Live Without Failing - With SelfControl
Second Peter 1:5 - 10
5 ...giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,
6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,
7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.
8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do thee things you will never stumble;
That word stumble in the traditional King James says fall and it literally means to fall down or fail. Now He said you will never stumble, never fall. That word never literally means by no means ever. It also carries the idea by no means, not even at any time. God says that if you will do these things you will never fail, never fall, never stumble, never. That is incredible.
Our subject is fail proof living. Living without failing. Failure in any area of life, whether in the natural realm or the spiritual realm has to be a permitted response. In other words it just cannot happen. There has to be permission given by you to do so. If this were not possible, God would never have told us.
Look at what God tells us to do. These are our responsibilities. He says, in verse 5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith... Now we start out with faith as reborn children of God. But then He says add to your faith. That is our responsibility. Add to it. Add what to it? Add virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. He said if we do these things you will never, never fail.
I want to talk to you about self-control, because if we are going to be a good testimony for God's glory, we are going to have to practice self-control. Obviously by the term self-control if you turn that around that is saying, in essence, control self. Unfortunately, there are multitudes of spirit-filled, tongue talking, Bible-toting, faith-believing Christians that are out of control. It is obvious just simply by observation.
Colossians 3:1
1If [This word connotes-qualifier, condition. There is a condition here.] then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
2Set your mind [in the traditional King James it says affection -the real word in the Greek is "mind."] on things above,...
Now I have a question. Do you not agree that God Almighty would be extremely unkind to require something of us that He would very well know we were incapable of doing? Therefore, if He tells me to do something I can do it.
And if I do not do it that means that I am in gross violation of the will of my Father.
1If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
2Set your mind on things above, not things on the earth.
3For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
5Therefore put to death [Kill it. Here is one of the very few places in the Bible where God authorizes killing in reference to self-not someone else.] your members [A member is your hand, fingers, mouth and etc.] Therefore put to death your members which are on earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
He said put it to death, kill it. Paul said, "I keep under my body, I keep it under control." That is what it means to put it to death. Do not let it tell you what to do and do not let it control or direct you because it will if you let it. I have to do that all the time in every area of life because there are times right here at the churches, I want to knock somebody out. That is how I feel sometimes. Some of the nonsense that some of the people here do - working for their churches -taking money out of the ministry. I want to blast their brains out and splatter them all over the floor. That is how I feel, but I have to control myself.
5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion,...[See fornication is not a member. Pick up on that. He says put to death, but it takes physical organs to commit fornication. All He is saying to act like those members are dead.]
If I were to go back to what they did back in the 18th Century and hook up all these young women with chastity belts we would not have any problems about entering in. There would be no unwed mothers because the lock box is on there. If we would take a machete and line up all the men and go by and [chop, chop] we would not have any problems. But that is what He is saying. That is what you have to do if you want to stay under control. You have got to act like it is gone. I cannot get in trouble if it is dead. I pray that you control your self. AMEN.