Critical Edicts for Christians

1Thes 5:16 Rejoice at all times. 
17. Pray without ceasing. 
18 Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus

THE three precepts of these three verses may be called the standing orders of the Christian Church. Whatever our circumstances are, the duties here prescribed are always binding upon us. We are to rejoice always, to pray without ceasing, and in everything to give thanks.

1 Thes 5:16 Rejoice at all times                                                               

Luke  2:10-11  says the  angel told shepherds that he was bringing them the good news of great joy for all the people: The  Lord Messiah was born in the city of David. There can’t be any news more joyous than that the long-awaited Messiah had finally arrived! We must not forget that the gospel is good news, glad tidings of great joy.

The author of Psalm 118:24 exults: “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it”.  Joy is different from happiness. Happiness depends on the circumstances. Life’s happiness can turn into sorrow at any time, and they frequently do. But joy is lasting, joy is from God and is independent of circumstances, joy wells from the depth of our hearts and brings glory to God. Christians are expected to be contented and cheerful always.

Religion is not sadness or melancholy, it is a joy; and the Christian should never leave the impression on others that his religion makes him either gloomy or morose. A cheerful countenance, an eye of benignity, a conversation pleasant and kind, should always evince the joy of his heart, and in all his contact with the world around him, he should show that his heart is full of joy.

Salvation is pure, unmixed joy. There is no greater joy than knowing our sins are forgiven, about the certainty of grace, that the righteous live by faith, that the kingdom of God is among us. Our joy is the result of the eternal life we’ve inherited, that we were chosen before the beginning of creation, that we are predestined to be adopted into God’s family, that we are rescued from the dominance of darkness and restored to God’s kingdom of light. The joy in our salvation is so great, that angels in heaven share in it!

David prayed in Psalms 51:12 “Restore to me the joy of your salvation………”. God had distanced Himself from him because of his adulterous sin and David had consequently had lost the joy of his salvation. Hanna sang “I rejoice in Your salvation” and proceeded to proclaim her joy in a song that has very few equals in the Bible (1 Samuel 2:1-10) for its tone of pure ecstasy.

If our need was money, God would have sent us a banker; If our need was knowledge, God would have sent us a teacher; If our need was health, God would have sent us a doctor. But, as members of the lost race of Adam, our direst need was salvation. God knew this and sent us a Saviour.

We rejoice that we have such a Saviour in Jesus. Jesus is everything we look for in a Saviour. We needed one who would show us a way to pardon, and He did it. We needed one to make atonement for sin, and He did it. We needed one to give us peace from a troubled conscience, and He did it. We needed one to support us in trials and bereavements, and He did it. We needed one who can comfort us on the bed of death, and guide us through the dark valley, and the Lord Jesus is just whom we want. When we look at his character, it is just such as it should be to win our hearts, and to make us love him; and when we look at what He has done, we see that He has accomplished all that we can desire, and why should we not rejoice? .

II. 1Thes 5:17 Pray without ceasing. 

It may seem strange that one difficult thing should be made easy when it is combined with another; but this is what is suggested by the second exhortation of the Apostle, "Pray without ceasing." It is not easy to rejoice always, but our one hope of doing so is to pray constantly. How are we to understand so singular a precept?

We are to maintain an uninterrupted and constant spirit of prayer. We are to be in such a frame of mind as to be ready to pray publicly if requested; and when alone, to exploit any moment of leisure which we may have when we feel ourselves strongly inclined to pray.

Pray without ceasing – you  are dependent on God for every good; without him you  can do nothing; feel that dependence at all times, and you  will always be in the spirit of prayer; and those who feel this spirit will, as frequently as possible, be found in the exercise of prayer. Let not your prayers be a burdensome duty, but a joyous spiritual exercise.

Prayer is the conversation of the soul with God; it is that exercise in which we hold up our hearts to Him, that they may be filled with His fullness, and changed into His likeness. The more we pray, and the more we are in contact with Him, the greater is our assurance of His love. Through prayer, we acknowledge God for who He is, what He has done for us. Prayer is an exercise in humility. Through prayer, we confess our emptiness to God. Through prayer we inform Him of our spiritual poverty and our total dependence on Him. Our very lives as Christians depend on our being in perpetual contact and perpetual fellowship with God. If He does not breathe into us the breath of life, we have no life. If He does not hour by hour send our help from above, we will be forced to face our spiritual enemies without the right weapons.

Continuous prayer increases our dependence on God. It becomes part of the very structure of our thoughts that without Him we can do nothing. There are few works that cannot be accompanied by prayer; there are few indeed that cannot be preceded by prayer; there is no engagement that would not be profited by prayer. More has been achieved through prayer than the world would ever know.

Isaiah 30:18 says “The LORD must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion; for the LORD is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for his help”. Heavens are waiting for your prayers. Jesus said – "Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. ….. if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven ([Mathew 18, 19). “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you”, He promised in john 15:17. When Jesus prayed after His baptism heavens opened. Your prayers too have the power to open the heavens!

III. 1Thes 5:18 Give thanks in every circumstance,

It can be said the third edict is a combination of the first and second, as thanksgiving is a kind of joyful prayer. “Give thanks in every circumstance”. No limit is laid! The instruction is no accidental hyperbole.  Similar sentiments recur elsewhere also.  e.g. In Phillippines 4:6 the Apostle writes, "In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."

There are times, we all know, at which thanksgiving is natural and easy. When our life has taken the course which we ourselves had purposed, and the result seems to justify our foresight; when those whom we love are prosperous and happy; when we have escaped a great danger or recovered from a severe illness, most of us express our gratitude to God, in a number of ways. We frankly admit that we have cause for thanksgiving; God has been good to us, we testify, even in our own estimate of goodness.

Think of what you call, with thorough conviction, your blessings, and your mercies,  your physical and mental health,  your calling in this world, the faith which you repose in others and which others repose in you; think of the love of your husband or wife, of all those sweet and tender ties that bind our lives into one; think of the success with which you have wrought out your own purposes, and laboured at your own ideal, and with all this multitude of mercies before your face, ask yourself if you continue to thank God for these.

So far, so good, but how about thanking God for our misfortune - hardship, ill-health, bereavement, financial loss and so on? The Thessalonians were a persecuted lot. Is there a place for thanksgiving there? Yes, Paul says; for as Christian we do not look on sorrow the way the world looks at it. When bad luck overtakes us and when the whole conduct of our life is simply taken out of his hands -- we are still called to give thanks to God!

God is love. God has a purpose for His own in this life - a purpose which He might not always reveal, but which is bound to be wiser and larger than any which we can propose for us. It is not always easy what underlies sorrow; it is not possible to grasp by anticipation the beautiful fruits which it yields in the long run to those who accept it without murmuring. We know that all things work together for good to them that love God; and in the strength of that knowledge, we keep a thankful heart, however mysterious and trying the providence of God may be. It is not impossible or far-fetched for a Christian to give thanks in everything.

Christ Jesus has given us peace with God and has made us friends instead of enemies.  Is He not a fountain of joy too deep for sorrow to touch? He has assured us that He is with us all days, even to the end of the world? Is not that a sufficient reason for us to look up in prayer all day long? Has He not told us that all things work together for good to them that love God? This is ground enough for us to cherish and express our grateful love toward Him – to let the joy embedded in the depth of our hearts to overflow in gratefulness.

This is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

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