Amen. Let's turn this morning in God's
Word to 1st Thessalonians chapter 5.
First Thessalonians chapter 5 reading from verse 16 to the
end. Let's hear the Word of God for
those online, the words that come up on screen reading, of
course from the King James Bible.
You could truthfully say the only and faithful translation of
the Holy Scriptures. Let's hear God's word First
Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 16.
Rejoice evermore, Pray without ceasing in everything.
Give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus
concerning you. Quench not the Spirit, despise
not prophesying, Prove all things, hold fast that which is
good, Abstain from all appearance of evil.
And the very God of peace. Sanctify you holy.
And I pray God, your whole spirit and soul and body be
preserved, blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
faithful as he that calleth you, who also will do it.
Brethren, pray for us. Greet all the brethren with an
holy kiss. I charge you by the Lord Jesus
that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Amen. Amen.
We know that God will stamp with his own approval and blessing
this reading of His own precious and infallible Word.
Amen. Now this morning we are
returning to our expository studies in the book of First
Thessalonians that we began many months ago.
And today my text is taken from First Thessalonians chapter 5,
verses 6 through to 18. And my theme for this morning's
service I've entitled Commands for a Christ Centred Church.
Now the Apostle Paul is writing under the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit to a young church suffering persecution,
opposition. And as he brings his epistle to
a close, he does so with a series of short yet weighty
exhortations that define the ordinary Christian life.
Now these are not just random commands, but righteous commands
that are the marks of a spiritful life within every true
believer. These are not just suggested
commands, but spirit filled commands, scriptural commands.
See, these commands are not just for the select few, not just for
the minister, not just for the elders, not just for the Deacon,
but for every born again believer within the local
congregation. They're not just for the
individual. They're also can apply
congregationally. You see, these commands
determine the daily walk with God of every true believer found
in a saving union with Jesus Christ.
So here's the Apostle Paul. He's bringing his letter to a
close. He's already addressed the great
doctrinal matters like the authority of Scripture, the
personal, visible, bodily return of the Lord Jesus Christ in
power and in glory, the doctrine of sanctification.
And now in closing, He is setting forth to them the
necessity of a life of practical godliness.
You see in all of these verses 16 through to the end, these are
scriptural, these are Spirit LED commands.
These are commands that have to do with the life of godliness.
He is setting forth the necessity of a life of practical
godliness. And in these commands I I see
the fruit of the grace of God. Notice they're not rooted in
human strength, but in a saving union with Jesus Christ.
In Jesus Christ, I believe is the key to passionately,
personally, and also powerfully enjoying the reality of these
commands in our Christian life. Here's the will of God for you.
Notice it's not hidden, it is heralded forth, it is
proclaimed, it is plainly revealed.
The four Reformer John Calvin wrote this God requires not just
the obedience of our hands, but also the inward affection of the
heart. Therefore, these divine commands
penetrate way beyond the outward conduct to the very disposition
of our heart and our life. These commands, of course,
define the life of one who is justified by the grace of God
through faith in Christ alone. And yet that faith that's never
alone is evidenced by a life of practical godliness.
And here's the way that that practical godliness is seen.
So think about the commands to a Christ centred church with this
introduction. 3 commands one verse 16 rejoice evermore.
Here's the command to perpetually rejoice.
Now these two words rejoice evermore.
They're the shortest 2 words not in the English Bible, but in the
Greek New Testament. If we were to study they
received text, we would discover these are the two of the
shortest verses in the Greek New Testament.
The two shortest verses in the English New Testament are Jesus
wept. But here's the shortest in the
Greek New Testament. Rejoice evermore.
Now what do they mean? When you look at them, when you
think about them, what do they mean?
What do they say to you? Here's this command.
Rejoice evermore and you're a Christian.
What does it mean? Let's look at it negatively.
Let me tell you what it doesn't mean.
It doesn't mean rejoice a lot. It doesn't mean rejoice much.
It says rejoice ever more. We could substitute the word
ever more for always. Think of Philippians 4 and 4.
Rejoice in the Lord. And again I say rejoice.
