 All right, we're gonna be looking today at First Thessalonians chapter five. We're looking at verses 15 through 18. And as you know, those of you who've been with us for a while, I like to give a prolonged introduction so that you have a sense of the passage where it's going. I'll give it, I'll give to you a few reminders so that those of you who are joining us today and haven't been part of this study might be up to speed as we get into the verses we'll be looking at. But we're gonna be looking at verses 15 through 18 in chapter five as we're moving towards concluding our study here in First Thessalonians. So let's begin reading in First Thessalonians chapter five at verse 15, I'll read to verse 18 and we'll get into our study. Paul writes, see that no one renders evil for evil to anyone but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. And so as we're going through this particular portion of scripture and as we've been going through First Thessalonians, Paul has just spoken to the church in given an order. He had given commands related to being at peace in the church. Remember here in verse 13 as he concludes it in chapter five he had commanded be at peace among yourselves. And so he ordered them to be at peace. Now up until this chapter in this book Paul has been basically commending the health of the church. From chapter one you can see his commendations. Good things he's saying about these Thessalonian believers. He began in chapter one by speaking of their faith and their love, he spoke of their patience of hope. He gave reference to the spirit filled power that they evidenced, their faithfulness. He went on to commend their steadfastness under affliction and persecution, their evangelistic efforts, how they rejected idolatry and became a testimony to the lands around them. And he also commended them because they were patiently awaiting the return of Jesus Christ. As he went through this book he got to the point where he began to express to them his fatherly concern. And he responded in writing to the fact that they loved him and he spoke as if he was one who loved them very much also. He exhorted them to live in a way that pleases God. He exhorted them to live sexually pure lives. He also said that they were to lead a quiet and productive life and he said you're also to encourage one another to live for Jesus Christ. Now as all of this is taking place he makes reference to the leadership in the church and we saw this last time that we were together. In verse 12 he had said we urge you brethren to recognize those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you. And so when he had said in verse 12 to recognize those who labor among you and are over you the word recognized speaks of valuing or esteeming highly. So we're saying in all of this I wanna remind you that your leadership was placed there for a reason and you should value them. You should esteem them highly for the work that they're doing for the Lord amongst you. They should be honored for this. You see the elders were not only just there as people in the church but they were also there involved in the members of the church's lives and that's what elders do. They actually get involved in the lives of the people who are going to fellowship and so sometimes when they get involved in the lives of people in the fellowship they have to bring corrections and that's what he was saying in verse 14 when he had spoken really directly to the elders and he had said we exhort you brethren warn those who are in really comfort they faint hearted at uphold the week and be patient with all. That was a word to the elders because he had just said be at peace amongst yourself and those who are gonna be involved in helping the peace to remain was gonna be the leadership of the church. So the spiritual overseers taught them, cared for them, visited them, protected them and they should be honored for their labor as well as their love and instead of being resented as people who were intruders in their personal lives they should be valued for the things that they do. You see the leaders that he's speaking about loved the sheep and because they did they should be loved by the sheep in return. The sheep needed to understand something they needed to understand that the church is an organized organism and under the organization God has placed leadership in that church and the leadership there is actually a gift to the sheep. The leaders of the church are actually a gift to the body of Christ. We know that because Ephesians 4, 11 and 12 says that. It says he himself gave some to be apostles some prophets, some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the equipment of the saints for the work of ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ. God himself gifted the church with leadership is what he's saying there the word gave there speaks of a gift that was given to the church. That reminds me at Jeremiah 315 where God says I will give you shepherds according to my heart who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. I will give you shepherds according to my heart and that's what the Lord has done. And so by because of this they should be esteemed highly for the work's sake. Again we saw in 1st