This morning, I invite you to turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter 8. Deuteronomy chapter 8, as we read together this chapter, considering this chapter in a specific way, focusing on verse 10 of Deuteronomy chapter 8. As Moses gives instruction to the children of Israel before entering the land of Canaan. Deuteronomy 8, beginning at verse 1, as we hear now the Word of God. Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the Lord promised on oath to your forefathers. Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these 40 years to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger, and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothes did not wear out, and your feet did not swell during these forty years. Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you. Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in His ways and revering Him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills, a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey, a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing, a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills. When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land He has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe His commands, His laws and His decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase, and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, My power and strength and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me. But remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth and so confirms His covenant which He swore to your forefathers as it is today. If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord. your God. Verse 10 again, When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land He has given you. Let's bow together asking God's blessing on His Word this morning. Father, as we think back to Your way with Your people Israel and all that You led them through, all that You provided them with, we stand amazed, O Lord, at Your great faithfulness. We praise Your name for Your faithfulness to us as well, even in this morning hour. We praise Your name for Your Word. We ask, Lord, that You would bless the Word that has been read, Your Word to be preached, that You would open our hearts and our lives that we might see clearly the truths that You have here for us, that we might listen intentively, that You would bless us, Father, Strengthen us in that precious gift of faith. And may we have a greater assurance of such a great salvation through Jesus Christ, our Lord. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray these things. Amen. Oh, beloved in Christ, I must confess that I think Thanksgiving Day is probably one of my favorite holidays. And it may be for you, too, for the same reason. And that's the food. I really do enjoy the food. And maybe your house, like our house this morning, was already smelling quite good when you left. You know the food is going to taste great. I saw a little report on the news the other day that the average person, it is said, is going to have a Thanksgiving meal consisting of 5,000 calories today. And then it went on to say that they were going to show and explain how the body deals with those calories. I didn't stick around for that part. 5,000 calories. We enjoy food. And indeed, we do know as believers that food is a symbol of God's provision. But even more so, simple food is a symbol of all of the bounty that we have been given by our great God. But now on a day like today, too, we need to ask ourselves beyond that great smell and the taste that we look forward to, what will happen when our stomachs are full? When they're miserable? And when even the smell of that food isn't so good any longer? What will happen? Will we complain that our pants are too tight? That we're tired? We're drowsy? We feel lazy? We just don't want to do anything? Or, beloved, will we hear the voice of the satisfied stomach? Boys and girls, you may think, now wait a minute, I didn't know that my stomach had a voice, but doesn't your stomach growl once in a while? It tells you when it's hungry, right? May it be that we would hear the voice of the satisfied stomach. You see, beloved, food indeed has a purpose, a purpose far more than just to fill our stomachs when they're hungry. I was impressed by a young couple a little over a year ago as I was helping to prepare them for marriage. And we talked about budgeting and going out to dinner and those kinds of things. And they were very clear that they didn't want to just go out and grab some food. That was their attitude. We don't want to just go grab some food. Because for them, food had a purpose. To just go out and grab some food would be no different than the animals. Instead, they saw food as a blessing. And they saw food as something that is much more than simply satisfying our temporary hunger and desires. And Moses is teaching Israel here that far from a satisfied and full stomach making one sleepy and lazy and mindless, he is teaching them that the voice of a satisfied stomach is to remind one of God's provision. And as well, it is to call one to God's praise. First of all, that satisfied stomach is to remind one of God's provision. Now, you may recall the setting of Deuteronomy. Moses' lengthy sermon here. He spoke these words shortly before he was to die. He spoke them, therefore, shortly before Joshua was going to become the new leader of Israel. He spoke them shortly before Israel was finally going to cross that Jordan River and take over the promised land of Canaan. And in this book, then, in this sermon, Moses rehearses the covenant relationship that existed between God and Israel, reminding Israel of the law of God, the law that had been given to them, and