In these times of war, we can expect to hear much about the price of oil. Twenty percent of the oil that the world consumes must pass through the Strait of Hormuz, but a demonic enemy of mankind threatens to destroy the oil tankers if they dare to pass. Under these circumstances, the media would have us believe that our world revolves around the price of oil. But what if crude isn’t even the oil that we need to be concerned about?

Jesus told a parable (Matthew 25:1-13) about foolish virgins who paid too little attention to their oil. In their case, the oil of concern was not crude oil but olive oil. They needed a full supply of olive oil in order to keep their lamps burning at night, because the bridegroom was coming at night and they would need to trim their lamps and go out to follow Him.

So, is it actually olive oil about which our Lord is concerned? Clearly not. The referent of the parable is an oil far more valuable than that.

Interestingly, the price of oil is not the problem in the parable. When the foolish virgins were reduced to beggars, they did not bellyache about the rising price of oil. When told to “go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves” (Matthew 25:9), they went, because evidently they had enough money to make the purchase.

The problem the foolish virgins faced was not financial; it was the problem of neglect. “For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them” (Matthew 25:3). That neglect had disastrous consequences. Unable to see their way to the Bridegroom, they stumbled their way to the oil sellers. We’re not sure if these foolish virgins ever actually bought the oil. It’s just as likely that the sun came up and they followed the sound of rejoicing to the great hall where the marriage feast was taking place. We know that when they got to the door, they begged to be let in, saying, “Lord, lord, open to us.” (Matthew 25:11). But the reply they received was heartbreaking, “Truly, I say to you, I do not know you” (Matthew 25:12).

No price of oil is too high to pay if it means avoiding those dreaded words. But the best news of all is that the Lord offers His oil free of charge. The only obstacle we face is that of our own neglect. The wise take flasks of oil wherever they go (Matthew 25:4) but the foolish neglect to do so.

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:15-18). God puts it on us to come to Him and be filled with the oil of His Holy Spirit. The wise do so. The foolish do not.

There is, in fact, a war against our oil. The feckless enemy cannot face up to us, because “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Asymmetric warfare is all the enemy can do. He can attack our oil supply.

Those attacks often come in the form of distraction. The enemy’s ballistic missiles are “the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches” (Matthew 13:22). The drones against the Christian mind are the mind’s own wandering after “earthly things” (Philippians 3:19). Like floating mines in the Strait of Hormuz, anxieties threaten to destroy our usefulness. Since “the Lord is at hand” (Philippians 4:5), we are told not to be “anxious about anything” (Philippians 4:6). The distractions of anxiety and worldliness are what threaten our oil.

Jesus tells the lukewarm Laodicean church to buy oil for their spiritual blindness (Revelation 3:18). Here the oil analogy is to an eye salve, curing some kind of conjunctivitis. As with the foolish virgins who lacked olive oil for their lamps, the problem is still an inability to see. They cannot see “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Maybe they are saved, but they are not beholding the glory of Jesus. Where is the light that shone in their hearts “to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6)? Lukewarm Laodiceans have the same problem as foolish virgins, whichever analogy is used to describe the problem. The problem is neglecting the holy things of God.

The answer is to “be being filled” with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18, as the Greek is more exactly rendered). The Spirit of the Living God is our oil. God has already made us who believe to be new wineskins, fit to be filled (Luke 5:38). The infinite Spirit is always in abundant supply (John 10:10). We must only ask for the filling like a child asks a father for food (Luke 11:9-13), which is pretty much incessantly. The Father is pleased to give the Holy Spirit to His children who ask.

Ask Him right now. Don’t neglect your flask of oil. Pray something like this: “Father, forgive me for my neglect. These days are evil and I’ve been foolish to neglect the oil of your Holy Spirit. I’ve been lukewarm, and I want to burn for you again. Make me hungry for your Word and satisfy me today with your daily bread. Teach me to pray incessantly. Send me to tell others about the coming Bridegroom; let my cup overflow to others. Please fill me with your oil until it’s flowing over my head and body. Anoint me with your precious Holy Spirit. When the Son of Man comes, I want to be found with faith, active faith that ministers in the church and witnesses in the world. Find me with oil in my lamp. In Jesus Name, I pray, amen.”

