All right, well it's good to be here and it's good to see some faces, some familiar faces. And it really is a pleasure just being able to deliver God's Word to you. You know, I asked, Pastor Peter asked me a few weeks back now just to speak at the church just because he was going to be gone.

And you know, I agreed and then I realized I was going to be gone for two weeks for vacation. So I asked him, "Hey, can you fill in for me?" And he said, "Oh, I can't say no now." You know, so, so Pastor Peter is going to come and speak for us next week.

And for that, I am grateful and our church is really excited. Well, we've been, our, at Cross Life, I've been going through the book of Titus and it's almost been a year and we're almost done with chapter three now. So, so our congregation is very patient with me. But you know, one of the messages I gave was on spiritual disciplines and you know, they told me that they enjoyed it.

And so I figured, you know, this might be a good message to bring to you guys to bless you. So the passage that I'm going to be preaching from is just a single, a single word. This is why it took so long. Okay, so I'm going to preach on a single word today.

But let's, let's read it in context from verse five to verse nine. Do you guys stand for the reading of God's word? Do you guys do that? Okay. All right. Hey, let's stand for the reading of God's word. This is what we do at Cross Life. I have no idea what, I know what the practice is at, here in Berean.

Titus chapter one, let's read from verse five to verse nine. Titus chapter one, verse five to verse nine. This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order and appoint elders in every town as I directed you. If anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination.

For an overseer as God's steward must be above reproach. He must be, he must not be arrogant or quick tempered or drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught so that he may be able to give instruction and sound doctrine and also rebuke those who contradict it.

Please join me in prayer. Dear God, to think about the fact that the words that we have read proceeds from you is absolutely humbling. We are not hearing the mere words of man, but the voice of the triune God, the maker of the heavens and the earth, the redeemer of mankind, the sustainer of this universe, the one who will recreate the heavens and the earth.

This is your word. We hear your voice. So God, I pray that we would listen to it humbly and that we will give you worship as we think about the truth and meditate upon it and think as to how we can apply it in our lives. Help me God to speak clearly and pierce the hearts of the hearers today.

God, we pray this in Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated. So one of the things that you probably noticed from the context is that the apostle Paul is telling Titus that he has to appoint elders on the island of Crete. And he gives a list of qualifications that these men are supposed to fulfill.

And so what we, the characteristics that we read about here is directly applicable to your pastor, to the elders of the church, but it's still applicable to the rest of the congregation because the congregation is called to imitate the pastor. And so there's called to discipline, even though it is directed to the elders of the church, it is still applicable to you.

And that's what we're going to be talking about. Spiritual discipline. In his book, Disciplines of Godly Man, Kent Hughes gives a few examples of men who have disciplined their lives for the sake of excellence. He says, we wonder at the anatomical perfection of a Da Vinci painting, but we forget that Leonardo Da Vinci on one occasion drew a thousand hands, a thousand hands.

Thomas Edison came up with the incandescent light after a thousand failures. He was also speaks about Churchill and he says, in our own time, Winston Churchill has been rightly proclaimed the speaker of the century and few who have heard his eloquent speeches would disagree. Still fewer would suspect that he was anything but a natural.

But the truth is Churchill had a distracting lisp, which made him the butt of many jokes and resulted in him in his inability to be spontaneous in public speaking. Yet he became famous for speeches and his seemingly impromptu remarks. Actually Churchill wrote everything out and practiced it. He even choreographed the pauses and pretend fumblings for the right phrase.

He practiced endlessly in front of mirrors, fashioned his retorts and facial expressions. F.E. Smith said, Winston has spent the best years of his life writing impromptu speeches. I think that's funny. You don't write impromptu speeches, you know, just do it impromptu. But when we think about the best athletes and the musicians and the experts of specific fields, you got to ask what makes them the best?

Maybe natural talent, maybe pure luck, but the common denominator is discipline. A person doesn't simply excel in what he sets himself out to do. There has to be intentionality. A person doesn't just grow automatically. I think about many of you probably took piano lessons in middle school. Your parents forced you to take it.