how that law was to function among the people of God. And as well, he was reminding Israel of her history. Her history ever since leaving the land of Egypt. And then a little more specifically, in the portion we read, chapter 8, I trust you noticed that Moses reminds them of how God had brought them from rags. and how they were now about to enjoy riches. And along with that talking of rags to riches, he is warning them not to forget God, but instead to remember Him as the great provider. The One who had provided for them so greatly in a land of nothing, in that dry, unfruitful desert land as they wandered through that desert for 40 years. And therefore, the first portion of this passage, I trust you see, was a hard reminder, no doubt for Israel, a hard reminder of her rebellion. And it was a hard reminder of her lack of trust in God. As well, it was a hard reminder of the fact that instead of trusting God, they put their fear in the word of men. Remember the spies. The twelve spies come back and two of them, Joshua and Caleb, said, Let's go. Let's go. We can do it. God is on our side. But the ten said, forget it. Don't expect us to lead you. We're not going. And therefore, with what Moses says here, it's also a harsh reminder of the extra 40 years that Israel spent wandering in that desert wasteland because they were a stiff-necked and a stubborn people. Now, we know that they had seen the power of God, especially in the land of Egypt. They saw God's power as He performed all those miraculous plagues against Egypt. They saw that. They witnessed that. And we also know that at times they were indeed temporarily grateful for the things that they could see and enjoy at any given moment. But when the situation looked threatening, for example, when the Red Sea was on one side and Pharaoh's army was on the other side, and when it seemed like there was no food to be had, how did they respond? They freaked out. They grumbled. They complained. And we too must confess that often when things do not go exactly to our liking, exactly the way that we think they ought to go, that sometimes we begin to question God. Sometimes we turn on Him and we want to accuse Him of not being fair to us. God, you're not living up to your promises to me. You're not giving me what I want. That was Israel. So as the passage said, God humbled them. He tested them in the wilderness. And of course, as we know, knowing our Old Testament history, we know that they gave proof over and over and over again and then again that they were undeserving. Indeed, they repented temporarily until the next time they were dissatisfied. Yet in spite of the fact, beloved, that they were a stiff-necked and a stubborn people, in spite of the fact that they were so undeserving, yet they were provided for by God. God provided for them steadily and faithfully just like clockwork. In fact, every single morning there was the manna. God gave them manna. God gave them quail. God gave them clothing that did not wear out. We have to deal with that this morning, don't we? God gave them protection from those who wanted to destroy them those 40 years in the wilderness. And now Moses here, as he reminds them of their time in the wilderness, he is also reminding them that these provisions that they enjoyed were nothing without the Word of God. Man does not live, as Jesus quoted, by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. In fact, physical bread, beloved, does one no good apart from a saving relationship with God through Jesus Christ. It does no good. It would do no good for the Israelites apart from the commandments of God. It does no good, period. Because apart from the Word of God, we have no breath of life. You see, God gives what's best because He knows what's best. And therefore, He had given His people His commandments. That's what was best for them. He had given them His commandments in order that His people might walk in safety and in obedience before Him. And therefore, Moses is teaching them that the voice of the satisfied stomach was to point them back to the time of their complete dependence on God in that land of nothing. But then at the very same time, they must know, Moses teaching them, their satisfied stomach must teach them that it is this God who would be the very same provider in the land of plenty. that they were about to enter. Again, as we know Israel's history with their short-term memory and their temporary repentance, it's amazing to us, isn't it, that God ever bothered to give them that land flowing with milk and honey. And the same is true for us, knowing how undeserving we are and how stiff-necked and stubborn we are. It's amazing that God should ever provide us with a Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. And for Israel and for us, we know that it's only because God, as Moses says, is faithful to His covenant promises. But as Moses speaks these things here, he talks about this land of plenty, and he refers to it really as a kind of a paradise. It was going to be a paradise compared to that dry and unfruitful desert wasteland. Moses describes it this way in verses 7 and 9, For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills, a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey, a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing, a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills. For those of you who attended Josh Vene's presentation on his archaeological dig, he showed us pictures of the residue of that very thing, the copper that was mined so many years ago. But Moses is telling them, even before they get there, that they are entering a land in which they will not be in want for anything. It will be plentiful. They will not have to worry about where their next meal is