And in that hymn that we were singing, lift up your heart,
lift up your voice, rejoice. Again I say rejoice.
We are commanded to perpetually rejoice.
But what does it mean to perpetually rejoice?
Well, it's not a command or a call to feel happy all the time.
It's not a call to a happy, clappy, smiley lifestyle 24/7.
It doesn't mean we have a smile on her face like a Cheshire cat,
or it doesn't mean we have a bounce in our step like Tigger
the tiger in the story of Winnie the Pooh.
Let me ask this morning, Think of this as a question.
Are you sinning against the Lord If you feel sad in your
Christian life, or if you feel depressed, or if you feel
tearful? If you feel upset or if you're
grieving, what's the answer? And here's the answer, plain and
simple. No, not at all.
I'm thinking of a man who's a professing believer, will not
mention him. And when I meet him, and I know
this man has got loads of trials and troubles in his life, lot of
personal private problems that we don't mention.
And I asked this man, how you doing, brother?
I, I'm fine. I'm good.
I'm just praising the Lord. And you know what, I want to
tell you this, the man really has a fake smile.
The man really has a sense of falseness about him because that
man feels as if it was a sin to say, brother, I'm not good,
brother, I'm struggling. You know, it's not unscriptural
or unspiritual to say I'm not good today or I'm not fine or
I'm struggling. You see, many are like that
individual. They display a happy face, but
their smile is fake. There's a falseness.
They're they're denying reality. You see, you don't have to
pretend to be upbeat all the time in the Christian life.
It's not wrong to be sad, folks. It's not wrong to be down.
It's not wrong even to feel a sense of despair and be tearful.
Do you know why the Lord Jesus never lived like that?
Neither did the apostle Paul. Do you want proof?
Think of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ, the days of
his humiliation from the day of his birth to the day of his
death, a life of humiliation and condescension, a life of pee and
and woe and sorrow and suffering.
And if you want the Scripture, here's Hebrews 5 and seven, who
in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and
supplication, with strong crying and tears unto him, that was
able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared.
See the apostle Paul said Second Corinthians 6 and 10 as
sorrowful. So he felt sorry.
He felt sad, yet he added the words Second Corinthians 6 and
10, yet always rejoicing. Think of what he said to the
church at Rome. Romans 12 and 15.
Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those that weep.
He didn't tell them to stop weeping.
He didn't tell them to start laughing.
No, you see, the true Christian will not deny reality.
The true Christian will not deny his true feelings.
The Lord Jesus didn't. The apostle Paul didn't.
They never put on a show. They, they never put on a happy
face. They, they, they never pretend
that, well, you know what? We, we feel happy and we never
feel down or sad or grieved at any of the time.
You see this command to perpetually praise doesn't mean
any of that. It's not a call to continually
smile. It's, it's not a call to a happy
clappy lifestyle 24/7. Well, if it's not that, what
does it mean? So we're going to look at it
positively Now. I've told you what it's not.
Let's look at it positively. It's a call or a command to
biblically rejoice in the Lord. Biblical joy is not rooted in
our circumstances, but in Christ Himself.
You might want to write that down.
You might want to learn that biblical joy is not rooted in
circumstances, but in Christ Himself.
It's not really in your situation, but in the Saviour.
It is a a covenantal joy. It's a spiritual joy.
It's a spirit enabling joy. It's a scriptural joy.
It's a joy that fills the heart and mind, grips your soul, not
just when things are going well, but a joy that helps you rejoice
even in the day of persecution like this church was suffering
or in a day of opposition, when you're facing hardship and
difficulty, when you have trials and troubles in your life.
Let me illustrate. Think of a born again believer.
You're one of them. This morning he professed to be
saved. Hallelujah.
You're mistreated at homework school, mistreated because of
your fear, because you're a Christian or because you're a
Free Presbyterian and you feel sad, get upset, maybe even mad.
Things said, things done. Now, when that happens, and it
does happen and it will happen, you've got a choice.
I've a choice. Here's the choice.
We can lapse into a state of self pity.
We can think, poor me, or we can lift our heart and mind and soul
heavenward, and we can experience this biblical joy.
