Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you.In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.in everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus to you-ward.
13 sermons cite this verse
… to be happy, you are as happy as you choose to be. First Thessalonians 5.18, no matter what happens, that's the theme of this message, no matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Jesus Christ. Notice, this is God's will. of God's will, always be grateful and thankful, even no matter what happens, no matter what other people say, what other people do. Okay, now let's review. I've already given you two principles. You can be happy no matter what happens in your life, if you choose to do two things. The first, remember that God can bring good out of anything. That's Romans 8, 28. And so you look Look at the situation with faith, not fear. Just start saying, God, help me to look at everything that happens in my life with faith, not fear. Look at problems, look at pain, look at people, look at pressure with faith, not fear. And then number two, never let what other people say or what other people do control your attitude. …
… circumstances. Hmm. What does that not include? None. Give thanks in all. I looked up the word all. It means all. Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. People always say, I want to know God's will. What's God's will for my life? There it is. God's will for your life is the attitude of gratitude to give thanks in all situations, in all circumstances. Now notice, don't misread that verse. It doesn't say, for all things, give thanks. It says, in all things, give thanks. Give thanks in all circumstances. Doesn't say give thanks for all circumstances. You get cancer, you don't have to be thankful for that. A little child is molested, you don't have to be thankful for that. Somebody gets in an accident, you have to be thankful. No, that's actually ridiculous. I mean, that's evil. You don't have to be thankful for evil. It doesn't say give thanks for everything. There's a lot of things that we shouldn't be thankful for, but it says in all circumstances, circle that, in all circumstances, it is God's will for me to develop the attitude of gratitude. And this is the third key to keeping on. You know, I've been in ministry now 52 years. How have I been able to keep my joy? …
… By attacking your purity. Purity is God's will for you. Can I get a text for that? A verse for that? Of course, I'm going to give you a verse for that. I studied all week for this sermon. 1 Thessalonians 4. For this is the will of God. Can we get clearer? Can anybody like, do I need that in the Greek? This is, right? I'm buying pillows at Ikea. Do you have a house, right? This is the will of God. Your sanctification. Godliness would be synonymous with that. Sanctification means set apart or more like Christ in your day-to-day living, that you should abstain from sexual immorality, that you would know how to possess your own vessel in honor and sanctification, not like the Gentiles who go about in passion of lust because they do not know God. If you know him, if you've seen him, if you really have had your mind blown by the one who is the image of the invisible God, who is the firstborn over all creation, whose head and hair are white like wool, whose eyes are like a flame of fire, feet are like burnished brass, who comes on a white horse with a two-edged sword coming out of his mouth to judge. …
… It'll help you be healthier. 1 Thessalonians 5.18, no matter what happens, always be thankful for this is God's will for you. who belong to Christ Jesus. You know, I have people come to me all the time and say, you know, Pastor Rick, I just want to know God's will. I just want to know, what does God want me to do in marriage? What does he want me to do in my career? What does he want me to do in school? What does he want me to do? I just want to know God's will. Well, here it is. This is God's will for you, that in everything you give thanks. Why would God teach you step two when you haven't done step one? You want to know God's will on who to marry. God's saying, why don't you start with step one? Are you being grateful and everything? That's my will. That is my will. God says, do step one, and then we'll move to step two, and then we'll move to step three, and then we'll move to step four. …
… 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, that is the Holy Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things. Hold fast to what is good. Abstain from every form of 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 who calls you his faithful who also will do it he who calls you is faithful who will also 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 we just did it tonight the holy brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. And God's people said, amen. Amen. Real quick. Almost done. Almost done. Very, very quickly. 1 John chapter 3, verse 2. Beloved, now we are the children of God and has not yet been revealed what we shall be like, but we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him. For we shall see him as he is for everyone who has this hope purifies himself just as he is pure. How beautiful is that? …
… Command. or this is the will of God, your sanctification. Or, verse 18, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you, to give thanks. Give thanks, that's God's will for you. So which is it in Paul's case in Ephesians 1? Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. He commanded me to be an apostle or he set me apart to be an apostle. Here's Galatians 1.15. He who had set me apart before I was born and who called me by his grace. You're going to be an apostle, Paul. Period. I'm God. So right now you hate me. I'm knocking you off your horse. I'm going to shine down from heaven. I'm going to blind you for three days. You're mine. I'm taking you. Isn't that glorious? You know an unbeliever in your life that's like Paul? I do. he can take them. He can take them. Okay, that's my answer to the question, what does the will of God mean? …
… 1 Thessalonians 5, 16 through 18, Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. We see this as an opportunity to pray, an opportunity to rejoice, an opportunity to give thanks for all that God has already done for us. And then Psalm 127, unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. Whatever happens with the building, if we raised more than 12 million and built these buildings and it made us proud or self-assured or arrogant, that would be worse than a waste. And even if we weren't able to do all of this, and Lord willing, we can, but if we weren't, and yet it brought us together in prayer and dependence upon God, then God would be doing something good in our midst. We want to be dependent upon God even as we try to be as thoughtful and as organized as we can. There, I told you it was a lot of information, and we have some time. It'd be a little unwieldy to just have hands up. That's why you've been texting them in. So, Tom, are there some good questions for me and Matt? Sure, there's some good questions here. Let's start with a couple of questions that are actually non-project. We'll go about 15 minutes just for those who are away. We might not get through every question, but okay, …
