Book Recommendations/Reviews, Part 1

The point: Set an example and instruct children that the seeing-eye dog is harmless and not to be petted or distracted.

Martin introduces Danielle Robinson's seeing-eye dog, a 'Canaanite visitor,' as a first for the church, using it to illustrate God's provision and the need for instruction on how to interact with service animals.

We have a Canaanite. A Canaanite visitor. Our dear sister, Danielle Robinson, to whom the Lord has given spiritual eyes to behold the glory of Christ and his salvation, has been deprived of her physical sight, and the Lord has been pleased to give her a helper in one of those creatures that we sang about from Psalm 104 this morning. And she sits here this morning with her seeing-eye dog very quietly and very reverently, in his place at her feet, and because this is a first, we do feel a word of instruction is in order.

1:04 - 1:43 Read in full sermon

The point: If struggling with prayer life, use Matthew Henry's 'A Method for Prayer' to structure prayers and avoid carnal ruts.

Martin quotes Morris Roberts: 'Panic is the sinful failure to apply our knowledge of God to our particular problems.' This illustrates how Roberts' writing prompts self-reflection and conviction.

Further, he says, Panic is the sinful failure to apply our knowledge of God to our particular problems. That's what panic is. And you think about it and you say, you know, he's right. You dummy, why do you do that?

14:05 - 14:20 Read in full sermon

The point: If struggling with prayer life, use Matthew Henry's 'A Method for Prayer' to structure prayers and avoid carnal ruts.

Martin quotes Morris Roberts: 'The believer is in spiritual danger if he allows himself to go for any length of time without tasting the love of Christ and savoring the felt comforts of the Savior's presence.' This illustrates Roberts' focus on the heart and the danger of spiritual complacency.

When am I in spiritual danger? The believer is in spiritual danger if he allows himself to go for any length of time without tasting the love of Christ and savoring the felt comforts of the Savior's presence. When Christ ceases to fill the heart with satisfaction, our souls will go in silent search for other lovers. Christ, the lover of our hearts, and of our souls.

15:26 - 16:00 Read in full sermon

The point: Use Thomas Watson's 'The Godly Man's Picture' for a period of intense self-examination or to understand balanced Christian character.

Martin describes Thomas Watson's writing style, saying 'Word pictures just leap from his pen as the bubbles leap out of your freshly opened can of 7-Up.' This analogy vividly conveys Watson's ability to use rich imagery.

This is a classic work by Thomas Watson. And if you've read Thomas Watson on the Ten Commandments or on the Shorter Catechism, The Body of Divinity, you know that Watson, as Spurgeon described it, cast out pearls by the handfuls. And Watson had the unusual ability to think in word pictures. Rarely could he write a sentence that was Jack ran down the hill.

25:48 - 26:15 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Nobody's perfect. This is the hypocrite couch. It is the true believer's bed of thorns.

Martin quotes Rabbi Duncan's pithy statement on remaining sin: 'Nobody's perfect. This is the hypocrite couch. It is the true believer's bed of thorns.' This illustrates Duncan's penetrating analysis and ability to distinguish true faith from hypocrisy.

as deeply as Scripture and his own mind and the Holy Spirit would take him, had traced it as high as Scripture, his own mind and the Holy Spirit would take him, and then he sought to express that penetrating analysis in a little sententious, catchy saying. For example, the whole question of remaining sin in a believer. He captured the whole essence of the biblical doctrine and Christian experience in this pithy little statement. Quote, Nobody's perfect.

31:56 - 32:34 Read in full sermon

The point: Read Thomas Scott's 'The Force of Truth' to strengthen faith in God's diverse ways of conversion and to help those struggling with doctrines of grace.

Martin recounts Thomas Scott's autobiographical account of entering ministry unconverted and his gradual, 'unorthodox' conversion, illustrating God's diverse ways of bringing people to faith and strengthening confidence in prayer for unbelievers.

I've been talking about it for weeks. They've had Duncan up to their ears because I read it recently and found it so helpful. Likewise, the next book that I recommend, The Force of Truth by Thomas Scott, a little banner of truth biography. And this is a most unusual biography because though it is autobiographical, and that is it is written by the author himself, it's divided into three segments, an account of the state of the author's mind and conscience in the early part of his life.

33:20 - 33:55 Read in full sermon

The point: Read Thomas Scott's 'The Force of Truth' to strengthen faith in God's diverse ways of conversion and to help those struggling with doctrines of grace.

