Sermon Tone Analysis

I Thessalonians 5:16-22

 

! Introduction

Quite often in the news we get images of Islam.

We see the strong commitment people have to this religion.

We see the crowds of people who follow it.

It is a powerful religion not only in the Middle East, but in many countries including North America.

What distinguishes us from Muslims?

They have a book, we have a book.

They have celebrations, we have celebrations.

They have commitment, we have commitment.

They have rules and guidelines, we have rules and guidelines.

They have an eternal hope, we have an eternal hope.

They worship the God of Abraham, we worship the God of Abraham.

In many ways there is not much difference and truthfully, for some who would call themselves Christian, there is no difference.

If your faith life is about obedience to a list of rules which you keep with the hope of getting to heaven, then there is no difference.

Even if you know that your basis of acceptance with God is the death of Christ on the cross, but you live your Christianity as a religion, there is very little difference.

So what do we have that they do not have?

What is different is that we have a personal relationship with the God of the universe made possible through the death of Christ on the cross.

God Himself has come to live with us and in us and the life we live we live in Him.

The question is, “do we live in that relationship or do we have a religion based on a salvation that is ancient history for us personally?”

How is the life of the Spirit, or spiritual life to be lived for those who know Christ?

I Thessalonians 5:16-22 gives us 8 imperatives which must be happening if we are to have a spiritual life.

What is evident is that it involves a 2 way relationship.

There are activities which give evidence of our relationship with God and there are things which happen when we open ourselves up to what God is doing in us.

Elias says, “A congregation can demonstrate dynamic faith, love and hope only if it renews its inner life through worship and the empowering of the Spirit.”

Let us read the text together from the overhead.

!

I.

We Relate To God

            The life we have in God is not a negative life.

It is not a life of regulations and rote, rather it is a life of joy, communicating with God and recognizing what God has given us.

So Paul begins this section of 8 imperatives by talking about how we relate to God in this life of faith.

We rejoice, we pray and we give thanks.

That he says “always, continually and in all circumstances” intensifies these acts to our whole life.

This is what God’s will for us is.

In our relationship to Him, he wants us to be joyful, praying and giving thanks.

So let us look at how each of these things functions in a life of relationship with God.

!! A. Be Joyful

            If I would ask you what is the shortest verse in the Bible, you would probably say, “Jesus wept.”

That, however, is only true in English.

In Greek, the shortest verse is I Thessalonians 5:16, “Rejoice always.”

In Greek, “Jesus wept” is three words and made up of 16 letters.

“Rejoice always,” is two words and only 14 letters.

However, one writer makes an interesting connection between these two verses when he says, “…we surely can see the lovely connection between the two verses.

The Christian’s joy flows from the sympathy and grace of their Savior.

Jesus wept and we rejoice evermore.”

On the basis of Jesus’ suffering, we can rejoice, but is it possible to rejoice in everything.

When we look at different stories in the Bible, we find that the apostles were able to do it.

In Acts 5, the apostles were put in prison for preaching the gospel.

They defended themselves before the religious leaders, but still were flogged and ordered not to speak about Jesus any more.

Acts 5:41 says, “The apostles…rejoiced because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.”

Later in Acts 16, Paul and Silas were arrested in Philippi also for preaching about Jesus.

The story goes that they were in an inner cell and fastened with stocks, but, it says in Acts 16:25, “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God…” From both of these stories, we learn that joy is possible, even in the most difficult circumstances.

How much more should we who have it so good be filled with joy!

Why can we have such joy?

We rejoice because we have received the Word of God which in Christ has given us forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life.

Luke 10:20 says, “… rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

We rejoice because the name of Jesus is being proclaimed all over the world and it is His truth and His reign that will be the eternal reign.

We rejoice because of all the amazing things God is doing in the world.

There is joy when a sinner comes to Christ and when a believer matures in faith.

Paul expresses this joy in many of his writings, including already in I Thessalonians 2:20 when he says, “you are our glory and joy.”

We also rejoice because when we suffer, we are identified with Christ Himself.

I Peter 4:13 says, “…rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.”

We can have joy in suffering because we know that suffering produces character.

Romans 5:3, 4 says, “…we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

What does it come down to?

Joy is the recognition that God is Lord of this world and He has acted to bring righteousness and good into the world.

Joy is an act of worship for it is an act of confidence in the God who loves us.

Is joy a mark of your faith life or were you baptized in vinegar?

!! B. Pray

            Another activity of the relationship on our part is unceasing prayer.

What does it mean to pray without ceasing?

“…the post-apostolic Church soon came to call the 3rd, 6th, and 9th hours of the day the “apostolic hours” of prayer (based on the apostolic precedents in Acts 3:1 ; 10:3 , 9 , 30 ).

These hours of prayer were connected generally with the trinity and specifically with two stages of Christ’s passion (the 6th and 9th hours) and the descent of the Spirit at Pentecost (the 3rd hour).

At first these were times for purely private devotions by all Christians, but later the stated hours of prayer became so extended and so regulated that they could be kept only by the religious orders under vows.

Support for the monastic regulations was also found in the OT .

The Benedictine Rule (xvi) calls for seven daytime hours of prayer and the night office.

Warrant for this is found in Ps. 119:164 , “Seven times a day I praise thee …” and Ps.

119:62 , “At midnight I rise to praise thee ….”[1]

But is that what unceasing prayer is all about?

J.B. Lightfoot says, “It is not in the moving of the lips, but in the elevation of the heart to God, that the essence of prayer consists.”

What a wonderful phrase this is, “the elevation of the heart to God.”

It speaks of a heart which is God directed and expectant of God at all times.

It speaks of a heart which knows that life is found in God alone.

It is this attitude of heart which makes unceasing prayer possible.

Henri Nouwen has said, “As we are involved in unceasing thinking, so we are called to unceasing prayer.”

Another writer says that unceasing prayer is “every activity carried on in a spirit of prayer which is the spontaneous outcome of a sense of God’s presence.”

Martin Luther tells a story about his puppy.

“When Luther's puppy happened to be at the table, he looked for a morsel from his master, and watched with open mouth and motionless eyes; he (Martin Luther) said, "Oh, if I could only pray the way this dog watches the meat!

All his thoughts are concentrated on the piece of meat.

Otherwise he has no thought, wish or hope."

Prayer is an act of our relationship with God because it recognizes the presence of God with us at all times and the willing help of God which is always available.

Imagine if you will that God is walking along beside you every day, everywhere you go.

Like a friend, you may not always talk to Him, but you are always aware of his presence.

Like a friend present with you, you can ask him a question at any time.

May we see unceasing prayer as a walk with a friend and a friendly conversation with one who is near at all times.

!! C. Be Thankful

            Another aspect of the relationship is “give thanks under all circumstances.”

Thanksgiving is a frequent topic of Scriptural.

Ephesians 5:20 instructs,

“always giving thanks to God the Father for everything...” Philippians 4:6 encourages, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  Colossians 3:17 challenges, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”