It is the natural fruit of joy as it is the natural accompaniment of prayer. "In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

I. THANKSGIVING IS THE EXERCISE OF A JOYFUL AND PRAYING HEART.

1. It is a mark of the wicked that they have no thankfulness. They who glorified not God "neither were thankful" (Romans 1:21). It is a sign of the antichristian apostasy that men "shall he unthankful" (2 Timothy 3:2). Since "every good gift and every perfect gift" comes from the Father of Lights, the guilt of such ingratitude is great.

2. It is the mark of the saints in heaven that they are full of thanksgivings. (Revelation 19:6, 7; Revelation 7:12.)

3. It is likewise a mark of the saints on earth. "Blessed are they which dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee" (Psalm 84:4). They abound in faith with thanksgiving (Colossians 2:7). They offer sacrifices of thanksgiving (Psalm 116:17). They habitually offer thanksgiving (Daniel 6:10).

II. THANKSGIVING MUST BE UNIVERSAL IN ITS SPHERE. "In everything give thanks."

1. For the supply of our bodily wants. (1 Timothy 4:3, 4.)

2. For the gift of Christ. (2 Corinthians 9:15.)

3. For the goodness and mercy of the Lord. (Psalm 106:1.)

4. In all circumstances of prosperity and adversity, joy and sorrow, health and sickness. Job could say in the depth of his affliction, "Blessed be the Name of the Lord" (Job 1:8, 20, 21).

III. THE GROUND AND REASON OF THIS DUTY. "For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." The Scripture as well as the light of nature directs to it, as it sets forth that "good and perfect and acceptable will of God," "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me." In Jesus Christ is this will revealed and made effectual; for all God's mercies reach us through the channel of his mediation. Therefore we "are to give thanks unto God and the Father by him" (Colossians 3:17); therefore "by him let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually" (Hebrews 13:15). - T.C.

The duty and privilege of praise are not appreciated. Worship — ascribing worth to God and describing His worth — is in His Word the leading feature, as in modern days it is the least feature of the assemblies of saints. Worship implies a thankful frame. Nothing left outside of the range of this injunction, because to a true believer all things work together for good. Compare Ephesians 5:20; Colossians 3:17.

I. It is THE FRUIT OF FAITH. Natural gratitude is the natural pleasure felt in prosperity; gracious gratitude blesses God, like Job in adversity, because of faith in His wisdom and goodness.

II. It is ONE OF THE FOREMOST OF BLESSINGS, and parent of all other graces. So says Cicero. It disposes to contentment in all conditions, and puts a bridle on desire.

III. IT FINDS BLESSINGS as a magnet finds steel.

IV. IT FITS FOR GREATER BLESSINGS. God gives more abundantly where previous gifts are properly valued (Psalm 50:23). said "There is but one calamity — sin"; and after many sorrows died, exclaiming, "God be praised for everything!"

(A. T. Pierson, D. D.)

I. TO WHOM MUST WE GIVE THANKS? Only to God: because (Psalm 100:4) —

1. It is only by Him we are preserved from evil (Psalm 121:7).

2. It is only from Him that we have anything that is good (James 1:17).

3. He only is good in Himself (Psalm 107:1; Psalm 136:1; Luke 18:19).

II. HOW SHOULD WE GIVE THANKS TO HIM?

1. By a humble confession of our own unworthiness (Genesis 32:10; Ephesians 3:8), through sin (Psalm 51:5; 1 Corinthians 15:9), and our abuse of God's mercies (Jude 1:4).

2. By a humble acknowledgment of Him in all we have (Proverbs 3:6). His power (Psalm 135:1, 6); goodness (Psalm 145:1, 2, 9); mercy (Psalm 136:1-3).

3. By admiring Him in all we have, and praising (1 Chronicles 29:12, 13).

4. By improving all for His glory (Proverbs 3:9).

5. By walking before Him in all well pleasing (2 Timothy 1:3).

III. WHAT MUST WE THANK HIM FOR? For all things (Ephesians 5:20).

1. Our mercies.(1) Spiritual.

(a)His sending Christ to die for us. (Luke 2:14).

