SERMON OUTLINE:
The fruit of the Spirit: a description
The fruit of the Spirit: a strategy
SERMON BODY:
iLL:
• There is a myth that says the Great Wall of China;
• Is the only man made structure that can be seen on the moon.
• But it’s just a myth, you cannot see from the moon this impressive structure.
• The Great Wall of China is great but not that great!
• It is an impressive 3,460 kilometres (2149 miles) long;
• And was built over a period of 2,000 years.
• It was built so high that nobody could climb over it,
• And so thick that nobody could break it down.
• Yet during the first 100 years of the walls existence,
• China was invaded three times.
• Yet not once did the enemy ever break down the wall or climb over it,
• Each time the enemy simply bribed the gatekeeper and they just marched on through.
Now walls are meant to protect us:
• i.e. In ancient times when invaders came to conquer a town,
• The inhabitants all retreated to the castle and defended themselves from behind walls.
• A city whose walls are broken down has no defence.
• Any invader force can march in and take possession of the city.
Ill:
• None of us would leave our front door wide open and put up a sign which reads:
• “Welcome. Help yourself to whatever you see.”
• Yet that was the situation of any ancient village, town or city without strong walls.
Our topic tonight is ‘The Fruit of the Spirit is Self-control’.
• Proverbs chapter 25 verse 28 says:
• “Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.”
• This proverb makes a very clear point;
• That a person without self-control is like a city without solid walls.
• It is only a matter of time before our enemies come along and invade!
Note:
• Self-control is the ninth and last in the list of the fruit of the Spirit;
• Recorded by the apostle Paul in Galatians chapter 5.
• And it is unique among the nine fruits mentioned;
• Unique because it is the only fruit listed;
• That is not a direct reference to the character of God.
• i.e. ‘The Fruit of the Spirit is love’ & 1 John chapter 4 verse 8: ‘God is love’.
• i.e. ‘The Fruit of the Spirit is peace’ & Hebrews chapter 13 verse 20: ‘May the God of peace’.
• But no-where as far as I know is God called the ‘God of self-control’.
• This may be because the very concept of "self-control";
• Implies a battle between a divided self and God of course is never divided!
• Now the New International Version of the Bible has "self-control,"
• The earlier King James Version of the Bible uses the word "temperance,"
• Meaning: ‘self-restraint’.
• It implies that our "self" produces desires, thoughts and actions;
• That we should not satisfy but instead "control."
• And a holy God does not produce such desires.
We have noted that in the sequential order of the nine fruits of the Spirit listed;
• That love, is clearly the most important in the list.
• In fact there is really only one fruit of the Spirit and that is ‘love’,
• All the other characteristics mentioned are the results of love.
• i.e. For if we love someone then we are joyful with them.
• i.e. For if we love someone then we are patient with them.
• i.e. For if we love someone then we are good towards them.
• i.e. And so on.
• Because there is really only one fruit of the Spirit and that is ‘love’,
• We have noted it is in the singular i.e. ‘fruit’ and not ‘fruits’ plural!
Perhaps self-control is listed last in the list as a bookend;
• Since it takes a lot of self-control to exercise the other eight virtues!
• Maybe Paul was thinking of love and self-control as the two great bookends for the set.
• Clearly these nine qualities work together and support each other.
(1). Self-control a description.
Quotes:
• “Self-control is choosing to do what you should do, not what you want to do”.
• “Self-control is knowing you can but deciding you won’t”
• The Greek word translated into English for self-control literally means “self-mastery.”
• When I practice self-mastery in my life,
• It is like building and strengthening walls that surround my house.
• Self-control protects me.
Question:
• You might ask: “But protects me from what?”
• “Who are the invaders who would seek to take over my life?”
Answer:
• Let’s go back into Galatians 5 where before the fruit of the Spirit is listed.
• We might call the fruit of the Spirit - God qualities.
• Now before the apostle Paul lists those God qualities;
• He makes another list – we might want to call this list - human qualities.
• The apostle Paul lists patterns of behaviour that reveal our corrupt nature.
