Church, go ahead and take a seat and turn to the passage just read—1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. Today we’re continuing our series “Kingdom Called” in the Book of 1 Thessalonians, nearing the end of this great book. And I’m entitling today’s message, “Attitude Adjustment.” Paul says in verse 16, “Rejoice always.” How y’all doin’ with that, Verse By Verse Fellowship? Paul says in verse 18, “give thanks in all circumstances.” How y’all doin’ with that? Can I just speak frankly with you this morning? I’ve been struggling with this lately. I’ve been a little fussy and grumbly the last few weeks. 

I told someone this last week that I’ve been dealing with a bit of reverse culture shock since coming back to Texas. I told them I just don’t remember it being this hot when I was a kid. I was complaining about this to Sanja the other day, and she was totally unsympathetic to my suffering. So, I needed a reminder this week to “rejoice always… and be thankful in all circumstances.” 

And maybe you don’t struggle with attitude issues this time of year. Maybe you love triple digit temperatures? The truth is that we all deal from time to time with discontentment and negativity. Don’t we now? Sometimes it’s not a matter of seasons: summer, fall, winter, or spring. Sometimes it’s a matter of seasons in your life: a season of temptation, a season of discouragement concerning your children or your parents, a season of discontentment with your job, a season of disappointment or despondency or despair. And that’s when you need passages like 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. 

And let me be clear about something too. God in his infinite wisdom knew that he couldn’t make these commands in 1 Thessalonians 5 suggestions. He didn’t relay them to us as recommendations. He gave them to us as commands. Paul doesn’t say in this passage: “O please, won’t you be thankful?” “I’d really prefer that you would be joyful.” No! Paul doesn’t talk like Mr. Rogers here: “Won’t you be joyful, neighbor? Please and pretty please!” Instead, he says very matter-of-factly— “Do this!” “Rejoice always. Don’t stop praying. Give thanks in all circumstances!” 

In fact, let me show you something here. In Greek there is something called the Imperative Mood. It’s a kind of verb tense that indicates command or direct instruction. And I have a software package that I use called Logos, and whenever there is a command in the Imperative Mood, I color it pink! Don’t ask me why it’s pink. I don’t really know why. I was just looking for a color that would grab my attention. And so, here’s a picture of 1 Thessalonians 5 in Greek. And just look at all the pink words in the last section of 1 Thessalonians. Altogether there are 17 pink verbs in the last 17 verses of this book indicating 17 commands that Paul gives us. We looked at a few of those commands last week. We’ll look at three more today.  

And by the way, this is typical for a Pauline letter. Normally, in the first few chapters, there’s not a lot of pink. Paul spends the early parts of his letters explaining doctrine and espousing truth. He reminds his readers often of Christ and what Christ has done for us. It’s as if Paul wants to be clear before he starts dishing out commands that the basis of our Christian life and our “doing stuff” is the truth of the gospel. 

So, Paul spends the first part of his letters talking about Jesus and reminding us about Jesus and getting the doctrine of salvation and our hope right. And then once he gets that down, he starts dishing out commands. Do this. Don’t do that. Do this. Don’t do that. And it’s a good reminder for us as Christians that the basis of our action is Christ and his work on the cross! We have a grace-based faith, not a works-based faith. And that grace is the basis of our action. 

So, I want to be careful this morning. Because the essence of this passage is fixing our attitude. I want to talk practically and directly about how to have a better attitude in the day-to-day of our lives. But this cannot be a morality message where I tell you how to muster up something in your flesh. This is a Holy Spirit work that is based upon the finished work of Jesus. 

Notice how Paul alludes to that at the end of verse 18. Paul says, “for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” This is God’s will for you “in Christ Jesus.” Are you “in Christ Jesus?” If you are, then that is the basis of your “rejoicing always” and “praying without ceasing” and “giving thanks in all circumstances.” If you’re not in Christ Jesus, then these commands don’t make sense. There’s no reason to rejoice always. And besides that, you don’t have the Holy Spirit inside of you that produces the fruit of joyfulness and prayerfulness and thankfulness. 

