Surrendering Your ‘Self’ to God’s Will and your Attitude to God’s Holy Spirit
“And to knowledge temperance”
Acts 24:25
DATE: 7 May, 2006 AM
PLACE: BBC Ballincollig
I. Introduction to Part Two
A. Faith (trust in the abilities of Jesus Christ) gets us into God’s family, and forms the foundation upon all the rest of our life
B. Virtue keeps us from getting trapped and defeated by sin by giving us the limits that we are to live within – lines that we will never cross (porn, divorce, murder, etc)
C. Knowledge gives me answers for the problems I go through, and for the uncertainties in those troubles – in other words, if I could just KNOW some things, the devil cannot scare me!
D. But knowledge is not enough for this sinful flesh of mine – I not only need to know what I am doing wrong, and how to do right, but I need help in controlling myself when I still want to do wrong! That’s where temperance comes in!
E. According to Acts 24:25, the apostle Paul not only preached about righteousness, and judgment of sin, but of “temperance” - the inability of a person to control themselves when it comes to sin, and therefore their need for a new Master!
F. When it comes to a Christian’s life, Temperance is three things:
1. Control – Who is in Charge of my life?
2. Balance – Keeping things balanced
3. Grace – Handling Failures
G. Together, those three ingredients enable a believer to surrender my ‘Self’ to God’s Will and their Attitude to God’s Holy Spirit
H. It makes a person Truly Free – not to do as you please (in bondage to sin again), but to be as God designed you to be!
II. Last Week We Learned
A. The Opposites of Temperance: Out of Control; Undisciplined; Unruly; Unrestrained; Chaotic; Lawless; HELLO? That’s our society!
B. Temperance is Restraint, But is More Than Self Restraint (2Tim 2:24-26)
1. Majority of all people are SLAVES! To habits, Peers, Satanic Pressures
2. Self-Control is good… but it’s not the best! (Prov 16:32)
3. Temperance is Placing Yourself under a Stronger Master than Yourself (Luke 11:21,22)… and living by His commands, and in His fear
4. Temperance in the Bible means to be 'under-control', 'restrained'. It was applied years ago to the use of alcohol (Temperance Societies), but it means that we are to grow in general restraint, because the more you know yourself, the more you realise your need of limits.
5. The new birth (Biblical salvation) transfers my sinfulness to Jesus Christ, and receives forgiveness in its place – but that is not all
6. Every time someone got saved in the Bible, they submitted their lives to the dominion (control) of the Lord Jesus (Lk 23:42; Rom 10:9,10) – it was not a “free-for-all”!
7. If you only got your sins forgiven, but not your will submitted, then you are out-of-balance, and will never have joy
C. The reason why there is SO MUCH defeat in Christian homes and Christian hearts is because we may belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, but He is not allowed to be in Charge of our lives – the enemy still directs our steps, and lures us along, and traps us in his snares!
D. Temperance is Yielding to the Right Authority (Rom 6:11-18)
1. What do we normally give-in to? Habits, lusts, pressures – we yield to what we are used to giving in to
2. As a Christian, there is a need for “reckoning” – adding things up, and weighing them out to see which is better
3. Reckon some things to be Dung… and some things to be Priceless
|
Become Unresponsive (Dead) to |
Live for the thrill of… |
|
Sin – what you know to be wrong World – anything that is not of Christ (like Drink, Drugs, Sex before marriage) Flesh – self-serving interests Lusts – pleasure first Bad habits – what you do naturally like Laziness Bitterness and habitual anger |
God (Creator of this universe) Righteousness Grace Heaven (Col 3) Soul-Winning Family Pleasing God – “Well done…” Making a difference (i.e., Doctor) Saving our generation |
4. Principles:
a. There are TWO KINGS who seek to rule your life
1) One is Satan – disguised as SELF and rebellion
2) The other is Jesus – meek and lowly
b. You are a servant of one or the other – no middle ground
c. You are the servant to that which you obey
5. No Christian is to be under the dominion of any sin – no sin should have any controlling influence over your life – period (Rom 6:14)
E. The moment you got saved, you became the servant of righteousness – stay there, and serve THAT King!
III. Today we want to focus on the Remaining Two Thoughts About Temperance
A. Balance
B. Grace
IV. Balance in the Christian Life (1Cor 9:24-27)
A. Most of us are imbalanced in major areas of our lives (Hosea 7:8) – undisciplined – unable to know when enough is enough, or to say no to something we know we should not do
1. Like a pancake, that has been cooking a while, and not been turned
2. So we too are burnt on one side, and raw on the other - imbalanced
3. We become no good to anyone
B. But a Christian is supposed to be a unique kind of a person – a truly balanced person – “fulfilled”
1. To the world, we look very extreme (Church on Sundays, no discos, no pub-crawling, no smoking, no porn, dedicated time reading our Bibles every day, praying about everything) - to the world, we look boring
2. But what we do, and what we believe from the Bible actually puts balance into our lives, and fulfils our lives like no disco or drug ever could
C. The Real Prize (1Cor 9:24; Philp 3:13,14; Heb 12:1,2)
1. An Eternal Prize – lasts forever – not like the things we accumulate in this life (rusts, falls apart, breaks down)
2. A priceless prize – up to five crowns can be earned
3. Worth everything you may have to go through
D. Striving for the Mastery (1Cor 9:25)
1. Of a Skill (piano playing) – not just play it, but master it!
2. Of a Sport (Soccer kicking)
3. Of a Subject (Maths, Science, Drawing)
4. Today’s world is only interested in mastering SIN – getting good at lying, and stealing, and cheating, and fornicating!
5. The Christian has a greater desire – that is for the mastery of SELF
E. God wants us Temperate in all areas of our life – all areas
1. Our Time (Eph 5:15,16)
2. Our Thoughts (Philp 4:8)
3. Our Attitudes (Philp 3:13,14)
4. Our Money – not selfish, but giving, and saving and using for God’s glory
5. Our Actions – for the Lord first, then for other, and lastly for self – that’s the right balance
F. Keeping under my body (1Cor 9:26,27)
1. There are Priority Balancing Measures every Christian needs to put in action
2. To bring it into subjection – bring it back into balance
3. These are things a Christian must do certainly – specifically – not stabs in the dark, but targets and goals to aim for
4. We will talk about these at the end
Craig Ledbetter