Four Experiential Blessings

In this part of the sermon: Pastor Martin begins by reflecting on personal anniversaries and then introduces the sermon's focus on Romans 8 and the experiential privileges of adoption, distinguishing them…

Martin shares that June 30th would have been his 49th wedding anniversary, his first without his wife, and also the 8th anniversary of preaching from a hospital bed after prostate surgery. This personal context sets a tone of weariness of earth but happiness in God, connecting to the theme of experiential blessings.

If ever I were able to do what Richard Baxter said every preacher ought to do, to preach as a dying man to dying men and women, it should be relatively easy for me to do that today, for June 30th would mark the 49th anniversary of my wedding, had God spared my beloved. This is my first anniversary with her in heaven and me still here, weary of earth but more happy at age 71 than I've ever been in my life. And it was eight years ago today that my voice was piped through these speakers from a hospital bed when my prostate gland had been excised, and we received the good news that there was a ver...

0:00 - 1:29 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The first blessing is the gift of the Spirit of adoption, expounded from Galatians 4:4-6. Martin explains that God sent His Son to redeem those under the law so believers could…

Paul's argument in Galatians is clarified by comparing Roman adoption practices: adopting a mature son meant immediate inheritance, while an underage son was treated like a servant. This illustrates that under the New Covenant, believers are adopted as 'full grown sons' with immediate privileges.

Now, just a word about the context. In this section of Galatians, Paul is demonstrating that in the advancement of redemptive history, the Mosaic covenant, which treated the people of God as underage heirs, treated them as children in their nonage, has been superseded by the new covenant, which brings all believers, into the position and privileges of full grown sons the moment they are adopted. Unlike some wealthy Roman citizen who had no heir to all of his possessions, who would adopt a mature son in order that should he die he might receive immediately the inheritance, did he adopt someone ...

10:59 - 12:17 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The spirit of adoption is given to enable us to experientially, from the depths of our being, to embrace psychologically and emotionally what we are judicially and legally in the court of heaven. And God imparts to us th…

Martin describes a common, inadequate view of God as a 'near-sighted, doting, old, something or other up in the sky.' This sets up the contrast with the true, terrifying holiness and justice of God that believers come to understand, highlighting the need for the Spirit of adoption to bridge this gap.

felt, internal, reflexive, God-granted ability to enter in, in our hearts, in relationship to God, for what we really are, his sons and his daughters. Now, you may ask the question, why in the world is this necessary? Well, think with me for a minute. If you're a Christian, you have come to some very shattering, some very disturbing, understanding about God and about yourself. You may have thought of God as the sort of near-sighted, doting, old, something or other up in the sky. But by one means or another, God brought you to the realization that the living God who made you, and the God who is...

16:53 - 18:09 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The spirit of adoption is given to enable us to experientially, from the depths of our being, to embrace psychologically and emotionally what we are judicially and legally in the court of heaven. And God imparts to us th…

Martin recalls his own struggle to reconcile God's terrifying majesty with the intimacy of calling Him 'Abba, Father.' This personal reflection emphasizes the supernatural work of the Spirit required to move from trembling distance to filial crying.

I still can remember my discovery of God's transcendence. And His holiness, and His majesty, and His burning justice and righteousness. And I can remember what I am by nature, what I am in Adam, what I've been in my own acts of personal defilement, and though I have embraced the truth and word of the gospel, and I believe my sins are forgiven, yet, yet, how can I, one moment, trembling at great distance from God, come into His presence, and not just whisper, but cry, cry from the depths of my being, Abba, Father. Most likely, this has been picked up from the oral reports of how our Lord addres...

19:16 - 20:19 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The witness of the Spirit then is to be found in his hidden ministrations, by which, the filial spirit is created in our hearts, and comes to birth in this joyful cry, Abba, Father.

Martin critiques the idea of the Spirit's witness as God 'whispering in my right ear' while one's own spirit whispers in the left. This analogy clarifies his rejection of a direct, mystical, unevidenced witness, favoring Warfield's view of the Spirit's work in creating the filial cry itself.

Some say yes. And that's by a direct, almost like God was whispering in my right ear, while I'm whispering in my left ear, based upon the evidences, my spirit says you are a child of God. God comes along and whispers in my right ear and says, yes, you are a child of God. Now it's established at the mouth of two or three witnesses.

30:06 - 30:26 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The witness of the Spirit then is to be found in his hidden ministrations, by which, the filial spirit is created in our hearts, and comes to birth in this joyful cry, Abba, Father.

Martin uses the metaphor of a 'twittering in our left ventricle' to dismiss the idea that the witness of the Spirit is a mere subjective feeling divorced from the objective evidence of a transformed life, as described in 1 John.

Yes, it is one thing to stand back, and we must evaluate whether we have biblical grounds to have our own spirit say to us, you are a child of God. If that's not so, throw out the book of 1 John. Hereby do we know that we pass from death unto life, because we've got a twittering in our left ventricle that is the witness of the Spirit. Nonsense!

32:30 - 32:57 Read in full sermon

The point: Embrace the assurance of sonship attested by the Spirit of adoption, validated by other marks of the Spirit's work, as the dominant reality in true, vibrant, biblical religion.

Martin shares his personal testimony of being sustained by the Spirit of adoption during the profound grief of his wife's death. This vivid example illustrates the practical, vital reality of calling God 'Abba, Father' in the face of the 'last enemy'.

which springs from the believing embrace of Christ and these first fruits of our adoption. Conversely, a fanatical, delusive subjectivism and mysticism that denigrates the very doctrines which alone can bring us into the relationship with Christ that constitutes us true sons and thereby makes us candidates to receive the spirit of his Son leads to all kinds of nonsense and foolishness and delusion. But oh, when there is the maintenance of the pure doctrine of the Gospel, with the awareness that in addition to and as the fruit of the believing embrace of the propositional truths of the Gospel, ...

36:18 - 37:46 Read in full sermon

The point: If you do not know the reality of the internal sense of filial identity, either you are not adopted, or you are grieving and quenching the Holy Spirit.

Martin humorously describes his constant, almost incessant, communication with God as 'mumbling all the time to my Father' about everything from keys to loneliness. This personal anecdote illustrates the ongoing, intimate communion fostered by the Spirit of adoption.

And I have never, never known such blessed communion with my Father as I have known in the past nine months. I talked to him about everything. If someone ever bugged my house, they'd say, put this guy in the nut house. I'm mumbling all the time to my Father, oh, my Father, I need you here.

38:42 - 39:01 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not grieve the Holy Spirit in ethical issues, neglect the means of grace, or be too proud to own your sin, as this will lead to lifeless approaches to God.

Martin uses the metaphor of 'stuffing a handkerchief in the mouth of the internal Spirit' to explain how grieving the Holy Spirit through ethical compromise or neglecting means of grace can hinder the felt reality of crying 'Abba, Father'.

No, no, if you're in Christ, you have received the Spirit of adoption. But if you're grieving the Holy Spirit in some ethical controversy, you, as it were, are stuffing a handkerchief in the mouth of the internal Spirit who would enable you to cry, Abba, Father. You can't grieve the Holy Spirit in ethical issues and expect to have his bright, powerful, ringing attestation of your sonship in your soul. You can't play games with Almighty God like that.

40:06 - 40:40 Read in full sermon

The point: Learn to reason from the greater (God giving His Son) to the lesser (your present needs) in prayer, bringing your 'crucifix' into the Father's presence.

In expounding Romans 8:32, Martin contrasts God giving His 'Son' with giving 'stuff' (strength, wisdom, patience, support). This analogy emphasizes that if God gave the greater (His Son), He will surely give the lesser (all other needs), reinforcing the pledge of provision.

Anything you need to get you safely to heaven is a thing. It's a thing. But God didn't give you a thing. He gave you son.

45:53 - 46:07 Read in full sermon

The point: Learn to reason from the greater (God giving His Son) to the lesser (your present needs) in prayer, bringing your 'crucifix' into the Father's presence.

Martin encourages believers to bring their 'crucifix' (the cross, representing Christ's sacrifice) into the Father's presence when asking for 'a little thing.' This analogy illustrates how to reason from the greater (Christ's death) to the lesser (daily needs) in prayer.

He gave his son not stuff. He gave his son not stuff. And God says, I want you to reason from your present need of some thing through the cross to the heart of your Father and bring your crucifix into the Father's presence and say, Father, you spared him not. I got a little thing over here I need.

46:42 - 47:10 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Both were the expressions of his father's love. God's paternal love for all his true children constrains him to chastise and discipline them.

Martin uses the vivid image of a father laying a belt on his child's backside to explain the spiritual reality of God's chastisement. This direct, physical analogy helps listeners understand the severity and loving intent behind divine discipline.

