Thanking God and Taking Courage!
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Introduction
Introduction
Today is January 2, 2022. I had planned to get back into our series of messages from 1 Corinthians. However, I decided to wait and do that starting next Sunday. Instead, I want to take a few moments this morning and address how we approach this new year.
It is always a solemn occasion whenever you come to the end of something.
Here are some examples of what I mean. It is a solemn occasion for someone graduating from high school or even college because their time of study is over, and now they must move on. Now, they must decide to relocate to a new place. It means saying goodbye to friends and making new friends. You can say the same thing about a person whose employment has ended or even for those who have arrived at retirement. Life is full of those moments when an era of our life has ended, and now comes new things.
In much the same way, we come to the end of a year; we must learn to use this time to look back and thank the Lord for all that He has done. However, it is also a time for us to look forward with renewed faith and hope for all He will continue to do in the future.
This morning’s text we find in Acts 28:15, which says -
15 And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appii forum, and The three taverns: whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage.
The backstory to this verse is this. While in Jerusalem, the religious rulers arrest Paul. However, as the Jews held Paul, a plot formed to kill him. Paul’s nephew learns of the plan to kill him and informs Paul. To make a long story short, Roman officials intervened and transferred Paul from Jerusalem to Caesarea. While still being held, Paul appeals to the governor. However, as things were not going so well, Paul, a Roman citizen, demanded that Caesar hear his case. So, in the end, Paul was shipped off to Rome as a prisoner to be heard in Caesar’s court. As they were traveling, the ship carrying Paul and other prisoners was driven off course by a great storm. The storm caused them to shipwreck on the island of Malta. Eventually, they were able to escape the island. After leaving Malta, they arrived and remained in Syracuse for three days and then remained another day in another city before arriving at the outskirts of Rome. Now, remember, Paul is a prisoner. He had just been through a great ordeal experiencing a shipwreck.
Additionally, while shipwrecked, Paul was bitten by a poisonous snake. An event that God used significantly in reaching the Maltese people. He is now 33 miles from Rome. Paul does not know what awaits him there but is simply trusting God. However, you can imagine that he is physically exhausted and, perhaps, starting to battle discouragement. When he arrives at Three Taverns (the town’s name), he finds that “the brethren” has come to meet him there. We know that “the brethren” refers to other saved individuals. These fellow believers, and perhaps their families, had come to meet him. And, just by their sight alone, along with the fact they had come, was a huge source of encouragement to Paul. Note that the verse says -
“whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage.”
Today, I want you to use Paul’s actions as a pattern for facing the coming year. There is no doubt that many are discouraged. With all that has taken place, most notably having to deal with COVID, many are ending this year on a down note. Additionally, many are not very hopeful about 2022. However, my prayer is that you will be encouraged and ready to serve the Lord in this new year after today’s message. Thus, the title of today’s message is “Let Us Thank God and Take Courage in this New Year!”
Already, you might be saying to yourself, “What in the world do we have to thank God for concerning this past year?” Here is the thought. We can thank God and take courage when we -
Remember that God is Always the Same
Remember that God is Always the Same
Over in the book of Malachi, we read this.
6 For I am the Lord, I change not; Therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
Over in Hebrew we find these words.
8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
We have faced a lot this past year and, with the new year comes a lot of uncertainty. However, let me remind you that you can be sure of this one thing. God is not dead. God has not changed. He is the Lord God Almighty. That is a fact on which you can rest assured.
Most of you know how much I love the old hymns. They are chocked full of doctrine. One of those hymns came to mind as I prepared this message. The chorus of which say this.
“On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand - All other ground is singing sand, All other ground is sinking sand.”
Know this, you can listen to the news, to the promises of government officials, and even tune all that out by just leaning on yourself and others. However, I will tell you that all other ground (i.e., news agencies, governments, sports figures, and actors/actresses) is sinking ground. The only solid ground that never changes is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only One that we can go for safety and security when the storms of life are beating us up.
1 God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.
I love this verse. I used it just recently in another message. Note three things in this verse.
