West Side Church of Christ, Searcy, Arkansas The Spirit Filled Life of Self-Control

West Side Church of Christ, Searcy, Arkansas

The Spirit Filled Life of Self-Control

Steve W. Reeves
Introduction:

A. On July 6, 2013 an Asiana Airlines flight from Seoul, South Korea to San Francisco, California,

crashed upon landing. Amazingly, of the 307 people on board only three people died as a result of

the accident. 181 were injured. In the nine months since the crash there has been a lot of

investigation into why, at the last moment, the plane crashed causing the tail to break apart.

Obviously, for some reason, someone did not maintain proper control of the aircraft.

1. All of us recognize the danger that exists when a vehicle of some type is out of control. A few

weeks ago a Fed-Ex truck crossed into oncoming traffic and struck a bus in northern California.

2. We’ve all known of instances where a drunk driver failed to maintain control of a vehicle and

struck someone resulting in death and destruction.

B. It’s tragic when someone loses control of a vehicle or a piece of machinery resulting in injury or

death. A greater tragedy occurs when an individual loses control of their life and inflicts pain and

injury on others. Far too often we hear and see the results of out of control lives.

1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that every year more than 3 million

reports of child abuse are made in the United States involving more than 6 million children.

2. The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence states that an estimated

1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by a partner each year. That does not include

those who suffer from verbal and emotional abuse by spouses or partners who habitually lose

control of their tempers.

3. These are not the only areas where people are out of control.

a. Some suffer from out of control appetites whether they be physical, emotional or sexual.

b. Some struggle with maintaining control over finances.

c. Many of us know something about controlling our time and managing priorities.

4. In the midst of our lack of control the Spirit of God longs to produce the fruit of self-control in our

lives.

C. The word Paul uses for self-control is egkráteia.

1. The word krátos means "dominion or mastery."

2. By adding the prefix it means dominion within, or control that comes from within oneself, but (and this

Is important) it is not by oneself. It is not humanly generated will-power.

3. Remember, the Christian life is not about our ability but about God’s ability working in us.

4. In Greek thought Self Control was a virtue that was greatly desired.

a. Plato held the view that knowledge was the key that enabled self-control.

b. The Stoics believed that people who allowed themselves to be carried about by emotions and

passions were slaves to these things so they advocated a rigid form of self-discipline.

c. The Jewish counter-part of the Stoics were the Essenes. Qumran, a community located near the Dead

Sea (close to where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found) was an Essene community. They practiced rigid

self discipline that included celibacy, lack of personal possessions, frequent fasting and ritual washings

to keep them pure.

D. Examples of how this word is used in Scripture.

1. Prov. 25:28 – “Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.”

a. Obviously, a city whose walls have been compromised is vulnerable to attack from the enemy.

b. A person who lacks self-control is easy prey for Satan.

2. There is an interesting use of the word in Acts 24:25.

a. When Paul was arrested and taken before the Roman governor Felix (Acts 24). According to verse 25

Paul, “talked about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come.”

b. Felix needed this admonition but did not want to hear it. He had a unsatisfied lust for power coupled with

an uncontrolled lust for women. His wife, Drusilla, was his third wife. She was the daughter of Herod

Agrippa I (who had killed James and imprisoned Peter and was later eaten by worms in Acts 12). She

had first married as a young teenager but was lured away from her husband by Felix who married her

when she was just 17.

c. It was no wonder Felix was afraid and told Paul, “That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it

convenient, I will send for you” (Acts 24:25).

3. Titus 1:8 speaks of self-control as a quality of shepherds of the flock.

4. 2 Peter 1:6 – lists self-control or “temperance” as one of the Christian virtues.

E. With “self-control” as a fruit of the spirit, (Gal. 5:23) the phrase, “last but not least” is certainly true. It affects

every area of life.

I. IT AFFECTS US NATIONALLY

A. Exodus 31 provides us with a picture of a nation out of control. Moses has been on the Mountain for over

a month and the people persuaded Aaron to make an idol – the golden calf. After all God had done for

them by leading them out of Egypt, parting the waters of the Red Sea and feeding them on their journey

they wanted to make their own Gods. The first thing to go was self-control.

1. Ex. 31:6 – after they had made sacrifices to the golden calf – “they sat down to eat and drink and got up

to indulge in revelry. What is revelry? Unrestrained behavior.

2. As Moses and Joshua approached the camp they hear the noise. Joshua said, “It sounds like a battle.”

Moses replied in vs. 18. “It is not the sound of victory but of defeat.” No nation has survived that has

become self-indulgent and morally corrupt.

