Well, Thanksgiving Day is coming on Thursday, and so I thought to myself, let me be able to preach to you this morning a sermon on Thanksgiving. So if you'll turn with me in your Bibles to Luke chapter 14, we're going to be looking at the first 14 verses of Luke 14. And let's bow together for prayer. We give you thanks, our Father, that all of our lives you have watched over us, that you have cared for us and provided for our needs, the needs of our body, the needs of our soul through the gospel. And Lord, we, many of us, can remember a day or a time when you brought us to yourself with that amazing love and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, where you opened our eyes to the truth, and you poured the riches of the glory and grace of Christ into our hearts. And we would experience that here today, and in doing so, that we would give you thanks once again, that you are our faithful covenant-keeping God, ever faithful, ever true. the one who supplies us according to our need and does exceeding abundantly beyond all that we can ask or think. And so we pray that as we celebrate Thanksgiving Day with our relatives on Thursday, that we would be thankful. But we pray, Lord, that we would be a thankful people at all times and in all places and in all situations. realizing that you are with us and that you are for us. Give us that kind of grace and help us to receive your word today. In Jesus' name, amen. Luke chapter 14, verse 1. Now it happened as Jesus went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath that they watched him closely. And behold, there was a certain man before him who had dropsy. And Jesus answering spoke to the lawyers and the Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? But they kept silent. And he took him and healed him and let him go. And then he answered them, saying, Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day? And they could not answer him regarding these things. So he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noted how they chose the best places, saying to them, when you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him. And he who invited you and him come and say to you, Give place to this man. And then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes, he may say to you, Friend, go up higher. Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Then he also said to him who invited him, When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just. Well, the truth that Jesus is teaching in this passage is that a true disciple of his, one who knows him and who would do service to him, is the person who would be humble and who would be thankful. This is something which Christ would have each of us to learn. I want to tie this truth in with the theme of Thanksgiving Day in this way. I believe that the person who is is thankful, will, being taught by the grace of God, become humble. And they will seek to maintain that attitude, that they always and continually need the grace of Christ to do what God would have them to do in every situation of life. But in becoming humble, they will not turn in on themselves. They won't become an island to themselves. They're going to look out to see how they might serve Christ. These good attitudes of thankfulness and humility begin when a person comes to see how their attitudes in relation to themselves and others needs to change to become more like the person who Jesus describes in this parable. so they will be glorifying to God in their life. So this morning I am going to ask you four questions in relation to this incident and the parable that Jesus gives here, so that you might determine whether you are making progress in becoming holy and humble, and whether you are becoming the loving person that Jesus would have you to be. First of all, are you thankful to have received the invitation to this wedding feast that Jesus is talking about? Are you thankful that Jesus, the Lord Jesus, has the power to heal you from all of your diseases? And then thirdly, are you willing to show forth your thankfulness in taking the lowest place at the table? Verses 10 and 11. And fourthly, will you continue to have a thankful spirit looking to do the Lord's bidding as you wait to go up higher? to the table to which you have been called, verses 12 to 14. First of all, are you thankful that the Lord Jesus has power to heal you of all your diseases? Verses one to six, Jesus had been invited to the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath day, it says in verse one. And there also happened to be there a man who had dropsy. Now, dropsy is an old term for the swelling of the soft tissues due to accumulation of excess water. It's what we would normally call edema in our day. And edema is often more prominent in a person's lower legs. and feet during the end of the day as a result of the pooling of fluid from being in an upright position which they maintained during the day. The middle English word dropsy came through the old French word hydropsy. from the Greek hydrops, which in Middle English, it came to be taken from the Greek hydor, meaning water. And this man had this medical condition, and it was very obvious that he needed help. And Jesus was going to give it to him. It's not those who are well who need a physician, Jesus says in one place, but those who are sick. And the Lord Jesus is concerned with the health of the whole person, both physically and spiritually. He has not come to call the righteous, he says, but sinners to repentance, and we are all by nature affected with the disease of sin from even before our birth, and it affects us mind, soul, and body, and it manifests itself in various ways in our lives. Jesus has come into the world to save sinners, and you are a sinner who should be thankful here today. Jesus is in the business of healing sin-sick souls. For the believer in him, all diseases, and even death itself, are not greater than his power to rescue us from them. And he