The Model Life: Adoration, Part 6

Today is going to be a day in which when you leave today, you will say, I am so glad that I came to church today. I would hope you say that every Sunday. I know you don't probably, but on this Sunday, I can almost guarantee that you will be saying, I am so glad that I went to church today.

Today, We are looking at a verse in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse number 18, that says, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. It is one of a trilogy of commands that says that we are to rejoice always, we are to pray without ceasing, and we are to give thanks in everything.

Because those three commands are God's will in Christ Jesus concerning you, It is the model life. It's the model life of adoration, a life that adores God, a life that lives according to Christ's design.

And as we think about what God has said, that we are to be joyful, prayerful, and thankful, those three commands sum up the essence of true adoration of the believer. When it comes to being thankful, we usually fall into one of three categories. Three categories.

Let me explain them to you. One category is that we are thankful after the adversity, or after the affliction, or after the adverse circumstance. We'll call this post-thankfulness.

After everything is said and done, I'm thankful. For instance, in the book of Exodus, after the parting of the Red Sea, and Israel murmured and complained that Moses had dragged them out of Egypt to die in the wilderness. And Moses said, just stand still and watch the salvation of the Lord.

And the waters parted, they went through on dry land, and Pharaoh and all of his army were drowned in the sea. Everybody was thankful. They weren’t so thankful before the parting of the Red Sea, but after it was over, everybody sang praises to God.

You read about it in Exodus chapter 15, the great song of Miriam, the song of praise, the song of Moses, right? And Miriam was the one who led them with dance and tambourines, praising God for what he had done. One of the 10 lepers, after he was healed of leprosy, came back and gave thanks to God. This is the easiest category of thankfulness, isn't it? We go through a situation, an adverse circumstance, and we come out the other side, and we say, Lord, we are so thankful.

And rightly so, we should be. But then there's another category of thankfulness. Not just those who are thankful after the adversity.

This one's a little bit harder. These are the ones who give thanks to God before the battle. We're gonna call this pre-thankfulness.

In other words, they give thanks before the battle begins. These are the people of faith, like Daniel. You remember Daniel.

It was said that Darius signed a decree that nobody can bow down or pray to any other God but him. And so, it says in Daniel six, verse number 10, now when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he entered his house; now in his roof chamber, he had windows open toward Jerusalem, and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God as he had been doing previously. This is before the battle, you give thanks to God.

This was Daniel, a man of great faith. And of course, you know the story, he was thrown into the lion's den, and God spared his life, and he became another great individual. In that land.

There's also King Jehoshaphat. We talked about him a couple of weeks ago. He would say, Lord, we don't know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.

As the kings of Ammon and the Moabites and the Edomites came against Israel to fight them. Listen to what Jehoshaphat did in 2 Chronicles chapter 20, when it says, verse 20, they arose early in the morning and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, listen to me, O Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Put your trust in the Lord your God, and you will be established. Put your trust in his prophets and succeed. When he had consulted the people, he appointed those who sang to the Lord and those who praised him in holy attire, as they went out before the army and said, give thanks to the Lord for his loving kindness is everlasting.

So Jehoshaphat gathers the people of Judah around, tells them to trust in the Lord, and then gets the choir and puts them in front of the army and sends them out first to sing praises to God and give thanks to God for his loving kindness. And of course, Israel won the battle without ever having to lift a finger because the armies of Edom and Moab and Ammon destroyed themselves. But they gave thanks before the battle.

Jesus did the same on the eve of the crucifixion. When he broke the bread and gave thanks, he blessed the cup in the same manner by giving thanks before the battle, before the garden, before Calvary, he gave thanks. I wonder if that's you.

You know the battle's coming. You know it's on the horizon. Do you kneel and give thanks to God for all that he's about to do, comprehending the fact that God is sovereign, he's in charge, he's in control? You're not, but God's gonna do something.

So you have the people who give thanks after the affliction. Those are post-thankful people. You have those who give thanks before the battle. Those are pre-thankful people. But the rub is this. Those who give thanks during the difficulty.

During the hardship. We call this mid-thankfulness. Those who give thanks right in the middle of the turmoil.

These people are unique. They're like Jonah, we saw last week, in the belly of the fish. In the middle of his trial, he offered a sacrifice of thanksgiving.

It's like the apostles when they were beaten in Acts chapter five, and they gave thanks to God because they were able to suffer for his name's sake. It's like Job, when he lost everything. He said, blessed be the name of the Lord, for it's the Lord who gives and the Lord who takes away.