Just as example of this, Sanja and I were rebuking our cats this last week for complaining about their food. And we quoted 1 Thessalonians 5:16 to them. “Rejoice always,” you ungrateful cats! But that’s not going to work. They don’t have the Holy Spirit inside them. You on the other hand, Verse By Verse Fellowship, you’ve got the Holy Spirit inside of you. And these commands in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 are dependent on that. So, let’s get after these things together.    

Go ahead and write this down as #1 in your notes. I want to give you this morning,

Three resolutions to fix your attitude:

And I want us to say these out loud together. Here’s the first one. 

1. I choose to be joyful (5:16)

Let’s say that together. “I choose to be joyful.” Let’s say that again. “I choose to be joyful.”

Paul says it this way in verse 16. 

16 Rejoice always, 

Full stop! That’s the command. Do this. “Rejoice always.” And that’s the end of the verse. And that’s a complete thought right there. “Rejoice always.” By the way, Paul doesn’t say “be joyful always!” He says, “rejoice always.” That’s different! The command is not “be joyful always” experientially (or emotionally), but instead “rejoice always” expressively. You might not always feel joyful, but you should always rejoice. In other words, your emotions follow your will; your will doesn’t follow your emotions. You choose to rejoice, even if you don’t feel joyful. And sure enough, your emotions will follow your obedience to this command. 

And to the Thessalonians’ credit, they’ve already been described as a joy-filled church. Paul said earlier in 1:6, that they “received the word [of God] in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit.” And this is a Holy Spirit thing, as I’ve intimated already. And now Paul is saying, in light of the Holy Spirit inside of you, in light of the fact that you will still go through hardships and trials, still “Rejoice always.” In other words, Keep rejoicing, people. 

It’s funny because John 11:35 gets all the publicity as the shortest and most memorizable verse in the Bible: “Jesus wept.” But technically speaking, in Greek, this is the shortest verse in the Bible. It’s two Greek words, whereas John 11:35 is actually three words in Greek. And I know that verse, “Jesus wept,” is so important. It’s an aspect of Jesus’s humanity. It’s a reflection of how this “man of sorrows,” Jesus Christ, came and experienced humanity, the full depth of humanity including sorrow and sadness. Everyone here should memorize and meditate on that verse. 

But you know what other verse you should meditate on? 1 Thessalonians 5:16. “Rejoice always!” The Greek word for “rejoice” is the word χαίρω. Jesus told us to “rejoice [χαίρω] and be glad” even when we are persecuted, because our reward in heaven is great (Matt 5:12). Paul tells us in Romans 12:15, “Rejoice [χαίρω] with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.” Paul says in Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” 

We used to sing that in VBS when I was a kid. 

Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice. 

Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice. 

Rejoice, Rejoice, and again I say rejoice.

Rejoice, Rejoice, and again I say rejoice.

That song is a thoroughly biblical song. Because there are repeated commands throughout the Bible for us to rejoice. “Rejoice always,” says Paul. Rejoice at all times and in every circumstance. 

Now here comes the objection. And I know probably some of you are thinking this right now. “How can I rejoice always, Pastor Tony? How can I rejoice when my child is sick? How can I rejoice when my marriage is in turmoil? How can I rejoice when the diagnosis is terminal? How can I rejoice when my dreams have just been dashed to pieces? How can I rejoice when evil still dominates so much of our world? How can I rejoice when things take place, like what took place in Uvalde, Texas?” 

Well, here’s the answer to that. And actually this is where “Jesus wept” is very instructive for us as believers. Christians can be paradoxically both sorrowful and joyful. One pastor said it this way [I’m paraphrasing here], “Christians have the remarkable capacity to be both more joyful and more sorrowful than non-Christians. In fact, they can be simultaneously more joyful and more sorrowful than non-Christians.” 