eventually will rescue us from all our diseases, and even death itself. Jesus having come to the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on this particular Sabbath day was the occasion of the healing of this man and his teaching, that is Jesus' teaching everyone present there, lessons about humility and thankfulness. There were a number of Pharisees there that day and they were watching Jesus very closely to see what he would do so that they might find an excuse to accuse him. And since it was the Sabbath day and Jesus knew that these men had added many things to the observance, the true observance of the Sabbath, things which also so burdened men down that they couldn't find rest or healing for either soul or body, he asked them this question. He said, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? And they believed that it was not lawful. that it was a form of work which ought not to be done on that holy day. But instead of trying to answer Jesus's question, they kept silent so that Jesus would be forced to answer the question for them. And Jesus didn't hesitate for a moment. In verse 4 it says, He took him, and it says, He healed him, and He let him go. And then he gave them the rebuke which they so richly deserved, which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day? And it was no doubt true that all those who were there that day would have immediately pulled their donkey or their ox out of the pit. They couldn't answer him a word. And so he went on to tell them a parable. Those who were invited to this feast, when he noted how they chose the best places for themselves, it says, they had come there to make observations on the Lord of Glory. thinking all the while that he was a mere man. But they found themselves being righteously evaluated by the one who would one day be their judge. Pride is a terrible disease of the mind and heart, and it manifests itself in choosing for ourselves the best place, and not considering the will of God that we be humble or God's purpose, that He might not want to exalt us at this time. His time of exalting men is always later than they think, if He is showing them saving mercy and giving them saving grace. The fear of the Lord, it says in the book of Proverbs, is the instruction of wisdom, and before honor is humility. You and I need to understand from this that if we are given this time in living our lives upon the earth to learn to be humble and to receive the teaching and the observations of our Lord Jesus, not only of that day, then we need to receive them ourselves even today so that we won't be proud. The Pharisees couldn't honor our Lord. They could only accuse him. Now that was an amazing thing, the Lord of Glory being evaluated, He who is perfect, and they looking for a reason to accuse Him. So that they might find a reason then to accuse Him to the authorities and therefore that they would have Him put to death. Why? because they believed that their system of being saved by their own works was what was true, and Jesus was teaching that they needed to believe and trust in him alone for their salvation, and they wouldn't believe it. And so they had to find some reason to undermine his teaching. Let me ask whether we ourselves see our own sins and our own mistakes as readily. The reality for the disciple of Christ today is that our Lord is most certainly risen from the dead and he has been given all power and all authority in heaven and earth and his eyes are a flame of fire to correctly evaluate the hearts of all people and their reasons for all the things that they do. And yet I believe and trust that you also know that there is a major difference between the Pharisees and the humble believer in Jesus Christ. The humble believer in Christ is thankful for their Savior and their Lord. The humble believer in Christ trusts in Him for grace and help every day. And many of you here today have come to know Christ's love and His grace to your sinful heart. Are you not thankful? I'm asking you here this morning for all the tangible, physical, and spiritual blessings which God has brought to you through the exercise of your faith. in Him. He has brought these blessings to you. He is bringing them to you daily, tangible, saving, spiritual help and strength. He is continually supplying you with grace and strength out of His fullness of supply, which is in Himself. He is doing this with you every day, dear believer. Will you not thank Him now for that? in the presence of God? We are sitting here in the presence of God today. Will you not thank God that He has given you such precious and powerful grace to your soul to change your heart, to turn you away from your sins, and He then supplies you with this precious grace in a continual, ongoing supply to your heart day by day. Oh, that men would give thanks to God for His goodness and His wonderful works to the children of men. It says in Psalm 107, it says that four separate times in that Psalm. Oh, that men might give thanks unto Him. and praise Him for His goodness and His wonderful works to the children of men. Rejoice, dear Christian, today. Be thankful unto Him, and bless His holy name, for the Lord is good. He is full of tender mercies to all who call upon His name. If you have believed in Him, you have been forgiven of all of your sins, and you are now His willing learner. Now secondly, I want to ask this question. Are you thankful to have received the invitation to this wedding feast that Jesus is talking about, verses 7 to 9? Remember now that there is a parable here, and the parable is for all of us to learn by. A parable is an earthly story with a heavenly or a spiritual meaning. And Jesus is not simply trying to make the Pharisees change their views of etiquette. You know what etiquette is. It's learning manners. He's giving them this to rebuke and refute their pride and their sense of self-importance. Jesus says in verse 8, When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him, and