Timothy 517 how Paul had said let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor especially those who labor in the Word and doctrine. And so by submitting to the Lord in proper biblical leadership there's gonna be peace in the body of Christ. And that's why he speaks concerning the unruly and the faint hearted the weak members they should be exhorted and they should be encouraged and that ensures peace will exist in the church in the midst of the pressure that the church is finding itself under. And so as we're looking at these other verses verse 15 through 18 the following instructions are again given to the whole church and they follow logically after his command to be at peace amongst themselves. So in the face of discord within the church be careful not to seek to retaliate. This desire for vengeance, this desire to get back at somebody is to be avoided at all costs. You see few things undermine the gospel of peace more than a church that's always fighting. There's few things that undermine the message of the gospel more than church members who don't get along. People who are always on each other's case always in each other's face. Church wars and factions are carnal, they're worldly and they're destructive to the mission of the body of Christ and that's one reason Paul commanded Christians to pursue peace. In the book of Ephesians again in chapter eight or rather chapter four verse three he said endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. Think about this for a minute. Even as he has just said in verse 13 be at peace amongst yourself. There are a lot of letters that Paul wrote where he would actually give an exhortation for the church to be at peace. And it's something I wanted to share with you for a few moments because Paul had to deal with this unity many times in various churches. And you'll see that in a lot of churches the Corinthians come to mind but there are other churches that he would speak concerning the church needing to have a unity of spirit but one that stands out is in the book of Philippians. When you read the book of Philippians you need to remember some basic things concerning the letters that would be sent out. You see what would happen is Paul would write a letter and the letter ultimately would be taken and delivered by somebody. And so we'll pretend for a moment we'll say that I'm like the, we'll say I'm apostle Paul and I'm writing my letter and so I write to the Philippians. And as I write this I have a somebody who's gonna take that letter because you may wonder how did they get these letters and all you need to remember that the church was receiving letters in the beginning that ultimately were collected and made the New Testament. And so Paul would be writing many of these letters and so when he wrote the letter he would give it to a messenger. The messenger would take that letter and would take it to the church that it was addressed to. So Paul writes a letter to the Philippian church and as he writes he's given him commendation he's speaking to them and all it was for the whole church to hear. And so we'll say Paul writes the letter it's sent by the messenger. The messenger goes to the pastor of the church and says to the pastor I have a letter that Paul has sent to be read to the church. That's how it would be. Word would go out to the whole church. We have a letter from Paul and we're gonna collect on Sunday together and we're gonna hear the letter read to us. So picture yourself like that was us right now. So the word has gone out. There's a letter we've received. You've all come to hear the letter and you're seated there and that's what happened with the church in Philippi. They're all seated there and the pastor comes up and he says this is the letter of the apostle Paul to the church of Philippi. And he begins to read. Everybody is listening it's only gonna take 15 minutes or so to read the letter and then he gets to a certain point in the letter and he comes to what we call chapter four. Now everybody's listening to what's being said and then this is read and imagine how it sounded when he read this letter and he came to this part because in Philippians chapter four verses one and two it reads therefore my beloved and long for brethren my joy and crown. So as you hear him saying that your head's kind of swelling a bit. You know, yeah, that's what I am. I'm beloved. I'm a long for brother. I'm a joy. I'm a crown. All right. Well, stand fast in the Lord beloved and then it gets kind of quiet for a moment and then he continues reading. I implore Uodia and I implore Sintiqi to be of the same mind in the Lord. He rebuked two women in the church in the letter. A moment before you're the long for one a joy and a crown and now you're being pointed out. How would you feel? How would you feel? You're sitting there like, yeah. Oh. And that's how important unity was that it wasn't hidden that there was a problem. See these two leaders in the church were known to be having a quarrel. They were fighting and Paul had been notified and he took the notification as credible and responded to it by saying knock it off. He said, you guys need, you need to remember who you are. You need to remember your leaders in the church and there's