Fruit Of The Spirit # 9

The last fruit that we are going to deal with is the fruit of Temperance.

When I think of the fruit of Temperance, I think of a thermostat.

Illus: You know what a thermostat does! It keeps the temperature in our homes under control. This is what the fruit of Temperance does in our life. It keeps our life under control.

Generally, when a preacher announces that he is going to preach on TEMPERANCE, everyone assumes he is going to preach against alcoholic beverages.

Illus: One Baptist minister was completing a temperance sermon with great sentiment. He said:

• “If I had all the beer in the world, I’d take it, and pour it into the river.”

• With even greater emphasis, he said, “And if I had all the wine in the world, I’d take it, and pour it into the river.”

• And then finally, he said, “And if I had all the whiskey in the world, I’d take it, and pour it into the river.” The sermon complete, he then sat down.

The song leader stood very cautiously, and announced with a smile, “For our closing song, let us sing Hymn #518: ‘Shall We Gather at the River’.”

The definition of Temperance has a much broader scope than just dealing with alcohol.

Let’s look at TWO things in this matter of Temperance. First, we want to consider.

I. TEMPERANCE AND DEFINITION

Look at 1 Cor. 10: 23, “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.”

We could paraphrase it this way, "Everything is permissible - but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible - but not everything is constructive."

WHAT IS PAUL SAYING?

Paul is saying that every day we deal with things that ARE NOT SIN, but we can MAKE THEM SIN IF WE DO NOT PRACTICE SELF-RESTRAINT.

Paul speaks of running the race of the Christian life in 1 Cor. 9:26-27. We read, “I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”

Paul is talking about a balance in the Christian life.

The devil knows he is wasting his time tempting us to do certain sins, because we know that they are SINFUL AND DESTRUCTIVE.

So the devil takes GOOD THINGS in our life and makes us go to the EXTREME with these things, so they will become sin in our life.

The idea of temperance traces back to ancient Greece. It was Plato who identified what he determined to be the four "Natural virtues" which lead to "moral excellence" in human living:

• Justice

• Prudence

• Fortitude

• Temperance

The apostle Paul compiled nine virtues, which he called "The Fruit of the Spirit," and he included Temperance (self-control or self-restraint),

Temperance in a broad definition has to do with SELF-RESTRAINT in all areas of our life.

We looked at TEMPERANCE AND DEFINITION, but we also need to look at-

II. TEMPERANCE AND DESTRUCTION

Illus: When author Bill Bennett put together his “Book of Virtues” a few years back, he included self-discipline as one of his ten essential traits for wise and responsible living.

Bennett went on to point out the obvious truth that, "There is much unhappiness and personal distress in the world because of [human] failures to control [our] tempers, appetites, passions and impulses."

As we look around us, we see that many have destroyed their lives because they have no restraint when it comes to:

• Gambling

• Sex

• Drugs

• Alcoholic beverages

• Pornography

•Tobacco

Every day we see those who have destroyed their lives.

When we allow GOOD THINGS and BAD THINGS in our life to get OUT OF CONTROL, we have formed an addiction in our life.

Addiction is when something that we like, enjoy or need in life takes over (or begins to dominate) our lives to the detriment of our health, our balance as persons and our relationships with others.

There are so many good and essential things in life to which one can become destructively addicted. For example:

A. FOOD

Food is a necessity in life, but food can become an addiction. Our churches are filled with people who do not EAT TO LIVE; they LIVE TO EAT!

There are people who are taking years off their life because of this addiction. Their life is out of control!

Illus: They are literally digging their grave with a knife and a fork.

Illus: A dietician was once addressing a large audience in Chicago. "The material we put into our stomachs is enough to have killed most of us sitting here, years ago.