Grace & Truth Chapel
131 Fardale Avenue ~ Mahwah, New Jersey
Phone 201-327-6226 ~ E-mail gtchapel@juno.com

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"Always Giving Thanks" (posted November 1, 2008)

  Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit ... giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
   - Ephesians 5:18, 20

The world may work up some passing excitement leading to excesses of evil, but the Christian has a source of joy within: the Holy Spirit. Having the Spirit, we are exhorted to be filled with the Spirit. If the Spirit were ungrieved (Ephesians 4:30) and allowed to control our thoughts and affections, the result would be a company of people entirely apart from the world and its excitements, who rejoice together in a life of which the world has no knowledge and in which it can find no pleasure.

This life finds its expression in praise that flows from hearts that delight in the Lord. It is a life that discerns the love and goodness of God in "all things," however trying the circumstances may be. It therefore gives thanks at all times for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In this, as in all else for the Christian, Christ is our perfect example. When rejected in spite of all His mighty works, "At that time Jesus answered and said, 'I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth'" (Matthew 11:20, 25).

Moreover, if filled with the Spirit, we should be marked by that spirit of lowliness and meekness that would lead us to submit to one another in the fear of Christ: "submitting yourselves one to another" (verse 21). This is in contrast with the self-importance of the flesh (our natural desires) that asserts itself and its liberty to act without reference to the consciences of others.

Thus the believer filled with the Spirit will be marked, first, by a spirit of praise to the Lord; secondly, by submission with thanksgiving to all that the Father allows; thirdly, by submission to one another in the fear of Christ.

Hamilton Smith



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