Rejoice, Pray, Give Thanks

Scripture Reading

Well, you turn over in your Bibles with me to the book of 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. You might find it a little bit easier to flip to 1 Thessalonians from the back of the Bible to the beginning because it's closer to the end than the beginning. Far closer. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5.

You can find that on page 1050 if you're using the provided pew Bibles. Once again, we're going to read the whole of chapter 5, but the sermon is specifically going to look at verses 16 through 18. But for the sake of context, it's important we read the whole chapter. Why don't we go ahead and turn our ears and our attention now to God's perfect Word. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5.

But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, peace and safety, Then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night. And those who get drunk are drunk at night.

But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.

Therefore, comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing. And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. Be at peace amongst yourselves. Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the faint-hearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all.

See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good, both for yourself and for all. Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. And in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things. Hold fast what is good. Abstain from every evil. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Prayer for Illumination

He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. Brethren, pray for us. Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss. I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read to all the holy brethren. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for your Word. We pray now that as we read your Word, as we think about your Word, as we meditate upon it, as we hear it preached, we pray that you would light a fire within our bones. that You would sanctify us through and through. Father, let Your Holy Spirit do His work now in Jesus' name. Amen.

Sermon

It's been a hard week for me, not because of much travel. Actually, the traveling part was really fun. Going and talking to people and doing things Presbytery-wise and going to a wedding was fun, but as you know, on Tuesday we got horrible news of one of my friend's death. And on Tuesday, I found myself at the beginning of the workday, weeping and weeping and weeping. And somewhere around lunchtime, Olivia came in and she said, well, do you want to come out for lunch?

And I said, OK, sure. Yeah, I might as well. And so I was feeling bad. And she sat there. And we were talking about Noah's death. And she said, at least he's with the Lord now. There was a glimmer of light in that hope. You know, and I tried to cling to that light, and I sat there and I thought, yeah, I mean, we just read this in 1 Thessalonians, right? He gets to raise from the dead first. Right? He sits before the throne of glory, before God the Father Almighty, basking in the light of Jesus Christ. That's true.

And I thought, that gave me a little bit of hope. Okay, but then I went in my office, and I found myself in despair again. I thought, OK, I just got to get to work. I just need to busy my mind with something. So I thought, OK, I'm going to print out the Greek for this week's sermon. I'm just going to start translating. And what's the first words I read? Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. And all things give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." These were first century people.

Their loved ones had died. Paul has to write them here and give them hope. What happened to our loved ones when they died? They knew what it was like to have that sting of death. They knew what it was like to be persecuted. They knew what it was like to be in pain.

And sometimes we come to verses like this and we think, oh, this is just so, like, it's just not real, right? It's just make yourself feel good, smile, even though life is hard. Brothers and sisters, it's in the midst of everyday life and pain and trials and even in the mundane things that these words are true in every situation. Rejoice in the Lord always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks always. This is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Rejoice without ceasing. I emailed one of my friends.

This was decades ago. His children have been gone for a while now. His wife was in a horrible car accident and she was carrying a child in her womb at that time. They didn't know if the child was going to live. One of his children died in the car wreck. And he sat there in the hospital as his wife was on life support and they didn't know if the baby would live. She made it absolutely clear ahead of time that no matter what, if the baby had any signs of life, they were not to take the baby. And they had these conversations ahead of time. And so he sat there and he grieved and he grieved and he sat in her hospital room day in and day out, not knowing if there was any hope for either his wife or their unborn child.

And I asked him, I said, how did you get through it? In the darkness of that situation, how did this verse apply to you? Rejoice always. And he said, well, he sat in that hospital room and as he prayed, he remembered something that his wife would always get upset about.

They would be driving along the road and someone would have a bumper sticker that said, half a verse. And the one that she didn't like the most was when people would have a bumper sticker that said, all things work together for the good. And she would be in the car and she would look over at her husband and she said, at least finish the verse. You know, all things work together for the good of those who love him and have been called according to his purposes. For God's people, everything always works out.

And Brent said, he didn't know how this was going to work out for his good. But the only way that he could find joy in that dark, dark place, where there was only a sliver of light, was to trust His heavenly Father, like a dad who would tell their kids going through something, I can't explain everything to you right now, but I'll tell you more about it later. They said that childlike faith when he had nothing else to cling to but just what God tells him, and just take it as a simple truth and rejoice in that simple truth.

