February 15, 2004 Galatians 5:22-23
“The Spirit-filled Life”
INTRODUCTION
In Scotland, during the early days of aviation, a stunt pilot was selling rides in his single engine airplane. One day he got into an argument with an old farmer who insisted upon taking his wife along on the ride -- at no extra charge. "Look," said the pilot finally, "I’ll take you both up for the price of one if you promise not to utter a sound throughout the entire trip. If you make a sound, the price is doubled." The deal was made and they all clambered aboard. The pilot then proceeded to put the aircraft through maneuvers designed to make the bravest tremble. But not a sound came from the back, where his passengers sat. Exhausted, he set the plane down. As the farmer climbed out, the pilot said, "I made moves up there that frightened even me, and yet you never said a word. You’re a fearless man." "I thank ye," replied the Scotsman. "But I must admit that there was one time when ya almost had me." "And when was that?" asked the pilot. The farmer replied, "That was about the time my wife fell out!" That man might very well be the ultimate human example of what it means to have self-control.
Today we come to the last of the 9 characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit – those traits and attitudes that are in evidence in the life of the person who is full of the Spirit. Depending on what translation of the Bible you use, this last characteristic is either known as self-control or temperance. Though its meaning has broadened over the years, temperance used to refer solely to the refusal to drink alcohol. Preachers of the past, especially in the early 1900’s, loved to preach about the need for temperance. One preacher was winding up his sermon with great excitement and passion: "If I had all the beer in the world, I’d take it and throw it into the river." The congregation cried, "Amen!" "And if I had all the wine in the world, I’d take it and throw it in the river." The congregation cried, "Amen!" "And if I had all the whiskey and the rum in the world, I’d take it all and throw it in the river." And the people cried, "Amen!" After the sermon the preacher sat down, and the deacon stood up. "For our closing hymn," he announced, "let us turn to page 126 and sing, ’We Shall Gather at the River.’" - Mike Atkinson (www.MikeysFunnies.com)
Regardless of whether you refer to it as temperance or self-control, it means the same thing. It is the power and practice of refusing to give in to the desires that seek to control our actions and get us into trouble. It is ruling our desires, our spirits and our bodies rather than allowing them to rule us. It is the ability to say “NO” to yourself. Temperance is the regulator of the Spirit-filled life. You have a device on your wall at home that you use to regulate the temperature in your house. It’s called a thermostat. In the winter, the natural tendency is for your house to get cold. So you use that thermostat to activate the furnace and cause the temperature in your house to go against the natural tendency and stay warm. In the summer, you do just the opposite, all the time fighting against the direction that the house wants to go and will go if left to itself. Think of temperance as the thermostat of the Spirit-filled life. It constantly regulates your life and prevents extreme variations in your temperament and in your actions. You can even hear the word “temperature” in temperance. It says “NO” to those natural desires that you and every other warm-blooded human being has.
Let’s talk about some of those areas of desire that have the greatest potential for causing us to lose control.
1. There are areas of your life that are out of control right now.
Would you be willing to admit that? If you would, let’s say that together right now. “There are areas of my life that are out of control right now.” You don’t need to tell me what those areas are, because I believe I already know.
Food
A pastor visited a lady in a retirement home. As she lay in her hospital style bed he spoke with her. Beside her bed was a dish full of peanuts. He ate one and then another and before he knew it he looked down and the dish was empty. ’I am so sorry he confessed, I ate all the peanuts you had beside your bed’. ’Peanuts, I can’t eat peanuts anymore, I just suck the chocolate off of them’.
(Prov 23:1,2 NIV) When you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what is before you, and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony.
(Phil 3:19 NIV) ...their god is their stomach... (one of the characteristics of the enemies of the cross of Christ)
Anger
A lady once came to her pastor and tried to rationalize her angry outbursts. "There’s nothing wrong with losing my temper," she said. "I blow up, and then it’s all over." "So does a shotgun," the pastor replied, "and look at the damage it leaves behind!" - Billy Sunday.
(Prov 16:32 NIV) Better...a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city.
(Prov 29:11 NIV) A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.
Sexuality
There was a teenage boy and his grandfather who went fishing one day. While fishing, the old man starts talking about how times have changed. The young fellow picks up on this and starts talking about the various problems and sexually transmitted diseases going around. The teen says, "Grandpa, they didn’t have a whole lot of problems with all these diseases when you were young did they?" Grandpa replies, "Nope." The teen says, "Well, what did you guys use for safe sex?" Grandpa replies, "We used a wedding ring."
(1 Th 4:3,4 NIV) It is God’s will that you should...avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable,
(Rom 13:13 NIV) Let us behave decently, ...not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality...
