Trinity Baptist Church

Give Thanks!

Giving Thanks in Everything

1 Thessalonians 5:18; Philippians 4:11-12

 

There was an old farmer who sold a neighbor a mule back in the old days. It was one of those Green Acres kind of deals with this city slicker who had moved to the country.  He told the guy that he was a religious man and taught his mule to obey only religious commands. If you want him to stop, say “Amen”.  If you want him to go, say, “Thank the Lord”.

 

The city slicker bought the mule and headed out on a ride. He said, “Thank the Lord” and off that old mule took.  The farther they traveled the faster he went.  The old boy was hanging on for dear life when all ofo a sudden he saw they were coming up on a cliff with a sheer drop off!.

 

He began to yell, “Whoa! Whoa!” but the old mule just kept going.  Finally, at the last second he said "Amen." And that old mule stopped in its tracks. The man said, "Thank the Lord!"

 

We’ve been learning about giving thanks and not just in particular but in particular for our spiritual blessings.  We’ve talked about giving thanks to God, giving thanks for salvation and giving thanks for the Holy Spirit.

 

Our text this morning is 1 Thessalonians 5:18.

 

 

 

Paul very simply says, without exception, with no excuses, in everything give thanks. Now if Paul knew what he was talking about, then nothing is outside those parameters.  In fact, that little phrase in the Greek means “in connection with everything that occurs”

 

So the intent of the verse is to compel us, in connection with everything in life, to give thanks no matter what it might be.  No matter what circumstance, no matter what struggle or trial or test, with the obvious exception of sinful actions, be thankful to God in it.

 

No matter what the situation we are to find reason to be thankful and not just some nebulous thank you that is fired off into space.  It is to be thanks offered directly to God.

 

And right here is a good place for me to remind us that thanksgiving is the essence of the Christian life and attitude.  There should be no one on the face of the earth more thankful than we as Christians.  By the way, the opposite is also true.  If being thankful is the very essence of being unthankful is the very essence of being lost.

 

In Romans 1:21 Paul talks about those who know God through creation and conscience but do not honor Him as God or give thanks.  This is one of the charges brought against those who are not saved.

 

They don’t have enough spiritual sense to say “thank you” to the God Who created everything and gives life and breath.  This is so basic and yet this is the character of the lost.

 

In fact, I’ve always found it odd that the lost are so quick to witlessly say, almost in a spirit of slang, things like "Thank God for that" while Christians keep their mouth shut!  Don’t you find it odd that somebody will offer a prayer that does not qualify as true thanks that is said to a God they do not know?

 

So why are people so thankless?  As I see it, they fall into several categories.  Some believe everything that happens is a result of luck, whether good or bad.  The circumstances of their life are nothing more than a random course of events over which no one or nothing has any control. It just happens to happen that way.

 

If things don’t go well, theses people often become bitter and complaining and angry and hostile.  And even though they may try to manipulate the lucky factors of life, they are unsuccessful and so they have no thankfulness at all.  After all, who is there to thank?  You can't thank luck.  Therefore there is no thanks in their heart.

 

Then there are those fatalists in the world.  They don't necessarily think that luck is in charge.  They believe there to be some unknowable force whether it is the stars or fate or some higher power.

 

Life simply follows a pre-determined course that is inevitable and unchangeable and you are simply along for the ride. It is destiny.  Don't argue with it.  And again, you have the same dilemma.  Who’s to thank for whatever good comes in that?  There's no one to thank.  It's a nameless force or unidentifiable movement so there's no one to thank for anything, good or bad.

 

And then there are those people who believe they are in control of their life.  They may have learned how to be successful and attain a lot of stuff in life but everything good that happens to them, they've done it, they've arranged it, they've orchestrated it, they've made it happen, they dreamed it, schemed it, planned it, and pulled it off and all the credit goes to them and certainly not to God.  After all, what did He have to do with anything?  And as a result of all that, the world is made up of thankless people.

 

But when a person becomes a Christian, it is characteristic of that believer to thank God for everything.  All of a sudden there is a new heart and a new soul and a new inner life, and there's something different about the inner man. There is now a new perspective on life and the circumstances of life and built into that newness is a heart of thanksgiving that joyfully and frequently expresses its gratitude to God.