Rejoice always. This is where the psalmist often finds themselves, where they have to say, the joy of the Lord is my strength. As you look at the thousands and thousands of enemies as the Israelites stood there on the battle, what was the only strength they had? It was in the Lord God Himself. Rejoice. Always keep your eyes on the promises. Your strength comes in Christ. Rejoice.

And you don't have to wait for these big huge life events to happen. For someone like our sister Lynn, who struggled to find that joy as her husband was dying there in front of him. She struggled as we sat there and we talked about John. Struggling to find that joy, but she found it. But it started because she found joy in little things in life to start with.

Rejoice in the Lord now! Rejoice in the good things. Rejoice in the Lord. When things are going well, thank the Lord. Rejoice that He has given you good things. And in the mundane things of life, rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord when you drink that cup of coffee and you get to wake up in the morning. Rejoice in the Lord that He gave you taste buds and He gave you coffee. Rejoice in the Lord when you flush the toilet and it actually works. Rejoice in the Lord when you turn on your car and it actually starts. Rejoice in the Lord even in the mundane things. Rejoice in the Lord. Pray without ceasing. A more literal translation going word for word would be constantly pray. Constantly pray.

Horatio Stafford was a businessman in Chicago. He was friends with D.L. Moody. And as many of you have probably heard the story before, Horatio was there and his livelihood was destroyed in fires when the Great Chicago Fire happened. And he was there and he was having to rebuild his business. And as he was rebuilding his business, he needed to get things done.

He sent his family off to England on a ship. Because his friend Moody was going to be preaching there, so he thought he was going to send his family out to England, and they would go there, and they would be refreshed, and he would follow up with them.

On the way, the ship that his family, his wife and his four children were on, was hit by another ship and it sank. And four of his children died. His wife was found unconscious on a plank of wood, She sent back a telegram and it said the words, saved alone. Horatio quickly got on a ship and sailed to go be with his wife. And at a certain point in the voyage, the captain had him come up and he said, it's right here, under three miles of water that your children lay.

And as Lesdon goes, Horatio went down into the belly of the ship, down to his cabin, and there he wrote the words to his famous hymn, It Is Well With My Soul. Could you imagine the prayer that had to go in to pray that God would give you peace to your soul? Praying to Him with tears beyond groaning, that He would comfort your soul at that time. It's not very often that I read a hymn from this pulpit, but Horatio's words went like this, When peace like a river attendeth my way, so sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot Thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul, though Satan should buffet, through trial shall come, lest this blessed assurance control, that Christ, yes he has, has regarded my helpless estate, and has shed my own blood, his own blood for my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul.

When it is hard, Pray. Pray without ceasing. When it is hard for you to love, pray. Pray without ceasing. When your brother or sister is annoying you, pray. Pray that he would keep you from being irritable. When it is hard to be married to your spouse, I know that's hard to think about, pray without ceasing. When there's difficulty at work, Pray.

In all circumstances, in every area of life, lift up your cares to the Lord. He hears you. Once again, if you can imagine being a Christian in the first century when Paul is writing this, they have serious problems. This is not just like, oh, you know, be happy and pray and everything's going to be okay. No, even when everything's going to pot, just pray.

Go to the King who sits upon His throne, who has mercy upon mercy, and pray. He's a Heavenly Father, willing and able to help us. Pray unceasingly. Pray for when things are going well. When things are going well in your life, when the corn prices and bean prices are going well, thank the Lord. When things are going well in your life, pray. When things are smooth at work, pray. When you hear about your children doing well, pray. Pray about the mundane things, the Lord cares about them.

Isn't it interesting that mixed into the Lord's prayers, He tells us to pray for something as mundane as lunch. Father, give me this day my daily bread. He cares about the food that goes into your mouth. He cares about the mundane things like when you need new shoes or brake shoes on your car. Pray without ceasing. He hears you.

This is the ministry that Jesus Christ does for you. Just a few weeks ago we talked about what does it mean for Jesus to be our High Priest. And one of the things He does is He prays continually for us. Jesus Christ takes our prayers and as a high priest makes them perfect to his Father. It's part of the blessing of being a child of God. You get the ear of the King of the Universe. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and all things give thanks. In all things, give thanks. Or in every occasion, give thanks. However you want to translate this, in everything, give thanks.