And think about now, how terrible you are. How terrible you are at playing the piano because you probably stopped and complained about taking your piano lessons so that you didn't develop your skill over the years. You squandered your parents' money. That's what I did with my parents' cash. I just learned to play some Naruto songs.

Anyways, skills do not develop automatically. It needs to be invested into. The reason why this is so important is because we have to get it into our brains that we are not just going to grow as Christians just because we have been a Christian for a long time. People think that it happens automatically, that it happens naturally, but that's a lie.

How many older Christians do you know who are immature in the faith? I know a number of people who have been Christians for years, but instead of becoming more like Jesus Christ, they have become more like the world. And when we hear about church splits, when we hear about problems within the church, how many of them are caused by youth groups?

They're not caused by youth groups. They're caused by the older people in the church. Maturity doesn't automatically come with age. It doesn't come with the passing of time. Godliness is developed by grace through faith expressed in discipline. First Corinthians chapter 9 verse 24 to 27, it says, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives a prize?

So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly. I do not box as one beating the air, but I discipline my body and keep it under control lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified." Today, as we talk about the quality of discipline, there are several things I do want to address.

First is the misconception about discipline. The misconception about discipline. Secondly, the danger of an undisciplined life. And lastly, the call to discipline. So simple. The misconceptions about discipline. The danger of an undisciplined life. And lastly, the call for discipline. Let's get into the misconceptions about discipline. The first misconception is the difference between discipline and legalism.

There are a number of people who look at spiritual disciplines and they shy away from it because they see no difference between discipline and legalism. And it might remind them, they might do this because it reminds them of their, I don't know, maybe past church life, where faithfulness was equated with performance.

The fear of man, pressure was the main motivation to serve in the church. And so you might see rules and regulation as a system meant to control you. And so you don't like discipline. Then there are the people who just love their liberties. They just want to do what they want to do.

And they hide behind Christian liberties and they label anything and everything as legalistic if they don't like it. But the reality is this. We all live by rules. Even though you might not like discipline, you might shy away from it, all of us, we live by rules. Even the people who are bent on their freedom, they're all about their Christian liberties, live by rules.

The difference is that these people who don't want to live by rules, they just call the rules that they don't like as being legalistic. Isn't that the case? Tell somebody, "Hey, you should read your word. Read the Bible. Stop being so legalistic." "Hey, I think you're drinking a little bit too much.

You should stop right there. Stop being so legalistic. Stop judging me." You hear that. You keep going, right? "Hey, don't mess around with your girl. You're called to be pure. Stop being legalistic." You can say it for anything. "Don't murder." Stop being legalistic. You can say it for anything that you want.

But the reality is we all live by rules. We live by the stipulations. The difference between legalism and discipline is the heart. Legalism seeks to follow the rules in order to gain merit with God. The reason why they follow the things in Scripture is because they want to get the holy points.

And they think the better that he performed before God, the more God is going to love him. And so there's a lot of pride associated with legalism because God loves them more than he loves everyone else. At least they feel that way. They judge everyone else who doesn't measure up to their standard of living.

But discipline is a matter of following the rules, abiding by the truth revealed in Scripture because of a love for God, a desire to honor him. It's not about the actions and the rules in and of itself. It's about the heart behind fulfilling those rules. So there is a huge difference between discipline and legalism.

The second misconception I want to talk about is discipline and hypocrisy. Some people think that unless you do something with a wholehearted desire, then you're not being genuine so that you become a hypocrite. I've heard a number of people say, "I just can't read the Word of God because my heart's not into it.

I don't want to go to church because my heart's not into it and I don't want to be a hypocrite." The Bible says this, in General Myles chapter 17 verse 9, "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick. Who can understand it?" The reason why your heart doesn't want to do it, it's not into it, is because your heart's messed up.

And it would be foolish for you to listen to your heart when your heart is telling you to do something contrary to the will of God. And furthermore, doing something when you don't feel like doing it, that's not even hypocrisy. We always do things that we don't feel like.

