“Cleave Unto the Lord”

Driving home: When you think God's speaking through a twitch in your ventricle, you're wrong. You're wrong. You're wrong. Your problem is you probably need to have an EKG and find out what's wrong with your heart. When you think God i…

Martin humorously dismisses subjective, unbiblical claims of divine calling, contrasting them with Barnabas's church-sent mission, to emphasize that God works through established means, not personal whims or physical sensations.

one night and say, I have felt a divine twitch in my left ventricle. God has called me to go up to Antioch. No one dare question my call. Nonsense. When you think God's speaking through a twitch in your ventricle, you're wrong. You're wrong. You're wrong. You're wrong. Your problem is you probably need to have an EKG and find out what's wrong with your heart. When you think God is speaking to you in night visions, my friend, you just better check what you eat before you go to bed. God speaks in his word and God works by the instituted means that he has established. And here the church, a prove...

14:03 - 14:50 Read in full sermon

Driving home: When you think God's speaking through a twitch in your ventricle, you're wrong. You're wrong. You're wrong. Your problem is you probably need to have an EKG and find out what's wrong with your heart. When you think God i…

Martin asks if grace is a visible commodity like a glass of water or a pulpit, to highlight that Barnabas 'seeing the grace of God' meant observing its undeniable effects in transformed lives, not a literal sight of an abstract concept.

The church of Antioch. And what happens when he comes there? Verse 23. Who when he was come and had seen the grace of God. When he got up to Antioch and began to observe these who had professed to have turned to the Lord in faith, he saw the grace of God. Now let me ask you this. Is the grace of God a commodity like a glass of water? Is the grace of God like a pulpit? Like a microphone? Like a Bible? Like a student one can see? I thought the grace of God was the kind, beneficent disposition in God's heart to show mercy to the ill-deserving. I thought grace was a spiritual commodity, not someth...

14:50 - 16:02 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Alas, that's the way a lot of modern preachers are. They can't rejoice in God's work any other place. But where they are. And let God work somewhere else and they're immediately suspicious and squinty-eyed with cynicism …

Martin contrasts Barnabas's gladness at seeing God's grace with the cynicism or envy of 'modern preachers' who cannot rejoice in God's work outside their own ministry, illustrating a mark of a true man of God.

of modern preachers are. They can't rejoice in God's work any other place. But where they are. And let God work somewhere else and they're immediately suspicious and squinty-eyed with cynicism or worse yet, green-eyed with envy.

17:19 - 17:38 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The substance of the exhortation is 'to cleave unto the Lord' – to remain in vital union with Christ, not moving on to something else after conversion. This is to be done 'with…

Martin uses the analogy of 'meat and potatoes' to describe the essential, nourishing role of the Bible in ministry, contrasting it with superficial preaching that relies on humor and anecdotes, to encourage listeners to seek biblical exposition.

open up the language of the Bible get out of there if all he does is occasionally quote a phrase of the Bible and then make you laugh and quote another phrase and tell you stories and quote another phrase and tell you his own notions for the sake of your soul go where this book is opened up week after week as the meat and potatoes our brother said of the ministry don't be led away with charismatic personalities and with people that make you feel good and stroking you and make you laugh and fill you with stories and anecdotes of their life go where men do what I'm attempting to do this morning ...

23:32 - 24:59 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The substance of the exhortation is 'to cleave unto the Lord' – to remain in vital union with Christ, not moving on to something else after conversion. This is to be done 'with…

The metaphor 'your life is the exegesis of your heart' illustrates that one's actions, words, and life patterns reveal the true state of their inner being, reinforcing the depth of 'purpose of heart'.

cleave to the Lord remain in union with the Lord he is saying do this with settled determined resinous of what again look at the text with purpose of heart and when the word heart is used in a context of the word heart like this is not used in a technical sense it means from the very depths and the seat of your being what you are in your heart is what you really are what has your heart has you the scripture says your life is the exegesis of your heart chapter in verse Proverbs 4 23 guard your heart above all that you guard for out of it are the issues of life and the issues of life the streams...

26:27 - 27:57 Read in full sermon

Driving home: hear me now every televangelist every preacher that manipulates people in whom the Holy Ghost is given a spirit of generosity to line his pockets to build his mansions to buy his boats is a false prophet of God he is not…

Barnabas's past experience with the Jerusalem church's generosity (Acts 4) is used to show that he understood the true fruit of grace, contrasting it with the manipulative tactics of televangelists who exploit generosity for personal gain.

I became a good man by the good and gracious operations of the Holy Spirit who pointed me to the Lord Jesus as the one who would pardon and forgive me and who by his spirit would transform me and put the law of God within me and give me both the desire and the power to please God and if there is any moral goodness in me it is goodness that is the fruit of grace and not the fruit of nature but he was a good man and that's why he sought only the good in the well-being of these Antiochian Christians you see when he came and saw the grace of God he knew many things that the grace of God would do f...

