Thanks Giving services/Sermon on Minneapolis 27.11.2009

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

As we continue these services this evening, I will read from the first epistle of Paul to Timothy from the second chapter, the first six verses. The words in Jesus' name are as follows: 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 Savior, who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time. Amen.

First of all, so I don't forget, I'd like to bring the greetings of the Brainerd congregation.

Many who were gathered last Sunday knew I was coming here as we could relate their greetings. Also, we were all gathered together in a manor on Tuesday evening, and every one of them said to bring their greetings, which I promised to do.

First of all, it is a pleasure to be here in your midst this evening at these annual youth days to see so many of you young people here. But also I see many people here that are of my age also, so it is good that we have a mixed group of people here in age.

But I was touched by our brother this evening when he reminded us of the dangers of these last times, about the danger of being deceived.

And I thought I would, at first, in the beginning here, touch on that matter a bit because it is certainly a reminder to each and every child of God that we are yet on the journey. The dangers are many. The temptations are from the left, and they are from the right. We are all in danger to be deceived.

And the brother read from that text that be not deceived by any man.

It reminds me of the time when the disciples went on to the Lord Jesus to ask him, What shall be the signs of the end times? And Jesus, before he even got to answering their questions, His first comment and answer to them was, be not deceived.

The deceptions can certainly be from the false religions of the world, but they are also from the threefold enemy, the devil, the world, and our own flesh.

So it was a very timely reminder to all of us as we are gathered here even for these youth days. We already this evening, through the two brothers that have been here before me, have reminded us of the day of Thanksgiving and that perhaps that was one of the reasons that I chose even this text that we heard just read.

We heard in the first verse, for instance, that I exhort, therefore, that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men.

The text perhaps in itself is an exhortation for us to pray, but we also heard the words giving of thanks, which both of our brothers already alluded to this evening. Our prayers always should include giving of thanks.

As yesterday, we observed the day of Thanksgiving, which we already heard was not a religious occasion, but it certainly does not quarrel with our understanding because we have reason to give thanks to God each and every day.

First and foremost for this, that He has called each one of us, you and I, into this living faith and has preserved us until this moment in this living faith.

There have, even in my lifetime, been many temptations and trials, and perhaps the most difficult time in my life of faith was the time of the last heresy.

It was a time when one began to wonder, Where is God's kingdom?

Just recently, some of you have visited with a dear sister who was here from Finland, Zelamo Ikola. And I had a chance to visit with her when she came to Brainerd, when she came to visit us in our apartment.

I was recalling the time that her father, Eno Lehiyopdi, was here in America.

And Pauline and I, my wife and I, lived in Detroit at that time. And how he was there at the services. And you might say the air was so thick because it was so confusing that I asked him that during dinner time, just one day, he and I could go for a little ride in my car, in our car, because I wanted to discuss with him my own doubts and concerns. And as I told Villemo, it was that opportunity that helped me to realize which was right and which was wrong. So these are the kinds of things that we will face.

Hopefully, we will not have to go through a time such as that. But as the Bible does tell us, there is always a seed of heresy in your midst. But the most important, dear brother and sister, is this: that we put sin away because it is only unforgiven sin that can separate us from the Heavenly Father. And that is why we have reason to give thanks each and every day that the Heavenly Father has guided and protected us in this living faith so that we would not stray away. There are many places in scripture where it exhorts us to thankfulness as we pray.

If I remember correctly, one of them can be found in the epistle of Paul to the Ephesians, where he writes—it must not have been in Ephesians. I remember Colossians for sure—that he says, continue in prayer and watch in the same with thanksgiving. So we are encouraged, and we could say according to the Finnish translation where the Apostle Paul here says, I exhort. Therefore, the Finnish Bible says, I instruct. I instruct, therefore, that first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men.

We heard the word intercessions here. We probably do not see too much of this in our country here, except that perhaps at the summer services where prayers of intercession are read at the beginning of the services. It certainly would be a very good thing to do when there is a reason for prayer on someone's behalf, perhaps when someone has given up their faith, as we even heard here this evening. We could ask that a prayer of intercession would be made before the congregation in a public prayer, for we certainly, each one of us, desire to, in our own way, in our private prayers, pray for such a one. Or if it should be a matter of sickness or temporal trials that one may have because of unemployment and so on.

Therefore, we are instructed that we would pray on behalf of all men. We would pray, first of all, for their spiritual good, that they would remain in faith, but also that God would give unto them all the needs of their life, even as we hear in a prayer in a Lord's Prayer, give us this day our daily bread. The daily bread includes all the things we need for our temporal life, including good government and so on. But then the Apostle Paul also tells us that we should pray for kings and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. Here we are encouraged and instructed to pray for those who are above us, even you young boys and girls, young people, those of you who are in school, your teachers, the principals of your school, and so on. They are the ones that are looking for your best interests as you study for your education and so on.

You need to pray that they would have the knowledge and the ability to be able to teach so that you would learn even in a temporal way. Also, that they would be able to conduct the class in such a way to keep the proper discipline that would not take away from the teaching that they are there to do. But as we think even more further here, as we heard about the kings and for all that are in authority, I'm sure that the first matter that comes to the mind of us in these troubled economic times is the ones that are in our government, our senators, our House of Representatives members, and our Presidents and so on. We need to pray for them. I know that each and every one of us has our own political beliefs and understandings.

