A FRUIT-FULL MARRIAGE: SELF-CONTROL *
GALATIANS 5:13-26
Sermon Objective: The firm, loving grip of the Holy Spirit brings freedom from self.
GALATIANS 5:13-26
13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
INTRO:
In A.D. 315 Pachomius, an Egyptian soldier, came to faith in Christ through the witness of some Christians in Thebes. After his release from the military he was baptized. Now, Pachomius was serious about his new faith and determined to grow, so he attached himself as a disciple of Palamon, an ascetic who taught him the self-denial and solitary life of a religious hermit.
But Pachomius began to question the methods and lifestyle of his mentors.
• How can you learn to love if no one else is around?
• How can you learn humility living alone?
• How can you learn kindness or gentleness or goodness in isolation?
• How can you learn patience unless someone puts yours to the test?
In short, Pachomius concluded, developing spiritual fruit requires being around people -- ordinary, ornery people. "To save souls," he said, "you must bring them together."
So Pachomius began to gather people together in communities where holiness was developed not in isolation, but in rubbing shoulders with flawed, demanding, and sometimes disagreeable people. As a result, followers of Pachomius learned to take hurt rather than give it. They discovered that disagreements and opposition provide the opportunity to redeem life situations and experience God's grace. Thus began the monastic movement in the 4th Century. (Marshall Shelley, "Developing spiritual fruit requires being around ordinary, ornery people," Leadership journal, Spring 1993. From a sermon by C. Philip Green, Eternity Clothes, 6/26/2010)
Living in and within a community is, in my opinion, the expectation of the Gospel. Developing relationships and loving our neighbor is the call of the Gospel.
• That’s how Jesus lived.
• That’s how Paul built churches.
And the writings of the New testament are clear that the foundation of all these relationships is love.
Someone has said that eight of the virtues listed in Galatians 5 can be put in terms of love. You know by now that I agree with that.
• Joy is love exulting
• Peace is love in repose
• Patience is love on trial
• Gentleness is love in society
• Goodness is love in action
• Faith is love on the battlefield
• Gentleness is love at work
• Self Control is love in training
So it is love at the top, love at the bottom, and all the way through this list of graces. THERE IS ONE FRUIT – MANY EXPRESSIONS.
SERMON
Today, we look at Self-Control.
I must tell you, I think there is much more going on with Self-Control that we give it credit for.
The century in which Paul wrote saw self-control with a mixed “favorable rating.”
• In Greece (not Rome) it was a virtue to have mastery of self.
• In Rome there was little value put on self-control and much more put on hedonism and indulgence.
I fear we (U.S.A.) are much more like Rome than Greece. Examples include: Wall Street’s pursuit of greed and money at any cost, drug use, credit card abuse, frat house parties, and materialism, not to mention “sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies.”
For Paul self-control was God-given virtue but in our day self-control is seen as a restrictive, puritan ploy to keep humankind from expressing itself fully.
SELF-CONTROL HOWEVER IS NOT NEGATIVE OR ADVERSE; IT IS ACTUALLY LIBERATING. IT IS ALSO A CHARACTERISTIC OF GOD AND HOLY PEOPLE. IT IS AN EXPRESSION OF GOD’S PRESENCE WITHIN US. IT SETS US FREE FROM THE GRIP OF OURSELVES.
Biological evolution says that human beings are animals. We simply respond to stimuli just like any other animal. Well, as a Christian who believes we are made in the image of God, I am convinced that we can do more than simply respond to urges and stimuli. We can be free from ourselves – we do not have to be a slave to every impulse that comes along. THE FIRM, LOVING GRIP OF THE HOLY SPIRIT BRINGS FREEDOM FROM SELF. In fact, I think this is alluded to in Galatians 5.
What are all those works of flesh we read about?
Are they not simply humans responding to the stimuli around us like animals?
The Spirit of God, however, is in the process of making us new creations; making us - again into the image of God. In Galatians 6:15 Paul says, “Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.”
But, self-control is so much more than simply saying no to an urge. SELF-CONTROL IS THE EMPOWERMENT TO SAY YES THAT THAT WHICH IS WHOLESOME, NOBLE, VIRTUOUS, AND HEALTHY. Self-control means I can respond proactively to that which God responds proactively too.
Jesus makes it very clear what we, as Spirit-filled Christians, are to be responding to. In Luke 11:42 he says “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.” There it is – the Pharisees were making faith a very personal and pious thing but Jesus says true faith has expressions that effect humankind and human society. “Justice and the love of God.”
There is nothing new in that is there?
• Micah 6:8 says, “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
• In Mark 12:29-31 Jesus says “The most important one is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
• Jesus’ brother, James, writes in James 1:27, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
Richard Stearns wrote a book called “The Hole in Our Gospel” (Thomas Nelson Publishers) that is being used in some small groups and Bible Study classes in our congregation. It specifically addresses God’s view of Christian mission and the impact of proactively saying yes to what God says yes to.
May I quote from the book?
“What does God expect of us? Is our faith just about going to church, studying the Bible and avoiding the most serious sins – or does God expect more? … If your personal faith in Christ has no positive outward expression, then your faith – and mine – has a hole in it.”
“We are the carriers of the Gospel – the Good News that was meant to change the world. Belief is not enough. Worship is not enough. Personal morality is not enough. And Christian community is not enough. God has always demanded more. We are ‘Christ’s ambassadors.’… He calls us to go out to proclaim the Good News – to be the Good News – and to change the world.” (from the Introduction).