(b)His quickening Spirit (2 Corinthians 9:15).

(c)His gospel (Matthew 11:25)

(d)His restraining grace (1 Corinthians 15:57; Romans 7:25).

(e)His renewing and sanctifying grace.

(f)His comforts (Psalm 147:1-3).

(g)His ordinances.(2) Temporal

(a)Creation (Psalm 95:6; Psalm 100:1-3).

(b)Preservation (Acts 17:28)

(c)Provision (Psalm 147:7-9 1 Timothy 6:17).

(d)Health and strength (Psalm 18:32).

(e)Gifts and parts (1 Corinthians 14:18).

(f)Life and liberty.

(g)Protection.

2. Our afflictions (Job 1:21).(1) Because they are not so great as we have deserved (Ezekiel 9:13).

(a)Not spiritual (Psalm 147:20).

(b)Not eternal (Lamentations 3:39).(2) Because they are still mixed with mercies.(3) Because they are really spiritual mercies (Romans 8:28; Hebrews 12:10).

(a)For the deadening of our sins (Job 36:8-10).

(b)For the quickening of our graces (Psalm 119:67).Uses —

1. Reproof.(1) To such as never think of that God who gives them all things to enjoy (Psalm 10:4).(2) Who think upon Him, but are not thankful to Him.(3) Who thank Him with their mouths, but not their hearts (Colossians 3:16).(4) Who thank Him for some things but not for all (Ephesians 5:20).

2. Exhortation. Be thankful. Consider —(1) This is all the requital God expects, or you can give (Psalm 50:10, 14; Psalm 69:30, 31).(2) You cannot expect a blessing on your mercies except you are thankful.(3) The more thankful you are for mercies received, the more ground you have to expect more.

(Bp. Beveridge.)

I. SOME CHRISTIANS ARE NOT EMINENT FOR THANKFULNESS.

1. Some are very selfish. Unless the blessing alight on their actual self it matters not where it comes down. They cannot joy in the graces of their brethren. There are some so grievously selfish that they take as matters of right and of course every good and perfect gift, and regard the withholding of them as a personal injury.

2. Others are remarkable for peevishness. There is an ingenious fretfulness, dexterous in detecting flaws, industrious in embittering its own comfort, and wearisome by its pertinacious fault finding. If the house be commodious, the situation is bad: if a friend be kind, he doesn't see you often enough; if a book be otherwise good, there is a word or two you don't like.

3. Many are unthankful from inadvertency. They are surrounded with blessings, but from pure heedlessness they do not perceive from whom they have issued. Gratitude does not depend on the amount of mercies received, but on the amount known and prized.

II. MATERIALS FOR THANKFULNESS.

1. Personal salvation. We have all felt the glow of returning health; but what is this compared to the joy of salvation.

2. The Bible. How thankful the Psalmists were for the scanty portion of the Word of God possessed by them: how much more grateful should we be for a completed revelation.

3. Devout and congenial society. Who can estimate the blessings of friendship; and if your friend has gone to God, few mercies call for more thankfulness than a friend in heaven.

4. Mercies in the disguise of affliction. These are topics which give scope for the holy ingenuity of loyal saints. "In everything," because "all things are working together for good."

III. APPROPRIATE EXPRESSIONS OF CHRISTIAN GRATITUDE.

1. It should occupy a prominent place in devotion whether secret or social.

2. Recount God's mercies to others. In this way you will quicken your own soul to increasing fervour, and kindle the gratitude of others.

3. Sing praises. Few things are better fitted to dispel the evil spirit of censoriousness, selfishness, and sullenness than heart-sung hymns of thanksgiving.

4. Embody your gratitude in offerings of thankfulness. These are the only oblations for which room is left in our new economy.

(J. Hamilton, D. D.)

