0:08
Okay. Well, I'm going to continue on um in chapter 5. I know we've slowed down significantly, but um so far I think all of these discussions have been necessary, good, and helpful. I hope that continues. Uh I'm going to very
0:19
ambitiously try to do uh three verses today, each of which is about two two words long. So, I think we'll be okay. Um, I'm going to pick up in verse 16
0:32
and uh I am going to read down through 22, but we're we're gonna I'm going to temper my expectations this morning and we're trying going to try to do uh one
0:42
particular piece of this this morning. We'll see where we get to. First Thessalonians chapter 5, beginning in verse 16, Paul writes, "Rejoice always. Pray
0:54
without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the spirit, and do not despise prophetic utterances, but examine everything
1:05
carefully. Hold fast to that which is good. Abstain from every form of evil.
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I'm going to focus here on rejoicing always, praying without ceasing, and giving thanks in all things.
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I was struck um in reading preparing for this looking at these things. All of the commentators agreed that these three things in particular hold together. Um one of them described them
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as as diamond drops on a necklace perhaps. Uh several others use the analogy of tent poles. So the idea that um these three things are supporting
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this overall attitude that Paul is putting out here with uh praying without ceasing as his central statement they are being the the sort of peak of the tent if you like. So uh rejoice always
2:01
pray without ceasing giving thanks in all things. all things. They are closely linked together. Um, and I will maintain that not only are they closely linked together, they are
2:12
also clo closely linked to the entire rest of the book. Um, I was amused as I was reading that, um, one commentator I opened said, uh, these
2:23
things are their own new thought. They have no more connection to the preceding paragraph, etc., etc. The next, the literally the next commentator I opened said, these are intricately and
2:33
intimately linked to the preceding paragraphs and cannot be separated. and I went, "Okay." So, um, I would maintain that this, as I've said before, is part of Paul's thought, frankly, that runs
2:45
all the way back to the beginning of the book. Um, this attitude that he is enjoining on them here is part and parcel with all that has come before it, including do not grieve as those who
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have no hope, as we've discussed at length. So this thread that runs down through here um on the other hand you may you may look at this and think well this is
3:07
a difficult ask that Paul is asking us here rejoice always.
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And I have to say that the lesson I have for you this morning is slightly different from the lesson uh the version of this that I had prepared for last week that we didn't get to because I had a very uncomfortable week. Um, I had a
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very unpleasant experience of a number of things and my truck broke down twice. And as I was limping at home yesterday, literally trying to get it back home before the battery died again, I was
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thinking about this verse, rejoice always. Um, and you can believe I was praying without ceasing. So,
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um, I don't normally or I have not much made use of Alexander McLaren's comments on these things, but I quite enjoyed what he had to say on this one. And so, I'm going to read his quote
4:04
Um, I think he had the right idea here. If this is a difficult ask, to rejoice always, to pray without ceasing. He says, 'We do not need to argue with other Christian people about whether
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absolute obedience to these precepts is possible. It will be soon enough for us to discuss whether an unbroken obedience to these principles is attainable in this life when we have come a good deal
4:27
nearer to what is attainable than we have yet reached. Which is to say, I'll discuss with you whether or not it's possible to rejoice always when you and I have given it much better try than we already are.
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already are. Okay? So yes, it's a difficult ask, but I think it's important to note here that Paul recognizes it's a difficult ask. And he tells us exactly why here in what
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is noted in the second half of verse 18. This is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. This is his will for you that you do these things. I'm not asking you.