hardly anything in society that stinks more in the nostrils of unbelievers than a church that is unloving. Very few things smell that bad. A church that's at war within itself. Unity is of utmost importance and that's what he was doing. He was saying the church needs to be united over the things that matter and if there's a problem going on, well, verse 15, if there's a problem, see that no one renders evil for evil to anyone. But always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. So he's saying, listen, there are some that are unruly. There are some that are faint-hearted. There are some who are weak. Well, you need to be patient with them and you need to make sure that no one renders evil for evil to anyone. Don't be retaliating. Don't be after one another. Don't be fighting with one another. Don't retaliate against those whom you think have harmed you. Now again, we're addressing life in the church and we're dealing with situations that believers will encounter. I wanna say this quickly, but I will say it. When it says see that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, always pursue what is good. There are those who use this scripture as well as others to say that you should never ever seek to retaliate in any form in the sense of using force. That's where some present their case for what is called pacifism. So the question has to be asked at this point because there are those who use this scripture in that fashion. Is this addressing the use of reasonable force in protecting yourself or someone else? Is he saying we should never use reasonable force and that is not the context of this passage? You see, there are those who would say that a Christian should never seek to use reasonable force. They will use it in opposition to military service. They'll use it in opposition to serving in law enforcement. They'll say, well, we're Christians and we should never use any kind of force at all. We should be pacifists and they call them Christian pacifists. When I was drafted to go into the military I actually had a crisis of conscience. The first crisis of conscience that I can remember having related to whether I should go into the military or not because as a Christian, I don't wanna be taken someone's life and if I'm trained in military service and placed in a position of a combat situation what am I gonna do? And I really did have a crisis of that. Could I take someone else's life? Would I take someone else's life? Now, a lot of us have been in that position those who go into the military that's basically what you have to be aware of because you don't know you're being trained. You may be sent into front lines. The Vietnam War was going at that time. There were sending a lot of military troops into Vietnam and I didn't know whether or not I was gonna have to see combat. And so I'm now going into the military but I'm thinking can I and all of that and I had to wrestle through this. Does the Bible teach Christian pacifism? You render into Caesar the things that are Caesar and into God the things that are God. And there is a place for service in the military for the Christian. But I had to come to that conclusion on my own and I did. And so I got out of the service and ultimately what happens is I'm listening to a pacifist on a radio program and he's being asked about using force to protect others. Is that right or is that wrong? And he says it is always wrong to use force. And so the questioner asks him, well, what if you were to come home and your wife was being attacked to be raped by a man, what would you do? Would you use force to protect her? And he says I would pray for her and for him. That's what he said. And right away I knew I'm no pacifist. I'll give him a good funeral. Yeah, I'm no pacifist. No, yeah, now we've got some guys going, yeah. There are times when it is the most moral choice to stand up and help the oppressed, to stand up and defend the victim. That's the right thing to do, not the wrong thing. And so we ought to be those who are involved in the best of our ability with reasonableness and all. I mean, I think of the case with Jesus himself when Jesus came into the temple and there were these money changers and they were making a profit off of the pilgrims and the Bible tells us that the Lord Jesus formed a whip and he drove them out, overturning their tables. There's a time that you respond to evil with the controlled force, just like Jesus did when he cleared that temple. But getting back to it, this is not referring to those moments that are necessary sometimes. This is referring to things going on in the church. And in the church, peace is to be sought for and worked for. It is something to be not only desired, it's something to be preserved. So it's obvious that pursuing peace in the church is to be done, but pursuing peace is not to be restricted to simply church life. I want you to notice that Paul wrote, pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. So pursuing peace with people in general should be the rule of life. In Romans 12, 17, Paul said, repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. In Hebrews chapter 12, verse 14, pursue peace with all people and holiness without which no one will see the Lord. So