www.WhatTheBibleTeaches.com
|
www.WhatTheBibleTeaches.com |
|
Chapter 440 [Home] [Accept Jesus] [More] [Previous] [Next] 440.000.000 Torrey: p456 THANKSGIVINGThe importance of this subject will be manifest to anyone who will not the space occupied in the Bible by thanksgiving and praise. 440.010.000
Torrey: p456, T:I 440.010.010
Torrey: p456, T:I, P:1 Psalms 92:1-2, 4 [1] It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High, [2] to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, [4] For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD; I sing for joy at the works of your hands. The Lord's dealings with us make thanksgiving and praise on our part the only fitting thing. In the 107th Psalm the Psalmist burst out four times into the cry: Psalms 107:8, 15, 21, 31 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men. As we reflect today upon the wondrous goodness of God to men on the one hand, and, on the other hand, upon the little thought and strength and time not only men, but even the average Christian, gives to thanksgiving, we may well utter the same cry. 440.010.020
Torrey: p456, T:I, P:2 Psalms 100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. Ephesians 5:4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. Colossians 3:15, 17 [15] Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. [17] And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. The failure to return thanks to God "who daily loads us with benefits" is just as distinct and definite disobedience to God's commands as to steal or to murder. 440.010.030
Torrey: p457, T:I, P:3 Psalms 69:30-31 [30] I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. [31] This will please the LORD more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hoofs. We cannot all bring expensive offerings to God, but we can all bring the more pleasing offering of true and hearty thanksgiving. 440.010.040
Torrey: p457, T:I, P:4 Luke 24:52-53 [52] Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. [53] And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God. Acts 2:46-47 [46] Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, [47] praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Thanksgiving and praise were among the most noticeable and notable characteristics of their lives. The same thing is true of the holy men and women of the Old Testament. I can not think of a good person, mentioned prominently in the Bible, of whom it is not definitely recorded that he thanked God for some act of his goodness. The Bible is very largely taken up with praise and thanksgiving. 440.010.050
Torrey: p457, T:I, P:5 John 11:41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me." Matthew 11:25 At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. These are only specimen passages, but again and again do we get glimpses into the life of Christ that show us that it was a life of abounding thankfulness to God. Christ's manner of returning thanks at the simplest meal was so noticeable that two of His disciples recognized Him by this after His resurrection. Luke 24:30-31, 35 [30] When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. [31] Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. [35] Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. 440.010.060
Torrey: p458, T:I, P:6 Colossians 1:9, 11-12 [9] For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. [11] ... and joyfully [12] giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 440.010.070
Torrey: p458, T:I, P:7 Ephesians 5:18-20 [18] Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. [19] Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, [20] always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 440.010.080
Torrey: p458, T:I, P:8 2 Corinthians 9:12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 2 Corinthians 4:15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. 440.010.090
Torrey: p458, T:I, P:9 John 11:41-42 [41] So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. [42] I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me." 440.010.100
Torrey: p459, T:I, P:10 Luke 17:15-18 [15] One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. [16] He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him -- and he was a Samaritan. [17] Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? [18] Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" 440.010.110
Torrey: p459, T:I, P:11 Romans 1:18, 21 [18] The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, [21] For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 440.010.120
Torrey: p459, T:I, P:12 Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 440.020.000
Torrey: p459, T:II 440.020.010
Torrey: p459, T:II, P:1 Psalms 75:1 We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks, for your Name is near; men tell of your wonderful deeds. 1 Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 440.020.020
Torrey: p459, T:II, P:2 Colossians 1:12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. Ephesians 5:20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 440.020.030
Torrey: p460, T:II, P:3 Ephesians 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 440.020.040
Torrey: p460, T:II, P:4 1 Timothy 1:12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. In the overwhelming majority of instances, however, in the New Testament, to say nothing of the Old, the offering of thanks is to God the Father. It is through Jesus Christ. The reason for this seems to be that God the Father is the original source of all our blessings. Even Jesus is His gift. John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. While all the Father's love is manifested to us in Christ, still it is the Father's love. We need to recognize the Father back of Christ as the source of all. The conception of God as only brought to love us because of what Christ did, is utterly foreign to the thought and life of the New Testament. It is true that God, being holy, can deal with sinners in mercy only on the ground of the propitiatory work of CHrist, but it is God Himself who furnishes the propitiation: 1 John 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. The Son came, as He so often said, to do the Father's will. 440.030.000
Torrey: p460, T:II 440.030.010
Torrey: p460, T:II, P:1 Psalms 107:1-2 [1] Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. [2] Let the redeemed of the LORD say this -- those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, 440.030.020
Torrey: p460, T:II, P:2 1 Timothy 4:3 They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. The body of believers "a spiritual house, an holy priesthood" exists for this purpose, "to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 2:5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Compare Hebrews 13:15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise -- the fruit of lips that confess his name. 440.030.030
Torrey: p461, T:II, P:3 Proverbs 15:8 The LORD detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him. Compare Hebrews 13:15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise -- the fruit of lips that confess his name. 440.040.000
Torrey: p461, T:IV 440.040.010
