Steven Crook

Study Notes for Video Aired July 13, 2008

1Pe 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

Today I would like to talk on a subject that really has great significance to the elect of God, but it seems to be little understood. I found myself of this understanding until I really dug deep for the gems that are in God’s Word.

I believe that everyone can take a guess as to what thanksgiving is, but as with all things pertaining to the scriptures, we need to evaluate what the Word of God reveals about a particular subject.

A lot of times, I think we question our purpose in God’s plan, at least I do. We certainly know that God has a plan for us all, but we don’t know what that is sometimes or how the details of our current situation go along with that plan. Along with all of that comes the adversary trying to tempt us into believing or seeing things that are mixed with the truth; therefore, the truth becomes “leavened” and we then have truth of the adversary and not THE TRUTH, Jesus Christ.

As with all things, we must rely ONLY on the Word of God to help us with these trials. What the Lord has allowed me to come to see, is the title of this talk today, and I hope I can be used to help someone out there that may have these same trials and struggles on a daily basis. We must die daily to these trials and struggles; thus, we continue to see Christ more and more as we look in the mirror. We truly become more conformed into his image.

1Co 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Rom 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Rom 8:27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

1Jn 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jn 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
1Jn 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

Oh, how true that is. It is the FAITH of CHRIST that overcomes the world. It is the trial of that Faith that matters to God.

1Pe 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

Now, how does faith have anything to do with thanksgiving and how do we give thanksgiving? We certainly give outward verbal “thanks” for all the wonderful blessing that the Lord had given us all. I know that 100% of us are also guilty of not giving thanks enough nor in a complete way which should be giving God all the glory.

However, there is a much more significant spiritual lesson that we HAVE to grasp in order for us to properly understand how it is we can give thanksgiving and what it means to be in such a blessed position to do so. What I am about to speak about is rarely understood by most professing Christians. That is simply because the Lord hasn’t given it to them to understand yet.

There is only one thing the God accepts as a proper way to approach him with thanksgiving and that is through the peace offering, but more than that it is Jesus Christ as that offering!

Mat 13:52 Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.

There are 27 verses in the King James that have the term thanksgiving in them. There are hundreds that speak on the spiritual application of what this term means spiritually. The first verse we find is Lev 7:12, but I want to read several verses surrounding this verse in order to get a better spiritual grasp of what this verse tells us.

Lev 7:11 And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he shall offer unto the LORD.
Lev 7:12 If he offer it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil, of fine flour, fried.
Lev 7:13 Besides the cakes, he shall offer for his offering leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offerings.
Lev 7:14 And of it he shall offer one out of the whole oblation for an heave offering unto the LORD, and it shall be the priest’s that sprinkleth the blood of the peace offerings.
Lev 7:15 And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day that it is offered; he shall not leave any of it until the morning.

Mike has done a very good job in describing the Peace offering in his series on the offerings, so I will not go into the same details he went into during that series. However, I will hopefully be used of the Lord to add some light to the whole picture of what is being said. Christ is our peace offering and through, by and to him we are acceptable to God. However, we must still contend with this flesh that we have as a temporary tabernacle and that will be the case until the day we die and give it up.

I believe you will see this scenario played out in the following scriptures that I will read throughout the remainder of this talk. Let’s start with Psalms. After all, Christ was spoken about through the Law of Moses, the psalms and the prophets. But, it wasn’t just Christ, it was His body also – THE CHRIST who hopefully you and I are.

Psa 69:28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.
Psa 69:29 But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.
Psa 69:30 I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.
Psa 69:31 This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.
Psa 69:32 The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God.
Psa 69:33 For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners.

Remember, God says He would have OBEDIENCE and not sacrifice as verse Psa 69:31 alludes to. It is obedience that we are to give thanksgiving for. Verse 69:33 goes on to say that we are the prisoners of the Lord. Paul spoke many times on being in bonds of the Lord. We, as the Christ are indeed buried in baptism as His body. Let’s see if there are any other scriptures that point this out.

1Sa 15:22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

Psa 100:1 A Psalm of praise. Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

What are the lands? …The lands are us, our flesh.

Psa 100:2 Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
Psa 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.

