INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• Have you ever watched some of the survivor shows on television? Survivor? Survivor Man (Nutty guy)? Castaway? Robinson Caruso?
• It seems like if the people are on certain islands, there always seems to be coconuts available to them.
• Look at this coconut; it does not look very appetizing does it? Who was the first person to think about opening up one of these to eat?
• SLIDE #2
• I like coconuts, but they are not the easiest fruit to get to or to open up.
• Usually these coconuts are up high in coconut trees, making them hard to get to.
• Now once you get to the fruit, the fun begins. Trying to open one of those coconuts is not an easy task if you do not have the right tools to open it. If you try to smash it, the sweet milk inside spills out on the ground. It has been quite comical watching people on these shows trying to get at the milk and the inside of a coconut.
• Once you are able to crack one open, the work is worth it. Coconut cream pie, coconut dream pie blizzard time!
• Today we are going to talk about a fruit that just may be the hardest or one of the hardest for us to get to. It may be one of the hardest for us to crack open.
• The great thing about the fruit of self-control is once you get it open, you will reap the wonderful milk inside.
• This fruit of self-control is a fruit that opens many great things to us in life. What this fruit will do for every area of your life is a wonderful blessing waiting to happen!
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
I. THE FRUIT OF SELF-CONTROL.
• Once again, we need to begin with the basics, let us first define what self-control is.
• SLIDE #4
1. Defining self-control.
• SLIDE #5
• The meaning in the original means: “to grip” or to “take hold of.”
• This word describes a person who is willing to get a grip on their lives ad take control of areas that will bring them success or failure.
• It is the power to keep oneself in check.
• It is the quality that gives victory over fleshly desires.
• Commentator William Barclay has a couple of comments worth noting pertaining to self-control.
• Plato uses of self-mastery. It is the spirit which has mastered its desires and its love of pleasure.
• It is used of the athlete’s discipline of his body (1 Corinthians 9:25) and of the Christian’s mastery of sex (1 Corinthians 7:9). Secular Greek uses it of the virtue of an Emperor who never lets his private interests influence the government of his people. It is the virtue which makes a man so master of himself that he is fit to be the servant of others. (William Barclay)
• He further states: Self-control is that great quality which comes to a man when Christ is in his heart, that quality which makes him able to live and to walk in the world, and yet to keep his garments unspotted from the world.
• SLIDE #6
• Proverbs 25:28 (ESV) A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.
• The passage from Proverbs underscores the importance of a self-controlled life.
• SLIDE #7
2. Anything uncontrolled can harm you and your relationships.
• Think about people who accomplish things, they have the ability to exercise self-control.
• John Maxwell writes: “In reading about the lives of great people, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves.”
• There was an office sign that read: “If you could kick the person responsible for most of your troubles, you wouldn’t be able to sit for a week.”
• It is always easy to blame others for our failures, but many times we are our own worst enemy because we lacked the self-control to put in the effort we should have to be successful.
• Former Tonight Show host Jack Paar stated: Looking back, my life seems to be one long obstacle course, with me as the chief obstacle.
• The Bible talks about some areas in our lives that are negatively affected when uncontrolled.
• SLIDE #8
• Anger- Proverbs 29:11; Lust- Proverbs 6:26; Spending- Proverbs 21:20; Drinking- Proverbs 23:29-35; Ambition- Proverbs 23:4.
• And the list goes on. When we loose control of areas of our life, that area will hurt us.
• SLIDE #9
II. THE MARKS OF A SELF-CONTROLLED LIFE. 1 CORINTHIANS 9:24-27
• We are going to flip over to 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 as we examine the marks of a self-controlled life.
• SLIDE #10
• 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (ESV): 24Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27But I discipline my body and keep it under control,£ lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
• From this passage we see three marks of a self-controlled life.
• SLIDE #11
1. A self-controlled life is lived with purpose. (24-26)
• This is an important aspect of being able to live a self-controlled life.
• I USED to keep my body in shape. I had a goal of not being on the “fat man” squad at football. I HATED running long distances, but I had a purpose so that purpose led me to do things I did not particularly like doing.
• I went to our non-air conditioned weight room in the heat of the summer so that I could be as strong as possible so that I could hold on to my starting position.
• I sacrificed going out and doing things that got in the way of my purpose.
• In our 1 Corinthians passage, Paul says that all who run a race run to win. He tells us to run in such a way that we win.
• Winners do not put in half-hearted efforts, they give it their all. Are you struggling in your relationship with Jesus, with your spouse or children? Are you really giving it your all?
