So 1 Thessalonians 5, 16 to 18, very simply, Paul says,
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances,
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances,
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Well, clearly at the heart of this text is this pronouncement
that what is being said or what is being commanded is the, quote, will of God.
And that brings a weightiness to this, doesn't it?
Of course, we understand the Bible is God's word.
Everything that we read there is the will of God in some way,
and there are various ways to understand that.
But whenever we come to a statement like this in the Scripture,
it really is functioning like a giant flashing sign.
It's urging us to pay careful attention to what's being said.
This is the will of God for you.
This is what God wants for you.
To do anything less is to sin, to be in rebellion against Him.
And we've seen the phrase once before in this very letter.
If you remember back in chapter 4 and verse 3,
Paul wrote that the will of God is the Christian's sanctification.
Why don't you just set your eyes on it?
It may even be on the same page for you there.
Chapter 4, verse 3,
This is the will of God, your sanctification.
Very plain.
Sanctification, of course, refers to our progress in holiness,
our progress in purity.
We might understand it in the context of this book
and the way that Paul has used it here.
We might understand it as living consistently
with the purposes for which God has saved us
and set us apart for His glory.
Of course, that too has been echoed in the letter.
Just turn again back to chapter 2 and verse 12.
We exhorted each one of you, encouraged you,
and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God
who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.
That's really what this is about, isn't it?
This sanctification, it really means to walk worthy of God,
to live consistently with the calling on our life.
That is our calling to salvation.
That since we belong to Him as His people,
if you're a Christian,
there is a particular way that He desires for you to live your life
in purity and in holiness.
This is His will,
Paul says plainly in chapter 4 and verse 3.
Well, when Paul speaks of God's will again here in chapter 5 and verse 18,
it's also in relation to the believer's sanctification.
And we know that because of verses 23 and 24.
They are working as the climax,
not only of this section,
really the climax of the whole letter,
but especially this section.
Just set your eyes on them.
Paul offers this prayer.
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely.
This whole idea of walking worthy,
of living a life that is consistent,
of having an existence that is consistent
with the calling of God on our lives,
he says,
may God bring it to completion.
And may your whole spirit and body and soul be kept blameless.
Blameless being another word for sanctification.
May it be blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus.
He who calls you is faithful.
He will surely do it.
That's the climax,
not only of the letter,
but of this section.
That's what helps inform us of what Paul is doing with this section.
It has to do with our sanctification.
God will be faithful to complete that work when Christ returns.
But until that time,
the challenge for us is to pursue sanctification,
to pursue holiness and purity,
blamelessness in the context of verse 23.
That is our part.
We are to do that.
We are to pursue that in His grace
and of course in the power of His Spirit.
So again, when we get to chapter 5,
there's this repetition.
This is the will of God.
And what is it in relation to?
Well, ultimately it's in relation to our sanctification again,
but it has a narrow focus as well.
Here, sanctification means constant joy,
persistent prayer,
grateful praise in every circumstance.
The bottom line of all of this is
that God desires for His people
to actually live like His people.
And in these verses,
to live as if you belong to God
is to rejoice always,
to pray without ceasing,
and to give thanks in all circumstances.
So it's not very hard to see that, is it?
It's easy to see,
okay, this is what God wants for me.
And though as His people,
it is always,
or at least it should always be,
our delight
to do the will of God,
that doesn't mean
that obedience to God's will
is always easy.
In fact,
there are times where
God's commands
actually,
they seem downright impossible
to obey,
impossible to fulfill.
And I think this is one of those times.
We're so familiar
with these three verses
that we may take for granted
exactly what God is telling us to do here.
Consider the Thessalonian Christians
who were the first recipients
of these instructions.
That they face significant suffering
in their lives
for their faith in particular
is well established.
We know that.
From the very beginning,
their faith
was rocked
by persecution.
Paul himself
and his team
being chased out of town
at threat of their life.
Those who had allowed
Paul and his team
to stay with him,
Jason in particular
was one man
that's named in Acts 17,
are dragged before a mob
and beaten.
Why?
Because they were Christians.
And of course,
as we've studied the letter,
we have found
that that has continued.
