Dennis Tuuri

# Sermon Transcript

Sermon scripture is 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verses 16-18. Hear the command word of our Lord. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Hear it here. Hear it here. At this time the younger children may be dismissed to go to their Sabbath schools, if their parents desire that.

We begin today a series of messages going through the New Testament book of the first epistle to the Thessalonians. While we’ll be covering the rest of the book sequentially, going through the text, we’re starting obviously with one of the last verses in the book. And that’s probably rather obvious why we chose to start there today. It’s because this is the week that America—this is the particular week in November that we celebrate Thanksgiving in this country. For a good many years it seemed proper to choose a text then from the book that deals with thanksgiving. And the text we chose, verse 18, tells us to give thanks rather in everything and states that this is the will of God in Christ concerning us.

So very appropriate text and we’ll be dealing today with perpetual and comprehensive thanksgiving.

Now, before I get going on this thing, I want to give a little counterbalance to begin with. In verse 21, you’ll notice that as we read the first couple of verses leading up to it, in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, we have a series of very short, terse commands. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks. Quench not the spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things. Hold fast that which is good.

Verse 21 says, “Prove all things.” In the same way that we’re told to rejoice evermore perpetually and in every occurrence, to pray without ceasing perpetually, and to in everything give thanks perpetually—or comprehensively—so we’re also to prove all things. Now I point that out because the sort of thanksgiving we’re talking about today is not, to use maybe a common term, airhead thanksgiving. You know, it’s not having a pasted grin on your face that doesn’t evaluate the circumstances that God brings into our lives and make judgments. We’re told specifically to give thanks in everything—command of God. But we’re also commanded to prove all things, to be discerning in things as well.

So the sort of thanksgiving we’re talking about today doesn’t leave off evaluation. Somehow in the providence of God, those things have to come together. And we’ll try to address that somewhat, but I wanted to make that caveat to make sure you don’t go away thinking that Dennis says we’re just supposed to forget about everything and everything’s equally good coming forth from God’s hand. We don’t make valuations to good and bad and righteous and evil. No, the scriptures say we’re to evaluate and judge, but still we’re supposed to give thanks in all things.

Notice first the necessity of thanksgiving here. It is a command by God to us. And as good believers that God’s law is binding on us, this is one of the commands of God that we are given throughout the scriptures, certainly in the Old Testament, in the Psalms, and here in the New Testament as well. It’s a command to give thanks in everything. And so when we don’t give thanks, what does that mean? Well, it means we’re breaking a law of God, a command of God, and we’ve sinned. And it’s a sin we should repent of when we grumble and murmur and fail to give thanks. It’s a command.

It’s a command that really summarizes what the scriptures tell us in this verse about what God’s will is concerning our life. You know, you always hear people saying, “How can I discern God’s will for my life?” Well, this is how. The scriptures tell us specifically here that God’s will is to bring us to a position where we give thanks in all things.

Now, some commentators would say that this is the will of God refers to all three of those activities: continual rejoicing, praying continually, and giving thanks, continuing in everything. And that’s okay too. That’s probably correct. The will of God is that we rejoice, that we pray, communicate with him thankfully, and do that in thanksgiving.

Now, earlier in this particular text, in chapter 4:3, we have the same phrase given: “This is the will of God, even your sanctification, that you should abstain from fornication.” And you remember when we talked about that chapter, we were talking about lust. He says, “This is the will of God, your sanctification,” then he goes on to talk about fornication, sexual immorality, business immorality, and then love of the brethren. So the summary statement there is that this is the will of God—your sanctification. Then he breaks out specific things.

The will of God is our sanctification. And if we go to this chapter in the same book and the will of God is that we give thanks in everything, then giving thanks in everything is part of the sanctification, the increasing holiness and righteousness that we have before God. And so it is a central aspect of the Christian faith to give thanks.