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This is God's will for you. um as to whether or not these things should be divided this way. Um I I I on
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reflection I was a little amused the idea that the neither the verses nor the punctuation are inspired. We know this. Um given
5:24
that this is Paul, I have a hard time believing he wrote a two-word sentence. Those those periods in there are doing a lot of a lot of work. Um, I think he had a a thought there that carried all the
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way through that these things are an attitude. And I do think that the right idea is that this should be um that this pray without ceasing is central to this
5:48
attitude that he's got here. But I don't want to leave aside rejoicing always. Um, I was thinking about it again as I was uh trying to get the truck fixed and dealing with some issues there. Um, and
5:59
since I made comment some weeks ago of a song that I didn't like, I'll have to make a comment of a song that I did like. Although I recognize having ragged on country music, my musical tastes may not be to everyone's. Um, the old 90s
6:11
sca band uh, the Superton had a song called Jury Duty in which he describes a horrible day of getting up early, going out to jury duty, all the things that
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happened to him in the day, getting home with a bad attitude, etc., etc. the refrain of which is every single moment whether waking or asleep is your creation and what you've made is good
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and I don't always thank you for the hard days and the rough times in my life even though I should um a simplification perhaps but I think it gets to some of this we are in control of our attitudes
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to some extent and we are told to be in control of our attitudes here by Paul okay we are walking in these things by the spirit the spirit But the spirit has something in mind.
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Okay? And Paul has a um Paul among all characters in scripture that we could choose to light upon except perhaps Job has an idea of what
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it is to rejoice in the midst of trouble and trial and great tribulation. I was also thinking about this while I was trying to wrestle the alternator out of my truck that, you know, I've never been
7:22
shipwrecked or bitten by poisonous snakes or beaten nearly to death for the sake of the gospel. So, you know, the fact that the truck broke down on me again is small potatoes in comparison. I
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could certainly rejoice because I had already made it home. Um earlier in the book here even Paul has a reference and we didn't dwell on it very long but here in chapter 3 where Paul says um he's
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describing that Timothy came and brought the report back to him of the Thessalonians in the middle of chapter 3 here in verse 6 he says now that Timothy has come to us from you and brought us good news of your faith and love that
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you always think kindly of us longing to see us as we also long to see you for this reason brethren in all our distress and affliction. We were comforted through you uh comforted about you
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through your faith. The wording there, the this translation is not bad, but you might also translate it in some of your translations may say u pressing difficulties. It's literally
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in the Greek the idea of like being crushed under stone, the the weight of things crashing down on you. Paul's describing enduring that here as he's
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waiting eagerly for Timothy to come back. So rejoicing always even in the midst of difficulties. A parallel passage in Philippians chapter 4.
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He says in Philippians chapter 4 in verse four, rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, rejoice. Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but for in everything by prayer and
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supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. So this is not something
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that we are endeavoring to do alone. He's careful both there in Philippians and here in Thessalonians to indicate to them that this is something we do in Christ. This is an attitude we have
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because we are in Christ. This is something we do in part by the um the action the work of the Holy Spirit. In fact, we will talk about this. It's not
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my main focus this morning. In verse 19, he says, "Do not quench the spirit." So he's clearly thinking about these things as he's asking and he's talking to them
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here. He's bringing these thoughts to them. Are there any particular comments or questions about rejoicing always?
10:52
Yeah, I appreciate that. So, obviously joy is one of those fruits. But does this passage mean of course as some have said that we're happy happy all the time time? No. Um
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that's not reasonable to anticipate that that is a way that we can go through life. But I did appreciate Alexander McLaren's comment which is I'll argue with you about whether or not this is
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possible once you and I have given it a considerable more effort than we have yet tried. Abigail
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Yeah, I I thank you because that's that's what I want to try to draw out here and I appreciate those references because I think the idea of joy and happiness in our culture is often
12:45
misplaced or misplaced or misdefined. Um because here this idea of rejoicing and I will try to connect this thought to praying without ceasing
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because I think that that you've got it exactly right there both in Paul and in the writer of Hebrews. We could certainly go back and look at some things in Job. The idea of being able to
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rejoice in these circumstances is to orient yourself towards God's thoughts and his attitudes. As we've talked all the way through here, which is why I will maintain this is a thought that Paul has all the way through.
