Sermon Tone Analysis

So much of what Paul encourages the Thessalonian believers to be about in his final instructions centers on living an enthusiastic, positive, Spirit-filled life.

One of the marks of authentic Christianity is that believers will have an enthusiasm for God and the things of God.

The word from which we get our word enthusiasm is the Greek enthusiasmoms.

It means inspired by God.

The implication is that a Christian will be excited about the things of God and disenchanted with the things of this world.

In their hearts, most believers know that they ought to be excited about such things as Bible study, prayer, church attendance, and ministry.

But, sad to say, many believers no longer have any enthusiasm for such things.

Somewhere along the way they have lost their motivation for the things of God.

ILLUS.

A lithograph by French artist Gustav Dore’ entitled The Neophyte illustrates my topic for this evening.

The work reveals the dismay of a young monk who too soon awakened to the truth that the cloister is not the house of pious meditation and holy life he had pictured in his imagination.

The young monk is seen at his duties in the choir.

Two rows of Carthusian monks occupy the seats on either side of him.

The tremendous force of the picture lies in the contrast between the Neophyte’s fine, sensitive, young face, with eyes burning with spiritual enthusiasm, and the row of monks whose faces represent the spiritual apathy that has overcome them.

As he looks at them, dismay, disenchantment, even terror, seize his heart.

These are to be his companions; this is what he is to become.

If Dore’ were creating this work today, I wonder if he might entitle it, “The New Convert, and the Old Baptists”?

Quench not the Spirit Paul encourages.

We are to live the Christian life with a sense of expectancy.

What is the secret, however, of a constant flow of enthusiasm in the Christian life?

What is it that will motivate the believer in his or her pursuit of spiritual things?

The answer is the filling of the Holy Spirit!

Christian author, Stewart Edinburgh, once wrote: The supreme need of the church is the same in the twentieth century as in the first; it is men on fire for Christ.”

God wants you and I to be enthusiastic about life in Christ.

He wanted the Thessalonian believers to be enthusiastic about life.

But somehow, they had become negative.

So in his final instructions the Apostle Paul includes the phrase, “Quench not the Spirit.”

In other words, they are to stop doing whatever it is they are doing which is quenching the Spirit of God in their lives.

!

I. THE ENEMIES OF ENTHUSIASM

#.

God wants us to be enthusiastic about the things in life that really matter

#.

He wants you to be enthusiastic about your relationship with Him

#.

He wants you to be enthusiastic about your relationships with other believers

#.

He wants you to be enthusiastic about those things which build the inner man in character and spirituality

#. things like Bible study

#. and devotional time

#. and worship

#. and service and ministry

#. but let’s be honest, many believers are not very enthusiastic about these things

#. the fact is, family reunions, sports activities, camping trips, and hours on the Internet offer infinitely more excitement to the average believer then does Bible study, worship or ministry

#. why is that?

#. from God’s viewpoint the answer is very clear — a first love that has grown cold

* /"But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first."/ (Revelation 2:4, ESV)

#. when our hearts are hardened by sin we will always be more enthusiastic about the entertainments of the world then the character-building requirements of the faith

#. believers lack enthusiasm about spiritual things because they have extinguished the fire which produces the enthusiasm

#. remember when you first got saved?

#. do you remember your passion for going to church?

#. do you remember how you couldn’t get enough of God’s word?

#. remember how you wanted to go to every church fellowship because you couldn’t get enough of God’s people

#. what happened to the fire that used to burn in your heart?

#. to the Thessalonians, Paul had to say, Stop quenching the Spirit

#. the same instruction is relevant for the church today

#. the New Testament speaks of three sins which a believer can commit against the Holy Spirit

#. they are sins that breed apathy toward the things of God

!! A. THE FIRST SIN IS RESISTING THE HOLY SPIRIT

* Acts 7:51 /“You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears!

You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!”/ NIV

#. resisting the Holy Spirit is when you say no to the Holy Spirit

* ILLUS.

For six long months I said no to the Holy Spirit when I felt God’s call into the ministry.

I clearly understood the call, but said no to the Spirit’s leadership in my life because that was not what I wanted to do with my life.

#. when you resist the Holy Spirit, several things will happen in your life

#.

God will stop working in your life and you’ll become miserable

#. you will no longer have a sense of spiritual piece

#. peace is a gift of the Holy Spirit and when you are resisting him they can be no peace

#.

you will become deaf to other promptings of the Holy Spirit because you’ve tuned him out

!! B. THE SECOND SIN IS GRIEVING THE HOLY SPIRIT

#. like a wayward or rebellious child grieves the hearts of his or her parents when they act inappropriately, so too can the believer bring grief to the Holy Spirit when we act inappropriately

#. we act inappropriately when we do unChristian acts

#. we act inappropriately when we have unChristian attitudes

#. we act inappropriately when we neglect Christian duties

#. grieving his father was the great sin of the Prodigal Son in Jesus’ parable

!! C. THE THIRD SIN IS QUENCHING THE HOLY SPIRIT

#. the word quench, when used of fire, means to extinguish, to smother, or to stifle

#.

Paul does not mean that we can diminish the Spirit of God, but we can extinguish the spiritual fire He builds within our heart

#. we quench the Holy Spirit when we disregard His presence

#. no one likes to be ignored

* ILLUS One of the quickest ways you can extinguish a friendship is to take that other person for granted.

#. the same is true with the Holy Spirit in your life

#.

we quench the Holy Spirit when we deny Him full possession of our life

* Ephesians 5:18 /“Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery.

Instead, be filled with the Spirit.”/

NIV

#. this is one of those verses that loses something in the translation

#. the phrase be filled means to be filled once and for all for all time

#.

we quench the Holy Spirit when we disobey Him

#. the Holy Spirit is always prompting us to do the right thing

#. if we turn away when we feel His presence we quench His presence in our lives

#. when we feel the Holy Spirit impressing us to do something we must give expression to the impression

#. if we do not, it will lead to a depression of our spiritual life

!

II.

THE EFFORT TO HAVE ENTHUSIASM

#. enthusiasm for the things of God does not come naturally to us

#. the world, the flesh, and the devil fight us every step of the way

#.

bottom line — many believers lack a real spiritual enthusiasm because they are willing to pay the price

#. the price is your pride, your self-will and your fear of the unexpected

#. until you are willing to give these up, you will never experience the kind of enthusiasm which the early Christians had when the presence of the Holy Spirit fell upon them at Pentecost

* ILLUS.

Tom Hufty, vice president for Hannibal LaGrange College once told me the story of a fifteen year old girl who came to him for some advise.

She told him, /“I really want to surrender my life fully to God, but I’m afraid that if I do, He’ll call me to be a missionary to Afghanistan or someplace.”/

#. how do we give up that which hinders us and keeps us spiritually shagnet and ineffectual rather than spiritually enthusiastic?