(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

1 Corinthians chapter 9, the part of the chapter that I'd like to focus on, is in verse 27 where the Bible reads, But I keep under my body and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I preach to others, I myself should be a castaway. The title of my sermon this morning is Self-Control. Self-Control. Back up if you would to verse 24, the Bible reads, Know ye not that they which run and erase run all, but one receiveth the prize, so run that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. I want to point out that word temperate. The Bible does not use the term self-control, but it does talk about ruling your own spirit, and the concept of having control over yourself is definitely present in a lot of scriptures. But a word that the Bible does use is the word temperance, and temperance means self-control. It means having yourself under control. Now the Bible here is using an illustration about an athlete, someone who specifically runs in a race, and it says every man that striveth for the mastery, meaning someone who actually wants to win that race through running, it says is temperate in all things. So an athlete has to exercise a lot of discipline and self-control in order to win. They have to control what kind of food they eat, and they have to force themselves to go out and exercise when they don't feel like exercising. They have to train consistently. They have to eat consistently. They have to follow a regimen. And the Bible says they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly, so fight I, not as one that beateth the air, verse 27, but I keep under my body and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. So the Bible is teaching here that if we're going to succeed in the Christian life, if we're going to press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, we must have temperance. We must be temperate in all things. We must exercise self-control in our lives. Now what's the opposite of self-control? The opposite of self-control is just doing whatever you feel like doing. Eating what you feel like eating, saying what you feel like saying, doing what you feel like doing, not doing what you don't feel like, you don't feel like going to work, you just stay home. You know, if it feels good, you do it. That's not having self-control. What does the Bible say? We'll flip over, if you would, to Luke chapter 9. Luke chapter number 9. While you're turning there, I'll read for you from Proverbs 25, verse 28. He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down and without walls. So the Bible says if you don't have any rule over your own spirit, if you don't have any self-control, if your spirit just takes you wherever it feels like going, you are like a city that is broken down and without walls. The Bible says in Matthew 16, 24, Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. What is self-control? It's denying self. Look at Luke 9, 23 here. The Bible says, And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Now, some people have tried to tie taking up the cross and following Jesus. They've tried to tie that in with salvation. It has nothing to do with salvation because salvation isn't something that you do daily. Salvation is a one time thing where you're born again by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. He didn't say you have to be born again and again and again and again. He just said you must be born again. So one time you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus. You believe in your heart God raised from the dead. You're saved once you're saved. There's nothing that could ever separate you from the love of God. You will never come into condemnation. You've been passed from death unto life. You're sealed by the Holy Ghost unto the day of redemption. And Jesus makes you the promise that he will never leave you nor forsake you. So once you're saved, you're always saved. Once you have eternal life, there's nothing you could ever do to lose your salvation. Whereas taking up the cross and following Jesus is a daily thing, not a one time thing to get you saved, but rather just a daily discipleship, a daily following of Christ. If we're going to please Christ, follow Christ, do the works that he gave us to do, the prerequisite to that is you've got to deny self. He said, if any man, that's me, that's you, that's anybody. And this is a daily choice. If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. So before you can take up the cross and before you can follow Jesus, there's some self denial involved. What does that mean? There are some appetites that you might have, some desires or lust that you might have that you're going to have to deny those things. You're going to have to say, no, I'm not, even though I want to do X, Y, and Z, I'm not going to do it because I want to follow Christ. Following Christ is more important, so I'm going to deny self and take up the cross and follow him. So self control has to do with denying self. It has to do with having temperance in our lives. Now let me give you four specific areas where we need to exercise self control in our lives, where we need to have temperance in our lives. Number one, and if you would go to Proverbs chapter 16, number one, we should be slow to anger. This involves self control. If we don't have any rule over our own spirit, if we have no self control, there are going to be little things, unimportant things, carnal things that get us angry at the drop of a hat. For example, we were out soul winning on Friday in Minneapolis. My daughter and I, my nine year old daughter Miriam, were knocking doors and we're preaching the gospel because we love people, because we want people to be saved. Because God has commanded us to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Because it says daily in the temple and in every house that the early church ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. And most of the time when you go soul winning, you know, most people are polite and courteous. And if