It's like the apostle Paul and Silas in Acts 16. When they were in prison, and they began to sing praises to God and give thanks to him while in prison. Paul had probably the best prison ministry anybody had ever had.

But he was always giving praise and thanks to God. Just read the book of Philippians, where he tells those in Philippi to rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice, because he would give thanksgiving to his God in the midst of his prison cell.

I wonder if that's you. That's what Paul says in first Thessalonians five, verse number 18. In everything, not before everything, not after everything, in everything, give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

How on earth can anybody ever really truly do that? Even though we have examples in scripture of those who did. How do we do that? We told you last week that thanksgiving reveals my conversion to Christ. It reveals my commitment to the will of God.

It also reveals my condition spiritually. Nothing reveals your spiritual condition more than when you give thanks. Remember, thanksgiving is not a matter of feeling thankful.

Thanksgiving is a matter of obedience to God. It's like forgiveness. You don't forgive because you feel like forgiving.

If that's the case, you'd probably never forgive anybody. You forgive because you obey the command of God to forgive. The same is true with a thankful heart.

You give thanks to God because it's a command and you adore him and you worship him and you want to obey the commands of God. Turn with me, if you would, to the book of Colossians. The book of Colossians in the third chapter, this is how you know thanksgiving reveals your condition spiritually.

Paul says in verse 12, chapter three, so as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone. Just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things, love, which is the perfect bond of unity.

And then he says this. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.

Let the fact that you are now no longer the enemy of God, but that you're the friend of God, you're at peace with God, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God. Let the fact that you're at peace with God be the governing factor in every decision you make. In other words, the word rule means to umpire, to make the final call.

In other words, let Christ make the final call in every decision you make, and then be thankful. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. And then he says, let the word of Christ reside in your heart.

He says, let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. How do you sing with thankfulness in your heart to God? Because the word of Christ is at home, it richly dwells in your heart. The word of God is not a stranger to you.

When the word of God is a stranger to you, you have no song of thanksgiving. But when the word of Christ is no longer a stranger, it's at home in your heart, it resides as supreme in your heart, you sing with thanksgiving.

So Paul says, let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts and be thankful. Let the word of Christ reside in your heart so you can sing with thankfulness. And then he says, let the name of Christ reign in your hearts.

He says, verse 17, whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. In other words, whatever you do in word or in deed, no matter what you're doing, no matter where you're going, Christ reigns supreme. The name of Christ, the nature of Christ, the character of Christ, who He is, reigns supreme.

And when He does, you give thanks. That's why we say that thanksgiving reveals our condition spiritually. When the peace of Christ rules, when the word of Christ resides, and when the name of Christ reigns, thankfulness just spews out.

Now, having said that, how is it possible for anyone at any time, no matter how adverse the circumstance, no matter how bad the battle, no matter how severe the suffering, can one be thankful? Well, this is why you will be so glad you came today. I'm going to give you seven principles that will help you understand how I can obey the command of God to be thankful in everything so that my life of adoration becomes a model that exemplifies Jesus Christ, my Lord. Follow through with me very carefully.

Number one, I am thankful always at all times in everything for a throne that is graceful. A throne that is graceful. You know the verse, Hebrews chapter four, verse number 16, therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

There is a throne, it's heaven's throne, and it's where the king himself sits. It's called the throne of grace. And I am able to go there confidently when I am in need of God's grace to be poured out in my life.

We are saved by grace. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ in that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor. Why? So that you through his poverty might become rich.

Second Corinthians eight, verse number nine. For by grace are you saved through faith. We're saved by grace.

We're strengthened by grace. Second Timothy two, verse number one, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. You can read Titus chapter two, verses 11 and following.

We are sanctified by grace. Everything about our lives comes because of free, sovereign favor that God gives to the ill deserving. That's Benjamin Warfield's definition of grace.

God's free favor, free sovereign favor that he gives to the ill deserving. The Bible is so replete with God's wonderful grace. Listen to what the Lord says to the pen of Isaiah in Isaiah 30, verse number 18.

Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you. Imagine that. The Lord longs to be gracious to you. And therefore he waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice. How blessed are all those who long for him.

The Lord waits on high to have compassion upon you. He wants you to come to the throne of grace because he longs to show you his lovingkindness. He wants to be gracious to you.