refusing to hold a grudge and seeking vengeance, well, we know that's not something that comes naturally. It isn't something that we just naturally do that we want the best not only for ourselves but for other people. That's not something natural. What is natural for us is to want something good for ourselves and maybe we'll want something good for somebody else and it starts early. It's part of our nature. My grandson who's three years and nine months old, my baby David. Couple of days ago, he was at my house with me and he was playing and he picked up some Legos and he formed them into a gun. He's like, he's lesson four. He picks up the gun and he points it at me and he says, he goes like that. He shot me and he goes, you're dead, Papa. And I said, oh no, no, no, you don't want me dead. Oh, I don't. No, you don't, you don't want me dead. Why? Your grandmother does. No, you don't want me dead because if I'm dead then I won't be with you anymore. He looks at me and he says, you won't be with me anymore? I said, no, I said, if I'm dead, I'll be gone. And he looks at me and he thinks for a moment and he says, can I have your house? Where'd you get that from? So this desire, this desire for good for others, you have to learn that because within us, it's always, isn't it number one? Aren't we supposed to be pursuing what we want for ourselves, above anybody else? And that's what he's saying here, no. He's saying, see that no one renders evil for evil to anyone but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. So rather than seeking to retaliate, taking vengeance and being angry, instead of repaying evil for evil, desire to do good to others. Now, part of the way that you're able to desire good for others is if someone has harmed you, if you've been able to release them through forgiveness. Forgiveness actually means it speaks of releasing a debt. The word forgiveness is releasing of a debt. That's why Jesus said, as we forgive our debtors because a debtor owes you something. And so when you forgive, you're actually releasing that person from the debt. And so there are two people who are freed in forgiveness, the debtor and the one who's owed the debt. In other words, two people are forgiven in a sense. Two people are set free, we'll put it that way. The person who has been forgiven and the one who did the forgiveness because when you release them, you're released also. And so if I have been forgiven, then I am to forgive others. In Luke chapter 17, verses three and four, we read, take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day and seven times in a day returns to you saying, I repent, you shall forgive him. You see, we can forgive because we realize how we've been forgiven. If you've been forgiven, then you can forgive. Ephesians 432 says, be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another just as God in Christ forgave you. And so I have been forgiven much and I ought to be ready and willing to extend forgiveness to others. Forgiveness is especially important in relationships, quite obviously, but the relationship of marriage, forgiveness is very important because it's because we fail to forgive one another very often that it leads us to the place of divorce. Not always, but we can harden our heart to reconciliation and it can lead us to a place where we dissolve that relationship. So forgiveness is a very important thing to do and we need to learn that amongst ourselves in the church. So what should my attitude be towards a believer who is difficult? Because indeed, we do have some difficult believers. Sometimes we're married to them, we have difficult ones. So what should we do? What's our attitude? What is our attitude to be like towards a believer who's difficult, Colossians 3, 13 and 14, bearing with one another, forgiving one another if anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And so we pursue, we don't render evil for evil but we pursue what is good. And it's good both for us and for all. So we pursue, the word pursue means to reach out to or strive for. We reach out, we strive, we pursue what is good. We pursue that which is kind, that which is beneficial or just, that which is generous and not only for us, but as Christians but also for others. In other words, our way of life is to be the kind that blesses all people, including non-Christians. And when you think about it, Christians are amongst the most kind and they should be the most kind of loving people on the face of the earth. Why is that? Because our God is love. Because our savior incarnated and demonstrated his love toward us in that while we were sinners he died for us. God demonstrated his love to us. And Jesus said by this, shall all men know you're my disciples if you have love one for another. The fruit of the spirit, the very first thing that I said is love. And then you see all these descriptors of the one word love. It's not only love but it's good and kind in various other things. It's made up of a variety of expressions but what it is is it's love. And so as a believer what I've been called to do is to pursue those things that are good to care for people and to demonstrate my love to all people. And that includes those who aren't saved. And that's one of the