In Ronald Wallace’s book, Calvin’s Doctrine of the Christian Life, he talks about Calvin’s perspective on this particular issue. He says that our Christian life therefore must be—I’m sorry, that’s the wrong page. Quoting from Wallace’s book on Calvin: “Thanksgiving is according to Calvin the chief exercise of godliness.” That’s a quote from Calvin’s commentaries: “the chief exercise of godliness.” And Wallace goes on to say: “in which we ought to engage during the whole of our life. God’s whole purpose in creating us, in adorning the world with such a magnificent variety of beautiful and good things, and in watching over us with such careful providence, is that we might be more continually moved to render praise unto him.”

And so Calvin taught and understood the scriptures to teach that the whole purpose of God’s creating us was that we might render back thanks to him. And so thanks is a necessary part of the Christian life and without it then we’re shown not to be really born again at all.

After all, in Romans 1, it is those who fail to give God thanks as God, who then begin that slippery slide in rebellion to him and being darkened in their understanding and being turned over to sexual lust and immorality and impurity and disobedience to parents and every other wicked thing. All that comes forth from those who are unthankful.

So thankfulness is a vital mark of the Christian life along with, of course, joy and prayer. Thankfulness has a subcontent to it that comes out in a kind of nice way to understand based upon the Hebrew and Greek words that are used to express thanksgiving. What is the content of our thanksgiving? Okay, we’re supposed to do it. What does it consist of?

And the first point I’ve got listed there is it consists of our confession. Our confession.

Now, the Old Testament word that is translated thanksgiving more often than not is a word that doesn’t really strictly apply itself in a limited sense to thanksgiving as we would think of it. It’s the same word that’s used of confession of sin. Essentially, the content of that particular Hebrew word in the Old Testament is a word that means to confess or to acknowledge something. It can be to confess or acknowledge our sinfulness to God, or to confess or acknowledge God’s goodness. And as part of that confession and acknowledgement of God’s goodness, it involves thanksgiving. And so it’s translated thanksgiving, but it has this added emphasis—and in fact the primary emphasis—of confession.

So the word itself denotes a recognition and a declaration of a fact. That fact can be our sinfulness, or it can be God’s providence and God’s goodness and his sovereignty in all things. Because of this aspect of the particular word denoting confession of God’s attributes or his works, the word is essentially translated then in some cases as praise.

Praise. Praise and thanksgiving are combined in this particular term. Frequently in the Old Testament, in the parallelism of the Psalms for instance and other texts as well, we see the specific word that specifically means praise—halal in the Hebrew, the basis of our words for praise. That word is shown in parallel fashion with a particular word that’s translated thanksgiving. And so it’s connected with an acknowledgement, a declaration, a recognition of who God is as a result of that praise to God and, of course, that praise involves an attitude of thanks, thanksgiving, on the part of the people that are being brought to praise him.

So a central aspect of the content of thanksgiving according to the scriptures is the confession of a sovereign God. A confession of a sovereign God.

Now let’s just look at a couple of verses. You don’t have to turn to them. I’ll just read them quickly. In 2 Samuel 22:50 we read, “Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name.” And you see the parallelism there. The word “give thanks” really means to make confession of who God is, his sovereignty, and his goodness. And it’s then linked in parallel fashion to singing praise unto his name.

1 Chronicles 16:4: “And he appointed certain of the Levites, that is David, to minister before the ark of the Lord, and to record and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel.” Verse 7 of that same text: “Then on that day David delivered first this psalm to thank the Lord into the hand of Asaf and his brethren.” So these particular Levites are set up to do what? To give thanks and praise to God through the recitation and writing of psalms in liturgical worship. And so we have praise going on. We have thanks. And the thanks means essentially the acknowledgement of God, who he is and what he has accomplished in the affairs of men.

