Turning Point

Guest (Male): Think about the people in your life who you would describe as spirit-filled. Most likely they all share the same key virtue. Do you know what it is? Today on Turning Point, Dr. David Jeremiah looks for the best indication of a spirit-filled life and what he finds might surprise you. Continuing his series, *The Holy Spirit You May Not Know*, here is David to introduce the best evidence of the spirit.

Dr. David Jeremiah: If you have ever had a discussion with your friends about being spirit-filled and asked them how you know whether a person is spirit-filled or what you have to do to get spirit-filled, you have probably heard some of the things that float around Christianity. You might hear that you have to have spiritual gifts like the speaking in tongues or working miracles, but the Bible does not really support that.

The Bible supports the fact that when you are filled with the spirit, it changes the person that you become. One of the key ingredients of that person that you become is the spirit of gratitude. That is what we are going to talk about today. The best evidence of the spirit is your attitude of gratitude. We will get to it in just a moment.

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What is the greatest evidence of someone who is being filled with the Holy Spirit? How would you recognize a truly spirit-controlled individual if you ran into him today and had an opportunity to talk to him for a while? What would tip you off? You might say, "I know that man has a powerful witness for Jesus Christ, and that proves he is spirit-filled." Or, "I have heard that he speaks in tongues frequently, so that must mean he is filled with the spirit."

But what does the word of God say? How can we really determine if a person has been filled or is controlled by the Holy Spirit? You may find what I am going to tell you today rather surprising, yet as I began to chase this concept, it showed up again and again in the principal texts of the New Testament. For me, it was one of those "aha" moments where you sit back in your chair and say, "Yeah, that makes a lot of sense, but I never considered that before." I believe the best evidence of a spirit-filled life is gratitude and thanksgiving.

I would like you to see what the Bible says about it and how the Bible moves it out of the perimeter in our lives into the very center. It was December of 1914 when Thomas Edison's great laboratories in West Orange, New Jersey were almost entirely destroyed by fire. In one night, Edison lost $2 million worth of equipment and the record of much of his life's work. Edison's son, Charles, ran frantically about trying to find his father and finally came upon him standing near the fire, his face ready in the glow and his white hair blown by the winter winds.

Charles said his heart ached for his father because he was no longer young and everything was being destroyed. Then Edison spotted him and said, "Where is your mother? Find her and bring her here. She will never see a fire like this again as long as she lives." The next morning, walking about the charred embers of so many of his hopes and dreams, the 67-year-old Edison said, "There is great hope in disaster. All of our mistakes are burned up. Thank God we can start all over again."

I do not know what you think when you hear a story like that. What I think is that I am not quite there yet, but I am glad to hear somebody is. What a perspective on life and what an attitude of gratitude. The Bible speaks often about thankful spirits. You see it through all the scripture. Words like thanks, thankful, and thanksgiving show up more than 150 times in the Bible. More than 30 times we are actually reminded to give thanks.

It may surprise you that the Bible often and very carefully links the spirit of gratitude and victory in the Christian life. In Second Corinthians 2:14, we read these words: "Now thanks be to God who leads us in triumph." Thanksgiving and triumph. Gratitude and triumph are in the same verse. There is something about the attitude of gratitude that seems at home in the scenario of victory.

That same concept blazes across the biblical sky in First Corinthians 15:57: "Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." There it is again. Victory and triumph are in the same context with gratitude. You show me somebody who has experienced spiritual victory and who exudes a sense of triumph, and I will promise you that as you get to know that person, you will find that man or woman is permeated with a spirit of gratitude.

Gratitude is the best evidence that God is in us and that He is working in our lives. Why do I say that? Because in the world in which we live today, there are so many reasons to be ungrateful. There are so many reasons to complain. But if the spirit of God is in us, He will give us a heart that notices the blessings even when we are under the burdens.

Unfortunately, the doctrine of gratitude has been relegated by some to an optional and seasonal spirit. Gratitude, as I have watched it, is sometimes looked upon as that which good Christians do on occasion instead of that which marks the life of every Christian. A spirit of thanksgiving should be true in all of us. If we know Jesus Christ and if God's Holy Spirit is in control of our lives, we should be men and women with thankful hearts.

There are five key doctrinal passages in the New Testament that underscore the importance of perpetual thanksgiving. I want to share those passages with you, not to bring conviction so much as to bring encouragement, because this is how the Bible views a thankful person. The Bible puts it right in the center of who we are in Jesus Christ.

