Give Thanks in All Circumstances
Geoffrey Wilson (1929–2021), was a British pastor and author. He wrote Banner of Truth’s popular and helpful New Testament Commentary series.
In volume 2 of his New Testament Commentaries, he describes the duty of the Christian to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
This joy even in the midst of pain and persecution was one of the great marks of primitive Christianity, which amazed the heathen world, and attracted men to Christ.
Since the duties enjoined in these three pregnant precepts are always binding upon believers Denney refers aptly refers to them as ‘the standing orders of the gospel.’ They are concerned with the inner motivation that gives Christian conduct its distinctive stamp.
Rejoice always: ‘The joy to which they are exhorted even amidst persecution and suffering is no merely natural joy. It is one of the fruits of the Spirit. It is in no way incompatible with loss and suffering. In his letter to the other Macedonian church Paul not only exhorts them to rejoice, but practices joy himself even in prison, when outward circumstances might well have caused discouragement. This joy even in the midst of pain and persecution was one of the great marks of primitive Christianity, which amazed the heathen world, and attracted men to Christ’ (Bicknell).
believers are so to cultivate a spirit of constant prayerfulness that their whole lives will be permeated by the presence of God.
Pray without ceasing: Perpetual prayer in any formal sense is obviously impossible. The meaning is that believers are so to cultivate a spirit of constant prayerfulness that their whole lives will be permeated by the presence of God. ‘It is not in the moving of the lips, but in the elevation of the heart to God, that the essence of prayer consists. Thus amidst the commonest duties and recreations of life it is still possible to be engaged in prayer’ (Lightfoot).
As even the most adverse circumstances must work together for the believer’s good, there is no situation in which he should not respond by giving thanks to God.
In everything give thanks: Eadie notes that this precept ‘is universal in sphere, as the two before it are continuous in time.’ As even the most adverse circumstances must work together for the believer’s good, there is no situation in which he should not respond by giving thanks to God. Such gratitude is the fruit of grace and it stands in marked contrast to the thanklessness that characterizes the heathen.
For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you: They should always rejoice, ceaselessly pray, and in all circumstances give thanks, because ‘this is the will of God’ – here the absence of the article limits the reference to this particular part of the divine will. ‘The will is made known in Christ, and it is in Christ that men are given the dynamic that enables them to carry out that divine will’ (Morris').