1 Thessalonians chapter 5 this morning is where we're going to be. We're taking a break from our series in the Gospel of John. And I'm doing that intentionally for a couple of reasons. I want to share them with you. The first is that I think we've been in the Gospel of John since April, and 24 out of 26 Sundays, or 24 out of 25 is pretty close, we've been in John, with the exception of the week that Pastor Steve Hussing was here. And so in any long series at different times, you need breaks along the way so that we can digest it properly, I think. And that is a long series. There's probably, if I had to guess, something like 65 or 70 more that I already have planned. And so we'll be there for quite a while. So I think we need some breaks along the way. And I think this is a good place to land, not only because it's November and here in the United States, we celebrate Thanksgiving on a Thursday in November. I don't know about Canadians. I don't know what they do. I think it's October or something. Am I right? something like that, so they're a little bit earlier. But here in the U.S. we do it in November, and so we give our attention oftentimes on the Sunday before Thanksgiving to a Thanksgiving-themed message. But my heart in the last few weeks especially, and particularly last week, was moved by a number of situations in my own life and of things that are going on in my family, and the Lord really was just impressing on me the need to spend some time personally, and then as a church, in various passages of Scripture that deal with the idea, the subject of gratitude. And I think that this is a good place to be for us. And this past week, it was Wednesday, probably middle of the day, and I was getting close to the end of working on John 6, 1 to 15. And I said, I can't preach this this week. There needs to be something else, and so I sought the Lord about that, and this is where we're going to start. I started thinking about the logic and how to trace gratitude in four or five weeks. I'm not going to be able to get to everything. I'm not even sure exactly where this series is going to go, but I think this is a good place to start, that God's will for His people is that they be thankful people. that they be people of gratitude. So you've known me long enough, my titles are not usually that great, so we just titled the series Gratitude, and that's where we're gonna be. Also, along with this, it is the week of the election here in the U.S., and so how can our hearts be thankful to God amidst, in a country where there's all kinds of chaos, where there's lots of varying opinions and philosophies and all of this, how can Christians remain thankful even in that? So we have to think about all those things, and long story short is, this is where we are. And so 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, I want to give attention to verses 16 through 18. Before I do, listen to the words of Psalm 100 and how they inform our thinking of even this passage from Paul. Psalm 100, make a joyful noise to the Lord all the earth. Come before, sorry, make a joyful noise to the Lord all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before his presence with singing. Know that the Lord, he is God. It is he who has made us and we are his. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Be thankful unto him and bless his name." Then we turn to Paul's letter here, chapter 5, verses 16 through 18. Here's what he says. Really simple. Maybe you haven't memorized. Rejoice always. pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Let's pray together. Father, thank you for your word, and we ask now that as we turn our attentions to it, would you speak to our hearts? Holy Spirit, would you bring conviction of sin? Would you empty us of ourselves and point us to the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ? We ask that you'd help us to grasp how it is your will that we be thankful people, and that you'd work in a powerful way in our hearts today, and that we might walk closer with you, and know you more, and love you more. We pray it in Jesus' name, amen. Paul wrote this first letter to the Thessalonians from Corinth in response to his friend Timothy's report back to him. It was a good report coming back from Thessalonica. The apostle Paul loved the saints that were there. They were dear to his heart for a number of reasons, and not just for personal reasons of personal relationships like we would have and have developed, but Paul is someone who always sees the work of God in people, and that is what truly thrills his heart. This is highlighted in the theme of the letter when it becomes clear as Paul uses words like chosen, loved, entrusted, called, will of God. The letter is full of these words and expressions. I'm sorry. And there's much of the context that we could uncover here as Paul writes to people who were chosen and loved in chapter 1, those who were enduring difficult temptations in chapter 3 that Paul was addressing, those whom God had turned their hearts from serving idols to serve the living and true God, chapter 1 verse 9. These are people who have lost loved ones, and they are grieving in chapter 4, and Paul reminds them that they grieve, but not as ones who have no hope. They get toward the end of the letter in chapter 5, and he's inviting, Paul is inviting his readers into thinking about who God is and what he's done. The end of the letter is in verse 24. Look at the text, chapter 5 of this letter, verse 24. What does Paul say there? He says, he who has called you is faithful. He's speaking to the character of God that is faithful, that is bearing with the people. He who has called you is faithful. He will do