they're not interested, they just tell you right away, hey, I'm not interested. And we just say, all right, have a great day and move on. Or if they are interested, we preach the gospel, we get them saved. We had this guy just, he just opens the door and we say hi, you know, and as soon as he heard that we're from a Baptist church, he just started screaming and cussing us out. Ah, you made me come all the way to the door for that you blankety blank blank blank slams the door on me. You know, there's a guy and he was he was he was an old man, just an angry, bitter old man who has no control over his own spirit. Right. He can't control himself just that. I mean, talk about being slow to anger. This guy just opened the door and we didn't even hardly begin to speak. And he's just already just screaming and cursing at us and, you know, my daughter's like, man, what's with that guy? She just laughs at all. She didn't care. Kids, when they go sewing, they like it when stuff like that happens because it's just a little excitement. Right, Miriam? Did it bother you? Did it get you down? Did you want to quit? Didn't think so. So anyway, you know, but that is a perfect example where somebody has no control over their spirit when the littlest thing just makes them blow up. Right. Somebody spills the milk. Right. And they they're crying over spilled milk like that, you know, just instantly blowing up. Now, the Bible does teach that there is a righteous anger, that there's a time for anger and that there's a godly, righteous indignation. And the Bible does command us, in fact, be angry. OK, but there's a lot of unrighteous anger. In fact, most anger in this world is unrighteous anger of people just blowing up over selfish reasons, carnal reasons. They're not having a righteous indignation because of their zeal for the Lord that drives them to be angry at sin and angry at false doctrine. But rather, they're just blowing up and angry because they got cut off in traffic or because somebody spilled something or somebody broke something or somebody knocked on their door at the wrong time. And they just flip out and lose their minds. OK, we need to be slow to anger. That's part of self-control. Look at Proverbs 16, verse 32. The Bible says he that is slow to anger is better than the mighty. What's he saying there? You know, it takes even more self-control and self-discipline to be slow to anger than the mighty man who's maybe spent a lot of time building muscle and building strength and he's exercised great discipline over his body. Well, the Bible is actually saying that being slow to anger is better than physical strength, better than the mighty. And he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city, meaning through physical force or physical might. So the Bible says that it's greater to be able to win the battle of your own spirit than to even win a physical fight and to have strength to go fight physically. He's saying it's a more difficult battle to govern your own spirit than to physically subdue someone else. So the Bible is teaching us here to be slow to anger is tied in with having rule over your spirit, having self-control. Look at Chapter 14, verse 17. This is actually one of the qualifications for a pastor. And I can see why it says in Titus, Chapter one, for a bishop must be blameless as the steward of God, not self-willed, not soon angry. Both of those things have to do with denying self, not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre. Why is it important for a pastor not to be soon to angry, to get angry? Because of the fact that when you're a pastor, you have people attacking you all the time, criticizing you all the time, giving you trouble all the time. And if you're soon to anger, you're going to be blowing up all the time. You know, because constantly you have people criticizing you, attacking you, ridiculing. And if you're quick to anger, you're just going to be angry every day. You're going to be angry all the time. And the Bible teaches us that we should not be angry people on a continual basis. We should not let the sun go down upon our wrath and we should rejoice every day. The Bible says in Proverbs 14 verse 17, he that is soon angry dealeth foolishly and a man of wicked devices is hated. Look at verse 29. He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding, but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly. If you're smart, you won't be quick to get angry. If you're wise, if you have understanding, you won't be quick to get angry. If you have self-control and temperance and rule your own spirit, you will not get angry at the drop of a hat. You will only get angry when there's a reason to get angry and when sufficient time has gone by for you to get angry about something in an appropriate manner. There's a right way to be angry and there's a wrong way to be angry. And most anger is in the wrong spirit, unfortunately. Go to James chapter 1. James chapter number 1, the second area where we need to exercise self-control in our lives. First of all, number 1, we need to rule our own spirit in the area of not getting angry too quickly. Not getting angry at the wrong things. Not being swift to wrath. But secondly, we should exercise self-control by not saying everything that comes to mind. See, a lack of self-control, something pops into my mind, it's just going to come out of my mouth. I'm just going to say anything that comes to mind with no filter, right? With no restraint, no self-control, no denial of self. Whereas the Bible teaches that we should not say everything that comes to mind. James chapter 1 verse 19 says, Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. So slow to wrath, we just finished talking about that, but it also says that we should be slow to speak. Slow to wrath. For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Another verse, this isn't even in my notes, but right in the same chapter, verse 26 says, If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. So the Bible says that we must bridle our tongue. What is a bridle? What