We can have joy in the midst of our sorrow! Jesus said as much. Jesus said, “You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy” (John 16:20). Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:10 that we, as Christians, are “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.” We are more sorrowful than the rest of the world, because our hearts are soft. Ezekiel prophesied in the OT that someday God would take out the hearts of stone among his people and give them a heart of flesh (Ezek 36:26-27). And that heart of flesh is tender and easily moved by the suffering of this world. It’s not hardened by life’s hardships and life’s difficulties. So, Christians have a greater capacity for empathy and grief and sadness. 

But also, we are more joyful than the rest of the world. We have a greater capacity to rejoice. And that’s because we have hope, even when we have sorrow. That’s because we have a promised future and a promised eternity that trumps all this world’s inevitable pain and sorrow. We grieve as Christians, but we don’t grieve like those who have no hope (1 Thess 4:13). 

Jesus said to us, “Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:24). That joy isn’t based on life’s circumstances. It’s not based on successes or failures in our lives. It’s not based upon happenstance. It’s based upon the finished work of Jesus Christ at the cross. No matter how hard life gets, you can rejoice that Jesus Christ died for your sins and is even now preparing a place for you for eternity. That’s why we rejoice. If you’ve got that hope, you’ve got everything you need in this world. 

You have every reason to rejoice. If you don’t have that hope, you don’t have anything, even if you have everything else. 

G.K. Chesterton called joy the “gigantic secret of the Christian.” C.S. Lewis said that “joy is the serious business of Heaven.” Billy Sunday said once, “If you have no joy in your religion, there’s a leak in your Christianity somewhere.” To all those quotes I say, “Amen and Amen.” Joy is something that rises up inside of us naturally as Christians. It’s a fruit of the Spirit. But there are also those moments in the midst of despair, or in the midst of temptation, that I’ve got to mortify my flesh and say, “I choose to rejoice.” Even though life is hard right now. Even though I’m confused and frustrated by this set of circumstances. Even though the sorrow is increasingly sorrowful in my soul, “I choose to rejoice in the LORD.” If you haven’t gotten to that point in your life where you had to say this and remind yourself of your need to rejoice in the midst of deep sorrow… you will someday. You will. Rejoice always. 

Write this down as #2. Here’s a second resolution to help fix your attitude. 

2. I choose to be prayerful (5:17)

Let’s say that out-loud together. “I choose to be prayerful.” Let’s say it again. “I choose to be prayerful.” 

Paul says in verse 17, 

17 pray without ceasing 

This is a very short verse too. Just two words in Greek. “Pray” is the word προσεύχομαι, a general word for prayer that can be used for intercession, supplication, thanksgiving, etc. This is a word that means essentially, “Talking to God.” So, talk to God “without ceasing.” Or let me say it this way—don’t ever stop talking to God! 

There is only one Greek word for the English “without ceasing” here. It’s the word ἀδιαλείπτως (ah-dee-ah-layp-tōs). διαλείπω (dee-ah-lay-pō) means “to cease” or “to stop.” Jesus said about the sinful woman in Luke 7:45, “she has not ceased [stopped] kissing my feet.” “She has not [διαλείπω] kissing my feet.” ἀδιαλείπτως (ah-dee-ah-layp-tōs) means unceasingly or uninterruptedly. Paul tells us here in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to pray ἀδιαλείπτως (ah-dee-ah-layp-tōs). Pray unceasingly. 

Now what does that mean? How is that practical? If “always praying” meant “always talking with God” how could I ever preach? How could I ever have a conversation with my wife? How could I even continue that non-stop throughout the day? My voice would grow hoarse. If I prayed silently even without vocalizing, I would never be able to sleep or to write or even sing a song of worship. 

I heard a story once about Charles Spurgeon that he was so brilliant that as he was preaching, he would in his head pray for the people he was preaching to by name. And he would do it with one part of his brain, and just keep preaching without missing a step with another part of his brain. 

Can I just let you in on a secret? Your pastor is not that brilliant! Sometimes I’m afraid when I come to this pulpit that I’m going to trip on something and half of what I’ve studied all week is going to spill out of my brain!