Not only has the persecution continued
and not only is it severe,
but now they're starting
to notice that
people that they love,
Christians,
their brothers and sisters in Christ,
are beginning to die
and that's brought confusion.
That's brought a different kind
of grief to them
that Paul has dealt with
in the letter.
Everything that we know
about the Thessalonians
and about their context
is hard.
It's a struggle.
It's suffering.
And their suffering,
both physical and emotional,
showed no signs of letting up.
Now it is to those people
that Paul writes,
God wants you to rejoice.
God wants you to continue praying.
God wants you to express
thanksgiving.
And surely,
as they heard this letter read
in one of their gatherings,
somebody in that worship service
would have thought,
God's asking too much.
How is that even possible?
Perhaps you're in a season of life
that is somewhat like that,
where instructions like these,
while you get them
and maybe you can feign
some type of obedience to them,
you really know
or at least think
that I can't do this.
Sure, you know how to get on
well enough in Christian settings,
but genuinely expressing joy to God,
continuing in faithful
dependence on Him,
offering sincere thanks
from the heart,
just isn't happening.
And maybe you've concluded
that God asked too much.
He asked too much of you.
Or that these attitudes and actions
can only be true
of a certain kind of Christian,
some kind of super Christian
that just has something
that you don't have.
Neither of those things
is true.
We tend to think of these precepts
in terms of what we must do.
I want to try to correct that,
but not entirely,
because it's not all wrong,
but it is incomplete.
These are not merely things
that we must do,
actions that we must perform.
By God's grace,
I want to show you
from this text
that it is not only
what we must do
or that we must do them,
but that we can do them.
You actually can.
not in a way that is
a fake it till you make it
kind of situation,
but you,
those who are in Christ,
you can actually do
what God is commanding you
to do in this text.
You can have authentic joy
in the midst of grief.
You can have confident,
hopeful prayer.
You can have grateful praise
even in the most difficult
moments of your life.
You can suffer with joy.
You can pray with confidence.
You can find reasons
for gratitude
when all of your faith,
love, and hope
rest and are at rest
in the person
and the work of Jesus Christ.
That's what these verses
are about.
That's what I hope to point out
to you this morning.
First thing I want to do,
just two main things,
but the first thing is this.
I want us to look at
the essence of the commands here.
The essence of the commands.
Look again,
verse 16 to 18.
Rejoice always,
pray without ceasing,
give thanks in all circumstances.
Now I want to try to get ahead
of a potential misunderstanding
that I've witnessed before
in some Christians.
some have misunderstood
these three commands
to mean that expressing grief
or acknowledging a serious struggle,
maybe even a struggle of the soul,
darkness of the soul
as we would call it,
that to experience those things,
to feel those things,
and to express those things
is actually sinful.
They wrongly believe
or at least wrongly behave
as if joy cannot exist with grief,
as if prayers cannot be made
in moments of confusion
or maybe even doubt,
or that thanksgiving cannot
be true thanksgiving
if it also admits hardship
and difficulty.
And what that kind of thinking
results in
is the appearance of joy
that's not actually real.
Prayer that is hollow,
vain.
Jesus said it of unbelievers
that it is vain repetition
that they think that they will be heard
for their much speaking,
but it's not prayer
that's genuine from the heart.
It's not informed by reality.
It's just words,
religious forms.
It also results in displays
of gratitude that may be misguided.
They may express gratitude
for something that God
doesn't actually instruct us
to be grateful for.
Perhaps you've seen somebody
who just out of confusion about this,
they have the intention of obedience.
They want to be obedient to the passage,
but because they misunderstand
what God has actually commanded here,
they look at their suffering
and they express gratitude
for the suffering itself
as if that's what God's asking them
to do here.
I don't think that's what God is asking.
Now, I understand there is a way
to do that
that is genuine
and good,
but there are some
who feel like
what God is actually asking them to do
is express this kind of
feigned thanksgiving and joy
for something
that he hasn't actually told them
that they must be thankful for.
The result of all of that,
the aura of all of that,
it reeks of vain religion
that is out of touch with reality.
