Good morning once again. It's good to be able to gather together with you, especially this last Lord's Day morning before Thanksgiving, Thursday, in which we gather together as Bobby prayed with family and friends and just rejoice in the many blessings that God has poured out upon us as families, as individuals, as a church. God has richly blessed us. Let me read something to you as we begin. It begins, whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor Whereas both houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness, Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these United States to the service of the great and glorious being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be, that we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks for his kind care and protection of the people of this country. Sound like words out of the past, don't they? Well, they are. This general Thanksgiving decree, signed by George Washington on October 3rd, 1789, was the first public designation and proclamation by the new national government to establish a day of public Thanksgiving and prayer. Now, some 220 years, 21 years later, with Thanksgiving coming upon us very quickly this coming Thursday, I thought it would be good for us to turn our attention, to turn our focus and devote this time to the question, answering this question, what is it that is distinctive about Christian Thanksgiving? What is distinctive about this joyful and thankful attitude of heart that the Scriptures exhort us to have? Turn with me, if you will, to 1 Thessalonians 5. We're going to read the very short verse 16, 17, and then 18. Focus our attention upon these verses today. 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 16. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Heavenly Father, Almighty, Merciful God, we come submitting ourselves to the scrutiny of your word. Your word is true. Your word is truth. And as we reflect in it today, we do pray, Lord, that our lives might be conformed to your word as we become Thankful people. Father, we pray in Christ's name. Amen. There are three things this morning that I want us to see as a body and as individuals. All of these commands that are given here by Paul to the Thessalonian church are commands that are given in the plural. They're not commands that point out individuals. They are commands that point out and give imperatives to the church as a body, which is composed of individuals. So these are commands that are certainly pointed to us as individuals as well. These three things I want us to see this morning in this text, both corporately and individual, are this. Number one, there is a command. Actually, there's three commands. We're going to focus upon one of them. that the three commands are rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks. Rejoice, pray, give thanks. The second thing I want us to see here is not only the commands, but the context in which the command and the commands are given. Because here Paul tells us divinely inspired by God, to give thanks in everything. That is to say, in every circumstance, we are to give thanks. Then, number three, there is a constraint. So there's a command, there's a context, and there is a constraint. As we give thanks to God in everything, we are to do this because it is the will of God. It is God's will that we give thanks in all things. So first of all, let's look at the command. Give thanks, it says. This is an imperative. It's a command. It's something that we are told to do as a body and as individuals. Paul is commending the people of God as the apostle of the Lord, that this is what they are to do. Give thanks. They must give thanks. Paul is saying here that one of the hallmarks, one of the marks of the identity of a child of God is that they are thankful. Community of believers ought to be a thankful community. So what does Paul mean here when he says, be thankful? Well, he means be thankful to God. Thankfulness to God as a recognition of His goodness and His faithfulness to us in providing for us, in keeping us, in caring for us day in and day out, both physically and spiritually. It means recognizing that both you and I are dependent in an absolute sense upon the grace and the goodness of God for all that we have. All that we are and all that we do. Everything we have this morning, at all times, comes from the Lord, who is the one who gives all things. You might remember how Paul, writing to the Romans in the very first chapter of that letter, begins to describe the characteristics of the natural man the unconverted man or woman and the ungodly man or woman. Paul says, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God. And you know what the next phrase is? It says, nor were they thankful. God gave them over, Paul says, to their depraved minds. Paul says that one of the hallmarks of a sinful mind is unthankfulness. There's an amazing story, a true story I believe, about Jesus in the Gospels where He heals ten lepers. These lepers are people inflicted with this disease. And by reason of their infirmity and their sickness, they've been ostracized from their families and the community, from society, having to live somewhere outside the city limits. And as Jesus heals these ten lepers, you might remember Jesus tells them to go to the priests that they might be declared clean. There's a lot of things that can be said about that particular account of that healing. But the amazing thing, if you go back and look at it, is that only one out of those ten returns to Jesus to give thanks. Years ago, some of you might remember Apollo 13. And if you don't remember it, you can certainly go out and get the video. Those events of that time have been immortalized in a DVD now. Apollo 13 was the third Apollo mission intended to land upon the moon. The spacecraft was successfully launched toward the moon, but the landing had to be aborted. landing they had planned on the moon after an oxygen tank ruptured and severely damaged the spacecraft's electrical system. You remember there was a moment in time when they thought that those astronauts would not be able to return to Earth. The President of the United States went on national television asking the nation to pray. And then when the spacecraft successfully landed in the ocean, as it did during those days, those three men emerged alive. And all the thanks was given to the scientist and the human ingenuity that it took to bring them back. But there was no call for national thanksgiving. as an answer to the prayer of Almighty God. Paul, on ten occasions as he writes these letters, his thirteen epistles, exhorts the people of God to give thanks. On eighteen occasions, he mentions his own personal thanksgiving. As we looked this morning in our responsive reading and were reminded in Psalm 100 that we are to enter God's gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise and to give thanks