So, what does this main, “pray without ceasing?” Well, it means at a bare minimum, “Don’t ever stop praying. Don’t ever stop taking your requests to God. Don’t ever grow weary of communicating with your God.” Let me say it this way, “Be quick to pray.” “Be eager to pray.”   

I heard it described this way by one of the commentators I read. Here’s how Charles Ryrie analogized this. He said that this word ἀδιαλείπτως (ah-dee-ah-layp-tōs) was used in the Greek world to describe a hacking cough. It’s that tickle in the back your throat that is constant and unceasing, ἀδιαλείπτως. And he said likewise there should be this tickle in the back of our soul that should always be drawing us to prayer, always longing for communion with God, always desirous of a conversation with the God of the Universe. And the more you pray and the more you grow in your relationship with God, the more you want to communicate with him. It’s a growing desire in your heart. I’ve experienced that. 

Here’s how another commentator I read this week, Leon Morris, explained it. He said, “It is not in the moving of the lips, but in the elevation of the heart to God, that the essence of prayer consists. And it is this that enables us to put into practice the injunction pray continually… It is not possible for us to spend all our time with the words of prayer on our lips, but it is possible for us to be all our days in the spirit of prayer, realizing our dependence on God for all we have and are, being conscious of his presence with us wherever we may be, and yielding ourselves continually to him to do his will. Such an inward state will of course find expression from time to time [but not all the time] in verbal prayer.” 

Jesus taught his disciples “The Parable of the Persistent Widow” to teach them that they ought always to pray and never lose heart (Luke 18:1-8). Paul says elsewhere that we should pray “at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints” (Eph 5:18). Romans 12:12 tells us to be “constant in prayer.” It’s not really about continuousness, as much as it is about relentlessness. It’s about a relentless, persistent, commitment to prayer. “I will never stop praying to the LORD! I choose to be prayerful in all the circumstances of life.” “When life is good, I’m going to pray and thank God. When life is hard, I’m going to get down on my knees and cry out to him and plead with him. When life is so-so… six in one hand, half a dozen in the other… I still have plenty to pray for. I’m still going to pray and take my requests to God.” 

By the way, Paul didn’t just command this. He practiced it. He said in the second verse of this book, “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers” (1 Thess 1:2). That’s the same Greek word – ἀδιαλείπτως (ah-dee-ah-layp-tōs). Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 3:10: “we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith[.]” Notice the “we” statements in both those verses. “We pray,” says Paul. They pray; we pray. Christians pray!

Here’s the application for you, Verse By Verse Fellowship. Choose to pray. Choose to pray often, and take advantage of every opportunity to communicate what’s going on in your life to the Lord. Charles Spurgeon says this. I’ve quoted this before: “We should pray when we are in a praying mood, for it would be sinful to neglect so fair an opportunity. We should pray when we are not in a proper mood, for it would be dangerous to remain in so unhealthy a condition.” 

Like a hacking cough, that desire to pray should be tickling the back of your throat constantly. It should be tickling the back of your soul. So, take every opportunity that you can to pray, especially corporately. Paul says, “we pray.” Your prayers should be a “me thing” but it should also be a “we thing.” It’s not either/or, it’s both/and. Take advantage of every opportunity you have to pray. 

Listen we pray regularly here at Verse By Verse. We pray before the service, during the service, and after service. That’s not an accident. Prayer should be an essential part of our small groups. Prayer should be an essential part of our children’s ministry. We organize regular prayer meetings here at church where we focus exclusively on praying and praising God together. Don’t miss those opportunities to pray. You’ll be surprised how much your attitude starts to change when you are quick to pray and quick to communicate whatever’s going on in your heart to the Lord. 

My wife loves this quote on prayer. I’ve quoted it before from this pulpit. Let me quote it again. William Temple said once, “When I pray, coincidences happen, and when I don’t, they don’t.” 

And one more thing. Write this down as #3. I choose to be joyful, I choose to be prayerful, and… 

3. I choose to be thankful (5:18)

Let’s say that together. “I choose to be thankful.” Let’s say it again. “I choose to be thankful.” 