he who invited you and him come and say to you, Give place. to this man. And then you'll begin with shame to take the lowest place. This feast to which Jesus and the others were invited was not a wedding feast, rather it was a Sabbath meal of eating bread. You see, weddings didn't take place on the Jewish Sabbath in that day, and yet the parable says a wedding feast. Why? I think that it's because in his parable the Lord Jesus is actually directing their attention to a greater feast than the one that these Pharisees were presently attending. He was directing their attention to the wedding feast which all the Jews were invited to in that time and to which all and everyone is invited now in the day in which we live. He is speaking of the feast of the gospel of grace. He is speaking of being made a partaker of salvation through grace, of sitting down and eating bread in the kingdom of God, both in this life and at the resurrection. When you accept this invitation, you come to a table in your mind and heart, and you sit down, you begin to eat with Jesus Christ spiritually in your heart. Behold, I stand at the door and knock, Jesus says. And if anyone will open to me, I will come in and dine with him, and he with me." You see this accepting of the invitation to come to Christ and believe on Christ and to take him as your Savior. And Lord, it's the beginning of true humility for you. It's the beginning of the end of your self-sufficiency and your pride of thinking that you can do all things without his grace. that you only need just simply a little advice and your life will all be better. Oh no, dear one, you need power to live this Christian life. And you need grace, which Jesus supplies to you moment by moment. And Jesus does this very thing. This accepting of the invitation to come to believe on Christ and to take Him to be your Savior and Lord is the beginning of true humility. to you and for you, for which you ought to be so thankful here this morning. If you have true and saving grace, you will be thankful to become a humble person. The beginning of true humility is to not trust in your own evaluation of yourself. but rather God's evaluation of you. It's learning to see yourself as a sinner needing grace and salvation. It is an invitation to which none without grace will respond to in a right way in the sense of their desiring to be saved. The Pharisees were those who thought that because of their great spirituality, which they effected, that is, they put it on in front of other people, in relation to their outward keeping of God's moral and ceremonial law, that they were entitled to the best seats in the house of worship. or at feasts." I'm saying this in a literal fashion. That's exactly what they did. They thought themselves to be wise and righteous in their own eyes and in the eyes of others whom they believed they were better than. And Jesus condemns them over in Matthew 23 for that. He says in verses 1 to 4 and in verse 5, He says to them, they do all their works to be seen by men. You see, that's what they were trying to live their Christian life for. They make their phylacteries broad. these great bands of cloth. They make them broad and they enlarge the boundaries of their garments. They love the best places at the feast, the best seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, Rabbi, Rabbi. And then he repeats down in verse 12 of that chapter, he says, the very words that he uses in this parable that we're studying here today, and whoever exalts himself, shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." I believe that there's more to this parable here than meets the eye. The invitation being given is being given by God Himself. It is the instruction that each man or woman is not to think more highly of themselves than they ought or that they should. There are other people in the world who are more honorable than ourselves, people whom the one who gave the invitation knows should have the highest places at the feasts that we attend, the highest places at the table. You see, these Pharisees thought that this highest place was most desirable to themselves in terms of the way that other men who were trying to be religious without God see things. That's how they saw them. If I can only have the best place, if I can only be dressed in the best clothes, if I can only drive the best car, if I can only have all the finest possessions, then that's what I want. out of this life. They would choose for themselves. the best position. They saw themselves as worthy of it because of their many supposed good works. They're following the traditions of men, of religious Jewish men. But actually, in the Lord's eyes, it was and is the place and position which is bestowed by God upon those who are striving by His grace to be faithful to Him. That's the highest position. And that person is going to be the servant. If you want to be the greatest in the kingdom of God, learn to be the servant of all, Jesus says. I'm saying that it's accepting the invitation, this invitation of the gospel. You see yourself as unworthy. of the best place, unworthy to come to the table at all. And yet God in Christ invites sinners to the greatest of all feasts in the gospel. And the proof of this is the continuation of the parable in verse 15 and following. Now when one of those who sat at the table with him heard these things, he said to Jesus, Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. And then Jesus said to him, Blessed is he who he says, he says, a certain man gave a great supper and invited many. In other words, it was a parable of the gospel feast. So when you come to Christ, you come to take the lowest position. You realize that if you put yourself in the place of honor, you'll be forced to give place to someone else later on. one who is more worthy of the honor of having the best seat at the table. There will be a sense of shame attendant upon this because you had a wrong view of yourself. Now let