Torrey: p461, T:IV, P:1 Luke 2:27-29 [27] Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, [28] Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: [29] "Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. Luke 2:36-38 [36] There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, [37] and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. [38] Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. As all our blessings center in Him and come through Him, our thanks to God will be for Him. 440.040.020
Torrey: p461, T:IV, P:2 Psalms 103:2-3 [2] Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits -- [3] who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, 440.040.030
Torrey: p461, T:IV, P:3 Romans 7:24-25 [24] What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? [25] Thanks be to God -- through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. 440.040.040
Torrey: p461, T:IV, P:4 Psalms 103:3 [2] Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits -- [3] who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, Compare Luke 17:15-18 [15] One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. [16] He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him -- and he was a Samaritan. [17] Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? [18] Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" 440.040.050
Torrey: p462, T:IV, P:5 1 Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 440.040.060
Torrey: p462, T:IV, P:6 1 Peter 1:3 [3] Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, [4] and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade -- kept in heaven for you, [5] who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 440.040.070
Torrey: p462, T:IV, P:7 Colossians 1:12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 440.040.080
Torrey: p462, T:IV, P:8 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 [3] Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, [4] who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 440.040.090
Torrey: p462, T:IV, P:9 John 11:41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. Every answered prayer should be met by definite thanksgiving to God. We never forget to thank anyone but God for granted requests. 440.040.100
Torrey: p462, T:IV, P:10 Daniel 2:23 I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king. 440.040.110
Torrey: p463, T:IV, P:11 1 Timothy 1:12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. 440.040.120
Torrey: p463, T:IV, P:12 1 Timothy 4:3 They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. It is remarkable how frequent are the references in the New Testament to thanksgiving for food. Over and over again attention is called, in the brief record of the life of Christ, to His returning thanks for food -- even when it consisted of five cheap barley loaves and two small fishes for a great company. John 6:23 Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 440.040.130
Torrey: p463, T:IV, P:13 1 Corinthians 14:18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 440.040.140
Torrey: p463, T:IV, P:14 Acts 28:15 The brothers there had heard that we were coming, and they traveled as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us. At the sight of these men Paul thanked God and was encouraged. 440.040.150
Torrey: p463, T:IV, P:15 Romans 6:17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. 440.040.160
Torrey: p463, T:IV, P:16 2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the begin- ning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 440.040.170
Torrey: p463, T:IV, P:17 1 Corinthians 1:4 I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 440.040.180
Torrey: p464, T:IV, P:18 Romans 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. Ephesians 1:15-16 [15] For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, [16] I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. Colossians 1:3-4 [3] We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, [4] because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints -- 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 [2] We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. [3] We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thessalonians 1:3 We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing. Philemon 1:4-5 [4] I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, [5] because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints. This seems to have been one of the most frequent occasions of thanksgiving with Paul. Whenever he heard of the faith and love of an individual or church, his heart seems to have gone out at once in thanksgiving to God. 440.040.190
Torrey: p464, T:IV, P:19 1 Thessalonians 3:8-9 [8] For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. [9] How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? 440.040.200
Torrey: p464, T:IV, P:20 1 Thessalonians 2:13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe. 440.040.210
Torrey: p465, T:IV, P:21 1 Timothy 2:1 [1] I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone -- 440.040.220
Torrey: p465, T:IV, P:22 Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 5:20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. How can we render thanks in everything and for all things? Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. There is no greater, nor more simple secret of a life of uninterrupted and ever-increasing joyfulness, than rendering thanks of all things. Our disappointments become "His appointments," our sorrows become joys, and our tears become rainbows. 440.050.000
Torrey: p465, T:V 440.050.010
Torrey: p465, T:V, P:1 Psalms 92:1-2 [1] It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High, [2] to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, Each day should be begun and closed with thanksgiving to God. The thought of God's goodness to us should rule our lives. With this thought we should arise every morning to work and lie down every night to sleep. 440.050.020
Torrey: p465, T:V, P:2 Psalms 119:62 At midnight I rise to give you thanks for your righteous laws. The judgments here spoken of are the judgments of God's word. Compare: Psalms 119:7 I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws. Psalms 119:13 With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. Psalms 119:30 I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws. Psalms 119:39 Take away the disgrace I dread, for your laws are good. Psalms 119:43 Do not snatch the word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws. Psalms 119:53 Indignation grips me because of the wicked, who have forsaken your law. Psalms 119:75 I know, O LORD, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me. Psalms 119:102 I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me. Psalms 119:106 I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws. Psalms 119:108 Accept, O LORD, the willing praise of my mouth, and teach me your laws. Psalms 119:120 My flesh trembles in fear of you; I stand in awe of your laws. Psalms 119:137 Righteous are you, O LORD, and your laws are right. Psalms 119:149 Hear my voice in accordance with your love; preserve my life, O LORD, according to your laws. Psalms 119:156 Your compassion is great, O LORD; preserve my life according to your laws. Psalms 119:160 All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal. Psalms 119:164 Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws. Psalms 119:175 Let me live that I may praise you, and may your laws sustain me. We should be so taken up with the excellence of God's Word that we awake in the night to thank Him for it. 440.050.030