(Gal 5:19 NIV) The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
(1 Cor 6:18,19 NIV) Flee from sexual immorality. ...
This area of weakness perhaps more than any other is the one that has created the greatest problems for Christians. Look through the pages of the Bible, and you will discover person after person who failed to exercise self-control over his sexuality. Consider Samson who killed lions and hundreds of Philistines but couldn’t rule his passion for women. Think about David who maintained control over his desire for revenge and power, but couldn’t turn his eyes away from the woman who was bathing in the evening light. Look through the pages of the newspapers, and you will see scores of church leaders who have given in to the temptation for a sexual relationship with someone in their church. Statistically, the two greatest reasons for pastors to lose their positions with the church are because of a failure to maintain personal control in the areas of sexuality and money.
Money
Many of you right now are experiencing the wonderful feeling that comes when you receive a tax refund. Along with that wonderful feeling comes a temptation – a temptation to take it and blow it. Already I can see something happening. Two or three months from now, a financial crisis is going to come along in your family. But you will not have the resources to deal with that crisis. Why? Is it because God isn’t meeting your needs and is being unfaithful to his promises (something that we talked about last week), or is it because you didn’t have enough self-control to take that tax refund and use it wisely – maybe even put some of it in your savings account. As soon as you get money – whether from your employer or from the gov’t – it burns a hole in your pocket. It takes control of you.
Tongue
(James 1:26;3:8 NIV) If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless... but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
I might not have hit on every area where you are experiencing a lack of self-control. But I bet I hit on at least one of them. And I imagine that over the years, you have tried and tried to gain control over some of these areas but with no success. So you have either decided that you will never gain the victory, and you’re just going to live in the guilt of defeat, or you’ve decided that since you can’t beat these temptations, you might as well give in to them completely and enjoy them. “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!” For the first group, there is hope. I’m going to share a way that will help you. For the second group, you can put your mind in neutral for a few minutes until we get to point #3.
2. There is a way for you to experience control over those areas.
For the purposes of simplicity, I’m going to choose one of those areas of weakness that we just spoke of and use it as my main example for the next few minutes. The one I’ve chosen is food. I didn’t choose that one to pick on anybody in particular. I could have chosen alcohol, tobacco products or pornography, but not everyone here struggles with these temptations. All of us struggle with control when it comes to food. In fact, most of us are thinking right now about what we’re going to have for dinner. How do you gain control over your desire for food? There are several different options.
Try harder
If I take the words “self-control” at face value, it says to me that my self is supposed to be in control of my self. I’m supposed to control me. So when I see that bag of Lay’s potato chips sitting there, I’m supposed to just try harder to stop at just one. Folks, I don’t want “self” being in control! That’s what has gotten me in trouble for all these years! The fact is that I can’t control myself no matter how hard I try. The Bible describes my self as a slave to sin. (Romans 6) A few verses earlier in Galatians 5, Paul lists the things that come into our lives when we let the self have control. None of them look like things that are pleasing to God.
Better Christians than you and me have tried the route of just trying harder. Paul wrote these words testifying of his own struggles.
(Rom 7:18-21,24-25 NIV) I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ... What a wretched man I am! (for future reference, you could apply this verse to eating by putting in potato chips and broccoli – “I’m supposed to eat broccoli, but I don’t; I’m not supposed to eat potato chips, but I do)
Just trying to control yourself through your own efforts is useless and is going to end up leaving you feeling guilty and frustrated. The flesh cannot control it’s own desires. It will give in to itself every time.
Laws / rules
If I can’t control myself, then the next best thing is to have someone else control me. The way to do that is by putting restrictions on me. “I could control gluttonous urges by placing a large chain and padlock around the fridge and giving the key to my wife with absolute instructions never to tell me where the key is. I could blockade my eating behavior.” – Ken Gehrels The government could make laws that set standards on the amount of calories that each person is allowed to put into their bodies in one day. You would have a little electronic calorie counter put on the side of your mouth that would cause your mouth to snap shut the moment that your calorie intake was met for the day. The problem with rules and regulations is that though they might affect your behavior, they do nothing to change the attitudes and desires on the inside. As soon as the regulations are lifted, or you get out of that restrictive environment, your desires take control again. That’s why many children who live in restrictive homes go wild as soon as they move out of the house. The parents curbed their behavior but did nothing to change their spirit.
As I told you earlier, temperance was originally used to speak solely of abstinence from alcohol. Back in the 1920’s, they made laws against alcohol to try and control people’s propensity toward it. There is no law, governmental or ecclesiastical that will stem the desire of men toward alcohol or any other fleshly desire.