We call it being responsible, not hypocrisy. I think about it, who in the world loves waking up at 6 o'clock in the morning? I hate it. That's why our service is at 4 o'clock. It's at 4 o'clock. Unless you have been damaged by the fall deeply, I mean, you don't love waking up at 6 o'clock in the morning.

You hate it. But if you have some responsibility to fulfill, some meeting to attend, you have work to go to, what are you going to do? You're going to get up. And we don't call that hypocrisy. Nobody hears the alarm at 6 o'clock in the morning, "Oh my goodness, I don't want to be a hypocrite.

I'll wake up when I feel like it." Nobody does that. We get ourselves out of bed. We do what we are called to do, and that is considered being responsible. Yet why does responsibility become hypocrisy when we speak about spiritual matters? Doing something when you don't feel like it does not mean that you are being hypocritical.

Hypocrisy is when you do something with ulterior motives. That's what hypocrisy is. A perfect example of hypocrites are the Pharisees. Matthew chapter 6, verse 1-4. "Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

Thus when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that your giving may be in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you." I mean, see the problems with the Pharisees, they were just like so self-righteous, it was almost, it's funny.

They sound a trumpet, doo doo doo doo, you know, and then here's your five bucks. And this is the way they lived. They did good things, not for the sake of God, but for the sake of their own ego. So you would be a hypocrite if you use God for anyone else but God.

It's coming to church because, only because you want to impress that person you like, or it's leading praise because you want to show off your skills so that people can see how wonderful you are on the instrument that you play. Or it's being faithful, faithful, and getting involved in all different kinds of ministries, leading different ministries so that people can look up to you, so that you can caress your ego.

That's hypocrisy. But when you discipline yourself to do what is good, holy, and righteous, in spite of what you might feel, it doesn't make you a hypocrite, it makes you responsible, faithful, and godly. So those are the misconceptions about hypocrisy, misconceptions that you must avoid. Now the second thing I want to talk about is the dangers of an undisciplined life.

The dangers of an undisciplined life. Archangel Hughes makes this comment. He says, "First, in today's world and church, disciplined Christian lives are the exception, not the rule. This goes for men, women, and the professional clergy." And I agree with Hughes here. I know, I was, you know, when I preached this to my congregation, I just looked at them, I go, "This can be true here at Cross Life." I don't know what it's like at Berean.

But I agree with what Hughes says. That a majority of Christians do not live a disciplined life. And it's dangerous. It's dangerous if you do not live a disciplined life, because you will not be able to handle trials when they come to you, trials that will make you suffer.

And because you don't have the disciplines to deal with those trials, you will suffer more than you have to. And this is dangerous because it might lead you to a place of bitterness. It might lead you to a place of despair. It might even lead you to a place where you run away from God.

Those who lack discipline will eventually bear the fruit of their neglectful lifestyle. Think about boot camp. I don't know if there's any military people here. I have absolutely no military background. I just know what I know from the movies. So think about boot camp with me. Boot camp is supposed to be physically and psychologically demanding because it's meant to prepare soldiers for war, which is psychologically and physically demanding.

Now imagine a soldier who just skips out on everything. He sneaks out of his daily exercise. He doesn't train. He doesn't learn how to shoot his assault rifle or to cock back his handgun. He just doesn't know. And he sneaks in all this junk food while everyone is doing what they're doing.

And he doesn't think it's a big deal because he's getting along just fine. Everything's fine. He sees everybody running, everybody training. He's just hanging out, hiding and eating his potato chips. And he's loving life. Why make himself suffer more than he has to? But what happens when he's sent to the front lines?

He has absolutely no idea what to do. He doesn't know how to use his weapon. He doesn't have the stamina to keep up with his platoon. He endangers himself and he endangers other people because of his incompetence. He suffers, yes, but he suffers needlessly. And worst of all, he doesn't realize that it is his lack of discipline that is the problem.

He doesn't realize that he's the problem. Instead, he ends up blaming the war. And for sure, war is the problem, but war is inevitable. And so many Christians are like this delinquent soldiers. They don't train themselves in season of peace. They don't train themselves in times when they are not trying.

