We have seen that we need to add to our faith :
• VIRTUE - We need virtue because virtue is what sets the boundaries of what WE DO and DO NOT DO!
• KNOWLEDGE - We need knowledge of WHO HE IS and WHAT HE IS LIKE if we are going to become like Him.
After he tells us to add virtue and knowledge, he says, “And to knowledge temperance…”
WHAT IS TEMPERANCE? It is the word “Egkrateia” (Pronounced as “Eng-krat'-i-ah”) which means SELF-CONTROL.
If we are going to be the SPIRITUAL INDIVIDUALS that God wants us to become, we are going to have to live a life of SELF-CONTROL.
Did you know that choosing to live a particular life of sin, such as gambling, drinking, prostitution, cursing, lying and etc. can be traced back to A LIFE THAT LACKS SELF- CONTROL?
• Lost people live their lives this way every day
• Saved people are to live a life of TEMPERANCE
Just because we SHOULD live such a life does not mean that we always do!
Illus: A Christian man was a staff worker in a Baptist Church. He lived a very separated life from the world. He was a wonderful husband and father. But he began to backslide and get further and further from the Lord.
• After a couple years of backsliding, this man quit attending the church and started attending the local night clubs
• He lost all self-control in his life and he was soon into pornography
• He then began to indulge in homosexuality
• He left his wife and now lives his life as a homosexual
Listen, when a person begins to play around with sin, it may surprise them how far down the path of sin Satan will take them, and how fast they may get there. The devil is no one to play around with. The fact is, everyone who plays with sin ends up losing.
Illus: The Lion once announced that he was sick unto death, and summoned the animals to come and hear his last Will and Testament.
• The Goat came to the Lion's cave, and stopped there, listening for a long time, then went in
• Then a Sheep went in
• And before she came out, a Calf went in to receive the last wishes of the King of the Beasts
• But soon the Lion seemed to recover and came to the mouth of his cave and saw the Fox, who had been waiting outside for some time
• "Why do you not come to pay your respects to me?" said the Lion to the Fox. "I beg your Majesty's pardon," said the Fox, "But I noticed the track of the animals that have already come to you; and while I see many hoof-marks going in, I see none coming out. Till the animals that have entered your cave come out again, I prefer to remain in the open air."
It is easier to get into Satan’s hands than to get out of them. We need temperance in our life because it keeps us from living a SINFUL LIFE! But this is not something we can do alone, we need the Holy Spirit to help us.
Look at 1 Cor. 9:24-27, we read, “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 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.”
Notice, Paul compares the Christian life to a race, and he says, “…I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection…”
Anyone that has ever run a race knows what Paul is talking about. When it comes to running a race, we have to bring our bodies under subjection.
A race requires us bringing our MIND and BODY under subjection. Let’s look at some things the Bible teaches about TEMPERANCE. First, we need to consider-
I. OUR RESOLVE
We are all free moral agents, which means we make the decisions about how we are going to live our lives.
One of the dangerous times in life is when a child becomes a teenager. They are some strange creatures during this time.
Illus: Did you hear about the two teenagers that were arrested for public lewdness?
• The arresting officer told them they were entitled to a phone call, since he was unable to reach their parents.
• Some time later, a man entered the station, and the sergeant said, "I suppose you're the kids' lawyer."
• "Nope," the man replied. "I just got a call to deliver two pizzas.”
But the teen years are the most dangerous years of a person’s life.
WHY ARE THEY DANGEROUS? Because up to this point in their life they were under the control of their parents. Their parents established boundaries in their life, and their parents told them what they could and could not do.
But when they became a teenager, they began to get a dose of the adult world where they have to make decisions for themselves. And one of two things are going to happen:
• Some take the restraints that have been in their life and throw them away and live a life of no restraint
• Some decide that the Christian virtues that their parents taught them will now control them.
Illus: A Christian dad kept his son in a Christian school up until he was ready to go into the 12th grade. He was a good boy and never gave his parents any serious problems. As he was facing his senior year, he came to his dad and asked him if could he attend the local public high school, since he only had one more year of school. The dad’s immediate response was no, but he recognized this was a good son that loved the Lord, and he told him he would pray about it. Several days went by and the subject came up again, and the father told him, “Son, I have prayed about it and I am going to let you go to the public school in your last year.” But then he cautioned him, he said, “I just want you to know I am going to be monitoring the situation very carefully, and if I see it is affecting you in a negative way, I am going to pull you out and put you back in the Christian school.” He enrolled him and he started attending. The dad began to watch him to see if his attitude or behavior was changing. After several weeks he said, “How are things at school?” His son knew exactly what he was talking about. He said, “Dad, it is like this, all the good kids seek out the good kids and hang out together, and all the bad kids seek out the bad kids and they hang out together!”