it. The caller is the doer. Paul is saying that we as Christians were meant for more. We were meant for more than serving idols that promise everything and deliver nothing. God has called us to something much, much greater, and this promise of God being faithful, who will do it, what's it? Well, he specifically states what it is in verse 23, when he refers to the complete sanctification of these believers. Now, may the God of peace himself sanctify you. What does it mean to be sanctified? What means to be set apart? God is in the business of sanctifying His people, and sanctification is both positional and progressive. Positional in that when you become a believer, He positions you set apart from the world, set apart from your sin, you are sanctified positionally. But you're also being sanctified progressively, in time, as God is more and more conforming you to the image of Christ. Does that make sense? So God is progressively making you like Him. And what He says here, now, may the God of peace. So God is a God of peace. He's a God who makes us like Himself. May He do this work of sanctifying you, of setting you apart completely. And may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, this entire letter has many things in it, but it is built a lot around the fact that the Lord is going to return. And so Paul is building this case for how the people in Thessalonica and how us as believers by the Holy Spirit ought to live our lives. Now, these words that Paul gives, these commands in verses 16 through 18, to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks, are these merely Paul just tacking on some extra challenging commands at the end of a letter? Like, I gotta finish this letter somehow, so I'll just throw these things in there? Well, no. What is Paul doing then? Well, what Paul is doing is that he is explaining the marks, the characteristics of someone who is living by the Spirit. Paul is reminding believers of the distinguishing marks of a Spirit-filled life. That if we are to live life by the Spirit, we will rejoice, we will be people of prayer, and we will be people who give thanks in all things. But this, again, is continuing to sit in a context. And one of the difficulties of preaching, even topically, expositionally, is that the context needs to continue to be rehearsed. So look back at verse 13. Paul has already been speaking to them about love, in verse 13, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work, speaking about the work of the apostles there. Also, in verse 13, he's been speaking about peace. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seeks to do good or to be kind to one another and to everyone. Now in verse 16, Paul comes to speak about joy. So there's love and there's joy and there's peace and there's patience and there's gentleness and goodness and faith and meekness and self-control. Galatians 5.22. What is that? It is the fruit of the Spirit. Not fruits, plural, but fruit, singular. If someone is walking by the Spirit, the Holy Spirit is producing this kind of fruit. The effect of you walking by the Spirit is that your life is filled with these things. And so here, the Holy Spirit and Paul here is explaining to these believers that even in the persecution that they're enduring, in the struggles that they're enduring, all of that, they can rejoice and pray and give thanks. It's interesting. that in Philippians chapter 4, Paul comes to some of the same things. Remember that Philippians chapter 4, Paul is addressing the church because of an issue of discord between two women in the church, Iodia and Syntyche. And he calls them to agree in the Lord, verse 2 of Philippians 4. He says, Rejoice always, and again I say rejoice. Let your moderation or your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God and the God of peace. He's the one who will guard your hearts in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is lovely, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is honorable, whatever is of good report, if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things, the things that you've seen and heard of me do, and the God of peace will be with you. And so he says, right after that, that he's learned to be content in all circumstances. And he says that I've learned how to be abased and how to abound, how to have much, how to have little, but I've learned in all these things to be content. Not that I speak in respect of want, for I've learned in whatever state I am therewith to be content. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." So Paul continues, even in difficult situations in Philippi, even in his own difficult situation in prison, to be joyful and prayerful and thankful. And this is all God's will for his people. This is not just some command that comes from the Apostle Paul, but this is a command that comes from our Good Shepherd, the one who laid down his life for the sheep. We'll see that more in a few moments. I want you to look at the end of verse 18 of the text. Paul says that this is the will of God in Christ Jesus. That phrase, this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you, is key to understanding everything else in this sequence. I want you to look at the text and follow this grammar with me. If you notice, even as you read verse 16, the first directive, He says, rejoice always. Is there a period at the end of that word always? No. What's there? What's the grammar there? What is that? The punctuation? A comma or a semicolon, depending on your translation. It's a continuing thought. Verse 17, he says, pray without ceasing. Is there a period there? No, there's not, right? There's a comma or a semicolon. Verse 