Source of Our Spiritual Strength: Christ

Driving home: Now if there is any emphasis in this 90th song, which comes through loud and clear, even to the half-attentive reader or listener, of the psalm, it is that you and I are pathetic, weak creatures of time, marked for death…

Moses, the author of Psalm 90, witnessed an entire generation die in the wilderness, emphasizing the reality of human mortality and weakness, which grounds the psalm's message.

Now as unpleasant as those words may be, they reflect the reality emphasized in this psalm. And they did not come from a man who had a melancholic, negative temperament, and therefore sought, or sought to give expression to that psychological aberration. They came from a man who had witnessed an entire generation of tens of thousands who came out of Egypt by the outstretched hand of God die by the thousands week after week, until the entire generation of those twenty years old and upward who came out of Egypt, until the entire generation of those twenty years old and upward who came out of Egy...

3:28 - 4:46 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Now if there is any emphasis in this 90th song, which comes through loud and clear, even to the half-attentive reader or listener, of the psalm, it is that you and I are pathetic, weak creatures of time, marked for death…

Toddlers quickly become conscious of their birthdays, illustrating how even the youngest among us are inherently aware of being 'time-bound, time-marked creatures,' reinforcing the sermon's theme of human temporality.

Each of us has a very special day that reminds us of that reality. It's called our birthday. And I've been amazed over the years at how quickly the youngest among us become very conscious of this. I might ask the toddlers the date of Lincoln's birthday, and they shake their heads, have no idea.

4:46 - 5:08 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Now if there is any emphasis in this 90th song, which comes through loud and clear, even to the half-attentive reader or listener, of the psalm, it is that you and I are pathetic, weak creatures of time, marked for death…

Filling out forms for doctors, jobs, or school always requires a birth date, serving as a constant reminder that we are 'time-bound, time-marked creatures' and live by the calendar.

The day World War Two began, no idea. But long before they know the dates that are the dates, the great benchmarks of world history. They come up to me bright-eyed and try to get the right number of fingers up and say, Pastor, I'm this many years old tomorrow. And I know immediately that they are very conscious of that particular day and that particular month in which they were brought into the world. It is their birthday. And each time we go into a doctor's office and have to fill out a form and we apply for a job or we're applying for our working papers and we're making application to school...

5:08 - 6:19 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Now if there is any emphasis in this 90th song, which comes through loud and clear, even to the half-attentive reader or listener, of the psalm, it is that you and I are pathetic, weak creatures of time, marked for death…

Our reliance on calendars, clocks, and watches, which receive more attention than neglected family members, illustrates our inescapable nature as 'creatures of time' and why the New Year impacts us.

a calendar. And we think in terms of the structure of our lives around those calendars. And even more repeatedly throughout the day, our clocks and our watches get a measure of attention that perhaps many a neglected wife or child would envy. And why is that?

6:19 - 6:42 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Pastor Martin introduces Psalm 90 as the 'New Year's psalm,' reading verses 1-10 to emphasize humanity's pathetic, weak, time-bound nature, marked for death, in contrast to God's…

The common mistake of writing the previous year (e.g., 1996 instead of 1997) on papers or checks after the New Year illustrates the unavoidable human experience of recognizing the passage of time.

And yet, inevitably, we find ourselves drawn into some measure of heightened and focused recognition of that transition from December 31 to January 1. And while we may turn away from the kind of celebration which the world engages in, finding in that notoriety and in that change from one calendar year to another an occasion to indulge the flesh, while we turn away from that, nonetheless, we cannot help as human beings but feel the pressure of that change. We're reminded of it when we go to school after the new year and how often you kids have had to strike out the 1996 that you will write. If ...

7:27 - 8:41 Read in full sermon

The point: Pause at the threshold of a new year to take spiritual bearings by reflecting on where you have been, what you have done, where you are, and where you hope to go.

Analogies of a responsible seaman checking his compass, a pilot calibrating his altimeter, and a hunter sighting his rifle are used to impress upon believers the necessity of checking their spiritual bearings at the start of a new year.

Not to be unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And so the coming of a new year, with its natural pressure upon us to think of time and of the passing of time, and of the structures of time by which our lives are bound, becomes to the child of God an opportunity for concentrated reflection, which, if blessed by the Spirit of God, can result in his spiritual progress. And one of the ways in which we can do that is to pause as we stand on the threshold of a new calendar year and to take ourselves, our spiritual bearings, by reflection on where we have been and what we have done...

9:24 - 10:40 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Spiritual strength is necessary due to three inescapable realities: the demanding nature of Christian duty (holiness, love, obedience), the reality of indwelling sin ('in our…

The analogy of modern zoos where predatory animals are visible but separated by unseen barriers is used to counter the misconception that the devil's access to believers is similarly limited, emphasizing that we are truly in his 'prowling grounds'.

We are in the devil's prowling grounds. And unlike some of the modern zoo arrangements, he has real access to us. You know what I mean by the modern zoo arrangements? Some of you have been to some of the modern zoos, and it's an amazing thing, the way they have set up the wildlife sections of those zoos.

28:57 - 29:17 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The exclusive source of spiritual strength is Christ Himself and Christ alone. This is demonstrated by the command to 'be strong in the Lord' (Ephesians 6:10), the testimony of…

The metaphor of 'earthen vessels, clay cracked pots' containing 'this treasure' (God's power) is used to explain that God works through human weakness so that His power, not ours, is evident.

And how is he made strong? He is made strong in no other way than the direct interposition of Christ himself and his gracious power in tempting the apostle, spreading itself like a tabernacle over his weakness, not removing the weakness, but so spreading itself over the weakness that when people see what he was and what he did, they had to stand back and say, This is the Lord's doing. And it is marvelous in our eyes. We have this treasure, he says, in earthen vessels, clay cracked pots.

46:30 - 47:12 Read in full sermon

The point: Turn from your sin, turn from trusting in anything you are or hope to be, and throw the full weight of your hell-deserving person upon the glorious person of Christ.

Martin imagines slipping under Jesus' robe at His baptism to hear the Father's 'well pleased' declaration, illustrating how God graciously hides believing sinners in Christ, making them accepted in Him.

Reading recently the account of the baptism when the Father spoke from heaven and said this is my Son, my beloved in whom I'm well pleased. And I let my mind run over that scene and said oh Lord if I could somehow have slipped under the robe of Jesus and gone down with Him into the waters of baptism and stood with Him and been a few lumps under His robe and you were to have said this is my beloved Son if I were under His robe and heard your voice I would be able to say hidden in Him the Father is well pleased with me. And what the crazy imagination of a preacher did God graciously does for eve...

61:52 - 63:01 Read in full sermon