'What Manner Of Spirit Are You - Sermon Outlines. Org



"What Manner Of Spirit Are You?"

Luke 9:46-56

INTRO. In v55, Jesus rebuked James and John by telling them, "Ye know

not what manner of spirit ye are of." Jesus there was talking about

their attitude, feelings, and behavior toward others. The Samaritans

had rejected Jesus and James and John wanted to destroy them.

Have you ever felt the same way? You see and hear about the

murder going on a killing spree and killing several people and you

wish God would strike Him dead where he stands. You see and hear

unrepentant sinners boldly and openly reject God and you wish God

would just wipe them out right there. You see the homosexuals

openly parading their sin and you wish God would strike Him or her

with AIDS because of their ungodly lifestyle! This must have been

how these two disciples felt. But notice God rebuked them because

of this attitude! In other words, "their spirit was wrong."

This is very important... so often a wrong spirit abounds in the

Church. As a result the work of the Holy Spirit is hindered!

Ephesians 4:30 tells us, "and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God,

whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." Many times the

work of the LORD is hindered not by a lack of servants, but by a

wrong spirit! Romans 12:9 says, "Let love be without dissimulation.

Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good." This verse tells

us that our love for all should be genuine. It also tells us to hate evil.

But this does not mean we are to hate the sinner, but that we are to

hate the sin! We may not like what a person stands for, or what he

practices; but yet, still we are to love him! Until a body of believers in

Jesus Christ are willingly to show forth the right kind of spirit to

God's people and to the lost, the work of the Holy Spirit is hindered

and the ministry of that Church is ineffective!

I want each of us to answer this question, "What Manner Of Spirit

Am I?"

(1) THE WRONG SPIRIT OF THE DISCIPLES

LUKE 9:46, 49, 54

*This wrong spirit displayed itself in three ways. We see:

A. A DISPUTING (CONTENTIOUS) SPIRIT (v46). The word for

"reasoning" in the Greek means "disputing, or arguing." They were

arguing. They were contentious. The word meaning "apt to quarrel or

fight with words."

1. What Were They Arguing About? v46b—“Which of them should

be greatest." They lacked humility! Many of God's people are much

the same way. They believe themselves indispensable to the

Church and its ministry! If they don't have their way they become

angry and contentious.

ILLUS: Proverbs 10:28-29

God's Churches are full of people who refuse to do what

they can do for the Lord. If they can't be the biggest

boulder on the mountain, they won't be on the mountain

at all! How long would many men hold their jobs if they

worked for their bosses like they worked for the Lord?

A Pastor once asked a man who was very zealous in his job

why he wasn't as zealous in his work for the Lord. The

man replied, "Well, you see, my boss puts food on my

table!" He must have forgotten that God provides all we

need! (Philippians 4:13). A Church family is most happy

when each one is doing the task God gave them! (Psalm

100:2).

2. What Did They Fail To Recognize? They failed to look at the

greatness of Christ. Think of his great humility (Philippians 2:5-

8)!

ILLUS: Andrew Murray said, "The humble man feels no jealousy or

envy. He can praise God when others are preferred and

blessed before him. He can bear to hear others praised

while he is forgotten because...he has received the spirit of

Jesus, who pleased not Himself, and who sought not His

own honor. Therefore, in putting on the Lord Jesus Christ

he has put on the heart of compassion, kindness,

meekness, longsuffering, and humility." Humble people are

not conscious of being humble. As Dr. M. R. De Haan

used to say, "Humility is something we should constantly

pray for, yet never thank God that we have."

3. We in ourselves, and by ourselves are nothing, but Christ is

everything (John 15:5)! "He must increase, but I must decrease"

(John 3:30).

ILLUS: The attitude of John the Baptist should be the attitude of

every follower of Christ. John had become influential in

Palestine, but after he baptized Jesus the people began to

follow the Savior. Questioned about this, John stated, "He

must increase, but I must decrease."

C. S. Kirkendall points out that his principle of selflessly

advancing the cause of another was exemplified by

Edmund Halley in his relationship to Isaac Newton.