reasons why Christians are the most generous people on the face of the earth. Because we give. Now there are those who would argue and say Christians aren't any different than non-Christians. That's not true. I wrote a book written a few years ago that I purchased that was written by a guy who was not even pro-Christian. He just was a guy who did a book on generosity. And what he did is he took two cities. One was San Francisco and the second city, I forget the name of the city at the moment but it was a city in the Midwest. And I'll try to remember it even as I'm sharing this. But it was a city in the Midwest and it was known for having a large Christian population. And its population is the same general size of San Francisco. And so they wanted to do a comparison to see which city was most generous. Now we all know here in the state of California that San Francisco is presented as the city of love. I mean there's been songs written about it and all of that. It's supposed to be a great city and all of that. We also know it's extremely liberal. And so what he did is he took that city and he used it as a comparison with another city that was known for a large Christian population and during the Christmas season they had charitable organizations out there receiving contributions. And so all he did is he looked at the charitable organizations like the Salvation Army and others and he looked for the totals that came in through the people passing by as they gave in the bucket or whatever. Then he compared it with the conservative Christian city and discovered that the conservative Christian city by far was more generous than San Francisco. And so he did more research as to find out why and in doing so discovered that the people who lived in San Francisco believed that they were already doing good when they paid their taxes. So for them they paid taxes. Taxes went to helping the poor and those in need. And so I can keep my money because enough has been taken out of my check to help them whereas the Christians in the other city were saying not only have taxes come out to help them but out of my own wallet I'm gonna give. And that's how it works. And so when he says this here he says pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all that has been Christianity all along. We always have done that in Galatians 610 whenever we have the opportunity we should do good to everyone especially to those in the family of faith. And so moving on he gives three commands. Verse 16, rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. And everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. So he gives three commands. Rejoice, pray and be thankful. Instead of living in anger rejoice. Rejoice because God is in control. Instead of being concerned rejoice because God is, he has all power. Somebody has asked me recently somebody asked me this one question that I'll share with you right now. The question was if you've learned anything in the years that you've walked with the Lord what is the number one thing you've learned? And I've been walking with the Lord for 47, 48 years in December. That's a long time. What have you learned in 47 years of walk with the Lord? And I'll tell you, like I gave this answer I said it all works out in the end. When you're young and you're going through pressure you think it'll never change. You think you're always gonna be right here. I'll always feel what I'm feeling right now. And if something doesn't change instantly I'll be miserable the rest of my life. And that's just not true because even as you're going through that you need to remember that you're going through that. You're not staying there, you're moving. It may feel like you're not because right now that's the only thing that I've got. This is what I'm dealing with. Will I be here forever? Well I've learned over time, nope. It feels like forever because sometimes it takes a long time. Sometimes it takes a long time. It doesn't go away next week. It doesn't go away next month. It doesn't go away sometimes next year. It may not go away for five, 10, 15, even 20 years. I hope somebody has hope right now. You're gonna go through 20 years. No, I'm teasing you. What I'm saying is, but it in God works out. I have had, and I'll show you this inscription in a moment, but I have had so many prayers for God. I please do this in my life. And the way he's gone about doing it isn't the way I would have planned it. It wasn't the way I would have planned it. I did not, if I didn't know and I was gonna go through that desert, if I didn't know and I was gonna be in that wilderness, if I didn't know and I was gonna suffer that pain, I probably wouldn't have asked that. If I knew the way that the Lord is gonna work it so that he got me in the deepest portion of my life, there are things I more than likely would have said, you know what, I'll pass on that. I'll pass on that, you know. I've been asking you to help me to love people, you know, I've got a what? No, how about, I just want to like them, put up with them. You know, because there are things, and you know what I'm talking about, especially you seasoned saints, you know what I'm talking about. Because you, as a young person, well your brain isn't even fully