Sermon Tone Analysis

Pray

Introduction

So today we’re looking at the last fruit of the Spirit… The outworking of the fact that God’s Holy Spirit is present within us.

And as we have seen over the last number of weeks, this outworking of the Holy Spirit is a result of God’s work, not ours.

These are not fruits of the flesh.

These are NOT fruits of the human…No, these are different aspects of the fruit that only GOD can produce in us.

And as we have mentioned over the weeks, these fruit develop and grow and RIPEN the closer we are to God and the more we are walking in fellowship with Jesus and walking BY the Spirit, as Paul writes in Galatians 5.

And it’s no different with today’s fruit of the Spirit - in fact it is arguably most evident with today’s fruit of the Spirit, which is self-control.

Because if you remember what Paul says about the battle between the flesh and the Spirit, the flesh wants to do what is selfish and sinful because the flesh IS sinful.

And Paul lists the works of the flesh in verses 19-21.

So there’s no self-control within our flesh…and in order for us to walk in a manner pleasing to God, as we looked at last week, we need to be able to control our flesh, and to do that, we need the Spirit of God.

Pause

So, when I say the words, “self-control,” what comes into your head?

Here’s what comes into my head…

· Walking down Stranmillis Road, reaching the Sphinx kebab shop and then walking past it.

For me, THAT’S self-control.

But what does it mean to you?

· Not having a Chinese when you’re on a diet?

· Not having that extra drink that could tip you over the edge?

· Biting your tongue when what you really want to do is speak you mind?

There are probably other things that you think of, but what became obvious to me when I was looking at this is how similar self-control is to will-power.

So it made me think, what’s the difference between will-power and self-control?

Or is there a difference?

Well, after looking into this I have come to the conclusion that will-power and self-control are very similar, but at the same time there is a subtle difference between the two, and we’re going to see what that difference a little later.

But first let’s have a look at what the Bible has to say about self-control.

Well, there are different Greek words used that have been translated as self-control in our English bibles.

But the word Paul uses in Galatians 5 is ἐγκράτεια, which means mastery and it comes from the root word, Kratos, which means power or dominion.

In Greek mythology, Kratos is the personification of strength and power.

And that’s the essence of what Paul is talking about here when he talks about self-control as one of the fruit of the spirit.

Paul’s talking about strength and dominion over yourself.

That’s self-control... having the strength and the power to control yourself, which sounds a lot like will-power.

Except that

Will-power comes from yourself... self-control comes from the Spirit.

Pause

Let’s go a bit deeper.

The same word is used in 1 Corinthians 9:25 when Paul says that:

So this opens it up a bit.

An athlete’s self-control displays itself in two ways – Power to train, and power to abstain.

So if you think of an Olympic athlete.

Their self-control is in two parts.

They train for hours every day.

They stick at it.

If they don’t train then they lose their skill and they don’t want that to happen…We looked at that in some way last Sunday morning.

Training isn’t a one-off thing, it’s continuous and it’s hard work.

In fact this is key – an athlete values being the best at their sport, they value being on top of their game that they train day in day out, that they sacrifice doing other things to train.

So when all they feel like doing is vegging in front of the TV instead of training, they get themselves up and they get to the gym.

THAT’s self-control.

It’s the same with with any skilled talent.

Think of an artist or a musician.

Like I said last week, Johnathan is as good as he is because he has put in the hard work and practice to become as good as he is.

And there have probably been times when he wanted to skip the practice, and sometimes he may even HAVE skipped the practice.

But other times he just got the head down and kept at it.

Now, let’s pause to think how this relates to us.

I’m going to ask a rhetorical question, and I’m glad it’s a rhetorical question, because you don’t want to know my answer….

The question is this - How much time do you spend watching TV or pursuing a hobby, or doing ANYTHING ELSE other than spend time with God? How much time do I spend doing ANYTHING other than spending time with God?

Pause

An athlete wants to be on top of their game, so they exercise power over themselves – self-control, because they value being on top of their game more than anything else.

And friends, it’s all down to what we value.

Which brings me to my next question – what do you value more?

You see, the second way self-control displays itself is in the power to abstain.

An athlete wants to be on top of their game – they value that so much that while they pick themselves up and train, they ALSO abstain from things that will cause them to lose their edge.

So you won’t often see an athlete in the Sphinx kebab shop.

Athletes eat the right food and the DON’T eat the wrong food – they stay away from it.

Kate’s sister, Laura, she’s a personal trainer in London and her husband is the same.

And they have some self-control.

They are all about eating the right things and staying away from foods that will make them unhealthy.

There are times when they are over here, maybe at Christmas or on holiday and we’d all be over at Kate’s mum’s....and they are sitting with their carrot sticks and spinach smoothies, and there I am tucking into my Chinese.

And I don’t know HOW they do it.

Or think of weightwatchers....

Do you know that I participate in weightwatchers – I watch my weight all the time....

I watch it go up.

But those who are on a diet need self-control – they need self-control to stop eating cake and biscuits and kebabs.

And the thing that spurs them on in that is what they value.

If you value losing weight more than the sweet sweet taste of a kebab then you will abstain from eating kebabs.

And you abstain from eating cake and biscuits, because you value looking better.

Once again it’s back to what we value.

That’s what controls us.

So Self-control is a matter of figuring out what you value more.

An athlete values being on top of their game so they have self-control to pick themselves up off the couch and train, and they have self-control to abstain from eating things that will take them off their game.

A dieter values losing weight so they have self-control to pick themselves off the couch and get to the gym, and they have self-control to abstain from eating cake and stuff that will make them put on weight.

Self-control is power to train and power to abstain.

So What do you value?

Pause

2 Peter 1:5-8 says this…

Notice self-control is in that list.

And that list is a list of qualities that keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So having self-control will stop us from being ineffective in our knowledge of Jesus Christ.

That’s a double negative – let me flip it around.

If we lack self-control, among other qualities, we will be ineffectual in our knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Or the flip-side…if we HAVE self-control among those other things, we will be EFFECTIVE in our knowledge of Jesus…and surely knowing Jesus is the ultimate purpose in our Christian lives?

So What do you value?

Being a Christian is about living and loving as Christ lived and loved.

It’s about following him, being his disciple – it’s about getting to know him.

And knowing Jesus requires self-control.

In fact, it requires all of the fruit of the Spirit.

Being a disciple of Jesus requires Love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, kindness, gentleness and self-control.

And self-control is so important.

As we said earlier, Paul says that the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit.

So take a look at the works of the flesh in verse 18.

If we lack self-control we’re going to struggle in this battle with the flesh.