They content themselves with just living a life that just gets by. They don't have a healthy diet in the Word of God, but they consume the dribble of this world's entertainment. And it's not necessarily things that are immediately bad, but things that will slow them down, make them sluggish.

They don't exercise in the service of prayer so that they have no stamina to maintain a prolonged stance of communion with God. And they see no problem with it. They see no problem with it. They are okay because they get along just fine. But then they're thrown into the heat of war.

You come face to face with the pain of the fall. You're bombarded with artillery of life's trouble, and you scurry and you panic, oblivious as to how you should be getting around this problem. You suffer more than you have to because you have not developed the disciplines to carry yourself through the struggle.

But instead of realizing that the problem is your lack of discipline, that your spiritual nonchalance is the reason for your excessive pain. You end up blaming things on the things that happen to you. The anxiety of family problems, pressure, expectations, maybe marital problems, parental problems, the isolation of a post-college life, the loneliness of being single, the drag of work, the difficulty of working with your coworkers, and the difficulty of working with your supervisor, the anxiety of maybe finding a job.

Whatever the problem might be, when you come across it, you think you're not doing well because you have these problems in your life. And it doesn't occur to you that maybe you are the problem. Your lack of discipline has cultivated a heart that does not know how to trust God when the trials come.

Your ignorance of the word of God leaves you clueless as to how you are to navigate through the problem. Your failure to meditate upon the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ leaves you in a dark place, even when you suffer. Your lack of stamina in prayer leaves you helpless to call upon the powers of heaven when you find yourself behind enemy lines.

You blame things on all the bad stuff that happened to you. You blame things on the war. But look, war is inevitable. In 1 Peter 4, verse 12, it says, "Beloved, beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange were happening to you." Don't be surprised as if this is weird, as if it's off.

This is normal because when you are a soldier in war, you are going to fight. When you are a soldier in war, people are going to hurt you. When you are a soldier, you are going to suffer. Do not be surprised. It's for that reason it's so important for you to realize as a Christian that to be doing well spiritually does not necessarily mean for you to fix the problem, to change the circumstances.

Instead, you must look at your own heart. Because what happens if you can't change the problem? Right? What if you can't change it? What if there's nothing for you to do? If you doing well is dependent upon the circumstances and the circumstances being changed, the problems being resolved, then you will lose yourself to despair.

Because what other hope do you have? I've had a number of friends just lose themselves to like depression or bitterness. They get so bitter at God because of what life throws at them. I've even lost a friend to suicide because of the fact that he felt so lost in his struggles.

So this is not a trivial problem. So many Christians take it easy when times aren't pressing. They neglect their calling during their boot camps so they lose themselves when the war comes. Regardless of the trial, regardless of the suffering, every single Christian is called to persevere and to rejoice in the gospel of the Lord Jesus.

Philippians chapter 4 verse 11 to 13, "Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound in any and every circumstance. I have learned the secrets of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.

I can do all things through him who strengthens me." See, the reason why spiritual disciplines are so important is because it carries you through the fire of spiritual warfare. I don't want any of you to suffer more than you have to when the hard times come. And trust me, hard times will come.

And I don't want you to be scared off so that you end up picking the path of least resistance. Oh, how many Christians do that? They pick the path of least resistance instead of choosing the path that most glorifies God regardless of whether or not that path is wrought with trials and pain.

My fear is that many people have become accustomed to a life of laziness and neglect. Prayer is done superficially, no depth, no great lengths of communing with God because prayer maybe is not planned for the day. You're just pushing off prayer, pushing off prayer, and then late at night you pray, but you're so tired you cut a short, you throw your hands up in the air and say, "At least I tried." Bible reading is done haphazardly.

You nibble on bits and pieces at the banquet feast of truth. You dip your feet in the ocean of divine revelation. Sometimes people, the only time they open up the Word of God is on Sundays. Meditation is non-existent because it takes time to meditate on such a short passage.

And we're busy. Busy with family, busy with work, busy with school. We're a busy, busy people. There's no reflection and examining weaknesses because we've got along just fine with the weaknesses that we have. Can't be that bad, right? There's no search for accountability because, again, we're a busy people.

