All right, thank you very much. Let's turn then to 2 Peter chapter 1, and we'll begin reading from verse 3. The Bible reads, His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature. having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. Verse 5, for this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue and virtue with knowledge. And then our text for this morning, verse 6, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing They keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray again. Our Father, we sing in your own master speak. Your servant is listening. And earlier, before our morning service, we spent time in our Bible studies, looking at the way in which your son dictated letters to the churches and conveyed them through messengers, all reminding us that as we silence our hearts now, We do so before the living God that you might speak. Lord, cause your word to burn afresh in our souls that we might respond to it appropriately and live for your glory. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, brethren, we are continuing in our series of studies that we are calling Christian Grow Up. And basically, all it is is a series of messages to challenge us that Christianity is not simply a profession that you take on, and consequently, you live under that profession for the rest of your life. Christianity is actually life. It is new life. And consequently, there ought to be growth. You ought to see that you are going from one degree of glory to another. But more than that, the people around you should be able to testify that someone is making spiritual progress. And this is not simply something I am saying. We have deliberately spent time looking through 2 Peter chapter 1. And looking at it, we have seen that whereas there are a number of virtues, a number of characteristics that ought to be true about all of us who are God's children, because God has given them to us from the point of our conversion, Nonetheless, there are those aspects that we are to grow in, to add to our lives. And it is those additions that distinguish us from everyone else out there. And it is this that Peter is concerned that believers should have in an increasing measure because he knows that when we have them in an increasing measure, we are going to be effective and we are going to be fruitful as God's children. In verse 5, he had said that we are to do this by making every effort. In other words, we should strain every muscle and sinew in our beings in order for us to achieve greater levels of spirituality, of godliness, of holiness, and so on. was slowed down and began to look at each of these characteristics. We have seen the first one that is mentioned there, and that is virtue. We have also seen the second one, that is to be added to faith and virtue, and that is knowledge. And today, we are moving on to the third one, and that is self-control. There's five and there's six. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue and virtue with knowledge and knowledge with self-control. Last week, as we looked at knowledge, I emphasized the fact that the popular statement that ignorance is the mother of devotion should never be true of us. We ought to be intelligent and also knowledgeable believers. That's the way it should be about us. We should not allow a situation in our lives where issues to do with the Christian faith And all other areas of our lives are living that we are saying, well, I don't know. You go and ask my pastor. I don't know. You go and ask my elders. I don't know. No, no, no. We shouldn't. God has given us the brains. Let us make sure that we utilize them, that we are deliberately wanting to learn and learn and learn. And in that way, we are making progress. Today we are coming to look at the third, and it is self-control. And in a way, self-control answers two aspects of the Christian faith. The first is in terms of acquiring knowledge. As we saw last week, there are a number of activities that you must be very deliberate about if you are going to grow. And that's only going to happen if you are a person who exercises mastery over your own being. For instance, simply learning to spend time every day in your Bible and praying. That's not going to happen while you are half asleep. Forget it. It's something you'll have to say to yourself, I must and I will. And it is in terms of that self-mastery that you are going to do so. The same thing with acquiring books and time to read them and so forth. All those, you'll soon discover, demand self-control. But there's also self-control in terms of applying what you are learning concerning the Christian faith. In fact, often that's where our failure is, in that we go to church and we learn a lot from church about the Christian life, and then we just don't do it. And the reason why we don't do it is because we realize that it's going to demand a lot from us in order to do it. And we are lazy. We are in a laissez-faire mode. We are slothful. And in the process, we just never make progress. For a thousand Samoans that we listen to, we hardly put into practice what we learn because of the absence of self-control. So here is the maxim. It is that where true spiritual knowledge has been appropriately and properly acquired and applied, You will not miss a person with the characteristic of self-control. Self-control. If you look at anybody whose spirituality you admire, in your heart of hearts you say, I wish I was like that person, male or female. I want to assure you, hang around that person a little while, and you'll soon discover that what separates him from you, what separates men from boys, is self-control. Self-control. And that's why it's important that we address it today. First of all, let's begin with the sinner's lack of self-control. The sinner's lack of self-control. And in beginning to look at that, I want us first of all to at least have a working definition of this phrase. What does it mean? Now, self-control largely refers to a phrase I've already used, and it is the phrase mastery. It is somebody who has power especially over himself, and hence the