And I don't understand people that try to expound this passage and say it has nothing to do with God whipping his children. It just has to do with something else. I don't know what. But when God uses the words chasten, scourge, discipline, God is talking about those things that in the spiritual realm resonate with what it's like to have your father lay a belt on your backside.

52:51 - 53:18 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Both were the expressions of his father's love. God's paternal love for all his true children constrains him to chastise and discipline them.

Martin recounts a funeral tribute where a son blessed his father for raising him with 'hugs around my neck and a big black belt on my backside.' This anecdote powerfully illustrates that both expressions were acts of love, reinforcing the idea that God's chastisement is an act of paternal love.

I heard the tribute. To a godly man in a funeral service a few weeks ago. And one of the sons said, I bless God for my father. He raised me with hugs around my neck and a big black belt on my backside.

53:19 - 53:39 Read in full sermon

The point: Respond to God's chastening by expecting it, understanding its origin and end, and submitting to it without treating it lightly or being dispirited.

Martin shares a personal experience of spanking his children, noting they never found it pleasant and often cried beyond what was warranted. This relatable example underscores the point that chastening is 'not joyous but grievous' in the present, requiring a look beyond to its ultimate purpose.

I never never never spanked one of my children and had them look up and see no dad. This is great. No, they cried. It wasn't pleasant enough.

56:56 - 57:09 Read in full sermon

The point: Respond to God's chastening by expecting it, understanding its origin and end, and submitting to it without treating it lightly or being dispirited.

Martin uses the metaphor of 'God's gymnasium' to describe the theater of discipline and chastening. This illustrates that trials and difficulties are purposeful exercises designed by God to accomplish His sanctifying work in believers.

Don't treat it lightly verse 5 a don't be dispirited by it verse 5 be let it do its work 11 see by the way the word gumnadzo is in there. This is God's gymnasium to take us into the theater of discipline and chastening to accomplish his purposes. Well in the couple of minutes that remain. Let me just give you the fourth head.

58:55 - 59:21 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The fourth blessing is the fulfillment of the Father's promise of consummated sonship, referring to the future glorification and revealing of the sons of God. Martin describes…

Martin shares a poignant personal story of talking to his deceased wife's portrait, imagining her 'perfected spirit' in heaven, not needing coffee or rest, having been at worship all night. This illustrates the concept of a sinless soul and its unceasing capacity for worship, contrasting it with his own earthly limitations.

Souls inhabiting deathless bodies and that forever just the thought of the sinless souls in the first few weeks after Marilyn's home going many things some of them too sacred to share publicly but one I used to come down every Sunday morning and particularly have a little time by her large portrait hanging on the wall and while I was waiting for my coffee to drip down through and she's looking at me there. With a warm smile. I said I know what you're thinking. I know what you're thinking you poor fellow.

60:43 - 61:24 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The fourth blessing is the fulfillment of the Father's promise of consummated sonship, referring to the future glorification and revealing of the sons of God. Martin describes…

Continuing his conversation with his wife's portrait, Martin playfully asserts he will 'out jump' and 'out shout' her with his male lungs when he receives a glorified body. This illustrates the future reality of a glorified body with capacities beyond imagination, even for women.

You can't go up and read your Bible and pray till you get some coffee with some caffeine in your brain. I've been at it all night and I'm not tired and I'm going to be at it all day and I won't be weary and you'll come trudging home and have to flop into bed poor fellow a perfected spirit. However, perfected spirits worship and praise and unceasingly adore the Christ whom they see. But then I talked back to and say yeah dear, but I'm going to out jump you when I get a glorified body.

61:24 - 62:04 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The fourth blessing is the fulfillment of the Father's promise of consummated sonship, referring to the future glorification and revealing of the sons of God. Martin describes…

Martin uses the analogy of running '440 volts over a little skinny wire that can just take three' to explain why a perfected soul cannot inhabit an unperfected body. This illustrates that a sinless soul in a mortal body would 'burn out' due to the immense spiritual capacity, highlighting the necessity of a glorified body.

You want something to meditate on that won't let you get to sleep. Do this. Think of a perfected spirit from which all dullness as well as all distractedness along with all sinful attitudes and desires that is capable of loving God with the full capacity of its being and I believe a growing capacity but with its full capacity think of it. What would you do right now if God perfected your soul in that body?

62:14 - 62:45 Read in full sermon