“I Write unto You, Young Men”

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“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”* (Galatians 5:22-23)

I am thinking, young men, of temperance. Self-control, moderation, and restraint are other words that help convey the meaning of this fruit of the Spirit. Peter speaks of temperance as something to be diligent to add to other qualities, and of its value in keeping us fruitful (2 Pet. 1:5-8). Brother Paul speaks of it as a quality that aged men should have, and a requirement for elders (Tit. 2:2; 1:5-9). I find myself in need of more temperance, the longer I live for the Lord. I want to examine some scriptures on this subject, with the help of the Lord.

“Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.”* (Proverbs 25:16)

Our outward man is prone to excess. If we like something, or find it satisfies something in us, we tend to indulge in it until it has obvious negative effects. Each of us is different, and either are naturally moderate or learn to be moderate in various areas, but each of us has our “honey.” Let me tell on myself as an example. When I was eight, our family went to an “all you can eat” buffet restaurant. I was an intemperate eater, and ate so much that I felt sick and actually did go vomit (in the seclusion of the restaurant’s bathroom). Such was my gluttony, that after being so relieved, I went back and ate some more. I never went to that extreme again, but I remember through my childhood and young adulthood that at special meals (particularly Thanksgiving and various special occasions) that I almost invariably felt very uncomfortable after I finished eating. This is an area of my life that the Holy Spirit has been working on me, and although I’m gaining ground, I have a great deal more ground to gain, and I’m more subject to difficulty in this area than any of my children. Now you may find it a fairly simple matter to “eat so much as if sufficient,” but perhaps you have some other area. Maybe you read to the exclusion of other responsibilities, or play some game immoderately, or indulge in humor until you are hysterical or fatigued, or are undisciplined in your sleeping habits. The concept of sufficiency is something that we all naturally tend to define for ourselves, but real sufficiency is defined by God, and exemplified in Jesus. He could feast or fast, labor or rest, speak or be silent in accordance with Father’s direction, by keeping in touch with Him in prayer.

“All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.”* (1 Corinthians 6:12)

To be expedient in this use means to be helpful or profitable. A supermarket sells many different items, and is constantly trying new ones and phasing out old ones by this test, whether the item is profitable. The test of profitably isn’t as simple as it might first look, either. If I’m the storeowner and I find that a certain bagel yields me a higher profit per unit than, say, a doughnut, I could try completely phasing out doughnuts and replacing that whole section with those bagels, but what if the demand for those bagels isn’t that high? Or even if it is, what if a number of customers like doughnuts enough that they stop shopping at my store and find another one that carries doughnuts, and I lose more in overall sales than I gained by selling more bagels?

Even so in our lives, if we consider soberly, we find that we are not really as good at determining profitability for our souls as we think. I may do something that I know is not inherently wrong, but it may use my time and energies in ways that are to my disadvantage, spiritually. Maybe a certain interest, if indulged, dominates my thinking and hinders my appetite for spiritual things. Maybe another interest or appetite, when not restrained, begins to “suck me in,” so to speak. The “glorious liberty of the children of God” is a liberty that can only be maintained by close attention to our Guide, and a ruthlessness to keep our spirit on top of our body.

“And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”* (Luke 21:34-36)

The word surfeiting refers to the giddiness and headache caused by drinking wine to excess. I hope none of you readers are those who run into this problem, but there are other things we can do to excess, such that we become giddy or have aches of either temporal or spiritual nature. In addition, our normal responsibilities in life can become cares that dominate our hearts and minds so as to leave us spiritual weak or lean. “Take ye heed, watch and pray,”* (Mark 13:33) our Lord exhorts us. Do you want to be able to “stand before the Son of man”? When the day of judgment comes, will that “harmless indulgence” the Lord showed you that you needed to give up, or that enjoyment that you had to be so restrained in, be of any significance to you at all compared to being able to “stand before the Son of man”?

“Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.”* (Romans 13:13-14)

The word wantonness is defined as “unbridled lusts.” Some of you may have or be familiar with well-trained horses or beasts of burden that take guidance well without bridles, but what has really happened is that they are operating with a “hidden” bridle, whether that be attributed to training, affection for the master, or some other cause. Look at the various activities we are warned against above, and consider whether the idea “unbridled” is not a common theme. What is our bridle? “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ.” The more we make provision for Jesus, the less we make provision for the flesh. The more we move at Jesus’ touch, the less the lusts of the flesh draw us.

“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”* (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)

When I was in the fifth grade, I learned to play the trombone, and was part of a band composed of elementary students from all over the school district. There were seven trombone players, and each week the band director would devote part of our session to “challenges.” A person could challenge the player one seat “above” themselves, and if the challenge was successful, they would trade places with that person. As the new student, I was “seventh trombone.” I began to practice somewhat regularly, and soon found that by challenging, I rose several positions in a few weeks. The competition grew more intense as I rose in the ranks, until I became second trombone. I found the will to spend from 45 to 90 minutes every day in practice, and challenged the first trombone player the next week. I won! I spent the following week enjoying the feeling of being first trombone, and then found myself challenged and sent back to second! I stirred myself, and soon I was first again. I think you can guess how the rest of the year went. I alternated between first and second trombone for the remainder of the year, as first one of us, then the other, would put the extra effort in to improve our skills past the other. There were times, of course, when one or the other of us had other priorities, and several weeks might go by without a challenge, but generally, we two stood apart from the rest of the trombone players because we were running to obtain, and made sacrifices in our lives to do so.

In the spiritual race for heaven, we are not trying to beat other people, and there isn’t only one or a small, fixed number of positions to compete for. There are, however, many spiritual opponents and obstacles, and “obtaining” requires surmounting every single obstacle that confronts you as you go along. We must be temperate in order to obtain heaven. We must run with purpose, keeping our bodies mastered by our spirits (Romans 8:13), rather than the reverse, lest we fail to win the prize!

I see a young man starting out, overcoming every obstacle. The race grows long, and now the obstacles seem great indeed. He wonders if it is really worth it, after all, and his weariness magnifies the cost and minimizes the prize in his mind. There is one thing that stands in his way, and it really seems too much to be asked to climb this obstacle. “Why not go around just this once?” a voice whispers in his mind. Oh, young man, call on God! Remember the great prize that awaits. Your weariness will be as nothing on That Day!

God has promised strength to those who call for it. What? Are your senses dulled by some “honey” that you have been eating beyond what is sufficient? Does something of this temporal life have power over you? Oh, young man, pray, pray! Cast aside whatever you must until you can pray effectually, until you again clearly see the prize, and the One who called you to run for heaven.

Thank God, I see the young man praying, now he climbs again, the obstacle is overcome! I have hopes of meeting him on That Day—pray for me, I want to obtain the prize, and not be a castaway.