We can rejoice in the Lord now. Not in your circumstances, but
in Christ. Not in your situation, but in
the Saviour. And it's not about you denying
how you feel. It's not that you're oblivious
to your circumstances. The key is in Christ.
And in Christ you're not governed or controlled by these
outward things. You're you're LED of the Spirit
of God who indwells you. And you learn how on the journey
of the Christian life, to rejoice in him, to rejoice
evermore, to be always rejoicing, as Paul said, as
sorrowful yet rejoicing. Hi, what's the secret?
Very quickly, focus on all the riches you have in Christ.
Don't focus on the rottenness of the bad things that's happening
in your life. Don't even focus on the routine
of your circumstances. Rejoice in what God has done for
you in Christ. You see, if you're in Christ
this morning, you've got a full, free and forever justification
in Christ. You've been adopted unto God's
family. God's your Father, you're one of
his children. You're indwelt by the Spirit of
God. On top of that as well, you've
got pardon from all your sin. Your sins are under the blood.
God has made a promise, and thy sins and iniquities I'll
remember no more better than that you have peace with God.
Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God
through the Lord Jesus Christ. We can experience the peace of
God even in difficult circumstances.
We've also access to God's presence.
What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear.
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.
You know, I believe this morning we should learn from the
psalmist. Oftentimes the Psalms start with
a cry for help. If you turn over there very
quickly to Psalm 5, I'm just picking out one Psalm.
In Psalm 5, verse one, the psalmist says to the Lord in
prayer, give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation.
You see, the psalmist starts here with a cry for help.
He's facing a problem or a series of problems.
There's trials and troubles in his life there.
There's a a major crisis. And he says, give ear to my
words in the Sammy. He contrasts the wicked man with
the man of the word. He, he, he, he.
He says this in verse 4. For thou art not a God, that of
pleasure and wickedness, Neither shall evil dwell with thee.
The foolish shall not stand in thy sight.
Thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing.
The Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.
And then he says this about himself.
But As for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of
thy mercy, and in thy fear will I worship the ward, thy holy
temple. He's not a man of the world.
He's a man of the Word. He stands in contrast to this
wicked, worldly man. He's a true worshipper of God.
Notice how the Psalmans listen to verse 11.
But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice.
Let them ever shout for joy. Why?
Because thou defendest them. Let them also that love thy
name. Be joyful in thee.
What has happened? David's circumstances haven't
changed. The wicked worldly man is still
there, working his wickedness. The circumstances are still the
same. What's he done in the Psalm?
As he cried for help, he began to focus on who the Lord is.
He began to focus what the Lord has done in his life and what he
can do by faith. So here's the secret.
Focus on all the riches you have in Christ.
Another secret. Very quickly find the true joy
that is the fruit of the Spirit. Remember, Paul and Silas, could
you imagine? It's midnight, you've just been
beaten, blood's running out of your body, you're sore, you're
in the inner prison. You're you're you're, you're in
the stocks in the sense that your feet in hands are in irons.
And what did you do? Would you have a petty party?
Paul and Silas, the Bible tells us in Acts 16, verse 25, prayed
and sang praises to God. They discovered true joy is not
changed, but it's rooted in Christ.
It's realised by the Holy Spirit.
Matthew Henry said this that holy joy is the oil to the
wheels of our obedience. Focus to walk with God in the
power of the Spirit despite your circumstances.
Don't walk in the poverty of your situation.
The second secret is to find the true joy.
That's the fruit of this earth, the joy of the Lord.
Nehemiah 8 and 10 says is your strength.
And thirdly, fill your heart and mind with thoughts on the
future. What have we got with eternal
life now? He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. And of course, it's not one of
the eternal life now in the present as a present possession,
but it's eternal life and eternity to come.
And we don't focus on the things of time and sense.
Of course, as we journey towards heaven, we sing praises unto the
Lord. That's what we've been
attempting to do this morning. Especially ones that praise Him
for who He is. Praise Him for what he's like
and what He's done. Praises about the great themes
of heaven and home. Remember what Paul says there in
First Corinthians in chapter 1 and in the verse 9.