Because of these things too, these particular references, we see the centrality of thanksgiving to worship. And of course, if you’ve been coming to this church very long, you understand that the first half of the service is primarily a dialogue with God and can be summarized, I suppose, in the long prayer that comes near the conclusion of the first half of the service. Yet the emphasis is the teaching of the word—God’s word—and our response to it in prayerful attentiveness. Then we have a rejoicing feast together. At the end of that we have communion, and you probably know that one of the classic words the early church and subsequently the historic church has used for communion is the word Eucharist. And that’s the particular word, or the same basic root word, as is found in 1 Thessalonians 5 for thanksgiving. It means to give thanks. And communion is a giving of thanks. That’s central to what it’s all about—to thank God.

And so its centrality is seen in the life of worship as well, and its content is seen as the confession of a sovereign God.

Now it isn’t just the confession of a sovereign God. However, it also is a sovereign God who is gracious and good to his creatures. And for this, that New Testament word I used, that we know today in terms of the Eucharist—that Greek word that’s translated thanksgiving here—it is the word that is used for thanksgiving or thankfulness or being giving thanks throughout the New Testament.

That word has as its root a word that specifies gracious—a gracious gift from God. Charis. It is in God’s providence that today after the sermon we are baptizing Carissa Becker, and they chose that name specifically as a reminder of God’s gift, God’s gracious gift to them and to the world and to God’s people as well. That’s what Carissa means. It means grace or gift.

And so at the heart of thanksgiving itself, that particular word that means thanksgiving is the root word that has the element of God’s grace to it. And so God’s required thanksgiving of us acknowledges confession that he is sovereign, but it also acknowledges confession that he is gracious and good in his very person. At the center of our thanksgiving is a response to the person of God himself, his graciousness and his goodness. He extends grace to us and we are thankful for that.

So the content of our thanksgiving is then the confession that God’s hand is in all things and the acknowledgment of thankfulness to him because that hand is gracious and good in providing all things for our well-being and for our pleasure.

Now, if you understand these things correctly, then you’ll see where works religion—that denies the grace, the essential grace of God in Jesus Christ, that says that we can somehow be good enough to merit things from him—that’s a denial of grace. And not only is it a denial of grace, it’s a denial of thanksgiving then, because thanksgiving’s central content is this gracious acknowledgement of God’s gift.

And so works religion reduces thankfulness on the part of people. Arminianism—a failure to acknowledge God’s sovereignty in all things—is essentially a denial then of thankfulness. And so Arminian theology, when applied to its end result, makes it very difficult to give thanks in all things because all things haven’t come forth from God’s hand. They’ve come forth many times from man’s hand. Arminianism reduces thankfulness.

Man-centered theologies—and there’s a lot of those about today—that seek to minister to the person instead of minister to God and as a result build up the body of Christ. Being man-centered in our theology also reduces thankfulness because thankfulness is key to the person of God, not to the person of man. It’s a confession of his sovereignty and not man’s sovereignty.

And finally, theologies of the day that don’t preach sin reduce thankfulness on the part of men. Why is that? What is grace? Grace is unmerited favor from God. What’s the picture of that? That’s the supreme example of that—Christ dying for us. Why did he die? Because we sinned. If we fail to acknowledge the depth of our sin, then we fail to acknowledge the greatness of God’s grace and goodness in saving us. And if we fail to see that, then we’ve been reduced in our attitude of thankfulness to the God who delivers us.

And so essential to the content of thankfulness is having a theology based not upon works, but upon the free gift of grace in Jesus Christ. A theology based upon the providence of God in all things and not Arminianism. A theology that is God-centered, focusing on the person of God, which then leads to a response on our part to that person in thankfulness. And it’s a theology that stresses that man indeed is fallen, that our sin is great before God.

And if we understand that, then we come forth on the Lord’s day rejoicing in the finished work of Jesus Christ with grateful, thankful hearts. And so all these things are essential to the content of thankfulness.

What’s the subject of our thanksgiving then? If that’s the content, how far does it extend? And of course, we’ve already read the verse. It extends to all things. There are about 50 occurrences of the New Testament word for thanksgiving, and fully a third of those speak specifically of thanking God for all things or in all things. It is repeated throughout the scriptures.