No mortification of sin, no checks. Why? Because we've had a long day and fighting sin is hard. Who wants to be tired? There are too many Christians who have no regular discipline in their life. They have a blasé attitude when it comes down to the spiritual things. No intensity, no resolve, no fire, no will, no resolution.

And I feel like it's okay right now when things are easy, when there are no problems, but you will realize that it is not okay when the trials come into your life. Difficulties will come. It's just a matter of when. My hope is that my brothers and sisters will prepare themselves when that time does come.

And so we come to the call for discipline. I want to exhort you guys to discipline your lives. See, our hearts are naturally wired to rebel against God. We predispose to the things of sin. The Adamic curse has affected us totally. It affected the totality of our soul. We are inclined to overlook the beauty of the cross.

We're inclined to forget about the blood that washed away our sins. We're inclined to run away from the one who loved us by giving up everything for us. And unless we buffet our body, we beat our flesh into submission, sin will entice, sin will manipulate us. Pastor Steve Lawson gives this definition of discipline.

He says, "Self-discipline means the exercise of power over oneself. It is the ability to keep oneself under control. The word indicates self-mastery over one's inner desire, thoughts, actions, and word. It is the control a believer must exercise over his life." The Bible likens spiritual discipline to athletic training. First Timothy chapter four, verse seven, "Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths.

Rather train yourself for godliness." In Hebrews chapter 12, verse one, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witness, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." Every professional athlete beats his body into submission.

He trims his fat, he increases his muscle, he increases his stamina, he refines his strength, he eliminates his weaknesses, he watches his intakes, and cares more about the nutrients rather than the taste. And there's a massive exertion of energy and pinpointed precision in directing that energy to refine his skills.

And when the competition comes, when the competition comes, the time of testing comes, he performs at his peak. And he accomplishes feats that seem humanly impossible. And this is the calling of the Christian, trimming off the things that slow you down from pursuing the things of God. Not things that are necessarily sinful, but things that slow you down.

We have a lot of things that slow us down. Strengthening your stamina in prayer, increasing your knowledge of scripture, strengthening your resolve against sin, committing yourself to service. Just as an athlete disciplines his body, so every Christian is called to discipline their soul. Now before you all are convicted to start a Bible reading program or read articles on prayer, it's very important for you to focus on the goal.

It's very, it's imperative for you to focus on the purpose for why you discipline your life. Remember the difference between legalism and discipline is the heart. That is the difference. The heart behind discipline does not seek to elevate the self, it seeks to elevate God. It seeks to bring pleasure to the Lord.

In 1 Corinthians 9 24 to 27 it says, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives a prize? So run that you may obtain it." Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we are imperishable.

So I do not run aimlessly, I do not box as one beating the air, but I discipline my body, keep it under control, as after preaching to others I myself should not be disqualified. So what is Paul saying? I'm running with a goal in mind. I'm running for the imperishable wreath.

I'm running towards the finish line where my God is waiting for me, where my Savior is waiting for me. So I have a goal, a finish line, a purpose in mind. And if that goal is not there, your discipline is going to mutate into legalism or it's going to dissipate into nothingness.

You know, one of the things I hate doing is running. I hate it. People tell me about a runner's high. I've never experienced it in my life. It's perpetually low for me, you know. It's agonizing and my hatred for running is compounded when I have to run in laps, you know, run through laps, because I'm literally running in circles.

But you add something to this. You add a ball and a basket and I can run. I'm like a dog, right? You just give me something and I can run. It's not because the pain disappears, but because the goal eclipses the pain. The goal makes all the difference, even if it's as primitive as putting a ball inside of a basket.

Now, I don't in any way want to imply that I'm good at basketball. I'm actually pretty bad. It's a waste of height, you know. But, yeah, I mean, I enjoy playing regardless. Anyways, let's, let's, let me see my point. I want us to reflect upon the activity of basketball.