But we must understand that God has allowed things to be as they are for a purpose. We, even as believers, do not comprehend and understand all the reasons that God has. We might say that because of the hardness of the hearts of people, God has allowed things to be. But it is also a time that God is trying to humble His people. It is a time that we, even as God's children, are reminded that all things are not in our hands, that God is the one who is in control.

God is the one who oversees everything. There are people in the world that put a lot of the blame on God, asking why does God allow these things to happen? But do they look at their own sinful heart? Do they look at their heart to see how disobedient they have been to the will of the Heavenly Father? Man has become accustomed to all the pleasures of life and an easy life.

We could say that until recently, especially here in our nation, it was fairly easy to earn a living, to make our paychecks last so that we could enjoy all the pleasures that we were desiring. Perhaps God has seen even this to be to the detriment of the children of God, and therefore has allowed even these things to happen. But yet when we think of the ones that are in charge of our country, we know that God has set these men there. Even our President, He has allowed him to be in office at this time. And we need to respect that office, and we need to pray that he would lead this country in such a way as we heard here, that we could have a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

Of course, we as children of God understand that we cannot always agree with all of the decisions that even those men who are in authority are making. We cannot sometimes go along with them and we need to speak out on those things, but we do it in a peaceable manner. We do not go out to demonstrate as we have seen so much of that in our time and day. But we need to use that weapon which God has given us, which is the power of prayer. That we would pray that God would protect this country.

He would not allow some of the things to happen that are happening. But we know according to Scripture that the end times will see much more happening than we have yet seen up till this day. Terrible times of destruction. Those are the words that even Jesus spoke to His disciples when they asked Him, what shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the world? And we were already reminded that He answered and said, take heed that no man shall deceive you, that no man deceive you. But He does go on to say, Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars.

But He says, See that ye not be troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. And then He goes on to say, For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in diverse places. And then He says, And all these are the beginning of sorrows. Then they shall deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated of all nations for My name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

And many false prophets shall rise and deceive many. And then, because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. So He gives us that encouragement that as long as we endure unto the end in living faith, we shall be saved. That is why even at the beginning, I thought it to be so touching when we heard our Brother remind us of these matters of being deceived, that we would not be deceived by anything.

But as the Apostle Paul here encourages us to pray for one another, for everyone, and for all those that are in authority. He says that, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our Savior. This is good and acceptable before God, in the sight of God, our Savior. His desire is that we would always pray for one another. And we have so often been reminded, I'm sure even here in Minneapolis, how we are our brother's keepers.

We are here to help one another. That is why even as we shall hear tomorrow evening, which our brother already alluded to, about being in unity of faith and understanding, that we would have that same spirit, that same spirit of faith and unity of understanding. Those things we will speak about tomorrow evening. But then he goes on to say, Who will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth? God's will is that all men would be saved.

God would not desire that anyone would have to go on to eternal damnation. That is why even Jesus, before his departure from this world, in his high priestly prayer, prayed unto the Heavenly Father. First of all, he glorified the Father and said unto the Father, Glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify Thee. And then he prayed, first of all, in behalf of all of his own disciples, prayed that they would remain in living faith, prayed that they would not be deceived. He also prayed in behalf of the entire congregation of God at that time.

But the thing that touches me is where he says, Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word. So in other words, he prayed in your behalf, in my behalf. He prayed for all the future generations when he said that for those that believe upon the upon that word that is preached. That is why it is so important, dear brothers and sisters, even you young people, you young brothers and sisters, yeah, brothers and sisters, that you have this close unity of faith, close fellowship with the other children of God, come to the hearing of God's holy and precious Word. That is where we can hear that precious instruction so that we may remain in faith.

We can also hear those words of comfort, words of comfort when we are reassured again and again that we can believe our sins forgiven in Jesus' name and in His precious atonement blood. That is the core of the Gospel. The Gospel as a whole includes all the teachings that are in this Holy Bible, And that is why we want to come to hear what God wants to speak onto us. Not only at the services, but at Bible class, at the congregation discussion sessions and so on. For God speaks through His Holy Spirit.

He borrows the mouths of men to speak unto us. For that purpose that we would not stray away, for as we already heard, his desire is that all men would be saved. It grieves the heart of the Heavenly Father when anyone gives up their faith, when anyone leaves from God's kingdom. It grieves the heart of the Heavenly Father. We also know that it grieves the kingdom of God, the congregation of God here on earth.

It is not joyful to hear that kind of news, but how we rejoice when we hear that someone has received the grace of repentance, has received the forgiveness of all of their sins in Jesus' name and in His precious atonement blood. Oh, how happy and joyful we are. It also, the Bible says that even the angels in heaven rejoice when one repents and returns into God's kingdom. We yet heard here, For there is one God, one mediator between God and men, the man being Christ Jesus. There is no other way to Heaven.