We hear a great deal of the power of habit. I know there is power in good habits. Is there any in evil habits? Are good habits the greatest blessing in our life? One half of the best work performed by us is done largely through sheer force of habit. When a person is learning to play the piano, he or she goes over the keys awkwardly, and with difficulty, but soon becomes a good player through the force of habit. A man doing something that he is accustomed to will stand well the cares and anxieties which daily burden his mind. But put him at something which he knows nothing about, and they would kill him. Good habits enable one to resist temptation. The only way to conquer evil habits is to put good ones in their place. How often men discard their evil habits, but put nothing in place of them! The bad habits soon return like the unclean spirits of the parable. I wish to speak of the habit of thankfulness.

I. THE VALUE OF SUCH HABIT. It helps us to quell the repining over the ills of life. There is an old story of a young man who was walking along a road, full of life, but very poor, when, observing a carriage driven by containing an old man, he began to repine, saying; "Oh, what a life I lead! Just look at the genuine, quiet comfort enjoyed by that old man; Oh, that I were in his place!" The old man looked out of the window at the same time and sighed: "Oh, that I had the youth and strength of that man with all his splendid possibilities, I would give everything that I possess." Now the habit of thankfulness secures us against all this. A child will give thanks to anyone who may make her a present of any kind, and shall we not return thanks to God for what He has given us? Some of us may have sore troubles; but when you remember the Lord's goodness and His consolations, you are able to bear them. Paul and Silas sang praises in prison. That's the way to do. Sing praises under all the ills of life. The Christian idea is to charge upon these ills.

II. THE HABIT OF THANKFULNESS LEADS TO DEEPER PENITENCE. Repentance is the soundest, truest, and most acceptable thing in the eyes of God. All true penitence takes account of God's goodness, and incites cheerfulness and thankfulness to God.

III. WE OUGHT TO BE THANKFUL FOR EVERYTHING PAINFUL AS WELL AS PLEASANT. "In all things." We can always be thankful that a thing is not worse. If it were worse it would be no more so than our sins make us deserve. When trouble comes over us, we learn to appreciate that as a blessing which is gone. A man does not know the blessing of good health until he loses it.

(J. A. Broadus, D. D.)

I. THE DUTY ENJOINED. Give thanks —

1. With the soul (Psalm 103:1, 2).(1) With the understanding, which weights the value of the benefit conferred.(2) With the memory, which stores up the remembrance of benefits received.(3) With the affections, by which benefits are warmly embraced.

2. With the voice: otherwise thanks will be buried. How many aids and witnesses did David summon to assist him in this duty; the mountains to leap, the floods to make a noise, etc. Nature and art have found out many helps and signs — bells, musical instruments, feasting, etc. Yet these are but poor and senseless sacrifices performed by unreasoning deputies, if thanks have no more significant expression; and cheer of the countenance, bodily gestures, dancing, are dumb shows. But by speech one man's heart conveys to another the cheery conceptions and passions of the soul, and so multiplies praise and sets on others to bless God with him.

3. With obedience, which God prefers to all our sacrifices. He that in the way of thankfulness bows and performs the mortification of one sin, the addition of one duty, pleases God better than Solomon with all his beeves and sheep. The life of thankfulness consists in the lives of the thankful; otherwise it is but as one who should sing a good song with his voice and play a bad one with his instrument.

II. THE EXTENT OF THE MATTER.

1. God will be praised in all His creatures whereof we have the sight or the use; for every one of us have no less benefit by the sun and air, than if we saw or breathed alone.

2. In all the works of His provident administration — public blessings — our country's good.

3. In all personal favours. Every man that sees another stricken and himself spared is to keep passover for himself.

4. In all crosses, counting it an honour to suffer for Christ's sake.

5. In all gifts: temporal or spiritual, and, above all, for Him who is all in all.

6. In all times and places.

III. THE SUPREME MOTIVE. "This is the will of God." A sufficient answer to the foolish question "What addition shall I make to His honour who is self-sufficient?" God's will has binding authority enough, but the winning word is added, "In Christ." "I have so loved you as to give My Son; the return I expect and will is your thanks." An ingenuous child desires to know only what his father loves, and a grateful courtier only the pleasure of his sovereign.

