Sermon Tone Analysis

Holy Spirit Attitude

Attitude Definition

According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, the word "attitude" means "an internal position or feeling with regard to something else."

Other words often used as synonyms are: "disposition, feeling, mood, opinion, sentiment, temper, tone, perspective, frame of mind, outlook, view, or morale.”

Aeronautics Definition

Airplane pilots often use "attitude" to describe their horizontal relationship with the runway then they land.

If their attitude isn’t aligned properly, the plane will make contact with the ground at the wrong angle and it will cause them to crash.

"Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude."-

Zig Ziglar

In essence, your attitude is your inward disposition toward other things, such as people or circumstances.

As in with an airplane, attitude is applied whenever you must deal with something other than yourself.

According to God’s word, when you become a Christian, a part of your new creation is the development of new attitudes — your attitude should become like that of Jesus.

- Check Your Attitudes - Dale A. Robbins

A Bad Attitude

Most of us can easily identify bad attitudes when they are displayed outwardly in our words or actions, such a negativeness, criticalness, rebellion, defiance, impatience, uncooperative, apathy, discouragement, independence, presumption, arrogance, self-centeredness, rudeness and such like.

These are examples of bad attitudes which Christians should reject.

However, keep in mind, attitudes are inner dispositions of the heart and thoughts — they are the hidden intentions which will eventually serve as the basis for our actions.

"Paul never developed a negative attitude.

He picked his bloody body up out of the dirt and went back into the city where he had almost been stoned to death, and he said, "Hey, about that sermon I didn't finish preaching--here it is!” - John Hagee

"You cannot tailor-make the situations in life but you can tailor-make the attitudes to fit those situations."-

Zig Ziglar

A renewed mind and Life led of the Spirit leads to good attitudes and heart motivations that lead to good actions.

A Renewed Mind

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you.

Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable.

This is truly the way to worship him.

2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.

Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

- (NLT)

Bad Attitudes Stem From Lies Produced From Fear

Our Supernatural Identity - Wendy Backlund p.21-23

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things - (NIV)

Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.

7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.

8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.

- (NIV)

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice.

And the God of peace will be with you.

- (NIV)

"Spiritual strongholds begin with a thought.

One thought becomes a consideration.

A consideration develops into an attitude, which leads then to action.

Action repeated becomes a habit, and a habit establishes a "power base for the enemy," that is, a stronghold.” - Elisabeth Elliot

What is the lie that I am believing that produces fear and bad attitudes?

A Bad Attitude Is Not A Personality, It Is A Distorted Perception That Produces A Wrong Behavior.

"The greatest day in your life and mine is when we take total responsibility for our attitudes.

That's the day we truly grow up.” - John C. Maxwell

A New Attitude

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. - (NASB)

"You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off the old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds."

- NIV

"Attitudes determine our actions, for good or bad."-

Dwight L. Moody

We will be hanging out in today

The “Works” Of The Flesh

When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these.

- (NLT)

The Works of the flesh are the result of bad attitudes that are produced by not renewing our minds.

The “Works” Of The Flesh Are As Follows:

1. Sexual immorality (porneia [4202, 4518]) includes adultery and prostitution.

This is the word from which we get pornography.

(cf.

; ).

2. Impure thoughts (akatharsia [167, 174]) could refer to that which was ritually unclean, such as unclean food, but came to be a general term for sexual misconduct.

Undoubtedly, Paul would have included impure thoughts and contemporary sexually explicit humor in this category (cf.

for sexually dirty living).

3. Lustful pleasures (aselgeia [766, 816]) included sexual excess, wantonness, perverted and reckless living, and the idea of complete disregard for all ethical standards (cf.

; ).

4. Idolatry (eidēololatria [1495, 1630]) refers to the worship of an image or any God-substitute (cf. ; cf. also ; ).

5. Sorcery (pharmakeia [5331, 5758]).

Originally related to the dispensing of drugs (hence, English “pharmacy”), this term became directly associated with potions and poisons and was thus related to those who practiced witchcraft or used evil and demonic spirits to affect others (cf.

).

6. Hostility (echthrai [2189, 2397]) includes hatred and was associated with troublemakers (cf.

, where Christ came to bring an end to such hostile ways).

7. Quarreling (eris [2054, 2251]) includes rivalry and divisiveness (cf.

; ).

8. Jealousy (zēlos [2205, 2419]) can mean zealousness in a positive sense, but in the negative, it is closely related to envy and involves an unhealthy longing for that which belongs to others (cf.

; ).

9. Outbursts of anger (thumoi [2372, 2596]; cf. ; ; ).

10. Selfish ambition (eritheiai [2052, 2249]), a word that originally meant earning money but came to have a negative meaning associated with self-seeking (cf.

).

11. Dissension (dichostasiai [1370, 1496]) or divisions (cf.

).

12. Division (haireseis [139, 146]) originally carried the meaning of a choice and later developed the sense of belonging to a party or group in either a positive or negative sense.

Here the term has the definite negative connotation of party divisiveness (cf.

).

The term was used later during early Christian debates and has come down to us in the word “heresy.”

13.

Envy (phthonoi [5355, 5784]) implies a malicious spirit that vies for another’s status or possessions (cf.

; ).

14. Drunkenness (methai [3178, 3494]) denotes intoxication (cf.

; ; ).

15. Wild parties (kēomoi [2970, 3269]) means participation in orgies, usually associated with drunkenness (cf.

; ).

The list is not exhaustive, so Paul adds his catchall statement covering other similar activities (5:21) “and other sins like these..”

Apparently, Paul had given the Galatians similar advice at a previous time because after listing these vices, he reminded them that he had told them before that practicing such evils would prevent them from inheriting the Kingdom of God.

The list of vices implicitly results from human effort, while the virtues are the product of God’s graciousness and the spontaneity of the new life (cf.

Burton 1921:313; cf. also Barrett 1985:75–76).

Dunn (1993:308) pushes the images even further to suggest that the plural “works” reflects human divisiveness and the singular “fruit” the unity of the Spirit.

Paul assumed that his Christian readers no longer lived in the realm of the flesh and were rather manifesting positive spiritual characteristics by living in the Spirit.

He did not simply repeat his exhortation to “walk” in the Spirit (5:25; cf.

5:16).

Rather, this exhortation (to them and to himself: “let us”) was to “follow directly in the steps” (stoichēomen [4748, 5123]) set by the Spirit.

This instruction answers both the legalist and the libertine.

The way of Christ’s followers is not the way of undirected liberty (libertinism) nor the way of direction by a code or list of prescriptions (legalism); it is a direct, personal, step-by-step leading of the Spirit in the Christian’s life.

Mohrlang, R., Gerald L. Borchert.

(2007).

Cornerstone biblical commentary, Vol 14: Romans and Galatians (pp.

321–327).

Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

"Every human activity, except sin, can be done for God's pleasure, if you do it with an attitude of praise."-