1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:03,080 We're in the book of Proverbs. You can turn to Proverbs Chapter 2 00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:06,080 25. We've been going through the 3 00:00:06,080 --> 00:00:10,680 book of Proverbs for our summer series, studying the wisdom 4 00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:13,920 writings found in Proverbs, and as you came in, you should have 5 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:16,160 got a bulletin that said Instructions for Life. 6 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:19,800 That's really the the main theme of all of the ways that we're 7 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:24,920 trying to understand wisdom offered by the Proverbs, and how 8 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:28,930 Wisdom and Knowledge and Understanding turns into the way 9 00:00:28,930 --> 00:00:30,450 we're supposed to live our lives. 10 00:00:30,450 --> 00:00:34,690 The instruction as we've been going through this, and you 11 00:00:34,690 --> 00:00:37,250 think about all of the Weekbyweek themes that we've 12 00:00:37,250 --> 00:00:41,090 looked at, you could almost retitle the entire series 13 00:00:41,090 --> 00:00:45,210 Instruction for Relationships. Because really, when you study 14 00:00:45,210 --> 00:00:48,490 proverbs and you really meditate on what they're saying, they're 15 00:00:48,490 --> 00:00:53,130 teaching us how to live well by the fundamental need that we 16 00:00:53,130 --> 00:00:56,840 have for relationships. And so by way of review, just 17 00:00:56,840 --> 00:00:58,520 think about everything we've talked about so far. 18 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:02,160 The very beginning of our study said that the beginning of 19 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:05,280 wisdom is the fear of the Lord. So you got to get your 20 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:08,840 relationship right with God before you receive any of His 21 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:12,080 instruction. And then as we went week by 22 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:15,400 week, it was really relationship by relationship. 23 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:18,560 And we talked about the necessity for having wisdom in 24 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:21,600 the way that we use our words to not talk about each other 25 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:25,560 rudely, to not gossip, to not have our our our mouths out of 26 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:29,280 control when we use our speech. And then we talked about the 27 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:33,600 relationship we have with our friends and friendship and 28 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:36,640 wisdom and how to be a good friend and the importance of 29 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:38,760 friendship. With that we contrasted 30 00:01:38,960 --> 00:01:41,120 friendship and family and neighbors. 31 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:45,520 And then we last week looked all the whole theme was husband and 32 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:49,680 wives, and what wisdom says about the importance of getting 33 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:52,960 those instructions right. Next week we're going to look at 34 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:56,480 parenting, how to be people who understand wisdom and 35 00:01:56,480 --> 00:01:59,760 instruction not just for our lives, but how to impart it into 36 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:02,680 the lives that God has given us to care for. 37 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:04,720 And so you think about all of that. 38 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:08,680 And apart from the fear of the Lord, there is one relationship 39 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:12,440 that really sets all of the others into order, and it is. 40 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:16,280 It's one of the most frustrating relationships of your life. 41 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:19,140 It is inevitable. This person follows you 42 00:02:19,220 --> 00:02:20,740 everywhere, and you can't get rid of them. 43 00:02:21,020 --> 00:02:26,580 And they're the the first one that is really responsible for 44 00:02:26,580 --> 00:02:28,820 your problems and the last one to accept blame. 45 00:02:29,580 --> 00:02:33,860 And of course we're talking about not your motherinlaw or 46 00:02:34,500 --> 00:02:38,620 your unavoidable neighbor or the frustrating family member that 47 00:02:38,620 --> 00:02:43,380 you see at all the functions. We're talking about you, the 48 00:02:43,380 --> 00:02:47,020 fundamental relationship other than your relationship with God, 49 00:02:47,620 --> 00:02:50,340 and this relationship has everything to do with that. 50 00:02:50,340 --> 00:02:54,940 One is the relationship that you have and the responsibility you 51 00:02:54,940 --> 00:02:59,620 have to put yourself in order. And as much as we live in a day 52 00:02:59,620 --> 00:03:05,580 and age that tries to find blame and point the finger for the 53 00:03:05,580 --> 00:03:08,780 problems of our world and the problem of your life at everyone 54 00:03:08,780 --> 00:03:13,500 but you, the Bible is clear that one of the great enemies of life 55 00:03:13,820 --> 00:03:16,950 is yourself. And so today we are going to 56 00:03:16,950 --> 00:03:20,550 look at the very important topic, maybe the topic that sets 57 00:03:20,550 --> 00:03:25,670 all wisdom into motion, which is the topic of self-control. 58 00:03:25,670 --> 00:03:29,030 So we look first at Proverbs chapter 25 with one of those 59 00:03:29,030 --> 00:03:33,550 great proverbial pictures starting in verse 28 to look at 60 00:03:33,910 --> 00:03:38,270 the the, the, the theme or the picture of self-control by 61 00:03:38,270 --> 00:03:39,830 actually looking at something else. 62 00:03:39,830 --> 00:03:45,740 It says in verse 28 of Proverbs, chapter 25, whoever has no rule 63 00:03:45,740 --> 00:03:52,260 over his own spirit is like a city broken down without walls. 64 00:03:52,900 --> 00:03:56,940 So we have Hebrew literature, the likening of one thing to 65 00:03:56,940 --> 00:03:59,980 another. And this wisdom says, if you 66 00:03:59,980 --> 00:04:04,500 can't rule your spirit or in this sense put your passions, 67 00:04:04,500 --> 00:04:09,020 your spirited desires into order, you can be likened to a 68 00:04:09,020 --> 00:04:13,400 city that has no wall. The walls have crumbled down. 69 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:16,800 And we we do a little bit of historical context for this, but 70 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:18,920 not something that's hard to grasp. 