The Lord has made us to be His body, and we have DONE NOTHING to do this or make ourselves this way. That is why we must be obedient in giving thanksgiving for this.

Psa 100:4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
Psa 100:5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

The privilege we have been given to be shown mercy in order to show mercy to EVERYONE else is above all other treasures that we can gain. We must be thankful for this and realize that this is the very plan that God has for us in our vapor of life that we are given. It isn’t anything more than “KNOWING God and Jesus Christ who He has sent” via his Word. With that knowing comes chastisement better known as grace, and with that grace comes the praising of God THROUGH US! Hallelujah!

Rom 11:30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.

Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

Here is how Isaiah admonished us through his writings:

Isa 51:1 Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.
Isa 51:2 Look unto Abraham your father father of Promise, and unto Sarah that bare you child of the freewoman: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.
Isa 51:3 For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
Isa 51:4 Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people.

We are the light of the world, but our light is FOR THE WORLD. In other words, we are saviours on Mt. Zion who will bring all others in. it is God’s judgment that we endure, and it is God’s judgment which we learn to be one with and judge all others with. It is the trial of our faith which is the witness that others will see and give thanksgiving to God for. We might not see that seed bring forth fruit now, but the Lord WILL give the increase in His time, according to His plan.

Asaph means: “Who Gathers Together”. Listen to this psalm. It is wonderful.

Psa 50:1 A Psalm of Asaph. The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.
Psa 50:2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.
Psa 50:3 Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.
Psa 50:4 He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.
Psa 50:5 Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.
Psa 50:6 And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah.
Psa 50:7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God.
Psa 50:8 I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me.
Psa 50:9 I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds.
Psa 50:10 For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.
Psa 50:11 I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.
Psa 50:12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.
Psa 50:13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?
Psa 50:14 Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:
Psa 50:15 And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

God will be glorified through the trials He places us through and it will be from within us that this happens, from within our hearts and minds!

2Co 4:13 We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;
2Co 4:14 Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.
2Co 4:15 For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
2Co 4:16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
2Co 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
2Co 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

The Lord is truly using His elect to bring about the mercy in others that will truly save them. We are given this wonderful honor if only we remain faithful. Earlier we saw that it is the faith of Christ and it is the trial of that faith which is so precious to God. We will be full of that faith in order to be used of God, or the trials that we are struggling with WILL not be overcome yet. In order to hope for something, we must overcome the trial for our hope to be realized.

2Co 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:2Co 9:9 As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever.
2Co 9:10 Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;
2Co 9:11 Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.
2Co 9:12 For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God;
2Co 9:13 Whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them, and unto all men;
2Co 9:14 And by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding grace chastisement of God in you.
2Co 9:15 Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.

How do we accomplish everything that is being mentioned here? Colossians happens to mention just that to us if we have eyes to see and ears to hear it.

Col 2:6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
Col 2:7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
Col 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

Col 4:2 Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;

Col 4:3 Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds:
Col 4:4 That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.
Col 4:5 Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.
Col 4:6 Let your speech be alway with grace chastisement, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

We must keep this at the fore- front of our mind in order to walk after the spirit and not after the flesh. Keeping the faith must be one of our most important prayers giving with thanksgiving. Doing that is what will be the witness to others in our everyday lives.

1Ti 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
1Ti 4:2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
1Ti 4:3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
1Ti 4:4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:
1Ti 4:5 For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
1Ti 4:6 If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.

It is only through the trials we go through that we can truly attain to the nourishment of the Words of Faith. It is only after we have gone through the trials and look back that we can all say we have been there and done that and STILL give God all the credit. It is the Lord who nourishes our faith, His faith given to us that will be tried and will be used to show us what we are about. That trial ultimately is our thanksgiving and the means by which others will glorify and give thanksgiving to God.

In closing, with all that was said here today, let me give you these words of encouragement from our wonderful and blessed Lord:

Rev 7:11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,
Rev 7:12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
Rev 7:13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
Rev 7:14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Rev 7:15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
Rev 7:16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
Rev 7:17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

In God’s time and plan, EVERYONE will drink of the fountain that never runs dry. Let us all pray we are being lead on the path now while in this tabernacle of flesh, so that it can be US who can look at our brothers and sisters and truly say: – We understand.