… don't quit verse 18 in everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you I'm so glad it says in everything and not for everything give thanks because frankly I couldn't thank God for everything when somebody I love is murdered I don't go oh thank you Lord they got killed awesome. I'm not thankful for that. But in all things, I can be thankful. In whatever situation I face, give thanks. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the spirit or don't put out the spirit's fire. Do not despise prophecies, but test all things. Hold fast what is good. Now a prophet in the Old Testament spoke for God, often spoke about things in the future, sometimes just proclaimed the word of the Lord about a situation going on in the present. There is a New Testament gift of prophecy as well. There were prophets in the New Testament. Agabus in chapter 13 was a prophet in the church and recognized as such. One of the promises of the end days, Acts chapter 2, it shall come to pass, according to Joel, shall come to pass in the last day, says the Lord, I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. What is the New Testament gift of prophecy? Sometimes it's proclaiming the word of God, but it's summed up by Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. He who prophesies, Paul said, speaks …
… And there is a lot of thanksgiving in these chapters. in the new testament it says in everything give thanks for this is the will of god in christ jesus concerning you gratitude is the attitude that sets the altitude for the Christian life gratitude is the attitude that sets the altitude for the Christian life every father loves to hear from his son or daughter thank you God our father loves it when we say regularly thank you Jesus healed 10 lepers. Nine of them said nothing after they were healed. Only one gave thanks. 10%. So I hope that is not the ratio among God's people today. I hope it's more like 90% to 10 rather than 10% to 90. So they had part of their worship system, the giving of thanks. Other names are listed all the way down from back in the time of Zerubbabel. And then you'll notice in verse 22, I'm skipping all those names because I love you. During the reign of Darius the Persian, a record was also kept of the Levites and priests who had been heads of their fathers' houses in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jadua. You remember Darius, the Persian, from the book of Ezra, and you also remember him from the book of Daniel. Daniel was there, of course, for Nebuchadnezzar. He was there for Belshazzar. He was there the night Belshazzar was having a drunken orgy and drunken feast, and the man's hand wrote on the wall, many, many tekel you farsen. You've been weighed in the balances and …
… give thanks in every situation, because this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. I wonder if you'd say that out loud with me. Let's just read it together. Give thanks in every situation because this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. When you're frustrated at work, give thanks in every situation because this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. When you're facing battles with your health, give thanks in every situation because this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. When you're struggling with depression or anxiety, give thanks in every situation because this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. When you're not sure how you're gonna make it through, give thanks in every situation because this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Listen, you're not giving thanks for the hardship. You're not giving thanks because your boss is a jerk. You're not giving thanks because you have health problems. You're not giving thanks because you're depressed or anxious right now. …
… And in everything, give thanks. This is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Not when you get better. not when everything's right, because only 3% of our lives is without bad times for the most part. Somebody did an actual survey, and about 3% of our life, we got all the money we need, or, you know, got everything, everything's buzzing along real good. It's a good, good, I love life. And about 97, isn't that a picker-upper? About 97% of the time, we got something major somewhere brewing or going on or coming. And so you got to make a choice to rejoice always. And I don't panic. Pray without ceasing. I'll just take it to my knees so it doesn't get in my heart. Fear doesn't get in my heart. Worry doesn't get in my heart. Torment doesn't get in my heart. Fear of death doesn't get in my heart. Disease doesn't get in my heart. I know what the doctor said is real, but I'll take it to my knees. …
… everything that He has given you. First Thessalonians 5, 18, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God concerning you. Gracious, thankful speech. Go back to verse 29 in chapter 4. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear." Never should anybody hear from the lips of a child of God, one who is imitating God, one who is to love the way God loves. thing that shows any interest in the deceptive, false love of illicit sexual impulses. And then the final segment of this text, we saw the plea, imitate God. We saw the pattern the way Christ did. It's an unconditional, sacrificial, and forgiving love. We saw the perversion in verses 3 and 4, and Paul goes right to the punishment in verse 5. For this you know with certainty. This is the final point. This you know with certainty. …
… WHEN WE DON'T UNDERSTAND. NOW YOU KNOW ONE OF THE MOST PERPLEXING COMMANDS IN THE BIBLE IS THIS. IT'S FOUND IN FIRST THESSALONIANS CHAPTER FIVE AND VERSE 18 AND IT SAYS THIS, IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS. IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS, FOR THIS IS THE WILL OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS CONCERNING YOU. NOW IT'S EASY TO GIVE THANKS FOR SOME THINGS. IT'S EASY TO GIVE THANKS FOR FOOD, FOR HEALTH, FOR FAMILY, FOR A NEW GRANDBABY, UH, WHEN YOUR FAVORITE BALL CLUB WINS, WHEN, UH, UH, YOU GET A NEW JOB, UH, THERE'S SO MANY THINGS IT'S EASY TO GIVE THANKS FOR, RIGHT? THERE'S NO DIFFICULTY IN THAT, BUT THAT ISN'T WHAT THIS SCRIPTURE SAYS. THIS SCRIPTURE SAYS, NOT JUST FOR THE GOOD THINGS, BUT IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS. WHAT ABOUT EVIL? WHAT ABOUT PAIN? WHAT ABOUT WHEN YOUR HUSBAND WALKS OUT ON YOU? WHAT ABOUT STARVING CHILDREN? WHAT ABOUT RAPE? WHAT ABOUT DIVORCE? WHAT ABOUT AIDS? WHAT ABOUT APOSTACY? WHAT ABOUT THE FACT THAT YOU GO TO THE DOCTOR AND HE TELLS YOU THERE'S SOME GREEDY MALADY THAT'S Gnawing AWAY AT YOUR LIFE? WHAT ABOUT THESE THINGS? THIS, THIS SCRIPTURE ALMOST SEEMS TO MOCK US WHEN IT SAYS, IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS. WELL, OF COURSE, THE Well, of course, the key is, it doesn't say for everything. …