Torrey: p466, T:V, P:3 1 Timothy 4:4-5 [4] For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, [5] because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer. Romans 14:6 He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. Acts 27:35 After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. 440.050.040
Torrey: p466, T:V, P:4 Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Thanksgiving for prayers answered and blessings granted in the past, can alone prepare for new answers and new blessings. Furthermore, definite thanks for blessings already received will strengthen our faith to appropriate larger blessings. 440.050.050
Torrey: p466, T:V, P:5 Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. As all the doing of a Christian is in Christ's name and in Christ's strength, it should all be done with thanksgiving to Him who gives us the name and strength in which to do it. This applies to all our activities, and not to those alone which we ordinarily call Christian work. All work of one abiding in Christ is Christian work, the work of the man digging a ditch or of the woman at the washtub, and it should all be done in Christ's name and with thanksgiving to God. There is no drudgery in a life thus lived. The whole of life becomes a song, a psalm of praise. 440.050.060
Torrey: p466, T:V, P:6 1 Thessalonians 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 440.050.070
Torrey: p467, T:V, P:7 Ephesians 5:20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. As we are to pray without ceasing, so are we to return thanks always. There cannot, of course, always be the word of thanks on our lips, but there can always be the heart going up toward God in gratitude and praise. Thanksgiving and prayer should be the atmosphere in which we live, the air we breathe, and just as a man keeps right on breathing while doing a thousand other things without ever stopping to think how he does it, so we can keep on praising and thanking, and praying while doing a thousand other things without ever stopping to think how we do it. For example, a man can be preaching in the power of the Holy Spirit, and throwing all the energy of his soul and body into his preaching, and all the time be thanking God for the power in which he is preaching. This does not hinder but increases the inflow of the power. There must, of course, be times in which we give ourselves up exclusively to prayer and thanksgiving, by which this perpetual atmosphere of prayer and thanksgiving are maintained. There should be spontaneous exclamations of thanks as well as spontaneous exclamations of prayer. But we should bless God at all times: His praise should be continually in our mouths. Psalms 32:1 Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 440.050.080
Torrey: p467, T:V, P:8 Psalms 89:1 I will sing of the LORD's great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. Thanksgiving and praise will be a large part of the occupation of Heaven. Revelation 5:8-14 [8] And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. [9] And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. [10] You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth." [11] Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. [12] In a loud voice they sang: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!" [13] Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!" [14] The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped. Revelation 7:15 11-17 [11] All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, [12] saying: "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!" [13] Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes -- who are they, and where did they come from?" [14] I answered, "Sir, you know." And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. [15] Therefore, "they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. [16] Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. [17] For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." Heavenly life will be a perpetual jubilee. We can have an unceasing year of jubilee down here in which to prepare for the year of jubilee that never ends. 440.060.000
Torrey: p468, T:VI 440.060.010
Torrey: p468, T:VI, P:1 Ephesians 5:20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Christ is man's only way of approach to God. John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." As there was no way of approach to God in the Old Testament except on the ground of the shed blood, so there is no way of approach to the real holy of holies except by the way of the rent vail of Christ's flesh and his outpoured blood. Hebrews 10:19-20 [19] Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, [20] by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, [21] and since we have a great priest over the house of God, [22] let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Christ has access to God, and we only in His name and through Him. God receives no offering of thanks from men except that offered in Christ's name. The man who has been the vilest sinner can offer up thanks to God in Jesus' name that are the sweetest incense to Him the man whose life has been most exemplary can offer not acceptable thanks except in the same name and way. This shows the utter impossibility of a union thanksgiving service between an intelligent believer in Christ and a Jew or a Unitarian. There is no common way of approach to God. 440.060.020
Torrey: p469, T:VI, P:2 Ephesians 5:18-20 [18] Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. [19] Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, [20] always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit alone can lead to acceptable thanks. It is the thanks that God the Spirit inspires, that are offered through God the Son; that God the Father accepts. No strange fire must be brought before God. We should cast ourselves upon the Holy Spirit to teach us to return thanks aright. 440.060.030
Torrey: p469, T:VI, P:3 1 Kings 8:15, 20, 22- 24 [15] Then he said: "Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who with his own hand has fulfilled what he promised with his own mouth to my father David. ... [20] "The LORD has kept the promise he made: I have succeeded David my father and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the LORD promised, and I have built the temple for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel. [22] Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven [23] and said: "O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below -- you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. [24] You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it -- as it is today. John 11:41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me." Definite acknowledgment of definite blessings received. (The above are only illustrative instances. Such instances abound in the Bible.) 440.060.040
Torrey: p470, T:VI, P:4 Colossians 2:6-7 [6] So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, [7] rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. 440.060.050
Torrey: p470, T:VI, P:5 1 Thessalonians 2:13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.
[Top] [Home] [Accept Jesus] [More] [Previous] [Next]
(c) 1999-2003 by Rick Reinckens |