 

In fact, it’s hard to find anybody who is more thankful than a brand new Christian.  Thanksgiving is just a part of the fabric of our new life.  But if we aren’t careful and attentive, even Christians can become unthankful.

 

For an unsaved person to be unthankful is normal.  For a Christian to be unthankful is abnormal.  It goes against the grain of our new life and nature.  But because we can become ungrateful, the New Testament reminds us to be thankful.

 

 

 

 

So what I want to do this morning is offer you an example of that from the early church, then provide you with you some of the reasons we grow unthankful and finally help you see how to develop a spirit of thankfulness regardless of what is going on in or around you.

 

Let’s begin with

 

 

One of the primary reasons God instructs us to thankful is because of the example that sets before the world.  The early church was characterized by thanksgiving and there are a lot of places we could look to see that but I want to look at the church in Corinth.  Now the church in Corinth was a messed up bunch of folks and the letters Paul wrote that we call 1 and 2 Corinthians were written to address some of those issues.

 

In chapter 14 of 1 Corinthians he is dealing primarily with the misuse of the gift of tongues.  And like a lot of other places in Scriptures, there are some beautiful nuggets of truth that get lost in the main teaching.

 

1 Corinthians 14:16 is a good example.

 

The Apostle Paul is talking about the Corinthian church perverting the gift of tongues through ecstatic, emotion-driven utterances and how they shouldn’t be doing that. His appeal is for Christians to express their faith clearly so those who are listening can understand what is being said and done.

 

Notice verses 16-17

 

In other words, if you're talking languages nobody understands, how is anybody going to know you're giving thanks?

 

And the little insight we gain there is that when the early church met together, they gathered with the purpose of giving thanks.  It was expected.  It was customary part and parcel of their worship.

 

Somebody had a psalm, and somebody had a prayer, and somebody had a word from the Lord and a lot of folks had an opportunity to say thanks.

 

And when the church meets together, whether in corporate worship or small group Sunday School or whatever the occasion, it is appropriate, in fact it is expected that we would give thanks.

 

That was characteristic of the early church and it stimulated the hearts of the believers to be thankful as they met together.

 

We live in a thankless age and it's very difficult for us to rise above the culture that surrounds us.  This has got to be the most thankless age there ever was.

 

On the one hand you have people who have more than they've ever had, but you also have people who know there's more yet that they don't have.  And so no matter what they have they don't have everything they could have and so they don't have everything they want and that lifestyle breeds this terrible kind of thanklessness.

 

 

Consequently the New Testament is constantly reminding us to be thankful.  And in the kind of culture in which we live, we, as the people of God, need to be reminded over and over again to be thankful.

 

For example, in Thessalonians 5:18 we have this kind of summation thought regarding thankfulness and how Christians are to express that.

 

I Thessalonians 5:18

 

Now in fairness to the verse, it should be pointed out that thankfulness in everything is one of three components that are to be found in a child of God.  In fact, these three components are a part of a much larger list that begins back in verse 12.

 

I would encourage you to read the entire list, but for time’s sake we’ll limit our discussion to

 

verses 16-18

 

First comes joy, then comes prayer, then follows thanksgiving in everything.

 

Here we find the responsibility of the believer before the Lord in terms of his heart attitude.  He is to have inward incessant joy, continual unceasing prayer and constant daily thanks.

 

 That's to be the character and pattern of our life.  And by the way, these three commands, rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, these three commands  are the most basic expression of our faith.

 

They are the best gauge of a person's spiritual condition.  Don't judge your spirituality by church attendance.  Don't judge your spirituality by ministry activity.  Don't judge your spirituality by the fact that you do your duty as a Christian, you give your money, you show up at your Bible study, whatever it might be.

 

Why?  All of those things are outward and there are a lot of folks who carry out their duties in a hypocritical way.  But if you want to get in touch with who you really are spiritually, then just ask yourself, “Do I rejoice always?  Do I constantly pray and am I increasingly thankful?”