He says there in First Corinthians chapter 1 and verse
9, he makes a tremendous statement.
He tells us these words. Sorry, it's chapter first
Corinthians chapter 2 verse 9. But as it is written, I have not
seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man
the things which God has prepared for them that love him.
Think of that you see this rejoicing ever more is a
conscious attitude of true contentment.
True godliness with great contentment is great game.
There's the secret, true hope and happiness.
Focus on the riches of Christ. Find that fruit of the Spirit
which is true joy, and also fill your hearts and minds with
thoughts of who God is and what he's doing and what he's done,
heaven and home. That way you'll be able to
fulfil this command to rejoice evermore.
The second command, if you look again at our text of Scripture,
carries on from this. Notice what it says in the verse
17. Three words, pray without
ceasing. Now what does that mean?
Does that bother you? You're commanded to pray without
ceasing. Oh dear, we're all in trouble,
aren't we? See, a lot of people read that
and think negatively. Lots of misunderstanding.
I've got to pray 24/7. I'll never be able to sleep or
eat. I can't go to work.
Sorry, boss, I've got to pray 24/7.
Pray every waking moment. Let me ask you this.
Did the Lord Jesus pray every waking moment?
Did the Apostle Paul? No.
You see, this is not a call to uninterrupted verbal prayer.
It doesn't mean that pray without ceasing does not mean a
call to in up interrupted verbal prayer 24/7.
Let me try and explain with an illustration.
Without ceasing. I want you to think of a cough
and I had a wee bit of a cough there this morning at the start.
Think of a person with a bad cough.
They don't cough 24/7. They do cough often.
They do cough repeatedly, but it's not a, a constant,
continuous 'cause let me switch it round from a cough.
I want you to think about army. And they're wanting to capture a
town or a city. The first attack, they don't
succeed. What do they do?
They retreat, they regroup, then they attack again.
They attack again and again. And that's what puzzle Paul is
teaching here. Think of it positively.
Pray without ceasing. You see, this is a mark of true
grace. When the Apostle Paul got
converted to Damascus Rd, his first response was after he
said, who art thou, Lord? Here's the second thing.
He said, Lord, what will thou have me to do?
And we read of him in Acts Chapter 9 verse 11.
The Lord said to Ananias when he was in the streets straight in
Damascus, behold, he prayeth. See, before Saul of Tarsus had
said prayers, but now he's really praying.
You see, when you're born again and dwelt by the Holy Spirit,
you're led by the Spirit to a life of constant dependence on
the Lord. There's within you a desire
created to seek after God. There's an interest in calling
upon it. It is a life marked by communion
and fellowship with God through the means of prayer, David said.
But I gave myself to prayer. True prayer is frequent.
Then if it's a mark of grace, it's frequent.
It's persistent, it's passionate.
That's exactly what the apostle Paul is teaching when he said
pray without ceasing. It's prayer that's frequent,
persistent, and passionate. Think of the man knocking on the
door of his friend at midnight. The man's in bed with his wife
and family. What does this man do?
Well, he keeps knocking. He wants the man to get up.
He's waking the whole house. And because of his constant
knocking, the man gets up out of bed, gets his dressing gown on,
comes to the door. What do you want?
I want 3 loaves. Here you go.
He gives them to him. You see?
That's the attitude. True prayer is the sincere
affectionate pouring out of the soul to the Lord.
George hadn't spurt and said he never went 10 or 15 minutes
without prayer, but he never prayed for 10 or 15 minutes at
any one time. If I was to bring a little
silver goblet into the pulpit that had sat unpolished for say
a year or two years, it would take a lot of work to get all
the tarnish removed and bring back it's shine.
But if you Polish that little silver goblet every day, then
the tarnish that's there for the daily period is easy removed.
Well, will you apply that to prayer?
When we pray dearly, when we pray frequently, when we pray
passionately, but when we pray affectionately, pouring out our
soul to the Lord, then we discover then we're fulfilling
this command. We're praying without ceasing,
true prayers connected to praise and vice versa.
