Christ: My Guide, Protector, Constant Companion

Driving home: I'm sure that by now you've come to the conclusion that these truths in reality have little to do with the calendar, but that they are the steady state stuff of spiritual stability.

The analogy of ballast in old seagoing vessels is used to represent central foundational truths that provide spiritual stability in the souls of God's people, helping them navigate life's 'unchartered waters'.

On the evening of December 31st of the year that has just passed, we gathered here to worship our God on his own special day, and on that occasion I began a brief series of messages, a series that I will conclude tonight, using the analogy or the extended metaphor of the place of ballast in seagoing vessels of a bygone day, I've asserted that there are certain central foundational truths which function like ballast in the souls of the

0:04 - 0:44 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin expounds on Christ as the Shepherd who personally guides His sheep, drawing from 1 Peter 2:25, John 10, Psalm 23, and Isaiah 40:11. He emphasizes Christ's intimate…

The image of a shepherd calling his own sheep by name from a stone sheepfold illustrates the intimate, personal, and name-defined relationship Christ has with His people, emphasizing His personal guidance rather than driving them.

sheep by name, and leads them out. And when he has put forth all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Now do you see the very intimate, personal nature of the relationship between the shepherd and his sheep? The picture is of the sheepfold made of stone and raised up to a height that the sheep could not jump over it.

8:41 - 9:14 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: This section focuses on Christ as the Shepherd who protects His defenseless sheep. Martin uses Psalm 23's 'rod and staff' and John 10's 'good shepherd' imagery, along with Paul's…

Paul's testimony in 2 Timothy 4:16-18, where he recounts the Lord standing by him and delivering him 'out of the mouth of the lion,' is used as an example of Christ's protection in threatening circumstances.

Many of you will remember Paul wrote this from a Roman prison. He knows that he is soon to be executed as a martyr for Jesus Christ. And he's giving some closing remarks to Timothy at the end of chapter 4. And note what he says, beginning in verse 16.

28:00 - 28:25 Read in full sermon

Driving home: There's going to be a dead lion or a dead bear or a dead shepherd, but no dead sheep. I went and yanked it out of its mouth and with my own hands, smote him and slew him, both the lion and the bear.

David's account in 1 Samuel 17 of killing a lion and a bear to rescue a lamb from their mouths is presented as a possible Old Testament parallel to Paul's 'mouth of the lion' experience, highlighting the shepherd's armed protection of his defenseless sheep.

You remember that great overgrown, steroid, pumped-up military man called Goliath was standing out there flexing his lats and his pecs and his biceps and triceps and all the rest and bellowing out all of this blasphemous language and he vexes David's soul and he said, Who is this silly dude? You're all shaking in your boots as though there were no God in Israel. I'll take him on. Well, they didn't like to hear that.

31:32 - 32:07 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Com, one that means with, and the last half of it refers to bread. So the word would be used of someone with whom you ate bread. Beautiful picture.

The word 'companion' is traced to its Latin roots ('com' + 'bread'), meaning 'one with whom you ate bread,' illustrating the deep intimacy, mutuality, and goodwill implied in Christ's companionship.

And I found out something I never knew. Common word companion. You know what it comes from? It comes from two Latin words.

37:48 - 37:54 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Com, one that means with, and the last half of it refers to bread. So the word would be used of someone with whom you ate bread. Beautiful picture.

The disciples' sorrow at Jesus's impending departure (John 16:6) is used to highlight their deep companionship with Him and the profound sense of loss they felt, which Jesus then addresses with the promise of the Spirit.

They're filled with sorrow. Jesus is going to leave them. He who has been their companion day and night for some of these for three plus years. They slept where he slept.

39:06 - 39:18 Read in full sermon

The point: Cultivate communion with Christ as your companion, recognizing that the Holy Spirit mediates the living Christ to you.

Martin references Hugh Martin's book, 'The Abiding Presence,' which uses the first and last verses of Matthew's Gospel to explain how Christ's historical biography combined with His promise of abiding presence provides a living, accessible companion.

We have him within us by the Holy Spirit. And he wants us to cultivate communion with him as our companion. That's the glory of the ministry of the Holy Spirit, that in his ministry to us, we have Christ with us as well as Christ in us. A number of years ago, it fell into my hands a book that I wish were a lot more popular called The Abiding Presence by Dr. Hugh Martin,

41:27 - 41:59 Read in full sermon

Driving home: You see, if we only had the biography, it would be frustrating. It would be spiritually torturing. That's what he was, that's what he did. But that doesn't meet me at the place of my need, now, here, in this day.

Reading biographies of figures like Whitfield or Spurgeon evokes a sense of loss and holy nostalgia, which Martin uses to illustrate how a mere biography of Jesus, without His abiding presence, would be deeply frustrating and spiritually torturing.

If we just had the history, what would that be like? And he draws that out until your mind shares with him the sense. It would be deeply frustrating. What do you feel when you read the biography of mighty man of God, such as Whitfield, and Spurgeon, and some of the other worthies?

45:54 - 46:16 Read in full sermon

The point: Cultivate personal, intimate, warm, and even verbal communication with the Lord Jesus as your constant companion.

Martin shares a personal anecdote of talking verbally to the Lord Jesus when his wife is away, illustrating the intimate, constant, and verbal communication possible with Christ as a companion.

And we need to come to grips with this reality and constantly act faith upon it, that the Christ who is upon his throne is the Christ who is not only with me as guide and protector, but as my constant companion. I can cultivate personal, intimate, warm, and if nobody else is around, even verbal communication with the Lord Jesus. I miss it. I miss my wife something terrible when she's gone.

50:10 - 50:49 Read in full sermon

The point: Talk to Christ and commune with Him in all openness and friendliness, even in mundane situations like finding lost keys.

The example of praying to Jesus to find lost keys illustrates how believers can commune with Christ in mundane, everyday situations, trusting Him as a companion who cares about their practical needs.

I'm going to disclose my heart to you. Is it fanaticism when you've mislaid your keys and don't know where they are? Say, Lord Jesus, you know where they are. And I'm not going to dishonor you by letting my spirit get all riled up and frustrated and grieve you.

51:22 - 51:38 Read in full sermon

The point: Think deeply about your life, its dangers, and the unprincipled nature of society, and consider if you would like to have Christ as your guide, protector, and companion.

Paul's statement in Romans 11:14 about provoking his kinsmen to jealousy by showing them the glorious things God has done for Gentiles is used as a model for evangelism, aiming to make the Christian life attractive to unbelievers.

Several times as I've sat at my desk here in Romans, Paul is speaking about how God has dealt with the Jewish nation and then the Gentiles and how he set aside one and incorporated the other. And he says that I'm, I'm telling you these things, verse 13 of Romans 11, but I speak to you that are Gentiles in so much that I'm an apostle of the Gentiles. I glorify my ministry if, now notice, if by any means, I may provoke to jealousy them that are of my flesh, that is, my fellow Jews, and may save some of them. Paul says, I'm telling you what I'm telling you,

55:42 - 56:26 Read in full sermon