I was reading a story one time about Matthew Henry, and if you've ever read Matthew Henry's commentaries, he's always this really logical guy. He has point, one, sub-point, sub-point, sub-point, and sometimes you get lost in the sub-points. But his mind is just so logical. But one time he got robbed and they stole his wallet while he was along the way. And he went to his diary and his logical mind didn't just go away.

He thanked God for four things the night that he had been robbed. And in his diary he wrote, I need to be thankful to God that this man has never robbed me before. Secondly, I need to be thankful because although he took my purse, he did not take my life. After the man is robbed, Matthew Henry continues to be thankful to the Lord. He says, thirdly, I need to be thankful although he took all I possessed, it wasn't too much. Some of us can feel that. Fourthly, I need to be thankful because it was I who was robbed and not I who robbed. Even as this guy was robbed, he thought about this verse, how do I be thankful after this man has stolen everything I owned in my wallet? Everything in your life, brothers and sisters, there's something to be thankful for.

Just this morning, I was eating pro. I couldn't find the keys to my car. I got mad at that. I said, okay, I'm just going to get the Jeep. I'm running late, so I'm going to do that. I get to the Jeep, and the Jeep's battery is dead. I thought, oh man, I'm really mad at that. I got irritable with the kids. I rummaged inside and got my keys. I got in the car, and I drove real fast down the gravel road. I thought to myself, Not once did I thank God that I actually have a car. How often do I thank God that when I put my key in the car, that it actually started? Did I thank God? I think if you're like me, often in the mundane, we don't thank God.

We don't stop and think, what is God's blessings and mercies? How often do we get short with our children? Instead of when they do something that we just think, what is wrong with you? Do we stop? And we thank God for an opportunity to disciple. Do we stop and we thank God for an opportunity to show our husband grace or our wife grace? How often do we thank God that your husband or wife is still alive? How often do we stop and thank God in the morning that He opened our eyes to see another day? How often do we go to bed without praying, thanking God for the good things He gave us that day? Brothers and sisters, every moment you live, you breathe in God's air, you have an opportunity to thank God for everything in all circumstances. The scope of verse 18 is so wide. and everything give thanks. I know I'm telling a lot of illustrations today and that's fine, but living this out is one of the most amazing things.

I always remember that story of the lady who was jailed during the People's Revolution in China. She was given a bowl of rice each day. That's all the food she had. She was imprisoned because she was a Christian. And what she would do is she'd sit there at her table and she would line up her rice, one grain, end to end, to go around her table. And as she, let this be a challenge to you, as she ate, she would pick up one grain of rice and find something to thank God for and then would eat it. And then she would pick up the next grain of rice and find something to thank God for and eat it. If a woman in jail with one bowl of rice has something to be thankful for with every grain, doesn't that put me to shame? Thank God for even the mundane things in your life.

Jesus Christ, the night you was betrayed, this is one of the amazing things. We just kind of run past this. But when Jesus was betrayed, have you ever noticed what the text says? It doesn't say in the night that Jesus was betrayed, he took the bread and he broke it and he prayed that his disciples would finally stop being boneheads and listen up. Is that what he said? He gave thanks. The second to last prayer that Jesus prays is giving thanks to his Father in heaven. As he knows that the cross is coming, he's giving thanks. He's giving thanks.

Brothers and sisters, we need to lift up our eyes to God more. The humdrum of life, The reality of just daily routines can lull us to sleep. We need to have eyes that see God's grace every day. We need to have souls that would automatically run to our Father in prayer. We need to have minds that would constantly be thinking, how can I thank God in this situation? When we start orienting our hearts that way, it changes how we live in our entire lives. This is one of the ways that God is sanctifying us, making us more and more like Jesus Christ.

Brothers and sisters, even if your hearts are heavy this morning, rejoice. Even if there's lots on your mind this morning, pray. Even if things aren't going the way you've wanted this week or this month, give thanks always. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Closing Prayer

Let's pray. Lord, teach us to rejoice when it's hard. Teach us to have hearts that would run to you in prayer. Father, we pray that your Holy Spirit would press upon our hearts a sense of gratitude, that we would always be thankful. Lord, please let these words be true in our lives, not just commandments in our ears, but would be sweetness to our souls. In Jesus's name.