Now, I'm not suggesting
that any of you think that way,
but I have seen that.
I've seen Christians
who just,
they don't have a good understanding
of suffering,
therefore they have
a complete misunderstanding
of what God's actually asking for here.
That's not how we're to understand
the essence of these commands.
To ignore or to deny
the experience of suffering,
it actually robs these virtues
of their meaning
and of their power.
Suffering is the backdrop
against which Christian joy
and hope and gratitude
shine the brightest.
A couple of weeks ago,
I can't remember what brought it on.
Maybe the girls were asking about it
or Julie and I were talking
about her engagement ring.
One of the girls asked
how much I paid for it.
I don't know,
a quarter,
whatever it cost
at the vending machine, right?
We were talking about it.
I remember when I would go
to Jared's,
that's the only place
that I will allow myself
to buy jewelry.
We'll go to Jared's
and what is it that they do
with the jewelry?
They pull it out of the case, right?
They put it on that black felt thing
or at least it's what they used to do.
It's probably been 16 years
since I've been in a jewelry store.
They put it on the black.
Why do they do that?
They got the spotlights right above.
They shine it down
against the backdrop
of that black felt board.
The diamond shines brightest,
doesn't it?
When we think about Christian joy
and Christian hope
and Christian prayer,
Christian gratitude,
it shines brightest
against the backdrop
of suffering.
It's not in ignorance
or denial of grief
but in the perseverance of joy
through incredible grief
that is the essence
of these commands.
And Paul affirmed this routinely
when he spoke of his own suffering.
I want to just read to you
this one paragraph
that he wrote
in 2 Corinthians 1.
He said,
We do not want you
to be unaware, brothers,
of the affliction
we experienced in Asia.
He's being honest
about his circumstance.
We were so utterly burdened
beyond our strength
that we despaired
of life itself.
This is the Apostle Paul,
the great Apostle.
He's supposed to always
be happy, right?
I mean, that's who this guy is
and he's saying,
No, there's been some times
it's been so hard
that I just wanted to die.
I just wanted to die.
Indeed, he says,
we felt that we had received
the sentence of death.
Oh, but that was to make us rely
not on ourselves
but on God
who raises the dead.
He delivered us
from such a deadly peril
and he will deliver us.
On him we have set our hope
that he will deliver us again.
You also must help us by prayer
so that many will give thanks
on our behalf
for the blessing granted to us
through the prayers of many.
Do you see what he's doing there?
He's not denying serious suffering
but he is showing that it is possible
for a Christian
to have true hope
and joy
and gratitude
in the midst of intense suffering.
The kind of suffering
that when you lay at bed tonight
you just ask God,
Will you just take me already?
These three commands
are about more than
outward religious performance.
That's not what God is interested in.
All of them are written as actions.
They're verbs, aren't they?
We are to rejoice.
We are to pray.
We are to give thanks.
All of those are verbs.
All of them, however,
each action flows
from an attitude toward God
that is not manufactured.
It's actually something
that is settled
in the heart
of a believer
and of a believer alone.
There's a transformation
of heart and mind
that God graciously gives
to those he saves.
We read about it
in 2 Corinthians 5
in verse 17.
Paul says,
If anyone is in Christ,
he is a new creation.
The old has passed away.
Behold, the new has come.
All things made new.
And we are to put on
this new man.
What does that actually mean?
It means that we live
consistently
with what God
has already done
in us.
This new creation,
it includes
the disposition
of our heart
toward God.
God does that work in us.
We don't do that
for ourselves.
He does that.
So when God says
that his will
is that we rejoice,
he is instructing us
to express the joy
that he has put
in our hearts.
To give voice
to something
that he has put
in us.
It's there.
If you're in Christ,
it's there.
It may be hard to see
at times,
but it's there.
And he says,
I want you to give voice
to it.
I want you to rejoice.
When he tells us
to pray,
he means for us
to act upon
the hope
and faith
that he's put in us.
When he commands
our thanksgiving,
he is instructing us
to give voice
to the heart
of worship
that goes
far beyond
our present circumstance.
What am I saying?
These three commands
are not about performance.