going to come from. In fact, they're hardly going to have to work for it. And he's teaching them that it's all provided by God. God promised the land. God said that it would be fruitful and they would be fruitful in it. And God proved 40 years before. that they would only enter that land if he opened the door. And even here at the doorway, Moses promised them that they would indeed eat and be satisfied. He says it in such a way as if it had already happened, when you eat and are satisfied. Not if, but when you eat and are satisfied. But along with this, he is in essence telling them, there's going to be another test. Remember, God had tested them in the wilderness without food. And now they would be tested in the land of plenty with food. And how would they respond? How would they respond? Moses is teaching them that they are to recognize that there is only one provider and that is their covenant God. And they are to recognize their complete dependence upon Him and that He is completely dependable. And there is to be a response as the voice of the satisfied stomach is in the second place to call one to praise God. To call one to praise God alone. Their satisfied stomach was meant to turn their mind to God instead of forgetting Him as was Israel's practice. We know that Israel's practice was to blame God in want, but to forget God in plenty. And Moses places before them in this chapter the danger of a full stomach. They would become lazy and forgetful. They would not be able to think straight. They would forget the power of God. In verses 14 and 15, Then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of the hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the desert. But the danger of a full stomach was to forget the power of God and as well, as he says, to forget the provision of God and to take credit for their provisions to themselves. Again, beginning of verse 12, Otherwise, when, and notice, he says when, not if, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied. And the danger, as he says in verse 17, you may say to yourself, my power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me. He points out to them clearly. He tells them ahead of time the danger of a full stomach is to forget the power of God and to forget the provision of God, which would happen, of course, if they forsake the commandments of God. Do not forget your relationship with your covenant God. The danger is that they would become so self-reliant that they would take so much power and authority and credit to themselves. And when that happens, beloved, we begin to think that we know what's best for us. That we know how to live better than God knows for us how to live. And therefore, we begin to treat His commandments as more like suggestions. And Moses points out the danger of all this in verses 19 and 20. If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God. Instead, there is to be the true delight of a fed stomach. A satisfied stomach. And that is to remember God. As Moses says in verse 18, he says, But remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms His covenant which He swore to your forefathers as it is today. The true delight of a fed stomach is to remember God. And it is to call one to God's praise for the blessings that flow from Him. Again, when you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. The satisfied stomach was to call them to praise God for the blessing of his goodness. Israel was to recognize that they had been fed by none other than God himself, their creator, the one who knew their forefathers, the one who had delivered them from Egypt and through the desert. and they were to recognize in His giving hand, they were to recognize a demonstration of His goodness and they were to respond with praise. The satisfied stomach that God promised them was to bring Israel to be not proud in prosperity, but thankful in prosperity as the catechism says. Another translation here is that he says to bless the Lord your God. I think sometimes it seems strange when we are called in Scripture to bless God because often I believe we think of blessing as something God does. God blesses us. And we know what a blessing is. Very simply, a blessing is a bountiful gift. And God pours out His bountiful gifts, His blessings upon us in so many ways, including physical nourishment. But the Bible calls us, in response as well, to bless the Lord our God. And we bless the Lord our God by giving Him the gift of praise, thanksgiving for who He is and what He has done, giving that gift of praise back to Him in response to His bountiful gifts poured out upon us. And it's hard to see, but in the very text, it tells us how we are to do that. The idea here is that our praise, our blessing, our thanksgiving is to be with all of our being, every fiber of our being, our heart, our mind, our voices. And that means that our thanksgiving to God, beloved, is not just to be some sort of a passing afterthought. Oh, by the way, thank you, I almost forgot. It's not to be some afterthought. But our thanksgiving is to be constant. We are to live our thanksgiving. We are to show our thanksgiving to God throughout all of our lives. And we know that our reasons for praise are endless. We could sit here for hours and talk about the reasons that we have to praise our God. Indeed, we are to praise Him for our existence, for the very breath of life that He gives to us because our existence depends at every moment on the active will of God. Man does not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. But as well, our very act of praise is to cause us to focus on God. Even as we praise God for who He is, the praise that we offer is to draw our minds and our hearts to His benefits as David teaches us in Psalm 