In prayer we praise the Lord, read the Psalms, we lay hold of
the riches that we have in Christ, We plead the promises of
God, true prayers, a life of dependence on the Lord and every
situation and every area of need.
See prayers, the language of trust, true prayers grounded on
the Word of God. We learn to pray over the Word.
We even pray the Word of God back to Him.
That's why we quote verses to the Lord in prayer.
We're just reminding Him of what He said.
True prayer keeps on praying till the answer comes.
We cry, we plead, we intercede. Yes, the devil hinders us.
Yes, the flesh craves other things.
Yes, we often times feel a failure and prayerlessness is a
sin. But true prayer keeps on praying
till the answer comes. Do you know that true prayer is
a command over there in the book of Psalms and Psalm 27?
I believe it is in verse 8 when thou settest.
This is God speaking to David. Psalm 27 verse 8 when thou
settest. Imagine God speaking to you this
morning, and what would He say to you as a Christian?
Seek ye my face in other words, up arise, call upon me in
prayer. This is what David said.
This was his response. My heart said unto thee, Thy
face, Lord, will I seek. True prayer is commanded and and
true prayer has accomplished much in the church.
According to God's grace. God is sovereign, but this
sovereign God is ordained. It means, and one of those means
is the weapon of prayer. I would love to talk this
morning, but I can't of the prayers of John Knox for
Scotland. Give me Scotland or a die.
What about prayers for revival? 16251859 Nineteen 20's.
The prayer meetings in the early days of the Free Presbyterian
Church where they experience the power and the presence of God.
Somebody asked the question now, if we're commanded to pray
without ceasing in the way that I've described, where's the
regular discipline prayer meetings from the people of God?
Remember Daniel prayed 3 times, Daniel 6 and 10.
Where's the spontaneous Christ to God in our of need?
When we face a crisis, where is the continual awareness of God's
presence and power? We bemoan it's absence.
The prayer meeting seems to be in decline.
And yet prayerlessness is a sin and if we neglect public and
private prayer, then we're really sinning against God.
We're not taking seriously this command to pray without ceasing.
We have 3 or 4 prayer meetings in the week in this church.
I encourage you, your communicant members wanting to
be communicant members, do do, do join with us in the times of
prayer with a great season of prayer on Wednesday night here
in this church. See, if the Lord Jesus withdrew
to pray privately, pray with His disciples in their presence, if
He experienced the necessity of a life of dependence on his
Heavenly Father, then so should we.
You see, true prayer, You know what it presupposes?
It presupposes a felt need. True prayer is a confession of
our own faith that that need can only be met by God's power and
God's provision and by God's presence.
And true prayer flows from being in Christ in union with Him, and
intercessory work of the Holy Spirit.
I remember what we read in the book of Romans in chapter 8 and
verse 26. Listen to these words.
Likewise the Spirit also help with our infirmity, for we know
not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself
make us intercession for us with groanings which cannot be
uttered. Oh, I would love to take time
this morning to tell you about a man called Albert McCauley down
in Ballymoney. You know, one time his children
were on holidays. They were over with Doctor Alan
Kearns over in Greenville and South Carolina, and they're in
the church that were looking at the missionary board.
And in that missionary board was a picture of Albert McCauley and
one of the children four years of age.
When asked, do you know who that is mentioning the little child's
name? Yes.
That's praying Grandpa. Praying Grandpa wasn't to the
child, Just Albert wasn't just Grandpa.
It was praying Grandpa because there was a room in Albert
Mcauley's house where he went to Dealey and cried unto God for
Bali Monday. And I thought, what a testimony?
Would we have such a testimony? Would I have such a testimony?
There's a command to persistently pray.
Notice finally here there's a command to profound praise, not
just to perpetually rejoice and not just to persistently pray,
but a command to profound praise.
Notice as we finish, look very quickly with this verse 18 and
everything give thanks for this is the will of God and Christ
Jesus concerning you. Notice the scope here.
In everything, give thanks. It's not wide.