18 give thanks in all circumstances; 

“In all circumstances, Pastor Tony? In all circumstances, give thanks? Is that even possible?” Yes, it is. Because God works “all circumstances” for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose (Rom 8:28). And no circumstances in this present world can deprive us of our eternal circumstances with Christ Jesus in eternity. So yes, I think it is possible to give thanks in all circumstances. In fact, I think it’s God’s will for your life. “What’s God’s will for my life, Pastor Tony?” Here it is. 1 Thessalonians 5:18.

18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 

You know these three commands are closely bound together: 1) Rejoice, 2) Pray, and 3) Give thanks. In other words, your prayer life and your rejoicing are enhanced by your thankfulness to God. And vice-versa. John Calvin said once, “Many people pray in such a way that they grumble against God and become upset if they do not immediately receive what they have prayed for. But it is better if our desires are not immediately granted and we are content with what God has given us.” 

The Great Scottish theologian, F.F. Bruce, identified ingratitude as “one of the features of pagan depravity.” And that’s because in Romans 1, just before Paul talks about the depravity of sexual perversion and homosexuality and idolatry, Paul mentions the root cause of this downward decline into depravity. It starts with ungratefulness. “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Rom 1:21). Bruce says that in contrast to that, “the children of God are expected to ‘abound in thanksgiving.’” 

Colossians 3:15 says, “[L]et the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” Ephesians 5:4 says, “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.” Ephesians 5:20 says, “[Give] thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

What could we give thanks for? Have you thought about that before? What are some things that we could thank God for right now? If you are struggling to come up with something, let me help you with that. It’s been a little while since I’ve studied biology and the human body, but let me give you some facts about your body that perhaps you are unaware of. I was encouraged by this this week, and it helped me to be thankful for some of the things that the LORD does for me that I don’t have to worry about.

The human body, your body and mine, consists of over 50 trillion cells. And about 60% of your body is water. It manufactures some 300 million new blood cells every day. And you have a heart that beats some 70 or 80 times a minute or 30 million times a year. On average an adult’s heart pumps about 4,000 gallons of blood each day. And you don’t do anything to make that happen. God has wired your body to do that for you. What do you think about that? “Thank you, Jesus!” That’s what you should think about that! 

Here are some other great facts about your body:

Every 60 seconds, your red blood cells do a complete circuit around your body.

In 24 hours, the blood in your body travels a total of 12,000 miles. 

Your bones, pound for pound, are 4 times stronger than concrete. In fact, human bone is as strong as steel but 50 times lighter. And yet your bones are composed of 31% water.

Humans shed about 600,000 particles of skin every hour—about 1.5 pounds a year. And by the age of 70 years, an average person will have lost 105 pounds of skin.

Our lungs inhale over two million liters of air every day.

Your brain has over 100 billion nerve cells, and our brains are approximately 80% water.

Your nervous system transmits messages to the brain at the speed of 180 miles per hour.

In a lifetime, your brain's long-term memory can hold as many as 1 quadrillion (1,000 trillion) separate bits of information.

It is estimated that there are over 1 quadrillion connections in the human brain. There’s actually a lot about the human brain that we still don’t understand… which is kind of ironic when you stop and think about it. Our brains can’t even comprehend our own brains. And God did all of that for us. He created us that way and sustains our brains every day. Thank you, Jesus! Are you feeling thankful yet, VBVF?

Your stomach manufactures a new lining every three days in order to avoid digesting itself. Have you ever thanked the Lord for that? “Thank you, Lord, for creating my stomach so that it wouldn’t digest itself. Because that would be incredibly painful.” I often thank the Lord for the glorious food that goes into my stomach. But I don’t thank him enough for giving me a stomach that digests food for me… and doesn’t digest itself. 

The average human brain weighs about 3 pounds. The cerebellum (cerebellum means “little brain” in Latin) is that part of your brain at the back of your head that coordinates muscular activity. The cerebellum weighs about five ounces or 1/3 of a pound. So, your muscles are controlled by something that weighs about as much as a hamburger beef patty. Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah.  

Let me just share with you a few things about your kidneys. I don’t even know where my kidneys are in my body. If you showed me a diagram of the human body, I couldn’t tell you the difference between the kidney, the liver, and the appendix. I think I could find the stomach, but not the kidneys. Yet still, without me even knowing where they are in my body…

In each kidney, there are 1 million filters that clean around 1.3 liters of blood every minute.

In a lifetime, the human kidneys clean over 1 million gallons of blood.

Every day 440 Gallons of blood flows through each kidney.

Your kidneys filter your blood up to 300 times per day.

Let me tell you a little bit about the human eye. Just one tiny part of your body.

Human eyes are the fastest moving body part. They move at a fraction of a second.

The muscles in your eye move more than 100,000 times a day.

There are around 1.2 million optic fibers in the human eye.

The human eye has about 130 million receptors to perceive light.

Humans are the only living creatures that produce emotional tears.

If the human eye was a digital camera it would have 576 megapixels.

Every time that you blink, your body moves over 200 muscles.

And there are so many other things to be thankful for in your body. There are quite literally about a million other ways that you could thank God, just in regards to your body and how God takes care of you, in some ways without you even knowing it. In fact, the only time we think about it or worry about it is when it’s not working, or when a friend or family member has a body part that stops working. Then we start to pray and express thankfulness to God for those things that are working. 

I could go on and on and on with this. I could talk about gravity and how precarious our situation is with the exact gravitational pull that is present on the earth. I could talk about the sun and the orbit of the earth around the sun and how the precision of those movements make life on earth possible. I could talk about land and water and the reproductive system. I could talk about physics and biology and microbiology. I could talk about cells and atoms and neutrons and electrons and protons and DNA... and how God’s goodness in all these categories makes life possible and continual. And how without them, we would be quite literally “dead meat.” 

What’s amazing is how we have all this information through science and research in our day—information and research that wasn’t even accessible to Paul 2000 years ago. We have even more reasons to praise God and be thankful to him for sustaining life and keeping us going. We have even more reasons than Paul and the Thessalonians to “Give thanks in all circumstances.” And yet, are we as inclined as Paul was to be thankful? Are we as inclined as the Thessalonians, who dealt in some cases with severe persecution, to thank God for all he’s done for us? We should be. We should be.

And beyond all these physical realities that we can be thankful for, there are even more importantly the metaphysical realities. And what are those metaphysical realities? Well, that God loves us and created us; and God sent his son to die on the cross for us. Are you thankful for that, church? That Jesus Christ, God of the Universe, the creator of every single one of my bodily organs, came to earth and took up those bodily organs? He took up a heart that beats like your heart. He took up a nervous system like your nervous system. He had eyes like us and hands like us and a stomach like us and kidneys like us. And he experienced pain in his body like us, but even worse than us. Worse, because Jesus was physically tortured and crucified and put to death in his human body in order that we might be saved. Now that’s something that we can be thankful for even when everything else in our world falls apart, even when these bodies that are so fearfully and wonderfully made fall apart. 

Paul says, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 

“What’s God’s will for my life, Pastor Tony? What is it? Who does God want me to marry? Where does God want me to live? Where does he want me to work? Should I take that promotion and move to Cincinnati? Should I quit my job and start my own business? Should I homeschool my kids? Public School? Private School?” I don’t know. I can’t speak authoritatively about any of those matters in your life. But I know this is God’s will for you. I know that God wants this from you. He wants you to have an attitude of joyfulness in all circumstances of life. Do you? Are you joyful? He wants you to be prayerful in all the ups and downs of life. Are you? Are you prayerful? And he wants you to have an attitude of thankfulness in all the circumstances of life. Because we have a lot to be thankful for. 

So are you? Are you thankful? Is your attitude towards God characterized by love, gratitude, and appreciation? Or do you let the problems of this world and the heartaches and the sorrows lead to the sin of ingratitude? Choose to be thankful! Choose to be thankful. Say it with me “I choose to be thankful.” Let’s bow in a word of prayer and then we can take communion together.