Because the Oil is Free,

Pastor Jeff

Of all things that we must learn from our Teacher, how to pray is near the top of the list. The “Lord’s School of Prayer” (Luke 11:1-4) outlines 7 aspects of a strong prayer life. Continued teaching on the subject (Luke 11:5-13) and some object lessons (Luke 11:14-28) round out a 10-point lesson on how to pray.

Point #1 Address God as “Father” (Luke 11:2), recalling his love for you. Ordinarily, we pray TO the Father, THROUGH the Son, BY the Spirit.

Point #2 Begin your prayer with words of praise, like “hallowed be your name” (Luke 11:2).

Point #3 Align yourself with His Kingdom (Joshua 5:14), saying “Your kingdom come” (Luke 11:2), and examining yourself to remove anything that stands opposed to His rule.

Point #4 Request His provision for needful things, asking Him to “give us each day our daily bread” (Luke 11:3). Notice the plural “us” indicates praying with other believers.

Point #5 Confess your sins and ask Him to “forgive us our sins” (Luke 11:4).

Point #6 Deal with unforgiveness in your own heart, in order to honestly say, “for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us” (Luke 11:4). Forgiveness in the heart often comes before trust is rebuilt. Rebuilding trust is a process that takes time. Rebuilding trust may require that boundaries be set in place for a time.

Point #7 Ask God to “lead us not into temptation” (Luke 11:4). God cannot tempt (James 1:13), but He can transform the desires of your sinful heart to holy desires (Romans 12:1-2). Genuine freedom is not being caught in the lurch, wavering between competing desires (1 Kings 18:21) and possessing libertarian freedom to be the deciding factor. Rather, genuine freedom is to be wholly captured by holy desires and free from desire to sin (Psalm 51:10).

Point #8 Persist in asking for things that appear to be consistent with God’s revealed will (Luke 11:5-13). It is counterintuitive, but persistence in asking is submissive to God.

Point #9 Be aware that spiritual warfare happens when we pray (Luke 11:14-26). For the sake of those who are possessed or oppressed by demons, grow mighty in prayer (Ephesians 6:10-20, especially 6:18). Consider the spiritual warfare about which Daniel was informed, relative to his three-week prayer marathon (Daniel 10:2, 10:12-14).

Point #10 Pray the Word of God back to God (Luke 11:27-28). Don’t pray to saints or rely on human traditions. What we hear from God must inform what we speak to God.

Application: Like anything else we learn to do, to pray well takes practice and constant refining. Keep the 10 prayer principles in mind. Right them down, and grow by applying them. Think of Sunday night prayer meeting as a training session. What keeps you from attending the prayer meeting this Sunday night at 6:00pm?

Keith Green wrote a modern-day song that will likely be remembered forever as one of the great hymns of the Church age: “There is a Redeemer.” In the simplest of terms, Green captured something of the value we find in having a redeemer. “There is a redeemer, Jesus, God’s own son, Precious lamb of God, Messiah, Holy one.” Let’s look to the life of Boaz to help us think about the glorious truth that Keith Green was celebrating, that there is a Redeemer.

Boaz was a Kinsman Redeemer who paid some money (Ruth 4:5) and handed over a sandal (Ruth 4:7) to acquire Naomi’s field. In the transaction, Boaz won Ruth as his bride. Better by far, Jesus is the Kinsman Redeemer who received the ends of the earth as His possession (Psalm 2:8) when He handed over the bread and cup of His own body and blood to win the Bride that is the Church. Jesus is the greater Boaz.

Interestingly, when you read the book of Ruth, we are reminded right away that the birth of the one Savior would be in one distinct place—Bethlehem. Have you ever noticed that Bethlehem is mentioned in the first verse of the book of Ruth? Check it out. Verse 2 even reiterates that Elimelech’s people were Ephrathites, underscoring the importance of Bethlehem Ephrathah to the story that follows.

