What Oil Are You Burning?
The Festival of Light and the Right Fuel
This Bible teaching from Founded in Truth Fellowship begins by drawing a parallel between the celebration of Hanukkah, the festival of dedication and light, and the spiritual lives of believers. The central question posed is, "What oil are you burning?" This metaphor explores the idea that just as the menorah in the holy temple needed pure oil to shine its light, believers need the right spiritual "fuel" to effectively be the light of the world. The speaker, likely Matthew Vander Els, emphasizes that while many things can fuel our actions and words, only the "right oil" will produce the intended light.
The teaching highlights the scriptural significance of light, noting that Jesus (Yeshua) is described as the light of the world. Furthermore, believers are also called to be light, likened to a lamp on a stand or a city on a hill, their light shining before others. The crucial question then becomes, how do we know if we are shining the right light? The answer, according to the teaching, is evident in the results: when our good works lead others to glorify God, we are burning the right oil. Conversely, if our actions and words do not produce this result, it suggests we may be using the wrong fuel.
The Importance of Pure Oil and the Dangers of Impure Fuel
The analogy of the menorah is further explained by emphasizing the need for pure, good oil. Just as bad oil in a lamp would produce a weak, smoky, or messy flame, using the wrong spiritual fuel will hinder our ability to shine the light of Messiah effectively. The teaching encourages self-reflection, urging listeners to examine what is fueling their words, actions, attitudes, and thoughts. If these things lead to people being driven away, especially when believers are meant to be ambassadors of the King of Kings, it necessitates a serious evaluation of the "oil" being used.
The message then delves into examples of "bad oil," drawing from scripture. Paul's writings in Ephesians are cited, urging believers to be imitators of God, walking in love and avoiding sexual immorality, impurity, and covetousness. Furthermore, "filthiness, nor foolish talk, nor crude joking" are identified as being out of place for believers, with thanksgiving, rejoicing, and gratitude being the appropriate responses.
The concept of "foolish talk" is explored further, referencing Thayer's lexicon which defines it as silly talk, foolish talk, and buffoonery. Buffoonery is described as amusing others through tricks, jokes, odd gestures, or coarse and undignified joking, often involving mocking and putting others down. Rabbi Steve Berkson's insight is mentioned, suggesting that the root of such behavior in the Greek is boasting, where individuals use arrogant joking and mockery to elevate themselves at the expense of others.
Peter's warnings in 2 Peter about supposed believers and leaders in the early church are also highlighted. These individuals are described as mouthing empty, boastful words, appealing to fleshly desires, and enticing new believers with promises of freedom while being slaves to their own depravity. Their speech is fueled by arrogance, a sense of superiority ("I know a lot, I got this, I'm the best"), and a tendency to look down on others.
Jude's description of grumblers and faultfinders is also referenced as an example of negative behavior stemming from the wrong "oil." Grumblers are always negative, while faultfinders constantly blame and criticize others, often with a self-righteous attitude ("You're doing that wrong," "You're not as good as me"). They boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.
The True Light: Love Above All Else
The teaching emphasizes that the true light believers are meant to shine is characterized by love, as described in 1 Corinthians 13. Even if someone possesses great spiritual gifts like speaking in tongues, prophecy, understanding mysteries, having knowledge, or immense faith, without love, these are worthless. Similarly, giving generously or even sacrificing one's body without love gains nothing. The example of Paul's suffering and continued love and prayer for others is presented as a model of the right light.
Navigating Differing Beliefs with Love and Humility
The message then addresses the contemporary issue of how believers should interact with those who celebrate Christmas, a holiday not explicitly mentioned in the Bible. It critiques the attitude of some who have become overly critical and judgmental, even hateful, towards those who observe Christmas. The speaker argues that such un-Christlike behavior embarrasses the kingdom of God. Making arrogant comments, looking down on family members, and zealously ripping apart relationships in the name of God are condemned as "foolish talk."
The teaching points out the historical context of Christmas, noting its later origins and evolution, including a period when it was quite different from modern celebrations. The increasing commercialization of the holiday, influenced by American culture globally, is also mentioned.
Being Ambassadors of Christ: Love and Invitation
The core message is to imitate Yeshua and burn the oil that he burned. To illustrate this, Mark 2:15 is referenced, describing how Jesus reclined at the table with tax collectors and sinners. Tax collectors in that era were considered traitors, yet Jesus chose to be in their company, being a light to them. This example challenges the judgmental attitude towards those who celebrate Christmas. Is associating with people who celebrate Christmas worse than Jesus sitting with traitors and sinners? The teaching urges a focus on living a life that imitates Christ and Yeshua, being an ambassador of the Messiah.
