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Message Title

The Act of Total Self-Control

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Introduction

I was brought up in an environment where the importance of time has been greatly neglected and in which people are hardly prompt to do anything. God that made man put him in a space of a limited time and expects every moment of it to be properly used. It is clear from the scriptures that God has always been working with time in all His dealings with man.

“And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;” - Genesis 15:13

God told Abram (later Abraham) in Genesis 15:13 that the people of Israel will be afflicted for four hundred years in a foreign land which was in Egypt.

“Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.” - Exodus 12:40

In Exodus 12:40, the days of affliction of the people of Israel came to completion in Egypt at about the four hundredth year according to the time God told Abraham in Genesis 15:13.

“Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.” - Daniel 9:24-26

We talked on the seventy weeks of Daniel, in Daniel 9:24-27, in one of our messages titled “The Second Coming of Jesus Christ” which you can read on our website at http://revelationtoend.org/messages. We extensively explained what these seventy weeks meant in that message. Each week denotes a period of seven (7) years which we calculated to be a total of 483 years period for the first 69weeks in which time Christ was to first come.

“And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ.” - Luke 2:25-26

It was obvious that the Jews knew what time Christ was first coming; Simeon in Luke 2:25-26 was told by the Spirit of the Lord that he will not die till he sees Jesus Christ. Nathanael, in John 1:45, was also expecting the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” - Matthew 24:36

It is certain that the timing of Jesus’ first coming was obvious to many people and we must also know that His second coming has a time in which Jesus clearly says only the Father knows about this time in Matthew 24:36. I was once talking to a guy who told me since he was a little boy, he had been hearing that Jesus Christ is coming soon and now that he is much older with Children, he is still hearing the same thing and that he is tired of hearing it. Many people only try to live righteously based on the fact that Christ is coming back soon and therefore can’t endure being Christians when Jesus tarries for longer than they expect. In the year 2000, many people thought the world was coming to an end and thus converted to Christianity in fear of the judgment to come but went back after a while of seeing that it still tarries. It is certain that Jesus Christ is coming back the second time and that there is a coming judgment for every man according to his works on this earth. Though in Matthew 24:36 we know that nobody except God knows the day and hour, Matthew 24 and the book of Revelation gives us a lot of details on the season of Christ’s second coming. The bible symbolically describes it with the birth pain of a woman which gives a progressively increasing indication that a child is ready to be born. Today we see the birth pain of the second coming of Christ all around us ticking closer to the end. Even though the time period may be from today to some few years, we must consider the fact that death knocks at the door every time. If not for the grace of God, the devil will love to kill everyone on the earth in a second. Even before a Child is born, the devil has already started seeking its life. The fact that anyone is still alive means God is still protecting and giving him opportunity to be saved (born again) and to live righteously in His grace.

If we look closely at the first coming of Jesus Christ, we will notice that right from Christ’s birth to His death and resurrection, Jesus worked with time. The first thirty years of His life, Jesus prepared for His ministry. He was found once at the temple at twelve years of age asking questions about the scriptures. At thirty, He was baptized by John the baptist to start His ministry and the Holy Spirit descended on Him.

“Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.” - John 2:4

There were many places in the ministry of Jesus Christ He used the phrase “mine hour is not yet come or my time …”. We see that in John 2:4, Jesus told His earthly mother, who wanted Him to perform a miracle at a wedding, His hour was not yet come.

“Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready.” - John 7:6

Again in John 7:6-8, He clearly made it known to His brethren that He was working with time. There were many times in the ministry of Jesus Christ that people wanted to kill Him but no one could, no matter how hard they tried because His time was not yet.

“And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples.” - Matthew 26:18

In Matthew 26:18, He finally made known to His disciples that His time was at hand. This in all indication tells us that Jesus Christ worked with time from the beginning to the end of His ministry.

“For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:” - 2 Timothy 4:6-7

Looking closely at Paul’s ministry, we see that he also worked with time and even knew when he had finished his ministry as he said in 2 Timothy 4:7 “… I have finished my course …”.

“And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?” - Matthew 8:29

The funny thing is that even demons know that God is working with time when it concerns everything under heaven. In Matthew 8:29, demons cried out and told Jesus Christ “… art thou come hither to torment us before the time?” The phrase “the time” clearly reveals that the devil knows there is “the time” referring to the final Day of Judgment. If demons know this, how much more should we all know this? Most times the problems and cares of this world choke our minds from the reality of this simple fact which in all indication is an open secret and other times, this is known to some Christians but their emotions overshadow it.

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:” - Ecclesiastes 3:1

The bible says in Ecclesiastes 3:1 that there is a season and time for everything under the earth. I can remember my childhood days, what I did in my primary, secondary and university school days and I can remember my friends and teachers, all that seems like a dream now. Now I hear of a friend getting married and another dying; I see babies that were known to me then, now in the schools I had once attended; I see grey hairs on people that were once young; trees that were once in my compound no more; people that were once neighbours but no more so; my family members all growing up and getting married. I never thought I would see this happen in my own life. Life has changed with time and is still changing. What I had learnt in the past were seeds in my future.