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One of the aspects of prayer, and we'll talk more on this in a moment, one of the aspects of prayer is to submit yourself or attempt to align yourself with what God's thoughts and
13:30
attitudes are. And when you can do that, you can say, as the writers of scripture say, these momentary light afflictions, you can recognize that things, whether
13:40
or not you know that they're chastisement or punishment, whether or not you know, I mean, I am not going to stand up here and tell you, great, you got diagnosed with cancer, you ought to rejoice. Okay? We recognize that some of
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these things come upon us because we live in a fallen world that is still tainted by sin. That may be used by God to do great things. I don't know. But what I do know is that God has a
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purpose. He has a will that is perfect and he does these things. Nothing comes to us apart from his will. As Job points out to us, do I accept
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I don't see any relationship between our attitude and circumstances and circumstances very prevalent. very prevalent. It's actually quite
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I mean our concept of happiness is going to be necessarily Pauling this as a work of the Holy Spirit is not speaking of a rejoicing
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manifestly external or one that is of the body but one of the spirits
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not necessary I also was thinking that of the immediacy of thinking of with evangelical friends when I was younger.
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The immediate expectation of put a smile on my face and I'm happy in Jesus. And I was thinking of we we talked about the the reality of certain soldiers among the legions having having come to the
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Lord and being required to to do battle uh for their commanding officer and and how frankly ridiculous it would be to that they be glad of of that service in the
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moment watching buddies die and and having themselves to do brutalities and and yet
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take I don't know I I feel at liberty by that example to to take a patient attitude toward toward this finding of
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of what is worthy of rejoicing and giving thanks giving thanks only prayer be immediate. It seems I don't know if that's an appropriate way of seeing things.
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I'm loathed to put a burden of you got to snap up right now. Sure. On a brother. Yeah. I I I can ascent to that in the sense of um it is it is frankly
17:13
insensible at times, right, for for you to suddenly go, "Yeah, I'm perfectly fine and happy." the evidence of we talked about that in terms of of grieving. Um when we we we spoke at
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length about that when we talked about the idea of grief grief is not necessarily rejoicing as we talked about when a when a brother or a sister dies there is an element of rejoicing there and that they've gone to the Lord. So it
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is not devoid but it's not the same as what we think of as being happy right so there's there's a caution to be had there. Abe you had your hand up and then I think Chuck and then you I think I would like
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Yeah, I have done I have done I put myself in greater adversity so that I might rejoice working on my
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Toyota. Yes, in fact. Yes. I would like to rearrange.
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Um, I don't know that I would feel strongly that they have to be in this order other than that this is the order that Paul gave them to us in. Um, I I don't I wouldn't I wouldn't argue with you necessarily that they could be arranged. I I think that's that's an
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excellent thought to connect it to First Peter. And in fact, that is the source of the rejoicing, right? as he says this is this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. We don't just rejoice because I
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mean you've met people with sunny dispositions and you've met people who don't have sunny dispositions. That's not what we're talking about. What we're talking about is again I will maintain throughout here that this connects all
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the way back through as he talked about in the idea of the second coming as he talked about earlier than that in the attitudes that we have towards one another and the attitudes towards the world. It is recognizing the reality of
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what we exist in that there is more than just the physical world. As Erin was pointing out, the needs of the body tend to loom large in our heads. And I think part of what we're dealing with in with
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in Paul here is let the idea or the reality of the spiritual loom large in your mind and in your heart. Right? recognize that you do live in this
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world, that you are a spiritual creation, that God is working among you, and that you are a servant of the most high God. These things, this is always a basis for rejoicing and for thanksgiving
20:35
right there, let alone all the other things we could pile on top. You had your hand up quite a while back. Well, the thought
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comes from me. I think they are Christ in us
21:56
Yeah. Well, I I don't know if it's helpful to you or not. I thought it was um interesting in Calvin's commentary. He translates both this and the section I referenced in Philippians as
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moderation um rather than gentleness. He used the term moderation. He said he he would connect this passage to Philippians 4 where he used the term moderation there. your your moderation
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or your your temperance in a sense be known before all in in the sense of um you know those mercurial things that you might be naturally inclined towards. Let
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the spirit straighten you out in some respect. Let the spirit uh center you into the reality of of God and and what he's doing. Elie, you had your hand up.
