I'm going to ask you to turn in your Bibles to page 1,000. To page 1,000. The book of Habakkuk. We'll be considering a few different verses, but this will sort of be the focus of this morning's message. Just here, three verses at the very end of the book. Verses 17-19. Which is a wonderful passage to consider the perspective that we should have in thanksgiving. Verses 17-19, let's hear the Word of the Lord. Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit beyond the vines, the produce of the olive fail, and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength. He makes my feet like the deer's. He makes me tread on my high places. To the choir master with strength and instruments. May the Lord bless the hearing of His Word. As we come together today on Thanksgiving, there are so many reasons for us to be thankful and to reflect upon and give thanksgiving for all the things that the Lord has done for us, it would be impossible this morning to give thanks for all of it, wouldn't it? To say everything that the Lord has done, He has so lavished upon us so many benefits, so much loving kindness. Where do we begin? It's overwhelming how good He has been to His people. In fact, growing up in church, the pastor at this time would usually take the microphone and he would hand it around to people and he would ask people to tell what they were thankful of and we would get everything under the sun. Well, I'm thankful today for numerous things, they would say, a church family, blessings of home, children, a country where we can live in freedom, that we're bringing in many crops, that we're full with all this blessing, that we have Christian schools, that we have church. I mean, right down the line we would get this every year. I always thought to myself as I was sitting there, what if all of it was ripped away? Would I still be thankful? Would I come and gather together and thank the Lord? I say this. I read an article not too long ago in Newsweek. And the title was Dinner for Eight. The article goes like this. A year ago, eight friends began to meet weekly for dinner. We were introduced at church. Some of us sang together in the choir. Others worked on committees. A few went on a mission trip. But what really brought us together was chemistry, the ease with which we were able to laugh together. Why should you care? One year later, six of us are unemployed. Our group, struck by a divorce, is actually now down to seven. Another marriage is teetering. Severe depression is a daily companion for one weary soul and a dreaded visitor for three or four others. When we call and ask, how are you doing, we really are checking in for a status update, orange alert or red. One family is now on food stamps, largely due to a son's special needs. Another is living on a disability check. One couple is in danger of losing its home to foreclosure while a second family is living off its home. Mortgage to the teeth to pay for college and now groceries. A young man who has struggled up from the misery of an impoverished childhood is frustrated to find that his sparkling new medical certification acquired with the help of $35,000 in student loans is practically worthless in the job market. A brilliant mid-career engineer living for the last decade in his gated community is startled to find he can't provide for his family. Not one of us is eligible for unemployment benefits. We're not counted in the monthly statistics cited on television. What will save us? I don't know. I don't know. Interesting article. It's more reflective of the time that we're living and the time that we're entering into, isn't it? Many of the young people here heading out into the world are seeing this and experiencing things way different than their parents experienced it. And so I raise that this morning and I say, well, then what is the drive to be here for Thanksgiving in light of our changing times and changing seasons? As I was deciding what to consider with you this morning, I was drawn to this passage at the end of Habakkuk. And the scene here is really a fascinating one in light of what was going on in the history of Israel. it essentially recognizes one true reason for thanksgiving is what it does. And it says it right at the end of the book after this long struggle that goes on. And as we read there, though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit beyond the vines, though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food, though the flock be cut off from the fold, and there's nothing, no herds in the stalls. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. It's an amazing verse. Though everything physically is ripped away, though no truths have fruit, everything is gone. You can't imagine saying this in an agricultural community like Israel. I mean, I guess many of you have been in agriculture and you understand this, but for Israel, this would have been a devastating phenomenon. This was their life. This is how they made it. And to say that, everyone would have said, well, how in the world are we going to survive? And at the end of this book, we have the prophet here saying, you know what? I'm still going to be thankful. Still going to be. The situation in Habakkuk's day is interesting to think about. The prophet was sent to the people of Judah just before this new world power, Babylon, was going to come and carry the