phrase self-control. And that power or mastery is in the realm of selfish desires and selfish actions. Selfish desires and selfish actions, self-centered actions. In other words, it's the person who is able to say no to himself. To say no to himself. There's a story told of a gentleman who was in a supermarket. And as he was making his way through the various places where there were some groceries and so on, he was carrying a little child with him. So as he was buying the groceries, he kept saying, Charlie, no. No, Charlie, don't do it. No. So someone who was passing by said, yeah, your son must be quite stubborn. And he said, no, I'm Charlie. In other words, he was talking to himself. Don't reach out to whatever it was. Maybe it was a bottle of wine. I'm not sure. But he was saying, no, don't. Don't. Come on, stop it. Don't. Now, self-control is saying that inside yourself, not outside. You don't want people thinking you've gone mad as you're going through a shop. But it's inside yourself. You know that you ought not to do this. And you're speaking to yourself, and you're saying, no, don't. And sure enough, you don't. you have the capacity to say no. Now some of your versions, and especially if you're using the King James Version, it uses the word temperance instead of self-control in that text. One of the reasons is because there's more than one phrase or word in the Greek for self-control. And so sometimes when your English is saying self-control, it's not necessarily using exactly the same Greek word. But temperance also captures something of what is in the heart of this phrase. In other words, the ability to be moderate in all things, avoiding Reckless extremism, where you allow vent to whatever it is you feel like doing, you still do it. This phrase is suggesting the ability to avoid excesses. Now, let me quickly show you a few passages where the Bible seeks to show us that that's not the life of a non-believer. Let's begin with 1 Peter, the passage we looked at last time when we were seeing the aspect of ignorance. 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 14. I begin from verse 13 because I want us to capture something of the temperance or the self-control. 1 Peter 1 and verse 13. Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and here it is, and being sober-minded. Now that suggests a control of your mind. You're not allowing your mind to be swept away by emotions. Set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Now here it is, verse 14. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. Now that phrase, passions, suggests an inability to control yourself. And instead, you are allowing the brutish emotions, the fallen desires to dictate your life. And he is saying, as obedient children, don't do that, because it belongs to your former ignorance. But also, very quickly, I want us to go to Galatians chapter 5, and I want you to compare the fruit of the spirit with the fruit of the flesh, if we could use that phrase. The works of the flesh. Galatians 5, and I want us to begin from verse 19. I want you to notice the difference. You will see that with respect to the work of the flesh, There is a lot of being at the mercy of passions, the reckless excesses of desire. If you are there, Galatians 5 and verse 19. Now, the works of the flesh are evident. Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, and sorcery. You may say, OK, maybe there are no emotions there, but let's go on. Enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalry, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, ogies, and things like these. And that's showing people who are living recklessly. Your emotions are angry with somebody, bang, out comes the outburst. You last after someone, bang, you're already sleeping together with that person. You have access to alcohol, bang, you are sleeping in a ditch, completely drunk. And so on. So whatever it is, it's I feel like it, I must therefore do it. Now look at the fruit of the spirit. Verse 22. Maybe let's bridge it with a warning there. I warn you, verse 21, halfway through. I warn you, as I warned you before, those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the spirit, and notice the exact opposite, is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and in good measure, self-control added there as well. Against such things, there is no law. So it's fairly evident that one of the distinguishing marks of a Christian from a non-Christian is this ability to control self, the ability to say no to a desire which is right inside you. You want to do something, but your mind says this is not right, ethically, morally. spiritually and therefore I must not do it and then you don't do it. That's what self-control is about. Now often the areas in which human beings lack self-control is in terms of pleasure. Pleasure. Whatever it is that brings you pleasure. It might be food. Ice cream, whatever it is you like, pork, but whatever it is, the ability to say, no, oh, moderation, this is enough. I shouldn't eat more. You end up eating and eating until you sleep like a tadpole upside down. The ability to say, no, moderation. And that's why alcohol drinking, especially in Zambia and Africa, is such a disaster. Because it's about getting drunk. It's drinking and drinking until my pocket is empty. And even when it's empty, you start promising the barman, I'll pay tomorrow. And so on. And in the process, you sleep in the trench. Oh, more vaccines and everything else. Walk home with a prostitute. It's the failure at the end of the day to curb our pleasures. I can throw in football as well. In case I lose half my church, I'll stop there. But also in terms of profit, in terms of wealth, in terms of the acquisition of properties and so on, we can continue multiplying cars, houses, and so on. It's again a place where we just don't stop to think. In terms of wanting a higher salary and gaining more and more and more and more. extending profits beyond what your own mind is able to say now. Hang on! What am I doing there? The pursuit of money easily makes us reach a point where money becomes an end