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Yeah, I I think that's that's that's a very valid thought. I I bring that point up. I because I'll admit, at least for myself, in the English usage of the term, if I hear the term rejoice, I generally think of the idea of happiness. Um, and if that's not a
24:19
caution that that is necessary to you, then then very well. But, um, I want to be careful that we're reading rejoice here in the term and the context that that Paul is using. I think you're
24:30
exactly right that it's it's not that we're told to be happy or to seek happiness. I would also connect it to the larger thought of um be ready to give a defense for the hope that is within you. Right? Having a hope, having
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a visible a visible difference with how you engage with or move through the the things you encounter in the physical and spiritual realm to those around you who do not
24:53
have that hope. Again, I you can connect it all the way through the the thread of Thessalonians here. And I think that's what we're getting at with this attitude. You had your hand.
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So this taking me back to some of the things that things that laid out a diagram.
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But do these terms not explain themselves? He chose litany. Should we not take the one of them from the others? So rejoicing always
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it. But yet centralize a a a precept or or wisdom and those terms around it. Those things around it explain it.
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I think that's that's largely right because um and I I do want to move us to talking about what he means when he says pray without ceasing because the the thing that I think and we can see it
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even perhaps a little bit here is these things often end up in a kind of situational discussion, right? Well, what about this or that circumstance? And yet Paul is very clear here and
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you're you're right. It's very staccato whether or not the periods are in there. These phrases are are sort of short sharp phrases in even in the Greek. Um
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that we're supposed to be able to do this continually. And I think this is what Alexander McLaren was getting at was some people want to argue about whether or not this is even possible. But he's saying here Paul effectively in the way he phrases this takes this as a
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an article of faith that yes, it's possible. Not only possible, but it's God's will for you. Erin, I think it's
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your your your spirit and attitude has been changed. Right.
27:54
Yeah. Well, I I think you're right there, and I would connect it to something I think that James said several weeks ago, which was um may it be so among us. Basically, because when when the things that we're reading out of out of Thessalonians here are true of
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the church, it has a wonderful, if not miraculous effect on the world around it. Um and unfortunately, at the moment, it does is is not quite as distinguished by these
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things as it ought to be. um the idea that we could have this attitude and sustain in it. So, I want to read one more uh quote from Alexander McLaren here this morning. Um unless I've missed
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a hand or a comment here, I I appreciate your thought there because that that was also my thought on this is um praying without ceasing or or entering into that
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communion with God. That is that is the distinguishing of prayer, right? The idea that you're coming into his presence consciously presence consciously to engage with him
28:53
is I I also often find that it changes what I was about to say or think because I find myself thinking well how ought I actually best address this to Almighty
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God. What has he said in his word? I find myself meditating as much as praying oftentimes. Um but uh McLaren
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had this to say. Uh sorry after attacking Catholics for a little bit. Let me find the right place
29:39
oh my I lost my place. Okay, here we go. He says um there is a way of praying which we can all see to be mechanical and un and
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unworthy. But have we ever realized what this commandment necessarily reveals to us as to what real prayer is? So what he's saying is if you can pray without
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ceasing as Paul says what does that tell you about the nature of prayer? For if we are told to do a thing uninterruptedly, it must be something that can run unbroken through the
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varieties of our legitimate duties and necessary occupations and absorpt absorptions with things seen and temporal. Is that your notion of prayer? Or do you fancy that it simply means
30:23
dropping down on your knees and asking God to give you some things which you very much want? Petition is an element of prayer and that it shall be crystallized into words is necessary
30:35
sometimes. But there are prayers that never get themselves uttered. And I suppose the deepest and truest communion with God is voiceless and wordless things which it is not possible for a
30:45
man to utter was Paul's description of what he saw and felt when he was most completely absorbed in and saturated with divine glory. That we understand what prayer is. The more we understand
30:57
what prayer is, the less we shall feel it depends on utterance. Now, sorry, go ahead. Your your thought
31:27
We look at singing worship. We look at singing as worship. Well, it's actually pray.
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And turned it into something that we're doing. We're doing. We're We're not listening.