The Bible is very clear even on this that there is only one way to Heaven. There is only one gate by which man can come into God's kingdom, and that is through Christ Jesus. He is the gate. He is the way. And by and through him, we can come in.

And we children of God are so fortunate, so blessed to be members of this kingdom, of this living kingdom here upon this earth. Not that we would have known where to come or to choose it or to find it. God has called us, each and every one of us. Even you young ones here this evening that have been in living faith since childhood, God has called you into this kingdom. God has blessed you to be brought up in a Christian home, having a believing family, a mother and a father.

And God has allowed them to even teach those rudiments of Christian faith onto you, to remind you of the sins of this world, to teach you the right and wrong according to Holy Scripture. We are even reminded by the words of the Apostle Paul to Titus when he says, that the grace of God bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. So it is the grace of God that teaches us. It is not the holy law. The law is to bring one unto Christ.

The law cannot save, but it is Christ that can save. And it is through his grace that we are even believing this evening. And this grace of God teaches us. As Jesus himself spoke in that high priestly prayer, how he said that upon my departure, I will send you the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost that will teach and remind you of all the things that I have taught you. And as we think of even this this evening, we have been taught these things already from our youth, have we not?

And when those times of temptation come in our life when we are tempted to fall into sin, it is that spirit, the Holy Spirit in us that reminds us of those things that we have been taught, so that we cannot do those things that we would want to do tempt because of the temptations of this world and our own flesh and so on. So we have a precious God who has called us into this kingdom. I think of you as there may be even some of you older ones here this evening who have perhaps strayed away from living faith in your youth, but God has granted you that grace to return back into his kingdom. It is grace that one has been able to return. One cannot make that decision on his own.

If God does not give you the strength, one cannot even step over that threshold to come back into his kingdom. And the same thing with those who have perhaps come from the world, how precious it is that God has called you from this world into his kingdom. I cannot be without mentioning in this connection here because we are having these youth days and there are so many of you beloved young people here. The temptation, I'm sure, is great to look outside of God's kingdom for a mate because they especially for boys, the girls may present themselves to be very attractive and so on. And, probably also for the girls for other reasons.

But dear brother and sister, when you are tempted to do this, remember that you are toying with sin. That is one of the causes of the end of the first world, where the Christian young men were enticed by the women of the world and consequently they lost their faith. Perhaps we have heard of instances where one has gone against God's will, has fallen to sin, has married an unbeliever, and has had the grace to return. This is because of the great grace of the Heavenly Father. But let us not be deceived, as we have heard this evening, to think that we can do this sin and later repent and come back into God's kingdom?

Then you are taking matters into your own hands. The Heavenly Father is not there to bless such a marriage. Dear young brothers and sisters, look for a mate within the kingdom. God has given someone for you. And if he has not given one for you, remember that the most important matter is that one can remain in living faith.

God maybe has plans for you in that way. You can serve Christianity easier than when one is married, for then your responsibility is to your spouse and to your family. Let us all be content with that, with what God has given unto us.

But then in our conclusion here, we heard these words, who gave himself a ransom to all to be testified in due time. We have that wonderful Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who was with the Heavenly Father already before the foundations of this world were made, where he encouraged the Heavenly Father to create, and he will save.

He promised Heavenly Father that he would be the Savior of the world, and he lived up to those promises. We will be hearing in a few days even of that period of Advent where the Old Testament believers were waiting for the coming of the Messiah. We are now living in a time where that promise has been fulfilled and we are living in a time that we are waiting for His second coming. He will reveal Himself in due time. This we know, the Bible testifies of this, that He will come.

And as we have been reminded even during these past few weeks, when we were encouraged to be watchful in faith, watch so that one would not be deceived, because the Lord Jesus will come as a thief in the night. None of us know when he shall come. We were reminded even last evening as we attended services at the Rockford Church by the brother who spoke. Probably some of you have heard of this accident that happened in St. Michael just recently.

A young student from the Buffalo School was driving and another man who was drunk and had no headlights on was in his lane and they hit head-on. The brother that spoke last evening said that the man that was drunk was a man that he has had some business affairs with. But anyway, it is a reminder unto us that we do not know when our last breath will be here upon this earth. There is no guarantee, even though one is young in age, there is no guarantee that we will even get home from these services this evening. But how precious it is that when we have that assurance that no matter where we are, when that last moment comes to us, that we are found in living faith, that our sins are forgiven unto us in Jesus' name and atonement blood.

And then when the minister keeps the funeral, he can make that testimony that that brother or sister desired to travel and journey with the children of God. He wanted to hear the gospel, to have those blood drops wash away those sins. So even this evening, dear brother and sister, be uplifted and believe even now all your journey faults and sins forgiven in Jesus' name and precious atonement blood. Believe all sins forgiven in Jesus' name, in Jesus' name, Jesus' name and blood, in Jesus' name and blood, in Jesus' name and blood, believe all your sins forgiven. In Jesus' name and blood, believe all sins forgiven.

And I also need to hear this same gospel that can I also believe my sins and my many faults forgiven? I desire to believe with you. In Jesus' name, amen.

Let us conclude with the benediction. 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 the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen.