Well once again let us turn to
the Epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians and the fifth chapter and this
evening we'll speak God willing on verses 18 and 19. So again just two short verses
and in this fifth chapter of the first epistle of Paul to
the Thessalonians. And these two verses read, In
everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you, and in quench not the spirit. Well, the words are very clear,
aren't they? and very important and relevant really to us today
as they were when the Apostle wrote them and indeed going back
really from the beginning of time it was necessary to have
this heart of thanksgiving. And so the Apostle says here,
in everything give thanks. And that may on the face of it
appear to be very difficult And perhaps we think, well, I don't
really think that's true. But the word of God is true and
we should not doubt it. And we should not think, therefore,
that what God has said is untrue. But it would be a good thing
if the Lord enables us to examine the things in our lives and the
things which occur in our lives. And sometimes On the face of
it, it seems totally against us, totally in opposition. And
yet, you see, we read here these gracious words, in everything,
give thanks. That means that when things are
wholly appears against us, and not for us at all, and we read
a verse like this, we think, well, how can? I give thanks
under such a difficult situation. Well, the reality is, of course,
that we don't know what God has in store for us. All we know
is what happens today and what's happened in the past. And we
don't know what will happen in the future. And therefore it
is wonderful if God does come and indeed give us grace to recognise
this truth and really the next clause gives some light on it. He says, for this is the will
of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. And we can recognise therefore
that it's really a personal statement to us individually. And for this
it is the will of God. And that's a great blessing and
surely a great comfort to us when we can understand that God
does things in our lives which are for our good. Indeed we read,
don't we, as the Apostle said very clearly, and we know that
all things work together for good to those who love God and
to those who are called according to his purpose. Well, it's the
mercy of God, therefore, if we enter into this situation, and
it's only through the power and the blessing of Almighty God,
There are many, many occasions in the Word of God where thanksgiving
is mentioned. I'll just mention a few. There's
very many. If you'd like to go home and look and you'll find
there are many places where we are to give thanks. And again,
when the Apostle wrote to the Ephesians, He says this in chapter
5 and verse 20, giving thanks always for all things unto God
and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. So it wasn't just a one-off statement
that the Apostle wrote. He was clearly under the influence
of the Holy Spirit. And obviously this was a burden
upon his heart. He didn't want to give it up.
He didn't want to pass over it. He wanted the church to realise
the necessity and the reason that all of us have to give thanks
and to realise for this is the will of God. It puts things,
doesn't it, in a right perspective when we realise that our little
lives, small and insignificant as they are, the Lord has willed
everything that comes into our lives. It doesn't happen by chance. It doesn't happen because God
made a mistake. It happens because it is the
will of God in Christ Jesus. Remember, as the Apostle says,
concerning you, concerning me, personal. I think the Lord looks
upon us individually. And of course, the great purpose
of our God to us is to prepare each one of us for that great
day when we must leave this earth and to realize the great truth
for here we have no continuing city but we seek one to come. What a blessing therefore if
that is so. And then just a couple more statements
from the Apostle Paul on the same theme When he wrote to the
Philippians, which of course is a very beautiful epistle,
he tells us in the 4th chapter and the 6th verse, And that's
a statement which often we forget. We come to God in prayer, Sometimes we come with a want
list and we kind of go through the want list and yet you see
the Word of God encourages us here that we're in everything
by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. We're not to forget
thanksgiving when we come to God in prayer and therefore he
says, let your requests be made known unto God. I feel this,
if we do have a thankful heart, it puts so many things in a right
perspective. It puts us in a right frame. We perhaps lose sight of the
difficulties, and the trials, and the opposition. We remember
those gracious words of the apostle, or rather the psalmist, when
he said, as for God, his way is perfect. Sometimes that length
takes a lot of grace to be able to say it. But nonetheless it
is the Word of God and surely we do believe the Word of God
to be true. And then in the Colossians, you
see this runs through the epistles, so there is that desire that
those who he wrote to would indeed have this clear understanding
of the need for thanksgiving and he says in the second chapter
in the seventh verse rooted and built up in him and we don't
want to be built up anywhere else but we built up in him and
established in the faith as he had been taught and then he says
abounding therein with thanksgiving. That means we're not just to
mention it once or twice, it is something we should remember
often as we come to God in prayer, abounding with thanksgiving. What a blessing it is if you
and I come into that category. We read together that 95th Psalm,
which is a very short but a very beautiful and a very instructive
Psalm. And we read there as it starts,
O come, let us sing unto the Lord, let us make a joyful noise
to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence. I'm sure as we come in prayer,
we believe and we desire to come into the presence of God, to
the merits of our Saviour. Let us come before his presence
with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. Well, the psalmist starts off
there and there's other places in the psalms where we can be
encouraged. In Psalm 69, that's a long psalm,
it's a good psalm. And the psalmist says, I will
praise the name of God with a song. and will magnify him with thanksgiving. That means that he will be enlarged
in our estimation, in our heart, as we come with thanksgiving
to our God. Oh yes, enter into his gates
with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Be thankful
unto him and bless his name. So many reasons are there in
our little life to thank our God, to remember all the way
that he's led us, especially the Lord has had compassion on
us, especially the Lord has shown us our sinfulness as we sang
together in that first hymn, 520, and yet then to be led. As we come in thankfulness, to
the blessings of the Saviour. You may remember in Jehoshaphat's
day there was that occasion when the enemy was all around them
and Jehoshaphat was in a strait and he cried to the Lord and
said, neither know you what to do but our eyes are upon thee. And they were instructed by the
Prophet that when they went out to battle they were to praise
God. The battle hadn't been won, the
battle hadn't been commenced, but they were to praise God with
that humble confidence in God that the outcome was indeed secure. You see, our God is in control
of everything. What a good thing and a blessed
thing it is. And then just one final verse from the Psalms,
Psalm 147 and verse 7. Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving. Sing praise upon the harp unto
our God. Well, you see, there is a desire
to sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving. And then perhaps just finally
remember Jonah. Jonah, God's servant. Jonah,
a man who walked contrary to God. A man who deserved to be
cut off. And yet, we see God's love and
mercy towards Jonah. And we're told after those three
days and three nights, he said the Spirit of God came upon him
and he said, I will look again unto thy holy temple. Yes, moved by the Holy Spirit. And he came then. And what did
he say? He said, but I will sacrifice
unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving there in the whale's belly. that cry of praise, but I will
sacrifice unto thee with a voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that
that I have vowed. And he gives this great statement,
salvation is of the Lord. So surely we have great cause
to praise and to thank our God. for his mercy and to be really
thankful to him and then just very quickly the 19th verse quench
not the spirit. You should be very mindful of
that in young converts not to quench the work of the spirit. We've seen sometimes people have
really been quenched and yet they do possess that work of
grace. And it's so easy for us to put
as a standard our own experience, our own testimony. Whereas of
course the standard of conversion is in the Word of God. And that's
what we should always direct people to. What does the Lord
say? What has the Lord said? And always
be very careful not to quench the Spirit. A very straightforward
word, isn't it? And it's a command to the Church
of God. Quench, not the Spirit. We can
go back to Isaiah. Isaiah, and in that beautiful
42nd chapter, the prophet says, a bruised reed. Should he not break, sometimes
we may feel bruised, but we can be have a confidence in God,
a bruised reach shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall
he not quench. That means there is life and
it is smoking. not perhaps very strong, but
yet here's the gracious encouragement. And the smoking flax, should
he not quench, and he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. Well, again, we have a very simple,
very gracious, very important instruction from our God. And
may we each possess that grace to walk in these things and to
realize in so doing We will do that which is well-pleasing to
our God. And we will be then doing the
will of God in everything. Give thanks for this is the will
of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the spirit.