18, in, give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. What's the point? All of those things are God's will for you, and they all are inextricably linked with each other. And I want to show you how that goes. The life that is led by the Spirit is a life that's lived in Jesus Christ. What the Apostle Paul says here is that this kind of life is made possible by Christ. Whatever God's will is, He provides the enabling to complete. So what is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus? Well, we've said it. Number one, it is to rejoice always. It is to rejoice. That is God's will for you in Christ Jesus, that you should be joyful always. We are to be characterized by a state of happiness or well-being. And a reasonable response to that is, you gotta be kidding me, right? Come on, don't act pious, you know that that's true. Christians have the spiritual insight to know that the world is often chaos. that there's full of moral laxity, it's full of sin, full of crime, full of disturbing things, full of trials, full of death, full of loss, rejoice always? The Stoics developed an alternative idea to deal with this issue. They, like some modern Christians, were all about sobriety and somberness, just downright dispirited. This attitude was due in part to a basic philosophy they had, that all emotions are defective judgments. Therefore, they developed a doctrine called the good disposition, apart from affection. And that is not the same as being joyful. This is not just a command, as I said, from one apostle, although that in itself should be sufficient as it's God's Word. But this is also the characteristic that the Lord Jesus Himself has called every one of His followers to have. Jesus, nine times in Matthew chapter 5, in what's called the Beatitudes, calls his people to be happy, to find their happiness by certain things. Let's rehearse those things together. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are happy are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied or filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. So, having laid down those nine characteristics that should result in happiness for Christians, Jesus gives a command using the exact same word of our text. Jesus says in Matthew 5, 12, to rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you. Now, here's the real question. Does this command to rejoice always take into account the seasons of life that are sorrowful? Is God demanding something of us here that's so contrary to even sanctified human nature, that people become something other than human, in a sense to not be moved by grief? Well, to answer that, I want you to remember again that Paul is speaking here to Christians, young Christians, new Christians who had experienced all kinds of persecution and more that were coming, those that were grieving loss and suffering great temptations and trials. Paul did not encourage these believers to be silly and unrealistic and to live in the denial of their circumstances. Rather, in spite of the trials they were facing, they needed to find joy in their newfound relationship with Christ. And what Paul is saying here is that the joy that I'm calling you to have is something you already possess in Jesus Christ by virtue of your relationship with Him. As a believer, in Christ, there's a command here to be joyful, and the command is comprehensive. It's all the time. And there are parts of us that are longing for a limit to that. Does that extend to when my septic system breaks? Does that extend to car repairs that seem like insurmountable amounts of money for me? Does this extend to conflict with my family, with my children, with my spouse? What about when the doctor announces that you have cancer? Does it extend all the way to there? I want you to understand that the imperatives or commands to rejoice are something that by the Spirit's help we're called to obey regardless of how we feel and regardless of the very real pressures and difficulties that we face. Paul is explaining that no matter what the circumstances are in your life, you can find joy. Okay, I got that. What is joy? Joy involves happiness, but it is a deep-seated, rooted happiness, not in the circumstances themselves so much as it is a deep-seated trust in who God is. That no matter what the difficulty is, I know that God has it. that the Lord is in control, that the Lord is good. No matter what we're facing, there is joy to be found. And I want to cross-reference this with something in Paul's own life that he speaks from experience of this. So I want you to hold your place here and go to 2 Corinthians chapter 6. 2 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 10. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians. 1st and 2nd Corinthians are letters that were sent to the church at Corinth. This is the second one. 2nd Corinthians, chapter 6, and verse 10. Paul says here, as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. As poor, yet making many rich. as having nothing yet possessing everything. What do you make of that? As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. Now, the thing that's very interesting about this statement is that Paul is actually stating that as his own personal experience. that is not being set forward in this context as a command like it is in 1 Thessalonians 5, but rather it's a word from his own experience. If you look back at verse 4 in this chapter, the Apostle writes in verse 4, that in everything, he and the other servants of the Lord who accompany him, but as servants of God, we commend ourselves. Then you have this whole lengthy passage in which you have set forth various circumstances in which they're commending