22.3 Worship: Give Thanks

Table of Contents

The Text

1 Thessalonians 5:16–28 (CSB)
16 Rejoice always,

17 pray constantly,

18 give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

19 Don’t stifle the Spirit.

20 Don’t despise prophecies,

21 but test all things. Hold on to what is good.

22 Stay away from every kind of evil.

23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

24 He who calls you is faithful; he will do it.

25 Brothers and sisters, pray for us also.

26 Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss.

27 I charge you by the Lord that this letter be read to all the brothers and sisters.

28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

The Chapter

Prayer, with thanksgiving, being one part of natural worship, is by God required of all men. But that it may be accepted, it is to be made in the name of the Son, by the help of the Spirit, according to his will; with understanding, reverence, humility, fervency, faith, love, and perseverance; and when with others, in a known tongue.

The Confession

Prayer, with thanksgiving, being one part of natural worship, is by God required of all men

Psalm 95:1–7 (CSB) Come, let’s shout joyfully to the LORD, shout triumphantly to the rock of our salvation! Let’s enter his presence with thanksgiving; let’s shout triumphantly to him in song. For the LORD is a great God, a great King above all gods. The depths of the earth are in his hand, and the mountain peaks are his. The sea is his; he made it. His hands formed the dry land. Come, let’s worship and bow down; let’s kneel before the LORD our Maker. For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, the sheep under his care. Today, if you hear his voice:

Psalm 65:2 (CSB) All humanity will come to you, the one who hears prayer.

It is not only due to the glory of God that we are required to worship him but we are made to worship Him. Solomon in Ecclesiastes puts it succinctly:

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (CSB) He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also put eternity in their hearts, but no one can discover the work God has done from beginning to end.

This eternity in our hearts was a hole that was filled by the Infinite God. When Adam and Eve sinned against God, His Spirit departed them, leaving a deep yearning in our hearts to be filled. That yearning that each human has is worship. By creation and by law, we are to worship God. Because of the fall and our sin, we want to worship other things.

Romans 1:21-23 (CSB) For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.

This is what we would call the great exchange. And humans consistently will seek something, anything, even the good things of God, anything other than God to fill that eternal hole within. But everything not God is finite and temporal. It might give us pleasure or satisfaction or safety for a moment but it leaves us longing for more and more. And idols are not God and they can't give because they are not real and actually don't give the thing you crave most.

Only God is real and he alone can satisfy that worship within us.

But that it may be accepted, it is to be made in the name of the Son

John 14:13–14 (CSB) Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

And there is only one path to God. There are no other paths. No other faiths. No other religions. No other feelings. No other books or study. No other way in nature. There is no other name but the name of Jesus Christ. His name is the only name by which we are saved and it is the only name through which can truly worship God.

by the help of the Spirit

Romans 8:26 (CSB) In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings.

We are to worship God the Father all because of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. God is given all glory. The Son is the way, the truth, and the life. God has done it all. So can we just worship God on our own?

No! Not with out the Spirit dwelling within us.

Remenber Ezekiel. God has to give us a new heart and his Spirit. And then and only thing that we can walk in his statutes and keep his commandments. We are to love and worship the Lord our God. How can we do this apart from the Spirit? The answer it is impossible to do so.

according to his will

1 John 5:14 (CSB) This is the confidence we have before him: If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

And we do this according to the will of God.

Now, suppose I am to take a moment and tell you the will of God for your life. The answer is worship the Lord your God, seek the Lord, and be thankful or in other way:

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (CSB) Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

But what about this job, or am I suppose to marry this person or even get married, or this school or how many kids...

I don't know. You will see what God provides.

But you and I are to worship God, seek his face and give thanks because he has given us his Son.

with understanding, reverence, humility, fervency, faith, love, and perseverance; and when with others, in a known tongue

1 Corinthians 14:16–17 (CSB) Otherwise, if you praise with the spirit, how will the outsider say “Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying? For you may very well be giving thanks, but the other person is not being built up.

Christian worship is not mystical, voodoo, extra-spiritual, extra-secretive--that things get so weird that people visiting don't know or can't know reasonably what is going on. Perhaps they cannot understand on it a spiritual level unless they believe. But we don't talk in tongues without interpretation or we don't do weird things like fire tunnels or run around like crazy.

No! The worship of the Christian to God has to look like much like the fruit of the Spirit:

Galatians 5:22-23 (CSB) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things.

Some Christians may want to be more expressive. So what. They have the freedom to do so. But is it with humility, love, faith, reverence and understand? Is it with gentleness, and kindness (preachers, watch this) and with self-control?

We worship God not in the way we want but in the way he wants.