nation right away. I mean, this was an awful time in its history. And life was going to be destroyed as they knew it. All of its plenty, all of its fullness, all of its fatness was going to be ripped away in a day. And the prophet is really wrestling through this. He's wrestling through the implications of this. He's struggling with the Lord in this. He's crying out for a few different reasons. First, because many of the people in Israel had departed from the Lord. They weren't listening to His Word anymore. They were looking just like the world. They were mixed in with all the pagan practices of the world. And it was a tragedy that had happened in Judah. But what really burdened Habakkuk was that it appeared that the Lord was doing nothing about it. He was struggling with this. He says this at the beginning of the book. As we've been looking in the songs, here's the cry. O Lord, how long shall I cry and You will not hear? You're not listening. Even cry out to You violence. This is what we're seeing. There's violence everywhere, O Lord. The wicked surround the righteous, therefore perverse judgment proceeds and you will not save. It's a deep wrestling, isn't it? He's wrestling with the Lord because the Lord seems so inactive. He's wrestling with the Lord because all of these horrible things are happening. And it's a strange combination of things. A time of international crisis has come upon them. And at the same moment, there is increasing moral and spiritual decay among the Lord's people. Any of this sound familiar? It's our day. And he's crying out, Lord, where are you? When your people need you the most, we don't seem to be finding you. And God responds in this little dialogue with Habakkuk and He says, I am the one doing this. I'm bringing upon Judah the Babylonians. Look, Habakkuk, the Lord is in His holy temple. You don't have to worry about that. He is in His holy temple. Let the earth keep silent before Him. He's in control. I'm the one doing this and I know what I'm doing. His point was to say, it is precisely in the judging of my people and carrying them off to Babylon that I'm going to save. I'm going to deliver them. I'm going to purge them. All of their riches and their food and their luxury was being plundered and taken away. And it was hard for them. This was hard for them. And so it's a fascinating dialogue because it continues. We see this transformation begin to take place on the part of Habakkuk. And he begins to understand. He begins to see what the Lord is doing and the goodness of the Lord through it all. And he begins to understand that it was precisely through the Lord's chastisement, through the Lord's care and His nurture in bringing His people through this, that He would draw out from the people a genuine and sincere love and thankful heart. It's a beautiful ending to the book, isn't it? A beautiful ending of perspective. True thanksgiving. So Habakkuk concludes by saying if all of it's taken, if all the food is gone, there's no fruit on the vine, I don't have any more avocados on the trees, if all of it is ripped away, I will still rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord. He saved me. I belong to Him. He loves me. And so notice in the time of the greatest international crisis, in the time when everything seemed to be falling apart, when everything was physically taken away, this man ends, this book, on the highest note of satisfaction and joy in the Lord. And lo and behold, the Scriptures are showing us this over and over and over again. He's going to make me walk on the high hills. I'm going to be like a deer. So, here we are today. We gather on Thanksgiving in 2012 and we are full today. We're still full with abundance in the big picture, aren't we? The Lord has blessed us in so many ways. If I pass the mic today, I am sure I would get the same thing still. I'm thankful for all these blessings that the Lord has lavished down upon us. The Lord has been so good. He has fed us. He's cared for us. He's loved us. But what if this story were our story today? What if this was just the situation that happened? And here we gather together today. Would we be thankful? This was the issue with Job, remember? God posed a question to Satan. God posed the question, the provocative question, Have you considered my servant Job? Have you considered him, Satan? That there is none like him on the earth. A blameless and an upright man who fears God and shuns evil. Consider him. Remember what Satan asked? Does Job fear God for nothing? Look what you've done for him. Haven't you made a hedge around him? Around his household? and on every side you've hedged Job in is what you've done. That's the issue. You have blessed, and I quote, the works of his hands and his possessions have increased in the land. Oh, we see. Stretch out your hand. Touch what he has. Take it all away. He'll curse you. He'll curse you something big. It's a very provocative dialogue. is the worship of the Lord motivated by something? Is He not serving you, this Job man? Because look at the lavishing of your blessing. All of His works have been blessed. He doesn't love you for nothing. He doesn't love you for nothing. Stretch it out. Attack it. He'll curse you. the question kind of comes out, is there such a thing as what Satan was asking? Is there such a thing as real devotion to the Lord? That's the question, isn't it? Is there such a thing as sincere devotion to the Lord? Sincere worship? Thanksgiving to the Lord for who He is in Himself and not just what He has been in abundance to us? That's what Job was really asking there. I mean, Satan. This man was the greatest man of the East. 