And so the writer of Hebrews tells us we can go to that throne with confidence knowing that God will bestow grace upon us. There's a throne that is graceful. That's why I can be thankful in everything because I need God's grace to sustain me.

I need God's grace that's sufficient for me from day to day. I need God's grace to strengthen me from day to day. I can't make it without God's grace.

And there's a throne that is graceful where the God of grace sits and waits because he so desperately longs to be gracious to you. Let's know what Peter says. Peter says it this way in 1 Peter 5, verse number 10.

He says, after you have suffered for a little while. How long is that? I have no idea. Because heaven has no clock, has no calendar.

So I don't know how long a little while is. But Peter says, after you've suffered a little while, the God of grace, the God of grace, who sits on the throne of grace, who longs to be gracious to you, the God of grace who calls you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. That's what God wants to do.

He wants, first of all, to perfect you. He wants to restore that which is missing. He wants to take that which is broken and put it together.

He wants to establish you. He wants to make you solid as granite. He wants to strengthen you.

He wants to fill you with strength. He wants to settle you so you have a firm foundation. That's what God wants to do.

Someone comes along and says, well, I know the God of grace. I've gone to the throne of grace. I've begged for grace, and I haven't received grace.

Well, Peter answers that when he says this. God is opposed to the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. If you're not experiencing God's grace, it's because of your own pride.

For the humble person, God just longs to be gracious. So there's a throne that is graceful. So I can give thanks in everything because that throne is always available for me to approach confidently.

Number two, not only is there a throne that is graceful, there is a hope that is delightful. A hope that is delightful. Hope is not guesswork. Hope is not speculation. Hope is assurance in the Bible. It's a conviction that God will fulfill every promise.

It's the anticipation of every promise that God gives will be accomplished in the life of his own. Listen to what Paul says in Romans chapter eight. He says in Romans eight, verse number 24, for in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what is already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance, we wait eagerly for it.

Then he goes on to say in verse number 28, for we know that all things work together for good. To those who love God and are called according to his purpose. Why? He tells you.

He says, for those whom he foreknew, verse 29, he predestined to become conformed to the image of his son. See, there's a hope that's delightful. What's the hope? The hope is I'm gonna be conformed to the image of his son.

And God will use any measure to make sure that my life represents him to the best way possible. And God will stop at nothing to make you, to mold you, to form you, to be his best representative on earth. That's what God does.

There's a hope that is delightful because there's a throne that is graceful. Number three, there is an advocate that is needful. An advocate that is needful.

What does John say in 1 John chapter two? He says in verse number one, my little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. You know, so many times in the midst of our trial, in the midst of our turmoil, there is sin that occurs.

But we have an advocate that is absolutely needful. Now here's the key point. We have an advocate in heaven and we have an advocate in our heart.

Because the word for advocate is paráklētos. Same word used of how Christ describes the spirit of God when he says, I'm gonna send to you another comforter, another paráklētos, another advocate. So you have an advocate in your heart, right? An advocate in your heart who soothes you in your difficulties and an advocate in heaven who speaks in our defense.

We have an advocate that's needful. That's why I can give thanks in everything. Because there's a throne that's graceful that I can approach at any time.

And there's a hope that's delightful because God's doing something unique and special in my life that I had no idea what he was gonna do, but I hope in the hope of his promises. And I have an advocate that will soothe me from the inside, my heart, and speak for me on the outside in heaven. Because Satan is the accuser of the brethren and Christ is my great defense.

That's how I know I can give thanks in everything. Ah, but it gets better. Not only is there a throne that is graceful, a hope that is delightful, an advocate that is needful, there is a new life that is meaningful.

If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new. There's a new life that's meaningful.

How can I give thanks in everything? Because Christ gave me his life. Christ, who is my life, Colossians 3 verse number three, he's my life. And listen, it is a meaningful life.

So it's so important to realize that there's a new life that's meaningful. I've been saved by his grace. I'm a child of the living God.

Therefore, listen, as Christians, we don't find meaning in our education. We don't find meaning in our job. We don't find meaning in our marriage.

We don't find meaning in our children. We don't find meaning in my bank account. Those are all temporary things that come and go.

You find meaning only in Jesus Christ, our Lord. He gives you meaning. He gives you significance.

He gives you everything you long for because he's the God of the universe. And he's your God. And therefore, you don't find meaning in your work, in your money, in your marriage.

You bring meaning to your work. You bring meaning to your marriage. You bring meaning to your workplace, to your school.