He is our REFUGE. A refuge is a place of shelter. It is a place of calm when the winds are swirling, the rain is falling, and the lightning strikes. God is our shelter. To Him, we must run when the storms gather around us. An excellent illustration of this is the Midwest, where many homes have tornado shelters. When the clouds turn dark, and the tornado warnings are out, it is always a superb idea to head for the protection of a refuge. Only the foolish remain in the open. Only reckless believers are the ones who think they can weather the storms of life without shelter. My friends, may I encourage you this morning that when you see the dark clouds on the horizon or that sudden storm erupts in your life, that you run to God and not away from Him. He is your REFUGE.
He is also our STRENGTH. No believer is an island to himself. The fact is that God’s Word teaches us the opposite. We need God’s strength, for we cannot stand alone. There are some things we must realize.
First, we, without God, are weak.
18 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.
Second, God uses our weaknesses to demonstrate His strength.
9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
Third, we need God’s strength.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in him, and I am helped: Therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; And with my song will I praise him.
8 The Lord is their strength, And he is the saving strength of his anointed.
26 My flesh and my heart faileth: But God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; In whose heart are the ways of them.
Listen, my friend, God is alive, and He is “our present help in trouble.” I like the word “present” here. He is not our future help. No, He’s our PRESENT (right here, right now) help. No matter what storm you are facing or will face, as a believer, God is always available to help you. Call on Him, and He will strengthen you. Run to Him, and He will protect you.
The fact is people change. Families change. Businesses change. Nations change. All around is constant change: some changes we like, but we do not enjoy most changes. Yet, amid all the change and chaos, we can take courage and be strong in the fact that God never changes and He is always the same.
We can also thank God and take courage when we do one other thing, which is this.
Continue in God’s Word Daily
Continue in God’s Word Daily
This morning, we don’t have the time to read the entire 119th Psalm. It is the longest Psalm and the longest chapter in the Bible, with 176 verses. The most significant about Psalm 119 is that each verse references God’s Word and its importance. The running theme of that Psalm is those who delight in God’s Word, who let God speak to them through His law, His teachings, and His promises, are those who are standing courageous and strong.
Over in 1 Peter 2, the Holy Spirit reminds us of how we must feed daily upon God’s Word.
2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
God’s Word is milk and meat for the believer. Newborn babes in Christ, aka young or new believers, must drink up the milk of God’s Word to grow strong and healthy. Older, more mature believers are to feast daily on the meat of God’s Word so they may remain strong and healthy. I am sure that many of you sitting here this morning can attest to how your daily reading of God’s Word has helped you remain firm in your faith in God and His promises. Indeed, you sit here with thankful hearts knowing how God’s Word sustained you through the chaos of this past year. However, let me encourage you not to quit. Don’t stop reading God’s Word each day. And, if you are a believer who is not reading the Bible each day, let me encourage you to begin.
Through the study of God’s Word, we find guidance in times of uncertainty and strength in times of weakness. Through constant meditation on God’s Word, we receive a warning in times of danger. We receive His direction through listening to God’s Word in times of difficult decisions. Through God’s Word, we find comfort and encouragement during times of grief and sorrow.
The wonderful thing is that God’s Word speaks to us according to our individual needs. For that reason alone, we must always seek to read, to meditate, and to obey God’s Word daily. Thus, we can thank God and take courage, knowing that God’s Word will continue to speak to us.
We CAN thank God and take courage this morning facing a new year.
Remember that God is Always the Same
Continue in God’s Word Daily
And then there is this.
Realize the Holy Spirit Continues to Work within Us
Realize the Holy Spirit Continues to Work within Us
As believers, we have the Holy Spirit living within us. A fact that we learned in our study of 1 Corinthians.
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Before Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, He promised that He would send His Spirit is our Comforter.
16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Thus, one of the primary purposes of the Holy Spirit is to comfort God’s people. God’s Spirit dwelling within us means we have a constant abiding companion and counselor. One Who is continually working in us, helping us know all that God would have us do.
13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
That is fantastic and comforting news (no pun intended) to believers.
Again, I am sure that many of you can testify of how God’s Spirit has worked in you this past year. For that, we can be genuinely thankful. However, let us look to a new year with renewed confidence that God’s Spirit will continue working in us. He will work in this next year to know and to do of God’s good pleasure IF we willingly submit to Him.
However, some here this morning may have not fully believe. If you have not totally and entirely put your faith in all that Christ has done for you, you do not have the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, residing in you. And, thus, you cannot know the true comfort that comes from Him. This fact is a thought that brings me to my next point.
We can thank God and take courage this morning as we -
Remember God is Always the Same!