me ask you this morning if you are thankful for the gospel. Are you thankful for the gospel? that Jesus has died in the place of sinners, that Jesus is unique among men, fully God and fully man, that Jesus has the power to deliver you from all of your sins and to so change and work in your heart, change you and work in your heart, that you will become a better person, a more faithful person, a more humble person, a person who is joyful, for the blessings, all the blessings that God gives, and thankful on a continual basis. Are you thankful for the invitation which God has extended to you to come and sit at the table in the eternal kingdom? The eternal kingdom of God begins in your heart from the moment you first believe, and it never ends. When Jesus first comes in, he brings with him this kingdom. And the kingdom of God is in your midst here today, and the kingdom of God is in your heart if you have believed in Jesus here today. You see, God's principles of promotion are far different than ours. We don't understand his ways. But I would urge you now that as you come to the gospel feast, that you would seat yourself in the lowest position. Because this brings me to my third question. Are you willing to show forth your thankfulness in taking the lowest position? At the table, verses 10 and 11. When you're invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when He who invited you, when He comes, He may say to you, friend, go up higher. Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. You see, Jesus is now speaking about promotion. in the kingdom of God. And the feast is the invitation to come through the gospel and feed upon the grace and truth which comes to you through the Lord Jesus Christ, seeing yourself as a sinner. And the issue of honor and position are still there, set before you, even after you accept the invitation and come to Christ. What's the position that you're going to take? You're still going to have to ask yourself, am I thankful enough with what gifts and grace and talents that I have been given by God to take the lowest place, the lowest position at the table? You see, the person who's thankful for the great salvation which has been given to them in Christ should be willing to humble themselves to be taught the Bible. That is, to regularly come to the Lord's house to worship and to learn and to take the lowest position. And yet many Christians, both young and old, are not willing to do this. They think that they know enough already. And what they need to learn, they can learn on their own. rather than regularly coming to church and hearing the word preached. I'm saying that learning this principle of truth and consciously choosing to take the lowest place do not come automatically in the Christian life, but they will if you consciously choose to be a thankful believer and a humble learner. Now let me give you a biblical example of this. I want you to turn with me over to Matthew chapter 20 and verse 20. Matthew 20 and verse 20. It says there, then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to him with her sons kneeling down and asking something from him. And he said to her, what do you wish? And she said to him, grant that these two sons of mine may sit one on your right hand and the other on your left in your kingdom. But Jesus answered and said, you do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? And they said to him, we are able. So he said to them, you may indeed drink my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with, but to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father. And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers. Now you notice here that Jesus does not say that there is no high and privileged position such as sitting at his right hand or his left in his kingdom. He simply says first that it takes being able to take the lowest position, the lowest place at the table, and to suffer for his namesake. The brothers James and John are willing to do both. But then Jesus spells it out to them when they tell him that they are willing to suffer for him. He says, it's not mine to give. but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father." That is, God the Father has plans and purposes which He has formed long ago in perfect faithfulness. And what God has purposed is going to stand, that God orders all things after the counsel of His will. He providentially superintends all the events in our life. And what God has purposed will stand. No purpose of His shall be thwarted, and especially in relation to what position men have in His Son's kingdom. Let me ask you whether you understand this. God has certain people in mind to honor with high positions in Christ's kingdom, both in this life and in the next. And yet you and I don't know who they are. We may think that we might know who they are, but chances are we would be wrong. And why? Because God's evaluation of them will take into consideration vastly more than present gifts and talents and how popular a person is in this present life. We can't see the picture of a whole man's life. like God can, and that he does. We don't know how God uses various things that are done by that person to fulfill God's purposes. The one thing that we do know is this, that in the final analysis, that God's giving these privileged positions in the coming eternal kingdom are according to the faithfulness of the person considered. Luke 19.16 says, Then came the first, saying, Master, your mina has earned ten minas. And he said to him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant, because you were faithful in a very little. Have authority over ten cities. So you see how faithfulness in doing small things brings about the bestowal of a position at the head of the table. Do you see that? What about attaining to positions in this life, in the church and in the work of the kingdom here and now? Is it not God who raises men up to these important positions? Well, yes it is. But is it