71 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:22,560 We don't live in a day and age where walls are a necessity for 72 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:25,960 a city, but we are not far removed from that being the case 73 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:29,640 for most of human history. For a city to actually have a 74 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:33,760 society, a civilized people group inside of it, that has a 75 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:37,240 functioning economy, has a functioning justice system, you 76 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:40,250 have to have borders and those borders have to be protected so 77 00:04:40,250 --> 00:04:44,370 that city can be secure. And an ancient reader would read 78 00:04:44,370 --> 00:04:47,410 this and it would be a matter of fact that if that protection 79 00:04:47,410 --> 00:04:51,530 that comes by the way of a wall, so that the enemy can't get out 80 00:04:51,610 --> 00:04:56,210 or can't get in and justice can't get out, the wall goes 81 00:04:56,210 --> 00:04:59,370 down and the city eventually comes to ruin. 82 00:05:00,610 --> 00:05:05,510 We just went to Israel. And it was in some ways a study 83 00:05:05,510 --> 00:05:11,670 of the prosperity and the demise of Israel based off the security 84 00:05:11,670 --> 00:05:14,190 of the wall. When this is when the king was 85 00:05:14,190 --> 00:05:17,310 ruling and the wall was secure and Israel was being blessed. 86 00:05:17,470 --> 00:05:20,110 And this is when Israel worshipped idols and the walls 87 00:05:20,110 --> 00:05:24,750 came down and the enemy came in. And with that picture in mind, 88 00:05:24,750 --> 00:05:27,550 we now have an understanding of what the Bible is saying about 89 00:05:27,550 --> 00:05:32,270 how God made us to live. That we ourselves are a little 90 00:05:32,270 --> 00:05:36,790 functioning society within ourselves, and we have all sorts 91 00:05:36,790 --> 00:05:41,830 of passions and desires, and those things need to be ruled 92 00:05:42,030 --> 00:05:48,030 with a garden, in in in fenced. And when we can't control our 93 00:05:48,030 --> 00:05:51,830 passions, we are a disaster waiting to happen. 94 00:05:52,510 --> 00:05:56,150 We are a city that is waiting to turn into rubble. 95 00:05:57,150 --> 00:06:00,750 And you think about the great problems of your life and how 96 00:06:00,750 --> 00:06:04,910 often they have the word self right in front of them, and it 97 00:06:04,910 --> 00:06:10,150 is all flowing from a lack of selfcontrol or a lack of your 98 00:06:10,150 --> 00:06:12,710 ability to put your desires into order. 99 00:06:13,470 --> 00:06:16,430 Think about these words times you've experienced when you've 100 00:06:16,430 --> 00:06:19,030 been selfdeceived. Hard to see through that one, 101 00:06:19,510 --> 00:06:23,670 and all of the ways that in selfdeception you are letting 102 00:06:23,710 --> 00:06:25,790 the destruction come into your life. 103 00:06:26,310 --> 00:06:27,350 You don't know what you don't know. 104 00:06:27,350 --> 00:06:28,670 You don't know how you're fooled. 105 00:06:29,350 --> 00:06:34,030 Self pity when you become the center of all of the things that 106 00:06:34,030 --> 00:06:37,350 you're focused on and all of your energy goes into just how 107 00:06:37,350 --> 00:06:40,070 hard and how horrible your own life is. 108 00:06:40,590 --> 00:06:43,030 Self conceit in the other way, how great you are. 109 00:06:44,590 --> 00:06:49,270 Self importance, self centeredness, self indulgence, 110 00:06:49,550 --> 00:06:55,470 all eventually pointing you down a road of one form or another of 111 00:06:55,470 --> 00:06:59,300 self harm. It's been said that all 112 00:06:59,300 --> 00:07:03,740 temptation leading to sin is in fact an inside job. 113 00:07:04,700 --> 00:07:09,820 And as much as we look out and blame everyone else, the Bible 114 00:07:09,820 --> 00:07:15,260 says so much of the rubble of our lives is due to a lack of 115 00:07:15,260 --> 00:07:20,780 selfcontrol, the inability to rule over our own passion. 116 00:07:21,500 --> 00:07:23,860 And so today we're going to look at what the proverb say. 117 00:07:23,860 --> 00:07:27,390 Here's some wisdom and instruction so that the walls 118 00:07:27,390 --> 00:07:31,550 that encompass your life would not break down and that you 119 00:07:31,550 --> 00:07:36,630 would not allowed all of those self qualifying problems come 120 00:07:36,630 --> 00:07:39,830 into your life and allow your life to turn into rubble. 121 00:07:40,230 --> 00:07:43,950 We'll look at what is essentially wisdom for 122 00:07:43,950 --> 00:07:48,230 selfcontrol in three parts as we look for the Proverbs to speak 123 00:07:48,230 --> 00:07:49,870 to us. We have the first part, which is 124 00:07:49,870 --> 00:07:54,310 the warning, what the proverbs will tell us, much like the 125 00:07:54,310 --> 00:07:58,190 crack in the wall, here's what will happen if you don't have 126 00:07:58,190 --> 00:08:00,710 selfcontrol. And then secondly, we'll we'll 127 00:08:00,710 --> 00:08:03,710 look at the reward. Wherever there is a reward, a 128 00:08:03,710 --> 00:08:07,310 warning, it is to help us to see the reward. 129 00:08:08,310 --> 00:08:12,790 And then finally, and maybe the most important part, how do we 130 00:08:12,790 --> 00:08:18,280 actually rule over our passions? How do we go from people who 131 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:23,720 feel out of control to feel the the joy and the reward of having 132 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:28,000 a life that is well ordered? And so we'll spend probably the 133 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:30,960 most time looking at the key to selfcontrol. 134 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:36,360 But we start with the warning, which is fairly obvious how many 135 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:39,039 of you have felt at times. There's something in your life 136 00:08:39,039 --> 00:08:44,760 that has lost your control that you once ruled and now it rules. 137 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:48,610 You and the proverbs Will will look at 2 proverbs and they'll 138 00:08:48,610 --> 00:08:52,530 essentially gives us warnings with two lens a nearsighted 139 00:08:52,530 --> 00:08:54,210 warning and a farsighted warning. 140 00:08:54,530 --> 00:08:57,330 Essentially saying if this happens to your life and 141 00:08:57,330 --> 00:08:59,570 selfcontrol is something that you can't control. 142 00:09:00,370 --> 00:09:03,530 There is immediate effects and there are longterm effects. 143 00:09:03,530 --> 00:09:09,250 First the immediate it says have you ever found honey? 144 00:09:10,530 --> 00:09:14,770 Eat only as much as you need less, you be filled with it and 145 00:09:14,770 --> 00:09:17,570 vomit. So here's an an ancient 146 00:09:17,570 --> 00:09:20,890 predicament. You find the honeycomb and it 147 00:09:20,890 --> 00:09:24,450 doesn't say to not enjoy it. Honey is something sweet. 