So we need not
look at them
and say,
well,
if I'm going to obey God,
I've got to find a way
to fame joy
and continue
in hopeful prayer
even when prayer
is quite difficult
and to just come up
with some random thing
that I can express
thanksgiving for.
No,
that's not what this is about.
It's not about performance.
It's about our attitude
of heart
towards God.
These commands
don't require
that we ignore
or deny
the reality
of hardship,
but that we faithfully
persevere
in genuine worship
through
our various sufferings.
And it's in this way
that God wills
our sanctification
in this text,
preparing us
for Christ's return
when he will
complete
our joy
and he will
complete
our hope
and he will
complete
our thanksgiving
in eternity.
But of course,
we understand
when we come
to a text like this,
we understand
God has done
this work,
he's asking us
to give voice
to something
that he has done
in us,
but then we also
know that
our hearts
can grow cold.
Which is exactly
why we need
this kind of instruction
again and again.
Paul wrote
these things
to the Thessalonians
in order to
awaken in them
something that
may have become
dull,
but why would it
have become dull?
Well,
some of them
we know
are living
in sinful
behaviors.
Sin can make
your heart
grow dull.
When you have
sin in your life,
it's going to be
hard to express
genuine joy
and you probably
won't want to
pray very much
because you
understand the
contradiction
between your life
and prayer.
It will be hard
to even think
about thanksgiving
because you're
obsessed with
this other thing
that you want
more than you want
obedience to Christ.
sin dulls our
hearts to these
things.
It's not just
sin,
there's intense
distress happening
in the church.
Distress,
suffering,
can dull our
hearts.
It's hard to
find joy when
you can't see a
reason to feel
joy.
It's hard to
pray when you've
prayed again and
again and again
and it seems like
God isn't
listening.
it's hard to
express gratitude
when you're
finding it
difficult to
find anything
that's worth
being thankful
for.
Of course,
we can pull
out all kinds
of random
things that we
know we're
supposed to be
thankful for
but that doesn't
mean that we're
actually doing it.
Our hearts can
grow dull and
cold.
Of course,
the difficulty
here is not
so much the
commands themselves,
it's the
modifiers that
follow them.
we aren't
told simply to
rejoice.
We're told to
rejoice always.
We aren't
told simply
to pray.
We're instructed
to never stop
praying.
We're not
told to give
thanks, we're
told to do so
in every
circumstance.
That's why
these commands,
we come to it
and we think,
if we're being
honest with
ourselves, we
come to it
and we think,
this is not
possible, how
can this
actually be
possible to
do the
things?
God's asking
too much.
Who can
genuinely do
these things
at all times?
We want to
do these
things at all
times but
who truly
can?
And the
answer comes
at the end
of verse
18.
So we've
seen the
essence of
the commands,
now I'm
going to
show you
the basis
for the
commands.
That God
is not
asking too
much of
you, he's
actually
commanding you
to do
something that
he's made
possible.
Look again
at verse
18.
For this
is the
will of
God in
Christ Jesus
for you.
For this
is the
will of
God in
Christ Jesus
for you.
What seems
impossible is
suddenly made
possible when we
think about this
last statement.
Think about how
Paul could have
said this.
He could have
said, rejoice
always, pray
without ceasing,
give thanks in
all circumstances
for this is the
will of God
for you.
He could have
said that.
He doesn't
say that.
It would be
incomplete if he
said that.
Oh, the
addition of
in Christ
Jesus is of
utmost importance
to the
instructions.
It roots the
command for
constant joy
and persistent
prayer and
continual
thanksgiving.
It roots it
solely in the
good news of
Jesus.
The impossible
is made
possible in
Christ alone.
God doesn't
command us to
rejoice because
of our sorrow
but to rejoice
in our sorrow
because Jesus
has conquered
our grief and
will bring it
to an end
that is coming.
That's how we
can rejoice in
Christ.
God doesn't
instruct us to
pray because he
will always grant
our request.
He makes no
such promises.
He invites us
to pray.
We know that
prayer is a
means by which
he does very
often grant
our request.
But that's not
why he says to
pray without
ceasing.