You bring meaning to everybody you come in contact with because you have a new life. So now, you have a new life that's meaningful. So in the midst of whatever it is you're going through, realize that you're a child of the living God whose life is completely and totally meaningful, not because of you, but because of Christ.

And I'm gonna bring meaning to that environment, that difficulty, that hardship, to whoever it may be and whoever it affects. That's how I can give thanks. Thank you, Lord, for a new life in Christ.

Thank you for a throne that I can approach. Thank you that I have an advocate in my heart and in heaven. And thank you, Lord, that my hope is fixed on you.

This is the will of God, that you give thanks in everything. How? Well, there's a throne that is graceful, a hope that is delightful, an advocate that is needful, a new life that is meaningful. Number five, a king who is powerful.

A king who is powerful. Psalm 62:11, power belongs to God. He is the king of all kings. He is the Lord of all lords. In Isaiah 9:6, he's called the El Gabor, the almighty God. In the book of Revelation, nine times, he's called the Pantocrator, the almighty.

He's my king. And my king is all powerful. Jeremiah 32:17 says, behold, Thou hast made the heavens and the earth by thy great power. Therefore, nothing is too difficult for thee. Nothing. He is able to do, Ephesians 3:20, exceeding abundantly above all that we ever ask or think according to the power that works in us.

There's a power that works in us because we serve a king who is powerful. That's why 2 Corinthians 16:9 says, the eyes of the Lord search to and fro throughout all the earth so that he might strengthen, give power to those whose hearts are completely his. That's what God wants to do.

That's how God does that. So I can give thanks in everything because there's a throne that is graceful. There is a hope that is delightful. There's an advocate who is needful. A new life that is meaningful. A king who is powerful.

Number six, there's a father who is merciful. A father who is merciful. The Bible says over in 2 Corinthians chapter one, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of mercies.

God doesn't have mercy. God is mercy. There's a big difference there.

God doesn't have love, he is love. Doesn't have grace, he is grace. That's who he is, the father of mercies.

And God of all comfort who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in an affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. He's called the father of mercies. And so how can I give thanks in everything is because I have a father in heaven who's absolutely, truly merciful to me.

God's grace is for those who are guilty. God's mercy is for those who are miserable. And that's why God's mercy is so great.

Ephesians 2:4, he is rich in mercy. Hebrews 2:7, Christ is called our merciful and faithful high priest. In Psalm 136, every verse ends with his mercies endure forever.

Because there's a father who is merciful. Listen to what the psalmist did. Psalm 69, verse number 13.

But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord, at an acceptable time. O God, in the greatness of your mercy, answer me with your saving truth. Deliver me from the mire and do not let me sink.

May I be delivered from my foes and from the deep waters. May the flood of water not overflow me, nor the deep swallow me up, nor the pit shut its mouth on me. Answer me, O Lord, for your mercy is good according to the greatness of your compassion.

Turn to me. That's what the psalmist did. He approached the God of mercies.

Said the waters would not overflow him. The grave would not swallow him. Who else do you go to but the father of mercies? And then over in Psalm 86, verse number 1, incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am afflicted and needy.

Preserve my soul, for I am a godly man. O you, my God, save your servant who trusts in you. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you I cry all day long.

Make me glad, or make glad the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. For you, Lord, are good and ready to forgive and abundant in mercy to all who call upon you. He's abundant in mercy to those who call upon him.

Verse 11, teach me your ways, O Lord. I will walk in your truth. Unite my heart to fear your name.

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, my God, with all my heart and will glorify your name forever, for your loving kindness or your mercy toward me is great, and you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. This is so good. It's the mercy of God, the father of mercies.

That's why I can be thankful in everything. I have a father who is absolutely merciful. The Bible says he's abundant in mercy.

Psalm 90, verse number 14. O satisfy us in the morning with your mercy. That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

And then he says something very, very interesting. Listen to what he says. Make us glad according to the days you have afflicted us and the years we have seen evil.

The psalmist says in the morning you show mercy. In the morning you give mercy. And we shout for joy and our hearts are glad.

But Lord, make us glad according to the days in which we were afflicted. See, there's something about affliction that draws you so close to the Lord that without affliction you would never experience it. There's something about suffering, hardship, difficulty, pain that does something that nothing else on earth can do.