Just putting a ball inside of a basket within the vastness of this universe, the complexity of nature and the mysteries of this world, putting a ball inside of a basket is enough. It is enough to engage us. And it's primitive, right? It is elementary. Yet that purpose has become so elevated that it consumes the lives of the greatest athletes.

The best of athletes, they train their bodies, they lift weights, spend hours at the gym just to fulfill that goal. Think about that. When you take a step back, it's pretty ludicrous, right? But that's what they do. They commit their lives for this. The complex movements are created. Finesse is refined.

Plays are planned. Strength is developed. Coordination is sharpened. All to put a ball inside of a basket. So I watch these guys, they're good. They just, boom, they cross over, right? They do a spin move. They cut through two defenders and with a burst of energy, they rise as if they're reaching for the sky.

All to put a ball inside of a basket. Or they, you know, it's the fourth quarter, the game is tight, the clock is counting down. You take your ball from half court and you throw it into the air. And to your disbelief, you see the most glorious sight you have ever seen.

You see that ball go inside that basket. And then you're like, "Ahhhh." I mean, you see full grown men going, "Ahhhh." All right? I mean, full grown men. It's not like they found a cure for some deadly disease or ventured into the deep space. They put a ball inside a basket and they're like, "Ahhhh." They're rejoicing.

They're rejoicing. That's enough. That is enough. Now, if a goal as simple as this is enough to merit national attention and call forth men and women to lay down their energy, their money, and their resources, their lives for this purpose, how much more passion should consume a believer whose goal far surpasses that of putting a ball inside of a basket?

The goal of their glory that will be shared in Christ. The goal of their resurrection from the dead. The witness of the recreation of the new heavens and the new earth. The realization of divine righteousness and the damnation of the devil. The eradication of sin. Their reign with the king of kings and their fellowship with the Savior who laid down everything so that they might have everything.

It is for this goal and for this purpose why we as Christians, we discipline our bodies. We buffet our bodies. We make it our slaves. We discipline ourselves in the reading and the meditation of the word. We discipline ourselves in prayer. We discipline ourselves in evangelism. We discipline ourselves in the service of the church.

We discipline our lives in all aspects for the sake of this goal. Strengthening weaknesses. Eliminating weaknesses. Honing our skills. Working for God. Waiting for the day when we will see our Savior face to face. When we see the new Jerusalem descend from heaven. When we will see the new heavens and the new earth created.

When we hear the voice of our Savior, the voice of our Master, well done good and faithful servant. Enter into the rest of your master. That's our goal. That's our purpose. God has given you one life and he has redeemed that life through the blood of his own Son.

He does not expect you to squander it upon yourself but upon his glory. Second Peter chapter 10 verse 13. "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief and the heavens will pass away with war and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people are you to be in lives of holiness and godliness? Waiting for hastening the coming of the day of God because which of the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn.

But according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwell. We are waiting, we're hoping, anticipating. This is what we live for. Now, um, brothers and sisters, it's um, I have, I have no idea how your spiritual state this might, I might be just preaching to the choir here and uh, knowing this, this wonderful ministry and what Pastor Peter has been doing along with Pastor Mark and the elders here, it's uh, I'm confident that there are many of you faithfully fighting and persevering through the trials of life and, and committing your life for the things of God.

But I'm also confident that there are some of you here who are struggling, who have not committed your life to live for the Lord, even though you professed him as your savior. And I do want to exhort you guys to think, think beyond what lies tomorrow, project your sight to eternity future and what will come and live for that moment when you will see your savior.

And I promise you, you will not regret it. Um, I do want to give you guys some resources. This is all new to you. There are some good books out there and uh, one book that was very helpful to me is Disciplines of a Godly Man by Kent Hughes.

You see, I quoted him several times. There's also a one by his wife called Disciplines of a Godly Woman by Barbara Hughes. I read portions of that. It's a, it's at the Pre-Titus too, which talks about women, discipling women and stuff. So I was reading all these women books.

Um, I found out at the end of the day, they teach the same Bible, right? And they just say the same thing, but they just, anyways, not exactly the same thing, but anyways, this is a good book. I would recommend it. There's also a good book called Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney.