He says to
pray without
ceasing because
in Christ
Jesus we
can pray.
We have
access to
the throne
of God
through our
great high
priest Jesus
Christ.
Why wouldn't
we pray
when we have
such wonderful
privilege?
God doesn't
demand our
thanksgiving
because life is
always good.
He commands
our thanksgiving
because Jesus
is always good
even when life
is not.
The radical
call to rejoice
always and pray
without ceasing
and give thanks
in all circumstances
really it's
fundamentally a
call to view
every moment
in light of the
fact that you
belong to Jesus.
that's what
this is about.
Living every
moment of our
life understanding
every circumstance
viewing all of
life and all
that we see
and experience
viewing it with
the understanding
that I belong
to Jesus.
I am his
and he is
mine.
Isn't that the
message that
seems to be
coursing through
this entire
letter?
Christ is
coming back
to redeem
his people
and judge
his enemies.
Things may be
tough right now
but take heart
you belong to
Jesus and he
will not forsake
you over
and over
this is the
theme that
comes to the
surface in
this letter
to the
Thessalonians.
So you can
keep rejoicing
in the pain.
You can
keep praying
through the
confusion.
You can
give thanks
in the
suffering
because you
belong to
him and
he's coming
back and
he's going to
make all
things right
and we will
be with him
in eternity.
That's
1 Thessalonians.
The reality
of the
Thessalonians
suffering made
these attitudes
and actions
difficult but
the fact of
their salvation
made them
possible.
I want to
say that
again.
The reality
of the
Thessalonians
suffering made
these attitudes
and actions
difficult,
maybe even
seemingly
impossible but
the fact of
their salvation
made them
very possible.
Yes,
they were
enduring
significant
hardship but
consider what
else the letter
says was
true of them.
In chapter
1 and
verse 4
we're told
that they
are loved
and chosen
by God.
In several
places we are
told that they
are filled
by the Holy
Spirit.
In chapter
1 verses 5
and 6
they are filled
with the power
of the Holy
Spirit.
A few verses
later they are
given the joy
of the Holy
Spirit.
When we get
to chapter 4
we find that
they have been
given by God
His Holy
Spirit.
That's true
of them.
In chapter
1 and
verse 10
we find that
they have
been delivered
by Christ
from God's
future wrath.
In chapter
2 and
verse 12
they've been
called into
God's kingdom
and glory.
In chapter
2 and
verse 13
they were
being transformed
by God's
word.
In chapter
3 and
verse 8
they were
standing
firm
in the
Lord.
In chapter
3 and
verse 13
they were
being established
in holiness
by God
Himself.
In chapter
4 and
verse 14
they received
the promise
of resurrection
on the basis
of Jesus'
resurrection.
In chapter
4 and
verse 17
they received
the promise
that whether
living or
dead
they will
spend
forever
in the
presence of
Christ.
chapter 5
verses 9
and 10
they are
destined
not for
wrath
but to
obtain
salvation.
If we
spend all
of our
time
looking at
1 Thessalonians
and thinking
wow
what a
hard life
they lived.
What a
shame for
us.
They didn't
think that
way.
You hear
all of that
encouragement.
Yes
things were
hard but
that's not
all that was
true of
them.
No
they were
in Christ
and they
were going
to receive
all the
benefits and
privileges of
being in
Christ.
That is what
was true of
them.
That's why
Paul could
write and
say it's
God's will
that you
keep rejoicing
in your
hardship and
that you
keep praying
in your
doubt and
that you
keep giving
thanks in
all circumstances
because you
belong to
him.
You can
do this
in Christ.
And if
you're a
Christian this
morning everything
that we just
read about the
Thessalonians
that's true
of you.
You too
have been
delivered from
the wrath to
come.
You too
have been
given the
presence and
power of the
Holy Spirit.
He is in
you.
He has put
joy in your
heart.
His word
is at work
in you.
It's transforming
you.
You have the
promise of a
future resurrection.
You will be
forever with
the Lord.
You are
destined by
God,
determined by
God to
obtain salvation
in the end.
That's true
of you.
God's will is
that you
remember who
you are in
Christ at
all times so
that in every
circumstance you
can give voice
to what he has
done for you
and what he
has done in
you.