not position itself that is the thing that we need to consider? We aren't to strive for the position. Usefulness to the kingdom and usefulness to the master does not require position, but it may lead to it. And the requisite for great usefulness is not great popularity or even great talents, but it is great humility. It is great humility. It's found in taking the lowest position and being faithful in the little things that you might over time be faithful in much. It's working closely together with the pastor or elders of your church that you attend so that you can see the grace of God at work in your life, your commitment to the people of God and to the work of Christ's church. If the Lord would have you to be in the position of an elder or a deacon, your faithfulness in pursuing all the details of the tasks and the work of service that the Lord himself has called you to will make it plain to everyone that you are worthy of the honor of serving Christ in one of these positions. But remember, it is the work of service that you are called to, and not the attention and the recognition which the office might bring." All the glory for what you do should go to Christ. It's only God who can call you to go up higher so that you'll have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. You see, you never need to exalt yourself when you're doing Christ's work. You'll only be brought to shame. But God can give you favor in the eyes of his people, and he can exalt you in the proper way and the proper time, and all this in connection with humility. Augustine, St. Augustine once said, the first thing is humility, the second thing is humility, and the third thing is also humility. Now let me ask you if this is what you are striving for. striving to be humble, to be humbling yourself, to take upon you the work of a bondservant in Christ's kingdom, His church, in your family, or in regard to people around you. That's how you can show your thankfulness for all the grace that God has given to you, that you would learn to serve others and serve Him in serving others. Lastly, and I'll be very brief in this, will you continue to have a thankful spirit looking to do the Lord's bidding as you wait to go higher, to go up higher at the table to which you've been called? Verses 12 to 14, he then also said to those who invited him, when you give a dinner or supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives or your rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just. You see, the problem here with the Pharisees was that they were all too prone to be inviting their friends, their brothers, their relatives, their rich neighbors to their feasts, and they would probably very seldom, if ever, invite the poor or the maimed or the lame or the blind. And let us consider in the closing of this message whether we are thankful for what knowledge and gifts and resources the Lord has given us by asking whether we are being hosts for the Lord's Gospel Feast. Do we ever invite people to dinner who really have physical needs? Do we attempt to share the gospel with those who may have great difficulties in understanding all the major doctrines of the Bible? Do we humble ourselves to come down to the level of the poor and needy so that we can truly minister to them? You see, these are the questions that we ought to ask ourselves as we come to the close of this message. Will you continue to have a thankful spirit, showing forth your thankfulness by doing the Lord's bidding? in this regard. As you think of Thanksgiving Day and what it's meant to you personally this year, ask yourself whether you are truly thankful to take the lowest place. For if you are willing to take the lowest place, the place of humility and thankfulness for all that Christ has done for you, and all that he is doing for you, and all that he will do for you, then you will someday, as you are dying, you will hear the voice of God speaking to you. Friend, come up higher. And you see, that's the goal which the Apostle Paul strove for. Will it be yours? That's the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. And I pray that each one of us We'll hear it. Let's pray together. We thank you, Father, for this parable of thankfulness. We thank you for our Lord Jesus preaching it to self-righteous men. And I thank you, Father, that you are the one who can teach us the meaning of thankfulness. To have a thankful heart is a great thing because it leads us to true humility. And Lord, help us to be truly thankful and truly humble at this season of the year, and indeed at all times, that we might be thankful. May we be especially thankful today that you've allowed us to be here in this house of worship, to be together with your people, rejoicing in your glory and your grace, Lord Jesus. We pray and praise you for these things. Dear Father, in Jesus' name, amen. Well, let's close by singing hymn number 346 together. Hymn number 346, Son of my soul, thou Savior dear, it is not night if thou art near. Hymn number 346 and let's stand together. Son of my soul, Thou Saviour dear, It is not night if Thou be near, O may no earth-born cloud arise to hide thee from thy servant's eyes. When the soft dews of kindly sleep, my weary Be my last thought, how sweet to rest forever. on my Savior's breast. Abide with me from morn till eve, for without Thee I cannot live. Abide with me when night is nigh, For without thee I dare not die. If some poor wandering child of thine Have spurned today the voice divine, Now, Lord, the gracious work begin, Let him no more lie down in sin. Watch by the sick, enrich the poor, With blessings from thy boundless store. Be every mourner's sleep tonight, Like infant slumbers, pure and light. Come near and bless us when we wake, till in the ocean of thy love we lose ourselves in heaven above. Amen. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful and he also will do it. You are dismissed. Welcome to come downstairs and have a shared meal with us.