Continue in God’s Word Daily!
Realize the Holy Spirit Continues to Work in Us as Believers!
and also as we -
Consider that God is Still in the Saving Business
Consider that God is Still in the Saving Business
If you recall, I started with the story of Paul arriving in Rome. Several believers greeted him. Seeing them caused his heart to be encouraged, and he then thanked God and took courage. Paul arrived in Rome as a prisoner. It all began because of Paul’s passion for the gospel, the good news. Paul determined to preach about Christ everywhere he traveled. However, Paul wanted more than anything for his people, the Jews, to know Christ. For that reason, Paul went to Jerusalem and preached Christ. In doing so, he upset the religious rulers who arrested him and determined to kill him. God, through a series of events, rescued Paul from their intent. Paul, however, was imprisoned and sent to Rome to stand before Caesar’s court. All of this started with Paul’s desire to preach Christ.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
May I humbly submit to you this morning that “the power of God” to save those who will believe has not ended or decreased! God is still in the business of saving people. And, for this reason, there are two things I want to share with you.
First, if you are here this morning and have not accepted Christ as your personal Savior, God desires to save you from your condemnation.
What do I mean by that? I am glad you asked.
Everyone is born already condemned to an eternity without God because of sin and there is nothing a person can do change that fact.
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
However, there is hope in Christ. He came and died for your sins and mine. Thus, in Him, you can have everlasting life.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Repent and confess your sinful ways to Him.
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
20 But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
Accept by faith all that Christ has done for you. He died, was buried, and rose again.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Doing so ensures that you will be saved from the condemnation that awaits you.
Second, as believers, we must take our responsibility to witness for Christ seriously.
As we face this new year, 2022, let’s rise to the challenge before us. Let’s determine to be a witness for Him. Each person we meet is a new opportunity to invite them to attend church with you. Each person you meet is an opportunity to share the gospel with them. Let’s go into this next year looking for those opportunities. And, when God gives them to us, let’s not squander them. Instead, let’s be faithful witnesses of the Light, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us take courage and be courageous for Him.
We can thank God and take courage when we -
Remember that God is Always the Same!
Continue in God’s Word Daily!
Realize the Holy Spirit Continues to Work in Our Lives as Believers!
Consider that God is Still in the Saving Business!
and also as we -
Eagerly Await the Blessed Future God has for Us
Eagerly Await the Blessed Future God has for Us
Every new year is another year in which the Lord may return! I am not saying that Christ will return in 2022, but He may! However, whether or not He returns this year or next, this one fact remains. We, as believers, follow a victorious Leader, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the One who already defeated Satan, sin, death, and the grave. He is the One Who, as 1 Corinthians 15:57 says, “gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Look at that entire verse.
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
There it is! We can THANK God because He is the One through Whom we have victory.
Yes, there have been times, and there will be times in this new year when it will seem that devil is winning and wickedness is increasing. It will happen even more as we approach closer to Christ’s return. However, it is such times, we can rest assured the most decisive battle in history is already finished, and Christ won. An empty cross and an empty tomb stand as testaments to that fact. Without a doubt, the Lord Jesus Christ is alive. He lives. We then can sing with confidence these words.
Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian, lift up your voice and sing
Eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Chris the King!
The HOPE of all who seek Him, the HELP of all who find,
None other is so loving, so good and kind.
He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way.
He lives, He lives, salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives?
He lives within my heart.
The fact that all of us as believers can thank God and take courage in! However, one additional thought goes with He lives: this. Because He lives, we too shall live with Him for all of eternity.
19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.
And, of course, is the great promise from 1 Thessalonians 4.
13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Conclusion
Conclusion
As we stand this morning on the threshold of a new year, we must thank God and take courage. Earlier, I mentioned Psalm 119. There is another Psalm that holds two key verses. Psalms 103:1-2 are the middle verses of the Bible. The King James Bible has precisely 15,550 verses before them and 15,550 verses after them. It is interesting to read these two verses, which say.
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul: And all that is within me, bless his holy name.
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all his benefits:
This morning, January 2, 2022, thank the Lord and bless His holy name, not forgetting all His benefits. Take courage as we face the future knowing that -
He is Always the Same
His Word is Our Daily Source of Encouragement
His Spirit Continues to Work in Our Hearts
He is Still in the Saving Business
He has a Blessed Future Awaiting Us