Stearns discovered that God’s call “tore him out of his corner office at one of America’s most prestigious corporations – to walk with the poorest of the poor in our world.”
Self-control gives me the power to say no to myself and the power to say yes to that which God says yes to. AND ONLY THE SPIRIT LIVING WITHIN US AND GUIDING US CAN GIVE US THE DESIRE OR CAPACITY TO BE LIKE GOD!
In fact, that which you say yes to is the tell-tale sign of what is inside you. It is the litmus test of whether you are walking in the Spirit or in the “flesh. What’s inside comes out.
My wife and I watch a television series on the SYFY Channel called “Haven.” Last week’s episode is a good indication of how many in the series develop. The community of Haven was seeing terrible things happen to it … things that would suggest it was … cursed. First, the water sprinklers began to spray blood – not water. Second they were inundated by frogs.
Yes, you guessed it; Haven was experiencing the ten plagues of Egypt.
In the end you discover the reason. There was a young man who lost his wife when she gave birth to their first son. The husband/father was angry that his wife had died and afraid his son would too. All his toxin came out on the people of Haven – they received the consequences of his hatred and anger.
The heroes of the story became heroes by helping the young man find peace with himself – to forgive. And afterwards the plagues stopped.
THE PRINCIPLE IS RELEVANT – WHAT IS IN YOU IS WHAT COMES OUT AND IT AFFECTS ALL THOSE YOU ARE AROUND. IT CANNOT HELP BUT SPILL OUT ON YOUR RELATIONSHIPS.
Self-control is a gift from God. It is the result of the work of God in the human heart. It is more than self-denial. It is mastery of one’s self – the capacity to say yes to that which God says yes to.
WRAP-UP
With this sermon I conclude the summer series on the influence the Fruit of the Spirit has one’s relationships. Let me remind you:
> The Fruit of the Spirit are not intended to make us better people (i.e. more patient) but, rather, different people -- new people.
They stand in contrast to the works of the flesh / sinful nature as described in Gal. 5:19-20. The fruit is not simply good qualities to incorporate into your life; it is God's character that must be imparted to us by His Holy Spirit. That is why they are "fruit" whereas the other are "works."
> The Fruit of the Spirit are revealed most fully through our relationships.
They only reach fullness (or show how far along the development is) in my relationships. That is why marriage is my primary illustration of these relationships ... my spouse knows the real me and if the Spirit of God has transformed how I interact in this relationship then God's power can change all my relationships.
> The key to a happy marriage is not to find the right mate; it is to be the right mate. The Fruit of the Spirit make me into the right mate.
> The eight virtues found in the Fruit of the Spirit are not isolated.
They all develop together. In fact, they are all actually elements of one ... Love. The other 8 are given as examples of love in 1 Cor. 13 (i.e. "love is patient, love is kind") and Colossians 3 confirm this.
The key, my friends, to being like God is very clear in Scripture. It is to love! To love God and to love humankind are the two fullest expressions of holiness.
May I give you a person testimony to the transforming power of love? Throughout last year’s home group with the young married couples (we looked at this theme and this is where the idea of the sermon series originated) God has been showing me how weak and anemic my understanding of love and relationships are.
• The Father is showing me that I really do not know how to love ... I really do not know how to respond to people at times.
• THE FATHER IS SHOWING ME THAT NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT TO HIM THAN RELATIONSHIPS AND THAT THE WAY I LOVE THE "LEAST LOVED" OF PEOPLE IS THE MOST ACCURATE EXPRESSION OF MY LOVE FOR HIM.
• The Father is showing me that real spiritual growth has one expression love.
• Love is Jesus' "new commandment" (John 13:34).
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
• Love is Jesus’ litmus test of genuine community (John 13:35)
“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
• Love was Jesus' core value (Mark 12:29-31)
• Love is what flows from God (1 John 4:7-8)
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God.
• Love is the very character/essence of God (1 John 4:8)
God is love.
• Love is the evidence that we will stand the test at judgment (1 John 4:16-21)
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
The Father is showing me that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and God’s love being shed abroad in my heart (Rom. 5:5) are one and the same. 1 John 4:11-13 says: “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.”
I know I am strongly influenced by "ought" and right / wrong. I know it makes me judgmental and critical. Left to myself, I don't know any other way to be! I know my sense of "ought" affects my relationships ... particularly relationships with which I have disagreements with people. That is why God is showing me the power and preeminence of love and making me new not just better. He is making me a “new creation” (Galatians 6:15)!
I am seeing that at the most basic and core level of being human ... of being Christian I am broken and in need of repair.
And that is why I am grateful that I serve a grace-full God who has made the commitment to me that He personally will see that I am developed into His image. He alone is “able to keep {me} from falling and to present {me} before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. (Jude 24-25)
Maybe you would like to see God to a deep work in your heart. There is no time like the present to come, offer yourself to Him and yield to His Spirit.
He who has ears to hear
Let him hear
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** I am grateful and indebted to those who have shared their applications from the fruit of the spirit for marriage. I found the following authors particularly helpful: Rev. David Maxson of Embry Hills Church of Christ, Mr. Stephen Gola of Divorce Hope, and Paul Canner.
This sermon is provided by Dr. Kenneth Pell
Potsdam Church of the Nazarene
Potsdam, New York
www.potsdam-naz.org