formed until you're 25 years old. I mean, you're still learning things. There are still things you're processing. There are still things you're learning, and so I've learned, and they've asked me, what have you learned? God is good. God is in control. God works in my life. He will be God. I've learned that. And I'm learning that right now. In Romans 8, 28, we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the call according to his purpose. All things work together. Now he puts one thing here and one thing over here, and they don't seem to match whatsoever. But the way he works, it has a tendency of eventually combining, and then I'm able to look and say, so that's what you had planned for me. So that's what you had planned for me. In this path that I was taking that I felt there was no hope and there was no way of rescue in this path that I was going where I was so down and out and I was so hurt and so concerned, all along you had something moving into my life like Jonah throwing over the boat and sinking to the bottom and all of this garbage that's going on and there's a whale over here some place else that's making his way slowly to a site where Jonah is thrown out and he picks him up, works God's work in him and teaches him lessons about the Lord and then deposits him on a shore and says, now you go out and you talk about my grace to people. That's how the Lord works guys. God works. You see, the knowledge that God is in control gives me the ability to rejoice. And that's what he's saying in verse 16, rejoice always. It motivates us as believers. Psalm 13 verse five, I have trusted in your mercy. My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. Psalm 40 verse 16, let all those who seek rejoice and be glad in you. Let such as love your salvation say continually, the Lord be magnified. Philippians four verse four, rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice. You see the unique quality of Christian joy is it doesn't depend on our circumstances. Our joy does not depend on the things that we're dealing with at the time. Our joy comes from the Holy Spirit who produces the fruit of joy in our life. It results from knowing that the Lord is in control and trusting his power and his presence. And that's what happens. The Lord is in control. Now as I'm rejoicing and I'm saying I know my God is able, I am praying verse 17 without ceasing. Taking my petitions before the Lord, asking God to move. You see prayer is the outcome of a fellowship with the Lord. And when I pray it's simply revealing my dependence on him, my intimacy with him. I know that God hears when I bring my needs to him and I know he provides comfort and joy as I cry to him. We go through things that discourage us. We go through things that concern us. But we can know that he hears us and the fact that we know that he hears us can encourage us. Call unto me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not. It's an invitation God gives to us in Jeremiah 33.3. The Lord began teaching me of answered prayer very early in my walk with him. I got saved. I was 23 months later. I went into the military. It's going through basic training station at Fort Ord. We got a weekend pass. A friend of mine had an old Buick, several of us piled into the Buick. We were all from Southern California. I was in Fort Ord, a bit northern California. We piled into this Buick. And as we piled into the Buick and started making our way down on a Friday afternoon, as it was growing towards evening on the side of the road just outside of Santa Maria, about 10 miles north of Santa Maria. And you need to remember, some of you will remember, but some of you don't know this, but the road that would take you down from where we were going wasn't a highway the way it is today. It was a two-laner. And so as we were coming down on this two-laner, going out to Santa Maria, and there was nothing out there, there were no homes or anything out there at that time, the car broke down. So we just coasted to the side of the road and it's filled with us. There were several of us in this car and now it's Friday afternoon getting towards night and there's no traffic at that time. What are we gonna do? We're gonna have to walk to Santa Maria. That's 10 miles. Then we're gonna have to grab a bus. If they have one, take it to LA, find a bus from LA to where we lived in Norwalk. We're not gonna get home until sometime tomorrow. And so we're bummed. I'm a new Christian. My friend Bill and I are together. I've got several friends. Two of them stay there behind, stay behind with the car to try and fix it, see if they could get it running. And Bill and I and a couple of other guys start to walk and as we're walking, we're maybe 50 feet away from the car and I stop at the road and I see a car starting to come towards us and I put my thumb out to try and hitch a ride and my friend Bill says, wait a minute, what are you doing? I said, well, trying to get a ride? He says, we haven't even asked God. I said, for what? We haven't asked God to provide a ride, can't hurt. So we pray, God, we wanna go home. Would you please provide a ride for us? Now that wasn't the most faith-filled prayer I've ever prayed. I thought, you gotta be kidding, I'm gonna be