It's not a wide berth. Everything, in everything, every
situation, every circumstance. Not for everything, but in
everything, in every circumstance, in every
situation. It includes the days of
prosperity, the days of poverty. It includes days of sickness as
well as days of health. It includes days of joy as well
as days of sorrow. The scope here in everything,
give thanks. Notice quickly.
The sign is here. This is the will of God.
You see, the will of God here is wide enough to include these
three commands. God's command to rejoice, God's
command to pray, and God's command to give thanks.
Often people have confessed to me they have trouble discovering
what the will of God is. But it's not hidden, it's
heralded forth. Here's the will of God.
In these three areas, we're commanded to rejoice.
Pray and give thanks no matter your circumstances.
Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing in
everything. Give thanks.
Notice the subject very quickly. Give thanks.
Underline that. How do we give thanks?
Well, let's remember, aim to understand who God is.
In other words, no God. God is sovereign, God is holy.
God's a good God, God's a great God.
Romans even 28 And we know that all things work together for
good to them that love God, and to them who are the called
according to his purpose. See, there's things we can't say
in our life, things we don't understand.
And even though they're terrible, things come into our
lives somehow. And I don't know the answer.
God just comes and says what I do now you know not, but he
shall know hereafter. In other words, in the world to
come, it'll be revealed. But somehow even bad things that
happen in our life, they're for the glory of God and the good of
His people. We should apply that
individually. We should apply that
collectively. And we know Paul says that all
things, good or bad, work together for good to them
exclusive, you see, who love God to them who they're called
according to his purpose. The second thing I would say
today is this trust and believe and rely on the Lord.
We were called upon to live by faith.
The just shall live by faith. Place your life in his hands.
Every trial, every trouble are instruments of sanctification, I
would say, thirdly, don't murmur, don't grumble, don't
complain about your lot in life, Thomas Watson wrote.
Thankfulness is the work of heaven and it is the beginning
of heaven in the soul. Thankfulness is the work of
heaven and it's the beginning of heaven in the soul.
A thankful heart acknowledges God's Providence and submits to
its will. Whenever.
John Wesley was the founder of the Methodist Church. 13 years
before his conversion, he found a Porter one evening.
The Porter had only one thin coat on.
This Porter worked for a Stagecoach company.
He was getting horses into a barn.
He'd not eaten that day. It was wet.
He was cold. And as John Wesley came up with
this horse, this man said to John Wesley, thank God, Sir.
And John Wesley said to him, well, what are you thanking God
for? You have no second coat to put
on. You've not eaten.
You've got a a straw bed in the stable for tonight.
You're wet and you're cold. What have you got to thank God
for? This is what he said.
My life, a heart that loves him, a desire to serve him.
And I rejoice in all the riches I have in Christ because my
home's in heaven. See.
See, that's the subject. Giving thanks when you know God,
when you put your life in his hands, when you refuse to sin by
murmuring and grumbling, complaining about your lot, you
just leave yourself in God's providential care.
Notice lastly, as we finish the source, this command to profound
praise as a source in Christ Jesus.
There's the key. Are you in Christ this morning?
All these commands are impossible without them.
They're impossible without the new birth.
They're impossible without the indwelling of the Spirit.
I asked, are you in Christ? We read in First Corinthians
chapter 1 and in the verse 30. But of him are ye in Christ
Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption. You see, these are all linked.
These three are all linked together.
They describe a life of fellowship with God, but that
life of fellowship with God is only found in Christ.
It's only grounded in him. So I asked as I close this
morning, are you in Christ? Are you saved?
Have you got a testimony to a saving and keeping power?
Can you say I know him as my Lord and Saviour?
And then, if that is true that you're in Christ, then have you
got that biblical joy that looks upward to God's good grace?
Are you exercising prayer that leans upon God's provision and
sufficiency? Are you thankful to rest in
God's marvellous Providence? Apart from Him, such a life is
impossible. I was tempted to preach this as
impossible commands, but I thought of that that wouldn't be
true because they are possible. They can become a reality, but
only to those who are in Christ. May the Lord take His word this
morning and bless it to you. And next week, we'll look
further at some of these other thoughts in the passage of
Scripture.