to Him and bless His name. Psalm 95 says, Let us, as God's people, come before His presence with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise to the Lord. I believe what this says to us this morning is this, failure to give thanks to Almighty God is a sin. It is a sin just as much as lying or cheating or stealing or adultery is a sin. An unthankful heart is something, I believe, that breaks God's heart as much as any other sin does. I wonder this morning as we anticipate gathering together However, you may be doing that this coming Thursday, this Thanksgiving. That day, as I wrote this, that seemed still to be so uncluttered with a lot of the commercialism. And yet, as I went to Walmart yesterday and I saw the Salvation Army bell ringer already out there and the Thanksgiving Decorations on sale and the Christmas things already up. I wonder if this is true, you know, that Thanksgiving has become commercial just like every other holiday that we seem to observe. But I wonder if at least in part what we need to do on that day as we sit around the table and thank God for the many blessings that He has given to us is not confess. that we have not been as thankful as we ought to be. We need to confess to Almighty God our sin of unthankfulness. Be thankful, the command says. Then within the context of the letter to the Thessalonian church, Paul is giving thanks with a sense of joy and of gladness about the report that Timothy has given to him concerning the work of the church. Chapter 3, verse 6. 1 Thessalonians is considered to be one of the first epistles that Paul wrote and was probably written not long after he established this particular church at Thessalonica. Paul is eager to know how the people of God are growing in the Lord, in the church that he has planted. And Timothy brings a wonderful report. He says, but Timothy has come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. And then in verse 9, how can we thank God, Paul says, enough for you in return for all the joy we have and the presence of God? because of you. Paul was rejoicing in the movement of God among the people of God at Thessalonica and the growth of the church there. You know, it's easy to give God thanks when circumstances are good, you know, when the congregation is full, when the offering plate is overflowing and when we're meeting our budget in excess. It's easy to give God thanks during those times when things around us are going well. We have our families, we have our spouses and our children and our homes and our jobs and a sense of financial security that God has given to us and privileged us with. There are a million other things that we can probably think about that we need to be thankful for, and that we are, that come into our mind as we think of God and which He has so graciously given to us, so many things, far beyond what we deserve. But here we're commanded to give thanks, always. Not just when things are going well, but when everything around us seems to be falling apart. The context in which the command is to be obeyed is totally comprehensive. In some things it says, give thanks. No, it says in everything give thanks. Paul doesn't say here, he doesn't say for everything give thanks. Notice that. He says, in everything give thanks. What Paul is saying here is that in every circumstance, no matter how bleak it looks, how catastrophic it looks, we are to give thanks to God in every circumstance. Many of you know, or maybe don't know, the story of Helen Keller. Remember Helen Keller? Born in 1882, when she was 19 months old, she caught a fever that ravaged her body and left her without sight and without the ability to hear. She was locked in a world of darkness and silence, but she was determined when she wanted a piece of bread. She would make hand motions as if she were cutting bread so that her family would know what she wanted. When she wanted ice cream, she would wrap her arms around herself and shiver, communicating what she wanted to those around her. She developed 60 different motions of her hands and her body that she could do in order to communicate with her family. But it frustrated her. As she understood that people around her communicated with words and by hearing with lips and she communicated differently. As she grew, if you know anything about her history and became older, she became more and more frustrated. More violent because of her frustrations. She would throw things and smash things. A person in Helen Keller's situation, I have to think, if I were in that situation, would I be thankful? We would probably be tempted to become better and become angry. And the last thing that most people would do in that type of situation would be grateful and thankful. But listen to what Helen Keller said. She says, for three things, I thank God every day of my life. I thank Him that He gave me knowledge of his works. I give deep thanks that he has given me in my darkness the light of faith. And deepest thanks that I have another life to look forward to. A life joyous with light and flowers and heavenly song. Helen Keller may not have been thankful for the circumstances. that God had given to her. But she was thankful in those circumstances. And that is precisely what Paul is saying here to us. And in every circumstance, we are to give thanks. Not only are there physical blessings that we can certainly give thanks for, but there are spiritual blessings in the heavenly realm that have been poured out upon us. If you are a believer here this morning, you've been saved and redeemed and washed in the blood of Jesus Christ. Your sins have been forgiven. God in His providence has applied the redemption purchased by blood to you. in the homes in which you were put, the families that love you and care for you, and the prayers that were prayed and that are prayed over you, and how the Holy Spirit enters into our hearts and our lives and transforms us and gives us new hearts, so that this morning we sit here in this congregation as individuals, but as a congregation with the assurance that our sins are forgiven and that we have peace with God. We are His adopted children and know that every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of light, Lord of love. But for some, even here this morning, it may not be the favorable circumstances that first come to our mind that we need to be thankful for. We might immediately think of unfavorable things, the difficult circumstances that are weighing down upon us. There is a scene. In Shakespeare's Henry V, at the Battle of Angicourt, the soldiers have been victorious and they are encouraged to sing these words. Non nobis domine. Non nobis domine. From Psalm 15. Not unto us, O Lord. Not unto us, but unto your name be the glory. Now that's an easy thing to sing, non nobis nobinae, during the good times. But it's altogether different to sing that song when we find ourselves in difficult circumstances. Back