(S. Ward.)

These words form the last of a series of apparently impossible precepts — perpetual joy, perpetual prayer, united in a life of perpetual thanksgiving. Of course these do not refer to acts, but to a state of heart. Yet even then the difficulty is not removed, for toll and rest, success and failure, events that cheer or overshadow, are all to be received not only submissively but thankfully, and so are the tremendous sorrows which shatter the human heart. How can this precept be obeyed?

I. ITS DIFFICULTY. Why do we not trust God sufficiently to thank Him in every lot in life?

1. One source of the difficulty lies in the constant changes in the soul's life produced by temperament and circumstances. There are periods when it is comparatively easy to be thankful — days of sunshine when bare existence is a joy — times of sorrow, too, when we can trace the hand of love — hours of meditation when we get some deeper vision into the Divine meaning of life. But there are other periods when thanksgiving is the hardest task — days of dreariness, coldness of spirit, doubt.

2. But apart from this there are two sources of difficulty which are permanent.(1) Our fancied knowledge of life. We think we can tell what are great mercies, Whereas that which we pass by as a trifle or shudder as at a calamity maybe heaven's greatest blessing in disguise. Constantly we are taught our ignorance, yet constantly we assume to know. Experience has revealed to us that what the child would have chosen the man passes by; and as we pass on in life we learn that the brightest rainbows of hope spring from the darkest clouds of trouble; and that in the deepest valleys of humiliation grow the fairest flowers of faith and love. Yet we forget the lesson, and fancy that we understand all.(2) Unbelieving distrust of God.(a) We are afraid to recognize His presence everywhere, acting through every little force in nature and through every trifling change in our careers.(b) When we do discern the hand of God we are afraid to trust Him perfectly. In our submission we are tempted to bow to a kind of awful will that must have its way, rather than to believe that what God has chosen for us is most wise, just, and kind.

II. THE MOTIVE. God's will is so revealed in Christ that, believing in it, we can give thanks in all things. Christ showed —

1. That life was the perpetual providence of the Father. "Not a sparrow falleth." "Behold the lilies." His life was a ceaseless illustration of this. He went through the world whether men took up stones to stone him or shouted their hallelujahs, equally fearless as though He was sublimely safe, till His work was done. Realize that as true of your life, and if every moment and trifle of our history are under the Father's providence, for what shall we refuse to be thankful!

2. That that providence is a discipline of human character. Christ's teaching and life show us that not getting more, but being greater; not pleasure, but holiness; not success, but heaven is God's purpose in disciplining the life of men. The learning "obedience by the things which He suffered" was the end for which the Father's providence led the Divine man. And so with us.

3. That the discipline of life is explained by eternity alone. The life of Jesus, apart from the eternal glory which crowned it, seems only a failure and a mystery; and the Father, who ordained for Christ His strange dark way, is leading us by a way that must be dark till death lift the veil. We know not what we need for heaven's splendour, but know this that "the great multitude" have come out of great tribulation.

III. THE METHOD OF ITS ATTAINMENT.

1. It is not to be reached by a single resolution, or in a day by an outburst of excited feeling. We may say sincerely, henceforth I resolve to trust God in everything. But little vexations soon shake our trust; greater troubles break down our resolution; the emotion has declined, and we say, "No man can be always thankful."

2. It is the gradual result of a life of earnest fellowship with God — a life that in daily meditation realizes the presence of the Father; that by prayer feels the reality of God's love — that comes at length to walk through all toils and temptations under a deep sense of the all-surrounding God.

(E. L. Hull, B. A.)

If one should give me a dish of sand, and tell me there were particles of iron in it, I might look for them with my eyes, and search for them with my clumsy fingers, and be unable to detect them; but let me take a magnet and sweep through it, and how it would draw to itself the almost invisible particles by the mere power of attraction! The unthankful heart, like my fingers in the sand, discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day, and as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find in every hour some heavenly blessings; only the iron in God's sand is gold.