148 00:09:24,450 --> 00:09:26,930 It can be therapeutic. It can be something to be 149 00:09:26,930 --> 00:09:30,730 enjoyed. But what it is saying is do not 150 00:09:31,290 --> 00:09:34,730 overindulge in the good thing that you have found. 151 00:09:35,610 --> 00:09:40,770 In other words, there are sweet things in life that can make you 152 00:09:40,770 --> 00:09:44,390 sick. And one of the ways that the 153 00:09:44,390 --> 00:09:49,510 warning for the immediate can be plain to see is that we live in 154 00:09:49,510 --> 00:09:52,710 a culture of overindulgence. We live in a culture that has 155 00:09:52,710 --> 00:09:58,110 taken many of the sweet things of life and of God and of our 156 00:09:58,110 --> 00:10:03,470 modern world, and they have offered them to us with such a 157 00:10:03,470 --> 00:10:07,750 high amount of volume that they eventually make us sick. 158 00:10:08,470 --> 00:10:11,710 I mean, think about all of the ways we could think of modern 159 00:10:11,710 --> 00:10:12,990 examples. I doubt any of you are 160 00:10:12,990 --> 00:10:14,350 struggling with honey this morning. 161 00:10:14,350 --> 00:10:15,950 If you are, you came to the right service. 162 00:10:16,310 --> 00:10:19,470 Stop eating so much honey. But you're no doubt struggling 163 00:10:19,470 --> 00:10:22,830 with one of the many ways that you could be indulging in our 164 00:10:22,830 --> 00:10:26,030 culture. How many of you have felt like 165 00:10:26,030 --> 00:10:30,750 you just pull out the phone too much and you scroll through your 166 00:10:31,070 --> 00:10:35,150 preferred app too much? It's a sweet thing that will 167 00:10:35,150 --> 00:10:39,870 eventually make you sick. How many of you have enjoyed 168 00:10:40,470 --> 00:10:42,950 small leisure time in video games and then just turn it into 169 00:10:42,950 --> 00:10:45,430 something that you give over to everything? 170 00:10:46,430 --> 00:10:50,030 How about checking emails or sports scores Or stocks Or news 171 00:10:50,030 --> 00:10:51,830 alerts? Watching TV, movies? 172 00:10:51,830 --> 00:10:54,350 YouTube. You work too long. 173 00:10:54,350 --> 00:10:56,190 You stay up too late. You party too hard. 174 00:10:56,190 --> 00:10:58,510 You worry too much. You fear the future. 175 00:10:58,670 --> 00:11:00,590 You can't stop your racing, mind. 176 00:11:00,750 --> 00:11:05,310 You lust after everything and certainly something on the list 177 00:11:05,590 --> 00:11:10,230 is a way for you to understand the overindulgence that we live 178 00:11:10,230 --> 00:11:13,830 in. And the immediate says put the 179 00:11:13,830 --> 00:11:18,950 brakes on with the 1st way that you get the warning because the 180 00:11:18,990 --> 00:11:23,430 the example of honey gives a very immediate danger to eat too 181 00:11:23,430 --> 00:11:25,590 much. You actually hate to get so 182 00:11:25,590 --> 00:11:28,030 graphic in church, but I happen to just be reading the Bible. 183 00:11:28,270 --> 00:11:32,640 Eat too much and you will vomit. It's it's nature's way or your 184 00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:35,240 body's way of pulling the emergency brake on something you 185 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:38,720 should no longer do. The the idea being if you have 186 00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:42,440 to go through that intense of a lesson, hopefully you now 187 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:44,720 realize that is not a good thing for your life. 188 00:11:45,880 --> 00:11:47,560 I was watching the movie Sandlot. 189 00:11:47,560 --> 00:11:49,560 How many Sandlot fans are out there? 190 00:11:49,680 --> 00:11:52,120 Classic movie. I find no fault in it so it can 191 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:55,880 recommend it to anyone. There's a moment of 192 00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:58,760 overindulgence where selfcontrol was lost. 193 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:03,040 The the, the ragtag bunch that practices at The Sandlot beats 194 00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:06,600 the the rich kids across town. They they win the baseball game 195 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:09,000 and they go out to celebrate, go to the County Fair, and as 196 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:11,440 they're walking in, one of the kids pulls out some chewing 197 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:13,800 tobacco, he says, What do you guys want to take some chewing 198 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:15,160 tobacco? And they all take it and they go 199 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:20,320 on the tilt, the whirl, and they they get the result of something 200 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:22,800 coming out to say you shouldn't do that ever again. 201 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:27,530 And as they're leaving with stained shirts, the narrator 202 00:12:27,530 --> 00:12:29,410 says. From then on we decided to stick 203 00:12:29,410 --> 00:12:34,090 to bazooka bubble gum. That's good short sighted 204 00:12:34,090 --> 00:12:36,770 warning so that you don't continue down a path that will 205 00:12:36,770 --> 00:12:40,650 eventually turn your life into selfcontrol with longterm 206 00:12:40,650 --> 00:12:43,530 effects and everything on the list that we just listed. 207 00:12:43,610 --> 00:12:46,850 Hopefully you've had moments when you've overindulged with 208 00:12:46,850 --> 00:12:48,970 your spending, You've overindulged with drinking or 209 00:12:49,010 --> 00:12:52,530 eating or enjoying the leisure time, and something has happened 210 00:12:52,530 --> 00:12:54,050 to, say, pump the brakes on them. 211 00:12:56,290 --> 00:13:01,050 Most of us are stubborn enough to pump right through that to go 212 00:13:01,050 --> 00:13:02,930 right through the initial warning, and that's why the 213 00:13:02,930 --> 00:13:06,650 proverb say okay, if vomit isn't a good enough lesson, let's get 214 00:13:06,650 --> 00:13:10,730 a longer case view of what will happen if you don't control your 215 00:13:10,730 --> 00:13:13,890 passion. So now we come to the next 216 00:13:13,890 --> 00:13:18,050 warning, which is the long view. Proverbs Chapter 23 don't mix 217 00:13:18,050 --> 00:13:21,220 with wine bibbers. These are not your social 218 00:13:21,220 --> 00:13:22,580 drinkers. These are people who have 219 00:13:22,580 --> 00:13:26,620 committed to drinking every day, every chance they get their 220 00:13:26,620 --> 00:13:30,860 alcoholic for wine or with gluttonous eaters of meat. 221 00:13:30,900 --> 00:13:33,460 Again, these are not people who are enjoying the occasional 222 00:13:33,460 --> 00:13:36,540 feast, but they eat meat to the point of gluttony. 