• In verse 26 Paul says that he has purpose, that all he does is guided by his purpose in life of reaching people for Jesus.
• A life without purpose is a life without self-control because there is nothing to anchor to.
• We are striving for an imperishable wreath!
• SLIDE #12
2. A self-controlled life is lived with discipline. (27)
• In our passage, Paul says that he disciplines his body to make it a slave. He was not going to let the appetites of the body ruin his ministry.
• When Paul says he disciplined his body, he was saying he would give himself a knockout punch to keep him in line.
• The word used for “discipline: means to “hit under the eye”.
• Most people are slaves to their body. I have gained weight because I do not exercise like I should and I want to eat the moment my body tells me it is hungry.
• A lot of people get in trouble with the opposite sex because they let their hormones do talking instead of taking control of them.
• Without discipline, we will get nowhere in life. If we are not disciplined enough to set aside time for God, we will not grow. We will live with an empty faith, void of any power because we were not disciplined enough to read, pray, study and serve.
• Paul said he exercised self-control. He was disciplined enough to stay away from all that would negatively affect his performance.
• I remember an old Saturday Night Live mock commercial.
• John Belushi was sitting at a breakfast table smoking, and eating little chocolate donuts. They showed him winning Olympic field events, waving the American flag. Then he told how the little chocolate donuts were the breakfast of champions.
• I tried it, they do not work.
• It takes discipline to reach goals. During Paul’s day, athletes’ would deny themselves things that were lawful if those things would get in the way of wining the perishable wreath.
• SLIDE #13
3. A self-controlled life is lived in submission to something greater than self. (27; Romans 12:1-2)
• In the Corinthians passage, Paul said he disciplined his body so that he would not be disqualified.
• The athletes of Paul day followed strict training regiments; they could be disqualified from running in the race if they were to be found to have broken any of the rules.
• We have the same thing today. Olympic athletes can be banned from the competition for taking certain performance enhancing drugs and even simple cold medications.
• The athlete submits themselves to something higher than themselves.
• As Christians, the key to self-control is submitting ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus in our lives.
• We must be willing to allow Jesus to infiltrate and influence our lives!
• SLIDE #14
• Romans 12:1-2 (ESV) 1I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
• The very act of presenting your body to God is an act of self-control!
• You have a higher calling than just satisfying the appetites of the flesh.
• SLIDE #15
III. AREAS WHERE THIS FRUIT SHOULD BE EXPRESSED.
• Self-control should be evident on all areas of our lives, but here are four for us to consider and work with.
• SLIDE #16
1. In our bodies. (1 Cor 9:27)
• In the Corinthians passage we looked at Paul said that he would make his body his slave, he would not be mastered by his body.
• I really do not want to talk a lot about this one since I struggle with it.
• We really need to pray for self-control when it comes to our bodies, whether it is the amount of food we consume, or if we are struggling with other appetites of the flesh.
• Too many relationships have been ruined because a person would not put on the brakes when it came to satisfying their flesh.
• If you are struggling with this, spend a lot of time in prayer about it and seek the help of your church family.
• SLIDE #17
2. In our minds. (2 Corinthians 10:5)
• I have always said the battle is in and with the mind. What you think eventually comes out.
• The key is to master the mind by submitting our thoughts to Christ.
• SLIDE #18
• 2 Corinthians 10:5 (ESV) 5We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
• Jesus needs to be the Lord of our minds. We need to fill our minds with good things, garbage in, garbage out!
• SLIDE #19
3. In our tongues. (James 3:7-8)
• This can be one of the most difficult for people to deal with.
• In James 3:7-8 we are told:
• SLIDE #20
• James 3:7-8 says: 7For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
• How many lives have been destroyed or changed in a bad way because of something another person said because they could not control their tongue.
• An unbridled tongue can do a lot of damage.
• SLIDE #21
4. In our Spiritual growth.
• We will not grow spiritually without self-discipline. There are a lot of distractions; there is a lot of temptation.
• It takes a real commitment to Jesus to be able to grow spiritually.
• We must understand how important it is for us to set aside the time we need to pray, study, read, meditate, and to spend time in fellowship with one another. Jesus needs to be the center, not an afterthought.
CONCLUSION
• SLIDE #22
• Galatians 5:22-23
• The fruit of the Spirit is something that God wants you to enjoy. Fruit is good, it tastes good and it is good for you.
• God wants you to dive deep into the fruit bowl and enjoy the blessings He has in store for you!
• Self-control is an awesome fruit with awesome effects on the life of the one who embraces it!