(H. W. Beecher.)

A child knelt at the accustomed time to thank God for the mercies of the day, and pray for His care during the coming night. Then, as usual, came the "God bless mother and —" But the prayer was stilled, the little hands unclasped, and a look of sadness and wonder met the mother's eye, as the words of helpless sorrow came from the lips of the kneeling child, "I cannot pray for father any more." Since her lips had been able to form the dear name, she had prayed for a blessing upon it. It had followed close after her mother's name. But now he was dead. I waited for some moments, and then urged her to go on. Her pleading eyes met mine, and with a voice that faltered, she said, "Oh, mother, I cannot leave him out all at once; let me say, 'Thank God that I had a dear father once,' so I can still go on and keep him in my prayers." And so she still continues to do, and my heart learned a lesson from the loving ingenuity of my child. Remember to thank God for mercies past as well as to ask blessings for the future.

(The Christian.)

At the dinner table in the cabin of a steamboat there sat a conceited young man, who thought he displayed his own importance by abusing everything placed before him. A clergyman present, remonstrated with him, but in vain. Even on deck he continued his complaints of the ill-cooked, unsavoury fare, until the clergyman thoroughly disgusted, turned away, and, walking toward the steerage, noticed an old man, in his home-spun and well-worn shepherd's plaid, crouching behind the paddle box, where he thought himself unobserved. He took from his pocket a piece of dry bread and cheese, and laying them down before him, reverently took off his blue bonnet, his thin white hairs streaming in the wind, clasped his hands together and blessed God for his mercy. In the great Giver's hands lie gifts of many kinds, and to the scantiest dole of this world's fare we oftentimes see added that richer boon — a grateful heart.

(Christian Age.)

Objects seem large or little according to the medium through which they are viewed. In the microscope, what a remarkable change they undergo! The humble moss rises into a graceful tree; the beetle, armed for battle, flashes in golden or silver mail; a grain of sand swells into a mass of rock; and, on the other hand, a mountain looked at through the wrong end of a telescope sinks into a molehill, and the broad lake contracts into a tiny pool. Even so, according as we look at them, with the eyes of self-condemning humility, or of self-righteous pride, God's mercies seem great or little. For example, a minister of the gospel, passing one day near a cottage, was attracted to its door by the sound of a loud and earnest voice. It was a bare and lonely dwelling; the home of a woman who was childless, old, and poor. Drawing near this mean and humble cabin, the stranger at length made out these words: "All this, and Jesus too! All this, and Jesus too!" as they were repeated over and over in tones of deep emotion, of wonder, gratitude, and praise. His curiosity was roused to see what that could be which called forth such fervent, overflowing thanks. Stealing near, he looked in at the patched and broken window; and there in the form of a gray, bent, worn-out daughter of toil, at a rude table, with hands raised to God, and her eyes fixed on some crusts of bread and water, sat piety, peace, humility, contentment, exclaiming, "All this, and Jesus too!"

I cannot enumerate all the sweet mercies for which you should be thankful — the personal mercies, a sound mind and a healthy body; restorations from sickness; preservations in imminent peril; a good education, abundance of books, and, perhaps, some leisure to read them; a competent share of the good things of this life, a home, food, raiment, occasional rest and recreation, the enlivening of a journey, and the enlightenment of travel. Family mercies: parents that were kind when you were helpless, and wise when you were foolish; the endearing associations of early days; the gentleness of kindred, who, if a little more remote, were scarce less tender than father or mother were; the amenities and joys of your present home; the household lamp and the household hearth, with all the fond familiar faces on which they shine; the voices which make blythe music in your dwelling; the lives which you have got back from the gates of the grave, and those glorified ones whom you would not wish to bring back; with all those numberless indoor delights, those visits of kindness, and advents of gladness, and solacements of sympathy which He, whose home was heaven, loved to witness or create in the homes of earth. Spiritual mercies: the Bible, the Sabbath, the house of prayer, the closet, the family altar, the great congregation, prayer meetings, communion seasons, psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, Christian friends; perhaps a conscience void of offence towards man, and at peace with God through Jesus Christ; perhaps a victory over some temptation; perhaps progress in some grace; perhaps answers to prayer; along with what may either already be your own, or may as assuredly be made your own, as the Bible is already yours — the Comforter, peace in believing, hope in dying, a joyful resurrection, a home in heaven, a blood-bought harp, the inheritance of all things. These are a few of His mercies; but oh! how great is the sum of them!

(J. Hamilton, D. D.)

King George, at the close of the Revolutionary War, in which he had lost thirty colonies, proclaimed a day of thanksgiving because of the return of peace. His chaplain said to him, "For what would your majesty have us give thanks? for the fact that you have lost thirteen of the brightest jewels of your crown?" "No, not for that," said the king. "Because we have added millions to our national debt?" "No, not for that," said the king. "Because tens of thousands of people of the same race and religion have been destroyed?" "No, not for that," said the king. "Why, then," insisted the chaplain, "and for what shall we give thanks?" "Thank God," said the king, with great vehemence — "Thank God, because matters are no worse."

(J. L. Nye.)

Like the Caspian Sea, which has some unseen way of disposing of its waters, so that whatever rains come down, and whatever rivers flow in, its great gulf never fills, and never a rill runs out from it again; so there is a greedy, all-devouring selfishness, which, whatever rivers of pleasure flow into it, and whatever mighty bursts of heaven-descended bounty exhaust their fulness over it, always contrives to dispose of the whole in the caverns and subterraneous passages of its capacious egotism — the vast mare iternum of self, without one drop of overflowing in kindness to man or gratitude to God.

(J. Hamilton, D. D.)

Paul, ThessaloniansThessalonicaChrist, Circumstance, Circumstances, God's, Praise, Purpose, Regard, Respecting, Thankful, Thanks, Towards, You-ward1. He proceeds in the description of Christ's coming to judgment;
16. and gives various instructions;
23. and so concludes the epistle.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

     1175   God, will of
     5549   speech, positive
     5889   ingratitude
     8352   thankfulness
     8462   priority, of God
     8676   thanksgiving

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

     8289   joy, of church

1 Thessalonians 5:17-18

     5763   attitudes, positive to God

Sleep Not
"Lord, when we leave the world and come to thee, How dull, how slur, are we! How backward! How prepost'rous is the motion Of our ungain devotion! Our thoughts are millstones, and our souls are lead, And our desires are dead: Our vows are fairly promis'd, faintly paid, Or broken, or not made. * * * * * * * Is the road fair, we loiter; clogged with mire, We stick or else retire; A lamb appeals a lion, and we fear Each bush we see's a bear. When our dull souls direct our thoughts to …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

"Pray Without Ceasing"
Observe, however, what immediately follows the text: "In everything give thanks." When joy and prayer are married their first born child is gratitude. When we joy in God for what we have, and believingly pray to him for more, then our souls thank him both in the enjoyment of what we have, and in the prospect of what is yet to come. Those three texts are three companion pictures, representing the life of a true Christian, the central sketch is the connecting link between those on either side. These …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 18: 1872

Awake! Awake!
"Tired nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep." Sleep God hath selected as the very figure for the repose of the blessed. "They that sleep in Jesus," saith the Scripture. David puts it amongst the peculiar gift's of grace: "So he giveth his beloved sleep." But alas! sin could not let even this alone. Sin did over-ride even this celestial metaphor; and though God himself had employed sleep to express the excellence of the state of the blessed, yet sin must have even this profaned, ere itself can be …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 3: 1857

Fenelon -- the Saints Converse with God
Francois de Salignac de La Mothe-Fenelon, Archbishop of Cambray, and private tutor to the heir-apparent of France, was born of a noble family in Perigord, 1651. In 1675 he received holy orders, and soon afterward made the acquaintance of Bossuet, whom he henceforth looked up to as his master. It was the publication of his "De l'Education des Filles" that brought him his first fame, and had some influence in securing his appointment in 1689 to be preceptor of the Duke of Burgundy. In performing this …
Various—The World's Great Sermons, Vol. 2