The whole argument of the book of Galatians and that the rest of the Bible echoes is that legalism – just following the law – has no power to save from sin or to create righteousness in a person’s life.
(Phil 3:8,9)...not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ...
(Col 2:20 – 23 NIV) Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence. (just include a portion of this in the note sheet)
Well if self-effort won’t work, and neither will more laws and regulations, what will work?
The filling of God’s Spirit
Do you remember how we defined being filled with the Spirit way back at the beginning of this series? We defined it as being controlled by the Spirit. Isn’t being filled with/controlled by the Spirit the antithesis of being controlled by self or self-control? It would be except that the self-control spoken of here is not so much control by self but control of self. To the outside, it looks like self-control, but in reality, it is Spirit-control. So I can actually gain control by giving up control. Jesus said it this way in Matthew 10:39 “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” It is by giving our lives to the control of the Spirit that we finally gain control of ourselves, our emotions, our actions and our lives. That sounds like an oxymoron. No, an oxymoron is not a fool with clean laundry [“moron” – fool; “oxy”clean – laundry detergent]. An oxymoron is putting two words or ideas together that seem to contradict each other – things like jumbo shrimp and gov’t intelligence. To say that we gain control by giving up control seems totally contradictory. But listen to this verse.
(Rom 7:5,6 NIV) For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
When I speak of giving control to the Spirit, I’m not saying that overcoming temptation in my life is solely his responsibility. It would be easy to produce these characteristics if it simply meant that I turn over my body and personality to God’s Spirit in the sense of some kind of Holy Spirit possession in much the same way that an evil spirit can possess an unsaved person’s body. But that would remove all personal responsibility and all personal reward. Self-control is a mixture of the Holy Spirit’s working in my life and my own decision to be obedient to what God has commanded. To try and control myself is impossible. And the Holy Spirit won’t take complete control of me. I need to yield control to Him which gives me access to His power, and then I must act in faith and take personal responsibility for my actions.
(2 Pet 1:5-7 NIV) ...make every effort to add to your faith...self-control...
(Rom 6:13 NIV) Do not offer the parts of your body to sin...
(Col 3:5,9-10 NIV) Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, ... since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self...
(Rom 8:13 NIV) For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live,
In vs. 24, he talks about the fact that those that belong to Christ have crucified the flesh. You and I have been given a new nature. And that new nature, coupled with the power of God’s Holy Spirit can enable us to overcome anything that would seek to enslave us.
One of the great gurus of weight loss, Dr. Atkins, died a short while ago. Depending on whose report you believe, at the time of his death, he weighed between 195 and 258 pounds. For a man of his height, either of those weights would have classed him as overweight. The higher number would mean that he was obese. It appears that even Dr. Atkins didn’t have the ability to control the appetites of his body. If he couldn’t do it, how do you expect to be able to do it? You have something that he didn’t have – you have a new nature and the Spirit of God living inside of you.
As helpful as their programs might be, you greatest need is not Dr. Atkins or Dr. Phil. Your greatest need is the Spirit of God. You can’t bring Dr. Atkins with you to the dinner table or to the restaurant. But the Spirit is right there with you all the time.
Some people are slaves to their own passions. The alcoholic, the drug addict, the prostitute. A.A. can be helpful to the alcoholic, but A.A. is not his greatest need. Even A.A. recognizes the need for God in order to be able to overcome addictions. A.A. can help you change your behavior, but only God’s Spirit can change your heart.
As I was studying for this message, I looked up every verse where the word that is translated “self-control” is used. One that really caught my attention was Luke 2:5.
(Luke 2:5 KJV) “To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.”
Most of you women (and definitely Crystal who just had her baby a few months ago) can probably remember what it was like to be “great with child.” The child is pushing on all sides. It’s difficult to hold it in. Life would be much easier and much more comfortable for the mother just to get that baby out. That probably describes the way that some of you feel when you are staring at a bag of potato chips, a can of beer or the computer screen. The object of your desire is only a decision or a mouse click away.
You teenagers and pre-teens that are sitting out there. Right now, you are going boy and girl crazy. That desire to engage in a physical and eventually sexual relationship with the person you love is overwhelming. It’s pushing you from every direction, putting you in pain – just like that baby in a mother’s womb. What’s going to keep you from giving in to all those hormones and desires. Mom and dad aren’t going to be there on every date (or at least you hope not), ...but the Holy Spirit will. The Holy Spirit is your best friend, and He is every parent’s greatest ally.
3. There are consequences that you will face if you allow those areas of weakness to continue to control you.
The destruction of your self
Despite the "Do Not Touch" signs, a museum was having no success in keeping patrons from touching--and soiling--priceless furniture and art. But the problem evaporated overnight when a clever museum employee replaced the signs with ones that read: "Caution: Wash Hands After Touching!" - Today in the Word, March, 1990. Self-preservation is a great motivater. It is to your benefit and for your protection to exercise self-control.
