Concluding Exhortations and Commandments (3)

Well, let's turn in our

Bibles, please, to 1 Thessalonians 5. As we continue to work through this last portion of this epistle, today,

Lord willing, we'll cover one more verse, that being 1

Thessalonians 5 .18. This, of course, is the third Lord's Day in which we are working through this last portion of the epistle, which contained concluding exhortations and commandments.

We have addressed ten of the total of eighteen that are in this last passage.

And so we concluded last week, considering the command, pray without ceasing. And we explained that contrary to what many wrongly think, this is not a command that we pray every minute of every day, but rather, it's a command that we always be a praying people.

Pray without ceasing. As one expressed it, the idea of the present imperative, now that's, you know, a mood of a verb, a command, an imperative, in its present tense.

The idea of the present imperative is not that believers are to pray every minute of every day, but that we should offer prayers to God repeatedly.

We should make it our habit to be in the presence of God. And that reflects the command that we have.

Today we'll take up with verse 18. It's the eleventh word of instruction or command given to us, and it reads, give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Now, by the way, I might just say a word up in the credits at the top of the page.

Every week I have words for children. Some of the little ones that are here, I found years ago, it's sometimes helpful if they can't follow along with us, understand what we're saying.

They can listen for words, and they count them up, and then sometimes they show me afterwards how many times

I said the word thanks. And today it's going to be in the hundreds, I'm afraid. Thanks or thanksgiving,

God's will, gratefulness, these are words that we'll be hearing frequently today.

But let's read the passage once again for context. 1 Thessalonians 5, 12 through 28.

We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you to esteem them very highly in love because of their work.

Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the faint -hearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.

See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise prophecies, but test everything.

Hold fast what is good, abstain from every form of evil. Now may the

God of peace and self sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our

Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful. He will surely do it.

Brothers, pray for us. Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. I put you under oath before the

Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

We commonly read verse 18 as a separate command, don't we? It's one of those verses that we really think of it as independent from the context.

It's the kind of verse that stands alone. In fact, it's the kind of verse that you commonly see on a Christian poster in a

Christian bookstore or greeting cards, Christian greeting cards. But actually the command of verse 18, give thanks, is part of a larger sentence which begins with verse 16.

Give thanks is the third verb in the sentence. And so it reads, while highlighting the three verbs,

I've emboldened, italicized them. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances.

It's one sentence. Of course, verse 18 has a clause attached which reads, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you, which should lead us to ask a question.

Does this clause or this pronoun within this clause, the word this, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you, is that only to be understood as applying to giving thanks in all circumstances?

Or is it supposed to apply also to rejoice in the Lord? Rejoice always and pray without ceasing.

What's the answer to that? Again, we tend to look at verse 18 as a single command, right?

We tend to give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

But actually, the answer is that this clause refers to all three verbs. In other words, we're to rejoice always, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

We're to pray without ceasing, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. And thirdly, we're to give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

And so the pronoun this, for this is the will of God, actually applies to all three previous verbs within this sentence.

It may not be apparent to us as we read the English translation, but it is very apparent within the original

Greek text. And the word, the pronoun this, is actually in a form, it's not masculine or feminine, but it's a neuter pronoun, this.

And when you have a singular neuter pronoun within a clause, and commonly that clause refers to everything that preceded it.

And that's why we know it applies to all three. And so we tend to actually divide this sentence, and when we do so, we maybe take away the emphasis of that clause, this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

We take away that emphasis from the first two verbs, and it should be there as well. Well, let's give attention to this third verb in the sentence, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

We see this command has two parts in it. First, there's a duty pressed upon us, give thanks in all circumstances.

That's the ESV, the English Standard Version. And then second, the reason is attached to the duty, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Let's take each of these in turn. First the duty, and then the reason for the duty. The duty that's pressed upon us, we're to give thanks.

And so we're commanded to render thanksgiving. God has given this duty to us, it's a command.

And this duty is to express thanksgiving to Him for all things, in all circumstances, as the

ESV says. Thanksgiving is a pleasant duty, however, that God has entrusted to us.

This is not burdensome, is it? It's a pleasant duty. We express thanksgiving to God because we're commanded to do so.

But we do so, it's not a laborious chore, but rather it's a pleasurable delight. Or it ought to be.

And so it's a pleasant duty for us, because thanksgiving flows freely from our hearts that overflow with gratitude toward our

God. It would be unnatural not to give thanks to God, right? It's a duty, but it's a pleasurable duty.

Thanksgiving flows from gratefulness, which is the emotion of one who is contented and recognizes his indebtedness to another.

One who is discontented cannot be thankful, but one who is contented is thankful for everything.

Thankfulness, which is gratefulness expressed in thanksgiving, gratefulness would be the emotion of thanksgiving, the action of expressing that gratefulness, is a fruit of godliness.

No one but a godly man can be truly a thankful man toward God. And by a godly man we're talking about a

Christian man or woman, using man generically there, of course. We read in 2

Timothy that one of the characteristics of fallen unconverted persons in the last days, in other words this entire church age, is they are unthankful.

So here's a list of sins to which unthankfulness is linked. This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come.

Paul is telling Timothy what he'd have to face in Ephesus. We're in the last days, ever since the coming of Christ until the

Second Coming. For men should be lovers of their own selves. We're there. Covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, and there it is, unthankful.

And then there's other sins too. We read of the ungodly persons in Romans 1 who refused to respond to God, who has in a measure revealed himself in creation.

Because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

So unthankfulness toward God characterizes non -Christians.

Our thanksgiving is to be rendered to God, and I think that we need to emphasize that. We are to render thanksgiving, of course, to everyone, to all to whom we're indebted, but chiefly, of course, to God, who works the good in all that is bestowed upon us.

And this is clearly the Apostles intent, to express thanksgiving to God. Thanksgiving to God is repeatedly referred to in the

Scriptures as a sacrifice we render to God. You know, as Christians, we're priests, aren't we?

Every true Christian is a true priest before God, which means every one of us has access to God.

I'm not the Pope. You don't have to come to me to get to God. You can go to God directly through Jesus Christ.

That makes you a priest. But as priests offered sacrifices in the Old Testament, New Testament priests offered sacrifices, too.

And one of the chief sacrifices we offer to our God is that of thanksgiving. It's a sacrifice, just as real and important to God as any animal sacrifice in the

Old Testament, perhaps more so. Offer unto God the sacrifice of thanksgiving and pay thy vows unto the

Most High. And that's Old Testament, Psalm 50, verse 4. When we express thanksgiving to God, we do offer a sacrifice far more valuable to God than any

Old Testament sacrifice. The psalmist wrote, I will praise the name of God with a song and will magnify him with thanksgiving.

This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs. Your voice of thanksgiving to God as a

Christian is received by the Lord in a greater measure than any animal sacrifice offered in the

Old Testament. We are to express thanksgiving to God. And this is not a command to simply have feelings of gratefulness.

A lot of people think thanksgiving is just in those terms, that you ought to be grateful for the privilege you have and how well it's gone for you.

And this is a pet peeve I have in the manner that the day of thanksgiving is often recognized today in our secular culture.

Of course, the holiday was originally instituted so that the people of this land would thank God for his kindness that he has shown to our nation and to petition him to continue to be gracious to us.

But somehow God has been removed from the equation and now the holiday is viewed merely as an occasion which people should recognize and appreciate what they have, irrespective of God who gave them the blessing.

You're just to be grateful because of who, that you live in a place of liberty, in a place of abundance.

You're to be grateful for that, not take it for granted. But the whole idea of expressing thanksgiving to God because he is the source, the author of that, seems to have been lost to our culture.

The Holy Scriptures tell us we're to offer thanksgiving to each of the persons of the Holy Trinity. Thanksgiving is to be given to God the

Father, Ephesians 5 20, giving thanks always for all things unto God the Father. Thanksgiving is to be rendered to the

Son of God, 1 Timothy. I thank Christ Jesus the Lord. Thanksgiving is to be given to the

Holy Spirit because, of course, he is the person of the Holy Trinity that brings all these blessings to us.

Thanksgiving is to be rendered to God by believers. It should be rendered by everybody and the unthankful, of course, are condemned because of their ungratefulness.

But thanksgiving is to be rendered to God by believers chiefly, and really only they truly are enabled to render thanksgiving to God properly and fully.

It's to Christians that Paul addressed this epistle. Paul to Venus, Timothy to the church of the

Thessalonians, he's to this church, these Christians, he commanded, you give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God and Christ Jesus concerning you.

Thomas Watson, my favorite Puritan, he could spin a phrase, he wrote of this, praise and thanksgiving is saint -like work.

We find in scripture that the godly are still called upon to praise God. Ye that fear the Lord, bless the

Lord, Psalm 135 20. Let the saints be joyful in glory, let the high praises of God be in their mouth,

Psalm 149. Praise is a proper, is a work proper to saints. Then he goes on to say, none but the godly can praise

God aright, as all do not have the skill to play the lute, so not everyone can sound forth their harmonious praises to God.

Wicked men are bound to praise God, but they are not fit to praise Him. None but a living

Christian can tune God's praise. Wicked men are dead in sin, how can they who are dead lift up God's praises?

The grave cannot praise thee, Isaiah 38 18. A wicked man stains and eclipses

God's praise, in other words he defiles it, doesn't come out right. If an unclean hand works in damask or flowered satin, it will slur its beauty.

God will say to the sinner, what hast thou to do to take my covenant in thy mouth? And then

B, praise is not comely, it is beautiful for any but the godly. Praise is comely, beautiful for the upright.

A profane man stuck with God's praise is like a dunghill stuck with flowers. That's typical

Watson. Praise in the mouth of a sinner is like an oracle in the mouth of a fool. How uncomely it is for anyone to praise

God if his whole life dishonors God. There you have it. It is as indecent for a wicked man to praise

God as it is for a usurer to talk of living by faith, or for the devil to quote scripture.

The godly alone are fit choristers in God's praises. It is called the garment of praise,

Isaiah 61 3. This garment fits handsomely only on a saint's back. I quote more of Watson a little later.

Offering thanksgiving to God sets Christians apart from all others. The Christian is able to rise above all others in God's creation in this

God -glorifying duty. Again, here are Watson's words. By this a

Christian excels all the infernal spirits. Do you talk of God? So can the devil.

He brought scripture to Christ, you know, in the wilderness. Do you profess religion?

So can the devil. He transformed himself into an angel of light. Do you fast?

Satan never eats. Do you believe? The devils have a faith of assent.

They believe and tremble. But as Moses worked such a miracle as none of the magicians could reproduce, so here is a work

Christians may be doing, which none of the devils can do, and that is the work of thanksgiving.

The devil is blaspheming, but do not bless. Satan has his fire, but do not burn. Satan has his fire, but do not burn. Satan has his fire, but do not burn. Satan has his fire, but do not burn. Satan has his fire, but do not burn. Satan has his fire, but do not burn. Satan has his fire, but do not burn. Satan has his fire, but do not burn. Satan has his fire, but do not burn. Satan has his fire, but do not burn. Satan has his fire, but do not burn. Satan has his fire, but do not burn. Satan has his fire, but do not burn.

Satan has his fire, but do not burn. Satan has his fire, but do not burn. it's broader also. Not just giving thanks in all circumstances, but giving thanks in all things.

In everything and in all things we are to render thanks to God. In everything.

How can this be? Even in tragic things, give thanks in all things.

This is the will of God and Christ Jesus concerning you. Again, Watson, and as a godly man expresses thankfulness in every duty, he does so in every condition.

He will be thankful in adversity as well as prosperity. In everything give thanks. A gracious soul, in other words someone who has been saved by grace, a gracious soul is thankful and rejoices that he is drawn nearer to God, though it be by the cords of affliction.

When it goes well with him, he praises God's mercy. When it goes badly with him, he magnifies God's justice.

When God has a rod in his hand, a godly man will have a psalm in his mouth. The devil's smiting of Job was like striking a musical instrument.

He sounded forth praise. The Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord. When God's spiritual plants are cut and bleed, they drop thankfulness.

The saints' tears cannot drown their praises. We are to thank

God for the temporal mercies that we receive from him in this life. Things day to day.

God is described as the Father of mercies. In this life we are the objects of mercies and therefore we are to be thankful for, say, the physical life that he has given us, that God brought us into being, that we may live in this wonderful creation he has made to cause us to render thanksgiving to God.

Know ye that the

Lord, he is God, it is he who has made us, now we ourselves, we are his people. The sheep of his pasture enter into his gates with thanksgiving and unto his courts with praise.

Be thankful unto him and bless his name. That God made us in the way he made us should be a cause of rendering thanks to him.

I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works, and that my soul knows right well.

My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth, and that is a reference to the womb of your mother, by the way.

Thine eyes did see my substance yet being imperfect. In thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

So thanks is to be rendered to God for the life that he has given us, and also for the specific life he has given you, and not another.

He made us each individually with unique appearance, abilities, unique experiences. He has made us each uniquely and has given us a different kind of life, each of us, so as to enable us to walk with him and glorify him.

That we were born at this time in history, in this place where we live and were born, having been, say, brought here this morning, is no accident is it, because he orders our lives.

He directs the path of all his creatures according to his own purposes and wisdom. As Paul told these pagans in Athens, God is made of one blood, all nations of men did dwell on all the face of the earth, and he has determined the times before appointed, the bounds of their habitation, when they live, where they live, and the purpose, so that they should seek the

Lord, if happily they might feel after him, find him, though he not be very far from any of us. Thirdly, we ought to thank

God for the preservation of our being and life. I'm sure every one of us could recount times when the

Lord has intervened in wonderful ways and saved us from physical death.

I could recount a half a dozen times. Remarkable things. But those are just the times that we're aware of.

How many times has the Lord spared us and we just kind of went on in our ignorance, not mindful of it?

He preserves us. He visits us every day with his mercies.

Every morning he preserves our spirits. He upholds our souls and life. He is therefore truly called the preserver of men and is worthy of praise and thanksgiving on that account.

The reason this scripture gives is not only because he's made the heaven and earth and seas and all they're in, but because he preserves them.

Nehemiah 9, verses 5 and 6. Certainly we are to give thanks to God for our health.

Either the continual giving of good health or the restoration of good health is a reason to express thanksgiving to God.

Good health is a very rich blessing, isn't it? And is perhaps appreciated more when you lose it.

And it may be lost quite easily and quickly. I mean surprises. Bill Carter with his aorta aneurysm.

That's a serious issue. Thank the

Lord for his discovery. Not all enjoy continual health.

If God has blessed you with good health, thank God for it. There are some who would give all that they had for good health.

Good health is a blessing and mercy from God. It's not a right that we can demand. And it shouldn't be a right that we can demand of the government, frankly.

Forgive me for that little personal impetus. It's a great privilege and a blessing from God.

Indeed, for every mercy and joy, whether it be for the life he's given us, the health we enjoy, the food and clothing he provides, in all things and everything give thanks.

We are to go through every day being characterized by a thanksgiving people, as a thanksgiving people.

This should characterize us. If we go through life murmuring and complaining, never expressing thanksgiving to God, we are in rebellion to this verse.

Give thanks in everything for this is the will of God and Christ Jesus concerning you. If you're a

Christian, this is how we ought to be. But those are temporal matters.

We're certainly to thank God for the spiritual mercies that we've received from him. We should be thankful for the gospel and the ministry of the gospel that he has given us.

Pastor Prem, our pastor friend in India. He's just a little guy. He's about that tall.

But man, he's a go -getter. He sent me another email the day before yesterday that he's taken a team up into the villages, the mountains.

He said, pray for us. There's no roads. We have to go into the deep jungle. We have to get permission from the government.

He says there's vipers, there's diseases, there's hostile people. Once we get there, the villages, they've never heard the gospel.

There's no churches there. We're probably going to leave some people there to start churches and pray for us.

I mean, there's people in this world that have never heard the name of Jesus Christ. We're immersed in it day by day, aren't we?

The resources and privileges we have, we should be grateful for the gospel and for the ministry of the gospel that he has given us.

In the beginning, the gospel was restricted to Israel alone. But in this gospel age, the

Lord has broken out into the whole world because his purpose is to save a people from all the nations.

And we're living in a land where the gospel still may be preached freely and openly. It's sad that there's not a whole lot of actual gospel being proclaimed faithfully and openly, but at least we have the liberty to do so.

For the removal of the word of God from a society is a great curse of God upon a people.

This was a judgment pronounced on Israel one time. Behold, the days come, says the Lord, I'll send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the

Lord. I wonder if we're not living in those kinds of days in our own society.

And I have friends, and some of you have been down in the Bible Belt for a while and tried to find a sound church.

And of all the churches on every church corner, you've come up wanting. Second, we should be thankful for the gospel and the ministry of the gospel that he has made effectual to us.

I mean, how many times have we, you know, maybe we heard the gospel and it meant nothing to us.

No interest, no desire, no delight. But the fact is that God made it effectual to us.

When people come to salvation, it's evidence that God's grace and mercy and power was at work in them.

This is a marvelous thing and caused us to thank God. It caused Paul to thank God all the time.

Colossians, we give thanks to God. And the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you since we heard of your faith and your love, which you have for all the saints, and for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven.

Ephesians 1, 15, Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks.

I tell people all the time, one of the things I'm most thankful for in this ministry, and I don't know why, but the

Lord down through the years has always been working and saving people. That's not all that common.

I have some good faithful friends who are pastors, they haven't seen a converted person in years.

And the Lord's always done that in our midst. I don't know why, you know, other than He's gracious to us.

And it's a wonderful thing. And we shouldn't take it for granted by any means. We should be very thankful for the

Lord making the gospel effectual in people's souls. If we become saved, it's because, of course, the

Father elected us from eternity. Not because we were better than anybody, but He wanted to glorify

Himself in choosing out great sinners. And so for some reason, He'd look down, and if you're a

Christian, He thought, there's one. I can glorify myself in saving him, saving her.

I choose Him. He didn't have to choose anybody.

We're all damned. You know, all of us are, you know, in sin. And so if He purposed to save us,

I mean, shouldn't that cause us to be so humble and overwhelmed with a sense of gratefulness, expressing thanksgiving all the time?

Paul said to the Thessalonians, we saw back in chapter 2, we're bound to give thanks to God.

Always for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you unto salvation through sanctification of the

Spirit and belief in the truth. We're bound to thank God.

If you're a Christian, it's because God is to be credited with it. It wasn't because you were wise.

It wasn't because you happened to fall into a place where the gospel was preached by accident. You were summoned by God.

You didn't know it, but you were summoned by God, called of God to come to the place, to hear the gospel, and then

He opened your heart to understand and embrace the gospel. You saw it as valuable, important, something you desired.

That's all due to the work of God. We're bound to give thanks to God always. Why wouldn't we be a people characterized always by expressions of thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving is to be rendered to God by believers at all times. We are to be thankful in times of physical and spiritual prosperity, and we are to be thankful even in times of temptation.

We are to be thankful in times of adversity. Pastor, pray for me, you know, that the

Lord would spare me, deliver me, you know, heal me. And those are all appropriate prayers.

But do we thank God in times of adversity? John Gill wrote of giving

God thanksgiving in times of trial and difficulty. Job blessed God or was thankful when he was stripped of all, and the people of God have reason to be thankful under afflictions, when the

Lord puts underneath His everlasting arms and supports them under them, when He strengthens them on a bed of languishing, makes their bed in their sickness, when

He chooses them in the furnace of affliction, and knows their souls in adversity, when He manifests

His love and favor, when He is with them passing through the fire and water, so that the one shall not kindle upon them, nor the other overflow them.

In short, since He makes all things work together for their good here and hereafter, they should be thankful.

Amen, John Gill. There's a Puritan, you maybe never heard of him,

I never heard of him, William Cooper, not the hymn writer, that's spelled differently.

He wrote a sermon entitled, How We in All Things Give Thanks. There's a six volume set called

Puritan Sermons, I happen to have in PDF form, and I came across this.

And, Cooper gave much attention to why Christians are to give thanks to God in their afflictions. And here he gave eight answers, why should a

Christian give thanks in their afflictions. Answer 1, we must give thanks for good.

Afflictions are not evil, but good. Scripture teaches that everywhere, right?

If you're a Christian, nothing ultimately harms you. God brings good out of everything.

There is no curse for the Christian. Everything is blessing, ultimately. It works out for your good.

Can you imagine that? Unbeliever knows nothing about that. Doesn't experience that.

Everything is setting him up for the big fall, right? But everything for the Christian, the

Lord turns about and brings good out of it. Answer 2, we must thank God for every token of fatherly love.

And affliction is a token of fatherly love. Third, the Lord, by afflicting his people, doth prevent sin and purge it.

When we're afflicted, we're not running wild, are we? It's a preservative.

Answer 4, we must thank the Lord for afflicting us and for laying the cross upon us, because it is so far below what we deserve at his hands.

We're being afflicted. God, I thank you it's not worse than it is, because I deserve what's worse than what

I'm experiencing. Answer 5, we may give thanks in everything, even in and for afflictions under the rod and cross, because thereby the

Lord doth discipline us and learns us much. In other words, teaches us much, which else we never would have learned.

There are some things you only learn. David wrote, Psalm 119, it's good that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.

God's showing faithfulness to us when we're afflicted. Answer 6, give thanks in and for afflictions, because hereby the

Lord fits us for heavenly glory. We're sons, we're going to be glorified. Jesus Christ was glorified, all authority given him in heaven and earth, and we're going to have a share in that glory, one degree to another.

And Jesus promised it. That is, if you overcome, if you overcome your afflictions, your suffering, just as I overcame and sat down on my

Father's throne, if you overcome, you will sit down with me on my Father's throne. Afflictions pave the way to glory.

We ought to thank God for it. Answer 7, it's a very high privilege for a Christian to be conformed to Christ.

He was afflicted. Answer 8, the crown and a Christian's banner, his honor and a special favor of the

Lord towards him. Afflictions aren't given to just anybody, but to the ones the

Lord can entrust them with, and therefore you ought to be thankful for it.

We're to be thankful in times of persecution. The Lord encourages his disciples, take part in these things, blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

See, that's the basis of assurance. Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you, say all manner of evil against you falsely for my name's sake.

Rejoice and be exceedingly glad. That carries the idea of rendering thanksgiving, isn't it?

Rejoicing in these things. Now we've considered the duty, we're to render thanksgiving in all things.

This is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you, and now let's consider the reason for that duty.

The reason attached to the duty, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. We should not need to present the benefits of rendering thanksgiving to God in order to motivate us to do so.

In other words, we shouldn't thank God in giving thanksgiving just because I can show you all the benefits that come from that.

We ought to thank God because this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. That settles the matter, right?

This is the reason that he gives. You give thanks in all things because God, it's the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

So this ought to be a sufficient reason for every true child of God to be characterized by rendering thanksgiving.

Your God would have you do so, and therefore you ought to do so. There will be many benefits for doing so, but you should not obey this commandment, but because it's the

Lord's will that you do so. The question, therefore, that we should be asking ourselves is this.

How shall I, as a Christian, bring my heart into this holy and heavenly frame so as in everything give thanks?

I'm not this way, Pastor. How can I put myself in a frame of thinking, a way of living, so that I would be characterized as one who gives thanks in everything?

Well I call upon William Cooper again in the sermon that I referenced earlier.

And he answered the issue, the question. He said, Harken to these few directions, lay them up in your hearts, and draw them out in your constant practice.

And he basically says, in this way you'll become a Christian who is rendering thanksgiving in everything. Pray earnestly for the

Spirit of God. He lists number one. Without that Spirit thou canst never pray or praise

God duly, because not without spirituality none can sanctify the

Lord God in his heart, which is the first principle of this work. But he whose heart the Lord hath sanctified.

The Holy Spirit, breathing in a man, makes him a living organ, tuned to and sounding out his praise.

Praise is comely, or beautiful for the upright. But as uncomely in a carnal mouth as a jewel in a swine's snout, for indeed without the

Spirit of God in men they neither can nor will remember the Lord's mercies, nor consider them, nor value them, nor be affected with them, nor blaze the praise of them.

The dead, says David, do not praise thee. Dead hearts produce dead works.

It is the Spirit that quickens. Pray for the Spirit that the

Lord would manifest himself. Second, labor to get a continual quick sight and sense of sin.

This will sensitize us to seeing his mercies that he freely grants to us in Jesus Christ. It is the one who sees his sin that is a grateful person.

Remember Jesus in the house one day of Simon the Pharisee, and the woman came in and broke the alabaster box and anointed his feet with her tears, wiped his feet.

And the Pharisee, if this man really knew who this woman was, he wouldn't allow her to touch him.

And Jesus said, Simon, I've got to ask you something. When I came in you washed not my feet, but this woman has not ceased to wash my feet with her tears.

He says she loves much because she was forgiven much. Simon, which one will love more, the one who is forgiven little or forgiven much?

I suppose the one who is forgiven much. Yes, that's right. This is this woman. And so again, labor to get a continual quick sight and sense of sin.

You will not be a thankful person if you see little of your sin. If you see much of your sin, you're going to be a thankful person for what the

Lord has given you freely in Christ Jesus. A humble broken heart is the most thankful heart.

Thirdly, behold every mercy coming to thee in the stream of Christ's blood and through the covenant of grace.

God shows common mercies to all, but those who are in covenant with him or in relation to him, they're referred to as special mercies.

We regard mercies that are true to us through the sufferings of Christ by us as rich mercies from which spring much thanksgiving.

They're all due to the Lord Jesus, not because we're deserving of mercy. By definition, mercy is rendered to us something we don't deserve, right?

What we deserve is justice. What we get is mercy. We don't deserve mercy.

No one deserves mercy but justice. Fourth, look at thy mercies as answers to thy prayers and bless the

Lord for them on that account. When mercies come in answer to prayer, it's a double mercy. You get the mercy itself and you get an answer to prayer.

You get twice the blessing. So all our mercies we get by prayer should be the more solemnly dedicated to the

Lord by thanksgiving. And such a frame of a thankful heart is a spiritual frame. And then fifth, when any of God's dealings do either draw us or drive us nearer to God, this is a special mercy.

Mercies are drawing cords. Afflictions are whipping cords to drive us to God.

Mercies are drawing cords to pull us to God, is what he's saying. If the chief shepherd hunts us together and keeps us from straggling and brings us under command, this is a mercy to Christ's sheep.

The storm that sinks and splits some ships drives others faster into their port, into their haven.

And so do troubles of this world make a true Christian's voyage toward heaven the speedier. And six, the soul that is truly and spiritually thankful will so order his whole conversation that God may have the glory of it.

And the way he lives, the way he speaks will tend to this. He'll want to thank God publicly, openly, and from his own soul to bring glory to God.

And seven, if we offer thanks to the Lord acceptably, let us do it in the name of the

Lord Jesus, as the scripture instructs us. Therefore by him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name.

There you have the sacrifice, spiritual sacrifice of thanksgiving. So in conclusion, let's say that the thanksgiving we render is an adorning grace, it's a beautifying thing.

That is, there's something very appealing, even attractive, delightful, encouraging, strengthening about a person who is grateful and expresses that gratefulness in thanksgiving.

On the other hand there's something very unattractive, disheartening, discouraging, sad, and even depressing about an unthankful person.

And you parents know this well, don't you? A thankful child is a delightful child. An ungrateful child is a cause of great grief.

And of course giving thanks in this manner to God in all things is a good evidence of conversion, of true

Christianity. A godly man is a thankful man, as Thomas Watson wrote.

We'll close with this. If this is the sign of a godly man, then the number of the godly appears to be very small.

Few are in the work of praise. Sinners cut God short of his thank -offering.

Where are the nine? Remember that he healed the ten lepers?

Only one came back and thanked him. Jesus asked, where are the nine? Of ten lepers healed, there was but one who returned to give praise.

Most of the world are seculchers, to bury God's praise. You will hear some swearing and cursing, but few who bless

God. Praise is the yearly rent that men owe, but most are behind hand with their rent.

God gave King Hezekiah a marvelous deliverance, but Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him, says the scripture.

He wasn't thankful. That but was a blot on his character.

Some, instead of being thankful to God, render evil for good. They are the worst for mercy.

Do ye thus requit the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? Deuteronomy 32 .6.

This is like the toad that turns the most wholesome herb to poison. Where shall we find a grateful

Christian? We read of the saints having harps in their hands, Revelation 5 .8,

which is the emblem of praise. Many have tears in their eyes and complaints in their mouths, but few have harps in their hands and are blessing and praising the name of God.

May that not be true of us, but may the Lord help us to truly obey this command, to give thanks in everything, in all circumstances, but in everything.

For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you and me and us. Amen? Let's pray.

Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for the many illustrations we have and the commands we have in Scripture.

We pray for grace, our God, that you would help us to be obedient to this. We pray, our

God, that you would help us to see the great blessings, the mercies that we have and that we enjoy in Christ, we who are

Christians, so that we might be truly a thanksgiving people.

And so help us, our God. And we pray, Father, for those strangers to the things that we talked about today.

They go through life day by day, completely unmindful of you and your presence and of your kindness that you have shown to them.

We pray, our God, that you would manifest yourself in a remarkable way, that they would see your hand,

Lord, in your kindness to them. But most of all, that they would see the glorious kindness that you offer in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and enable them to believe and embrace him in faith.