Martin shares an anecdote about Benjamin Palmer, a preacher who 'got the heart as well as the ear of all of New Orleans,' illustrating the powerful impact of godly preaching even in a city known for sin.

And then, James Henley Thornwell, who though he is better known in our day as a theologian in the writings, he was above all else in his day considered the prince of preachers. And then, Benjamin Palmer, who in the words of a Jewish rabbi, quote, got the heart as well as the ear of all of New Orleans. Had a tremendous impact upon that city that we now associate with such sin and wickedness. And then, John Girardou or Girardo, he was called the Spurgeon of America and was remarkably used among the blacks of South Carolina.

37:28 - 38:07 Read in full sermon

The point: Read Thomas Scott's 'The Force of Truth' to strengthen faith in God's diverse ways of conversion and to help those struggling with doctrines of grace.

Martin tells the story of John Girardou's influence among blacks in South Carolina, whose respect for him prevented them from burning Charleston during the Civil War, illustrating the powerful, often unacknowledged, impact of humble gospel preaching.

This is the man whose influence was so powerful that when the northerners tried to secure the services of some blacks during the Civil War to burn Charleston, South Carolina, they wouldn't do it because they knew that the man of God preached in that building that would be burned and they feared the judgment of God might come upon them. So while National Geographic writes a lovely article recently about the fact that Charleston was spared the ravages of Richmond and other southern cities, you'd never get a hint that it was through the influence of a humble man of God preaching the gospel to the...

38:07 - 39:19 Read in full sermon

The point: Take the plunge and read Merle Daubigny's 'History of the Reformation' by reading just ten pages a week to overcome ignorance of our heritage.

Martin shares his personal experience of reading Daubigny's 'History of the Reformation,' describing it as reading 'with the force of a historical novel,' to encourage listeners not to be intimidated by its length but to engage with church history.

It's four volumes in one. This is five volumes in one. I had to discipline myself to read for only one hour a day because I found I was taking time to read Daubigny's History of the Reformation that should have gone to sermon preparation and other disciplines. It reads with the force of a historical novel.

40:44 - 41:03 Read in full sermon

The point: Take the plunge and read Merle Daubigny's 'History of the Reformation' by reading just ten pages a week to overcome ignorance of our heritage.

Martin makes a bold offer to buy back Daubigny's 'History of the Reformation' if listeners try it for three months and don't find it engaging, illustrating his strong conviction about the book's value and his desire to overcome reader intimidation.

I'll stick my neck out. If after three months of trying two pages a day, four or five days a week, you find something you just couldn't get into it, I'll buy it back from you. All right? Now I've got all the witnesses.

41:57 - 42:13 Read in full sermon

The point: Read 'The True, the False and the Homosexual' and 'Christian Psychology's War Against God's Word' to be biblically informed on contemporary issues and better equipped for witness.

Martin states, 'Well, sin called by any other name is the cross of Christ and the day of judgment make it manifest,' to illustrate that modern psychology's re-labeling of sin as syndromes or psychoses does not change its reality or consequences before God.

It is soul strengthening and can greatly help us as we seek by the grace of God in a gracious yet uncompromising way to bear witness to our generation of the evils of this sin of perversion and God's answer to it. So, I highly recommend this little book to you. And then just a brief word, Christian psychology's war against God's word. Whether we're aware of it or not, among the many other, there is, among the many other forces militantly undermining, seeking to undermine the Christian faith, there is a war by modern psychology against the word of God. Things that the Bible calls sins are now c...

45:29 - 46:38 Read in full sermon

The point: Young men and women, read John MacArthur's 'Ashamed of the Gospel' to understand the dangers of church marketing and preserve a worthwhile church for future generations.

Martin draws a parallel between John MacArthur's 'Ashamed of the Gospel' and Spurgeon's 'Downgrade Controversy,' where evangelicals rounded off truth to gain acceptance, illustrating how similar compromises in methods today will lead to liberalism.

This book is calculated to expose the whole concept of marketing the church, making our message and methods are friendly according to the world's standards. And what makes it unique, we've highlighted another book by a Mr. Webster on selling Jesus, but what makes this book unique is that Dr. MacArthur obviously at the time of writing this book had been doing a lot of reading in Spurgeon, particularly the so-called downgrade controversy.

49:22 - 49:57 Read in full sermon