is a bridle? A bridle is a device that is used to control a horse and get it to go where you want it to go. Well, the Bible is saying that we need to control our tongue. We need to use self-control because we're controlling our tongue. We're bridling our tongue. And the Bible is saying that we should bridle our tongues and that if we seem to be religious but we don't control our mouths, you know, our religion is in vain. It's very important that we know how to bridle the tongue. There are times when certain things are appropriate, times are not. Proverbs 29, you don't have to turn there, but in Proverbs 29, 11 it says, A fool uttereth all his mind. See, a foolish person just says everything that comes to mind. A fool uttereth all his mind, but a wise man keepeth it in until afterward. Proverbs 11, 12 says, He that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbor, but a man of understanding holdeth his peace. Holdeth his peace means keeps quiet. To hold your peace means not to say anything. A tale bearer revealeth secrets, but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter. Proverbs 17, 27, He that hath knowledge spareth his words, and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. Even a fool when he holdeth his peace is counted wise, and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding. So, there are times when we should restrain ourselves and not say everything that comes to mind. Now, there are certain areas and certain times and places when we should not hold back. You know, for example, a Bible preacher who's preaching the Bible should never hold back biblical truth. You know, that's a wrong filter. When you're filtering this, you know, don't filter this. God's word from the pulpit should all be preached without us deciding what's appropriate and what's not. Because God already decided that the whole book was appropriate. And he told us to preach the word. And he told us that all scripture is profitable for doctrine, for instruction in righteousness. And so, there's nothing in the Bible that is inappropriate for a Bible preacher to preach about. That's the wrong kind of restraint. What kind of restraint are we talking about? When we say don't say everything on your mind, you know, because I wish some preachers would speak their mind, amen? And preach what they believe and preach what the Bible says. But when we say that self-control means not uttering all your mind, as the Bible puts it, not saying everything on your mind, being slow to speak, thinking about what you say before you say it, bridling your tongue, here are some examples of things that we would not say if we have self-control. First of all, how about criticizing your husband or criticizing your wife to other people? You know, this is a common sin of the tongue where men will talk bad about their wives behind their back or husbands, or I'm sorry, wives will talk bad about their husbands behind their back, you know, just because it comes into their mind. Now, first of all, we should strive to think good thoughts about our spouse and positive thoughts and the things that we love about them and not dwell on the negative aspects of our spouse. But here's the thing. If something negative comes into your mind about your wife, don't just blurt that out. Oh yeah, my wife, you know. No, use some self-control. Or, oh yeah, my husband's the same way, you know, the other day he came home and blah, blah, blah. This is a big problem. I mean, you hear women do this all the time or men do this all the time and you cringe. Don't you just cringe when you hear people telling the negative things about their spouse publicly? You know, don't be that fool that just utters all your mind. If something bad about your spouse pops into your mind, just keep your mouth shut. And in fact, try to think about, well, what do I like about them? You know, now it might take you a while, no, I'm just kidding. But you know, what do I like about my spouse? And try to think on those, you know, whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report. If there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things. Especially when it comes to your spouse that you're supposed to love as yourself. That you're supposed to love and sacrifice for. But even if it's not talking bad to other people, what about just in the home? There could be times when you have something negative to say to your spouse when it would be a lot better to just exercise a little self-control. If it's not something helpful, if it's not a constructive criticism, if it's not edifying, it might be better to just not say every negative thing that comes to your mind to your spouse. And just blow off your mouth about that. Right? And even outside of marriage. Just, we need to be careful that we don't just constantly say rude things to people. Just uncouth things at church, maybe just mouthing off to people. You know, we need to stop and use discernment and control what comes out of our mouth. You know, another thing that is a big area of self-control. You know, this isn't something that I have struggled with because I grew up in a Christian home, thank God. And so, I didn't really grow up this way. But for people who before they were saved, you know, they grew up taking God's name in vain. Before they were saved, right? So, you know, they went through their life and oh my God is something that they'll blurt out. Or they'll even use even the very name of Jesus, the name that is above all names, the name that should be hallowed and held in reverence and respect. Some people grew up with Jesus being an expletive, Jesus being a cuss word, right? And so, that's something that because of just habit, just muscle memory of their mouth, you know, could be blurted out at some point. And they need to use some self-control, some restraint and make sure that they don't blurt that out. That they do not take the name of the Lord in vain because God said, I will not hold him guiltless who taken my name in vain. You know, it's something that we should avoid. You know, there are