ACC ~ 1 Thessalonians 5 v18
NOT ONLY IN DELIVERANCE. CHRYSOSTOM: Most appropriately have we all this day sung together, âBlessed be the Lord God of Israel, who only does wondrous things.â For marvelous, and beyond all expectation, are the things which have happened. A whole city, and so great a population, when just about to be overwhelmedâto sink under the waves, and to be utterly and instantly destroyedâhe has entirely rescued from shipwreck in a single moment of time! Let us give thanks, then, not only that God has calmed the tempest but that he permitted it to take place. Not only did he rescue us from shipwreck, but he allowed us to fall into such distress and permitted such an extreme peril to hang over us. Thus also Paul bids us âin every thing give thanks.â But when he says, âIn every thing give thanks,â he means not only in our deliverance from evils but also at the time when we suffer those evils. HOMILIES ON THE STATUES 17.1.
1 Thess