 

That’s the real stuff.  That's what's coming out from the inside and if you're not a joyful, prayerful, thankful person, you're struggling with the flesh because when you're controlled by the Spirit, those things fall into place.

 

And notice the end of verse 18

 

This is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.  By the way, that attaches to all three of those commands, not just to the last one.  God's will in Christ Jesus is that you would have constant joy, constant prayer, and constant thanks.  That's His will for the person who is “in Christ Jesus”.

 

There's no point in God willing it for the world.  They can't be truly and constantly joyful.  They cannot be in constant communion with the Lord.  They don't have a relationship and they're certainly not going to be thankful.

 

But for you who are in Christ Jesus, you who have been joined to Him, the will of God is that we be joyful, prayerful and thankful and by doing so we become an example to the world.  

 

Now if you’re like me when I look at my life, I have to say, “Well I wish that were true.  I wish I just went around all the time singing songs of praise, and offering prayer to the Lord and thanking Him for everything no matter what it was, but I don't always do that.”

 

So how do I develop that spirit of thanksgiving and joy and prayer?

 

There are two answers.  One is negative and one is positive.  One the one hand there are some things I’ve got to be on guard against that will rob me of being thankful and then there are some things I need to work on that will help develop that attitude.

 

First, let’s look at the negative.  Let me share with you seven things that are

 

 

Now these are in no particular order and you may find that some are no problem at all right now, but later, because of changing circumstances they may pop up and give you grief.

 

Number one is doubt.  Some people grow unthankful because they wonder about the character of God.  Can God really be trusted?  Can His Word be trusted?

 

When He says that all things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to His purpose, when He says that His heart and desire for us is for our good and not evil, when He says that He wills the benefits of His love upon us, you doubt that He means you.  When He says that He is faithful and His mercies are new every morning, He may not be telling us the truth.

 

If you doubt God's character, you're going to have trouble being thankful.

 

Sometimes people doubt His power.  Maybe you think He means well He just can't pull it off.  He's got good intentions, He just doesn't have the power to deal with it.  It's beyond Him, too complex, too difficult.  He can't work this one out.  He's not going to pull this off.

 

Or maybe you doubt His wisdom.  Maybe Go’d not as smart as He claims to be so when He works things out, they don’t always come out like He expected or hoped they would.

 

If He would just consult me, I could clear some things up for Him, because I've got this deal laid out and if it works my way, it will be perfect.  And you can see by the way it's working that God's plan is certainly not up to the standard of mine.”  So you're questioning His wisdom.

 

Some might even question His love.  I mean, obviously if God really loved you He would never let so of the stuff happens that happens. 

 

 

Any of those kinds of doubts that attach themselves to the character, the Word, the power, the wisdom, or the love of God are going to take away your thankfulness.

 

Second is selfishness.  This is the attitude that says, "I don't like things the way they are, I want it the way I want it.  I am not content with the way God is working out my life.  I am not content with the circumstances in which I find myself. I am not content with the things that are going on in my little world.  I do not want it this way.  It's not what I desire.”

 

That's selfishness.  And selfishness basically says, "God, get I want you to get off the throne so I can get on it.  I want to be in charge, I want to run my life. I want to call the shots.”  And if God doesn't do everything they want you want it, then self-will begins to run roughshod over God’s will and a thankless spirit is the result.

 

The third hindrance to a thankful heart is worldliness.  Thankless people are those who are consumed with the things of the world, whether it is pleasure, prominence, popularity, prestige, people, places, possessions, pursuits. . . I can't think of any more Ps off hand.

 

They're so consumed with all that stuff that if that all doesn't work out the way they want it, they're not going to be thankful.   They can never ever see the blessing of God because they're always looking for the next toy or gadget or relationship.  Rather than being thankful for what God has blessed them with, they’re always wishing for something else.  

 

Number four is a critical spirit.  The person who has critical or bitter spirit will never be thankful.  Being bitter and negative will destroy a thankful heart.  It can be caused by a lot fo different things, but the end result is always the same.