walking. As God is my witness, we just started to walk and I hear the sound of a car behind me pulling over. We turn, it's a Volkswagen and a young girl and her brother and they roll over next to us. Now there were four of us walking, I think. Four of us, at least four of us were walking, Bill, me and two others and the young boy rolls down his window. He's in the passenger side and the young girl says, I don't usually do this but I'm a Christian and God just told me to pull over and give you a ride. And I go, wow, wow. And so Bill gets generous and he says, you guys can get in the car. We'll see what God wants to do for us. I'm thinking, no, no, no, no, no, no. Put me in that car. We'll see what he wants to do with them. They're not his children, those are unbelievable pagans, leave them here. No, we throw our friends in the back seat of this Volkswagen and the girl says, we're gonna drop these guys off at, because we said, we're Christians too, we just prayed that God would give us a ride and you pulled over Matt, oh, this is amazing. She says, good, that makes me feel more at peace. And we said, these guys are pagans, but they're okay. We did. So give them a ride and show them how good God is and then come back if you'd like. And so we begin to walk again and now, I mean, our footsteps are light. Liquid God has done, what's he gonna do for us now? Within 20, 30 feet of walking, a van, Volkswagen van pulls over and the guy rolls the window down from the driver's side. He rolls it down and he says, you guys need help. You need to understand the context that was during the Vietnam War. We were military guys. This guy was a hippie. Hippies didn't like military guys. They didn't like military guys. He just sort of soon driven over us as to help us. They didn't like us and we're obviously military guys. And so he says, you guys need help. And we said, we do. And he says, hop on in. So my friend, Mike climbs in the front and Bill and I climb in the back. They have no seats there. Just some bean bag kinds of luxury items. And the guy driving is not a Christian. My friend, Mike Feeney, and he began to talk, Mike was not a Christian, but the guy in the back was a believer. And so the guy in the back begins to visit with Marie, with Bill and me and says, hey, yeah, I'm a believer in Christ. And we share the Lord. They drove us, we were going to Norwalk. They drove us all the way to Norwalk from 10 miles outside of Santa Maria, dropped us off in Norwalk, then drove my friend Mike Feeney to Huntington Beach where they lived and dropped him off at his house. And so that's when I started seeing my God is able. My God is able. My God can provide. You have not because you ask not or you ask a miss hoping to consume it upon your lust. You pray according to the will of God and trust your father, he will provide. Understand that. And that's why we pray without ceasing. God teaches us this in Psalm 3912. Hear my prayer, oh Lord, give ear to my cry. Do not be silent to my tears. And the Lord will work in that way. And first, John 5, 14 and 15. This is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. We know that he hears us. Whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of him. And then in verse 18, in everything give thanks in everything. So you rejoice, you pray and you give thanks. Notice in everything, he says, not for everything because there are things that you go through that are so difficult that obviously we're not God's plan. The enemy was involved and human beings were involved, but you can in everything learn to give thanks because you know that God is with you. As it says in Romans 831, what then shall we say to these things if God is for us, who can be against us? You see the knowledge that God is for us gives us the ability to be thankful. Someone said to the Christian who really trusts his father's providence and believes that his prayers are heard, every moment's occurrence will be just that which he has prayed for, the fulfillment of our father's will. So we give thanks. Thankfulness isn't an obligation or a duty. It's a possibility and every joy, even in every sorrow, it's the thing that keeps us going. And the thing that keeps us going the most is the knowledge that God's in control. The thing that keeps us going is trusting our Lord. It's a knowledge that he's working in and through everything that we're going through. We learn to give thanks when we have a strong faith that God is in control. He's on the throne. And though we may find ourselves confused or struggling, we will trust him in everything. You know, one of the stories that all of us are familiar with that I can refer to is the story of Job. When you see chapters one and two, you see that God had called a meeting, if you will. The angels had shown up as well as Satan. And God in seeing Satan there in this meeting, he says, what have you been up to? And Satan says, well, I've been going to and fro throughout the earth. When you look at that and you study the passage, what's actually taking place is God is calling him to give an account. What have you been up to as an order from the sovereign Lord? You've given account of what you've been up to. And so it's not a friendly conversation at all. He's