103. He says, Praise the Lord, O my soul, all my inmost being. Praise His holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. Our praise is to cause us to remember the benefits of God who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. But that means, beloved, that as David teaches us here, our reasons for praise are for much more than just our physical needs, aren't they? Much more than just food and clothing and a husband or a wife or our children or our friends or our work. But the greatest reason we have to praise our God is for the very Word of God. The very Word of God of His redeeming love for us through Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus who did not forsake God's commandments but kept them perfectly for you and me. You see, beloved, Israel's satisfied stomachs had a purpose for far more than simply to think about the food itself. But Israel's satisfied stomachs were to cause them to recognize that their covenant God, the One who had led them every step of the way, that He Himself was the God of their salvation, that He was their only hope for this life and the next. Their satisfied stomachs were to point them to their need that apart from the commands of God and apart from His providing hand, they could only starve physically and spiritually. They could only be destroyed. But what about our satisfied stomachs then? In just a few short hours, I trust most of us are going to be very, very satisfied. What about our satisfied stomachs? Because it's true, isn't it, that that which is physical is very real to us? We feel it, right? Boys and girls, you're starving, right? You feel the pain of hunger, at least that's how it is in our house. You feel it. And you feel it when you're full. You feel the pressure of having had too much. You see, that which is physical is very, very real to us. But in addition to that, beloved, our satisfied stomachs are to lift our eyes to the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. Our satisfied stomachs are not to cause us to become complacent and to think that we have provided all these things ourselves. If that's the case, if that's what happens, then even the animals are wiser than we are. As Psalm 145 says in Psalm 104, they all look to God to give them their food at the proper time and they are satisfied with good things. They recognize who their provider is. Our filled stomachs, we know, beloved, represent all of God's good gifts to us in this life. Our food, our clothing, our shelter, the needs of this life, and even the means that God has given to us of securing those needs. And our satisfied stomachs then are to remind us of God's provision. It only comes from Him. And they are to point us to Him that apart from Him we are helpless and we have nothing. But that's not all. Our satisfied stomachs are to also remind us of more than this physical life. Much more. Especially to remind us of our spiritual life that we have in Christ Jesus. The provision that God has given to us through Jesus Christ for our starving souls. You see, beloved, the food that we enjoy for our body is not an end in itself. It's not to be an end in itself. But its greater purpose is to point to that greater provision from our covenant God who is satisfied with us only because of the saving work of Jesus Christ. Now again, this talk of the voice of a satisfied stomach may still seem somewhat strange to us. But the truth is, apart from a new life of faith in Jesus Christ, Apart from that, although a satisfied stomach may be of a temporary physical benefit to someone, it is an eternal danger to those who fail to see it as a blessing from the God from whom all blessings flow. It is an eternal danger for those who do not have saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But for those who know Him as their Lord and Savior, those who have turned to Him in faith, For all those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the grace of God are filled with that bread of heaven. You see, God has blessed us with a simple, constant reminder of His provision and of a call to praise Him. You see, we all eat two, maybe three meals a day. And that means the voice of the satisfied stomach speaks all day long of God's provision and care of us and His salvation of us in Jesus Christ. And that satisfied stomach speaks of the nourishment that God has prepared for us for our faith and of that eternal banquet that awaits all those who are in Christ Jesus. Well, on a day like today, sadly, probably, we easily fill our bodies to overflowing. 5,000 calories. Isn't that about two and a half to three days' worth? We easily fill our bodies to overflowing. But even more so, beloved me, we always desire that God would feed us with His Word until the day He brings us into glory. Until that day when we will no longer be in want, but we'll be eternally satisfied. You see, we all know that Thanksgiving Day is not to be about gluttony. Eating so much as if you never get enough the rest of the year. But this day is to be about remembering His providing hand for our body and for our soul. And it is to be about enjoying those wonderful smells and tastes of today in such a way that we might bless Him with the praise and thanksgiving of our hearts and our mouths for all that He has given to us. Let's bow together in prayer. oh lord god our heavenly father indeed it is with gratitude in our hearts that we bow before you in this morning hour we have come oh lord together on this morning not even a sunday morning but a day in the week and by the calling of your Holy Spirit we have filled this place because we recognize as you have revealed it to us we recognize that you are our great provider. You are the one who has given to us all that we stand in need of for