It drives the believer to the father of mercies. Why? Because there the throne of grace, mercy is dispensed. So there's a throne that is graceful. There's a hope that is delightful. There's an advocate that is needful. A new life that's meaningful. A king that’s powerful. A father that’s merciful. And then there was seven.

I'm sorry, did I say seven earlier? There's really eight, sorry. There's really 10, no, that's not true. There's an unspeakable gift that is wonderful.

Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. The gift of eternal life. It's not, eternal life is not longevity of life, although it does last forever.

Eternal life is knowing Christ. John 17 verse number 3, this is eternal life that they may know the one true God and Jesus Christ who now has sent. Eternal life is quality of life.

And so there's an unspeakable gift that's wonderful. How wonderful is it? It's the gift of God's eternal life. And so I can give thanks to God in everything because what I'm experiencing right now is only a blip on the screen of eternity.

I will one day spend all my glory days with my God because he's given me the gift of eternal life that comes only through his son, Jesus Christ. So how can I give thanks in everything? How does someone like Erika Kirk, after the assassination of her husband this past week, how does she give thanks in everything? What would you tell her? How would you encourage her to give thanks? How would you encourage a loved one who is going through great bouts of suffering? You show them there's a throne that's absolutely graceful. There's a hope that's delightful.

There's an advocate who's needful. There's a new life that is meaningful. There's a king who's powerful. A father who is merciful. An unspeakable gift that is wonderful. Lastly, there's a Lord who is faithful.

A Lord who is faithful. Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:24, faithful is he who calls you and he also will bring it to pass. Psalm 33:4 says, for the word of the Lord is righteous in all his works, all of them are done in faithfulness.

Isaiah 11, verse number 5 says, faithfulness is the belt around his waist. In other words, faithfulness ties all of his attributes together. And then Psalm 37:3 says, feed securely on his faithfulness.

In other words, your food, spiritually speaking, is his faithfulness. Hebrews 10:23 says, he who promised is faithful. And then 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, verse number 3 says, the Lord is faithful and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.

A Lord who is faithful. The psalmist, in Psalm 119, said this. I know, O Lord, that your judgments are righteous.

So I ask you, do you know that? Do you know that God's judgments are righteous? He's a righteous God. All of his judgments are done in righteousness and God is a faithful God, so his righteous judgments are faithful judgments. The psalmist says, in Psalm 119:75, I know, O Lord, that your judgments are righteous and in faithfulness you have afflicted me.

The psalmist knew his affliction was because of God's faithfulness. Well, why would God in his faithfulness afflict you? The psalmist answers that question, too. Verse 67, before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word.

Lord, you are so faithful to afflict me. Why? Because before I was afflicted, I just did whatever I wanted to do. I went my own way, but now, because of affliction, I keep your word.

And then he says, in verse 71, it is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. Without affliction, you'll never learn the statutes of God. So God is doing everything he can to bring you closer to him, and so in faithfulness, because his judgments are always righteous, he afflicts you.

So that you'll no longer go your own way, but that you'll keep his word, and that you'll learn all you can about him, because without that affliction, you would not learn. So, if you are astute, you know that that was an acrostic for the word thankful, so that in everything, you can give thanks. You can obey that command.

Isn't it interesting that Paul never tells him what I told you today? But he didn't have to. He didn't tell him how to rejoice, always. He just told him to rejoice always.

Didn't tell him how to pray without ceasing. And didn't tell him how to give thanks in everything, even though this is God's will for you, because of 1 Thessalonians 2:13. And that is, when they heard the word of God, they knew it was God's holy word, and they just put out the welcome mat and received it as God's word, and they welcomed it with joy. I want all of us to be able to give thanks in everything, because this is the will of God, for you and for me.

And may God give us the grace to accomplish that. Let's pray together. Lord God, we thank you for this day.

Lord, so much to address and talk about, so little time seems to do it, to do it all. And yet, Lord, you've given us your precious word. I pray, Lord, for everyone in the room today.

I don't know what hardship or pain or difficulty things people are going through in this room, but Lord, you know, and you long to be gracious to them. You wait on high to show compassion upon them. That's you, that's what you do.

And our prayer, Father, is that we would be a thankful people, that no matter what the situation, no matter what the circumstance, no matter how bad the turmoil, no matter how deep the water, no matter how gross the grave, may we truly give thanks to you in everything, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning each and every one of us. So Lord, we thank you for today. As we leave, may we leave differently than when we arrived.

May we say, I'm so glad. To have come today to worship the King. In Jesus' name, amen.