Pastor David B. Curtis
Pastor David B. Curtis
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We are looking at Ephesians 5 and discussing how to walk wisely:
Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, Ephesians 5:15 NASB
Walking wisely involves thought, consideration, prioritizing, and planning. It involves choices and disciplined living.
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; Ephesians 5:18-19 NASB
"But be filled with the Spirit"—the term "filled" is a term that means simply: "to be controlled, to be possessed, in this case by the Spirit." The antithesis here is, "Do not get drunk with wine, but be filled by the Spirit." How do you get drunk with wine? By drinking a lot of it. So it is with the Holy Spirit. The primary way to be filled by the Spirit is to read and meditate and believe the words of the Spirit recorded in the Scripture.
Yahweh has provided us an inexhaustible, free, readily available source of power to live the Christian life. And yet many Christians do not use the power that He has provided. The Christian life is not difficult; it is absolutely impossible, apart from the power of the Holy Spirit. Yeshua said:
"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. John 15:5 NASB
Apart from depending on Him through the power of the Spirit, we can do nothing. Now of course this means nothing of any spiritual value.
These expressions: speaking, singing and making melody, giving thanks, and submitting, are in the Greek text participles of result. These are the manifestations or results of the filling of the Spirit: the speaking, the singing, the making melody, the thanksgiving, the submission. And I suggest to you, then, that this is a reference, primarily, to the corporate life of a local church. Paul seems to be referring to the public gathering of the Church.
"Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs"—the first result of the filling of the Spirit is that we will be "speaking" of Yahweh to one another. We saw in our last study that "speaking to one another" in Ephesians, and "teaching and admonishing one another" in Colossians are the same thing. Paul is saying that the first result of the Spirit filled life is that we will be teaching one another, we will be sharing the Word of God with each other. The Word that is richly dwelling within us will be spilling out.
In our last study I said that these "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs" were the way they taught one another in an oral culture. They passed everything they learned on to others orally. They didn't have Bibles, they had the Word of God, but they didn't have individual Bibles like we do. Most of the people in that culture could not read or write, but it was not necessary in an oral culture.
On Monday morning I received the following question regarding my comments:
"If the people couldn't read/write, and there were no texts, how could this be true about the Bereans who examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true?" NIV Acts 17:11-12.
That's a good question! To back up my claim that most people in that culture couldn't read or write I would appeal to the classic work on ancient literacy is by William Harris, which argued for minimal literacy across the Roman Empire. The literacy rate was said to be as low as ten percent (William V. Harris, Ancient Literacy, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).
So how did the Bereans examine the Scriptures daily if they didn't have Bibles and couldn't read or write? Those in Berea would have gathered in the synagogues to hear the Scriptures read and to discuss it. They did not have individual copies of Scripture. They would "examine" the Scriptures by asking questions about what was read, and what they had memorized:
The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Acts 17:10 NASB
Paul was preaching Christ in the synagogues, and there would be back and forth dialogu
Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Acts 17:11 NASB
The Greek word for "examining" is anakrino, which means: "to scrutinize." It is translated in Corinthians as "ask questions." So I think what they would do was take what they heard and then ask questions about it. They would sit around the synagogue and scrutinize what they heard with what they know the Scriptures said. There would be men in the synagogue, rabbis, who could read Scripture. They would read it and then they all would discuss it and ask questions.
We can't bring the Bereans into our culture and have them all sitting down with their Bibles and concordances searching the Scriptures. They examined or scrutinized the Scriptures by comparing what Paul was telling them to what they knew of the Tanakh.
speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; Ephesians 5:19 NASB
"Singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord"—this is the second result of the filling of the Spirit, introduced by two present participles, singing and making melody. The two participles should be considered as one unit, since they are conjoined by "and," and together they are followed by one qualifying expression: "in your heart to the Lord." The word "singing" is from the Greek ado, which means: "sing." And "making melody" was translated from the Greek word "psallo," which means: "to twitch or twang, i.e. to play on a stringed instrument" (Strong's Concordance). Literally, it would be translated "psalming."
So Paul says, "singing and psalming," and then he uses the phrase, "with your heart to the Lord." Now the word "with" is not there in the Greek; it is implied by the case in which the noun appears. It could be a locative form, or it could be instrumental of means, or it could be instrumental of cause. In fact, there is some very similar use in the instrumental of cause. If it's used that way, then it is saying, "singing and psalming caused by our hearts to the Lord." This denotes the involvement of the heart in the singing. Our song is from our heart, which has to do with our thinking process. The next dative phrase hay kurios indicates direction, that is, the singing is directed "to the Lord," which here refers to Christ.
