Appointment of the Father

In this part of the sermon: The sermon focuses on the 'helmet of the hope of salvation' from verse 8, explaining it as a confident expectation that guards against discouragement and sin's allurements. Martin…

Martin quotes John Bunyan's 'Pilgrim's Progress' to illustrate the contrast between those who demand immediate gratification (Passion) and those who patiently wait for future, better blessings (Patience), connecting it to the 'hope of salvation' as armor against sin and discouragement.

And also it keeps him from being allured by the dazzling presence of sin. And as I was going over this matter of review, my mind turned again to my good friend, Mr. Bunyan, and I thought of the picture of those two children sitting in the interpreter's house, one whose name was Passion and the other whose name was Patience. And this is the best summary I could give you, and it also gets in another plug for my good friend, Mr. Bunyan.

3:34 - 4:04 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin transitions to the basis of this hope, asking how Christians can know it's not mere wishful thinking or delusion. He challenges the audience to consider the true foundation…

An example of a student wishing for all A's without diligent effort is used to define wishful thinking, contrasting it with the solid basis of Christian hope.

Is this just wishful thinking? You know what wishful thinking is. It's longing for something that might come to pass, but not very probable. You know what wishful thinking is, you kids in school.

7:42 - 7:54 Read in full sermon

The point: Analyze and articulate the true basis of your hope for full and final salvation.

A man drinking poison and believing it won't hurt him illustrates a 'downright delusion,' a state with no probability, to highlight the seriousness of having a false hope.

None whatsoever. It's like a man drinking an ounce of poison and just saying, Well, I know it won't hurt me. He's been deluded into thinking his poison is nutritive food. No.

8:37 - 8:49 Read in full sermon

Driving home: As hard, as the doctrine may seem to human wisdom scripture clearly teaches that God has appointed men to wrath but not because of some kind of and I say it, I trust not irreverently sadistic spirit in God. Men deserve w…

An analogy of a child walking towards a dangerous highway is used to explain how God's appointment to wrath is not sadistic but a just giving up of individuals to the logical end of their self-chosen destructive path.

If a child starts on a course down a path that will lead out into the middle of route 46 on Sunday afternoon that's a path leading to destruction. If I appoint that child to destruction all I need to do is stand back and let him walk that course.

19:32 - 19:51 Read in full sermon

The point: Flee to Christ; He is a perfectly suitable Savior for every sinner who will come, as God commands all men everywhere to repent.

Martin recounts Spurgeon's anecdote of a schoolboy showing an apple but not sharing it, to illustrate how some wrongly use the doctrine of election to keep sinners away from Christ, rather than as an encouragement.

from coming to Christ now some people have used the doctrine of election that way to use the illustration that I read in Spurgeon the other day in preparing for one of my sermons in Carlisle next week he reminded himself of a little school boy that took an apple out of his pocket it was all shiny and he held it up to one of his buddies and said see and the guy says yes he said well that's all you'll have of it and stuck it back in his pocket then he said to someone else who was a little bit more compassionate he said let him smell it and so after the fellow smelled it he said now put it back i...

38:17 - 39:02 Read in full sermon