lots of other examples. We could go on all morning about times when it's not appropriate to just say everything that comes into your mind. You know, spreading rumors that you haven't been able to confirm and just blurting things out that you heard or telling intimate details of your marriage. You know, if it's a criticism or even sometimes people just give you too much information, right? Where they just blurt out details of their marriage that we don't need to know. Use discretion of what should be kept private and what should be repeated publicly. Use some self-control on your mouth. The Bible says in Psalm 141, said to watch, O Lord, before my mouth, keep the door of my lips. You know, we need to make sure that we control our mouths, right? Number three, go to 1 Corinthians chapter 10. We should control the appetites of the flesh. So number one, we need to control our anger if we're going to have self-control. And what does the Bible call self-control? Temperance. What's another term the Bible uses? Denying self, right? Denying self. Telling self, no. Telling the flesh, no. Not doing just what comes naturally, but having some restraint, some temperance, some discipline on ourselves. You see, the Bible says if we would judge ourselves, then we would not be judged. But when we're judged, we're chastened to the Lord. Much better to control self and judge self and chase in self than for somebody else to have to correct us or for the Lord to have to correct us. So number one, we need to exercise self-control in the area of anger, not just blow up. Work on just staying calm. And by the way, blowing up and saying everything on your mind kind of go hand in hand, don't they? Because you blow up and then the first thing that you start yelling things that later you could regret. So we need to control our anger in the first place. Number two, we need to control what comes out of our mouth. But number three, we should control the appetites of the flesh. We need to keep under our body and bring it into subjection, as the Apostle Paul said. Look at chapter 10 of 1 Corinthians, verse 6. It says, Now these things, talking about the Old Testament Bible stories, were our examples to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them. As it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for samples, and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come. So the Bible here is talking about some people who did not have self-control. So they lusted after evil things. So the Bible is saying, get that desire, lust means desire. Get that desire of the flesh under control. He talks about idolatry. He talks about fornication. He talks about tempting Christ. He also talks about murmuring, complaining, which has to do with controlling your mouth, not complaining. And he says all these things are examples unto us. So we need to use self-control and not give in to the lust of the flesh for fornication or adultery. These are huge sins in the Bible. In fact, the Bible said right here in verse number 8, Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Hint, fell there means they died. Read the story. They died. Okay, if God actually ended these people's lives as a result of committing fornication, that should give you a clue that fornication is a big sin, not a little sin. And that we need to make sure that we have control over ourselves and not just give in to that lust of the flesh when you're in a position where you have the opportunity to commit fornication or you have the opportunity to commit adultery. You need to use some self-control and flee fornication, as the Bible says. Flee fornication. Get out of there. Now, first of all, the Bible says make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. We should try not to even be put in a position where that temptation is right in front of us. And then, God forbid, if we're in a situation where temptation arises, we need to use self-control. We need to flee that situation. We need to flee fornication. The Bible says in verse 12, Wherefore, let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you, but such is his common demand. But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you're able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it. Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. So the Bible's telling us here that we need to flee from sin, flee from idolatry, flee fornication. Why? Because there's always a way to escape temptation. You can't just say, well, I had no choice but to just indulge the flesh. I was in a position where I was forced to commit fornication. It was just, I couldn't resist. I couldn't help myself but to commit adultery or fornication or whatever other sin is there. No, flee that. And the Bible says, look, every temptation that you have is the same temptation that everybody else has. He said, there's no temptation taking you, but such is his common demand. The Bible says that Jesus was tempted at all points like as we are, yet without sin. And so there's always a way to escape, the Bible says. There's always a way that you could, if you wanted to, withstand that temptation. But it's going to take self-denial. And it's a battle that you're going to fight every day. And by the way, this is a little bit of a rabbit trail. I need to do a whole sermon on it. But this doctrine that's out there, I'm just going to throw this out there. There's a doctrine out there where basically they teach this deliverance doctrine. Where like you're just never tempted by sin again. You know what I'm talking about? I just want to just go on the record saying I don't believe in it. I don't believe in it. I believe that we have to deny self daily and take up the cross and fall in grace. I don't believe in this doctrine. Oh, God delivered me from this and God delivered me from that. You know, it's great that God does give us the power to overcome sin. He does give us the power to resist sin, the power to defeat temptation. But that power is through the power of the Holy Spirit. But it's every single day that we have to choose to walk