Consecration: what is It?
The second step that must needs be taken by those of us who have been living without the Fullness, before it can be obtained, is Consecration, a word that is very common and popular; much more common and popular, it is feared, than the thing itself. In order to be filled with the Holy Ghost one must first be "cleansed," and then one must be "consecrated". Consecration follows cleansing, and not vice versa. Intelligent apprehension of what consecration is, and of what it involves, is necessary to …
John MacNeil—The Spirit-Filled Life

Thirty-First Lesson. Pray Without Ceasing;'
Pray without ceasing;' Or, A Life of Prayer. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks.--I Thess. v. 16, 17, 18. OUR Lord spake the parable of the widow and the unjust judge to teach us that men ought to pray always and not faint. As the widow persevered in seeking one definite thing, the parable appears to have reference to persevering prayer for some one blessing, when God delays or appears to refuse. The words in the Epistles, which speak of continuing instant in …
Andrew Murray—With Christ in the School of Prayer

Early Afflictions
"Misery stole me at my birth And cast me helpless on the wild." The words of this hymn express my condition from my first advent into the world. My mother had overworked before I was born; and, as a result, I suffered bodily affliction from infancy. I was scarely two years old when I began having spasms. My eyes would roll back in my head, I would froth at the mouth, the tendons of my jaws would draw, causing me to bite my cheeks until the blood ran from my mouth, and I would become unconscious. …
Mary Cole—Trials and Triumphs of Faith

Third Sunday after Epiphany
Text: Romans 12, 16-21. 16 Be not wise in your own conceits. 17 Render to no man evil for evil. Take thought for things honorable in the sight of all men. 18 If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all men. 19 Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto the wrath of God: for it is written, Vengeance belongeth unto me; I will recompense, saith the Lord. 20 But if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him to drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

The Alarum
That is not, however, the topic upon which I now desire to speak to you. I come at this time, not so much to plead for the early as for the awakening. The hour we may speak of at another time--the fact is our subject now. It is bad to awake late, but what shall be said of those who never awake at all? Better late than never: but with many it is to be feared it will be never. I would take down the trumpet and give a blast, or ring the alarm-bell till all the faculties of the sluggard's manhood are …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

Peace
Grace unto you and peace be multiplied. I Pet 1:1. Having spoken of the first fruit of sanctification, assurance, I proceed to the second, viz., Peace, Peace be multiplied:' What are the several species or kinds of Peace? Peace, in Scripture, is compared to a river which parts itself into two silver streams. Isa 66:12. I. There is an external peace, and that is, (1.) (Economical, or peace in a family. (2.) Political, or peace in the state. Peace is the nurse of plenty. He maketh peace in thy borders, …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Getting Ready to Enter Canaan
GETTING READY TO ENTER CANAAN Can you tell me, please, the first step to take in obtaining the experience of entire sanctification? I have heard much about it, have heard many sermons on it, too; but the way to proceed is not yet plain to me, not so plain as I wish it were. Can't you tell me the first step, the second, third, and all the rest? My heart feels a hunger that seems unappeased, I have a longing that is unsatisfied; surely it is a deeper work I need! And so I plead, "Tell me the way." …
Robert Lee Berry—Adventures in the Land of Canaan

Exhortations to Christians as they are Children of God
1 There is a bill of indictment against those who declare to the world they are not the children of God: all profane persons. These have damnation written upon their forehead. Scoffers at religion. It were blasphemy to call these the children of God. Will a true child jeer at his Father's picture? Drunkards, who drown reason and stupefy conscience. These declare their sin as Sodom. They are children indeed, but cursed children' (2 Peter 2:14). 2 Exhortation, which consists of two branches. (i) Let …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