31:55
right? Yes. I I think that's that's exactly right. And and I have been struck as as where we're reading to the children in the moment in the scriptures is in the Psalms. I've been struck by how often the Psalms are descriptions of God's
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nature and actions and considerably less petition. Um, not that the petitions are not there. Uh, I think I saw your hand first and then then you James 5:13 says,
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"Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise." There's there's an equivalence of those things. There is an equivalence of those things. And I I was actually thinking about I I
32:32
thank you for that because I don't think I made myself the proper note in my notes. was thinking about when you were just recently teaching on worship and the idea that we often artificially separate what we're doing right now from
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what we go to do upstairs as though what we're currently doing is not honoring to God or worshiping him by digging into his word and learning and and and exalting in what he has done. This is no
32:55
less worship. And in the same way singing is not less perhaps even more prayer. Um Abe you had your hand up.
33:24
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So again, I would not take that. I Yeah. So again, I would not take that. I I I frankly think in the main that McLaren is right here because Paul holds
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these three things up as you can do this continuously even in the midst of everything else you have to do. This is not to say that as he says praying out loud, praying with words,
33:46
praying with words in your heart are not necessary and things that happen. He he got quite a long exposition. He talks about some of the places in scripture where we read of people praying to the Lord in the midst of battle. You're not
33:58
kneeling down in the midst of battle and and laying out a nice eloquent speech. Okay. And and dad mentioned um I think last week Nehemiah. Nehemiah is one of
34:09
those places. I think it was there that I first heard the term arrow prayer, right? The idea of a prayer that you sort of fire off in the moment before it says, "The king said this, Nehemiah
34:19
prayed and then immediately says to the king, hey, can I go back to my home country and fix up?" I mean, there is not time there for him to have gone off for an hour and pray and come back. He's
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praying without ceasing. James, you had your hand up.
34:53
That That's an excellent reference. Thank you. That is that is exactly what that means is and and I will try to tie that back. I thank you very much because I tie this back through what we've talked about in Thessalonians. The idea of being holy, the idea of being a holy
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people is to orient ourselves to God and to his thoughts. And prayer is a major way to do that. Um many uh I don't even know how many years ago now at this
35:16
point I did a class up here on prayer and we talked about this idea that that a lot of times people have an idea that when you say our father who is in heaven you've now opened the doors and when you
35:26
say amen you've now closed the doors and you've withdrawn from God's presence. I mean when I was a kid that's how I thought frankly that that there's a sort of like when I say those words I've now magically sort of opened and then you
35:38
say amen and we're done now I can go have other thoughts. I said amen and God's not listening anymore. That's not how that works. Um the the idea of praying continually is constantly
35:49
submitting yourself to God's thought. And and I will just cite for my own example. I'm sure you have some in your own lives. Um when Bear was born, Jenny
36:00
very really almost died. And I spent a night in the hospital praying. I did not have very many words, but I spent basically all night praying.
36:13
I'm sure you have examples in your own life that you can think of where your the spirit was interceding with you with groanings too deep for words and perhaps you were even close to that level
36:23
yourself that you were basically groaning before God without word because the actual thought or thing in mind was was very narrow in scope. Um
36:35
there's only so many ways to say that and yet and yet continually supplicating before God in these things. But also the idea of um as he says here, giving thanks in all
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things. I find myself and and I hope it doesn't annoy as you hear me pray out loud more than once. When I start my prayers, I I I have something particular in mind that I think I want to thank God
36:57
for. And I find myself saying thank you over and over and over again as more and more things occur to me to be thankful for. And frankly, they're not even half of what I should be giving thanks for. Um, we obviously just passed through the
37:08
Thanksgiving season when people set aside a particular time to think about that. I have no problem with that. But Paul enjoins on us here that we should have this attitude always. And so I
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think McLaren is exactly right that that what Paul is asking of us that these things are things that we can do all day long. Whether we are a centurion on the front line or we are, you know,
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shoveling the manure out of the stables back home or whatever the things are that we have to do, we can rejoice at all times. Dad, you have your hand up.
38:00
alert there's your No, that's an excellent reference. Thank you. And and and frankly again, I would
38:12
back up into into chapter 5 says the same type of thing, right? where he says, "We are children of the day. The night will not overtake you. Be alert.