themselves as God's servants, enduring all kinds of things in those circumstances. The beginning of verse 4 says, but as servants of God, we commend ourselves in every way by great endurance, and afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger. And when you come to the sixth verse, you have these really wonderful spiritual attributes, don't you? Purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, and all of these things, all these ways in which they're responding to the circumstances. And what that does is to create people who seem to have these opposites in their lives. Christians are those who always are living in this reality of the difficult thing, but God. The difficult trials and problems, but God. And this is a testimony to the outside world that finds it very difficult to figure out Christians, doesn't it? How is it that this person has lost their only child and yet still is not falling all over the place? How is it that they have endured so well though they've lost their job and can't find another one? There's something different about them. There's something different about their testimony. How is it that in all of these circumstances you can still have these kinds of responses? Well, what Paul is saying here is that though Christians experience difficulty, and in this context Paul says that they've stretched themselves out to a point of self-sacrifice precisely because they're in Christ, they have found that in serving God, in though enduring the trials, they are sorrowful yet always rejoicing. The ability to be sorrowful and yet at the same time rejoice is the result of the nature of Christ's work in us and as a willingness to die to self. You know, the fact is, let's put all this together. Many of us lack joy simply because we refuse to die to ourselves. Simply because the trials and circumstances have been so debilitating to us that we have wallowed in them for so long that we're almost just comfortable in it. And when there is joy to be found, we refuse that joy because somehow dealing with the circumstances is too hard for us. We lack joy because we refuse to die to how we feel and expressing who God truly is. So how do we get that kind of joy that causes you to die to yourself? How do you have that joy? Well, where does joy in Christ come from? Where does it come from? Well, according to Galatians 5 verse 22, it comes from the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy. So perhaps the reason that we are not so often filled with joy is that we're not as close to the Spirit as we might think. Perhaps the reason that we lack joy and a prayerful life and a life of gratitude is that walking with the Spirit has not been as important to us as it ought to be. God has changed our lives. And yet there's this ongoing sanctification where God is making us like Him. And one of the ways He does that is as we're walking with the Spirit, He is filling us with His joy. What Paul is saying is that you have every reason to rejoice. How is this kind of rejoicing possible? It's possible by the Spirit, but it's possible because this is God's will for you. You can rejoice in Christ because of Christ in every circumstance. Joy flows from knowing our position in Christ. You remember how John the Baptist expressed that even as we studied it in John chapter 3. He was preparing the way for God. He was not looking for the spotlight. And in so doing, he had a joy in Christ. And go back to 1 Thessalonians 5, we see not only are we called to rejoice always, But secondly, we're called to pray, and to pray without ceasing. That's verse 17. Rejoicing always becomes possible when we lean harder on the Lord through prayer. We must pray without ceasing because this is God's will for us in Christ Jesus. What is prayer? Prayer is communicating with God and receiving His answer by the Spirit and the Word. This morning in Sunday School, we were talking, we were recapping former chapters of the book that we're reading, and I asked, what is prayer? And Tommy was very helpful. She said, it's spilling out yourself to God. Just spilling it all out to Him. I thought that was very helpful. Because when we spill something, everything gets poured out, right? We're just spilling it out to the Lord. And you know the crazy thing and the good thing is that God actually wants you to. God wants you to spill yourself out to Him, to pray, to pour yourself out to Him, and then to receive His will through His Word. Prayer is communicating my real heart to God. It's honest, it's heartfelt. Look at the Psalms. Share your heart with God. God is ready to hear and to listen. When the disciples asked Jesus, Lord, teach us to pray, how do we do that? What did he say? He said, our father who art in heaven, how would be thy name? Our father. He's a loving father who desires to hear from us. Desires to lead us, to guide us, to be with us, to walk with him. He's a father who listens. Jesus, our shepherd, teaches us the practice of continual prayer. Pray without ceasing. What that means is that every part of your life is a reason to pray. That you're constantly bringing things to the Lord. One of the best examples of this that I know of, one of the best people as an example of this that I know is Pastor Ben Brawley at Truth Baptist Church. I remember so many times that I'd be out there in the garage of the church there and we'd be working on something and just talking and spending time together. All the time, if it was he couldn't find a nail to hammer in something, or he couldn't find the broom, he would just be, Lord, help me to find this. Lord, help me know what to do. And he has such a real relationship with God like that that I just wanted to