223 00:13:36,900 --> 00:13:42,180 Overindulgence as a definition now of their life and look what 224 00:13:42,180 --> 00:13:45,180 happens. The drunkard and the glutton 225 00:13:45,260 --> 00:13:49,780 will come to poverty. You do this long enough, you 226 00:13:49,780 --> 00:13:54,220 spend all your money on wine and meat on feasting, and you're 227 00:13:54,220 --> 00:13:58,820 going to lose your money, and drowsiness will clothe a man 228 00:13:58,820 --> 00:14:00,940 with rags, so you'll be poor in rags. 229 00:14:02,220 --> 00:14:06,300 This example, specifically with alcohol, is just as current 230 00:14:06,300 --> 00:14:08,780 today as it was when the proverb was written. 231 00:14:09,610 --> 00:14:12,570 We just went my family and I just went to New York, and it is 232 00:14:12,810 --> 00:14:16,290 what I call the Vacation Bible school for my kids as we look 233 00:14:16,290 --> 00:14:18,970 out on humanity. And there were times when I got 234 00:14:18,970 --> 00:14:21,210 to do the real lesson of a long view. 235 00:14:21,610 --> 00:14:25,170 Not just warning my children about bad choices, about losing 236 00:14:25,170 --> 00:14:27,930 control with something like alcohol or drugs, but actually 237 00:14:27,930 --> 00:14:32,970 pointing to something that was rags and poverty and without 238 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:36,200 judging, without trying to lay a burden on the person who had 239 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:38,920 fell into this lifestyle with all compassion in my heart for 240 00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:40,600 the predicament they find themselves in. 241 00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:44,560 When I found people on the street that were living in rags, 242 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:49,120 it was a great time to say this is what happens if you go down 243 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:53,480 that road. And of course, these are extreme 244 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:56,150 examples. We can preach an entire sermon 245 00:14:56,150 --> 00:15:00,470 on temperance specifically for alcohol and food, but the idea 246 00:15:00,470 --> 00:15:04,230 is to take the examples and expand it into any area of your 247 00:15:04,230 --> 00:15:06,070 life. Or have you have lost the 248 00:15:06,070 --> 00:15:09,750 ability to rule over your passion, and now your passion 249 00:15:09,750 --> 00:15:13,150 rules you? It is not going to just cost you 250 00:15:13,150 --> 00:15:17,070 a hangover on the weekend or an overdraft fee once or twice. 251 00:15:17,580 --> 00:15:20,500 What the Bible is saying is if you lose control of your 252 00:15:20,500 --> 00:15:24,140 passions, eventually it will take you down a road where you 253 00:15:24,140 --> 00:15:26,580 are no longer in control of your entire life. 254 00:15:27,380 --> 00:15:31,500 We don't belabor this because the problem with self-control or 255 00:15:31,500 --> 00:15:35,670 lack thereof, is largely self-evident, and every single 256 00:15:35,670 --> 00:15:38,710 one of you can look out into the streets and see the example, or 257 00:15:38,710 --> 00:15:41,990 look into your life and be warned of the path that you're 258 00:15:41,990 --> 00:15:47,510 currently on for all of the ways you do too much of the category 259 00:15:47,590 --> 00:15:49,950 that the Lord is convicting you in right now. 260 00:15:50,750 --> 00:15:54,830 So as we stated, we look at the warning so that we can focus on 261 00:15:54,830 --> 00:15:57,990 the reward. The proverbs are full of warning 262 00:15:57,990 --> 00:16:00,510 and reward and it is always to point us to the reward. 263 00:16:01,150 --> 00:16:04,830 The Bible does not want to put us in a spiritual straitjacket 264 00:16:04,990 --> 00:16:08,990 and fear wrong steps, and in fact it points us to say this is 265 00:16:08,990 --> 00:16:11,910 the way that God designed your life so that you can enjoy your 266 00:16:11,910 --> 00:16:15,350 life more. So now we look at the reward and 267 00:16:15,350 --> 00:16:19,150 we start with what I find to be a a good time to look at 268 00:16:19,150 --> 00:16:22,950 selfcontrol defined. So if you collected all of the 269 00:16:22,950 --> 00:16:26,550 different ways that wisdom and knowledge and understanding lead 270 00:16:26,550 --> 00:16:30,210 to instruction so that we can control our life, here's a 271 00:16:30,250 --> 00:16:33,210 working definition. Consider this. 272 00:16:33,210 --> 00:16:39,330 Selfcontrol is the ability to use sound judgment or wisdom in 273 00:16:39,330 --> 00:16:45,850 choosing the important thing over the urgent thing, resulting 274 00:16:45,850 --> 00:16:51,650 in long term health rather than short lived pleasure. 275 00:16:51,970 --> 00:16:55,010 This is what is being offered through the Wisdom writing. 276 00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:59,960 As I said in Proverbs 3, trust in the Lord, His design His 277 00:16:59,960 --> 00:17:03,520 priority for your passions. Reorder them so that you're not 278 00:17:03,520 --> 00:17:07,359 living for the urgent pleasures, but you are making decisions for 279 00:17:07,359 --> 00:17:10,839 longterm health, and it will be health to your bones. 280 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:14,160 Wisdom will in fact add years to your life. 281 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:16,800 It will bless all areas of your life. 282 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:20,079 Wherever your passions are properly ordered and you begin 283 00:17:20,079 --> 00:17:25,359 to use sound judgment, there will be a longterm reward. 284 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:29,920 Here's one example, a proverb explaining the reward in the 285 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:35,280 area of maybe the selfcontrol. One O 1 lesson, which is how we 286 00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:40,080 all need to practice selfcontrol with our words, with the words 287 00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:43,120 that are really an overflow of our thoughts and our heart, and 288 00:17:43,120 --> 00:17:46,120 how we can actually find selfcontrol for our inner 289 00:17:46,120 --> 00:17:49,160 selves. It says he who guards his mouth. 290 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:53,480 The the now. The the the picture of the wall. 291 00:17:54,010 --> 00:17:56,210 Picture it now, not just around your whole life, but around your 292 00:17:56,210 --> 00:17:59,610 mouth. The wall guards the mouth and 293 00:17:59,610 --> 00:18:03,210 you preserve your life. But he opens wide. 294 00:18:03,210 --> 00:18:08,490 His lips shall have destruction. Where the guard of selfcontrol 295 00:18:09,330 --> 00:18:12,770 covers any category, you are leading to life. 296 00:18:13,690 --> 00:18:16,010 Open wide your mouth and see what happens to your 297 00:18:16,010 --> 00:18:19,760 friendships. See what happens to we just 298 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:21,040 talked about marriage, husbands and wife. 299 00:18:21,320 --> 00:18:25,000 Let's see what happens when the wall of your mouth just falls 300 00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:28,040 down and you open wide your mouth and watch all of the 301 00:18:28,040 --> 00:18:29,720 destructive path that will follow. 