Believers are ambassadors of Christ, and God makes his appeal through them. When people see a believer, they should see Yeshua. The way believers speak and act should reflect the King of Kings. If believers act like "jerks," they misrepresent the Messiah. Instead of condemnation, the approach should be one of love, mercy, justice, and righteousness, inviting people into the greatness of our King.
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Application for Everyday Life
- Self-Reflection: Regularly examine your motivations, words, and actions. What "oil" is fueling them? Do they lead to God being glorified?
- Guard Your Speech: Avoid foolish talk, crude joking, boasting, and faultfinding. Instead, cultivate thanksgiving, rejoicing, and gratitude.
- Prioritize Love: Let love be the guiding principle in all your interactions, even above spiritual knowledge or gifts.
- Show Grace to Those with Different Beliefs: Approach those who hold different beliefs with humility and understanding, remembering your own journey of learning. Avoid judgment and condemnation.
- Be an Ambassador of Christ: Represent Jesus through your words, actions, and attitudes. Let people see the love and mercy of the King of Kings through you.
- Focus on Invitation, Not Conviction: Your role is to be a witness to the truth and extend an invitation to God's kingdom, trusting the Holy Spirit to do the work of conviction.
- Build Relationships: Instead of isolating or criticizing those with different beliefs, build relationships and be a source of support when they are ready to learn more.
Read the transcript (4,993 words)
Automated transcript, lightly edited for readability. Scripture appears as spoken; the video is the authoritative teaching.
You guys know what starts tonight, right? Star Wars? What? Who said Star Wars? Hanukkah starts tonight. And it's the festival of dedication. It's the festival of light. This leads me to my message today: What oil are you burning? I need to go through the history of Hanukkah. But this is the message that I wanted to present to you guys today, and I hope it's edifying because it was laid on my heart. And I hope it speaks to someone, and I hope it's encouraging. Light is a very important element in the scriptures, right? Of course it is. We see that—who is the light of the world? Look at this. John says this in John 1, speaking about our Savior coming and being the light within all men.
It's funny because Yeshua referred to you as a light. Remember that? You're supposed to be a lamp. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick. And it gives light unto all the house. What's this? Let your light so shine before men. Let your light so shine before men. That's interesting. Let your light shine before men. What's the light? How do you know if you're shining the right light? How do you know if you're shining the right light? It's an open book test. The answer is right there. That they might see your good works and glorify who?
Which is in heaven. You know you're shining the right light if people glorify God as a result. You know you're shining the wrong light if people don't.
The Oil in Your Lamp
So we have the menorah, and this is what I've been waiting to get to. We have the menorah and what was needed to light the menorah again in the holy temple? Oil, right? Oil, exactly. Because you got to have fuel for the light, right? So you have to have pure, good oil. I mean, you couldn't just go to the store and buy olive oil and pour it in the menorah. It had to involve a lot of procedures, right? What happens if you put bad oil in a lamp? Doesn't really work that well. You might get a flicker, might get some weird smoke. I mean, it might be a mess. It won't shine light. That's supposed to be us.
We're supposed to be light and we're supposed to be using the right oil in our lamp to shine the light. The question I want you to walk away from today is: What oil are you putting in your lamp? What oil is fueling the light that is coming out of you? Because you can burn a lot of stuff, but if you're not burning the right oil, then you may not be providing the right light. So how can you tell? How can you tell you're burning the right oil? We know people can praise God, but is there any other prescriptions in the Bible? If you're burning the right oil, you'll be able to tell by how the people around you respond to the message and the actions that come out of you.
So I'm just going to stop with the metaphors for a second because I know I'm hammering metaphors. Let's just talk about it. If the words that come out of your mouth, if the actions that you present towards other people, if your witness of scripture is not resulting in people around you praising God, I would dare take a serious look at what type of oil is fueling whatever type of light that is coming out of you, whatever type of words that are coming, whatever type of actions, whatever type of attitude, whatever type of walk you have, whatever type of thoughts you have—the things that people see shining from you. I would dare take an audit on what is fueling those things. Because if everybody is running away from you and you're supposed to be an ambassador of the King of Kings, it means that you're doing something that is causing people to run away from the King of Kings.