First, we learn that a spirit-filled Christian is controlled by the spirit and gratitude is the result. In the key passage on being filled with the spirit in Ephesians chapter 5, we read: "And be not drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God."

If you read that paragraph, you will discover that a lot of the words end in "ing". Those words are participles, and participles record continuing action. Participles tell us this is not just once; this is a continuing thing. Notice: speaking, singing, making melody, and giving thanks. The words that end in "ing" describe what goes on in the life of a man or woman who is being filled with the Holy Spirit.

One of the evidences that you are a spirit-filled Christian is that you will find yourself singing and speaking in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. You will have a melody in your heart. You will be a happy, joyous person. Joined together with these first three words in this verse is "giving thanks". The Bible tells us in Ephesians 5:20 we should be giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The third evidence of a spirit-filled Christian is the gratitude of the heart. Thanksgiving to God for all that He has done. Literally, the text says be being filled with the spirit, giving thanks always for all things to God. Later in this message, we will see that Paul commands us to give thanks in all things. But here he tells us to give thanks for all things.

I have heard preachers say the Bible never says we are to give thanks for all things but only in all things. Unfortunately, the Bible says to give thanks for all things. You cannot use that when you are trying to explain thanksgiving in the midst of trouble. Before we talk about giving thanks when life is hard, let us begin with something simple and undeniable: God has richly blessed us all.

Psalm 103:2-5 says, "Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all His benefits: who forgives all your iniquities, who heals your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagles." That is a great starting place for gratitude. We all have quite a few things we should be thankful for. If you cannot think of anything to be grateful for today, go read Psalm 103.

Paul is not saying here that we should be thankful for evil. That is not what it is about. We thank God that He is over us in the midst of it all. I have to admit there is a mystery in all of this that is hard to put into words, but when the Holy Spirit fills you, something happens that you cannot quite explain, but you can absolutely experience.

When adversity comes into your life, you begin to sense God's presence in a special way. Some of you have actually told me, "Pastor Jeremiah, I do not know what I would have done if I had not known that God was with me during this time." Or, "God was really close to me." God is never more close to you at any one time than He is at any other, but you become sensitive to His presence during times of difficulty.

That is why Paul can say we give thanks for all things. It is not because all things are good, but because God is good in all things. William Law, writing in the 18th century, said, "Would you like to know who is the greatest saint in the world? It isn't he who prays most or fasts most. It isn't he who gives most, but it is he who is always thankful to God, who receives everything as an instrument of God's goodness and has a heart always ready to praise God for it."

Think of that: the greatest saint is the one who is always thankful. Ephesians 5 says that when you are controlled by the spirit, thanksgiving will be the result. You will have a spirit of thanksgiving, always giving thanks. Here is the second verse. A spirit-filled Christian is committed to the word of God, and gratitude is the result.

If you go over to the book of Colossians, you will see a passage of scripture that looks very familiar to the one in Ephesians. It says, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord, and whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."

In Ephesians, we are told if we are filled with the spirit of God, we will be thankful. In Colossians, we are told if we are filled with the word of God, we will be thankful. What Paul is teaching us is that when the Bible is a special part of our lives, the result will ultimately be that we become thankful people. It is the instrument God uses to change us and conform us into the image of our Lord.

Paul is saying that when you spend time as a spirit-filled Christian reading the Bible, you will come out of that experience grateful. You cannot read Psalm 103 without being thankful for all that God has done. I once heard a pastor say you can often tell what part of the Bible a person has been reading by how they pray. He explained that when someone prays in an anxious and worried tone, they probably have not been reading God's promises.

God's promises remind us that He will always take care of us like a good father. When someone sounds resentful and hard-hearted in prayer, they probably skipped the Psalms because the Psalms soften our hearts and remind us to praise the Lord. But when a person prays with a warm and thankful spirit, they must have been studying the Gospel.

The Gospel shows us what Jesus has done for us, and when we see that clearly, our hearts are filled with thanksgiving. So here are the first two: a spirit-filled Christian is controlled by the spirit and gratitude is the result, and a spirit-filled Christian is committed to the Bible and gratitude is the result.

The third one is in Colossians chapter 3: "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful." When a person is characterized by peace, the result is exactly the same. He will be filled with thanksgiving. Peace is one aspect of the fruit of the spirit. Everywhere Paul talks about peace, he talks in the same context about thanksgiving.