The prophetic significance is that, in contrast to obedient Joseph and Mary, who would one day travel to Bethlehem for the birth of their son, Ruth 1:1 tells us that disobedient Elimelech and Naomi travelled away from Bethlehem. The righteous arrived in Bethlehem for the birth of their son and the disobedient abandoned faith in the God of Bethlehem only to suffer the death of their sons (Ruth 1:5). It is clear that they were disobedient because the sons took Moabite wives, contra Deuteronomy 7:3, “You shall not intermarry with them.” The marriages would have been OK if the women had renounced their gods and identified themselves with the God of Israel, effectively becoming Israelites, like Rahab had done when she married Boaz’s father. But the flow of the narrative of Ruth 1:1-5 is decidedly away from Bethlehem, away from God and toward assimilation with the nations.

Elimelech turned away from Israel and led his family toward the nations, but this is actually only the background narrative (Ruth 1:1-5). The story itself is about turning back to Israel, going back to Bethlehem, and there finding redemption in the God of Israel (Ruth 1:6-4:22).

When Naomi decides to return to Bethlehem, it is purely for utilitarian reasons. Ruth 1:6 tells us that she heard that things were better back in Judah. But her heart appears to be unconverted, because out of the abundance of her heart, she speaks blasphemously, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; return after your sister-in-law” (Ruth 1:15). Many Christians read this verse through their modern lens of multiculturalism and view Naomi’s counsel as if it were good and reasonable. The author of Ruth expects the reader to understand that she was advising toward idolatry!

The first sign of grace in the story appears in Ruth’s rejection of Naomi’s advice. “But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16 emphasis mine). This is a wholesale rejection of Moabite idolatry and a miraculous reception of Israelite identity. She will make a break with the world she has known all her life and place her life in the hands of the God of Israel.

It is the conversion of Ruth’s heart. It is also the first sign of grace toward Naomi’s heart. At the time, “she said no more” (Ruth 1:18), but that tacit acceptance was a glimmer of hope that the woman who called herself Mara, meaning bitter (Ruth 1:20), would one day believe the message of grace preached by the women of Israel, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel” (Ruth 1:14).

The Gospel is the message that Jesus is the blessed Lord and the crucified and risen redeemer of all sinners who repent and believe in His Name. Naomi repented and believed a Gospel preview, that Boaz is a redeemer sent by God to Naomi.

Boaz was a kinsman, the one who secured the right to take Ruth under his wing. Jesus was our kinsman, because He became fully human by supernatural conception in the womb of Mary. He was born in Bethlehem to take headship over all who come to Him in faith. Because He is our kinsman, being fully human like us, all of us can find our rest under Him (Ruth 3:1), under His cloak as it were.

Remember the story. “At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet!” (Ruth 3:8). Remember also that Boaz was only a type of Christ. He had limited knowledge. So, he was startled when he discovered that Ruth had snuck up on him. “He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer” (Ruth 3:9).

Better than Boaz, Christ always knew He was our Redeemer. As a twelve-year-old boy, He knew He was the Son (Luke 3:49), when even his parents did not fully understand (Luke 3:50). Christ also knew from all eternity whose names were “written from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8); Christ knew who of us would come to Him from a far away land, fall down at His feet, and say “Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.” Jesus Christ is omniscient, so He knows what we will do. More than that, He is the author of our salvation (Hebrews 12:2), not just the finisher. He is the one who gave us the grace of having some Ruth in our life that would bring us to the Redeemer.

The story of Ruth is the story of grace, not only to Ruth but also to Naomi. It is a type of how grace works in our lives. We must come to an end of ourselves in Moab. We must run out of hope in our idols before we turn our attention toward Bethlehem. But when we come home, it is only because He drew us home. And when we find Him there to be our Kinsman Redeemer, it is only because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). Apart from grace, no one can say and no one would care to say, “There is a redeemer, Jesus, God’s own son, Precious lamb of God, Messiah, Holy one.”