Imitating God
Paul writes to Ephesus concerning what battle looks like. It's in Ephesians 5, 4. And let me make sure I didn't miss a slide. He writes—he says that, therefore be imitators of God. So we're supposed to imitate who? So we're supposed to be a lamp like God, right? No pressure. As beloved children and walk in as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us. A fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you. Let there be no filthiness, nor foolish talk, nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving and rejoicing and gratitude toward God.
And so it's interesting because I looked up this word. I believe it was foolish talk, right? And in Thayer's lexicon, it says silly talk, foolish talk, and buffoonery, right? And I'm like, buffoonery— that's not a word that my generation uses a lot. I had an idea what it means, but I always think of a baboon that's acting stupid: buffoonery, right? So I wanted to correct myself. My generation really doesn't use the word buffoon a lot. I wasn't really sure what it meant. I knew it wasn't that great of a thing. So I looked up buffoon, and it's going to be a word that I use a lot now. It says, a person who amuses others by tricks, jokes, odd gestures, and postures, or a person given to coarse or undignified joking.
Making a show out of joking and mocking. That's what a buffoon does. A buffoon walks around and mocks and jokes and is always playing around. I was watching a message by Rabbi Steve Berkson. You ever check this stuff out? He's a really smart guy. And he did a message on this recently, and he asserted that the Greek is actually rooted in everything I just said, but the root is boasting. And so he asserted that you joke and you boast in arrogance about others. In other words, you show yourself off or you show how much you know off by arrogantly joking and mocking and putting down other people, which fuels you to puff yourself up as a result of putting down other people.
I found that very interesting. I said, wow, that's disheartening.
Warning Against False Teachers
And then I started looking around in the scripture, and Peter—Peter writes about supposed believers. I use the word supposed very critically because fear and trembling. Guys, fear and trembling. Every man needs to work out his own. Fear and trembling. It's not just something where you're just like, yeah, fear and trembling. I know the grace of God is enough, but am I loyal enough to stick to the covenants? Am I loyal enough to show God I want to? Am I loyal and passionate enough to say, you know what, I will stand for you, God? His grace is enough, but are you willing to run the race? Supposed believers in the community in the first century.
And Peter calls out leaders—supposed believers that are leaders in the first century fellowships in the early movement of Yeshua. And he talks about them in 2 Peter 2, 18 through 19. For they mouth empty, boastful words by appealing to the lustful desires of their flesh. So these are leaders. These are leaders of the new Yeshua movement, if you will, and the words that they speak are fueled by boasting. I know a lot. I got this. I'm a good teacher. I'm a good preacher. I'm the best. I know that I'm right, right? Empty things come out of their mouth. It might sound really good, but they don't have—no, it's not edifying.
They entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. So they're looking for newbies, right? They want the newbies that are just coming out of a life of sin or maybe they're coming out of Judaism in the first century and they're new to the walk of Yeshua and so, oh yeah, let me tell you about me. Let me tell you about the stuff that I have. Indulging in the flesh of their own arrogance, looking down on them. They promised them freedom. I'll give you truth. I'll give you knowledge. Trust me. While they themselves are slaves of depravity, moral corruptness. For people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.
Foolish talk. Jude writes about this too. Scary. These people are grumblers and fault finders. You know what a grumbler is, right? Always yakking about something. Always negative about something. Always screaming about something. And what's the second attribute? Fault finder. What's a fault finder? Blame somebody. Always finding fault with something or someone. Hey, you doing that wrong? Oh, you're not doing it as good as me. Oh, you're not a Christian. Oh, you're not a believer. Oh, you're not saved because you're not doing it. Oh, I say it's like this because I'm smart and I know it. I'm a leader.
I'm a teacher. If you're not doing it my way, you must be in grave error. I'm right. Guess what I found out. Guess what new knowledge I have. Look at this. Look at that. Yeah, I came up with that by myself.
What Does the Light Look Like? What does the light look like that we're supposed to be shining? Right? What's it look like? You know what Paul tells us what it looks like? I'm going to quote a verse and you're going to be like, oh yeah, they talk about that verse a lot in church. Oh, I forgot about that one. You ready? It's 1 Corinthians 13, 1 through 3. If I could speak all languages of earth and of—if I could speak angelic angel languages, angelic angel, boom. If I could speak the mystery languages of heaven or all of the languages of mankind, but I didn't love others, I would be a noisy gong and a clanging cymbal.
Worthless. If I could have a gift of the Spirit, but I don't have love, it's worthless. If I had the gift of prophecy—wouldn't that be cool? That'd be scary. If I could have the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God's secret plans, if I knew all the mysteries of the Bible, if I knew all of the cool little things that I could teach everybody and make myself look good, if I could just know all the secrets of the mysteries of the scriptures and possessed all of the knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains but didn't love others, I would be nothing.