Our singing to Christ the Lord must be from the heart. If you are filled by the Word and controlled by the Spirit, from your heart will come forth singing.
Amos indicted the Israelites because their singing was not from the heart. They were just going through the motions:
"I hate, I reject your festivals, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. "Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. "Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. "But let justice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amos 5:21-24 NASB
It must begin in your heart or it is just hypocrisy or pumped up emotions. Our singing must be from our hearts and not just our lips. We must feed our minds on His Word and ask Him to reveal the riches of Christ to our soul. As He fills us with His Spirit, it will overflow into heartfelt praise and singing.
Music is a big area of influence in our lives. Everywhere you go, people are listening to music. Is the music you listen to helping you to focus your mind on things which are above? Yahweh has put music in the heart of man. Singing is an expression of the emotion of the heart. Music flows from Spirit controlled believers who have the Word of Christ abundantly dwelling in them.
I read that the most frequent command in the Bible is, "Sing!" I don't know if that is true, but I do know that, as believers, if we are controlled by the Spirit, we will sing. Singing is not something we do to put off the teaching of the Word until all the stragglers get in. It is not a time to manipulate our emotions, to get everyone pumped up with moving music. It is a time to worship Yahweh. Notice what the Psalms say about singing:
But let all who take refuge in You be glad, Let them ever sing for joy; And may You shelter them, That those who love Your name may exult in You. Psalms 5:11 NASB
Do you take refuge in Yahweh? Then you are to sing. Yahweh is glorified not only by His glory being seen, but by His glory being rejoiced in:
Sing for joy in the LORD, O you righteous ones; Praise is becoming to the upright. Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre; Sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings. Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy. Psalms 33:1-3 NASB
O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD, Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Psalms 95:1 NASB
Sing to the LORD a new song; Sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD, bless His name; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day. Psalms 96:1-2 NASB
The word "new" is used in the Bible more times with song than with any other thing. We talk about a new creature in Christ and a new birth and all of those things, but way more than any of those, the word "new" appears with song. What is the Bible saying? That when you are redeemed, there is a new song to sing. All the mentions of a "new song" are connected with salvation. The redeemed of Yahweh are to sing:
A Psalm for Thanksgiving. Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth. Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. Psalms 100:1-2 NASB
Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song, And His praise in the congregation of the godly ones. Psalms 149:1 NASB
I've found that when I'm feeling down, if I put on some praise music or just begin singing praises to the Lord, my spirit is lifted. Have you ever experienced that? That's biblical, you know. Where do we see this in the Scriptures?:
So it came about whenever the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the harp and play it with his hand; and Saul would be refreshed and be well, and the evil spirit would depart from him. 1 Samuel 16:23 NASB
Music refreshed Saul and the evil spirit left him. Luther said, "Music drives the devil away."
What are we as believers to sing about? Songs celebrating Yahweh's deliverance and salvation. What is the earliest recorded song in the Bible? It is the Song of Moses:
Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and said, "I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted; The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea. "The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father's God, and I will extol Him. Exodus 15:1-2 NASB
This is a song of redemption. Verses 20-21 say that Miriam led the women with timbrels (small hand drums or tambourines) and dancing. Another example is the Song of Deborah (Judges 5:1-31), which they sang after she led a great victory over Israel's enemies:
Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying, "That the leaders led in Israel, That the people volunteered, Bless the LORD! "Hear, O kings; give ear, O rulers! I—to the LORD, I will sing, I will sing praise to the LORD, the God of Israel. Judges 5:1-3 NASB
Again they are singing songs of praise for Yahweh's redemption.
We should also sing songs celebrating Yahweh's blessings. Many of the Psalms reflect on Yahweh's blessings, but especially Psalm 103, which is pure praise. It begins:
A Psalm of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; Psalms 103:1-2 NASB
Then it proceeds to enumerate many of those benefits. The first of which is forgiveness!:
Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle. Psalms 103:3-5 NASB
In Psalm 18, David sings Yahweh's praise for 50 verses because the Lord had delivered him from the hand of Saul:
The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies. Psalms 18:2-3 NASB
We also are to sing songs celebrating Yahweh's glorious attributes and His mighty deeds. Again, many of the Psalms rehearse Yahweh's righteousness, faithfulness, power, lovingkindness, and His tender care.
