WYC 2007: Be Like Jesus

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GYC West

WYC 2007 Plenary Sessions

Doug Batchelor

Giving All Diligence

Don Mackintosh

Be Like Jesus: Faith

Tim Riesenberger

Morning Manna 1

Justin Kim

Be Like Jesus: Virtue

Eugene Prewitt

Be Like Jesus: Knowledge

Be Like Jesus: Temperance

Be Like Jesus: Patience

Morning Manna 2

Stephen Bohr

Be Like Jesus: Godliness

Be Like Jesus: Brotherly Kindness

Be Like Jesus: Love

If You Do These Things

Let's just bow our heads now and again ask the Lord to be with us.

Father in heaven, today we're thankful that this desire to be like you has drawn us here today.

We confess that we often wound you, we often wound others, and we actually hurt ourselves, although sometimes we don't recognize that.

But we want to be like you today, and we don't want our services here just to be sentimental, but we want them to go deeper and we pray that decisions could be made during this hour not because of me but because of your spirit, not because of us but in spite of us.

We want to be open to your Spirit's leading.

And we thank you and come in Christ's name.

When Eric Nelson contacted me to speak with you today and told me the topic that he had assigned to me, that being temperance, I can't say I was initially overwhelmed with joy.

Because talking to people about the 3 or 4 D's, diet, dress, drums, and decor, dating, is kind of like starting a fight.

And since I've been beat up a number of times, I know how that feels.

If you need to hit somebody, maybe that person next to you would be good.

We've been taking as our text first or second Peter, And let's look there again today.

And I appreciated what I could hear of the man with good genetics, Eugene Pruitt's remarks concerning knowledge.

And my family's here with me today, so I got to take a walk with Schminky and Schmooky and Schmalky.

And you'll get to meet them a little later.

So 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 3, or 2, 3, and then just moving into what we're going to talk about.

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

As his divine power has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." Now that word, lust, is probably a word that many people here are interested in.

The reason I say that is because of all the sermons I ever preached at my church in Kansas on the internet, I preached a sermon on lust.

And that sermon got 3 times as many hits as anything else.

So you may not look like you're interested in lust and how to have victory over lust in your life, but you probably are.

I want to have victory over lust in my life.

Paul said, I'm a little concerned that if I preach to others I might be a castaway, so I keep my body under.

So preachers need a sermon on lust and temperance.

I'm glad to be here asking the Holy Spirit to preach to me.

This idea of lust and temperance, you say, well, how are those 2 related?

Actually, the word temperance is only used about 4 times in the Bible.

And 2 of the times is right here in Peter, another time is in Galatians where it says the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, and self-control.

And the third time then helps me focus in on this idea of lust because it's found in Acts chapter 24.

In Acts chapter 24, looking at the Acts of the Apostles, we see Paul, who we just mentioned earlier, who had victory in many areas of his life.

And temperance is the total absence of that which is harmful and the moderate use of that which is good.

Moses had some problems, he killed people.

So I take confidence that if Aaron could be the Saint of the Lord if Paul could change and if Moses could then write the Bible and Paul could write most of the New Testament we're gonna have some good news today amen So here in Acts chapter 24 is the third time or maybe the first time would be a better way to say it that this word temperance is used.

And you remember the story Paul is in trouble because in chapter 22, 23 he had come to the temple in Jerusalem and he was wanting to be purified with some of his converts and then some Jews from Asia saw it and they raised a big stank and he got in trouble and he was almost to be killed when Felix steps in and Felix sends the soldiers out protects him How many of you think Paul would have a debt to Felix?

And Felix knew that people had debts and so he liked to talk to them, it says at the end of chapter 24, to try and get bribes, verse 26.

He hoped that money would be given him by Paul, but that's the last time he talked to him.

The first time he talked to him, he just didn't really understand what he was in for, because Paul was not your typical person.

After he'd been taken out of the quagmire by Felix in Drusilla.

He was put in a holding tank and he had freedom and then Felix called for him and the natural thing would be say thank you, thank you Felix.

You are the greatest thing that ever happened and I just want to tell you how wonderful a ruler I think you are because I'm alive first of all and secondly is anything I can get for you.

But Paul in that setting instead flesh lead preached a sermon on temperance.

And some days, after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.

Now he, that is Paul, reasoned about righteousness, temperance, or the New King James that I'm reading, self-control, and judgment to come.

Who should have been afraid, normally speaking?

Paul should have been afraid, but he preached and Felix was afraid can you say amen when you're like Jesus people tremble and they why did Felix tremble you see Felix was on wife number 3 and it wasn't for good reasons.

This was the second Drusilla, but this 1 was stolen from another guy.

And Drusilla was no bag of righteousness either.

She had allowed her feelings to be changed, even though she knew better, being raised a Jewess.

And she had come into this relationship as well and they both or at least she knew it was wrong it's interesting she doesn't even respond but Felix responds in fear because Paul is preaching something he's reasoning about righteousness temperance and judgment to come now where does that does that sound familiar that little catchphrase righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come?

Does that sound like a text you've ever heard anywhere else?

John, chapter 16, I think comes to my mind.

John, chapter 16, and I want you to notice this coupling because I think it's interesting.

Jesus speaking about the Holy Spirit who would come, explaining his ministry in verse 8 said, and when he, that is the Holy Spirit, has come he will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and judgment to come now which word has been interchanged not righteousness righteousness was about texts what was it temperance is interchanged with what word sin so in temperance then is what?

How many times do you just dismiss it as, oh, that's just the way I am?

And what happens with sin if you continue to sin?

Peter understood this and he understood all these different things, and so in 2 Peter in our passage he said, look, you need to escape these things, these fleshly lusts.

2 Peter 1, verse 4, By which he has given us exceeding great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through what?

Now there it gives the secret to being temperate.

By claiming the precious promises of God.

You know that's another way to say by getting to know Jesus.

Claiming the promises is getting to know Jesus because 2 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 20 says all the promises of God are in him they're in Jesus and they're all yes in him and they're all in him Amen to the glory of God through us.

Listen to that text all the promises of God are in who?

Amen, which means when you're in him It's gonna happen.

So be it and then what's it say next and in him to the glory of God through us.

That's through you and me, brothers and sisters.

In other words, if we're in Jesus, we're claiming his promises, he can give us victory, and he can live in and through us.

Now, Peter and 1 Peter, 2 Peter is of course after 1 Peter, and it really lays the foundation for everything we're talking about.

In 1 Peter, chapter 2, verse 11, it says, Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the what?

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Series

WYC 2007 Plenary Sessions

Be Like Jesus: Temperance

Transcript

Parent Series

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