emulate. I want you to have that too, that you would be praying all the time, that you would be thinking about God constantly. One of the reasons that we don't pray without ceasing is that we're not thinking about God regularly. That we don't even think to pray because we're not even thinking about the Lord. And I don't mean not at all, but it's limited. The amount of time that we spend on everything else in comparison to the time we spend with God. And yes, there is a time to secret, quiet prayer. Absolutely. I would never condemn you for that. But is prayer the pattern and regular action of your life? Are you praying all the time? Is there things that are constantly bringing to your mind to pray for? The Lord Jesus set that example of prayer for us, and Paul here tells us to pray without ceasing. Third thing we come to that ties it together is the third command, to give thanks. To be thankful in everything. Notice the directive. Give thanks in all circumstances. Be thankful people. The children of God should be people who are most thankful. I remember as I just graduated from college, and I was going to start as a pastoral intern in New York City in August of that year. I graduated in May, and I was going to start in August, and there was a few months there. And so I was living at home here in Connecticut, and I worked at the McDonald's that's in Ellington. And I worked at that McDonald's, and it was so interesting because the complaining that happened from so many of the employees. What they were known for was complaining about every situation and angry about everything. And the thing is, I'm not condemning because I know my own heart inclinations to do similar things. But how some of them even profess to know God and yet live lives of complaining and arguing and anger and How often I do the same thing? In other words, what I'm saying is, what sets us apart as Christians from the rest of the world that doesn't know God? Our lives should be marked by gratitude, by those who are thankful, those who are rejoicing, who find that God is working in everything, those that are prayerful. And we're continuing, Colossians 4.2, continue steadfastly in prayer. Why should we be always thankful? because we have the most to be thankful for. Has Christ redeemed your soul today? Do you know Him? Have you been forgiven of your sin? Is that not reason enough to praise the Lord? Is that not reason enough to abandon everything else and know that God is in control, that God loves me, give thanks to Him? Well, sure it should be. But this is why we must not live by our feelings or how things are going in the moment, but rather anchor ourselves to the truths of God, His character, and His Word. The psalmist addresses this very thought many times. Psalm 7, 17, I will give thanks to the Lord because of His righteousness. I will give thanks to you forever. I will give thanks for your righteousness." When we start praying that way, when we start thinking about God and His righteousness, it's amazing how God can begin to work in our hearts. What stops us? What stops us from being thankful to God in all circumstances? Well, I think the circumstances. The circumstances, it seems, are the barrier. But if we find our joy in circumstances and our contentment in circumstances, then when the circumstances change, we lose it. What God is calling us to is something far deeper than that. To find our joy and our contentment and our gratitude in Him. And that is the anchor for our souls. Give thanks in all circumstances. My heart is not, again, it's not inclined that way. It's inclined toward loneliness. It's inclined toward loss and despair, frustration and despondency, toward stress. So how is it that any one of us can be joyful, prayerful, and thankful? What the Bible says here is that God not only gives the directive, but he provides the dynamics so that even in the unpleasant and crushing circumstances and experiences of life, we're going to be able to respond in such a way that distinguishes us from those who are thankless and embittered. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. If God's will for us is gratitude, then the enabling will come from God. How do we do this? How do we understand this? Well, again, look at verses 23 and 24. May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. Right? May the God of peace sanctify you fully. May He set us apart. The Lord is setting us apart, and I want you to notice also that the Lord is the one doing the work. God will sanctify. I want to do one more cross-reference. I want you to go to Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2, look at verse 1. Philippians chapter 2, verse 1. So, if there be any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. He's calling them to a unity. A unity that is possible by doing what verse 3 and 4 talk about. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others as more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. And then he gives the example of Christ who has done this. Have this mind in yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped. He was obedient to death, even death on a cross. Look at verse 9. Therefore God has highly exalted him and given him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of the glory of God the Father. Yes, wonderful, that's true. But, okay, so we've done that. We've bowed the knee. Now what? Verses 12 and 13. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not only is in my presence, but much more in my absence. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. So it is God who is working, and I am working. There is an aspect of this that God is working, and there's an aspect that you are working. And this is not working for your salvation, this is working out your salvation. And what that means is that you've already been saved, you're now living it out. This is talking about sanctification. And what that living out includes is being joyful, prayerful, and thankful. And that's possible because God is doing the work in you to will to do it, so that your volition is involved, so your will is unable apart from God. God is willing you to work, to do what He's called you to do for His good pleasure. So we're doing all things to the pleasure and the glory of God. So what's the point of this? That if you interpret these imperatives, these directives that Paul gives, simply as commands to be completed, boxes to be checked, you will have missed it. So if you listen to what I've said this morning and you say, okay, I just need to go out and I need to try harder to be joyful, I need to try to pray more, and I need to try to give thanks more, to be more of a thankful person, then you have completely missed the entire sermon. Because you cannot do any of that None of it apart from Christ. Christ is the enabler. Christ is the one who makes all of that possible. He is in you. He is dwelling in you to do that work. And so you don't necessarily just aspire to be more thankful and aspire to pray more and aspire to be more joyful. You aspire to walk by the Spirit and the Spirit produces those qualities in you. Do you see the difference? It's not try harder, it's lean harder on God, be dependent on God, walk with Him, and the Spirit produces these things in your life. Think about Colossians 2, verses 6 and 7. Just as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him. We are to walk with Christ. We are to live for Christ. We are to read the Bible. We are to pray. We are to lean hard on God to give us all that we need to actually obey these commands. The thing is that we can try harder and harder and harder, and we will continue to fail. We'll grow discouraged with our failures, and we'll just give up. But if we're walking by the Spirit, the Spirit's going to produce these things in our lives. Galatians 5.16, walk in the Spirit, keep in step with the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. Those who are walking by the Spirit have this fruit produced in their lives. So here's the question. Have you come to know Christ? Have you come to know Christ? Have you come to a place of repentance of sin and faith in the Lord Jesus? What I'm talking about is the gospel. What is the gospel? The gospel is the good news that Jesus came, that he lived a perfect, sinless life, that he died on a cross to pay the penalty of sins that you and I deserve, and three days later he rose again from the dead and then ascended to his Father in Heaven. The Gospel is understanding those truths, and then it is appropriating them, it is believing them. Believing that Jesus died for me, for my sin. Repenting means to turn. So I need to turn away from my sin, and I need to trust, I need to believe on Jesus alone for salvation. And it's only Jesus who can actually save me. Have you done that? Why do I need to do that? Well, because you are a sinner, and your sin deserves judgment. But God in his mercy has offered, by His love and mercy, a way to know Him, to have your sins removed and forgiven, so that you might know Him and walk with Him. Second application this morning is for us as believers. The traits that we talked about, and as I've just explained more fully, these traits will be developed in us. by the Spirit as we walk with Him. So what I'm calling you to do is not necessarily to just be more prayerful, more joyful, and more thankful. Rather, I'm calling you to walk with God closely and have the Lord produce those things in your life. And here's the deal. That will be the inevitable result of you walking close with God. So if you're not prayerful, and you're not joyful, and you're not thankful, then you're not walking with God. That your walk with Him is, at best, weak. At worst, non-existent. You need God's Spirit, because as you walk with Him, He develops this in your life. And you know why He does that, folks? Because it's God's will that you be joyful, prayerful, and thankful. And by God's help, may He produce this fruit in our lives as we walk with Him. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we do thank You for Your mercy to us and Your love toward us that calls us to close relationship with You. that is not content to leave us on our own, but that walks with us, is always with us, Lord. You are so kind to us, and I pray that by your Spirit you would produce these traits, this fruit in our lives. Lord, we do desire as Christians to be joyful people who find our joy in You. We do desire to have a better and deeper prayer life. We do desire to be more thankful. Help us to not strive after those things in our own strength, but help us strive to walk closer with You, to know You through Your Word, to know You in the means of grace that You've provided, so that You would work these things in our lives, and they would just be the inevitable result of us walking with You. Help us be a Spirit-led church, a church that is full of thankful people, full of joyful people, and full of people who are prayerful. and because of the realities that we have embraced, that we know about you. Lord, I do pray for there's, if there's anyone here that has never come to repentance of sin and faith in the Lord Jesus, that you would work salvation in their hearts, regenerating them and bringing them to you, so that we might also rejoice in your work in that way. Well, thank you for your word. We ask that you'd apply it now, in Jesus' name, amen.