“While it is called today” (Hebrews 3:13), return to Bethlehem. Start by thanking God for whoever it was that brought you to Christ. Who was the Ruth to your Naomi? Think about how the grace of God upon their lives spilled over into yours. Thank God for them. And thank God for providing you with the Redeemer, the greater Boaz. Boaz redeemed Ruth with a sandal (Ruth 4:8); Jesus redeemed us “not with perishable things such as silver or gold” (1 Peter 1:18b), or any mere sandal, “but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:19). Jesus is the greater Boaz, our Kinsman Redeemer.

If ever there was a time for the Church to support Israel, it is now! Israel, ethnic national Israel (not the Church), is still the apple of God’s eye (Zechariah 2:8). The Church is the Bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:32), and as such, is specially loved by God. But God also loves Israel and still has a special plan for their future. Right now, the people of Israel, the apple of God’s eye, are in the world’s bullseye. We haven’t seen hatred of the Jews ramp up like this since the 1930’s.

It wasn’t until May 14, 1948, after the Holocaust, that the Jews were given back their land. How, then, did Charles Spurgeon, who died in 1892, know that the nation would return? Someone might say that Spurgeon was a prophet. But Spurgeon himself claimed that he was merely expounding upon what was clearly revealed in Scripture. Spurgeon preached the following about the return of Israel to the land: “The meaning of [Ezekiel 37], as opened up by the context, is most evidently, if words mean anything, first, that there shall be a political restoration of the Jews to their own land and to their own nationality. And then, secondly, there is in the text and in the context a most plain declaration that there shall be a spiritual restoration—in fact a conversion—of the tribes of Israel.” It is remarkable that Spurgeon preached this in the mid-to-late 1800s, long before any Zionist momentum had been gathered; Spurgeon knew this from Scripture, not by reading the tea leaves.

So, Charles Spurgeon predicted the restoration of the Jews to their land, and he did so about seven decades before it happened! Now, seven decades after it has happened, there is a massive push in the Church, led by the likes of Tucker Carlson, Nick Fuentes, and Candace Owens—all claiming to be Christians—to say that Israel has been replaced by the Church and that the people now occupying the land are actually the great villains on the world stage. Tucker even said that he hates Christian Zionists “more than anybody.”

I don’t know about you, but I’ll take Charles Spurgeon’s exposition of Scripture over the endless opinions of Tucker, Nick, and Candace seven days a week and twice on Sunday. And John MacArthur gave us a second witness on these matters. Not that we are respecters of men when coming to biblical conclusions, but proven character and biblical acumen do count for something.

The bottom line is that the Bible is clear that God is still accomplishing his plan for ethnic national Israel. The Church hasn’t replaced Israel. The New Covenant does not make irrelevant what God said in the days of the Old. In fact, it was right there in the New Covenant promise of Jeremiah 31 that God reiterated His intentions. In the very passage where the New Covenant was revealed, God (by Jeremiah) went on to say, “Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the Lord of hosts is his name: ‘If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the Lord, then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever.’ Thus says the Lord: ‘If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the Lord’” (Jeremiah 31:35-37).

The most comprehensive New Testament teaching on this subject absolutely concurs with what God said in Jeremiah. Paul writes, “Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob’; ‘and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.’ As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all” (Romans 11:25-32).

Notice from this passage that “you” (the Church) and “they” (ethnic national Israel) are distinct from one another, and God still has a plan for their future inclusion. Israel “will be” (in the future) saved (verse 25). Spurgeon was right to separate the physical return of Israel to the land (Spurgeon said, “first”) and the spiritual softening of the people’s hearts (Spurgeon said, “And then, secondly”). The latter is yet future. But the former, what Spurgeon saw as the first step, has now happened!

Church, the Bible, not a podcaster, teaches us how God speaks of Israel. He even warns Christians not to boast over them as they sit in their spiritual blindness, in their unbelief. We are to humbly remember that but for the grace of God, there go we. But this is not how the most popular voices in our society today have been speaking. Opposite God’s heart, they constantly blame the Jews, accuse the Jews, deride the Jews. We must take no part in fueling the fires of hatred against the Jews.