 

It will make you useless to God and a pain in the neck to everybody around you.  A critical spirit makes a bitter negative thankless person.  And that, always comes from pride.  It rises from an enlarged ego that says, “I deserve better than this.  I'm worthy of better than this.”

 

Or it says, “I want people to think I'm better than I really am so I want stuff around me to make me look good.”  And that kind of critical attitude destroys thankfulness.

 

Number five is impatience.  Some people don't give thanks simply because God doesn't move according to their time piece.  God isn't working by their clock.  They want instant gratification.  Therefore they can never say, "Thank you, Lord.  I can see Your hand at work.  The process is slow, but I see it and I thank you for it.”

 

They want God to work for them to accomplish all their goals in their own timeframe and because they are impatient, they are unthankful.

 

Next comes apathy.  There is not zeal or enthusiasm or excitement for about servicing the Lord.  There's a lack of love for Christ.  There's a lack of diligence in the study of Scripture.  There's a lack of passion in worship.  There's a neglect of the Bible and a neglect of prayer.

 

All their energy and time is wasted on everything else in life.  It might be sports or politics or family or work.  But there is nothing left for God and spiritual pursuits and the result is emptiness.

 

They're not even looking at things for which to be thankful.  They've lost that intimacy with the Lord.  They've lost that intense joy in the study of the Word.  And consequently their hearts have no gratitude. They just become spiritually indifferent, lethargic, apathetic and thankless.

 

Last is rebellion.  And by this I simply mean just downright, outright, flat-out rebellion.  "I'm not thankful because I'm angry with God.  I'm not thankful because I don't like what He's doing in my life.  I'm mad and I'm unthankful and I don’t care who know it. And I know I'm unthankful and I'm going to stay unthankful.”

 

Now in any form they take, any of these seven is openly defying the command of God to give thanks in everything.   You ought to be always thankful for your salvation, thankful for victory over sin and death, divine guidance, thankful for complete provision for all your needs.

 

You ought to be thankful for the hope of glory.  You ought to be thankful for the power of the word, the power of prayer, the goodness of God, the mercy of God, life and breath, thankful for heaven, thankful for everything.

 

So that’s the negative.  Now let’s think more positively about how to avoid the hindrances and develop an attitude of thankfulness?  Quickly, let me share with you

 

Now keep in mind, we are talking about a spirit-filled, spirit-controlled believer.  So how do I, as a believer under the control of God, seeking to live a life that is an example before the world, not only avoid the hindrances, but develop an attitude of thankfulness in everything?

  

Philippians 4:11-12

 

Now the focal word of that text is the word contentment and that is a very rich word and I want to take some time to deal with it.

 

Contentment is not only a rich word but it is also a biblical word.  In fact, the Bible has quite a bit to say about this matter of being content.  Unfortunately, most people don’t experience it including most Christians. 

 

We tend to be a very discontent people.  And it seems that, ironically, for many people, the more they have the more discontented they become.

But Paul not only understood it, he experienced it.  He was a satisfied man.  He was a contented man.  And that is what he is writing about here in Philippians.

 

And I find it interesting that the man who said, “In everything give thanks” also says, “I’ve learned to be content.”

 

Now, remember, when Paul is writing this letter is a prisoner, chained to a Roman soldier.  He is in isolation unable to move about.

He has lost the freedom to work and minister at the capacity that he once had it.  Most likely he is just existing at a bare minimum.

 

And the Philippians, having heard of his demise, have sent some provisions.  And as Paul writes to them, he is saying thanks for what they’ve done.  So the primary intent of these verses is an expression of thanksgiving.

 

But in so doing, the Holy Spirit gives us through the life and experiences of Paul a little insight into what it means to be content.  And notice what he says in

 

verse 11

 

Now remember we are seeking to develop a thankful attitude in everything and here we find Paul saying, “I want to tell you what I’ve learned”.

 

Through his experiences in life, through the provision of God, he has been involved in a process which was now completed, and through it, he had learned to be content.  What a tremendous thing that is to learn.