Without Love, I've Gained Nothing
Everybody repeat after me. Nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it, but if I didn't have love, I've gained nothing. Paul was tormented so many times. He got beaten with rods six times. Roman Empire, that shouldn't have happened to him. He was a Roman citizen. He was exempt from that punishment. He talked about it. Listen, guys, I know I got beaten. I've been through all these trials, but I'm still praying for you, and I still want you to be thankful for everything that, even if you're going through trials, be thankful for, because I love you.
That's what the light is supposed to look like. It's amazing because every year during this season, I'm supposed to do messages that are applicable to things that people are going through in their lives right now. Is that okay? So like Thanksgiving, I talked about being joyful and thankful, right? So Hanukkah, I'm talking about being a light. And guess what? It's also the Christmas season. We can kind of talk about that, and we are just ultra obsessed with Christmas. Not celebrating it, no, no, we've made an idol out of hating it. It's incredible. It's a true story, an absolute true story, and it's sad.
The Un-Christlike Response
Every year during this season, supposed believers are so un-Christ-like, it's embarrassing the kingdom of God. People make arrogant comments to their friends at work, to their friends outside of work, buddies that come over and hang out at the weekend. People look down on their own families, their parents, their siblings, their cousins. Look down on them. People zealously rip apart relationships, and what's sad is they use the name of God to do it. It's incredible. People post the stupidest, stupidest nonsense on the internet. Not for the purpose of spreading the message of the gospel—no, no, no, no, no.
They want to be heard and they want to find affirmation in being right in their own eyes. They're better, of course. Others are not as good as them if they don't believe the same things. It's foolish talk. Foolish talk. Why does all this happen? Because they know people who are celebrating Christmas, and Christmas isn't in the Bible. Christmas isn't in the Bible. With the holiday, we know when it started. We have primary sources that tell us exactly where it started, exactly how the date came to be. We have some rough sources, some stuff that talks about how the traditions came about being. Today's Christmas is not the same Christmas that was 200 years ago.
I'm kind of thankful for it because 200 years ago, it was on par with Mardi Gras. It's really what it was throughout the Middle Ages. Nowadays, it's just been fueled by commercialism. I was talking to a friend in the Netherlands. She was visiting, and I was like, what do you guys do for Christmas? And she's like, we have Sinterklaas. What is that? She's like, it's on like December 6th or 8th or something like that. And that's when they celebrate St. Nick coming and giving out candy to people, and he's got his little buddies, right? Six to eight little buddies.
And I'm like, well, what do you do for December 25th? She's like, what do you mean? That's Christmas. She's like, well, we still do it, but it's mainly because of you guys. What do you mean, because of us? She's like, well, America has really made it a very commercialized thing, and so it hits the states. Talking about Halloween too, that was interesting. She's like, yeah, we do Halloween because of you guys too. No, we never really did it before. It was just incredible. Just incredible.
Do You Want Them to Have a Good Christmas? Sorry, going off on a tangent. How many of you guys have friends that celebrate Christmas? Family? People you love. I'm going to ask a question, and it's going to offend probably some of you. Maybe not. Do you want them to have a good Christmas? Some people, no. Okay, what do you want to happen? What they're doing is wrong, and I don't believe it. I don't believe Christmas. I don't celebrate Christmas. I don't. I don't celebrate Christmas. I acknowledge Yeshua's birth earlier in the year, and Christmas comes. Nothing for me. It's fine. So I'm like, well, what do you want?
How do you want their day to go? Or they're just doing it all wrong. I'm like, so you think they're sinning? Absolutely. Okay. So do you want like God to strike them down? Do you want him to release a plague upon them so they die slowly just like God did in the desert with the Israelites when they rejected him? Is that what you want for your family on Christmas? Some people. No, I don't think so. No, no. Okay, so you want them to have a good day? Yeah, I guess so. You want them to—I mean, what do they celebrate? Well, they think it's Jesus' birthday. So they get together and all the traditions of the family, and it's kind of been passed down from generation to generation.
It's just what they do. So you want them to have a Merry Christmas. How long ago was it when you were celebrating Christmas? Those of you who don't celebrate. Huh? Three years? Six? Five? Fifteen? Sixteen? Oh, I thought I was in the lead with thirteen, fourteen. Okay. Thirty-five. Okay. I should have had an award ready. Thirtyfive years. The day that is recognized and honored by modern Christians as the birthday of Jesus—the day that they honor—because they believe that God sent his Son and his Son was born so that they could have eternal life and enter into God's covenants and promises, as scripture says.