(1 Pet 2:11-12 NIV) ...abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.
(1 Pet 5:8 NIV) Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
(1 Cor 6:18,19 NIV) Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you...
“Sin is not hurtful because it is forbidden, but it is forbidden because it’s hurtful.” - Benjamin Franklin
Thomas Costain’s history, The Three Edwards, describes the life of Raynald III, a fourteenth-century duke in what is now Belgium. Grossly overweight, Raynald was commonly called by his Latin nickname, Crassus, which means "fat." After a violent quarrel, Raynald’s younger brother Edward led a successful revolt against him. Edward captured Raynald but did not kill him. Instead, he built a room around Raynald in the Nieuwkerk castle and promised him he could regain his title and property as soon as he was able to leave the room. This would not have been difficult for most people since the room had several windows and a door of near-normal size, and none was locked or barred. The problem was that because of Raynald’s size he couldn’t fit through the door. To regain his freedom, he needed to lose weight. But Edward knew his older brother, and each day he sent a variety of delicious foods. So instead of dieting his way out of prison, Raynald grew fatter from the food. When Duke Edward was accused of cruelty, he had a ready answer: "My brother is not a prisoner. He may leave when he so wills." Raynald stayed in that room for ten years and wasn’t released until after Edward died in battle. By then his health was so ruined he died within a year, a slave and prisoner of his own appetite.
(Prov 25:28 NIV) Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.
The destruction of your testimony
(1 Pet 2:11-12) ...Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
A guy stopped in the grocery store on the way home from work to pick up a couple of items for his wife. He wandered around aimlessly for a while searching out the needed groceries. As is often the case in the grocery store, he kept passing this same shopper in almost every aisle. It was another father trying to shop with a totally uncooperative three- year-old boy in the cart. The first time they passed, the three-year-old was asking over and over for a candy bar. Our observer couldn’t hear the entire conversation. He just heard Dad say, “Now, Billy, this won’t take long.” As they passed in the next aisle, the three-year-old’s pleas had increased several octaves. Now Dad was quietly saying, “Billy, just calm down. We will be done in a minute.” When they passed near the dairy case, the kid was screaming uncontrollably. Dad was still keeping his cool. In a very low voice he was saying, “Billy, settle down. We are almost out of here.” The Dad and his son reached the check out counter just ahead of our observer. He still gave no evidence of loosing control. The boy was screaming and kicking. Dad was very calming saying over and over, “Billy, we will be in the car in just a minute and then everything will be OK.” The bystander was impressed beyond words. After paying for his groceries, he hurried to catch up with this amazing example of patience and self-control just in time to hear him say again, “Billy, we’re done. It’s going to be OK.” He tapped the patient father on the shoulder and said, “Sir, I couldn’t help but watch how you handled little Billy. You were amazing.” Dad replied, “You don’t get it, do you?” I’m Billy!”
Just as our ability to control our natural tendencies captures people’s attention, so our outbursts of anger and other episodes of a lack of control will destroy our witness before them.
People give in to their passions because they think that those passions will satisfy them. Apart from a relationship with God, nothing will satisfy you.
(Isa 29:8 NIV) as when a hungry man dreams that he is eating, but he awakens, and his hunger remains; as when a thirsty man dreams that he is drinking, but he awakens faint, with his thirst unquenched. So will it be with the hordes of all the nations that fight against Mount Zion.
When you refuse to allow God to meet your needs, you will always be a slave to your passions, and you will never find what you are really looking for.
CONCLUSION
For four weeks now, we have studied the fruit of the Spirit. We have seen that:
1. LOVE is the MOTIVATION of the Spirit-filled life.
2. JOY is the STRENGTH of the Spirit-filled life.
3. PEACE is the STABILIZER of the Spirit-filled life.
4. PATIENCE is the POWER of the Spirit-filled life.
5. KINDNESS is the ATTRACTION of the Spirit-filled life.
6. GOODNESS is the GOAL of the Spirit-filled life.
7. FAITHFULNESS is the CONFIDENCE of the Spirit-filled life.
8. GENTLENESS is the WAY of the Spirit-filled life.
9. TEMPERANCE is the REGULATOR of the Spirit-filled life.
You know all these things now. But knowing them is not enough. Will you choose to be a doer of the word and not a hearer only? Will you yield to God’s Holy Spirit and let Him have control of your life? It’s the only way that these nine characteristics will ever become the pattern of your life.
“Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives.” – The Message (Galatians 5:25)