302 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:34,200 And conversely, find out what happens when you choose your 303 00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:37,960 words wisely and you bridle your tongue like like we bridle 304 00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:41,480 horses to put it under control. And find all of the ways that 305 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:45,360 your words will actually be used to bring life and encouragement 306 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:48,920 and enhance your relationships and extend your health. 307 00:18:50,370 --> 00:18:53,290 And again, this is just one way the proverbs give us one 308 00:18:53,290 --> 00:18:57,530 category, but the idea is that the reward is plain as well. 309 00:18:58,410 --> 00:19:01,970 There's a new documentary out on all of the ways that we can 310 00:19:01,970 --> 00:19:06,210 watch documentaries about people who are are worth viewing 311 00:19:06,210 --> 00:19:08,530 because they did something that the world would consider great 312 00:19:08,530 --> 00:19:11,290 with their lives. One that I enjoyed growing up in 313 00:19:11,290 --> 00:19:13,970 the 80s and 90s was Arnold Schwarzenegger's because he was 314 00:19:13,970 --> 00:19:16,250 the last action hero. Literally, That was his movie 315 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:20,120 and he was a man of just giant muscle. 316 00:19:20,120 --> 00:19:21,320 I don't need to explain that to you. 317 00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:23,680 He's like the most popular muscle man of all time. 318 00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:29,360 And in the movie he's 22 years old and he is a specimen of 319 00:19:29,360 --> 00:19:33,760 muscle and he's winning Mr. Olympia at 22 years old. 320 00:19:34,500 --> 00:19:38,220 He has migrated to from Austria to the United States. 321 00:19:38,220 --> 00:19:40,980 He's learned English, he's mastered his body, he's won the 322 00:19:40,980 --> 00:19:42,980 medal that that he set out to win. 323 00:19:43,180 --> 00:19:47,180 And he said to master my body I had to master my mind. 324 00:19:48,260 --> 00:19:50,660 Which means that the reward is self-evident. 325 00:19:51,220 --> 00:19:54,100 If you are able to master your mind, to make good decisions 326 00:19:54,100 --> 00:19:57,380 about your physical health, to make good decisions about how to 327 00:19:57,380 --> 00:20:00,420 exercise, your reward will be self-evident. 328 00:20:00,860 --> 00:20:02,980 We don't have to. I don't have to convince you. 329 00:20:03,380 --> 00:20:07,220 That when you do well in the categories of discipline, there 330 00:20:07,220 --> 00:20:11,180 is all sorts of net benefits to your finances, to your body, to 331 00:20:11,180 --> 00:20:15,060 your relationships. So what we have to ask more 332 00:20:15,060 --> 00:20:20,540 deeply is how do we actually master our mind? 333 00:20:20,820 --> 00:20:24,220 And we don't do it just by looking at the few people 334 00:20:24,220 --> 00:20:27,180 throughout history that have found a category of success. 335 00:20:27,340 --> 00:20:31,060 The goal is not to make all of you bodybuilders, because no 336 00:20:31,060 --> 00:20:34,620 doubt Arnold Schwarzenegger master one area of his life, but 337 00:20:34,620 --> 00:20:38,220 not all of his life. There are certain areas of his 338 00:20:38,220 --> 00:20:40,500 life where there is no doubt cracks in the wall. 339 00:20:41,180 --> 00:20:44,140 So we now look to the wisdom writing to say okay. 340 00:20:44,260 --> 00:20:46,900 The danger is clear and the reward is obvious. 341 00:20:46,900 --> 00:20:51,300 But how, in fact, do we take lives that are out of control 342 00:20:51,420 --> 00:20:56,100 and put them into control? So we'll spend the time looking 343 00:20:56,100 --> 00:20:59,980 at the proverbs that offers us some insight into how we can 344 00:20:59,980 --> 00:21:04,180 grow from the word of God into disciplined lives more and more 345 00:21:04,180 --> 00:21:06,020 and more. So we start by looking once 346 00:21:06,020 --> 00:21:08,300 again where we started. Proverbs Chapter 25. 347 00:21:09,140 --> 00:21:12,100 I find it helpful sometimes, not always with the collection of 348 00:21:12,100 --> 00:21:14,820 wisdom being somewhat fragmented, But in this case, 349 00:21:14,940 --> 00:21:17,420 it's really interesting to read the verse right before the one 350 00:21:17,420 --> 00:21:19,700 we started with. Look what it says. 351 00:21:20,060 --> 00:21:25,420 It is not good to eat too much honey, So to seeks 1 to seek 352 00:21:25,420 --> 00:21:30,940 one's own glory is not glory. Whoever has no rule over his own 353 00:21:30,940 --> 00:21:34,940 spirit is like a city broken down without walls inserted 354 00:21:34,940 --> 00:21:37,860 into. The proverb is a warning not 355 00:21:37,860 --> 00:21:42,980 just about unruly lack of selfcontrol, but at the center 356 00:21:42,980 --> 00:21:46,780 of it is someone who's seeking their own glory, the proverb 357 00:21:46,780 --> 00:21:48,340 writer said. It won't be glorious. 358 00:21:48,810 --> 00:21:52,090 Seeking your own glory is like eating too much honey. 359 00:21:52,090 --> 00:21:55,410 Neither one of them are good. Seeking your own glory is 360 00:21:55,410 --> 00:21:59,450 parallel with losing control of your passions. 361 00:22:00,010 --> 00:22:02,610 In other words, this is a matter of who you're worshipping. 362 00:22:03,850 --> 00:22:08,330 Every decision where your passion controls you is Putting 363 00:22:08,330 --> 00:22:13,170 you at the altar of worship is serving you foremost, more than 364 00:22:13,170 --> 00:22:17,010 God and more than others, your appetites and your desires and 365 00:22:17,010 --> 00:22:19,250 the way that you use your mouth and make your decisions. 366 00:22:19,370 --> 00:22:22,890 When you are seeking your own glory, you are walking towards a 367 00:22:22,890 --> 00:22:29,050 city of rubble. And so one first step in 368 00:22:29,050 --> 00:22:32,410 considering is this is who is at the center of the decisions 369 00:22:32,410 --> 00:22:36,810 you're making. Now we get to a proverb that 370 00:22:36,810 --> 00:22:40,860 warns us what not to do. Because some of you may hear 371 00:22:40,860 --> 00:22:42,860 this message and think, okay, I get it. 372 00:22:43,220 --> 00:22:46,300 Got to try harder. I have to take control of my 373 00:22:46,300 --> 00:22:47,620 life. I have to take it back. 374 00:22:48,420 --> 00:22:51,900 I have to do things that will make me a more disciplined 375 00:22:51,900 --> 00:22:53,580 person. I'll set my alarm before I leave 376 00:22:53,580 --> 00:22:57,340 church and wake up earlier. I'll read my Bible more, and I 377 00:22:57,340 --> 00:23:01,300 myself will eventually overcome my lack of discipline by working 378 00:23:01,300 --> 00:23:02,940 harder. But look what the proverbs say. 379 00:23:02,980 --> 00:23:08,030 A wise man fears and departs from evil, but a fool rages and 380 00:23:08,030 --> 00:23:12,190 is selfconfident. So what we're not talking about 381 00:23:12,350 --> 00:23:17,470 is just doing better. On both scenarios, you're still 382 00:23:17,470 --> 00:23:20,870 at the center of the story. You're still at the center of 383 00:23:20,870 --> 00:23:24,630 the attempt to save the the the city in ruin. 384 00:23:26,630 --> 00:23:34,660 Consider this quote. The danger is self becoming over 385 00:23:34,660 --> 00:23:37,900 controlling is just as dangerous as being out of control. 