in the Spirit and be filled with the Spirit. What I don't believe in is this permanent deliverance doctrine. Like you're just permanently Spirit filled. Or you just permanently are walking in the Spirit. No, Paul said I die daily. We have to mortify the members of our uncleanness daily. You know, I've heard people criticize. And look, I'm not saying that I'm for or against Alcoholics Anonymous. I don't really know that much about it. I'm not promoting it, especially not as a substitute for church or as a religion. I've never been to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. You know, thank God I've never drunk a beer in my life, so I don't need it. But I've heard a lot of Christians attack Alcoholics Anonymous by saying that they're unbiblical when they say, once an addict, always an addict. Who knows what I'm talking about? Who's familiar with that teaching of Alcoholics Anonymous? And again, I'm not promoting Alcoholics Anonymous. I'm not saying I'm for or against it. I've read a lot of books about people who have, you know, overcome alcohol and drugs through going to those meetings. And you know, I think it's great that people were able to overcome addictions, whatever. It's definitely not a religion or a substitute for the local church. But let me say this though. On that one point, the once an addict, always an addict, you know what? I think they're right about that, and that's pretty smart that they tell people that. Because you know what they're trying to say to those people? Is that, look, if you've ever been a drunkard before, or if you've ever been a drug addict before, don't become a moderate drinker. You've already proven that you can't handle that. That's what they tell them. So they're saying, look, once an addict, always an addict. And they say, look, you should never touch alcohol again. You've already shown what alcohol has done in your life. You've already been a total drunk. Now, of course, I don't believe that anybody should ever touch alcohol, whether they're an addict or not, amen? I don't believe in social drinking. But my point is that I've heard Christians teach, well, once an addict, always an addict isn't true because, you know, Christ can deliver us and I can do all things and yada yada yada. You know what? They're misinterpreting the Bible there. They're wrong on that. Why? Because, yes, the temptation, look, let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall is a biblical doctrine. Not just, oh, I'm delivered of alcohol. Oh, that's the person who thinks they stand. That person better take heed lest they fall. Because, you know what, anybody who's been a drunk in the past can become a drunk again in the future. So let him that thinketh he stand take heed lest he fall. Anybody who's been a fornicator in the past can fall off the wagon and become a fornicator in the future. Anybody who's done this in the past. So this idea of, oh, God, deliver me, that's a false teaching because they're failing to understand the difference between the old man and the new man. Yeah, Christ has created in us a brand new creature. Old things are passed away, all things have become new, but the flesh is still there. And we have to daily, and I want to just stress this word daily, daily, daily. Don't, if you remember one word from the sermon, remember, well, remember self control, but also remember the word daily. OK, why? Because we have to deny self daily. And you know what? That drunk that whether they went through Alcoholics Anonymous or whether they got saved and got in church or whatever caused them to quit drinking. That drunk needs to realize that daily they better deny self and daily they better stay away from alcohol and not just, oh, I've been delivered, man. I could look, I can go to bars, I can drink socially. No, no, no. That's stupid. So that's I think that's an unfair criticism of that program. OK. And again, I don't know a lot about the program, so I'm not going to get up and comment on it too much. But anyway, flip over to it. Flip over to Proverbs 23, Proverbs 23. That needs its own sermon because there's so much Bible on that subject. But I'm bringing it up in my self control sermon here because of the fact that, you know, it's a great illustration of somebody not taking heed, thinking that they stand and they're going to fall. And some of the people who talk the biggest about, oh, God delivered me from this, God delivered me from that are the people who a few years from now will sometimes be going back to those exact sins because they got overconfident. And don't, you know, I'm not saying God doesn't have the power to give us victory over sin or victory over temptations in our lives. But I am saying that that is not a one time thing. It's a daily thing. Apostle Paul had to die daily. We all have to deny self daily. So there could be a chance to go back to the old way of life at any time for those who don't take heed and read their Bibles and pray and go to church. We could all go back to the old sins if we're not careful. And the Bible teaches that. And it's a whole sermon of itself. Proverbs 23. What's this point about? The first point was about controlling our anger. Second point, controlling what comes out of our mouth. Third point, controlling our fleshly appetites. What kind of appetites are we talking about? We touched on fornication and adultery. Those are major appetites that people struggle with today in the United States of America. Temptation is all around us and our society has condoned of those activities. So that's a big area of struggle for a lot of people today. Look at Proverbs chapter 23, verse 20. Be not among wine bibbers. OK, bibbers there means wine drinkers. Bibber is like the Spanish word bay beer, right? It means what? To drink. So be not among wine bibbers, among riotous eaters of flesh, for the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty and drowsiness shall clothe the man with rags. So God's warning us about two things here, drunkenness and gluttony. Go back to verse 1 and let's see a self-control element