Halley, the man who predicted the return of the comet that

now bears his name, recognized the importance of

Newton's discovery of the law of gravity. He challenged

him to perfect his original idea and corrected some of his

mathematical equations. Halley then urged Newton to put

his ideas in book form. The work, Mathematical Principles

of Natural Philosophy, made Newton famous. What few

people know is that Halley edited and supervised its

publication and even financed its printing, though Newton

could more easily have afforded it. Historians today call

Halley's action one of the most selfless examples in the

records of modern science.

4. When we are willing to follow His example (John 13:12-16) to

serve as He served, loved as He loved, and forgive as He

forgave, then are we on the road to true greatness! There is no

greater example than His! Original ministries are the result of men

and women patterning themselves after the Son of God. -- Warren

Wiersbe, Leadership, Vol. 1, no. 1.

B. A JUDGEMENTAL SPIRIT (v49). The work was good. His was

delivering souls from the grips of Satan. They disciples scolded and

rebuked the man. Note the reason they gave (v49b—“because he

followeth not with us." Are we not guilty of the same today? If a

Church is winning souls to Jesus, if their attendance is growing, if

they are expanding their field of ministry, who am I to question their

methods? Just because they don't go about it the same way we do

doesn't make it wrong! Maybe they have a bus ministry, maybe a

children’s ministry or nursing home ministry or some other kind of

ministry; who am I to say they are wrong when God is blessing their

efforts? As long as they are true to the Word and reaching others for

Christ, I say PRAISE THE LORD!

ILLUS: Judging one another is Satan's trick to get Christ's soldiers to

destroy themselves. During the Peninsular War, an officer of

artillery had just served a gun with admirable precision

against a body of men posted in a wood to his left. When the

Duke rode up, after turning his glass for a moment in the

direction of the shot, he said, in his cool way: "Well aimed,

Captain, but no more. They are our own 39th!" This blunder

has been repeated sadly too often in the Lord's army. With

what fatal frequency have great guns of the church, which

might have battered down the citadel of Satan been

misdirected against the Christian brethren! --Choice

Gleanings Calendar

C. A REVENGEFUL SPIRIT (v54). The Samaritans did not receive Him!

Many today will not receive Christ or His message. Does that mean we

are to be angry with them? James and John's hearts were not right.

They showed a wrong spirit!

ILLUS: A lady was sick, so she went to the doctor. He examined her,

did a number of tests and told her the bad news.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but I'm afraid you've

contracted rabies."

The doctor left the room for a minute, and when he returned

the woman was busy writing on a piece of paper. He asked,

"What are you doing, writing your will?"

She said, "No, I'm making a list of all the people I'm going to

bite."

The spirit of A Christian is to be one of Love, Forgiveness, and

Meekness. Jesus is our example in Love (Matthew 9:36; Luke

19:41), Forgiveness (Luke 23:34) and meekness (Matthew 5:38-40,

43-48). But Notice what they wanted to do. Does this not show a

wrong spirit within them? (Romans 12:17-21). Notice How Jesus

reacted (v55). Jesus rebuked them of this type of spirit! It was a

rebuke borne out of love! Many times God does the same with us

(Proverbs 3:12).

(2) A WRONG SPIRIT WILL HINDER THE MOVING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN

THE CHURCH

A. SPIRITUAL GROWTH IS STUNTED. Why? :

1. Our Love is Wrong (1 John 3:14-18).

2. Our Forgiveness is Wrong (Ephesians 4:32).

3. Our Humility is Wrong (Ephesians 4:1-3; Philippians 2:3).

B. SEVERE DISTRUST AND HARD FEELINGS EXIST BETWEEN

CHRISTIANS. Our Lord Jesus said in John 13:34-35—“A new

commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have

loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know

that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” If we, as a

Church, cannot show the love of Christ one to another; how can we

share the love of Christ with a world in darkness? Love - the visitors in

church may not be able to explain it or define it, but they know when it

is there and when it is not. A man will get up, dress, pass fifty other

churches, and drive all the way across town if he knows that a warm

experience awaits him with love and true fellowship in the house of God.

For many, the love they receive in church is the only love they will

experience all week long. - John Bisagno

ILLUS: A visitor in a strange city was returning from supper when a

sign in a store front window caught his eye. It read "Chinese

Laundry." He made a mental note of the location because he

had been gone long enough to have need of a good laundry.

