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“Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.” (Philippians 4:5) Moderation seems to have been quite lost in our society today. We can see it as we drive down the road at the maximum legal speed of 55mph and watch cars fly past us and down the road. A little while ago, we were traveling on a fairly well-filled four-lane highway, when someone who was parked at the end of a driveway on the other side of the road apparently decided that he had to cross at any cost. He successfully crossed two lanes before colliding with the car directly ahead of us. Both cars pulled over, and I suspect that he lost a lot more time than he would have, had he been willing to wait for a break in the traffic. We, the people of God, are commanded to have moderation, and not just when immoderation is physically dangerous. We must have the self-control to keep our feelings from dictating our actions. After all, sin often pulls on our feelings and desires, so if we have these conquered, we will be more capable of resisting sin. Immoderation is always a spiritual danger.

Paul certainly wasn't talking about driving only when he commanded moderation; cars would not be invented for a long time after he wrote these words. Moderation is something that we can, and need to, practice often, in many different areas of our lives.

We can perhaps learn about one of these areas in Romans 16:17-18: “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.” Here Paul makes an unqualified statement that those who cause these divisions and offenses serve their belly. Now the belly here may simply mean our feelings, but certainly included in that is the thought of the actual belly, immoderation in eating. Jude gives a similar thought: “These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.” (Jude 1:12-13, emphasis mine) Jude's entire epistle seems to be about “mockers” (vs. 18), and one of the characteristics he gives of these people is that they aren't afraid to have immoderate eating. Peter gives us a similar description: “But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption; And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you; Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man's voice forbad the madness of the prophet.” (II Peter 2:12-16, emphasis mine) Notice that Peter specifies that these people sport (revel) in their deceit during the feast. Apparently these apostles felt that one sign of false prophets was immoderate eating. We who are seekers of truth should have self-control and avoid aligning ourselves with false prophets.

Another way we can show either moderation or immoderation is in our clothing. As in other areas, the world shows a lot of immoderation here. Clothing styles change often and usually seem to provide more showiness than usefulness. People buy new clothes that they don't need because they don't want to be behind the styles, so wasting money that could be put to a much better use, despite the Bible's firm repudiation of crowd-pleasing. “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.” (Luke 6:26) “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” (1 John 2:15-16) “Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.” (I John 3:13) “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” (James 4:4) “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” (James 1:27)

Another way that we need to exercise moderation is in our relationship with other people.

Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 24:45-51)

God provides fellowservants to work with us. But we abuse our privileges when we interact immoderately with people. “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.” (James 1:19-21) We have a responsibility to God in how we act toward our fellow man. We need to act unselfishly and kindly toward those around us.

And this leads us to yet another way that we need to be moderate—in our speech. “But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.” (Jude 1:10) “But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.” (II Peter 2:10) A lady we know, in the middle of defending her political involvement, admitted that she knew “about that not speaking evil of the ruler of your people verse,” but apparently she felt that her political causes were sufficient cause to ignore the clear warning. But even among us who don't get involved in politics, there are certainly sufficient things to waste words on. “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” (Matthew 12:36) “These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.” (Jude 1:16) “Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.” (I Corinthians 10:10) The lesson seems rather clear here—complaining can lead to destruction. And James warns us that the tongue is one of the, if not the, hardest part of the body to control:

My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. (James 3:1-8)

Paul gives as the reason for moderation that the Lord is at hand. Jesus is here watching our steps and our lives. He is here, and He sees when we sin, when we choose a way that is not in His will, when we turn our steps away from Him. He also sees when we do take His way and follow Him. And so we need to consider our way to make sure that it is right. Even if Paul could warn the Thessalonians not to believe that the day of Christ was then at hand, He still knew that Christ Himself was at hand. God can judge us whenever He will, and we need to be careful to live pure lives in anticipation of meeting Him.