here. Proverbs 23, verse 1, when thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee and put a knife to thy throat if thou be a man given to appetite. Be not desirous of his dainties for they are a deceitful meat. Now, let me just point out that phrase at the end of verse 2, given to appetite. That means you have a tendency to be one who overeats. You have a tendency to indulge in too much food. Now, everybody has different problems or tendencies or proclivities. Some people are going to struggle more with certain sins that are pretty easy for other people to resist and vice versa, right? We all have the same temptations that are common to man, but for some people, they're going to struggle in different areas. You know, one guy, fornication might be his biggest temptation. Another guy, he could be really given to appetite. Another guy is given to wine, right? These are proclivities, tendencies, pitfalls that we need to know about ourselves and watch out for in our own lives. That's why the Bible says that, you know, the pastor should not be one who's given to wine, right? What does that mean to be given to wine? It means that his tendency would be toward drinking wine. This is a guy who's given to appetite. And what does the Bible say that he should do? Put a knife to thy throat. Now, this isn't talking about somebody else having a knife to his throat. This is about him having a knife to his own throat, not literally, but figuratively. And what the, you know, if you did this at a restaurant, putting the butter knife to your throat, that's not much of a threat. But the point is that the knife to the throat is not literal. What is it saying? Self-control, self-control. I mean, if you're putting a knife to your own throat, that's you controlling yourself, right? Understanding. And look, this is a great verse because what it tells us is identify the area of weakness in our life and then use self-control. You know, you could use this to other areas besides food. You know, if you're a man that's given to fornication, you know, so to speak, put a knife to your throat. You know, make sure that you control yourself. You could insert whatever's in there and use self-control. So the Bible teaches against gluttony. And the Bible says, if you're a man given to appetite, put a knife to your throat. Go to James chapter 1. James chapter number 1. James chapter number 1. Self-control. What does that mean? You know, we need to also be careful with what we eat, right? Now, we live in a time where, you know, most preachers, they don't touch on this issue, okay, for a few reasons. Number one, it offends people. And my desire is never to offend people or hurt people's feelings, okay? If I ever preach about something and I kind of hit the nail on the head or it hits kind of close home with you, it's not because I'm just trying to burn you. I don't get up in the morning and say, you know who I'm really going to sock it to this morning? I'm going to get him good this morning. I'm going to burn her from the pulpit and, oh, it's going to feel so good to watch them squirm when I start preaching on there. You know, that's not my intention. You know, the purpose of preaching against sin is because you love people and you want to help them. Preaching helps us to be better people. If we're sitting in the pew and we hear preaching against a sin that we're given to or that we have a tendency to do, we'll sin less if we're in a hard preaching church. I mean, it's just a fact. If you're in church and you hear preaching against your sin, you're less likely to commit that sin. That's one of the biggest reasons to come to church is to get chewed so that you don't go out and just live an indulgent life of sin, right? And, you know, we tend to let things slip in our lives and then the pastor gets on it and we're like, oh, man, you know, we need to deal with that. All of us, everybody. So, you know, pastors who won't touch on certain subjects because they know it offends people, what it means is that they love themselves instead of loving people. So they want people to like them. So they're only going to say things that are going to make people like them. But sometimes a little tough love has to be shown and we have to tell people what they don't want to hear for their own good. And I've even had some people where I preach something that makes them so mad that they'll quit the church, but then I'll hear about how that person is doing what I preached. It's like, oh, that makes me so mad, but they still end up doing it. Well, then, you know what I say to that? Mission accomplished. Mission accomplished. Because to me it's more important that people live for God than that they attend this church. So if I make you so mad that you, I can't believe he hit on my sin, I'm never coming back, but then you actually go out and get that sin out of your life because you were so mad? Think about that. Because it's not about me. It's about serving the Lord. It's about getting sin out of our lives and hard preaching does that. So the subject of eating or, you know, it's not something that you'll hear about in most churches simply because number one, it offends people and number two, because usually the pastor is carrying quite a spare tire of his own. So it's going to be pretty hard for him to get up and start talking about self-control and denying self and putting a knife to your throat and how the gluttony is going to come to bite. It's hard for him when he looks like he's about nine months pregnant. It's hard for him to preach that. Okay? Now look, and again, I'm not trying to offend anybody, but it's true that is not the right way to treat your body. And if it is the right way to treat your body, well then, you know what? Let's go smoke a pack of Marlboros after the service. Right? I mean virtually no preacher in America would say that smoking is okay or that smoking is good for you. Pretty much every preacher in America would say, don't smoke, it's bad for you. But there are other ways that we could abuse our body. And again, I realize this is a