386 00:23:38,660 --> 00:23:41,460 Anorexia is no better than diabetes. 387 00:23:41,460 --> 00:23:44,300 Legalism is no holier than than lust. 388 00:23:44,660 --> 00:23:49,020 You cannot repair the southern wall by removing bricks from the 389 00:23:49,020 --> 00:23:53,460 north tower. This is not a message to say 390 00:23:53,460 --> 00:23:56,860 Christian. Do better by picking yourself on 391 00:23:56,860 --> 00:24:01,900 your by up by the bootstraps and just say no to sin and grit your 392 00:24:01,900 --> 00:24:04,880 teeth and stop being out of control. 393 00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:08,520 This is a fundamental message that is the beginning of your 394 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:11,880 faith and it is the endurance of your faith and it is in fact 395 00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:15,200 where all control comes from and ends. 396 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:21,000 It is a message that points us right back to the name of God 397 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:27,360 himself, apart from which there is no name under heaven by which 398 00:24:27,360 --> 00:24:31,200 men can be saved, including your own, for your own problems. 399 00:24:32,710 --> 00:24:36,470 And to get this point, the Proverbs require us to crack the 400 00:24:36,470 --> 00:24:37,590 Riddle. Remember Proverbs? 401 00:24:37,590 --> 00:24:40,550 Often times unfolding a Riddle to solve an enigma. 402 00:24:41,510 --> 00:24:44,910 And when we think about the metaphor of the city wall, I 403 00:24:44,910 --> 00:24:47,910 want you to take it to its end. Imagine the wall does come down. 404 00:24:48,070 --> 00:24:52,550 Imagine the enemy is now approaching the border where the 405 00:24:52,550 --> 00:24:56,270 wall once stood and they are coming to ransack the city. 406 00:24:58,030 --> 00:25:02,280 A wise person would not simply stand there and try to put the 407 00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:05,360 bricks back up. We go back to Proverbs chapter 408 00:25:05,360 --> 00:25:07,640 14. It says the wise person fears 409 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:09,960 evil and departs. Where do they go? 410 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:13,480 And now we get our answer from the Proverbs Proverbs chapter 411 00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:18,280 18. The name of the Lord is a strong 412 00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:23,080 tower. The righteous run to it and are 413 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:26,560 safe. There's another picture of a 414 00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:29,400 wall, but there's this really important part of the the 415 00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:33,240 defense of a city not simply with the wall, but the tower of 416 00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:35,840 refuge. For when the wall is under 417 00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:39,040 breach, for when there is a crack, when there is an enemy, 418 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:43,160 there is one last place of defense, and it is the tower 419 00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:46,760 where all the people seeking safety would run to, and they'd 420 00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:50,320 come to the top. The last final high point to to 421 00:25:50,560 --> 00:25:53,320 outrun your enemy was the tower itself. 422 00:25:54,360 --> 00:25:56,800 And when the wall goes down, the people run to the tower. 423 00:25:56,800 --> 00:25:59,480 And when our walls crumble because of our lack of 424 00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:02,160 selfcontrol, we do not rebuild the wall. 425 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:06,840 We call upon the name of the Lord to seek refuge in the 426 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:10,840 tower. It is the only way that we can 427 00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:15,840 ever find the perfect balance between a lack of selfcontrol 428 00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:20,880 and the replacement of legalism. Because if the sermon stops 429 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:24,190 without pointing us to God, you will either feel condemnation or 430 00:26:24,190 --> 00:26:27,190 you'll feel pride. Some of you will feel condemned 431 00:26:27,190 --> 00:26:29,230 because you do do the things too much. 432 00:26:29,670 --> 00:26:32,350 And you say, Yep, once again I remember I'm not worthy because 433 00:26:32,350 --> 00:26:35,030 I overindulge and I can't control myself and I don't have 434 00:26:35,030 --> 00:26:37,190 good practices and I don't have good habits and I'm not 435 00:26:37,190 --> 00:26:38,990 discipled. And others you will say, well, I 436 00:26:38,990 --> 00:26:42,310 am if it's up to me, if it's going to be, it's up to me. 437 00:26:42,310 --> 00:26:44,470 And I wake up early and I come to church and I do everything 438 00:26:44,470 --> 00:26:46,590 right. And so now we have condemnation 439 00:26:46,590 --> 00:26:49,630 and we have pride. And one is not better than the 440 00:26:49,630 --> 00:26:51,310 other. There's lust and there's 441 00:26:51,310 --> 00:26:54,830 legalism. But there is one way that our 442 00:26:54,830 --> 00:26:57,190 lives can find the perfect control. 443 00:26:58,150 --> 00:26:59,670 It is not by taking back control. 444 00:26:59,670 --> 00:27:01,670 It is giving up control completely. 445 00:27:02,230 --> 00:27:05,670 It is to say to God, the Tower of Refuge. 446 00:27:06,630 --> 00:27:10,310 I need you. In your moment of weakness. 447 00:27:10,310 --> 00:27:14,390 He is your one defense. In your moment of success, he is 448 00:27:14,390 --> 00:27:17,710 your righteousness. In your moment of temptation, He 449 00:27:17,710 --> 00:27:23,000 is the only way that you can find the perfect wall of defense 450 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:27,400 for your life. As I was meditating on this at 451 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:30,480 this exact moment, as I was meditating, I was in my office 452 00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:35,360 yesterday, which is actually my car parked in the shade, and I 453 00:27:35,360 --> 00:27:39,560 was like, Lord, I I'm beginning to understand for my own life 454 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:42,720 how important it is for me to continually run to the tower, 455 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:47,520 but how can I see the picture clear? 