Sermon Tone Analysis
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What’s your favorite recipe?
A few years back… I think it was Jeff Foxworthy that gave a recipe for chili: “Take all the hot s__t you can find… Put it in a pot and cook it for a long damn while!”
I love that recipe!!!
Because… It’s short, sweet, and simple!
My favorite bread recipe is Irish Soda Bread.... Any guess why?!
This is what the recipe says:
Ingredients: 3 1/2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
(add raisins, nuts, etc… to your liking)
Directions: (now don’t mess this up!) Combine all ingredients in a bowl… stir slightly… pour “dough” out on floured surface… knead 4 times… bake!
Super quick - Super easy - and it tastes great!
Now, let me tell you why I like Peter’s recipe…
Look at 2 Peter 1:3-8
Sound familiar?!?!?!
Peter says: “Take your life… add to it Faith… add goodness… add knowledge… add self-control… perseverance… godliness… mutual affection… love… the more the merrier!!! Shake it all up, and… Viola!
The Holy and Abundant Life!”
Today, we’re going to loo at one of what Trevor Miller calls “keystone ingredients”… and that is “self-control.”
Peter says: 2Pet 1:5-6
2 Peter 1:5–6 (NIV)
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;
6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;
Self-control is one of the “keystones”… if not THE Keystone… of the Holy Life.
A Keystone is the stone right in the middle of an arch that holds it all together.
Without the keystone, the whole arch will fall apart.
The same is true with the Christian walk… Without the keystone — without self-control — our whole walk will fall apart.
Self-control is the “key” that holds holiness together… Without it, we fail at love… we fail at goodness… we fail to even follow Jesus…
Every one of us has probably found ourselves in a situation where we had to exercise self-control, and probably failed!
I know I did… (my drinking before meeting Mindy)
Every recovered addict will tell you… it is not the habit we have to control… it is the “cravings”…
You see… The cravings that we experience in life are what cause us to make bad decisions… These cravings are not limited to just food, alcohol, drugs, etc…
The truth is, we crave all kinds of things in life… We crave intimacy… control… status… power… money… fame… We crave the ideal mate… the ideal church… the ideal god…
Without self-control, any one of these cravings can take us to some pretty dangerous places!
You see…
A craving is a powerful desire for something… It can be overpowering because we believe that “that thing” will bring us fulfilment.
What does Peter say?
“Add to your Faith, goodness, and godly knowledge, SELF-CONTROL.”
We Have To Control The Craving… or the Craving will Control Us!
The only thing that can truly fill us is a deep, abiding connection with God.
That is where life is found!
Cravings just leave us wanting more!
Without self-control, we are a danger to ourselves… and a danger to others… Because we will use others to satisfy our cravings.
How often have you found yourself failing to practice self-control?
Guess what?
You’re not alone!
Look at Rom 7:15-20
The Apostle Paul even struggled with this…
Good News!!!!
According to God’s Word… Self-control is not something we have to muster up on our own… It comes from the Holy Spirit!
God tells us that we need to practice self-control, and then…
God gives us the power to say “no” to the things we should say “no” to… and “yes” to the things we should say “yes” to…
Look at Gal 5:22-23
Notice… Paul doesn’t say “the FRUITS of the Spirit”… He says the “FRUIT” of the Spirit…
Self-control is a part of the Fruit produced by a Holy Life…
Self-control is a byproduct of our submission to Christ!
James Boice tells the story of William Wilberforce and his friend William Pitt the Younger, the Prime Minister of England…
Wilberforce, a strong Christian, had tried unsuccessfully to get his friend Pitt to go and see the preacher Richard Cecil.
Pitt was a nominal Christian… he went to church, but didn’t do anything else…
Wilberforce thought the preaching of Cecil might help awaken saving faith in his friend’s heart… so he kept asking…
Finally, Pitt agreed to go.
The two sat and listened to a powerful and wonderful message of the Truths of God… Wilberforce was convinced that his friend would sense the truth and embrace it wholeheartedly… but…
As they left service, Pitt turned to Wilberforce and said, “You know, Wilberforce, I haven’t the slightest idea what that man was talking about.”
Boice’s conclusion is this: “Clearly, Pitt was as deaf to the Spirit of God as if he were a physically dead man.”
Is that us?! Are we so caught up in our cravings that we are deaf to the Spirit of God?
A lack of self-control causes deafness to God…
Look at Proverbs 25:28
In the ancient near east, a city’s most reliable protection was its walls.
Walls make sure that anyone trying to enter is “vetted and checked”… Walls provide protection…
Without walls, the city was vulnerable to attack and destruction… This was a part of the concern that drove Nehemiah to approach the Persian King about the condition of Jerusalem.
The people were unprotected and vulnerable…
The same is true with our lives… Without self-control, we neglect the Spirit of God working in us and through us… we are left exposed.
Self-Control is our Protection Against Temptation.
A lack of self-control reveals itself in our lives in different ways.
A lack of self-Control looks like falling into temptation on the computer… or cell phone… allowing ourselves to look at explicit material…
It looks like neglecting our health…
It looks like an inability to control ones tongue… gossiping…
Self-control is critical when it comes to living in holiness.
It is a struggle we ALL face!
Look at Rom 8:5-6
Do you remember Boice’s conclusion about William Pitt?
“Clearly, Pitt was as deaf to the Spirit of God as if he were a physically dead man.”
That is Paul’s point!
In Romans, Paul was writing to a culture that had a “do as you please” mentality.
It was a city that was morally and spiritually bankrupt… because of the inability to practice restraint!
Their montra, “Pax Romana” — “keeping the peace is all that matters.”
So… “Anything goes as long as it doesn’t interfere with the peace...”
Sound familiar?
Our world does nothing to help us with self-control.
Look at Romans 8:5-6 again…
Paul says, “A person with his/her mind SET on the things of the flesh… the pleasures of this world… CANNOT accept the things that come from God.
They are foolishness to him…”
It comes down to a choice!
On what will we feed?
Do we feed the desires of the flesh.
or do we feed the desires of the Spirit?
Destructive choices begin in the mind!
When we entertain sinful thoughts… the mind can easily move to actions of the same kind.
The result of these fleshly “cravings” become physical action, which leads to spiritual death.
A lack of self-control robs us of the life God wants for us.
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