Give Thanks In All Circumstances

Written By Rev. Law Hui Seng
9th August, 2009
Posted By Teresa Han

1Thess 5:16-18
Main Idea: Give Thanks In All Circumstances
Objectives: a. To challenge the congregation to give thanks in all circumstances. b. To challenge the congregation to take concrete action to show your gratitude to God for what He has done for you.

A. Introduction What Thanksgiving is all about?
- Too often our gratitude is dependent on the circumstances of life. A beautiful hymn to counteract such thinking was written by Martin Rinkart during 30 years war (1618-1648). Rinkart was a pastor in Saxony, Germany, as these turbulent years unfurled, and for a season he was the only pastor in Eilenburg. His pastoral duties caused him to preside at nearly 4,500 burials in 1637 alone. In the context of this bad circumstance, Rinkart penned the words to “Now Thank We All Our God.” It is a hymn of unconditional gratitude to God. We need to learn from the content of it in this thanksgiving season.
- A grouchy, young man was confronted by his pastor for being so negative during the Thanksgiving season. The young man responded, “Preacher, what do I have to be thankful for? I don’t have even enough money to pay all of my bills!” The wise pastor replied, “In that case, you should be thankful that you aren’t one of your creditors.”
- A little boy was asked by his father to say grace at the table. While the rest of the family members waited, the little guy eyed every dish of food his mother had prepared. After examination, he bowed his head and honestly prayed, “Lord, I don’t like the looks of it, but I thank you for it, and I’ll eat it anyway. Amen.”
- These are good examles of giving thanks in all circumstances.
- How can you give thanks to God when you have a car accident? Sickness and suffering? Broken relationship? Bad day?
- I pray that at the end of my sermon, you will be able to agree with word of God and start to practise “Give thanks in all circumstances” – especially in bad circumstances.

B. The Context of the 2 Verses
- Before verse 18, you have verse 16, Be joyful always, verse 17 says you need to pray continually.
- These 3 verses are among the last few verses of the 1Thessalonians. Why this kind of final instruction? According to the immediate context, from verses 12 to 15 the reason could be due to some interpersonal problems among the Thessalonians.
- Commentator Leon Morris believed the leaders of the Thessalonian church tried to put things right, and their manner of doing so may well have aroused opposition.
- To address the the problem, Paul came in to help the situation by instructing them: verse 12 to respect those who work hard among them
Verse 13 to hold them in the highest regard; live in peace
Verse 14 to warn the lazy, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient
Verse 15 don’t pay back wrong for wrong, try to be kind to each other.

C. Explaining the text.
- Joy. In doing all these things, the readers, the congregation is to approach all these things with a joyful attitude.
- That is why Paul wrote the verse 16, “Be joyful always;”
- For a christian to be joyful always requires him to be born again, a new creation; he does not see things from earthly perspectives.
- He sees things as a child of the heavenly father, he rejoices in the father’s world.
- He does not produce joy by his own efforts; take for instance, he is happy when things go well; not this joy that depend on circumstances.
- It is the joy that comes from being in Christ. How? In very bad circumstance, you have to think more of Jesus than your difficulties; you have to think more of your spiritual richness in Christ than your poverty on earth; you have to think more of your glorious future with Christ than your unhappy past; interpersonal relationship problem/conflict. If so, you can rejoice now.
- Prayer. From this joy, it will spring forth continuous prayer; joy in your life will give rise to a spirit of prayer.
- Christianity is a “faith” that turns your thoughts away from yourself and your small deeds to the great God who has blessed you with the great salvation in Christ.
- It is God, Jesus who saved you, you can’t bring about your salvation.
- After you are saved, you are to depend on God for everything; God surround you with love.
- Continuous prayer is the continuous expression of this dependence.
- Prayer and rejoicing are closely related, for often you find in prayer the means of removing that which is the barrier to joy.
- Give Thanks. Prayer removes obstacles to your joy, it results in Christians giving thanks to God in all circumstances, including the bad circumstance.
- You see, after you are saved by Christ, everything is changed. You have eternal life. Now, God has every right to intervene in your life; He wants to work out his loving purpose for your life.
- This leads to the thought that the same loving purpose is being worked out even in those events which the believer is inclined not to welcome at all.
- When you come to realize that God’s hand is in all things, you learn to give thanks in all things. It includes suffering.
- Suffering is unpleasant, yet in the midst of suffering, you will give thanks, knowing that the heavenly father who loves you so greatly has permitted suffering on you or your loved ones so that his wise and merciful purpose might be worked out.
- Out of this central truth, Paul calls all of you to give thanks to God in all circumstances.
- In chapter 1:6, we are told that in severe suffering, Thessalonians welcomed Paul’s message with joy given by the Holy Spirit.

D. Application.- How do you apply verse 18 “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
- When you do it, your faith will grow deeper. Your faith will not be superficial. That is you will not give thanks to God for good things only. You will also give thanks in bad circumstances. Take for instance, you will not let your emotions affect your relationship with God.
- Your faith will grow stronger. This is because you are able to stand the test. Bad circumstances test the strength of your relationship with God. In bad circumstance, you still trust God, hold on to Him and do not doubt Him, your faith will grow stronger.
- Fanny Crosby, a blind gospel hymn writer in the 19th century, wrote more than 8000 texts. One of her hymns is found in UMH 369 Bessed Assurance. In suffering of blindness, she can count God’s blessings and goodness.
- Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called to his purpose.”
- 1Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”
- James 1:2-4, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
- Whatever trials you face in life, as your faith is tested, it will produce the character of perseverance which leads to maturity.
- How do you practically give thanks to God? In terms of good things you get, remember to pray; tell others to witness for Jesus; write about it; give an offering; sing a song of thanksgiving.
- In terms of bad things you get, you also give thanks immediately and acknowledge God’s goodness; pray to give thanks for other things; after everything is over, you give thanks for the bad circumstance because God use it to mould your character.

E. Conclusion.
The best way to give thanks to God in all circumstances is to offer to serve God, tell God, “Here I am, I am available to serve you, as an act of gratitude to your blessings, moulding. I am willing.....”