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 camels and donkeys and a very large household. He's your epitome of blessing. What happened? And one day, all of it was gone. One day a messenger comes and the oxen and the donkey are raided. And while he was still speaking, another said, fire fell and burned up your sheep and your servants. While he was still speaking, The Chaldeans killed all your camels and killed your servants while he was still speaking. Another came. Your sons and your daughters were in your house and a great wind came and struck the four corners. They're all dead. Job gets up, tears his robe, shaves his head, goes and sits in the sackcloth and the ashes. And you read something astonishing. He. Marsha. he worshipped. And he said, the Lord has given and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And he did not charge God with sin. Satan comes back, skin for skin. A man, yes, all that a man has, he will give for his life. Take his health. Attack his health. He'll curse you. Take away a man's health. And you watch what happens. Painful boils appear on Job all over his body. He's scratching himself in the ashes. Knocking off all of the scabs. Everything is ripped away. Job feared God for nothing? It's riches that satisfy, says Satan. Doesn't it? Isn't that what he's assuming here? See, Satan assumed that riches are what satisfies the heart. And Satan here made another false assumption that creatures, including himself, are free agents to just uphold themselves, aren't they? And the question is, is our thanksgiving, does it only have a higher motive today than what we get from God? Is there such a thing as love for who God is and thanksgiving for Him? Purely. And the answer is, No. Not by nature. Not by nature. The world's going to celebrate Thanksgiving today. How many people went at Costco? Did you find Costco a mess? Bonds was worse. How many people went and bought turkeys and ham, stuffed it today with cranberries, and the wine will be flowing, And they'll sit around the table and maybe a generic prayer will go up before, right? God, we thank You for all this. Amen. What's missing? What's missing? Are we really doing anything different than the world if we look at things this way? What did Satan overlook? That's my question. What was God doing? God's greatest gift today is something that Job shadows only dimly. Only dimly. There was a powerful conqueror of Satan to come who would love the Lord his God with all of his heart, soul, mind, and strength. and Job would turn his face to Him and say, I know that my Redeemer lives and that one day He will stand on the earth. After my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold and not another. How my heart yearns within me. My heart is desiring, above all, something else. And you see what the Lord was showing us through this is that the greatest blessing today, the greatest gift, is His Son. Period. Were it not for Him, Satan would have all of you today and he would sift you all as wheat. and Satan would spit you up and chew you out, beat you to a pulp, and you would be nothing but worldly in this day. But you see, what Satan overlooked is the grace of God that he's given us in Jesus Christ to stand. And that he would, by his power, give hearts to love. To love the Lord our God. And you see, what God did in both of these cases with Job and the people of Habakkuk's day is preserve for Himself in the midst of a time of crisis and hardship, preserve for Himself a people who would demonstrate dependency and thanksgiving for the greatest benefit that God had ever lavished down upon fallen mankind. Things are not the glue that holds us to God. His love, with which we can never be separated today, is a love that is given to us in Jesus Christ. And sometimes when all is taken, it's then that we see what we really have. It's difficult sometimes to see that when you're full, isn't it? It's difficult sometimes to see it when you're full. Jesus one day walked through Capernaum and it happened as He went through Jerusalem that He passed through Samaria and Galilee and He entered this village and there were these ten lepers standing there who met Him from afar off. And they're outside the city and they lift up their eyes to the Lord. They cry out, Have mercy on us, Master. And Jesus does something remarkable. He says, I want you to go to the priests and I want you to show yourself. So they all start walking down the road and as they're walking, we read they were cleansed. And you can imagine what was happening. I mean, leprosy was absolutely awful. It stunk. Your body parts were falling off. You essentially would wither away and die. And they're walking and all of a sudden, their vigor and their strength comes back to them. I can't imagine what that must have been like. But all of a sudden, everything came back and they're filled with excitement. They're filled with joy, aren't they? I can't imagine what that must have been like in one moment to have that happen. And we read in that account, but one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned. And