I’ve got a couple of scriptures listed there from Colossians 3 and Ephesians 5 that are really parallel scriptures, but they say in the context of them, of course, in verse 17 of Colossians 3: “Whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” Whatever we do in all things. In other words, Ephesians 5:20: “Giving thanks always for all things unto God our Father.”

Now, it’s interesting that both of those passages have as their context singing psalms to one another, encouraging each other, being long-suffering with each other. And I take from that one of the things we’ve got to remember: to give thanks not just for all things but for all people that God has brought us in the context of the body of Christ is also a great focus of the thanksgiving that God requires of us in the New Testament. We’ll talk about that in a couple of minutes.

But the extent of our thanksgiving, the subject of it, is all things. All things. Why? Well, the basis for God’s requiring us to give thanks in all things, of course, is God’s providence in all things. God’s providence. God supernaturally superintends all things that occur in the created order, and his providence extending to all things is the reason why we are to give thanks for all things.

Calvin in his Institutes talks about the very creation itself teaching us the need to understand the need to give thanks in all things in terms of the created order. Quoting from his Institutes now, he says: “How God had prepared everything he foresaw would be useful and sanitary for man.” He’s talking about the fact that man was created on the last day. God created a world that was essentially provided all things that we would need, that would be good and sanitary for man himself. And then of course at the end of that creative work, he provides man the health meat that we also will need as a race to flourish and to grow and for all our needs.

Calvin goes on to say: “How impious would it be to tremble for fear that his kindness might at any time fail us when we see that it was shown with the greatest abundance of every good thing when we were yet unborn,” referring again to the creation. “The very fact that there is a created order that God has given to us to provide all that we need—before we are yet born—is a strong indicator of the great work he will do to provide all things for us. And how terrible and ungrateful it would be to not remember that or to not believe it.”

He says: “It is certain that he did not do this to mock us with the empty title as a gift,” talking now of our title to the earth, the call to exercise dominion over the whole earth in Genesis 1:28 and repeated in Genesis 9:2. “Therefore, nothing that is needful for our welfare will ever be lacking to us.”

Now, there’s a lot of emphasis here on the created order as the basis for our thanksgiving. It’s interesting to me. I noticed on the television last week—I don’t know who had the ad on—talking about the environmental movement said, “After all, we’ve got to remember the earth doesn’t belong to us, humankind. We belong to it.” And you see, that’s a direct reversal of what God tells us in Genesis 1:29. The earth does belong to mankind.

Now, ultimately, of course, it belongs to God, like everything that we own. It’s only really a stewardship given by God on his grant with conditions attached to it. But understanding all that, we do own the earth and it’s been given to us for our well-being. And we have not been given to the earth. You see, that’s a complete reversal of what’s taught in Genesis. And it’s a reversal that reduces thanksgiving.

If you can get man to rethink that he just belongs to the created order, then what’s to be thankful for in that created order? We’re just part of the whole thing. We serve it. But we serve God instead. He gives us the created order as an indication of all the things that we’re ever going to need.

So the created order itself is a picture of how in all things we’re to give thanks to God because he provides for all of our needs.

Indeed, the scriptures are replete, as Calvin mentions in his Institutes again. Many verses talk about God’s provision of everything that we shall have to do. Reading from his Institutes:

“There are very many and very clear promises that testify that God’s singular providence watches over the welfare of believers. ‘Cast your care upon the Lord and he will nourish you and will never permit the righteous man to flounder,’ Psalm 55. ‘For he takes care of us,’ 1 Peter 5:7. ‘Cast your care upon him because he cares for us. He who dwells in the help of the most high will abide in the protection of the God of heaven,’ Psalm 91. ‘He who touches you touches the pupil of mine eye,’ Zechariah 2:8. ‘I will be your shield,’ Genesis 15:1. ‘A brazen wall,’ Jeremiah 1:18 and 15:20. ‘I will contend with those who contend with you,’ Isaiah 49:25. ‘Even though a mother may forget her children, yet I will not forget you,’ Isaiah 49:15.”