in itself. The other is power. Power over our immediate friends and neighbors, power in our place of work through promotion, power in terms of politics. Again, the same thing, lack of self-control. And then the last is in terms of reputation. Wanting to make a name for myself. Wanting to make a name. It becomes the driving engine, the passion that drives so many individuals to the point where life becomes all about me, myself, and I. That's all. that there is to life. Now friends, I could go on, but time is not with us. The point I want to stress is that's the non-Christian life. You work with them, you live with them, you eat with them, and you can see that that's essentially all they are living for. And sadly, it's things which the day they die, that's it. That's it. None of these things can ever bring you pardon from God. It can never bring you into a true relationship with God. It can never finally bring you into rewards in heaven. But because the non-Christian doesn't think beyond the grave, it is let's eat and drink for tomorrow we die, that's it. We'll die. So let's do everything in the now. But what about the Christian? That's where self-control comes in. That's where self-control comes in. Because the Christian has added to his virtue knowledge, spiritual knowledge. And as he is studying what life really is, as he is drinking in the reality of this God who governs the universe, and not just his being, but his purposes across history, and realizing that he has been pleased to, as it were, plug me in into this overarching work that he is doing. the Christian begins to have a sense of purpose. A sense of purpose that the non-Christian doesn't have. And it changes everything. Let's use an obvious example. We go for a birthday party, and it's a Friday evening. And there's a lot of food. The guy I'm going with is going to be running in the athletics Olympics tomorrow. As we go there, me, there's nothing like running the following day, zero. There's going to be a major difference between the way he is approaching all those deities and the way I'm approaching them. Me, I'm sort of going, yeah. You know, my wife hasn't provided this for quite some time. Denise, she's not here. And so I'm going to enjoy as much as I can of everything. Him is thinking like this, this is 200 calories. No, no, no, I shouldn't touch this. This, yeah, yeah, this, you know, a few exercises early tomorrow morning and it will be out of my system. And so he's thinking completely differently. And therefore, he is saying no to himself in areas, I'm not saying no to myself. Why? There is a knowledge he has which I don't have. And friends, that is the difference between the non-Christian and the Christian. It is the knowledge that I have concerning God and the things of God that consequently enables me to say, this I need to exercise self-control. I need to master myself. I need to say no to Conrad Mbewe, not everybody else out there, but to myself. I need to keep myself in check. Now, here is the difficulty. When the Lord saves us, although our spirits undergo a rebirth, a renewal, we still carry with us the fallen nature. We still do. And it is because we carry with us this fallen nature that the battle for self-control takes place. Let's go back to Galatians chapter 5 and verse 16. Before we even get there, let me quickly mention. that really the answer ultimately will be the Holy Spirit. I'll come to it later. For now, I just want us to just appreciate that, yes, we are saved, but we carry with us a fallen nature. And it's that fallen nature that we need to learn to speak to and say, no. Verse 16. But I say, walk by the spirit and do not gratify the desires of the flesh, ladies, the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the spirit, and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh. For these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do. And then it says, if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law. Now, the point there is just this reality, that each one of us, we possess and we carry with us a fallen nature, which continues to point in the direction of selfishness, self-centeredness, self-gratification, self, self, self. The battle is to be able to say no and to win the fight. Our Lord Jesus Christ warned his followers to beware of the tendency of lacking self-control. Lacking self-control. Look very quickly at Luke 21. Luke 21. Luke 21. He's got in mind particularly time leading to his own second coming. And this is the way he puts it. He says, verse 34. Sorry, I should have given you the verse. Look at 1 verse 34. But watch yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down. And this is not in terms of weighed down like sorrow, but weighed down in terms of being overtaken with dissipation. and drunkenness, and chaos of this life, and that the day comes upon you suddenly like a trap. Notice, it's his own disciples he's talking to. And he's saying, be careful that it's possible to get so bogged down with these temporal things of this world, with excesses, and he uses the phrase drunkenness there, He uses the word dissipation, in other words, wild living. That when the second coming comes, you are caught off balance. And it might not even be the second coming, it might be death. You arrive at the day the doctor tells you you've got a terminal illness, And then he said, no, but I haven't yet had time to do this and to do that and to do that. But where were you? Did you honestly think time was going to wait for you? No. When you were in full health, that was the time to save him. You were carried away. with whatever self said you should be doing. That's where you plunged yourself until it was too late. The passage in 1 Peter that we read If we can go back there, this time we go to chapter 4. We find again the Apostle Peter making a similar appeal that Christians should be differentiated from non-Christians with this sense of temperance, this sense of self-control, this sense of moderation. not being excessive in things. and just the first few verses. Again, notice the comparison. But for the will of God. Remember