Acts 28:15 And from there, when the brothers heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appii forum, and The three taverns: whom when Paul saw… I. LET US THANK GOD FOR THE OLD YEAR. 1. For lives preserved. During the year tens of thousands have fought the last battle and been laid in the dust who entered upon it with as little expectation of it being their dying year as we did. We are spared. Throughout another year the pendulum of life has given its noiseless beats, the pulse has throbbed without a pause, the silver cord has borne the strain. 2. For health enjoyed. To multitudes this year has been a living death; yea, death itself has often been desired as a friend. Not so has it been with us. Passing pains and transient sickness may have fallen to our share, but most of them are now forgotten. They were but noticed through their contrast with our general days. How few Sabbaths have many of us lost through sickness: not half so many as we have by our soul's worldliness. Thank God, then, that not only has the life current flowed, but that it has flowed strongly. 3. For prosperity granted. Not only has there been the strength to work, but there has been the work to employ the strength. Perhaps the year was entered with many a dark foreboding thought. Difficulties seemed closing around you, and you prophesied that this year the storm must burst. Well, how is it now? God has been to you a Jehovah Jireh. Though far from wealthy, you find you can spare something for the poorer brethren, and give your little to the work of God. 4. For home mercies. Among all the gifts of heaven there is none more beautiful or worthy of praise than a home where kindness, love, and cheerfulness abide. To Adam, Paradise was home, and to the holy among his descendants home is Paradise. And how has it been in the home during the year? "Thank God," many of you can reply, "it has been well." The same faces that smiled upon you on last new year's day smiled upon you with as fresh a smile this morning. If it be so, I charge you "thank God." There are this morning homes yet wrapt in gloom, and a gloom that is deepened by the very season of the year. In other homes, a deeper shade than ever bereavement casts, hangs heavily; for if home be not the source of purest joys, it is of deepest misery. Think of home with all its mercies, and "thank God" again and again. 5. For national blessings. There is enough in the providential dealings of our God with all to give a thankful heart. True, we have all had our sorrows and our disappointments. But what have been the number of our trials compared with the multitude of our mercies? And contrasted with our deserts, how light will the heaviest become! 6. For God's mercies to the soul. (1) We have been kept from falling. With no feeling of pride, but only grateful love, you may exclaim, "Having obtained help of God, I continue unto this day." Our thankfulness may well be intensified by the sad remembrance that some have fallen during the year, and lost their power for testimony. With a nature like ours so dangerously quick to sin, and living, amid a very shower of fiery temptations, how great the grace that has preserved us thus far. "Thank God."(2) Our spiritual life has been maintained and increased. The two things do not always go together. It is possible to be free from any great and open fall, and yet have the painful consciousness that inwardly there has been a declusion. Great then is the cause for thankfulness if we can express the hope that the inward experience has corresponded with the outward appearance. (3) What times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord have we often had? (4) Some of you have been converted during the year. What a transformation scene has taken place in you since last New Year's Day. The stones of this building might well cry out in judgment, if above all other voices yours is not heard, crowning the year with, "Thank God, thank God." 7. We have Church mercies to thank God for. (1) The spirit of hearing is still maintained. (2) The work of conversion has been carried on. II. LOOK FORWARD WITH COURAGE TO THE NEW. We now turn our eyes to the time to come. How different the view! A thick veil shrouds all in impenetrable gloom. In vain we strain our eyes to pierce the curtain dark. We enter on the year by faith and not by sight. The hand of mercy only clears the darkness as step by step we enter in it. The new year is yet a land uninhabited and unknown. With what feelings shall we enter it? Let our text give the answer. Having thanked God for the past, let us now "take courage" for the future. "Because Thou hast been our help, therefore under the shadow of Thy wing will we trust." Doubtless, there are some looking forward with dread. Although ignorant of the particular forms their troubles may assume, they reckon rightly that troubles of some sort they are sure to meet, and the very indefiniteness of them serves to magnify their greatness. Possible loss, disappointment, and grief cast their shadow on the spirit. They did on Paul. Yet he took courage. I will therefore mention a few thoughts calculated to inspire courage. 1. We shall have the same God with us. The change of year brings no change in Him who is our Rock and our Defence. "Our God, our help in ages past," may well be "our hope for years to come." 2. The same promises will be your support. Round about you, like the mountains round Jerusalem, or the chariots of fire round the prophet, are the same "precious promises" that have glittered like stars in your darkest night. "As thy days, so shall thy strength be." "My grace is sufficient for thee." 3. The same hope which has cheered the old year accompanies you into the new. The hope of either your going to Jesus, or Jesus coming to you. (A. Brown.) Parallel Verses KJV: And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appii forum, and The three taverns: whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage. |
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