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Be on guard." Exactly the same sort of thought. Not surprising um that this this is repeated throughout scripture and has these thoughts. Um
38:36
I will just say as we have just a couple of minutes left before it's time to stop. Um stop. Um and we'll we'll pick up the rest of this thought I guess next time. Verse 19. And again, who knows? I don't think Paul had all
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the commas in here in the way we have commas. Everybody I've read connects this to the verse that comes after it. 19 and 20 go together. I didn't read anyone, and I'm not saying I've read all the commentators, but I didn't read
39:00
anyone who connected this to this. Nobody connected quenching the spirit to rejoicing and praying and and being in the presence of the Lord for some reason. Um,
39:11
reason. Um, I will also point out that here in the Greek, do not quench the spirit in the English is fine, but the Greek is actually in the present uh tense. It's literally stop quenching the spirit.
39:25
He's writing to them that they are currently okay. So, think about all the things he's had cause to praise the Thessalonians for. Think of all the things that he has had uh opportunity to
39:36
say that he rejoices in them, in their faith, in their good works. And yet when he writes to them, it's very clear in the grammar here that he's saying don't not don't start quenching it. He's saying you are right now. Stop it. Stop
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quenching the spirit. Now, I will say that I think it does connect to verse 20, but I would not separate it so thoroughly as I have read people do away
39:58
from this because it's in the middle of his sort of staccato instructions for them here as he's closing. Um, one of the translators went so far as to say that he thought that rejoice always was
40:09
originally Paul's um, like sign off that that was going to be his last thought and he wrote rejoice always. Oh, and and kept going. I don't agree with the
40:20
translator there, but it does it again to to Erin's point, it's very short, sharp instruction here, almost self-evident in the in the way it's phrased, although we've spent an hour
40:30
now talking about it. um that that these things are all of that action. Um and and I will say once more as we're closing frankly that this connects
40:42
itself back through the thoughts that he has had all the way through here that his his rejoicing in the steadfastness of the Thessalonians is not disconnected from his enjoiner on them here to
40:55
rejoice at all times. I appreciate a uh Abigail's point earlier in the verse where he says that he was concerned that they should have lost their rejoicing or lost their joy in the midst of their
41:06
trials. these things are all connected all the way through the the thread here that we're trying to follow in Paul's thought is that that the the circumstances and the reality of the
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life in which you you walk the the reality of the spirit indwelling us and being those who serve the living God means that we have this attitude we have this mind this heart in us and and I
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appreciate Abe's comment because what does he say you have in you the the mind of Christ well the mind of Christ went to pray frequently.
41:39
He set aside time to do that. Thoughts or questions as we close this
42:20
Yes. Well, yes, and and I appreciate that. I I had originally uh crossed out of my notes here that I wasn't going to excruiate. Um I'm always very suspicious of people who refer to themselves as a
42:31
prayer warrior. prayer warrior. It's not what Paul has in mind here. You're right that it this is an attitude of constantly seeking the face of the Lord and being engaged.
42:44
I'll put it this way. We've had a number of conversations throughout here about the idea that we have to exert some effort. This is one of those places where he is enjoining on us to exert ourselves in what the spirit is already
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doing among us. That we should exert ourselves consciously. ourselves consciously. Perhaps to to Aaron's point, make the conscious effort to connect the reality of the spirit that indwells you
43:07
with what is currently going on in your mind. Maybe that's James's reference there out of taking every thought captive. Make a conscious effort to to connect those tissues together. Uh well,
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let's close in a word of prayer as we prepare to go upstairs this morning. Our Father, we are very grateful to you
43:28
in so many things, not least of which is the fact that you have indwelt us by your spirit. That you have enabled us to do these things. For truly it was not possible for us to even approach within
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sight of you before you laid your love, your compassion, your your justification on us. that Jesus came and did all of these things in order to tear down that
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veil as we just recently discussed on Thursday. That that that has been rent and we may now enter in. That we have that opportunity. Father, please forgive
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us for how little we avail ourselves of it. But give us the strength and energy to be diligent in what you have instructed us here that in so doing we might be better prepared, better shaped
44:12
for the work that lies ahead. We ask these things in Jesus name. Amen.