• These are called in the New Testament ‘The acts of our sinful nature’;
• These characteristics are the invaders from which we need to be protected from;
• And self-control is the key to our resistance.
Let’s read who these invaders are (verse 19-21):
“The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
ill:
• Every Christian, every day experiences a civil war taking place in their lives:
• That is there are two natures fighting for control.
• This is the daily tension in which we live.
• Yet never forget EVERY Christian has a choice.
• Either God will be our master and we will practice ‘self-control’ in our lives;
• Or the sinful nature will be dominant and we will not practice ‘self-control’ in our lives;
QUSETION: What are the two natures that indwells us?
Answer:
• (1). The old nature (that every human being is born with is sinful).
• We are sinners by nature and sinners by practice!
• ill: Bowls – bias in the bowl prevents it running straight & true.
• (2). The new nature (that every Christian gets when they are born-again, converted).
• ill: Our bodies become the house, the temple of the Holy Spirit!
• Alongside the enemy is a greater force – one who is on our side!
• So each day the Christian faces civil war:
• The Spirit of God and the old sinful nature battle with each other for control.
PAUSE AND SAY:
• Older versions of the Bible can be misleading because they use the words "the flesh"
• And some folks read that and think it means "the body."
• But note - the human body is not sinful - it is neutral:
• lf the Holy Spirit controls our mind and therefore our actions,
• Then the physical body is holy, pure - it is good!
• But if the old nature controls our mind and therefore our actions,
• Our body can be used wrongly, and so it can become the tools of sin!
ILL:
• Most people have a weakness when it comes to food.
• For me it is ice-cream, for Penny & Kathy it is chocolate.
• Even though we know it will mean piling on the pounds, it may not be healthy thing,
• We indulge on a regular basis because we have an appetite for those things.
ILL:
• Because the Spirit and the old nature have different appetites,
• They obviously want to feed on different things.
• And this is what creates the conflict.
• Because the things are good and healthy;
• Are always going to clash with the bad and the unhealthy.
So in every Christian a battle is going on – a civil war:
• And as long as we are alive on planet earth that battle will remain,
• Depending on what we feed on will affect what we are like.
Ill:
• An Inuit fisherman came to town every Saturday afternoon.
• He always brought his two dogs with him.
• One was white and the other was black.
• He had taught them to fight on command.
• Every Saturday afternoon in the town square the people would gather and these two dogs would fight and the fisherman would take bets.
• On one Saturday the black dog would win;
• Another Saturday, the white dog would win - but the fisherman always won!
• His friends began to ask him how he did it.
• One night he revealed his secret to a close friend:
• He said, “Before a fight I starve one dog and feed the other.
• The one I feed always wins because he is stronger.”
Note: Our battle is not un-winnable – it is winnable:
• It is very winnable, but only if we follow God’s battle plan.
• Verse 18: talks about being "…led by the Spirit."
• Verse 23: “The fruit of the Spirit is…self-control”
(3). Self-control a Strategy.
• In verses 19-12 of chapter five;
• The apostle Paul lists 14 invaders, 14 enemies to the Christian life are mentioned.
• And these 14 invaders divide up into 3 categories:
First category has to do with the realm of sex (vs 19).
• Or a better way of phrasing that is the misuse of sex.
• (a). "Sexual immorality" (KJ: ‘Adultery & fornication’)
• (b). "Impurity" (KJ: "Unseemliness”):
• (c). "Debauchery” (KJ: "Lasciviousness”):
Second category has to do with the realm of religion (vs 20b-21a).
• Two things are mentioned.
• (a). "Idolatry".
• (b). "Witchcraft".
Third category has to do with the realm of social conflicts (vs 20b-21a).
• Eight examples of social conflicts are mentioned:
• (a). "Hatred”:
• (b). "Discord” (KJ: ‘Emulations’):
• (c). "Fits of rage" (KJ : "Wrath"):
• (d). "Selfish ambition":
• (e). "Dissension " (KJ: "Seditious”):
• (f). "Factions” (KJ: "Heresies’):
• (g). "Envy”.