456 00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:54,590 How can I just remember time and time again that you are the 457 00:27:54,590 --> 00:28:01,590 Tower of Refuge? And as I was contemplating that, 458 00:28:02,190 --> 00:28:04,790 someone pulled up and parked right next to me and they looked 459 00:28:04,790 --> 00:28:06,990 over and I looked over because we're parked in the shade. 460 00:28:08,070 --> 00:28:12,550 And as she's looking at me, she holds up a sign that says Jesus 461 00:28:12,550 --> 00:28:17,110 loves you. And I thought, that's the 462 00:28:17,110 --> 00:28:21,540 answer. That is exactly what I needed to 463 00:28:21,540 --> 00:28:23,580 hear. Because the name of the Lord is 464 00:28:23,580 --> 00:28:26,620 a high tower has a deeper meaning than what this proverb 465 00:28:26,620 --> 00:28:28,980 even understood. The name of the Lord in fact, 466 00:28:28,980 --> 00:28:31,700 has been revealed as Jesus the Christ. 467 00:28:32,580 --> 00:28:36,020 And through the revelation of the name of the Lord, we don't 468 00:28:36,020 --> 00:28:38,940 just get the answer for self-control, we get the answer 469 00:28:38,940 --> 00:28:42,230 for all of it, salvation and cleansing, which is called 470 00:28:42,230 --> 00:28:46,110 sanctification and how we can actually walk in the power to 471 00:28:46,110 --> 00:28:49,630 live our lives under the defense of the name of the Lord. 472 00:28:49,750 --> 00:28:54,310 It is in fact the covering of the power of Jesus, given to us 473 00:28:54,310 --> 00:28:58,590 freely through His Spirit. So I want all of us, whether 474 00:28:58,590 --> 00:29:00,750 you're saved or whether you're listening to this and you're 475 00:29:00,750 --> 00:29:03,390 thinking, Lord, this might be my cry for salvation. 476 00:29:03,990 --> 00:29:09,210 I want you to consider this powerful moment that Paul is 477 00:29:09,210 --> 00:29:15,490 writing to Titus about this very topic, the topic of how to live 478 00:29:15,490 --> 00:29:18,770 with a life of self-control. He says this, the whole chapter 479 00:29:18,770 --> 00:29:20,850 is about self-control. And then he says, here's the 480 00:29:20,850 --> 00:29:23,770 key. The grace of God that brings 481 00:29:23,850 --> 00:29:29,270 salvation has appeared to all men, to those who are condemned, 482 00:29:29,350 --> 00:29:32,190 to those who are living with self-righteous pride. 483 00:29:32,470 --> 00:29:37,830 All men have received the grace, the undeserved favor of God for 484 00:29:37,830 --> 00:29:41,470 salvation, to not just rebuild the wall brick by brick, but to 485 00:29:41,470 --> 00:29:45,150 be plucked out of the rubble, rubble and put into the tower. 486 00:29:46,790 --> 00:29:48,710 And how? How does this look when the 487 00:29:48,710 --> 00:29:51,230 grace of God brings salvation? It appears to all men. 488 00:29:51,230 --> 00:29:54,390 What does it do? It teaches us that denying 489 00:29:54,390 --> 00:30:01,350 ungodliness to acquire selfcontrol, denying worldly 490 00:30:01,350 --> 00:30:06,150 lust, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in the 491 00:30:06,150 --> 00:30:09,550 present present age. It appears in two ways. 492 00:30:09,710 --> 00:30:15,390 The love of God poured out through Jesus Christ, saving us 493 00:30:15,950 --> 00:30:20,030 and sanctifying us, pulling us from the rubble and then getting 494 00:30:20,030 --> 00:30:23,750 all the dust off of our clothes and cleaning up our faces and 495 00:30:23,750 --> 00:30:28,410 binding, bounding up our wounds. It is saving us and it is 496 00:30:28,410 --> 00:30:32,410 sanctifying us. And this is the fundamental 497 00:30:32,410 --> 00:30:36,130 difference in how we answer the question for selfcontrol or 498 00:30:36,130 --> 00:30:40,770 selfmastery between religion and Christ. 499 00:30:41,410 --> 00:30:44,290 Because up until the point where we actually look at the key to 500 00:30:44,290 --> 00:30:47,770 selfcontrol, we have done nothing to separate ourselves 501 00:30:47,930 --> 00:30:52,050 from humans desire to just be discipled people. 502 00:30:52,540 --> 00:30:56,100 All religions are trying to point people to better lives, 503 00:30:56,100 --> 00:30:59,380 that have a better understanding of how to control the wild 504 00:30:59,380 --> 00:31:04,380 passions of the heart. But what religions say, without 505 00:31:04,380 --> 00:31:08,020 exception is that you must pull yourself from the rubble and you 506 00:31:08,020 --> 00:31:13,300 must clean yourself. That you must do more, that you 507 00:31:13,300 --> 00:31:17,320 must try harder, that you must grit your teeth, that you must 508 00:31:17,320 --> 00:31:21,800 come and understand more about how to clean yourself up with 509 00:31:21,880 --> 00:31:25,440 all of the religious things to do, the services to attend the 510 00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:27,480 money, to give the missions to go on. 511 00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:30,280 It is an all an effort to prove your worth. 512 00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:34,440 It's all dependent on what you can do. 513 00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:39,160 But the message takes an entire 180 turn. 514 00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:42,320 When we hear the message of salvation by grace and 515 00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:46,760 sanctification by the Spirit, it goes from what you can do to 516 00:31:46,760 --> 00:31:52,040 what God has done. The grace of God has appeared 517 00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:57,040 through His Son, Jesus Christ, saving us and purifying Himself, 518 00:31:57,720 --> 00:32:02,240 purifying us for himself, his own special people. 519 00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:10,440 This is the joyful practice of not selfcontrol by controlling 520 00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:13,280 yourself, but selfcontrol by giving control to God. 521 00:32:15,100 --> 00:32:19,620 And I think about how to understand this message through 522 00:32:19,620 --> 00:32:22,620 how you teach this message. Because any one of you who have 523 00:32:22,620 --> 00:32:25,020 ever been a parent, I see new parents. 524 00:32:25,020 --> 00:32:26,580 So you will need this message soon. 525 00:32:27,180 --> 00:32:30,860 Any one of you have ever raised children, preached this entire 526 00:32:30,860 --> 00:32:33,740 message. The message of the warnings for 527 00:32:33,740 --> 00:32:35,740 lack of selfcontrol. You better clean your room and 528 00:32:35,740 --> 00:32:38,860 do your homework. The reward of selfcontrol. 