This Is The Will Of God
1 Thess 5:18, 2 Cor 11:23-28
"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
When we think of the experiences of the Apostle Paul, it makes this verse even more precious to us.
Notice with me 2 Cor 11:23-28
In spite of all the sufferings of the Apostle Paul, he was still able to give thanks to the Lord. How ? Because he knew that it was the will of God that he be thankful ! Did you get that ? It is the will of God that we be thankful in all things, in every situation !
Let me confess to you. I have difficulties in this area. Now, I can be thankful when the heavens are opened up, and God’s blessings rain down upon me, and when everything is going well, and when there are no bumps in the road ! But when problems come, I am more likely to complain. When things don’t go my way, I am more likely to whine than to give thanks !
It is a easy thing for us to be thankful when all is well, but how about in other circumstances. That’s what I want us to focus on this morning. If it is the will of God that we be thankful in everything, then God will certainly help us to be able to do that ! We may not be able to change our afflictions, but we can change our attitude or the way that we react during difficult times ! Let me share some ways that we can be thankful in everything.
When difficulties come we can give thanks........
1. By remembering they are temporary !
The Scottish minister Alexander Whyte was known for his uplifting prayers in the pulpit. He always found something to be thankful for. One Sunday morning, the weather was stormy. And dark. And one of the deacons said, "The preacher won’t be able to thank God for anything on a day like this. It’s absolutely horrible outside!" But much to his surprise, Rev. Whyte began the service by praying, "We thank thee, O God, that it is not always like this."
Remember when storms come that it is not always like this ! There are far more days without storms than with them ! If we count our blessings, I believe they will far exceed our burdens and our blight ! Paul said it this way........" For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
When difficulties come we can give thanks.........
2. By remembering they are testimonial.
2 Thess 1:4 So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions !
Phil 1:25 But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;
The difficulties that we endure in this life are not only a opportunity for us to mature, they are not only teaching us, but God may be using them in us so that others might be taught !
Some of the greatest lessons about the Lord, and his grace have been taught to me by the way people I have known have reacted in their suffering !
Remember in your time of pain that you have a opportunity to testify of God’s presence in spite of pain, you can testify of God’s power in spite of pain, and your can testify of God’s promises in spite of pain.
We are preaching a sermon in our time of suffering. What kind of message are we preaching ?
Illust. Burnette Family
It was 1636, in the midst of the darkness of the Thirty Years’ War. A German pastor, Martin Rinkart, is said to have buried five thousand of his parishioners in that one year. This was an average of fifteen funerals a day. His parish was ravaged by war, death, and economic disaster. In the heart of that darkness, with the cries of fear outside his window, he sat down and wrote this table grace for his children:
Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things has done, in Whom this world rejoices;
Who from our mothers’ arms has blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.
O may this bounteous God through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts and blessèd peace to cheer us;And keep us in His grace, and guide us when perplexed;
And free us from all ills, in this world and the next!
All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given;
The Son and Him Who reigns with Them in highest Heaven;
The one eternal God, Whom earth and Heaven adore;
For thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.
3. By remembering they are transforming.
Corrie Ten Boom was in a Nazi Concentration camp. The barracks that she stayed in was #28. It was infested with fleas. It was almost unbearable. But one night, she read the passage which we have read today........."In everything give thanks:........." And Corrie’s sister who was in the barracks with her said, "God wants us to thank him for the fleas. " Corrie’s response was "No way ! That’s taking religion just a little bit too far ! I’m not going to thank God for these infernal fleas !"
After a while, the nightly Bible studies that they were holding secretly in their barracks attracted more and more women. And Corrie became concerned that they would get caught. One day she asked one of the ladies who attended the Bible study......"Why don’t the Nazis ever come in and check on us ? They check all the other barracks ! The lady replied....."It’s because of the fleas. They want come near this place for that reason." And then Corrie remembered the verse, and said, "God, thank you for the fleas !"
Can we thank God for the fleas in our life ? For the things that bug us ! We can if we realize that those things are used by God to transform us into being more like his Son the Lord Jesus !
4. By remembering they are teachers !
It has been said that "If it were not for the darkness, we would never see the stars ! If it were not for the rain, we’d never see the beauty of a rainbow !
a. They teach us principles.
Psa 119:71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes. (the word "afflicted" means " looking down, depressed, ravashed")
b. They teach us patience.
Romans 5:3 And not only so but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
James 1:3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
c. They teach us perseverance.
d. They teach us to pray.
e. They teach us pity.
Def. To feel pain or grief for one in distress; to have sympathy for:
Saying: He knows the water best who has waded through it !
f. They teach us his pain.
We can thank God of his blessings even during the mist of the storms, struggles, and suffering by remembering the past ! They want us to look back in history and remember what God has done for us !
We can be thankful in our pain by remembering the pain of our Lord.
The sun had just risen on a hot August day in 1944 in the small village of Plelo, in German-occupied France. The 15-year-old boy did not know why he and the other citizens of Plelo had been lined up before a firing squad in the middle of the town square. Perhaps they were being punished for harboring a unit of Marquisards, the French underground freedom fighters. Perhaps they were merely to satisfy the blood lust of the German commanding officer who, the evening before, had routed the small group of Marquisard scouts. All the boy knew was that he was about to die. As he stood before the firing squad, he remembered the carefree days of his early childhood, before the war, spent roaming the French countryside. He thought about all he would miss by never growing up. Most of all he was terrified of dying. How will the bullets feel ripping through my body? he wondered. He hoped no one could hear the whimperings coming from deep in his throat every time he breathed. Suddenly, the boy heard the sound of exploding mortar shells beyond the limits of his little village. Rapidly moving tanks could also be heard. The Germans were forced to abandon the firing squad and face a small unit of U.S. tanks. The twenty American GI’s were led by Bob Hamsley, a corporal in Patton’s Third Army. A Marquisard captain had asked Hamsley for help. After three hours, fifty Nazis were dead, and the other fifty were taken prisoner. In 1990 the town of Plelo honored Bob Hamsley on the very spot where dozens of the town’s citizens would have died if not for him. The man who initiated the search for Hamsley and the ceremony honoring him was the former mayor of Plelo, that same 15 year old boy. He had determined to find the man who saved his life and honor him. It’s hard to forget your Savior.
In everything give thanks.........remember what the Savior has done for us ! Remember the pain he endured, and the payment he made !