That's why they honor the day. How long ago was it when you celebrated it, and that was your motivation? Maybe that wasn't your motivation. But for those of you, did you think that was your motivation? I mean, for me, that's what mom taught me. It's his birthday. You make a tree that lights up, and it's pretty cool. Presents, but it's Jesus' birthday. It's a priority.
All right. Did you come to that knowledge by yourself? Did you just stop celebrating? I mean, you probably found a book or something, or you searched really, really hard, or maybe you just developed the wisdom and you studied, and you were a seeker of truth, and you found the history, and you made the decision to stop doing Christmas. Were you the one who was a truth seeker that got all this knowledge and wisdom and was able to find truth? Yeah, maybe some of us, maybe.
God Gives the Wisdom
'Cause my scripture says—my Bible says—my Bible says that the Lord gives wisdom. From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. So the day that you decided I'm not gonna do Christmas anymore, was that because of something you did, or was that because God said, you know what? I'm gonna take the blinders off of you, and I'm gonna lead you into a new level, and I'm gonna take you to a place that I want you 'cause I think that you're mature enough and ready to go there. How many of you was that? Every single person here today did not come here because they just did it. Every single person here today is here because God wanted them here today.
How dare us think that we are better than people that are at a place that God wants them to remain? He has not given them the knowledge and the wisdom. He has not taken the blinders off. He has not done the same thing that he did for you. How dare us think that we're better than someone else, that our light is somehow purer because God felt the need to bless us with a new stage in a relationship with him. How many of us are praying for the people legitimately? Not for plagues—praying for the people. God did not give you that knowledge to look down on other people. God gave you that knowledge so that you would position yourself in a place so that when they do come to truth, they'll have someone to lean on and support them.
If you're the person mocking them, they're not going to have anybody to support them when the truth is revealed. And guess what? They may darn well reject it. And that won't be their fault.
Be Like Jesus
Light. Light. We're supposed to be like Yeshua. Burn the oil that he burned, right? Right? That's what we're supposed to do. Do you guys know that Yeshua sat down and had a meal with people? Oh, I'm sorry. I quoted the wrong thing. You're right. I'm sorry. I got it. It's Mark 2, verse 15. Do you have your scriptures? Let's turn to Mark 2, verse 15. The slide didn't show up, so we'll just look at Mark 2, verse 15. We're going to open our Bibles and see what the word of God says and what Yeshua did. Okay? And I hope you brought a Sharpie so you can highlight.
Mark 2, verse 15. Just let me know when you guys get there because this is important. This is important because if we're truly serious about imitating God, if we're truly serious about being a light to the world, if we're truly serious about reflecting the light of Messiah, then guys, we have bigger priorities in life than stupid stuff. Mark 2, verse 15. And when he reclined, he was over there, he was hanging out with Matthew, my man. And he was reclined at the table at his house. And many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. And the scribes and the Pharisees are people that had certain beliefs, certain scopes of righteousness, and if you didn't do the same things that they did—because there's like, what, seven different groups of Pharisees—if you didn't do the same practices that they did, then you were just like— you're not saved, right?
You're not in the kingdom. You're not covenant. And so the scribes and the Pharisees, they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors and said to his disciples, why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners? Tax collectors—bad. I mean, we don't really like the IRS agents when they audit us or something, but I mean, I wouldn't consider them.
Tax Collectors and Sinners
Tax collectors were different in the first century because remember, Judea didn't own itself. They were governed by something called the Roman Empire. And they were forced to pay taxes to a king that was not their king, to Caesar, to the Roman Empire. Tax collectors were Judeans who went around collecting forced taxes from his own people to give them to a foreign empire. Tax collectors were traitors, people. Traitors. So Yeshua is sitting down with traitors and sinners. Very broad statement: sinners. Adulterers, sinners, murderers, sinners. If you're a zealot, you murder some folk—murderers, liars, thieves, sinners.
So Yeshua was sitting down and he was being a light somehow to traitors and sinners. In your mind, we got tax collectors and sinners on this side, and then we have people who think Jesus was born on December 25th on this side. And I'm going to step back, and I'm not supporting Christmas. Please don't think so. I'm supporting living a life that imitates Christ and Yeshua, being an ambassador. That's what I'm supporting. What side do you think is worse? Yeshua sat down with sinners and tax collectors. Is that worse or better than sitting down with people who celebrate Christmas? I want to impress on you something today because we're in a season.
