Fierceness!
Below is an excerpt from the chapter of John Pipers book Life as a Vapor that I read this morning. As it relates to Allen's last sermon and was quite beneficial to me I thought I would share some of it with you.
Life as a Vapor"The Fierce Fruit of Self-Control
The very concept of "self-control" implies a battle between a divided self. It implies that our "self" produces desires we should not gratify but instead "control." We should "deny ourselves" and "take up our cross daily," Jesus says, and follow him (Luke 9:23)
The path that leads to heaven is narrow and strewn with suicidal temptations to abandon the way. Therefore Jesus says, "Strive to enter through the narrow door" (Luke 13:24). The Greek word for strive is agonizesthe in which you correctly hear the English word "agonize."
We get a taste of what is involved from Matthew 5:29, "if your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away." This is the fierceness of self-control. This is what is behind the words of Jesus in Matthew 11:12, "the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force." Are you laying hold on the kingdom fiercely?...
Fundamental to the Christian view of self-control is that it is a gift. It is the fruit of the Holy Spirit... How do we "strive" against our fatal desires? Paul answers: "I labor, striving according to his power, which mightily works within me" (Colossians 1:29, NASB). The key is "according to his power." He "agonizes" by the power of Christ, not his own. Similarly he tells us, "if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live" (Romans 8:13)... We must be fierce! Yes. But not by our might...
And how does the spirit produce this fruit of self-control in us? By instructing us in the superior preciousness of grace, and enabling us to see and savor (that is "trust") all that God is for us in Jesus..."
Piper, John, "The Fierce Fruit of Self-Control," Life As A Vapor, 2004, Multnomah Publishers Inc, Chapter 26.
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