“My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. If they say, ‘Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without reason; like Sheol let us swallow them alive, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; we shall find all precious goods, we shall fill our houses with plunder; throw in your lot among us; we will all have one purse” (Proverbs 1:10-14).

The father and son Jihadis at Bondi Beach murdered as many Jews as they could. Need it be said that the Bible condemns what they did? “Do not plan evil against your neighbor, who dwells trustingly beside you. Do not contend with a man for no reason, when he has done you no harm” (Proverbs 3:29-30).

The podcaster with the #1 ranked show in the world called Israel an “occult nation” (Owens Quote 1) who “took over ours” and assassinated JFK (Owens Quote 2). She has blamed Israel for the murder of Charlie Kirk (Owens Quote 3). Need it be said that the Bible condemns what she said.

“A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends” (Proverbs 16:28). America and Israel are close friends, the closest of allies. Just this last summer, America and Israel worked together to eliminate an imminent nuclear threat from Iran. The Ayatollah who rules Iran believes in the 12th Imam—the twelfth successor to Muhammad, a guy named Muhammad al-Mahdi, who supposedly went into “major occulation” (became invisible) in the Year of Our Lord 941. This Twelver Shia belief includes the fanatical idea that it will take apocalyptic devastation to bring Muhammad al-Mahdi out of hiding. So, if that is what the leader of Iran believes, then what better than a nuclear weapon to bring about this end to the world? The doctrine of “Mutually Assured Destruction” is no protection when we’re dealing with Muslims who think like this. If Iran gets nuclear weapons, under their current leadership, they might very well use them.

The close friendship between America and Israel benefits both, provided that preventing nuclear war benefits all involved. Those who seek to separate this close friendship have proven themselves dishonest. These Anti-Zionists told us repeatedly last June that if Trump busts the bunkers of Iran’s nuclear facility, then we will be in World War 3. Well, Trump did order the busting of the bunkers, and no, it did not result in world war. It disarmed the threat. And just as the Israel-hating crowd was wrong about what they said in June, they continue to be wrong as they spread strife between America and Israel, in their effort to separate close friends.

“Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment” (Proverbs 18:1). The #1 podcaster in the world gets richer and richer the longer she stays in the limelight. In the end she will be isolated, on an island with only her die-hard fans remaining. But in the meantime, some of her desires (the Lord knows what those are) will be met. It is clearly against “sound judgment” to allege things she cannot prove, like the allegation that Israel murdered JFK. The Bible advises caution in the things we say. To charge Israel with the murder of a US President, while offering no proof, is a flagrant injustice. It lacks sound judgment.

“A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul” (Proverbs 18:7). Perhaps it is simply unwise to flap the lips incessantly, a million words per minute, going on and on for hours and hours, week after week, posturing oneself as a purveyor of secret knowledge. We ought to be slow to speak and quick to listen (James 1:19).

The #1 podcaster in the world needs a Charles Spurgeon or a John MacArthur in her life to tell her to “go home.” She denigrates her own husband and all men everywhere when she says, “If it’s going to take women having to speak up and say [that Israel is an occult nation] to make permission, like, to give permission for men to do the same, then I’m happy to be the first person. I just want to be clear, if anything happens to me, blame the Zionists.”

“Blame the Zionists”…but it was the Jews, the very ones she repeatedly denigrates, not her victim-posturing self, whose bodies fell on Bondi Beach. It was the Jews, not her, who were massacred on October 7, 2023. It was Charlie Kirk, a close friend of the Jews and an enemy of violent leftists, who was cut down on September 10, 2025. Maybe the one who says “blame the Zionists” when nothing happened to her is the one who deserves some blame. “Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart” (Proverbs 3:3). There is no love, no faithfulness to the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31), in blaming the Jews. If the reader has steadfast love and faithfulness, then now is the time to speak up for the Jews, before they are once-again carried away to slaughter. It is loving to say “never again.”

America has blessed Israel more than any other country in the world, and partly as a result of this, America is the most blessed country in the world (Genesis 12:3). We must keep it that way. “The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous” (Proverbs 3:33).

Church, it is not right to join the world’s chorus in blaming the Jews. Moreover, it is not right to remain silent when that chorus keeps getting louder. “Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter” (Proverbs 24:11). Who will be there for Israel in this her time of need? Don’t look down upon Israel; speak up for Israel!

For the Lion of the Tribe of Judah,

Pastor Jeff

Mark was a quitter. He committed to a mission trip with Paul and Barnabas, but he bailed when the going got tough. “Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John (Mark) left them and returned to Jerusalem, but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia” (Acts 13:13-14a). While the mission went forward, Mark pulled a Jonah and sailed in the opposite direction.

Mark’s abandonment was a big deal to Paul. Later on, another opportunity arose for a second mission trip, “Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and departed…” (Acts 15:37-40). Paul was willing to forgive, but trust and forgiveness are two separate issues. Paul couldn’t trust a guy who had proven himself to be a quitter.

Mark was a quitter, but he was the kind of quitter who didn’t give up. That is to say, Mark fell, but he eventually got back up. His courage faltered, but he found it again. He did quit, but he also restarted.

Mark is a truly sympathetic figure in this regard. Who among us hasn’t fallen short at some point in our lives? Moreover, most of us know the particular shame of falling short of a standard we set for ourselves. No one put a gun to Mark’s head and compelled him to go on that first mission trip. He volunteered to do it. He thought he could do it. Then he fell short of the expectation he had for himself.

Falling short of what we expect from ourselves makes us hang our heads in shame. It can be crushing. Sadness can set in, sometimes even severe depression. The failure might be breaking a diet and gaining weight, when we committed to ourselves that we would lose weight. The failure might be resorting to a bad habit that we promised ourselves we would never again resume (drinking, smoking, gambling, sexual sins, excessive gaming, etc). Or, like Mark, the failure might be not doing something that we had hoped to be able to do.

Mark gives us a beautiful example of a Christian who failed but who resumed trying. To have the great Apostle Paul issue a vote of no confidence and still get on that boat with Barnabas and try again was a remarkable display of grit. There is a lesson in it. Even if the most respected people in our lives don’t think we can do what we think God is calling us to do, do it anyway. The one thing we cannot do is finally quit, even if our problem has been our own tendency to quit.

Discipline is a muscle that must be built. Muscles grow by training, through small decisions building up over time. Maybe you’ve tried going to the gym before, but you always end up quitting after a few weeks, or perhaps after a few days. One of the great revelations about the joy of discipline is that you don’t have to arrive at an end goal to experience discipline’s joy. As soon as we experience some progress, the joy of discipline begins to build. If a middle-aged man desires to lose 50 pounds, he’ll hold his head high as soon as he loses 5, as long as the course is still set to reach the goal.  Progress, not arrival, brings a sense of satisfaction. The scrawny teenager who wants to add muscle will likewise feel joy each time he lifts a little more weight than he did before. So, the real key to building discipline is simply to not quit, even if quitting has been a problem in the past.

Mark quit, but then he didn’t. Years after Mark’s missionary desertion, just before Paul died, Paul would write to Timothy, “Do your best to come to me soon. For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry” (2 Timothy 4:9-11). Notice how many quitters deserted Paul: Demas, Crescans, and even Titus! But not Mark. Luke, Timothy, and Mark endured. Given Mark’s history with Paul, it would have been no small thing for Mark to hear that Paul had said of him, “he is very useful to me for ministry.” Mark got that vote of confidence that he once forfeited. He rebuilt trust.

If Mark could do it, so can we. Learn what motivated men like Mark and Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8). This promise was not just for Paul, but to all who endure to the end (Matthew 24:13).

So, “lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees” (Hebrews 12:12). Whatever failures you regret, they are in the past. If you have repented and believe in Jesus, then they are under the blood. Be like Mark and get back at it. The Lord will make you very useful in ministry if you refuse to give up. As Jim Valvano famously said, “Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.”

Being a Christian is a lot like being an athlete. Paul loves to make the comparison (2 Timothy 2:5, Philippians 3:14). “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it” (1 Corinthians 9:24). Paul understood that Christians need to think like athletes. There is a prize for all the hard work we need to do. The better the performance, the bigger the rewards. Like athletes, we need motivation.

When NFL teams clash on a Sunday afternoon, they are highly motivated. Each team is striving for Super-Bowl glory, and every player knows that their individual performance will determine their own future contract. In addition to the money, they are motivated by the glory, the idea of wearing a ring that displays their accomplishments. This year’s Eagles’ Super Bowl rings have a button that increases the display of their glory; hardware like that is a great motivator for future players. And Howie Roseman (the Eagles’ Manager) is famous for quickly rewarding outstanding performance with lucrative pay increases. The Eagles management understands the value of these motivators.

Every team gets it, even if it is to a lesser degree, as with the Cowboys :) But think about what any team will do if an opposing player goes to the media and makes a derogatory comment about them…The coach will seize upon that, display the comment in the locker room, and use it for extra motivation: “Look what he said about you! Are you gonna prove him wrong or are you gonna let him get away with that?” The coach uses a player’s anger to motivate him to be more aggressive.

Every sport, by its competitive nature, is fueled by motivation, but Christians often neglect the importance of motivation in the game of life. Perhaps this is connected to the fact that we are given so much at the outset of the Christian life. Think about it: the very moment that we believe in Jesus Christ, we are showered with blessings more valuable than an Eagles’ Super Bowl ring. In an instant, we have complete forgiveness of all sin—past, present, and future (Luke 24:47); we have eternal life granted to us, not merely as a future hope for when we die, but as an instantaneous reality (John 11:26); we even get the down payment of the Holy Spirit, the third Member of the Trinity, to live inside of us (Ephesians 1:13-14). Indeed, at the moment of our new birth, we have everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). For all these things, we ought to give thanks.

We do give thanks, but there is a problem: Gratitude is not a very strong motivator. Human nature works against gratitude’s sustaining power. We tend to forget our blessings, even if we are reminded to “forget not His benefits” (Psalm 103:2). We know we need to make a list of all the things for which we are thankful and pray “with thanksgiving” (Philippians 4:6), but we tend to get too busy to offer thanks, or maybe too busy to even produce the list. Because of our frail estate, our thankfulness is very weak relative to all that we have been given. Thanks be to God that He remembers our frame.

He has something more. God does not motivate us by our gratitude only, but also by His promises! This is a wonderful, though neglected, truth of the Christian life. When, as a child, I was taught a bible verse for each letter of the alphabet, I learned the letter E this way: “Exceeding, great, and precious promises are given unto us” (2 Peter 1:4). The promises of God are future oriented, not past oriented, and they are the biggest motivator of the Christian life.

“13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God” (1 Peter 1:13-21).

Notice that Peter motivates us with both the past and the future. In verses 18-21, he reminds us of what has already been done for us, and in verses 13-17, he promises us more. In verse 21, “faith and hope” include both the past-oriented and future-oriented aspects of our devotion.

With regard to the future, Peter uses both the carrot and the stick to motivate righteous living. The carrot is “the grace that will be brought” when Jesus comes back. The stick is the discipline of the “Father” whom we are to “fear.”

There are future benefits associated with right choices, and there are future hardships associated with wrong choices. God presses upon our own self interest to motivate good Christian living. If we abide in Him, living by His Word, we can expect fuller joy (John 15:11). If we neglect Him and His Word, living by our emotions, we can expect the pains of discipline (Hebrews 12:11).

The choice is ours. But I write these things to motivate us to choose wisely. Let’s start every week in church. Let’s start every day in prayer and the Word. Put into practice what we learn on Sunday mornings and what we read in the Word every day. We will be blessed if we live this way (Psalm 1).

If athletes are motivated by hope of future rewards, how much more ought we be motivated by hope of future rewards? Our rewards hold promise for this life and also for the one to come.

Motivated By Great Promises,

Pastor Jeff