 

And to fully appreciate it we need to understand the word “content”.  It means “to be self-sufficient or satisfied”.  Simply put it means to have enough.  Paul is saying, “I have learned, no matter what is going on in and around my life, to be satisfied.  I’ve learned to be sufficient in myself and the result is that no matter what I’m experiencing I have spiritual contentment.”

 

 

 

Now the question we need to ask ourselves I, “Can I say, no matter what my circumstances, I am content?”  Can I say that I’m content no matter what I’m going through so much so that I am perfectly at peace and satisfied?  I have enough?

 

If you can’t say that, then listen very closely as I share with you three keys to developing contentment so that in everything you can give thanks.

 

Ingredient #1 is confidence in God’s providence.

 

Look at verse 10

 

Now when Paul writes these words, it has been ten years since the last Philippian gift was sent to him.  But that’s all right with Paul.  He understood that.  And he says I know it wasn’t because you weren’t concerned.  You just didn’t have the opportunity.

For some reason they had not been able to send any support for ten years and he simply says to them, “I know you just couldn’t make it happen.”

 

Then he says, “But I rejoiced when Epaphroditus showed up with your gift.  In fact, he was overjoyed by the revival of their support.

 

So what’s the point?  The point is in the meantime, for those ten years in between, Paul is content to just trust God. He could have been upset.  He could have sent them a stinging letter reprimanding them for forgetting about him.  But instead, he had this patient confidence in God’s providence.  He was certain that God, at just the right time would arrange the circumstances so his need would be met.

 

And the reason this man was content was because he knew that the times and the seasons and the opportunities of life were controlled by a sovereign God.  And until you learn that, you will never be content.  You will never be able to fully express your thankfulness to God until first, you recognize His providence.

 

Now providence is the term used to indicate that God provides.  But more than that it means He orchestrates everything to accomplish His purpose.

 

To understand that, think about it this way.  There are two primary ways God can act in the world.  One is by miracle.  If God wants to do something, all He’s got to do is just do it.

 

If He wants to let His children walk across the Red Sea on dry land, He can just wall up the water on either side and make it happen.  It has no natural explanation.  It has nothing to do with what is normal.  It is a miracle.

 

The second way God gets things done is by providence.  With providence, God takes all of the diverse elements of the normal activities of life, both good and bad, and orchestrates them to accomplish His own purpose.

 

Now I don’t know about you, but to me, providence is a bigger miracle than the miracles.  It must be easy for God to just say, “Hold it, I want to do this,” and do it.  That is much easier than having to say, “Let’s see, I’ve got billions of circumstances spreading over 100’s of years and I’ve got to make all that work together to accomplish this one thing.”

 

But that’s providence.  And when you come to understand that a sovereign God is not only sovereign by supernatural intervention, but He is sovereign by natural orchestration, you can put your confidence in Him.  And when you’ve put your confidence in Him, you can have contentment.  And once you’re content, you can live in an attitude of thanksgiving.

 

Here’s the second ingredient.  Paul was not only content because of his confidence in the providence of God, but also because he had learned to be

 

 

verse 11

 

So what’s the point?  Simply this:  He was satisfied with little.  He had bare subsistence.  His need was deep and great, but he didn’t acknowledge any discontent.  He was so at peace with the providence of a sovereign God that he was content with very little.

 

It didn’t matter that he was a prisoner.  It didn’t matter that he was chained to a Roman soldier. It didn’t matter that he was just getting by on prison food or sleeping in a place that lacked comfort.

 

Now this ingredient, perhaps more than any other, hits very close to where we live.  We live in a culture that is not content period, with little or much.  The attitude of people today is their needs can never be met.

 

 

And the humanistic thinkers of our day have led us to believe that the chief end of man is to have his or her needs met.  Since there is no God and man is ultimate, the all of existence simply is not to satisfy God but to satisfy man.

 

But someone must define what those needs are and in our day culture has stepped in to do that. Think about how that has changed since the time of Paul.  He’s satisfied with bare minimum existence; food, clothing and a place to sleep.  That, by the way, is exactly what Scripture teaches us to be content with.

 

How different that is from today.  The culture in which we live is driven by need because the satisfaction of man is the ultimate goal of life.  Therefore man must have all his needs met.