B. In Richard Shelly Taylor’s book, The Disciplined Life, he contends that many of the moral issues which

we face are related to the self-indulgence of our age and this self-indulgence has crept into the church. He

notes, “The opposite of discipline is decadence.”

C. Many people in our country do not know the meaning of “self-control.”

1. Taylor says, “The Western world loves to play. Up to a point this is good. But when play – whether

vicarious play via TV or grandstand, or play via personal participation – consumes a larger proportion of

leisure time, money conversation and interest than is warranted by its cultural and recreational returns,

then the play becomes the mark of a decadent age and the badge of softness rather than strength. It

takes discipline to learn a new art, or science, or skill. It takes no discipline to watch a ball game or a

wrestling match.”

2. He quotes President Theodore Roosevelt who said over 100 years ago: “The things that will destroy

America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first, the love of soft

living and the get rich theory of life.”

3. We have a government that refuses to practice self-control. As of 3:00 this afternoon our national debt

stood at $17,444,841,828,567.43. It increases each day by 2.4 billion dollars. This is a symptom of a

nation that does not know the meaning of self-control.

D. Let me “throw” a few names at you and ask you what comes to mind. Brittney Spears. Lindsey Lohan.

Charlie Sheen. Justin Bieber. All of these are celebrities who are followed closely by millions of people.

Each of them has been characterized by a complete lack of self-control. Every time you hear about them

they have been arrested for drunk driving or substance abuse. If there is trouble to be found they seem to

find it. Unfortunately they influence a lot of people. They are characteristic of many people in our society.

II. IT AFFECTS US IN TIMES OF PERSONAL CRISIS

A. Why do some people fall apart in times of crisis and others maneuver through such times with a calm,

steady attitude? One undeniable factor is the way in which the person has practiced self-control. Paul says

in Gal. 6:7 – “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.”

1. A person who has lived carelessly without any self-control encounters a crisis and doesn’t know what to

do.

2. Another person who has led a spirit-filled life of self-control hits a rough spot and comes through

successfully.

.

B. In April of 1941 Franz Kreisler was forced by an accident to lay aside his violin for several weeks. When

he picked it up again his fingers were stiff and unbending. It seemed as if they might never play again. He

said to himself, “These are my fingers. They are the slaves and I am the general. I command them to

play.” “You know,” he said, “they played.”

C. Disciplined living produces order, consistency, purpose, poise and grace. A good example of this is Capt.

Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger who kept his composure when United Flight 1549 was forced to make an

emergency landing in the Hudson River in January of 2009.

1. Only years of disciplined training and professional conduct enabled him to bring that jetliner down

safely.

2. To this day he says, “I was just doing my job.”
III. IT AFFECTS OUR SPIRITUAL MATURITY

A. Even someone with the spiritual stature of the apostle Paul found self-control to be an essential part of his

spiritual life. He often used an athletic motif to describe his spiritual life.

1. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 - Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?

Run in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.

They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶ Therefore I

do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. ²⁷ No, I strike a

blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be

disqualified for the prize.

a. Self-control places actions over feelings. Too many people live by feelings alone – “I don’t feel like it”

or “I felt like it.”

b. Paul Faulkner in Making Things Right When Things Go Wrong says “act your way into feeling rather

than feel your way into acting.”

2. 2 Tim. 2:4-5 - No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his

commanding officer. ⁵ Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown

except by competing according to the rules.

3. 2 Tim. 4:7-9 - I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is

in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on

that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

B. We need self-control to keep our spiritual lives healthy.

1. Hebrews 5:12-14 – In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach

you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! ¹³ Anyone who

lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. ¹⁴ But solid

food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

2. In Eph. 4:14 Paul spoke of the need for spiritual self-control “so we will no longer be infants, tossed

back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning

and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.”

C. James says there is a link between our spiritual lives and the way we control our tongue. James 1:26

– “If anyone claims to be religious and does not bridle their tongue their religion is in vain. Later, in James

3, he describes the means by which we control horses or ships while having difficulty controlling the

tongue.
Conclusion:

A. Possessing self-control means that we are willing to pay a price. Igor Gorin, the great Ukrainian – American

Baritone. As a young man he smoked a pipe. He said that his teacher at the Music conservatory told him,

“Igor, you must decide. You can either be a great singer or a great pipe smoker. You cannot be both.” Gorin

gave up the pipe.

B. William Barclay in Flesh and Spirit says that Self-Control is, “that great quality which comes to man when

Christ is in his heart. That great quality which makes him able to live and walk in the world and yet keep his

garments unspotted from the world (Jas. 1:27). P. 127

C. Only when we are in step with the Spirit of God can we bear the fruit of God in our lives. Are you bearing the

fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control? Let’s

consider the question as we encourage one another in song.