body and soul. And we thank you for this day a day in which as many celebrate the success and the prosperity that they believe that they have achieved on their own. We humbly come before You, O Lord, and we thank You for the blessings that You have poured out upon us. Indeed, Father, we confess our complete dependence upon You and that we cannot even take one breath apart from Your sustaining Word. And therefore, we thank You for this life, for the gift of life that You give to us that we enjoy here and more for the next life, the life to come in the glory of heaven. We thank You for our physical needs, all that You give to us, and for providing for our spiritual needs as well. Father, we thank You for our families, for our friends, for our health, for the strength You've given to us, for our intellect, for food, clothing, homes, employment, schools, and so much more. Father, we thank You for the simple pleasures of this life. A warm meal, a smile, a hug, a relief that You give from a headache. We praise Your name, Father, for the healing that You give to us from everyday infirmities. And even more, Father, we praise Your name for the contentment and the peace that You give to Your people in the midst of life-threatening illnesses. And Father, we thank You for the testimony of those of our number who struggle even at this time. We pray that You will continue to be with Ray Boltheis, and Dirk and Adriana Dunning and Linda Marcus and Sue DeBoer and so many more of our congregation and those whom we know and love in other places who struggle at this time. May You continue to give to them the peace and contentment that only You can give and may they continue to be able to give to You thanksgiving and praise for being the God of their salvation. Father, we thank You too for this country in which we live and we thank You for those who serve in the military to protect us and especially to protect our freedoms. We thank You for the freedom of religion that we still enjoy today. We recognize that in many ways that has gotten out of hand, O Lord. And that in many ways our Christianity is threatened day by day. But still today we are free and ultimately, Father, we know that in Christ Jesus we are free forever and ever. Lord, we thank You and praise You for all of the gifts from Your hand that we enjoy in this life. But even more so, Lord, we thank You for the forgiveness of all of our sins. We thank You for Your righteousness and justice that You did not just say, forget it, and I don't want any part of them, but that You saw fit to satisfy Your justice through Your only begotten Son that we might have life and have it abundantly. Father, we recognize that this gift is so undeserved. And we pray that even now You would forgive us for the sins that we have committed in this morning hour and help us to walk in a way that is pleasing to You. We thank You for that precious gift of a Savior and eternal life. And for the confidence that You give to us that this world is not our home, but that we have a citizenship in heaven. And there is a glory waiting for us one day. And Father, indeed, we thank You too for the reminders that You give to us in this life of Your eternal love. A reminder through something so simple as a satisfied stomach. A reminder through witnessing our children come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ by the power of Your Spirit. A reminder of Your love through witnessing sinners come to repentance and faith. A reminder of Your love as we see around us evil overturned for good. Father, we thank You for Your Word. And we pray that Your Word may continue to go out to the ends of the earth. We thank You for those to whom You've given a desire to preach the Word. To be busy in places of the world that we are not even familiar with. To go call on those who have never heard to preach to them the good news of Jesus Christ and His saving love. We thank You for those who prepare the Gospel to be heard and to be read in the languages of the people. we thank you for the work of missions we thank you for the work of those whom we know and we love and support for the work of Elaine Tan we pray that you would bless her as she enjoys Thanksgiving Day not with her family here but as she can give thanks rejoice and give thanks and sing a long ways away in Malawi bless her bless the work that you are doing through her provide for many with the physical needs of this life and that they too might see the love of the Lord Jesus Christ and hear the gospel of salvation. We thank you too for the work of Bill Green and Neil Hegeman and others whom we know. We pray for Noli Malabuio. There are so many, Father, to whom you have called whom you have called to witness for you. Father, we thank you too for those who prepare your word to be heard, the talking Bibles, even in our own backyard. We pray to you that that might be a tool used effectively, that many may hear the gospel of Jesus Christ in their own language and be brought to saving faith in Him. For all these things we praise Your name. And Father, we thank You for Your patience with us, for we must confess it just like Israel over and over again, Lord. It seems like we often offer only temporary repentance. that we are satisfied only when we can see your hand of goodness right before our eyes but as soon as we don't recognize it again father we become agitated and irritated we want to grumble and complain father we praise you for your patience and your love for us in christ jesus we thank you lord for hearing us and answering our prayers according to our needs we pray that in this day we might offer our thanksgiving and praise to You. That we might do this every day of our lives for Jesus' sake. Hear us now we pray in His name alone. Amen.