 

Just watch TV commercials.  They are designed to produce within us discontent because of what we don’t have.  After all, what you “need” is what they’re selling.  And if they can make you discontented enough about what you don’t have, then you’ll buy what they’re peddling.

 

Somewhere along the way our wants got redefined into needs and now all of life is designed around meeting our wants.  We now live in a society where our needs exceed our wants.

 

In fact, I am now I’m finding I need things I don’t even want.  I didn’t want them in the past, I don’t want them now, but I need them.  I’m told all the time I “need” a cell phone.  No I don’t and most of you don’t either.

 

I’m told they make life more convenient.  It’s seems to me they make life more complicated.  I can’t even conduct a funeral anymore without interruptions from cell phones.  I, on the other hand, live a quiet and peaceful life.  In fact, I am the envy of every meeting I attend.

 

They say, “I wish I could get by without having to carry one.”  You can.  Turn if off.  Let me tell you something:  You’re not that important!  You don’t have to have a phone stuck to your head every waking moment.  Take some time away from it!

 

I used to carry one and discovered it was a waste of money.  And by the way, I didn’t carry it for your convenience anyway.  It was for my convenience.  I very seldom used the thing!    

 

But society says it’s a need. In fact, society defines everything as a need.  And the result is an absolutely discontented culture that is never satisfied and lives in a thankless world of constant want rather than the contentment God designed.  But Paul says, “I’ve learned to think differently about wants and needs and I can be satisfied with very little.”

 

And I’ll be honest with you.  I’m not sure we will ever be successful in getting Christians in the middle of this to say, “I don’t really care if I have little.  I don’t care if I have much.  I’m perfectly happy because all I need is God.”  We’ve lost that.  But we can never know true contentment without it, therefore we can’t be thankful in everything.

 

Confidence in the providence of God and satisfaction with what we have, then here’s the third ingredient:

 

 

He alludes to it in verse 11, but he spells it out in verse 12

 

So, what is he saying here?  He’s saying, “NO matter what’s going on, I’m the same.  It’s the part of contentment that is utterly indifferent and independent of all circumstances.  Now I would suggest the one thing that steals our contentment most frequently is bad circumstances.

 

But Paul says, “I know how.”  In fact, he says it twice in this verse, “I know how,” and a little later, “I also know how.  I know how, I’ve learned it.”

 

This man knew what it was to be in difficult circumstances.  Paul was certainly no poster child for Christianity.  He’s not the one you want to look to to convince people it pays to serve Jesus.  He had terrible circumstances but he learned to look beyond them by having an eternal perspective on life.

 

His heart and his affections were not in the world or earthly stuff.  His heart was in heaven.  Therefore, he had learned to be content and could say, in everything give thanks. 

 

Now, because we are saved, and understanding we are in this process of learning, let me suggest some practical helps, decisions of the will, to make sure we live out that attitude every day and in everything.

 

First, learn to celebrate life and be thankful for it.  Life is so short. Take some time every day reflect on what you have to be grateful for. Make a list.

If you don't count your blessings, you will take them for granted. You will look on the negative side of life.

   

Second, practice thanksgiving, regardless of the circumstance.  Some of you are already thinking, “Well when things get better, then I’ll thank God.”  What if they get worse?  He is worthy of your praise and thanks no matter what’s going on.  He is arranging the circumstances in ways you can’t imagine to bring ultimate good to you and glory to Himself.

Third, learn to be generous with what you have.  I’ve learned that unthankful, discontented people are some of the least generous of all.  When we see God as the source of our blessings when we know we don't deserve them, it opens our heart to help others.

 

I have known some wealthy people who were the most generous people I ever met and I have known wealthy people who are the most stingy and selfish people I have ever met. I have known some poor people who were the most generous people I have ever met. And I have known some stingy poor people.

 

I pray that as the saved of God, blessed with salvation and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, we’ll learn how to be content so that we might be thankful, so that we might bless others.  Will you ask God to help you learn contentment and demonstrate thankfulness in everything and will you do it right now?  "In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

 

Let’s pray.