Indeed, the principal purpose of biblical history is to teach that the Lord watches over the ways of the saints with such great diligence that they do not even stumble over a stone, Psalm 91:12. The scriptures are replete that God’s providence extends in a special way to his elect people to make provision for all their cares and concerns and to protect them from every enemy the way he protects the pupil of his own eye. We’re that precious to God.

And if God’s providence is in the creation of all things and then in the continuing manifestation of his providence in history, if that says we’re at the focal point of that history, he’s providing all things for our well-being and welfare, then it makes sense that we’re required by him to give thanks for all those things. And to not give thanks would be the height of ingratitude and the height really of unbelief—that God has accomplished these things that he said in his word he has accomplished.

Romans 8:28 of course says that “all things work together for our good, for the good of those who have been called according to God’s purpose.” And again, Calvin pointed out correctly that “calling to God’s purpose” means that we are called to give forth thanksgiving and praise to him. That is the ultimate purpose that God has created us for. That’s the purpose of our sanctification, the goal of it—that we might rejoice in God and give him praise for who he is and communicate that praise to him in thanksgiving and in prayer.

So that’s the very focal point of all our calling. And as a result of that, we understand that Romans 8:28 says that indeed all things work together for our good. And so we can in all things give God thanks for these things.

Remember, thanksgiving is the confession of God’s providence extending to all things, and that providence comes forth from the hand of one who has shown grace and goodness to us.

Well, that’s fine and good in a general sense, but what about afflictions? Maybe these Thessalonians that Paul was telling to rejoice in all things didn’t understand the nature of affliction. But that’s not true. The scriptures remind us in Acts 17:6 and following of the nature of the opposition that the church at Thessalonica would face. You remember that’s the story of Jason and how Paul had been in Thessalonica for I think a couple three weeks and the Jews got all upset and they went to Jason and they hauled Jason and some other believers before the civil magistrate. They said, “These guys are turning the world upside down, declaring another king, King Jesus, as opposed to Caesar.” So there was violent opposition to the very first entrance of Paul onto the scene at Thessalonica.

Indeed, in 2 Corinthians 8:2, we’re also told that the churches of Macedonia, which the Thessalonica church was one, were deeply in poverty. And so they knew persecution from outside. They knew economic afflictions and troubles as well.

In 1 Thessalonians 1:6, we read that this persecution that started in the book of Acts has continued in the very first chapters of Thessalonians. We read: “You became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost.” They knew the truth of rejoicing yet in times of affliction.

Chapter 2: “But even after that we had suffered before and were shamefully intreated, as you know, of Philippi. We were—what had happened there was that after Paul had left Thessalonica because of the great persecution there, he went to Philippi and the same Jews from Thessalonica followed him to Philippi and made trouble for him there. But he says, ‘We are bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention.’” So he reminds them there that the very founding of the gospel in their area was with much contention.

In verse 14 of chapter 2: “For ye brethren became followers of the churches of God which in Judea are in Christ Jesus. For ye also have suffered like things of your own country, even as they have of the Jews.” So he’s saying here again he’s writing to a church that has suffered persecution from outside. And there are other references throughout the book as well.

The point was they knew persecutions. They knew poverty and beyond that, because Paul addresses them in chapter 4 of this epistle relative to the departure of loved ones. They also knew the death of loved ones. In verse 13 of chapter 4, he says: “We would not have ignorant brethren concerning them which are asleep that you sorrow not even as others which have no hope.” So although this church was young and newly founded, they apparently already had deaths of some of the members of their church that Paul then wanted to instruct them on in terms of their resurrection life.

So this was a church that knew afflictions, knew poverty and knew death. And to this church, Paul writes of the necessity to rejoice in all things and to give thanks in all things. And so we’re to give thanks also in affliction. Affliction.

Now it is important to recognize in the midst of persecutions the correct perspective that God calls us to in which we will find ourselves giving thanks. In 2 Corinthians 4:15-17 we read directions about Paul’s understanding of things. They were being mistreated as it were. Paul was in this particular text and he says the following: He says, “All things are for your sake that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.” Again, the focus of what he’s been doing is the thanksgiving, the redounding to the glory of God.