what I said, your knowledge drives you. And consequently, you're constantly asking yourself the question, what does God want me to do with my time, my free time? What does the Lord want me to do with my money? What does the Lord want me to do with Whatever else it might be, what does the Lord want me to do? You are intelligently living your life that way. Now notice what it says in verse 3. For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do. What do the Gentiles want to do? Here it is. Again, notice the excessiveness, the failure for self-control, the failure to say no. Listen to this. Living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, odious drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. Then he speaks about the difference between them and believers. Look at the believers. With respect to this, they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery. And they may lie to you, but they will give an account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. So the point out of all that is quite simple. One of the ways in which the non-believers distinguish you from them is self-control. That you don't allow the emotional aspect of you, the passion aspect of you to drive you You think in terms of God. I'm a child of God. I must please God. And that's what drives your engine. That's the difference. We've seen the non-Christian and we are now seeing the Christian. But I need to hurry on because You know, self-control doesn't just happen automatically. It's not, you know, you sort of just decide that after this service I'm going out there and from now on I'll be self-controlled. Remember, we say the same thing about virtue. We say the same thing about knowledge. It's something you gain in an ever-increasing measure. Now, we've already seen in Galatians 5 that it's the fruit of the Spirit. You see, when we get converted, it's not just that the Spirit part of us is renewed, but it's also that the Holy Spirit comes to take residence in us. And really, it is by His power that we are therefore enabled to say no to all ungodliness and worldly passions. It is the presence of the Holy Spirit in us. So, if you are able to, Just remember, it's the fruit of the Spirit. So you're not going to be patching yourself on the back and saying, cha-chave. If you're going to pat anyone on the back, if you can, it's the Holy Spirit. Definitely not yourself. He is the one who enables you. However, having said that, even in services we're making our way through the Book of Romans, and in chapter 13, the Apostle Paul suggests that applying Jesus Christ to our lives is what makes the difference. In other words, every believer, every true believer has the Holy Spirit in him. But what enables one believer to have this control over his life, and then the other believer, despite the Holy Spirit being in him, still being a victim of his own emotions. It's this duty of what the Apostle Paul calls putting on Christ. Let's read that together. Romans 13 and verses 13 and 14. You could even begin earlier, but we don't have the time. Verse 13 and 14. He says, he begins with the negative, the way in which the non-Christians live. Let us walk properly as in the daytime. Again, it is not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. I mean, all these things. It's again the animal instinct in you driving you to live like that. He's saying don't! But look at the answer, verse 14. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ. and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires. In other words, the more of Christ you have in your life, the less the opportunity to feed the fallen nature or to allow it to drive you. Let me say that again. The more of Christ, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, the less you have of this aspect of your life. And ultimately, that's the point. It's to recognize the person, the presence of Jesus Christ within you. And that only happens, again, as you continue feasting on him. In other words, studying the person and work of Christ, enjoying all He is, the unsearchable riches of Christ in your life, recognizing that, for instance, my only hope of forgiveness and pardon is in Him. I have received that pardon, and I continue to receive this pardon only through my Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Acknowledging, for instance, the fellowship that has come between me and God because of him. The reconciliation that I have with the living God. Just the joy of walking with God in this life. There's nothing like it in the whole universe. And it's mine in Christ. And not only the fellowship I have with him, but through Christ, I also have fellowship with fellow believers, brothers and sisters in Christ. We are one big, happy family. Why? Because of Christ. Again, think in terms of the transformation that Jesus has brought in my life and in my heart to make me a new creature, a creature that loves righteousness and hates sin, a creature that loves the worship of the living God, that appreciate something of who this God is and consequently wanting to live for him. That Jesus has not only done this but continues to do this every day of my life. Think in terms of also the strength that Jesus gives you in your moments of temptation, in your moments of trials, in your moments of sorrow. Jesus is the all-sufficient one in the midst of all this. And then think also of the privilege that Jesus has given you to be a co-worker with him in the extension of his kingdom. That's glorious. He is the one army in the world that will definitely win the war. And he's made you to participate in it according to the various gifts he's given you. And it's a victorious war. You can finally lie on your deathbed and say, I have fought the good fight. I've finished. I'm now heading home. Which brings us to the ultimate thought also, the rewards in glory. that causes light to shine upon one's deathbed. When others are crying, you say to them, don't cry for me. No, my friends. I'm heading, not only home, I'm heading to my eternal reward. I have labored every day for this. So don't cry for me. You may cry for