It is wonderful when parents raise a child and instill in them these Christian virtues. Then, when they are on their own, they allow these virtues to determine their boundaries.
Isn’t this what the three Hebrew children chose to do.
Daniel 3:4-18 tells us that they:
• Refused to follow the crowd
• Refused to bow to Nebuchadnezzar’s false god
These fellows RESOLVED that they were not going to follow the crowd. They knew if they wanted to please the God of heaven, they could not become like them.
To become the SPIRITUAL INDIVIDUAL God wants us to be, we are going to have to RESOLVE that we are not going to live like the ungodly.
We have looked at OUR RESOLVE, now let’s look at -
II. OUR RESTRAINT
Look at 1 Corinthian 9:26-27 again, 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.”
If I want to be the SPIRITUAL INDIVIDUAL God wants me to be, I must have some RESTRAINTS in my life.
Look at the words in verse 27, we read, “…But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection…”
Then the question is; “HOW DO WE DO THIS?” The Bible clearly teaches that if we WALK IN THE SPIRIT we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
Look at Galatians 5:16, we read, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”
Speaking of walking, did you know:
• Someone said, “It is well documented that for every minute that you exercise, you add one minute to your life. At 85 years of age, this enables you old to spend an additional 5 months in a nursing home at $7000 per month.”
• One man said, “My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was 60. Now she's 97 years old and we don't know where she is.”
• Another man said, “I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.”
It is documented that walking is good for us, but the most beneficial walk in this life is WALKING IN THE SPIRIT. God’s Word says that once we learn to WALK IN THE SPIRIT, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
We have looked at:
• OUR RESOLVE
• OUR RESTRAINT
But we need to also look at-
III. OUR REWARD
Mexicans hang something on a string and they all take turns striking at it with sticks. This is called a Piñata! We all get knocked around in this life at times and feel like a Piñata!
Illus: This reminds me of the two men in California, Joe and Louie, who were watching some bungee jumpers. Joe said, "You know, we could make a lot of money running our own bungee-jumping service in Mexico. They don’t have it there." Louie thinks this is a great idea, so they pool their money and buy everything they’ll need:
• A tower
• An elastic cord
• Insurance
They travel to Mexico and begin to set up on the square. As they are constructing the tower, a crowd begins to assemble. Slowly, more and more people gather to watch them at work. When they had finished, there was such a crowd, they thought it would be a good idea to give a demonstration.
• Louie jumps. He bounces at the end of the cord, but when he comes back up, Joe notices that he has a few cuts and scratches. Unfortunately, Joe isn’t able to catch him and he falls again, bounces and comes back up again.
• This time, he is bruised and bleeding. Again Joe misses him.
• Louie falls again and bounces back up. This time he comes back pretty messed up. He’s got a couple of broken bones and is almost unconscious.
Luckily, Joe finally catches him this time and says, "What happened? Was the cord too long?"
Barely able to speak, Louie gasps, "No, the bungee cord was fine. It was the crowd.
“What do you mean it was the crowd?”
I have only one question to ask you, “WHAT IS A PIÑATA?”
We get knocked around a lot, but the Lord has promised that if we will live a life of TEMPERANCE we one day will be rewarded.
But we are not going to put up with getting knocked around unless we love the Lord.
Illus: When it comes to loving the Lord, some folks remind me of the man who received a letter from his ex-girlfriend. It went like this, "Dearest Jimmy, No words could ever express the great unhappiness I’ve felt since breaking our engagement. Please say you’ll take me back. No one could ever take your place in my heart, so please forgive me. I love you, I love you, I love you! Yours forever, Marie... P.S., And congratulations on winning the 10 million dollar state lottery."
Those who truly love the Lord will live a life of RESTRAINT because of their love for the Lord.
The world thinks we are crazy, but one day they will discover that the smartest thing a person can do with their life is to live a life pleasing to the Lord.
Many folks have made some very costly mistakes in this life.
• Edwin L. Drake, before his first successful oil well near Titus, Penn. in 1859, said, – "Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to find oil? You’re crazy!"
• Charles H. Duell, U.S. Commissioner of Patents, said in 1899, – "Everything that can be invented has been invented."
• A president of Michigan Savings Bank, advising against investing in Ford Motor Co., said in 1903 – "The horse is here to stay, but the automobile is only a novelty, a fad."
• Thomas Watson, President of IBM, in 1943 – "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
• Grand Ole Opry’s Jim Denny to Elvis Presley in
1954 – "You ain’t going nowhere son. You ought to go back to driving a truck."
But the most costly mistake of all is living life with NO RESTRAINTS. One day, they are going to see what a mistake they have made when God rewards those who have lived a SELF-CONTROLLED LIFE!
Will you have any rewards when the Lord Jesus comes back?
Conclusion:
I. OUR RESOLVE
II OUR RESTRAINT
III. OUR REWARD