tough one, especially for people that have gone a long ways down this road. It can be hard to fix it. And look, don't get me wrong, I'm not one of these people that thinks we should all look like Hollywood stars and we should all be twiggy and skinny. Look, everybody's got their own, you know, look and proportion. And God didn't create everybody to be skinny and bony and twiggy. So don't get me wrong here, okay? I'm not saying you need to look a certain way or something or be overboard. But I am saying that there should be some thought that goes into the food that goes in your mouth. I mean, is that so radical to say that you should eat some fruits and vegetables and that you should eat healthy food and not just go fast food. I mean, look, if you're driving through fast food every day and you're just drinking Coca Cola, you know what, that's not good for you. I know this is shocking to you. But that's not good for you to eat like that. And then some guys that are naturally slim, like myself, I'm kind of a naturally slim person. You know, sometimes guys like me will just take it as a carte blanche of just, oh, I'm thin, that means I'm healthy. Let's just put whatever junk in. But here's the thing, just because you're thin doesn't mean you're getting proper nutrition either. Okay, so we should be wise in all areas of our life. We should be smart. So I'm not just saying this is a big versus little thing. You know, we should think about eating nutritious foods, eating healthy, you know, using some self-control. Yeah, of course, we all want it. Look, in my flesh, you know, I would love to down several root beers with lunch today. You know what I mean? I mean, in my flesh, yeah, I could easily drink a Coca-Cola with every lunch and dinner. I wouldn't go so far as to do it with breakfast. But with lunch and dinner, I could see myself easily downing several Coca-Colas. Taste better than water, amen. But here's the thing, water's good for you. So as long as we deny Coca-Cola and drink water instead as our primary beverage, right? Maybe save a little money, take care of our bodies a little bit. Then to just constantly have to be pouring Fanta and Faygo and everything, you know, Dr. Pepper's. That stuff is not good for you when it's got the sodium benzoate preservatives, got artificial colors, artificial flavor. And the diet sodas with the artificial sweeteners, you know, it's been linked to cancer. And yeah, I know you don't want to hear this, so I'm going to change the subject. You know what I'm saying? You know, we need to use self-control when it comes to our diet. You know, and we need to make sure that we use self-control when it comes to not sitting around and getting lazy either, right? Because if we get up and move our bodies, that's a big health indicator as well. You know, hopefully you have a job that keeps you physical, but a lot of us today don't have a very physical job because of all the technology. So how do you make a point to have some self-control even though it feels good to just sit on the couch after work? We might need to say to our family, hey, why don't we go take the dog for a walk? Why don't we hop on our bicycles and take a bike ride? Why don't we go hiking? Why don't we get out and do it? You know, your family would probably enjoy that anyway. Get out, move around a little bit, get a little exercise instead of just indulging the flesh of just eating chips off your chest in front of the TV, right? Sitting in front of the idiot box, past the soda, past the pork rinds, past the beer nuts, and let's just sit here and veg. Some of you need to stop vegging figuratively and start vegging literally, like eat a vegetable, right? All right, I'll get off that. Sorry about that. I'm really sorry that I preached the truth for a minute. James chapter 1 verse 12 says, blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to them that love him. The Bible says we're blessed if we endure temptation, and my last point is this. Number four, we should do our duty. Do our duty. So number one, we need to be slow to anger. Number two, we need to control what comes out of our mouth. Number three, we need to control our fleshly appetites. And number four, we need to do our duty. What does this have to do with self-control? Well, the word duty is a word that's found eight times in the Bible. I'm going to read for you several of these mentions of duty. Let me just give you, first of all, a dictionary definition of the word duty. Number one, something that one is expected or required to do by moral or legal obligation. Number two, the binding or obligatory force of something that is morally or legally right. Number three, an action or task required by a person's position, occupation, or function. Okay, so what do I mean by doing our duty? Well, every example I've given so far has been negative about self-control, right? Don't say things that you don't want to say. Don't get angry at the wrong time. Don't fulfill the lust of flesh by fornicating, drinking, whatever the sin. Don't indulge in sin. So this fourth point is a positive point of what you need to use self-control to do. Do your duty, okay? Why? Because self-control also involves dragging yourself to work when you don't feel like going to work. Dragging yourself to church when you don't feel like going to church. That takes some self-control when self wants to lay in bed and hit the snooze button and relax and do nothing and take breaks. Self-control disciplines oneself to get out there and do your duty. What's your duty? That which you are required or obligated to do either by the law or by your boss or by your own moral convictions from scripture. Now, listen to these scriptures on duty. The word duty is used eight times in the Bible. I'm going to read five of them, okay? The first three that I'm skipping, just to give you a rundown on them. And if you want to turn to one of them, turn to 2 Chronicles 8 if you want to turn to one of them. Otherwise, you can just listen in as I read these. But the first three had to do with marriage. The Bible talks about the duty of marriage, okay? And then the other two also have to do with marriage. So, I'm not going to read those right now. But, you know, there are certain duties that we need to do in our marriage where we need to have character and self-control to do what we need to do when it comes to marriage. But look at 2 Chronicles 8 verse 14. It says, and he appointed according to the order of David his father, the courses of the priest to their service and the Levites to their charges to praise and minister before the priest as the duty. And I love this phrase, as the duty of every day required. The porters also by their courses at every gate, for so had David the man of God commanded. So, I like that phrase, the duty of every day requires us to do certain things, right? The duty of the day requires it. What are some things in our Christian life that the duty of every day requires? How about reading our Bibles? That's going to take self-control. Why? Because the flesh might want to just read something else, light reading, a comic book. Talking to the young people, of course, I hope, you know, you know, comics. Hopefully, I'm talking to teenagers and younger with that. Okay, you know, you might just want to do some light reading, but we need to be reading our Bibles on a daily basis. Okay, that's going to take some self-control to choose the Bible as our reading material, right? Self-control to turn off the radio, turn off the TV, turn off the internet, turn off whatever it is, and say, time to read the Bible, whether I feel like it or not. That's an exercise in self-discipline and self-control. To force ourselves to read the Word of God. To force ourselves to do our duty as every day required. Other daily duties would be praising God. We should be praising the Lord on a daily basis, the Bible teaches. You know, singing praises to the Lord is something that we should force ourselves to do, control ourselves, instead of just constantly a worldly song on our mouth, right? I mean, you hear people all the time out in the world that aren't Christians, aren't saved, right? But they sing, don't they? Are Christians the only ones who sing? No, you go to work, you'll hear other people humming and singing and whatever, right? You walk down the street, you'll hear people whistling or singing, whatever. Okay, well, we as Christians, we should be like that with hymns. I mean, we should be singing to ourselves and praising the Lord. And obviously, I'm not saying to do it in places where it's inappropriate to do so, alright? But I'm saying, when you're at home, when you're walking down your own street, you know, or when it's appropriate to do so publicly, then, you know, sing the praises of God. Seven times a day will I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments. That's what David said. He said, well, daily, where do you get that? Well, how about seven times a day? I mean, that's what David said. So, singing praises to God, reading our Bible, and praying. These are things that should happen daily in our lives, right? Daily prayer, daily Bible reading, daily singing praises to God. Those are some things. And then there are certain weekly duties that we should do, like going to church. You know, we don't go to church every single day unless you're at the 40-day revival down in Guyana. But, you know, we don't go to church every single day, but we do go to church on a weekly basis, hopefully three times a week. And so the point is that that's a duty where sometimes the lake is calling. You know, we don't want to be like, you know, the mountains are calling and I must go. Well, you know what? Tell the mountains to wait till Monday or Saturday or some other day, okay? Because Sunday, we need to be in church. So, it takes self-control to say, nope, I'm going to say no to this plan and do church instead. Now, sometimes you want to go to church, right? I hope so. You're excited. Yeah, let's go to church. Other times, you're not going to feel like going to church, but you do it because of your duty. That's where self-control kicks in. That's where temperance kicks in. That's where denying self kicks in. Also, soul winning. Sometimes you don't feel like going soul winning. You get out there and do your duty, soul winning. Self-control drags you out there to go soul winning when you don't feel like it. Let me just read the last few verses on duty. Ezra chapter 3 verse 4, they kept also the Feast of Tabernacles as it is written and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the custom as the duty of every day required. Ecclesiastes 12, 13, let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man. It's our duty to obey the Lord. We need to do it. Luke 17, 10. So likewise ye, when you shall have done all those things which are commanded, you say, we are unprofitable servants. We have done that which was our duty to do. Romans 15, 27, it has pleased them verily and their debtors they are, for if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things. So we need to do our duty whether we feel like it or not. We need to be consistent on a daily basis, on a weekly basis, on a monthly basis. We need to be consistent in our service for the Lord. And if we only do God's work when we feel like it, we are not going to be consistent. If we only go to church when we feel like it, we are not going to be consistent. If we only go soul winning when we feel like it, we are not going to be consistent. If we only read our Bibles and pray when we feel like it, we are not going to be consistent. We need to make those things a duty in our life and self-control, deny self, pick up that cross and follow Jesus every single day, self-control in our lives. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for everything that you've done for us, Lord, and we thank you for bearing your cross to Calvary and being obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Lord, please just help us to take up our cross daily and deny self, Lord, and to live for you and to honor and glorify you. And in Jesus' name we pray, amen.