in chapter 1 of Thessalonians, verse 6, in the context of 1 Thessalonians, we can begin to see what Paul is talking about here when he says, you became imitators of us and the Lord in spite of severe tribulation and sufferings. He was writing to the church. You welcomed the message, he said, with joy given by the Holy Spirit. Paul is alluding here to the fact that it is part of the experience of the people of God to experience the thorns and the thistles and the pains, the losses and the crosses that accompany life and fellowship and communion with Jesus Christ. Jesus said himself, in this world, you will have trouble. You will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world. And it may be this morning that as you anticipate this coming Thanksgiving, though your heart is heavy and your spirits are low because of the difficulty of the circumstances that you find yourself in, you know the Word of Scripture before you this morning is this. While you may not be able to understand what God is doing, you can understand perfectly and fully that God knows what He is doing. God doesn't make mistakes. He knows perfectly what we need, when we need it, in the doses we need it. We are given the command to give thanks. We are given the context in which we are to give thanks. That is, in all things. And we are told then why We are to give thanks in everything. We are given the constraint for giving thanks. That is. This is, he says, God's will for you. Give thanks in everything, for this is God's will for you. Paul said something like this already in chapter four of First Thessalonians, verse three concerning sanctification. Our growth and grace and our knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is God's will that you should be sanctified, he says. And in exactly the same way, he says, it is God's will that you should give thanks to Him in every circumstance. You know, we live in a strange world, don't we? Part of its strangeness is that this is an age, even among the people of God, when confusion reigns among the writings of those people about the will of God and God's guidance. I went to Amazon.com to look something up and thought I would look this up. I looked up the religious books listed by God's will or guidance. And I found 400 books currently in print on guidance and knowing God's will. Now, if it were possible to go to that spot on Amazon.com and look up books on guidance written in the 18th and 19th centuries, do you know what you would find? Got a clue? Zero books. None. You know why? Because they didn't write books on finding God's will or knowing God's guidance. Why? You might be asking. Let me suggest a possible reason. We live in an age in which lawlessness abounds. This is an age that does not want to hear and does not care and concern itself about the law of God. One of the characteristics of the 18th and the 19th century of our forefathers and the pilgrims, those who came here to found this country, was that they were so immersed in the scriptures and knowing the will of God that Spurgeon said of Bunyan this, the man is a living Bible prick him, that is, stick him anywhere, and his blood is bibline, or biblaine, however you want to pronounce that. The very essence of the Bible flows from him. He cannot speak without quoting the text, for his very soul is full of the Word of God. We ought to be so much in the Word of God, and our thoughts and principles so molded and shaped by the principles and the law of God that the Word of God is very much a part of our lives. So that if we did have a question about God's will and guidance, those questions would naturally be answered out of the Word of God. So we don't need 400 books to tell us about how to find the will of God. So Paul says here, this is something that you don't have to pray about, folks. This is something you don't have to search Amazon.com about. It is God's will for you that you be thankful. How can I do that? How can I be a thankful child of God? How in the world is it possible for me to give thanks In the circumstances of this world, maybe in the difficulties that you are experiencing, or the trials, or the hurts, or the pains, how can I give thanks to Almighty God in everything when the whole world around me seems to be falling apart? And Paul gives the answer here. He says, it is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. It's because of your relationship, he says, to Jesus Christ that you will be able to give thanks. It's only possible to express thanks to God in everything if you have that faith relationship with Jesus Christ. If you are in Christ. Because it's only in and through Jesus Christ that we're able to give thanks in every circumstance. It was Augustine who said many years ago, Long time ago. Lord, give me what you command to command what you will. What he was saying was this. Lord, in my own strength, I can't do the things you command me to do. But in whatever you command, you give me the grace and the ability to do whatever you command. And the Apostle Paul is saying here, you want to give thanks at everything? You want to foil your foes? with felicity, with joy, then trust in Jesus Christ. Rest in Him alone. And when you find that when you're connected and in Him to the one who is the spiritual source of the capacity to be thankful in every circumstance, then and only then will you be able to give thanks to God in everything. For this is his will for you in Christ Jesus. This coming Thursday, whatever traditions you may have that you will sit around the table and follow through with, and maybe you're establishing some new traditions this year. May we, when we gather together as God's people, remember to confess our sin of unthankfulness, to give thanks to the one who is our God, our Creator, our Redeemer, our Sustainer through Jesus Christ, because we are a people that God has richly blessed. individuals sitting here in this congregation, this congregation, and even this nation that we live in. As difficult as that is to comprehend at times, we do live in a country that God has blessed. And I pray that God will continue to bless as we thankful people Give thanks to Him who has given so much. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You that You are our Father, that You are our God who has poured out upon us blessing beyond our ability to be able to comprehend, both in the physical realm and the spiritual realm, Lord. We give you thanks. We do pray, Lord, that we would be a people characterized by hearts of thankfulness and gratitude, that our attitude would not be one of grumbling and complaining and finding fault with those things that we don't have or that we should have, but that we would be a people who have an attitude of gratitude in all things, in every circumstance, giving thanks to you, our God, through Jesus Christ, for this is your will for us. Father, we pray gratefully and thankfully in Christ's name. Amen.