The next morning he arrived at the store with a bag full of

soiled clothes. He piled the clothes on the counter before a

shocked attendant. "What's that?" the attendant asked. "My

laundry," came the reply. "I've always heard that Chinese

laundries do excellent work." The startled clerk quickly

informed the visitor that the establishment was not a Chinese

laundry. "But what about the sign in the window?" "Oh, this is

not a laundry, it is a sign shop."

The church sometimes sends out false signals about its

purpose. Needy people bring in their dirty laundry only to

discover that the cross of forgiveness is only a sign and that

the attendants are not equipped to handle soiled lives.

To prevent this, we must have:

1. The Same Love (Philippians 1:27a—“Only let your conversation be

as it becometh the gospel of Christ..." If we don't love Christ and

love Him supremely divisions will occur! John Newton said, “What

will it profit a man if he gains his cause, and silences his adversary,

if at the same time he loses that humble, tender frame of spirit in

which the Lord delights, and to which the promise of his presence

is made! -- John Newton, from The Letters of John Newton.

Christianity Today, Vol. 33, no. 11.

2. The Same Spirit (Philippians 1:27b—“that ye stand fast in one

spirit...") Unless we are lead by God's Spirit, the lust of the flesh will

be followed! Thus hard feelings and resentments will result! The

word "schism" is a transliteration from the Greek schisma, which

literally means "a tear in a garment or a crack in a stone." A torn

garment is useless; it fails to accomplish its purpose of covering the

body. A cracked stone endangers the whole structure that rests

upon it. Paul writes that no member of the body should behave in

such a way as to render the whole body useless. The way to avoid

such schism is for the members of the body to help each other,

since they are capable of recognizing one another's strengths and

weaknesses.

3. The Same Mind (Philippians 1:27c—“with one mind striving to-

gether for the faith of the gospel.") We must covenant together in

prayer and following the moving of the Spirit in all matters relating

to the Church!

C. SORROWFUL DIVISIONS AND CONTENTIONS WILL OCCUR!

ILLUS: John Wesley, a man whose bitterest enemy could not fairly

accuse him of indifference to the doctrines and faith "once

delivered to the saints," wrote thus liberally, and large

heartedly to a correspondent: "Men may die without any

opinions and yet be carried into Abraham's bosom; but if we be

without love, what will knowledge avail? I will not quarrel with

you about opinions. Only see that your heart be right toward

God, and that you know and love the Lord Jesus Christ, and

love your neighbors, and walk as your Master walked, and I

ask no more. I am sick of opinions. Give me a good and

substantial religion, a humble gentle love of God and man." –

Dictionary Of Illustrations

D. SOULS WILL PERISH! A wrong spirit will rob the Church of Her

power to win lost souls to Jesus Christ! WE are so busy with the war

within that we forget about the war without. Satan is battling for the

souls of man and Christ needs us all to fight the good fight of faith!

(3) A WRONG SPIRIT CAN BE REMEDIED

Psalm 51:7-10

A. A WRONG SPIRIT MUST BE REPENTED OF AND CONFESSED TO

GOD (1 John 1:9). Then and only then fellowship can be restored with

God! In Psalm 51, David found himself out of fellowship with God

because of sin. He realized God must first cleanse him before he could

enjoy God's presence again! We cannot have the joy of Salvation as

long as a wrong spirit is within us! (vv. 7-8).

B. WE MUST ASK GOD TO CHANGE OUR DISPOSITION. The reason we

hold on the wrong spirit we have is because we don't really want to

change! (vlOa). The Christian is daily being renewed in mind as he

yields himself to the Holy Spirit (Romans 12:1-2). When we won’t

yield our will to the Spirit’s will our wrong spirit will remain!

C. WE MUST ASK GOD TO GIVE US A RIGHT SPIRIT (v1Ob). What is

that spirit? It is:

1. A Loving spirit.

2. A Forgiving spirit.

3. A meek and understanding spirit.

CLOSING: "What Manner Of Spirit Are You?” Examine your heart.

Lamentations 3:40 says, "Let us search and try our ways, and

turn again to the LORD." Do you need a right spirit within? Until

the spirit is right within you, you are grieving God's Spirit and

hindering the ministry of this Church! Let us pray as David,

"Create in me a clean heart, 0 GOD; and renew a right spirit within

me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with

thy free spirit." (Psalm 51:10, 12)

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