We are also to sing songs celebrating Yahweh's sufficiency in our trials and suffering. When Paul and Silas were falsely accused and then wrongly beaten and thrown into prison and put in the stocks, their response was to sing praises to Yahweh:
And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; 24 and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison, and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; Acts 16:23-25 NASB
We can understand them praying. We would be praying, "God, why did you let this happen to me, God, why don't you do something?" Or, "God, judge these pagans for their sin." They weren't praying imprecatory prayers—" Yahweh, wipe them out." They were praying and singing. How could they be singing at a time like this? What could they possibly sing about? I think it is evident that they were filled by the Spirit by their response to adverse circumstances. Their lives were clearly centered in Yahweh and not in the circumstances in which they found themselves. Therefore, they sang hymns to Yahweh even in the most impossible and uncomfortable of circumstances, because the overflow of the indwelling Word was being expressed through their lips. The text says, "And the prisoners were listening to them" —what a testimony! The word "listening" is the Greek word epakroaomai; it means: "to listen intently." The people who heard them singing knew what had just happened to these men. And here they are singing about Yahweh. These folks were listening to every word they were saying.
In A.D. 112 Pliny wrote a letter to Emperor Trajan about the Christians, who were under persecution. Among other things, he reported that they sang an anthem to Christ as God (cited in Eerdmans Handbook to the History of Christianity, ed. by Tim Dowley [Eerdmans], p. 124).
Do you know that the Roman Catholic Church robbed the church of music for fifteen hundred years? They took the music away from the people. Completely. During the Middle Ages all the singing was done by choirs of monks and priests. At the time of the Reformation, reformers like Martin Luther reintroduced congregational singing, and translated both the Psalms and other Christian hymns for singing in worship.
Historian Kenneth Scott Latourette states (A History of Christianity [Harper & Row], p. 721), "Congregational singing was one of his [Luther's] great joys, and he took the initiative in encouraging it and giving it a large part in the liturgy and other services." Luther himself played the lute (a ten-stringed, guitar-like instrument), wrote many hymns, and issued a hymnal.
Johann Sebastain Bach said, "The aim of all music is the glory of God." For God to be glorified by our music, the words must be doctrinally correct. I believe that the biblical ignorance in our churches is one cause of the abundance of unbiblical songs that we have today. A singer has no more right to sing a lie than a preacher has to preach a lie. The great songs of the faith were, for the most part, written by believers who knew the doctrines of the Word of God. Many so-called "Christian songs" today are written by people with little or no knowledge of the Word of God. It is a dangerous thing to separate the praise of God from the Word of God. So, it is indispensable, in order to preserve the truth, that the music of a church must be doctrinally correct.
Sometimes, the hymns expose our biblical ignorance or our modern errors. Many modern Christians have no clue when they sing the second verse of "Come Thou Fount." It goes, "Here I raise mine Ebenezer; hither by Thy help I'm come." Robert Robinson got that line from 1 Samuel:
Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far the LORD has helped us." 1 Samuel 7:12 NASB
An Ebenezer is from the Hebrew 'eben ha'ezer, which means: a "stone of help," referring to the Lord's help in delivering Israel from the Philistines.
Many hymnals have changed Isaac Watts' line, "Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I." "Worm" is a bit too strong for our inflated self-esteem, so it's toned down to, "for sinners such as I." But Watts took the word "worm" right out of Psalm 22:
But I am a worm and not a man, A reproach of men and despised by the people. Psalms 22:6 NASB
Here Yeshua on the cross in our place calls Himself "a worm." If He called Himself a worm as He bore our sin, who are we to think more highly of ourselves?
Music has a way of distilling our theology. It is one of the ways that we teach and learn. The test of all music should be: "Does it have sound doctrine? Does it exalt our glorious God and Savior? Does it humble us in His presence?" I think that as we sing songs that reflect Yahweh's person and work, we are brought into His presence through our songs.
At the end of the Passover meal, before the disciples went to the Garden of Gethsemane, the last thing they did before Yeshua went out to be taken and crucified was to sing:
And He said to them, "This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. "Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God." After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Mark 14:24-26 NASB
I would have loved to have heard my Lord sing. What did they sing? The Passover feast always ended with singing; the prescribed Psalms and hymns were sung at the close of the meal. These hymns were numbers 115, 116, 117 and 118 in the Hebrew Hymnal, the Book of Psalms. Note its opening words:
Not to us, O LORD, not to us, But to Thy name give glory Because of Thy lovingkindness, because of Thy truth. Psalms 115:1 NASB
Christ was consumed by that. He is the only man in the history of the world who literally fulfilled His chief end, that is, Yeshua glorified Yahweh and enjoyed Him all His life. So whatever happened on the next day in His arrest, trial, crucifixion, death, and burial, His overwhelming concern was that the name of Yahweh would be glorified.