30:52 - 32:19 Read in full sermon

Driving home: hear me now every televangelist every preacher that manipulates people in whom the Holy Ghost is given a spirit of generosity to line his pockets to build his mansions to buy his boats is a false prophet of God he is not…

Martin uses the example of televangelists manipulating people for money to illustrate what a 'good man' (like Barnabas) does not do, emphasizing that true ministry points people to Christ, not to the preacher's pockets.

it says that there was this tremendous spirit of benevolence and open-heartedness had he seen the grace of God at work you see what he could have done he said well if God's grace is at work here's a people now who are generous and open-handed and he could have begun to manipulate them to line his own pockets hear me now every televangelist every preacher that manipulates people in whom the Holy Ghost is given a spirit of generosity to line his pockets to build his mansions to buy his boats is a false prophet of God he is not a good man I don't care if he claims to raise the dead and heal the s...

32:19 - 33:46 Read in full sermon

Driving home: May I say it reverently the Holy Spirit is the modest member of the Trinity he delights as it were to be in the wings behind the folds of the curtain manipulating all the lights so that they shine upon Jesus and in seein…

The Holy Spirit is described as the 'modest member of the Trinity,' delighting to be 'in the wings behind the folds of the curtain manipulating all the lights so that they shine upon Jesus,' illustrating the Spirit's primary ministry of exalting Christ.

the well-being of others but then he was spiritually mature notice what it says and full of the spirit and of faith well what's the connection between his exhortation his exhortation was not give me seed money and the Lord will bless you a thousand fold it was cleave to Jesus and he was it wasn't send me ten bucks and I'll send you back a prayer cloth that I've anointed no he was a good man not a charlatan not a thief and therefore being a good man he was exhorting them with purpose of heart to cleave to the Lord but he was also full of the spirit and the faith and that's why he told them to c...

33:46 - 35:13 Read in full sermon

Driving home: May I say it reverently the Holy Spirit is the modest member of the Trinity he delights as it were to be in the wings behind the folds of the curtain manipulating all the lights so that they shine upon Jesus and in seein…

Martin refers to modern metropolitan areas as 'Main Street, Sodom West Coast' or 'East Coast' to vividly portray the pervasive sinfulness of the world in which Christians live, highlighting the need for Christ's sufficiency.

who had all of the vulnerability and all of the remaining propensity to sin that you and I have living in the world living here in what I call Main Street, Sodom West Coast we live Main Street, Sodom East Coast out in the New York, New Jersey metropolitan area we've got something in common we both live on Main Street these young Christians were living in Main Street Sodom and Gomorrah in the Greco-Roman world as were the saints at Corinth and Colossae and Thessalonica but because he was full of faith he was full of faith was convinced that had they truly turned to the Lord, that Christ was eno...

36:42 - 37:47 Read in full sermon

The point: With purpose of heart, cleave to the Lord himself as the sole object of your life. Trust for every part of your salvation.

Martin recounts a joyful reunion with a brother he hadn't seen in years, expressing gladness that 'Christ is still keeping you in the way,' illustrating the ongoing grace of Christ in preserving believers through trials.

One of the joys when I come out to a place like this where I've not been for years and see people I haven't seen for years is to see this marvelous truth before my own eyes. There's a dear brother now teaching down at Westminster. I hadn't seen him in years. And when he came through the room where I was preparing to minister and his eyes met mine and he walked across the room and we embraced, you know my first words to him were, my dear brother, I'm so glad to see that Christ is still with me.

43:47 - 44:22 Read in full sermon

The point: With purpose of heart, cleave to the Lord himself as the sole object of your life. Trust for every part of your salvation.

The hymn 'Amazing Grace' is quoted to underscore the theme of God's grace sustaining believers from conversion through life's dangers and leading them home, reinforcing Christ as the sole object of trust.

I know that man well enough to know that he's got a thousand fifth columns within his own heart. And that he no doubt has faced a thousand pressures from without that long ago would have taken him, taken him out of the way, but there he was looking me straight in the eye with a good conscience before God and man embracing me as one who was still in the way. And I in turn could embrace him as one who was still in the way. And we stood there embracing, rejoicing, not in our great strength, but in the grace of Christ who has kept us as we have kept him the sole object of our trust for every part ...

44:26 - 45:31 Read in full sermon

The point: With purpose of heart, cleave to the Lord himself as the supreme object of your affection and loyalty.

Jesus's parables of the treasure in the field and the pearl of great price are used to illustrate that the Holy Spirit always reveals Christ as supremely valuable, worthy of an undivided heart, at the point of saving conversion.

Now follow me closely. Whenever the hand of God accompanies the preaching of the gospel of God, and people turn unto the Son of God, hear my question now, in what light does the Holy Spirit always reveal Christ to the heart in which he is working? Is he working or not working? He always reveals him according to the words of Jesus in those kingdom parables of the field and of the pearl.

47:45 - 48:14 Read in full sermon

The point: Don't allow any romantic interest to rival his place in your heart.

A Puritan quote about the difficulty of winning and keeping the heart entirely for Christ is used to summarize the challenge of maintaining undivided affection and loyalty to Christ throughout the Christian life.

and hate not father mother brother sister yea and his own life also he cannot be my disciple he didn't mean hate in the sense that you had a negative disposition of ill will the parallel passage in Matthew 10 says he that loves father and mother more than me son or daughter more than me son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me when the spirit of God savingly reveals Christ he never reveals him as a savior worthy of only half of your heart that's why the great majority of modern evangelism stands condemned by scripture because you've got multitude praying the prayer walking the aisle pr...

49:42 - 51:11 Read in full sermon

The point: Don't allow any romantic interest to rival his place in your heart.

Martin uses a humorous anecdote about children's stages of romantic interest ('yuck' to 'yummy') and his own teenage heartbreak to illustrate the reality and intensity of human affection, emphasizing that even these must not rival Christ's place in the heart.

keeping the heart entirely with Christ that's it that's it in a nutshell the greatest difficulty in conversion is the winning of the entirety of the heart to Christ and the great difficulty of the Christian life is keeping the entirety of the heart with Christ therefore I exhort you with purpose of heart cleave to the Lord himself as the supreme object of your affection and loyalty don't allow any romantic interest to rival his place in your heart boys, girls, men or women I don't know what setting I set it in if I set it here forgive me for repeating it the past ten days are one blur I tell o...

51:11 - 52:40 Read in full sermon

The point: With purpose of heart, cleave to the Lord as the single-eyed object of your obedience.

Martin uses the analogy of a laser beam used in eye surgery to attach a torn retina to illustrate the focused, concentrated nature of 'single-eyed' obedience to Christ, emphasizing unwavering purpose.

If your eye be single, your whole body shall be full of light. In other words, if your purpose is narrowed and focused like the laser beam, like that beam of light, like that beam of light, like that beam of light, like that beam of light that went in on the back of my retina a couple of months ago and put sixty little tacks to attach a torn retina to the back of the eyeball, that beam of light pointed, concentrated, what I'm saying with purpose of heart, cleave to the Lord with single-eyed obedience.

55:18 - 55:54 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin concludes by examining the Antiochian church's response to Barnabas's exhortation. Their commitment to cleaving to the Lord is evidenced by Barnabas's diligent search for…

The frantic search for a missing shoe before church is used to illustrate the intensive nature of the Greek verb for 'sought,' conveying Barnabas's earnest and diligent search for Saul.

It says that after this exhortation, he went forth to Tarsus to seek for Saul. And the Greek word is very intensive. It pictures what happens when you're just about to go out the house Sunday morning. You women know, you just know that both of those shoes that were part of your matching outfit were together in the closet.

59:12 - 59:33 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The ultimate proof of their cleaving to Christ was their consistency and credibility, leading them to be called 'Christians' (little Christs) for the first time. This designation…

Examples of Hispanic diminutives (Teresa to Teresita, Olga to Olgita) are used to explain the meaning of 'Christianos' as 'little Christs,' making the linguistic point accessible.

Christianos. It means they were called. Called little Christs. You Hispanics know how the diminutive can come in.

61:37 - 61:46 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The ultimate proof of their cleaving to Christ was their consistency and credibility, leading them to be called 'Christians' (little Christs) for the first time. This designation…

The example of a changed worker who no longer tells crude jokes or takes extended breaks illustrates the practical, observable impact of Christ's transformation on daily life and work ethic, leading to the designation 'Christianos'.

That as their impact was felt in Antioch and people interacted with them, they'd say, What in the world's happened to you, man? You used to be the guy who'd come in Monday morning with the best string of the latest 630 jokes. Now you don't tell them. You don't listen to them.

62:14 - 62:32 Read in full sermon

Driving home: What a prostituted, diluted word it is in our day. Anybody that taps his hat to Jesus in one way or another is ready to be called a Christian and take the name Christian. Think of all of those big overgrown boys that thi…

The example of a man who formerly treated his wife gruffly and children brusquely, but now treats them with dignity and tenderness, illustrates the profound impact of Christ on family life, contributing to the 'Christianos' designation.

He said, I now serve the Lord Christ. And then they watched him. When he'd go to his home, he used to talk gruffly to his wife and treat her like a chattel and used to be brusque with his kids. And now he would treat her with dignity and honor and treat his children with tenderness and compassion.

63:02 - 63:20 Read in full sermon