Truly,
at all times
and in all
circumstances,
you can rejoice.
You can pray
and you can give
thanks because
you're in
Christ.
Now, if you're
not a
Christian,
I'm glad
you're here
and I hope
you will come
to understand
the wonder
of this
gospel that
I'm speaking
of now.
But what I
want to say
to you now
is that Jesus
really is this
good.
He really
is.
Listen to
how he
described the
salvation that
he gives in
Matthew's gospel.
These are two
of my favorite
parables.
In Matthew
13,
Jesus said,
the kingdom
of heaven
is like a
treasure hidden
in a field
which a man
found and
covered up.
Then in his
joy,
he goes and
he sells all
that he has
and he buys
that field.
And then he
continues,
again,
the kingdom
of heaven
is like a
merchant in
search of
fine pearls
who on
finding one
pearl of
great value
went and
sold all
that he
had
and bought
it.
Now,
what's the
point?
Jesus is
the treasure
in the
field.
Jesus is
the pearl
of immeasurable
value.
He really
is as good
as the word
says that he
is.
Apart from
him,
we are all
destined for
God's wrath.
We're destined
for that
because God
is holy
and we
are born
sinners.
We are in
rebellion
against him.
But on
the cross,
Jesus,
the sinless
son of
God,
bore
God's
wrath
in our
place.
He took
the place
of every
sinner
who will
believe,
who will
trust in
him and
follow him
as Lord.
Only those
who are safe
in Christ
can rejoice
always and
pray without
ceasing and
give thanks in
every circumstance.
And you
can be safe
in Christ
today
and forever.
if you
will be like
that man
in the
field
and like
that merchant
searching for
pearls.
This life,
it offers a
lot of
things.
And you
may be
satisfied to
some extent
with what
it's offered
you.
But when
you finally
see Jesus
for who
he really
is and
what he
really is
and what
he has
done,
everything
else in
this life,
as Paul
said to
the Philippians,
will feel
like
rubbish.
And the
great thing
about it
is he
just invites
us to
receive it.
He does
all of
this and
he doesn't
even put a
cover charge.
He says,
just come
to me.
All who
are burdened
and heavy
laden,
I will
give you
rest.
You will
find rest
for your
soul in
me alone
so that
when
everything
else
around
you
is
falling
apart
and
all
the
suffering
that
you're
enduring,
you can
actually have
true joy
because you
have rest
in your
soul
because Jesus
has put it
there.
In the end,
to rejoice
always,
to pray
without ceasing,
to give
thanks in
all circumstances
is to live
like you
belong to
God.
That's what
sanctification is
all about,
isn't it?
It's God's
people living
like God's
people.
But it's
not an easy
task and we
know that and I
don't mean to
present it as if
it is easy.
We do
regularly fail
to live up to
it.
we're grateful
that the promise
even of this
chapter is
that God is
going to
complete all
of this in
us one day
and this
will not be a
struggle anymore.
But for now,
it will be a
daily struggle.
I think that's
why God is
pleased for us
to grow in
Christian community
and I want to
zoom out just
for a moment
from 16 to
18 to see
its place
in this
section.
The verse
before it,
it led with
see to it
that no one,
that is other
believers,
see to it
that we will
not repay evil
for evil but
that we will
always do good.
Well,
there's no break
in the thought
between verse 15
and verse 16.
It is a different
unit that Paul
is focused on
but all of it's
working together.
We might
understand this
rejoicing and
this prayer and
this thanksgiving
as flowing out
of our responsibility
in verse 15
to ensure
that one another
are doing it.
You know what
that means?
That means we
need to see to
it that each
other are
always rejoicing,
always praying,
that are always
giving thanks.
And when we
understand our
own hearts,
we understand that
we actually need
one another to
help encourage us
in this,
don't we?
we need each
other.
This section
that flows out
of that instruction
and we must
see to it
that everyone
lives in light
of their standing
in Christ,
rejoicing,
praying,
giving thanks.
In Christ,
it's possible
and we should
continue in these
things as we
eagerly await
his return.
Let's pray.