• (h). "Drunkenness”:
Now the shocking news is this:
• Any Christian operating in the old nature can do any of these things and more.
• Quote: “The saved are still depraved!”
• And note that this is by no means an exhaustive list.
• But a general grouping of sins,
• This is a good summary of some Christians who choose to live by the old nature.
• Sadly as you examine their lives you would hardly know they were saved.
• No difference between them and a non-Christian.
• But no Christian has to live like that – it is a choice!
• So in verses 22-23 the apostle shows us a better way to live.
• And so we are introduced to the “fruit of the Spirit”;
• This has to do with a person’s character:
Question:
• How do we walk in the Spirit?
• How do we handle the old nature?
• How can we live a life that reflects the goodness of God?
Answer:
• The context of these verses is in regards to keeping the Old Testament Law;
• But the Law cannot help us because it cannot change or control the old nature.
• It can instruct and point out where we are failing;
• But the Law cannot help us because it cannot change or control the old nature.
• So therefore the old nature must be crucified!
(1). DEATH (vs 24):
“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires”.
When you became a Christian two things happened:
• Christ not only died for you,
• But you died with Christ.
• Christ died for me to remove the penalty of my sin,
• But I died with Christ to break its enslaving power in my life.
ill:
• Baptism is a picture of this dying & new life.
• Romans chapter 6 verses l-10.
• Christ not only died for you,
• But you died (old nature) was buried i.e. in a grave - under the water;
• And then you were raised with Christ to a new life – up and out of the water.
QUOTE; Paul has mentioned this already in Galatians (chapter 2 verses 19-20),
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The live I live in
the body, I live by faith in the Son of Goal who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Quote: And he will mention it again (chapter 6 verse 14).
“May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has
been crucified to me, and I to the world”
• He does not tell us to crucify ourselves, because this is impossible.
• Remember that crucifixion is one death a man cannot inflict on himself
• He tells us that the old nature has already been crucified.
• It is our responsibility to believe this and act upon it.
• Each day is a fresh battle
• Each day we choose to feed our minds and hearts on,
• Dependent on that choice is the outcome of how we live.
• Whether the Spirit of God leads us on or the old nature reigns that day.
(2). DISCIPLINE (vs 26):
“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
• “Keep in step with the Spirit"
• Means just that, not running ahead of him ahead and not to lagging behind.
Ill:
• The Greek word used for "walk" was a soldiers word.
• It meant "walking in line, marching in battle order”.
• That requires daily discipline,
• Just ask anyone in the forces.
The Christian life is no different:
• Our daily disciplines, involves us getting to grips with this book.
• It involves prayer, worship, praise, and fellowship with God’s people.
• It also means “pulling out the weeds"
• So that the seed of the Word can take root and bear fruit.
Quote: James Allen, As a Man Thinketh:
• “A man's mind may be likened to a garden,
• Which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild;
• But whether cultivated or neglected,
• It must, and will, bring forth.
• If no useful seeds are put into it,
• Then an abundance of useless weed seeds will fall therein,
• And will continue to produce their kind.”
"Walking" means we make progress:
• God’s people are to be moving on, making progress.
• As we get closer to God and to his people, so we get more godlike.
QUOTE John Newton:
• “I am not what I could be,
• I am not what 1 should be,
• But I am not what I used to be"
• How imperfect and deficient I am!
• I am not what I wish to be,
• Although I abhor that which is evil and would cleave to what is good.
• I am not what I hope to be,
• But soon I shall put off mortality, and with it all sin.
• Though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor yet what I hope to be,
• I can truly say I am not what I once was: a slave to sin and Satan.
• I can heartily join with the apostle and acknowledge;
• That by the grace of God I am what I am!”
IN CLOSING:
• Note Paul uses three pleas,
• As he urges these Christians to live lives which are holy
• Verse 13: he reminds them that God the father has called them.
• Verse 24: he reminds them that God the Son has died for them.
• Verse 16-23: he reminds them that the Holy Spirit indwells them.
• He reminds the Galatians and us,
• Each member of the trinity is assisting us in our battle against the old nature.