529 00:32:38,860 --> 00:32:43,060 I'm going to give you an allowance and you preach the 530 00:32:43,060 --> 00:32:46,660 message all the time, over and over and over again, because 531 00:32:46,660 --> 00:32:51,580 children are walking examples of the lack of self-control. 532 00:32:51,580 --> 00:32:53,820 I love them, but they have no self-control at all. 533 00:32:54,670 --> 00:32:56,030 They don't know how to put themselves to sleep. 534 00:32:56,030 --> 00:32:59,190 They often times don't know how. They don't know selfcontrol to 535 00:32:59,390 --> 00:33:00,710 to eat. They don't know the selfcontrol 536 00:33:00,710 --> 00:33:02,830 to stop just wanting to eat ice cream. 537 00:33:02,830 --> 00:33:05,350 They don't know the selfcontrol to to work hard and do their 538 00:33:05,350 --> 00:33:07,710 homework. And they need little Holy Spirit 539 00:33:07,710 --> 00:33:09,910 guides to say this is the way to live. 540 00:33:10,150 --> 00:33:12,950 And here is the fundamental breakdown in your parenting. 541 00:33:13,350 --> 00:33:16,990 Here's when it goes really well and here's where it doesn't work 542 00:33:16,990 --> 00:33:20,630 so well at all. You are either teaching your 543 00:33:20,630 --> 00:33:24,440 children selfcontrol through the law or through love. 544 00:33:25,440 --> 00:33:29,640 You are either saying if you don't do this, if you don't do 545 00:33:29,640 --> 00:33:32,040 this, I will punish you and your life will be horrible and your 546 00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:34,440 life will be miserable. So you better do it because this 547 00:33:34,440 --> 00:33:36,600 is the law of the house and if you don't do it, you'll be 548 00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:39,920 condemned as soon as they leave your house. 549 00:33:41,120 --> 00:33:45,520 They will go on a entire journey of self discovery and freedom to 550 00:33:45,520 --> 00:33:47,160 get out of the burden of the law. 551 00:33:49,240 --> 00:33:51,360 And then there's the moments where we do it in love. 552 00:33:52,730 --> 00:33:56,690 Because I love you. Because I am your father who 553 00:33:56,690 --> 00:33:59,170 cares for you. And I want nothing more than for 554 00:33:59,170 --> 00:34:02,730 you to do well. Listen to my instruction. 555 00:34:03,530 --> 00:34:09,370 Obey the household rules. And when you do it in love, it 556 00:34:09,370 --> 00:34:12,889 is the practice of what God is doing for all of us. 557 00:34:14,330 --> 00:34:17,210 You're no longer condemned. You are living under the grace 558 00:34:17,210 --> 00:34:20,420 of this household. You're living in a way where 559 00:34:20,420 --> 00:34:24,179 love will build you up, in the way that you should go, so that 560 00:34:24,179 --> 00:34:26,340 in all the ways I want you to know obedience. 561 00:34:26,340 --> 00:34:30,540 It is so that you have selfcontrol to preserve your 562 00:34:30,540 --> 00:34:34,780 life. And it is with this in mind that 563 00:34:34,780 --> 00:34:39,179 God offers us the free gift of His Holy Spirit, the free gift 564 00:34:39,300 --> 00:34:43,100 of His guide for our lives. And look what it says. 565 00:34:43,100 --> 00:34:46,699 Galatians Chapter 5. I say then walk in the Spirit 566 00:34:48,370 --> 00:34:50,570 and you'll have a lesson in learning how to do that. 567 00:34:51,170 --> 00:34:53,730 Walk in the Spirit in the morning as you start your day, 568 00:34:53,730 --> 00:34:58,570 praising God and having him fill you once again with His life and 569 00:34:58,570 --> 00:35:00,730 His ways. Walk in the Spirit as you open 570 00:35:00,730 --> 00:35:04,250 the Word and study the the teachings of Wisdom to point you 571 00:35:04,250 --> 00:35:07,290 in the way that you should go, that you would have the control 572 00:35:07,290 --> 00:35:10,650 of the Word over your life. Walk in the Spirit as you pray 573 00:35:10,650 --> 00:35:13,490 and seek Him. Walk in the Spirit as you 574 00:35:14,170 --> 00:35:17,830 practice all of the ways that Wisdom instructs your life, and 575 00:35:17,830 --> 00:35:22,910 if you do that, you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 576 00:35:24,270 --> 00:35:29,630 In other words, you shall not have an unruly spirit. 577 00:35:30,190 --> 00:35:33,150 You no longer live with your flesh telling you what to do. 578 00:35:37,350 --> 00:35:40,710 And Paul will go on to say all of those ways that lust of the 579 00:35:40,710 --> 00:35:44,950 flesh can so easily play out and so easily turn our lives into 580 00:35:44,950 --> 00:35:47,300 rebel. And then he says, But the fruit 581 00:35:47,300 --> 00:35:50,340 of the Spirit, for those of us who have received the free gift 582 00:35:50,340 --> 00:35:53,860 of salvation to be born into his Spirit, to walk in his spirit. 583 00:35:54,020 --> 00:35:58,460 The fruit of the Spirit is love. The fruit of the Spirit is joy, 584 00:35:59,060 --> 00:36:03,580 peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 585 00:36:03,900 --> 00:36:10,780 gentleness, and self-control. The one that ties all of them 586 00:36:10,780 --> 00:36:16,160 together. Against such things there is no 587 00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:21,080 law. It is the power of the Spirit to 588 00:36:21,120 --> 00:36:26,240 willingly be controlled by the goodness of God. 589 00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:30,720 And so the message does come in two ways. 590 00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:33,560 It comes in salvation, and it comes in sanctification or 591 00:36:33,560 --> 00:36:37,400 cleansing. Some of you need to look at your 592 00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:41,760 life and confess and admit to God, who brought you to hear 593 00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:45,920 this message today, that you have allowed the walls to turn 594 00:36:45,920 --> 00:36:49,280 into rubble. You have allowed the 595 00:36:49,360 --> 00:36:53,840 overindulgence of your passions to lead you down a path of 596 00:36:53,840 --> 00:36:57,280 destruction. And your moment with God right 597 00:36:57,280 --> 00:37:03,520 now is to say, I want to call upon your name to be my strong 598 00:37:03,520 --> 00:37:06,240 tower, to be my refuge. This is your moment of 599 00:37:06,240 --> 00:37:09,720 salvation, which is free. It is the grace of God to all 600 00:37:09,720 --> 00:37:15,770 who believe, And for those of us which is all of us who have 601 00:37:15,810 --> 00:37:19,210 experienced the power of the born again, life to be 602 00:37:19,210 --> 00:37:23,250 regenerated by God, to choose rightly to walk in his ways. 603 00:37:24,970 --> 00:37:28,850 We come time and time again to say Lord, fill me anew, cleanse 604 00:37:28,850 --> 00:37:31,450 me anew. For the little ways that there 605 00:37:31,450 --> 00:37:37,650 is cracks in my wall, I have put self at the center of worship 606 00:37:37,650 --> 00:37:44,830 once again sanctify me. God, cleanse me so that my 607 00:37:44,830 --> 00:37:49,670 self-control would really be your control of my life.