The Spiritual Fruit of Temperance

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Copper25

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Dec 2, 2008
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John 13:1) Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.Matthew 10:22) And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. Matthew 10:24-25) The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord, it is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household.Being a Christian is a lot more then saying I do, but rather something that should be manifested in our actions. Temperance, the ninth fruit of the Spirit, means self- control or restraint. As Christians we need to master temperance over our sinfulness. Temperance is something that is developed “grace by grace”, when we “walk in the Spirit” we won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh as it is written “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” So with out temperance no man shall see God as it is written “holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” And in order to have holiness, don’t we need temperance, which is restraint of sin or to avoid sin? “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.” To endure temptation, that requires temperance, and notice how the crown of life is only given to those that endure and make it to the end. My people, my fellow Christians, this world is flooded with sinful behaviors and acts, but we must stand strong on the principles that God has given us, “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” Notice, “wise unto salvation”, why, because the truth holds sanctification, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” So we must lean to God and heed the word of Christ Jesus our Lord because “it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.” “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;” The message to heed and the warning to get, flee from sin, which is as a plague upon the soul. Time and time again, how many people fell to destruction because of iniquity, how many nations prophesied against, Tyrus, Sidon, Nineveh(which did not get destroyed because they repented of their evil), and countless others, “Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.“ So if those be the nations, how much more the people in those nations, that committed abomination( Ephesians 5:5, Romans 1:29-31, Galatians 5:19-21) which shall not inherit the kingdom of God, was that a warning to? Are we called any less then anyone else to flee from sin, I think not. So “by the word of truth” we can make it, “by the power of God” we can stand, “by the armour of righteousness” we can endure, but by no means can we do it leaning to ourselves. We need God to lead us every step of the way, lest “We grope for the wall like the blind and we grope as if we had no eyes: and we stumble at noon day as in the night”: or lest we “walk in darkness” and have no fellowship with him.