Ronald Thomke – No Excuse for a Wrong Spirit – Glencoe, New South Wales, Australia Convention – 2018

Sometime in the past it was said to me, “There is no excuse for a wrong spirit.”  Being jealous, bitter, mad at somebody, bad attitude – there’s no excuse for it!  Our spirit is what we will take into eternity.  Some people have a battle with modesty – not everyone.  Some people have a battle with morals – not everyone.  Some people have a battle with pride – not everyone.  Some people have a battle with money – but not everyone.  With most of us there is a struggle with our spirit.  It is a struggle. 
Some examples of this:  I was thinking of Hagar- I assume you know that she was only a servant, she had no credentials, she was given the opportunity to be a part of Abraham’s family.  When she realised she was going to be the mother of Abraham’s firstborn in Genesis 16:4, she despised her mistress – she had a wrong attitude and there was no excuse for that.  She forgot she was a servant.  Keep in mind that we are all just servants. In verse 6, Sarah dealt hardly with her.  Maybe that’s a bad attitude, too.  Sarah had responsibilities in that household – it required some kind of action.  Hagar didn’t take it, she left.  The angel of the Lord met her and said, “Go back and submit.”  When we have a definite reason to feel things are going well, maybe feeling superior, we are going to lose a lot.  Hagar lost soooo much. There is no excuse for a wrong spirit.
The prodigal son – remember the older brother?  There is no excuse for a wrong spirit. Luke 15:25, he was out in the field, he was there working to give him credit, he was working to increase the wealth of his father, he brought no grief to his father.  As he drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing.  It got his attention because there had not been any happy sounds coming from this house, the Father was grieving.  He asked the servants, “What means this?”  They answered him, “Thy brother is come and thy father has killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.”  He was angry.  I detect in that servant the same joy that the father had.  Talk about a wrong spirit!!! There is no excuse for it!  He would not go in.  When you have a wrong spirit, it finds a way to express itself.  The father came out to entreat him.  His father didn’t give up on him because of his bad attitude and wrong spirit.  He didn’t love him any less.  If someone has a wrong spirit, God doesn’t give up on him.  When you have a wrong spirit, it’s hard to be reasonable. In verse 29, “And he answering said to his father, ‘Lo these many years do I serve thee, neither have transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends but as soon as this thy son was come, which has devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.’”  He brought up all the good things he had done versus all the bad of his younger brother did.  His spirit made him complain about his father.  If we let a wrong spirit control our lives, we are going to feel negative towards God.  We cannot have a right relationship with God and have a wrong spirit.  The father invited him to join them, “Come in, you are missing so much.”  It is just such a sad thing.  There is no excuse for a wrong spirit.
Luke 9:51, prior to this, the disciple have a wrong spirit.  Jesus steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.  He did that so He would not waver or drag His feet.  It may not be easy but it’s right.  I felt like that about coming to Australia.  They went by Samaria, the disciples would have tried to convey their appreciation for Jesus BUT they would not receive Him.  No violence, they just said, “NO.”  Look what they missed.  Jesus healed everyone, and He gave wise solutions for all their problems.  When James and John (their names mean sons of thunder) saw the way they treated Jesus, they wanted to send fire to consume them. Jesus was unhappy, what kind of a spirit is that?  James and John would not have been thinking of their spirits.  They hated to see Jesus rejected.  They had a superior attitude of themselves, it confused their thinking.  Jesus rebuked them in verse 55.  When we get a wrong spirit, we are the last ones to realise it.  It’s like getting you sweater buttoned up the wrong way.  Everyone else knows but you can’t see it!!  There is no excuse for a wrong spirit.  The older brother’s attitude would have discredited himself to the servants. When we have a wrong spirit, we discredit ourselves in the eyes of others.  The word of God and the Spirit of God will help us with our wrong spirit.  The Lord will help us know about our wrong spirit.
David had a good spirit.  I Samuel 18, Saul recognised something in David that could be very useful.  Saul drafted him, verse 5.  Saul set him over men of war.  David would have sensed a spirit of jealousy in Saul (a wrong spirit).  How do you react to a wrong spirit?  This may happen more than you want it to.  It is very human to get the feeling that it doesn’t matter.  Jesus said, “Forgive them for they know not what they do.”  That was a perfect example of a right spirit.  A wrong spirit means you cannot behave wisely, you discredit yourself, and you lose respect. There is no excuse for it.  May God help us to keep a right spirit and be easily entreated when we have a wrong spirit.  God will help us make it right.