The Christian Prayer
Scripture references: Matthew 6:5-15; Luke 11:1-13; John 17; Matthew 26:41; Mark 11:24,25; Luke 6:12,28; 9:29; 1 Thessalonians 5:17,25; 1 Corinthians 14:13,15; Psalm 19:14; 50:15, Matthew 7:7; 1 Timothy 2:1; Ephesians 3:20,21; John 16:23; 14:14; James 5:16. THE PROVINCE OF PRAYER Definition.--Prayer is the communion of man with God. It is not first of all the means of getting something from God, but the realization of Him in the soul. "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness" (Matthew …
Henry T. Sell—Studies in the Life of the Christian

Paul a Pattern of Prayer
TEXT: "If ye shall ask anything in my name I will do it."--John 14:14. Jesus testified in no uncertain way concerning prayer, for not alone in this chapter does he speak but in all his messages to his disciples he is seeking to lead them into the place where they may know how to pray. In this fourteenth chapter of John, where he is coming into the shadow of the cross and is speaking to his disciples concerning those things which ought to have the greatest weight with them, the heart of his message …
J. Wilbur Chapman—And Judas Iscariot

Be Ye Therefore Perfect, Even as Your Father which is in Heaven is Perfect. Matthew 5:48.
In the 43rd verse, the Savior says, "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy; but I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you, that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward …
Charles G. Finney—Lectures to Professing Christians

Concerning Peaceableness
Blessed are the peacemakers. Matthew 5:9 This is the seventh step of the golden ladder which leads to blessedness. The name of peace is sweet, and the work of peace is a blessed work. Blessed are the peacemakers'. Observe the connection. The Scripture links these two together, pureness of heart and peaceableness of spirit. The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable' (James 3:17). Follow peace and holiness' (Hebrews 12:14). And here Christ joins them together pure in heart, and peacemakers', …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Sanctification
'For this is the will of God, even your sanctification.' I Thess 4:4. The word sanctification signifies to consecrate and set apart to a holy use: thus they are sanctified persons who are separated from the world, and set apart for God's service. Sanctification has a privative and a positive part. I. A privative part, which lies in the purging out of sin. Sin is compared to leaven, which sours; and to leprosy, which defiles. Sanctification purges out the old leaven.' I Cor 5:5. Though it takes not …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Hindrances to Mourning
What shall we do to get our heart into this mourning frame? Do two things. Take heed of those things which will stop these channels of mourning; put yourselves upon the use of all means that will help forward holy mourning. Take heed of those things which will stop the current of tears. There are nine hindrances of mourning. 1 The love of sin. The love of sin is like a stone in the pipe which hinders the current of water. The love of sin makes sin taste sweet and this sweetness in sin bewitches the …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Concerning Worship.
Concerning Worship. [780] All true and acceptable worship to God is offered in the inward and immediate moving and drawing of his own Spirit which is neither limited to places times, nor persons. For though we are to worship him always, and continually to fear before him; [781] yet as to the outward signification thereof, in prayers, praises, or preachings, we ought not to do it in our own will, where and when we will; but where and when we are moved thereunto by the stirring and secret inspiration …
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity

Letter cxx. To Hedibia.
At the request of Hedibia, a lady of Gaul much interested in the study of scripture, Jerome deals with the following twelve questions. It will be noticed that several of them belong to the historical criticism of our own day. (1) How can anyone be perfect? and How ought a widow without children to live to God? (2) What is the meaning of Matt. xxvi. 29? (3) How are the discrepancies in the evangelical narratives to be accounted for? How can Matt. xxviii. 1 be reconciled with Mark xvi. 1, 2. (4) How …
St. Jerome—The Principal Works of St. Jerome

How Christ is to be Made Use Of, in Reference to Growing in Grace.
I come now to speak a little to the other part of sanctification, which concerneth the change of our nature and frame, and is called vivification, or quickening of the new man of grace; which is called the new man, as having all its several members and parts, as well as the old man; and called new, because posterior to the other; and after regeneration is upon the growing hand, this duty of growing in grace, as it is called, 2 Pet. iii. &c. is variously expressed and held forth to us in Scripture; …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

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