The spirit plus the word plus peace is all surrounded by an attitude of gratitude. I have to laugh when I think back to my early days as a pastor and some of my frustration with the apostle Paul. I would be studying my way through one of his epistles, caught up in what a clear, orderly, logical teacher he is. Then all of a sudden, he would seem to launch himself into an idea that was off the topic.

I would say to myself, "Paul, I know a rabbit trail when I see one. That is not on the subject at all." I finally realized that whenever Paul did those quick turns in the text and seemed to head down a different track, it was always because he was overcome with a sense of gratitude to God for what He had done for him. He would come to a place in his teaching and reasoning where the reality of what the spirit of God was leading him to say would suddenly overwhelm him.

He could not go on to the next point until he had a little praise party, giving thanks to the Lord for His wisdom, longsuffering, and mercy. Logic is not everything. It has to leave room for praise to God for His peace. As you enjoy the peace that wells up in your heart and floods the landscape of your life, you will be filled with gratitude and thanksgiving.

Number four is that a spirit-filled Christian is constantly in prayer and gratitude is the result. Philippians 4:6 says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." Many people read this verse as though it says "prayer and supplication and thanksgiving."

But the word before thanksgiving is "with". That is so important. The "with" in this verse means that whether it is prayer or supplication or any other kind of praying to God, it is always to be mixed with thanksgiving. Thanksgiving belongs to all the properties of prayer. When you are asking God for something, it is always with thanksgiving.

When you are praising God for something, it is always with thanksgiving. When you are interceding for someone else, it is always with thanksgiving. Paul teaches in Philippians that thanksgiving is the inevitable companion of every prayer you ever pray. You should never pray without thanksgiving. All requests should be mixed and blended generously with thanksgiving to God for all He has done.

Ruth Graham once wrote about waking at three in the morning while she was overseas. She was exhausted when the name of a loved one who was running from God hit her with fear. She began to pray and her mind kept circling the problems. Then she sensed the Lord say to her, "Quit studying the problems and start studying the promises."

She turned on the light, opened her Bible, and the first verse she saw was Philippians 4:6: "With thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." She realized she had been pleading without thanking, so she began to thank God for His faithfulness and His wisdom. She said it was as if someone turned on the lights in her mind and heart.

The little fears and worries which had been nibbling away in the darkness suddenly scuttled for cover. Paul focuses in on one kind of response, and that is the response of gratitude. It is to be present in all of our prayers, no matter what the content may be. Just make sure when you say, "Dear Heavenly Father," the next words are "thank you."

That is how God teaches us to pray. This last one is so powerful. If all I had time to preach was one of them, this is the one I would preach because it is overwhelming. People ask me over the years, "How do you know the will of God for your life?" We should always be pursuing a knowledge of God's will.

But there are some things we already know that are the will of God. If you read the Bible carefully, you will find passages where the Bible just says, "Do this." First Thessalonians 5:18 says, "In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." What part of that don't we get? One of the undeniable parts of God's will for every single Christian is in this verse.

Giving thanks is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you and for me. Could anything be any clearer than that? And the contrary aspect of God's will is just as clear. If you are not grateful, you are out of the will of God. That means complaining, grumbling, pessimism, and despair are all out of the will of God.

It is just plainly said in scripture. This is the will of God: that you be grateful and thankful. This is a good day to begin that. You do not have to look very far before you realize how much you have to be grateful for and how thankful you should be.

Part two of this tomorrow as we finish out the week together. Then we have two more lessons at the end of the month. In the month of July, we are going to be talking about making sense of it all and seeing the world with a biblical perspective.

Guest (Male): A new series that we want to share with you. I hope you will log in for our July series and be with us then. Don't forget to join us tomorrow as we conclude the message we began today on the best evidence of the spirit. Thank you for listening. I am David Jeremiah.

David Michael Jeremiah: For more information on Dr. Jeremiah's new series, *The Holy Spirit You May Not Know*, visit our website where we also offer two free ways to help you stay connected: our monthly magazine, *Turning Points*, and our daily email devotional. Sign up today at DavidJeremiah.org/radio.

Or call us at 800-947-1993. Ask for your copy of David's new book, *The Holy Spirit You May Not Know*, a valuable resource that is yours for a gift of any amount. You can also purchase the Jeremiah Study Bible in the English Standard, New International, and New King James versions, complete with notes and articles from Dr. Jeremiah's decades of study. Get all the details when you visit our website, DavidJeremiah.org/radio. Join us tomorrow as we continue *The Holy Spirit You May Not Know* on Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah.