First, because God is so generous! He has already met all of our most important needs (Eph. 1:3), and the most common Christian (if there is such a thing!) is fabulously wealthy in Christ (Col. 2:3). Especially since God has granted all this to us as an undeserved gift, what could be more fitting than an undertone of gratitude?
Second, because gratitude both expresses and promotes sanity and health. Grumbling, self-pity, cynicism, envy – these are not only irrational because of the above; they are also highly toxic to our emotional and relational lives. But gratitude to God leads to increasing joy and attracts others to God.
Third, because gratitude is powerful. Just as ingratitude is the root of all vices because it turns us in ourselves, so gratitude is the root of all virtues because it turns us to God and unleashes His transforming power in our lives.
Recommend DeMoss, Choosing Gratitude.
Listening to God
5:19 warns us not to quench God's Spirit (re-read 5:19). "Quench" (sbennumi) means to extinguish, as in extinguishing a fire. Many fires are destructive, and need to be quenched. Firemen are professional quenchers of destructive fires. Satan launches destructive "flaming missiles" of accusation at Christians (Eph. 6:16), which we are to quench by affirming God's forgiveness. But others fires are constructive. The fire in your gas furnace provides heat for your home. The fire in your car's engine provides power to transport you. Quenching these fires is extremely counter-productive. In the same way, God's Spirit is a good and constructive "fire." He lives in every Christian, constantly igniting love for Jesus, zeal for His mission, and illumination of what God is saying to us. The Christian life is not about self-generating this kind of fire; it is about not quenching the Spirit's "fire."
In 5:20, Paul mentions one way we can quench the Spirit – by disregarding listening to God as He speaks to us through "prophetic utterances." New Testament prophecy is not primarily a prediction of the future, but rather a communication of God's affirmation and/or will with pointed personal relevance and application (read 1 Cor. 14:3; Lk. 24:32).
Many prophecies occur in a group setting like this one. Acts 15:32,35 equates prophesying with preaching – teaching God's Word in a Spirit-empowered way that personally strengthens and exhorts Christians. Have you ever gone to a Bible study and felt like what was said was meant personally for you ("Who told you I was coming?")? What is this? This is a prophetic utterance.
Many prophecies are one-to-one/private – applying God's truth and vision to a Christian in a Spirit-led and Spirit-empowered way (read 1 Tim. 4:14). Have you ever had another Christian speak to you with this kind of impact (EXAMPLES)?
Although some Christians are gifted in prophecy, all Christians can prophesy (read 1 Cor. 14:1,24,39; see also Acts 2:17).
When we say that a given church is "on fire" or "alive" vs. "dead" or "lifeless," one thing we mean is prophetic utterances like the above are pretty common, and that most members are receptive to them.
Paul says we can respond wrongly to prophetic utterances in one of two ways:
One wrong response is to naively accept what is spoken as from God. This is naïve, because people (including Christians) can claim to speak from God when they are speaking from their own imagination or (worse) from selfish manipulation/greed and even demonic deception.You and I have a responsibility to learn the Word well enough to be able to examine prophetic utterances and "abstain from" them (reject them; lay them aside) if they contradict God's Word – regardless of how eloquent or forceful or flattering they are. It is a great tragedy that American Christians, who have no excuse for biblical ignorance (UNPARALLELED ACCESS TO THE BIBLE), so often gulp down false prophecy (e.g., POPULARITY OF HEALTH-WEALTH PREACHERS; "GOD TOLD ME YOU SHOULD MARRY ME").
In our own church, I sometimes hear people saying, "The Spirit told me . . ." to do or believe things that the Bible clearly rejects.
But the other wrong response (more common in our church and just as dangerous) is to quench the Spirit by cynically despising or scorning genuine prophetic utterances.
"Do I come to meetings prayerfully expecting to hear from the living God – or do I just attend on auto-pilot with an inattentive heart?"
"When others praise God for speaking personally to them, am I (not gullible, but) positively inclined – or am I normally skeptical and/or cynical?"
"When a brother/sister exhorts me personally, do I take it before God and ask Him to show me the truth in it – or do I just blow it off as just sociological ('He's just a positive person') or get indignant ('How dare she correct me!')?"
"Do I come to meetings expecting God to speak through me – or do I assume by default that He can't/won't use me in this way?"
"When God prompts me to encourage or challenge someone, do I obey Him – or do I normally disregard it ('Someone else can do it better')?"
This kind of quenching will really hinder your spiritual growth. And when a group gets used to quenching the Spirit this way, they suffer self-inflicted spiritual boredom and/or injures their witness to the watching world. May we never become this kind of church!!!
God's Spirit loves to ignite illumination on the things of God. Appreciate the "igniters" and be one yourself. This will deepen your zeal for God and draw others to Him!
Conclusion
NEXT WEEK???
SUMMARIZE >> QUESTIONS & COMMENTS