Playlist: Gratification, Instant (topic)
Maintaining Good Health (Part 5)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughEsau exemplified instant gratification as a core character flaw when he returned weary from the field and demanded the red stew Jacob had prepared. He declared that he was about to die and asked what value the birthright held for him, then ate, drank, arose, and went his way, thereby despising the birthright. This choice …
Maintaining Good Health (Part 6)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughEsau's character flaw centered on his pursuit of instant gratification, which surfaced most clearly through his attitude toward eating and the satisfaction of immediate physical needs. As a man of the field who lived for the moment, Esau valued the present demand more than any future reward or divine purpose, treating the things …
Brave New Dystopia
Commentary by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)Huxley foresaw the citizenry of the future world seduced and manipulated through sensual gratification, boundless credit, and mass-produced goods readily available. Citizens are dulled by political theater and entertainment amusements, with impoverishment following closely on their heels. This form of gratification functions as …
All in All (Part 1)
Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)Instant gratification appears specifically as a defining characteristic of those described in Philippians 3:18-19—people who had once been part of the church but turned back to carnality and immorality, becoming enemies of the cross of Christ. Their god was described as their belly, an idiom meaning they pampered …
What Is the Work?
Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by John W. RitenbaughImpatience emerges as a central concern, first raised through Mr. Reid's admission that his greatest fear was the congregation's impatience—a fear shared and confirmed through personal experience. This impatience is traced to a cultural conditioning described decades earlier by a radio commentator, Rod McLeish, who …
Seeking God's Will (Part Three): Patience
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughThe account of Abraham and the impatient old man frames a contrast between human intolerance and divine patience, setting the stage for examining how modern society conditions people toward instant gratification. This impatience is evident in everyday expectations for instant breakfast, instant coffee, instant credit, and quick …
True Self-Control
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughInstant gratification finds its most vivid illustration in the Marshmallow Test conducted by Dr. Walter Mischel, in which preschool children were left alone with a treat and told they could have two if they waited, or one immediately if they rang a bell. About 30% of the children successfully delayed gratification, and follow-up …
The Present and Future Crisis (Part One)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughThe concept of instant gratification is introduced early through the illustration of gasoline prices, where the mind is shown to adjust remarkably quickly to adverse circumstances, coming to accept as a bargain what would once have seemed exorbitant. This adjustment happens because there appears to be little one can do about …
Faith (Part One)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughInstant gratification emerges as a defining feature of the age, described as the tendency to demand that a perceived need be met immediately, without regard to whether anything of value is learned through waiting. This pattern surfaces in the impatience of those who withdraw from fellowship because results are not seen quickly …
Waiting
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughInstant gratification stands out as a defining trait of contemporary culture, illustrated at the outset by a deliberate thirty-second pause that left many uncomfortable, squirming, or suspicious rather than patiently waiting. This experiment revealed a pervasive inability to endure even brief delays, a symptom of shrinking …
The Tenth Commandment
Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)The theme of instant gratification surfaces as a modern manifestation of the ancient sin of covetousness condemned in the tenth commandment. Coveting, defined as longing after another's possessions or grasping after abstract desires like power, produces pleasurable stimulation and excitement, which explains why so many people …
Does Doctrine Really Matter? (Part Seven)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughThe theme of instant gratification surfaces most clearly through the wilderness experience of ancient Israel, where God provided manna daily along with water and quail, yet the people murmured because their flesh's demand for variety and satisfaction was not being met. Even though God supplied the very best food available, …
The March Toward Globalism (Part Four)
Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)The concept of instant gratification emerges as a central mechanism by which Satan corrupts childrearing and, through it, undermines God's purposes in preparing people for His Kingdom. When children are reared permissibly, they are irresponsibly taught, whether through deliberate intent or neglect, to feed their …
Battling the Tempter
Sermonette by Ted E. BowlingWe all have different life experiences and temptation thresholds. Satan knows how to package sin and temptation to correspond with our greatest weaknesses.
Stimulating a Spiritual Appetite
Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by David F. MaasThe management of appetites and cravings centers on a critical principle: the delay of gratification as a mark of godly character. Rather than treating pleasure itself as evil, the created drive-reduction mechanism—hunger, thirst, sex, sleep—reflects an aspect of God's own mind and was pronounced good at creation. …
New Covenant Priesthood (Part Five)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughThe concept of instant gratification surfaces as a warning tied directly to the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18:1-8, which teaches that people ought always to pray and never give up. Jesus concludes that parable with a striking question: when the Son of Man returns, will He find "that faith" or "the faith" on the …
Parenting (Part 3): Mothers
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughThe mother provides a gentle, cherishing quality to child rearing compatible with the strength provided by her husband.
Intimacy with Christ (Part One)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughWe must guard our time, not allowing busyness and involvement with activities of the world to prevent us from forming a deep intimacy with God.