saying, you need to give an account. What have you been up to? And he says, going to and fro. Well, we know as a roaring lion, he seeks whom he may devour. So I'm going, he's saying, I've been up to no good. Well, have you considered my servant Job? God continues. The word considered in the original language. Have you observed him and looked for a weakness? Have you spent time trying him testing or trying to find something in him that you can exploit? And he says, oh, yeah. Except you put a hedge around him. You put a hedge around him. And so that's where the battle begins. God says, he's a righteous man. Satan says only because you bless him. And we know the story of Job. That Job lost everything. He lost his animals. He lost crops. He lost children. And then he lost his health. And the picture of Job, chapter two, sitting on a heap of dust and ashes. And he has a broken piece of pottery that he's scraping, scabs and removing pus from his skin. He's so infected. He's become the song of children, a byword amongst the people. He, at one time, had had so much respect where people would stand when he walked in the room and give him respect. They're now making up songs about him because look at this guy. There's something wrong with him. He's nobody that we should honor. Now he's in that position there. And his wife sees this man, this one, this man who was so dignified, this man who was so righteous. He was such a righteous man that he would give offerings for his children if perhaps they had, even in their heart, sinned against the Lord. And now he's there in this condition. We know the story of Job. And his wife couldn't take it anymore. And she's looking at this man. And she speaks to him. Job two, verse nine, his wife said to him, do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God. Die. I can't take it anymore. I can't take it anymore. Die. She wasn't angry because he remained with integrity. She wasn't angry because he held on to his faith. And it appears that she was upset because his faith didn't get him relief from pain. Curse God and die. Seek God to take your life. Job, you have no hope. But what did Job say? In Job two, verse 10, he said to her, you speak is one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God? And shall we not accept adversity? And all this Job did not sin with his lips. Shall I only get blessings from God? And shouldn't I go through life of pain too? What makes you think my faith is supposed to cause me not to have sorrow of heart or loss? My faith doesn't guarantee that I don't go through the same kinds of pains everybody else does. We all go through pain. We all suffer. We all lose in one form or another. We all cry our sleep ourselves to sleep at night. One time in your life at least. Every believer will one day find themselves in a position where they may go outside into the backyard. Nobody's around, it's just you, the stars in God. And you cry to him and say, God, I don't understand what's going on. I lost my job. God, I don't understand. I tried to be a good, good man. And my wife's gone out on me. God, I don't understand. We raised our kids the best that we can. And Lord, they're rebelling against us. I don't get it. What's going on? If you haven't been there, you will. In one form or another, it's just life. That's life. Who here has been guaranteed for nothing but good every day? But all things do work together for the good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose. And God takes what is sweet and God can take what is souring. He can mix it together and it becomes a life that is blessed by him and in everything we give thanks. That's how it works. That's how it works. Because my God is able. He didn't understand what was going on. But later he did. James in chapter five verse 11 said it like this, indeed we count them blessed to endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. Job's words stand out in my mind. When he was saying, if I only had the opportunity to plead my cause and finally God says, well you've been asking me questions. He said, now you'd be a man and answer mine. One of the most dramatic portions of the book is when God starts saying you know everything, then answer some of these basic questions. And after he asks them just a few questions, the response of Job is the response all of us should really have. I've sinned my lips. I repent in sackcloth and ashes. I put my hand over my mouth. I shouldn't speak. I have heard of you with a hearing of my ear. But now I see you with the scene of my eye. I knew and I walked, I walked by faith and not by sight. But now you've revealed yourself to me and I see what I am compared to who you are. That's what you've been praying for all along. God, help me to see you and be aware of who I am. And so we learn, we learn to rejoice. We learn to pray and we learn to give thanks. Philippians 4, 6 and 7, be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Our lives are like a book. You have the introduction, you have the chapters that follow but remember this, the last page of the book is already concluded and it says, and they went to be with Jesus, spent eternity worshiping him and it was all worth it. It was all worth it. Last page of the book. Don't forget.