“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” - 1 Corinthians 13:11

When I was much younger, I had little responsibilities in which all I had to do was my homework, play, eat and sleep but as I grew older that started to fade away and more responsibilities started to set in. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:11, when I was a child I did things like a child but when I became a man, I put away childish things. Since I had more responsibilities on growing up, time was never enough again. I wished I could get 30hrs in a day sometimes but apparently that was just a dream that can’t come true.

“Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” - Galatians 5:23

Time becomes a factor as more responsibilities set in therefore it had to be utilized appropriately to do what is right on time. Man has tried to discipline his mind and body as monks have meditated to gain control of their soul and athletic control over their body but this cannot be achieved to perfection without the spirit. To do this, self-control or temperance is required which we find as one of the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:23. It is an important ingredient of having a fulfilled life.

“And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.” - 2 Peter 1:5-7

Even though I hardly hear people preach about self-control, it happens to be a vital bridge that must be crossed to be fruitful in life. People try to exercise themselves to have self-control in the affairs of this world but to be totally self-controlled they have to be led by their spirit. In 2 Peter 1:5-7, we know that the first thing to do in order to have self-control from a spiritual stand point is to be born again. In 2 Peter 1:5, the term faith is the same thing as been born again. The bedrock of producing any spiritual fruit (character) is on a born again spirit. What happens when a person gets born again is that his spirit is changed to a new one with the characteristics of God imprinted in it (Colossians 3:10).

“For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.” - Romans 7:14-15

The law of God is spiritual and it requires people who are born again (spiritual) to be able to obey them perfectly (Romans 7:14). If a person is not born again, he can never be able to stop sinning. Paul said in Romans 7:15, what he wants to do he finds himself not doing but what he hates that he finds himself doing. It is not possible to operate in total self-control through the spirit except a person gets born again first.

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” - Romans 10:9

To be born again is to believe that Jesus Christ died and rose again and then confessing it with the mouth according to Romans 10:9. Most people believe Jesus Christ died for them but never ask for it either because they have an erroneous thought that they must be sinless first or they must work for it. The bible clearly makes us know in Ephesians 2:8 that it is a free gift of God given to anyone that asks in faith. Once anyone believes, he needs to ask for God’s gift of life once in his life. If you are not born again and want to do that now, then say the prayer below out loud with your mouth believing every word of it.

Prayer to be Born Again:
Dear Lord Jesus, I believe you died and rose again for me. Please forgive me my sins and wash me with your precious blood. Renew my spirit and fill me with your Holy Spirit. I believe I am now your Child, help me renounce every work of darkness. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

If you said this prayer believing, we are so happy for you. Please write us so that we can tell you more about your new life and what you should do with it.

In 2 Peter 1:5-7, we can see that after been born again that a person needs to first add to his faith virtue, to virtue knowledge before temperance (self-control). The peak of this process is for Christians to walk in love (1 Timothy 1:5).

The two major bridges Christians find themselves stuck in when growing are virtue and temperance. Few Christians manage crossing over to virtue but still find themselves stuck when it comes to temperance. Virtue means moral-excellence which can be said to mean stopping the act of sin with the body or keeping the moral laws i.e. sins like lying, stealing, fornication, killing etc. The fact remains that many people hear the word of God either in a church or through a medium, and are willing to obey it but lack of temperance (self-control) in doing anything with the knowledge they know, thus they soon forget it or it becomes redundant and therefore bears no fruit.

A Definition of Self-Control:
Self-control is defined in Hutchinson dictionary as a Control of one's emotions, desires, or actions by one's self.

“And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.” - 1 Timothy 2:14

We all know what happened to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3 at the garden of Eden, how they both sinned and fell short of the glory of God. From 1 Timothy 2:14, we know that Adam was not deceived but Eve was. You must then be wondering why Adam sinned having the full knowledge of what he was doing. I can only attribute his actions for a lack of self-control over his emotions for his wife and thus allowing it to rule him at that moment.

“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;” - Titus 2:11-12

Another word, we find referring to self-control in the bible other than temperance or temperate is “sober”. In Titus 2:11-12, God expects every Christian to live in this world soberly (self-controlled), righteously and godly. Without self-control in a Christian’s life, he will be controlled by his fleshly lust. A person with self-control is able to live a faithful and diligent life in this world, filtering what approaches him and selecting only what is needed at that moment because everything good is not perfect. For example, water is good but too much water will drown you, food is good to eat but eating too much may turn you to a balloon and thus unhealthy. For a thing that is good to be perfect, it must be done at the right time with the right duration and quantity.

A famous quote from an ancient Greek philosopher called Aristotle is as thus "I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self". Apparently, King Solomon already wrote something like this in Proverbs 16:32 which quotes “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.” The battle to totally have control over a man’s self is the greatest battle he will ever face in his life and this battle leaves no one out; Jesus Christ faced it and we all must face it.

Already in this message, by the help of the Holy Spirit, we have been able to quickly talk on the importance of Self-Control. In the remaining part of this message, we will want to talk on how to be self-controlled, self-control in leadership, forces against self-control, etc.

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Linked Message: Fear, Its Effects And Dealing With It

Last Updated: Thursday, August 02, 2007

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