And then in verse 16: “For which cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

Paul understood that the afflictions that God had brought upon him—that he’s writing to the Corinthians here about—were for the purpose of adding to that weight of glory that he would have when he went to be with God eternally in heaven. So he had a heavenly perspective as it were, and as a result of seeing that heavenly perspective, knowing that God had superintended all these things, had brought the afflictions upon him for the purpose of improving and sanctifying him and giving him an eternal weight of glory with God in heaven.

Verse 18 says how he understood these things: “While we look not at the things which are seen, yet the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” Paul says that in the context of the redounding of thanksgiving to God. The way thanksgiving redounds in times of affliction is by understanding things from a heavenly perspective, from lifting up your heart to heaven, from understanding God’s perspective from heaven on what’s going on down here.

So he understood that his afflictions, the persecutions, poverty, whatever he would come across in his life, including death and martyrdom if need be, were but for his increased glory in heaven and for the glory of God. And as a result of that, he can say that all these things redound to the glory of God and to his thanksgiving more and more. Paul understood the heavenly perspective on these things and hence could glorify God and thank him for them.

Now, it’s interesting that in the scriptures, we have specific examples in scripture of enemies that God takes care of in his providence. For instance, when David’s plans to regain the kingdom from his son, rebellious son Absalom, look like they could have been thwarted by a particular counselor, God in his providence provides for that counselor’s advice not to be heard by the king, Ahithophel. And so we see there a direct example of how God’s elect king—and as a result, as a picture really, all believers—are saved from enemies and persecutions by the direct intervention and providence of God, by causing a man’s advice not to be taken.

There are many such examples in scripture. God in many ways provides for. For instance, another example that comes to mind is wicked king Ahab, who had persecuted God’s people. An arrow that was shot pertains up in the air and it comes down and falls right in the right place to kill him even though he was disguised. Now they have a particular example of God’s providence in a time of affliction for God’s people to deliver him from that.

Now it’s easy to take these sorts of examples, or even examples on the positive side of God’s special providence—for instance, the ravens coming to Elijah—and see those things as times of providence and normal affairs of life as times of just ordinary providence somehow. But I don’t think that’s what’s going on.

If we believe that God superintends all things—and I mean superintends afflictions, persecutions, martyrdom, and poverty—for our well-being and for his glory in heaven, then if we believe that he does it in all things, what are these particular examples in scripture given to us for?

Well, I believe that it’s pretty clear if you think about it that those examples are given to us pedagogically by God to demonstrate through things that will catch our attention and are recorded in holy writ, or in our own lives that God has brought into them in particular fashion. He gives us particular object lessons to teach the general truth that is repeated throughout scripture: that all affairs that come into our lives we are guarded as it were by him. We are encamped about with a host of angels to protect us from anything that God does not desire to touch us. And so these examples are simply teaching devices of God to us of what every day of our life consists of.

And so if you read those accounts, then what it should do to you is it should remind you of the special provision of God in every affair of your life. Now, there are times at which you’re going to know how those things worked out, and God will make those clear to build faith, to encourage us to believe that is the way it is in all areas of life. But never think that until those particular things happen to you, those particular special times, maybe they won’t happen to you in a particular strong sense in that way. Never think through lack of those things that God’s eye is not upon you. It is in just as strong a fashion.

The scriptures say as it was upon David when Ahithophel’s counsel was made of none effect and Solomon turned to the wrong counselor and David was spared as a result of that. God brings all these things to pass, and these instances are great shining examples to us. All things in our lives come to pass for our well-being, for our being built up in the faith.

Indeed, that portion in Romans 8 that talks about all things working together for good is followed then by persecutions. After he says that all things work together for our good, in verses 35 and following he says: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things yet to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

It’s not as if that love is static. What he’s saying is that love is mediated to us in spite of and through all those things, in which we’ve been made more than conquerors through our savior Jesus Christ.