yourselves. I'm now going to meet Him, my Savior, my God, the one that I had fellowship with here on earth, but in a glass dimly. I'm now going to be with Him, to see Him face to face, and to enjoy His presence, to hear the words from His lips saying, well done, good, and faithful servant. You see, the more you dwell on Christ, you put on Christ, you enjoy these glorious truths of Christ, the less the flesh is able to find room to enter into your being. Because you are full of Christ. It enables you to judge everything. The pleasures of this world grow strangely dim. And it's not that you don't enjoy ice cream, or whatever food it might be, or football, or whatever else it might be. It's not that you don't enjoy it, but it takes a lesser place in your life. It's no longer what the non-Christian is making it out to be. Just 22 people kicking a piece of leather. That's really what's happening here. Stop being crazy. Because you have gazed into the sun, the moon is dim. It's dim. in the moments of temptation as it was with Joseph in Potiphar's household as Potiphar's wife was trying to tempt him to sleep with her. His answer was straightforward. He says, fine, my master has given me privilege and so on, but he says, I will not do this evil and sin against God. God. It's about God. What will a moment of pleasure give me compared to what I will lose? Peace with God, fellowship with God, the joy of the Lord, which is my strength, that's helping me in the midst of the trials I'm going through. So far away from my kith and kin, and I'm now a slave here, but being with God, I'm a prince in the midst of all this. You want me to sin against him? Forget it. I'm saying to myself, no Joseph. No Joseph. Because of this wonderful relationship. I can apply it to all the other areas. But let me apply it to one. And I think the deacons will increase my salary because of this. And it's our unfaithfulness in giving in church. We know we owe it to time. But know what happens when the money is now in our pocket. It says we forget God. We forget the Lord Jesus Christ. We forget the privilege he's given us to be co-workers with him, to extend his kingdom. We begin to think like people of the world. And therefore, the animal part of us takes over. You've been wanting to get this and wanting to get that, and this and the other, which you know will perish with you. But you're not thinking like that anymore. You're just thinking like the world. And ultimately, friends, it's spiritual maturity. It is putting on Christ that will enable you in that moment when your fallen nature is trying to divert your finances to something that will perish with you. It's in that moment that you'll be able to say, no, Conrad is a savior who has loved me. with infinite love, and has given me the privilege that where I labor, the sweat is also thrown into the extension of his kingdom. No, Conrad, I don't agree. I shouldn't do this. And while the fallen nature is kicking and screaming, even when I'm finally arrived in here, it's still saying, no bud, no bud, no bud. Finally, the offering bud comes and mm. And I smile back and say, it's done. Round two, next month. It's done. Self-control. What we normally refer to as mainline churches, instead of treasuring spiritual maturity, they now come up with methods where you have to register your tithes. Each member is a number. And that number is what makes them think, hmm, they will know that I haven't died. My decons, they will say, ah, but number 31 or none, since April, hasn't given and so on. Let me do something. Friends, that's the lowest level. It's the lowest level. Rather, we should be saying that the pocket, self-control over the pocket is a measurement of our maturity. That's what we should be saying. And consequently, we should be aiming for Christians who are growing up, growing up. Christians who are able to speak to themselves when they are at home and they are looking at their checkbook and saying there, no, this belongs to the Lord. Like that Charlie in the shop. Charlie, no. Charlie, no. No. And it's because you don't want to touch that which belongs to the Lord. In fact, you be aiming to be not just faithful, but generous as well. Generous as well. Wanting to give over, beyond, and above. that which is demanded of you. Why? Because you are mesmerized at this glorious opportunity to save the world with your income. Well, let's hurry on to close. I've overshot. So brethren, grow up. Grow up. That's all I've been saying in the last 50 minutes or so. Grow up. Make every effort to add self-control to your knowledge. As I said at the beginning, that self-control also helps you in acquiring knowledge, because you'll be spending quite a bit of your time doing that. But it is also in terms of applying, applying God's word. So that what you are learning, for instance, you've just listened to someone here, will not just stay in the brain, but it will come and affect your life. You will get out there and you will say, I need to start making changes so that my knowledge is not just in the head, but my very life speaks that way. Remember what I said, we never arrive. It's a journey for all of us. It's a journey to finally reach a point where we are like Jesus Christ in complete control of everything. And one of the lines we'll be singing in our closing hymn, the very last line in the stanzas, is let his power control you every day. I will deliberately ask us to change the chorus from being in the second person, you, to being in the first person, I, and me, so that it ties in with the verses. Let his power control me every day. The world out there has thrown God aside. They are living in recklessness. Whatever their fallen nature tells them to do, they do. Let them see that I live under Jesus. I think the verse we have says, where. The original is actually sway. In other words, under his control. Let them see that in fact I live under Jesus's sway, his control. They are watching me, marking all I do, hearing the things I say. Let them see the Savior as he lives in me. Let his power control me every day. May we all have that self-control. Amen.