Worship is fundamentally God-ward, not man-ward, despite what is coming out of the largest church in America. Victoria Osteen, wife of mega-church preacher, Joel Osteen, recently told congregants at Lakewood Church that obedience, worship, and church attendance is not for God, but themselves.
She said, "I just want to encourage every one of us to realize when we obey God, we're not doing it for God—I mean, that's one way to look at it—we're doing it for ourselves, because God takes pleasure when we're happy. That's the thing that gives Him the greatest joyÉSo, I want you to know this morning: Just do good for your own self. Do good because God wants you to be happy." No wonder this country is in such a mess, our theology is so messed up.
The next result of being filled with the Spirit is:
always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Yeshua the Christ to God, even the Father; Ephesians 5:20 NASB
As we've seen, verses 19-21 spell out the results of being filled by the Holy Spirit. To be filled by the Spirit is to be under the Spirit's control, with every conscious area of our lives submitted to Him. It is to walk in dependence on the Holy Spirit, as opposed to carrying out the deeds of the flesh (Gal. 5:16). As we saw, the first result of being filled by the Spirit is "speaking to one another/teaching one another." The second result is singing from our hearts to Yahweh the Father. And the third result is a heart that is thankful to the Father in all things. I think we could say that to the extent that we grumble and complain, we are not living under the Spirit's control. Ouch!
Paul has already mentioned thankfulness in this chapter. In contrast to immorality, impurity, greed, and filthy talk, saints must give thanks (5:3-4). But now he brings it up again, because he knows how prone we are to grumbling.
"Giving thanks"—is the Greek word eucharisteo, which means: "to be grateful, to express gratitude." The Greek word for always is pantote, which is an adverb of time and expresses that thanksgiving is continual. The prepositional phrase huper pantote, shows the extent of the thanksgiving—"for all things." It means: "always, constantly, in every situation (including our trials)." The Greek word for all things means: "all things"! It's not an occasional thing, it's a continual thing, thanking Yahweh for Christ and your salvation, and everything that He is and has done.
The "all things" of Ephesians 5:20 is the same "all things" of Ephesians 1:11, which says that God has predestined us "according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will." It's the same "all things" of Ephesians 1:22, which tells us that God "put all things in subjection under His [Christ's] feet."
You may be thinking, "Does this mean that we're supposed to give thanks when an earthquake or hurricane kills thousands of people? Or when we are sick or a loved one dies? Do we really always give thanks for all things?":
in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Yeshua. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 NASB
"In everything" is en panti in the Greek, it has the idea of being in connection with everything that occurs in life, no matter what it is. Now you may question , "How can we be thankful for everything?" Let me tell you a story that will help you understand this. Corrie Ten Boom, in her book, The Hiding Place, relates an incident which taught her this principle. She and her sister, Betsy, had just been transferred to the worst German prison camp they had seen yet, Ravensbruck. Upon entering the barracks, they found them extremely overcrowded and flea-infested. Their Scripture reading that morning in 1 Thessalonians had reminded them to rejoice always, pray constantly, and give thanks in all circumstances. Betsy told Corrie to stop and thank the Lord for every detail of their new living quarters. Corrie at first flatly refused to give thanks for the fleas, but Betsy persisted. She finally succumbed. During the months spent at that camp, they were surprised to find how openly they could hold Bible study and prayer meetings without guard interference. It was several months later when they learned that the guards would not enter the barracks because of the fleas.
I'm sure that there are some "fleas" in your life, things you are not too happy about, but we are to have an attitude of thanksgiving, because you never know how God is going to use those fleas for your good. But most of us are not thankful for the fleas in our lives.
Now giving thanks for all things is an outrageous idea unless you have a deep, biblical theology of Yahweh's sovereign goodness. Should Jacob have been thankful over the loss of his two sons?:
Their father Jacob said to them, "You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and you would take Benjamin; all these things are against me." Genesis 42:36 NASB
Were all these things against him? No, all things were working together for his good. He couldn't see it, he didn't understand it, he needed to trust in Yahweh.