That is excellent work. And uh, Spiritual Disciplines for Christians, for Christian Life, for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney. And I'm sure you can find a number of articles that will help. But you know, the practice of Christian discipline doesn't have to be crazy unless you really want to go buck wild.

Uh, I think it's good to set a realistic goal that you can practice, practice regularly. Uh, we know one thing I say is try to spend 15 minutes with the Lord. Let's just start there. Five minutes in prayer. I want to five minutes in the word, you know, read, read the word and then five minutes meditating.

That's not a long time. And then five minutes in prayer. And when you meditate, think about what you read. Think about its implications. Think about the ways in which you can apply it. Sometimes I feel like guys get really excited in the beginning and they make all these lofty goals and aren't able to sustain that level of commitment and commitment.

They get discouraged and they chuck everything out the door. It's like reading the Bible one year, right? Most people die at Leviticus. It's like the desert. They're trying to, you know, wander through that. Oh my goodness, I need the water of life. You know, it's just, uh, and it's, you know, so people get discouraged.

They stop and then they start over again in Genesis thinking they could do it and they die in the same place, you know? Um, so I mean, if that's hard, just read the New Testament. Just start there. Start small. Develop a habit in doing all this stuff so that when there comes a day where you don't do it, you feel like there's something off because you've been so regular in spending time with the Lord.

Um, you know, R. Kent Hughes, he, uh, he gives a story of a man named William Harrison. He says, "Lieutenant General William K. Harrison was the most decorated soldier in the 30th Infantry Division, rated by General Eisenhower as the number one infantry division in World War II. General Harrison was the first American to enter Belgium, which he did at the head of the Allied Forces.

He received every decoration for valor except the Congressional Medal of Honor. Being honored with the distinguished Silver Cross, the Silver Star, the Bronze Star for valor, and the Purple Heart, he was one of the few generals to be wounded in action. When the Korean War began, he served as Chief of Staff in the United Nations Command, and because of his character and self-control, was ultimately President Eisenhower's choice to head the long and tedious negotiations to end the war.

General Harrison was a soldier's soldier who led a busy, ultra-kinetic life, but he was also an amazing man of the word. When he was a 20-year-old West Point cadet, he began reading the Old Testament through once a year and the New Testament four times. General Harrison did this until the end of his life.

Even in the thick of war, he maintained his commitment by catching up during the two and three day respites for replacement and refitting, which followed battles, so that when the war ended, he was right on schedule. When at the age of 90, his failing eyesight no longer permitted his discipline, he had read the Old Testament 70 times and the New Testament 280 times.

Man, I read that, I'm convicted. So often we say, "Man, we're busy." But this guy's saying, "Hey, people are trying to kill me." And he's still reading the Word of God. Why? Because he understands how precious it is. He understands how precious it is to hear the voice of his God.

That's what he understands. And this is why we discipline our lives, because we want to spend time with our God. We want to spend time with our Savior. This is not a legalistic call for you to start doing things and marking things off, checking boxes in your reading, spending a certain quota of time in prayer.

This is spending time with the one whom you love, the one who loved you by sending his son to die for you. So the calling is strong, and I pray that you answer that call by spending time with your Lord and your Savior, disciplining your life, living for him.

Let us pray. Dear God, you are worthy. You are worthy of our lives. And you are worthy because you have created the heavens and the earth, that you sustain this universe, and you are worthy because you have redeemed us and saved us through the blood of your Son and through the power of his resurrection.

God, we belong to you. We were created and then recreated to live for your glory. And I pray for my brothers and sisters here, my friends at Berean, that you would help them to continue living a life of discipline for those who are faithfully loving you and enjoying you.

And that for those that are not, that you would convict them and help them to understand the severity of their neglect, and that they would answer the call to love you. Lord, the greatest command is to love you with all our hearts, soul, mind, and strength. Would your grace be upon all of us, that we may fulfill that command.

Lord, we pray this all in the name of your Son, our Lord and Savior, our King, Jesus the Christ. Amen. Amen.