Now, if you understand these things, then you’ll understand a recent quote by Malcolm Muggeridge. He died this past week at the age of 87, having converted fairly late in life. He had an interesting quote in the Oregonian about Muggeridge. It said that he had one unchanging fascination—death. Muggeridge said this: “I rejoice in it. I love it. If it weren’t for death, life would be unbearable.” Muggeridge said in a television appearance.

Muggeridge said this in a television appearance several years ago, seven years ago, without a trace of morbidness. Muggeridge delivered the remark with the same puckish smile and twinkling eyes that enlivened his rigid views against contraception, abortion, divorce, and pornography.

Why could Muggeridge say that? Well, I think what he’s saying there is that death is the portal to the heavenly city of God. And that death is the place, at which the transition at which we go to see and go to be with Jesus as it were, and with those other saints who have departed. If you understand the heavenly perspective on what death is in the providence of God, it is great blessing to us. Paul said it’s better to be with Jesus than to stay here, and yet it’s more important for the work of the kingdom that he stay and minister to the churches that he had to minister to.

All things that come into our sphere of living—illness, poverty, lack of employment, persecution from outside, persecution from the sin we have internally and our own thoughts and our own sinful tendencies, problems with our children, sicknesses to our children, death of children, death of parents—all these things come forth from the hand of God. And it would be unbelief to look at these things, not acknowledge God’s providence, and say that in all these things we cannot indeed give thanks to God because these things are redounding to his glory and also for our well-being. The scriptures say that even in affliction, there is to be thanksgiving. Even in death, there is to be thanksgiving. And I think that’s what Muggeridge was saying.

Well, in addition to the general thanksgiving we’ve talked about in all things, the scriptures do make some specific areas of thanksgiving as well. And it’s important to point these out for a couple of reasons. One, because I think it’s good that we see these as a model to us in our thanksgiving this week and the rest of our lives. It’s also good though to realize that while we’re to give thanks in everything, there is nothing wrong with giving particular thanks for some things in particular.

The same author who said you’re to give thanks in everything yet pointed out particular things that he was thankful for in a particular stronger sense or in a different sense, in a more specific sense. He said for instance that he was thankful that he spoke in tongues a lot and he said that he was thankful that he hadn’t baptized very many people. These are specific things that Paul gave thanks for. And so it’s important that we don’t just turn thanksgiving into some sort of generalized attitude that doesn’t find expression at particular times in our life for particular things that God has given to us.

What are some of these specifics in the scriptures? Well, first there’s food and drink. I said about a third of the references in the New Testament are to the need to give thanks in all things. Another third are given over pretty much to a third to food and drink specifically. Now, that’s important. That’s important. It’s important for us because it’s awfully easy in the kind of leisure economy that we have to take food and drink for granted and to not realize the things that they portend to us and the grace of God demonstrated in them to us.

These times might change, or the wrong counselor takes hold. But in any case, we have been supplied with food and drink and we should give thanks for it regularly. Because of these things, in fact, the practice of grace before meals is a practice throughout the church. And it’s a practice that’s well-founded in scripture. When Jesus would partake of food and drink with his disciples, we’re told that he gave thanks. Luke 22:17, “And he took the cup and gave thanks and said, ‘Take this and divide it among yourselves.’” John 6:11, “And Jesus took the loaves and when he had given thanks he distributed to the disciples and the disciples to them that were set down.”

We’re told that Jesus gave thanks at meals. And so it’s part of the life of discipleship that we do the same. And so when we pray before our meals—what we call grace—we are acknowledging God’s providence in providing food and drink to us. And we’re acknowledging our dependence upon him for sustenance. And we’re confessing that every good thing comes from his hand.

Now, you know if you get up and you preach and you get up in front of hearings and whatnot you have a little more visible role but you know what’s being done here at this church and the work of the Christians here at RCC for the work of the kingdom. And you know that there are people you could thank with notes of thanksgiving or speech or whatever it is. It’s important that we do that and make that part of thanksgiving part of our typical life here on earth as well.

