmist relates of this picture of a sparrow.

Yea, the sparrow has found a house and the swallow a nest for herself where she may lay her young. Maybe some of you, I'm sure, have come across the little bird's nest. I know we have at times in the yard, and I don't know. Some of the younger kids probably now haven't.

But when we've been able to find those little nests, we see here even a picture of comfort. How there in the tree, there's this little warm nest. And sometimes there's been eggs in the nest that the mother bird comes and sits on those eggs, nurtures them. But it is a, we could say, cozy place.

And here, the psalmist gives a picture for us even of God's kingdom.

Oh, Lord of hosts, my king and my God. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house. They will still, they will be still praising me.

We've heard already through our brother this evening how the most important matter that we have to be thankful for is that we can own living faith, how Jesus has revealed it unto us as babes. And so it is, dear fellow travelers.

We have much reason to be thankful that we can dwell in this kingdom, this precious kingdom. Even the words of the songwriter come to mind, that familiar new song in our songbook, hymn five seventy-four. The last verse I'll just read here comes to mind.

My thanks and my longings, my tongue shall relate. For Jesus, my pathway is showing.

He gave me these friends, my companions in faith, who journey to where I am going. Oh, earth, many treacherous snares may contain. May I, with these brothers and sisters, remain sustained to the end by the Spirit.

We have each other as fellow escorts, fellow travelers who we can turn to in our time of need when we have sin burning as a burden on our heart and on our conscience.

The enemy and souls would wish that we would stay in this condition, that we would allow sin to build on our heart and on our conscience. But dear fellow travelers, dear brother and sister, the message of the Good Shepherd even this evening is that you need not travel with sin, but you can be free from your sins. Even this evening, you can be uplifted to believe all your sins forgiven in Jesus' name and precious blood. To believe this gospel unto peace and freedom and joy.

Because we read further in this Psalm:

Blessed is the man whose strength is in me and in whose heart are the ways of them, who passing through the Valley of Baca, make it a well, and the rain also filleth the pools. They go from strength to strength. Every one of them in Zion appeareth before God. Strength to strength. Moment by moment, we travel.

Living of the gospel. Believing our sins forgiven in Jesus' name and blood.

So as we gather tomorrow for our thanksgiving, we have the greatest reason of all to be thankful. Thanks, as we've heard, for the many temporal blessings, but so much more that each of us can travel on the way that leads to heaven. That each of us can be a member, a citizen of God's kingdom.

That as believers, as God's children, we have one day an everlasting hope there in heaven.

So as we go forward, we can also be encouraged this evening. As our brother also touched on with the many things going on around us in our world with legislation allowing gay marriage and many of these things turning more and more evil in the world, we yet have a kingdom, God's kingdom, where we dwell, this house of God.

Whereas Timothy, Paul writes Timothy is the pillar and foundation of truth.

And the psalmist or the prophet Isaiah even speaks about Zion, God's kingdom. If I could even find those words. Listen to what the prophet has written on this matter of Zion. He speaks how a mother could forsake her child, but how God doesn't forget.

Here in the forty-ninth chapter of Isaiah:

But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Yet will I not forget thee.

This is the God that we have, our rich and beloved heavenly Father. He will not forget us as his children. He will not forget his kingdom here on earth. We can trust that no matter what may come going forward, when we dwell as his children, as believers, we will be cared for. We need not fear.

But don't we experience how so many times we doubt? So many times we do fear, and this is the flesh that we carry. It is this earthen vessel that we have, but be uplifted yet and place all of our cares on the heavenly Father. Believe sins forgiven in Jesus' name and blood.

And for my own part, coming here to you, feeling my own many sins and doubts, I also desire to hear the same gospel.

Can I also believe? I desire to believe along with you, dear brothers and sisters, and soon I'll be having to leave on a mission trip. December 1 will be at Longview serving there, and then following that, a mission trip with our brother Eric. Sure move going to Ecuador for my second trip, and I don't remember which. He's been there more times than that, but I would even ask here that he would remember us on this trip and remember our families in your prayers. That God would, yeah, even bless our trip and care for our families at home.

In Jesus' name, amen. Let us quieten them in closing prayer and benediction. Dear Heavenly Father, we, your children, wish to give thanks unto Thee that we have once again been able to gather about Your holy and precious Word, have been able to once again be uplifted and strengthened through the power of the gospel. And we join our hearts this evening in saying, the Lord bless us and keep us. The Lord make His face shine upon us and be gracious unto us.

The Lord lift up His countenance upon us and give us peace. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.