Should Joseph have been thankful that his brothers hated him and sold him into slavery? Yes, because through it Yahweh was working for all their good:
"As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. Genesis 50:20 NASB
All that happened was for their preservation as Yahweh's people. Evil, being sold into slavery, is a part of the "all things" that Yahweh works together for good for His chosen ones (Rom. 8:28):
Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. Psalms 100:4 NASB
Why? Because that's the way you always enter God's presence, with thanksgiving. William Hendriksen writes, "When a person prays without thanksgiving he has clipped the wings of prayer so that it cannot rise." I believe that Paul teaches this in Philippians:
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6 NASB
The words "with thanksgiving" in the Greek are meta eucharistia. Meta and the genitive means: "with," but this is meta and the accusative, and it never means: "with," it means: "after." After thanksgiving make your request. What Paul is saying is instead of crying out to God in your difficulty with doubt, questioning, dissatisfaction, discontentment, blaming God, cry out to Yahweh after a time of thanksgiving. Why? If you have a thankful heart your prayers will be right.
I'm convinced that the single greatest act of personal worship that you can render to Yahweh is to be thankful. Job said:
He said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD." Job 1:21 NASB
In other words, I thank You, Yahweh, when you give, and I thank You when you take away.
The Spirit-filled Christian is evident by his on-going thanksgiving, expressed in the name of Christ to the Father. Such thanksgiving not only recognizes the existence of Yahweh, but His sovereign involvement in the life of the believer. It recognizes that all that happens in the believer's life is from Yahweh, that every good and perfect gift is from Him (James 1:17), and that even suffering is a gift (Philippians 1:29), which comes from God for our good and His glory (see Romans 5:3-5; 8:28). It recognizes and responds with thanksgiving for God's gracious involvement in our lives as the result of His fathomless wisdom.
You cannot give thanks and complain at the same time. The word to us is, "In everything give thanks." One of the worst besetting sins of Israel was that they constantly were grumbling against Yahweh for what they thought they should be given.
The will of the Lord is that we be put in difficult situations and have unpleasant circumstances in order that we might have opportunity to manifest the life of Yeshua the Christ. Therefore, do not complain about it. Give thanks, because it will do something to you that nothing else could do.
Matthew Henry was once robbed. How can you possibly give thanks to God when you've been robbed? That night Henry wrote in his diary: "Let me be thankful, first, because I was never robbed before. Second, because although they took my purse, they did not take my life. Third, because although they took my all, it was not much. Fourth, because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed" (Encyclopedia of 7,700 Illustrations [Assurance Publishers], by Paul Lee Tan, # 6578).
The sad truth is that too often we are not even thankful for the good things Yahweh gives us. Everything we enjoy is a gift of His grace. The Book of James says:
Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow. James 1:17 NASB
All of the good things you have in your life, you can thank Yahweh for. Just in case you don't think you have anything to be thankful for, let me give you just a few. When you wake up, you can thank Yahweh that you slept, and you could thank Him that you slept on a bed, with a pillow for your head and a blanket that kept you warm. You can thank Yahweh that you slept under a roof and not under the elements. You can thank Yahweh that you have electricity to light and heat your home. You can thank Yahweh that you don't live in a war zone where you have to fear for your life and the lives of your family. You can thank Yahweh that you have running water, a refrigerator that keeps things cold, and a stove to cook your food. You can thank Yahweh for your toothbrush, your toothpaste, your deodorant, your soap, your shampoo, your shower, your indoor plumbing. Do you get the idea?
Now let me tell you something, there's only one kind of person who can be thankful for everything, and that's a humble person. Why is that ? A humble person knows he doesn't deserve anything! So the smallest thing for him is a cause of thanksgiving. If you have a problem in your life being thankful, the problem is not a lack of thanksgiving, that's the symptom; the problem is pride. You're saying, "Yahweh I just can't be thankful because I think I'm not getting what I deserve, see." But if you know you deserve nothing, if you see yourself as a sinner for whom nothing is really deserved, then for anything that Yahweh would give you there could be nothing but thanks.
Peter O'Brien writes, "Thanksgiving is almost a synonym for the Christian life. It is the response of gratitude to God's saving activity in creation and redemption, and thus a recognition that He is the ultimate source of every blessing." (The Letter to the Ephesians [Eerdmans/Apollos], p. 361)
Notice again the Trinitarian flavor here: Christians filled by the Holy Spirit give thanks to God the Father on the basis of who Yeshua is, and what He has accomplished for His people by His death and resurrection.
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