Of course, another element that the scriptures are replete with references to is thanksgiving for salvation. And while this could be the topic of many sermons, it’s important that we recognize that our salvation is a great thing. It is the core as it were of God’s grace, and as a result, the core of our thanksgiving to God. After all, it’s the depth—the knowledge of the depth of our sin, the knowledge of the wrath of God against sin—that gives us the picture for how great a salvation has been wrought by our savior through his death on the cross and by his resurrection.

And that then is the basis for the thanksgiving that we give to God for that great salvation and deliverance he has given to us. An understanding of our sinfulness and lostness gives us an understanding of how found we are now and how graciously God has extended his love to us in Christ and should usher forth in words of thanksgiving streaming forth from our lips on a regular basis to him for what Christ has accomplished at great cost.

In the book of Daniel, we have Daniel thanking God for insight into particular matters. And when we are given insight, you know, it’s easy for us to think, “Oh, isn’t that nice? We’ve got intelligence and we’ve used that intelligence to understand particular things.” But again, it is important that we build into our lives and the lives of our children thanksgiving to God for the insights that he gives us.

In 1 Timothy 2, we almost always think of that in terms of praying for the civil authorities. We find it real easy to think of things to pray for them for and ways they should change and improve. But that scripture also says that he says: “I exhort therefore first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings, and for all in authority.” And I suppose it would be very good of us to remember, as much as we may chafe at the behavior of particular civil rulers we have today that exalt themselves rather above God, yet in the providence of God they’re ruling there by his command and he has used them to produce order in this country. And with all that it takes is a little bit of historical knowledge to know what happens when the king’s head is cut off to know how grateful we should be for the order that God has given us in America and the peace that we have here to preach the gospel and to exercise Christian obedience in all things. So we should thank God for rulers as well.

We should also thank God for his reign and his power. In the book of Revelation 11:17, we read that the praises going forth for him are this: “We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art and wert and art to come because thou hast taken to thee thy great power and hast reigned.” So we should thank God on a regular basis for his dominion, for his reign and his power and King Jesus’s reign on earth.

Psalm 119, verse 62: “At midnight I will give rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments.” God’s law is the subject of thanksgiving in Psalm 119 and should be a regular source of thanksgiving for us as well as we make our prayers to God.

And of course, the last one I list there is God’s person himself. And that really sums up everything else. We give thanks for all things, not because of all things, but because of the one who brings them forth—God. We give thanks for deliverance because it focuses us on God’s grace. We pray every Sunday that God reveals something of himself to us and he does that through salvation, through the gift of food and drink to his people, through the gift of knowledge and insight, through order in civil government, through the gift of salvation and deliverance and physical healing, through the gift of the church—the extended community that he gives us.

All these things are manifestations of God’s love and his person. And so ultimately at the core of our thanksgiving is God’s person himself. And so in the Old Testament, you see repeated references in terms of thanking God for his mercy endures forever. Thanking him for his name and thanking him for his holiness, that he is holy and set apart totally to righteousness and that he is a good God. That’s at the core of our thanksgiving in terms of the specific thanksgiving we’re to give to him.

Finally, there are accompaniments to our thanksgiving—joy and prayer. That’s what these scriptures tell us. Verse 16: “Rejoice evermore.” Other scriptures also relate joy to prayer. Colossians 1:11 talks about: “we’re to be strengthened with all might according to his glorious power unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness, giving thanks unto the Father who hath made us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.”

Thankfulness and joy are linked together in that verse and here in 1 Thessalonians and other places in scripture as well. One of the reasons for that is that victory. Remember we said one of the specific things in the book of Revelation we give thanks to God for is that he has reign, he has dominion. And an accompaniment to that is that he gives us reign and dominion and victory as well.

And so we read for instance in 1 Corinthians 15:57: “But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord.” 2 Corinthians 2:14: “Now thanks be unto God which always causeth us to triumph in Christ and maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge.”