And this message is not just for this month. So blot that out of your mind. Matt's just doing this because it's December?
No, I'll do it. I'll do it in February and then June again. I don't care. I want you guys to not forget one thing. You can forget everything else. I don't care. Okay? You can misquote me when you leave. The one thing I want you to remember: Everybody got me?
An Ambassador of Christ
You are an ambassador of Christ. You are an ambassador of the Messiah, the King of Israel. This means that he may, according to 2 Corinthians , God makes his appeal through you because you're an ambassador. You represent God. That's who you are as an ambassador. When people see you and you say that you're a believer, they should see Yeshua. You represent the King of Kings. You represent the Alpha and Omega. You represent the Lord of Lords. You represent the Messiah. You represent the King of Israel. Every single one of you represent the Son of God. In the way that you speak, in the way that you talk, in the way that your actions are towards people.
Are you doing your job? The issue I have, and I guess why I'm a little passionate about this, is because if we're an ambassador, then when people see us, they see the invitation to God's kingdom. And so, if we reach out to people in the same love that Messiah had for his people, then the invitation looks good, right? If we look like jerks, don't make the Messiah look like a jerk. You'll have a beef with me. My king is not a jerk, and he should not be labeled as a jerk through our actions.
Being a Light in Your Witness
Thinking that you have somehow this great knowledge and other people are not where you are, are beneath you, is not how Yeshua said to deliver the gospel. He said, let your light shine. Paul emphasizes this with speaking about the love of Messiah in you. Instead of reaming someone up and down because you think they shouldn't celebrate Christmas, why don't you sit with them and be an example of the justice and righteousness of our King, of the mercy of our King? Hey, do you know how great my King is? Do you know how great our King is? Because you're probably talking to believers. Do you know how great our King is? Isn't he amazing? I have many friends and family who know I don't celebrate Christmas. And when they ask me why, I tell them, based on actual facts, I don't do Christmas. I'm still friends with all my friends that celebrate Christmas. All my family, they haven't been completely ripped apart because of the way or the witness that I showed them. When I showed them, yeah, God showed me this.
God took me to a new place in my relationship with him. How I present that doesn't end in relationships being ripped apart and doesn't end in people running away from the Messiah. Some people told me, "I respect that. That's very interesting. Wow, that makes sense." And guess what? Some of them said, "I think you're right. Can you tell me more?" And others aren't there yet. But I'm going to be here waiting for when they're ready, when they have questions. And until that point, I hope they have a good celebration. As long as it's Messiah-centered, because that's where they're at.
Your Oil Throughout the Year
Question is, what oil are you burning this month? What oil have you been burning all year long? This month doesn't define us. January 1st comes. January 6th, epiphany comes. No one says a peep. Shows our lack of education about the topic at hand. What kind of oil have you been burning all year long? What kind of oil are you going to continue burning? What light do you shine when you speak? What light do you shine when you act? What light do you shine when you witness to others about the greatness of your king? If it's not the light that Yeshua shined, guys, my fear is that you're in a far worse situation than someone who celebrates the birth of Jesus on December 25th.
Just self-audit. We need to be at a place where we understand that we are not better than other people. Pagans all over the world. How are you better? Because you're saved? That doesn't make you better. It makes God better. Makes God better that he delivered you from the pits of hell. You think you deserved it? It's by his grace and his mercy. That makes God better. You're not better than anyone else. Sure, you can feel that you're more faithful to the covenant than other people. Okay. Be a witness.
The Spirit Convicts, You Witness
What's interesting is scripture says that it's not your job to convict people. Not your job to convict people. Yeshua says that's why the spirit is here. The spirit convicts people. It's your job to be a witness and it's your job to give the invitation. It's your job to spread the message of reconciliation, which is the gospel. Romans 12:3. Wrap up with this. Do I have it? Nope. Romans 12:3: "For by grace given me, I say to every one of you, do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment in accordance with the faith of God has distributed to you."
Tonight we kick off the celebration of light, guys. I know this wasn't like a very cheerful message, but I hope that you at least take a look at yourself during this week of light when we're supposed to be a light, the light of Yeshua, when we're supposed to spread that joy and grace of God. Invite people over. Build relationships over the next week. Show the light of God through your love. Show people the light of the world. Happy Hanukkah. Hey guys, I'm Matthew Vanderels, pastor at Founded in Truth Fellowship and I really hope you enjoy this message. If you would like to see more messages and teachings like this one, please subscribe to our YouTube channel by clicking here.
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