with a loud voice glorified God. And he did what? He fell down at His feet and gave Him thanks. What sort of healing? What sort of healing? The greatest healing that he saw he had received from the Lord was a spiritual one in his heart. I'm sure that body will be raised again. But he realized the leprosy of his sin. And you know, it's the same understanding with Habakkuk and Job, they had been given so much more than outward blessings, hadn't they? They had been given a Savior who loved them, who had come for them, who had delivered them and had blessed them. True faith today clings to Him. It looks to Jesus, His person and work and our affections and our mind and our hearts are wooed to Him and we say we receive this blessing of eternal life today, O Lord, with thanksgiving. I'm terribly moved though what happened after this. This man comes back and Jesus says something. He says, were there not ten clents? Where are the other nine? Were there not found any who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner? dinner. It was a loaded statement. I'm sure those other nine could have had a Thanksgiving service. Think they went out to a dinner afterward? They cut the turkey? Oh, I'm sure. Who gave thanks? Many today will generically give thanks because they have so much. But true thankfulness is seen when we understand that God has fulfilled our greatest need. It's not an empty love. He has fulfilled that need in Christ. He's loved us with an everlasting love, giving His best for us. And you know the Scriptures say in Him, we have everything. See, what these people realized in all of these accounts was that outward circumstances ultimately are not what control our Thanksgiving. They may help it. They don't control it. Philippians tells us that. I've learned in whatever state I am to be content. I'll be thankful. If it is, outward circumstance dominate our thanksgiving. You're doomed for heartache and heartbreak. And you know where you want to see it is with a bunch of people who are dependent on a government for their sustenance. When they don't get it, what do they do? Fall apart. It's not just that that drives us today. If we measure it by physical bread only, then we've missed what the Scriptures have told us. Man doesn't live by physical bread alone, but by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God. So true thanksgiving is that. Now does God care about our physical needs? Does God promise to provide as a sparrow when it falls to the ground or when He needs food, He even feeds them? Absolutely. think about that Psalm 103 in closing bless the Lord oh my soul and all that is within me bless his holy name and forget not all of his benefits what if you worked from the back up the bottom up so that your youth is renewed like the eagles I'm thankful for that today some of you may not feel that who satisfies your mouth with good things I'm thankful for that who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies. I'm really thankful for that. Who redeems your life from destruction. Who heals your diseases. How many times from this pulpit have we called out and God's answered? Overwhelming. But what if the psalm stopped right after the first benefit? Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. who forgives all your iniquity. You have everything. And you know what the fact is today? You're going to go home and you're still full. Everything in that psalm is true. That's how He's been to you. I'm full. I'm going to go home and I'm going to enjoy a wonderful meal. I'm going to enjoy my family. I'm going to enjoy all of these wonderful blessings that the Lord has lavished down upon me today. But I believe that a day like this, we should pause, seeing changing times, and remember and have perspective. Meditate today on how rich you really are in Christ. And the things that are already yours. And where you're going, and where you belong. Christ is the only answer to our joy and our happiness. Nothing else of this life ultimately will satisfy. And if you have Him, you have everything. What a reason to be thankful today, isn't it? What a reason to rejoice in His name. To call out. So when you go home today and you get around the table and you thank the Lord for His goodness in supplying all this food and blessing, also remember that you have the greatest blessing. The forgiveness of your sins through the precious blood of His Son. Though the fig tree may not blossom nor fruit beyond the vines, though the labor of the olive may fail and the fields yield no food, though the flock may be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will join the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength and Yours too. Amen. Lord, we thank You today for how You have supplied our every need. the greatest need being met. That today we can enjoy believing in Your Son, the full forgiveness of our sins. The world does not know this. In fact, those who have not Jesus will perish. And even what they have physically will be taken from them. Today we claim alone that our satisfaction and our joy is in Christ. Help us to see that. And now for all of these other wonderful blessings that You've lavished upon us that we don't deserve. We thank You. Cheer our hearts today and let us be overwhelmed with Your love that we've received. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.