Christian's Library: Suggested Principal Books (2003)

The point: Come promptly to worship, prepared to have serious dealings with God.

Martin recounts how many new attendees or converts have commented that the promptness and preparedness of the congregation for worship was the first thing that struck them as different and validated the message before it was even preached.

You sit as people prepared to have serious dealings with the true, living, exalted, majestic God of heaven and of earth. And you have no idea what that means to a total stranger coming among us. I cannot count the times throughout the years when people who have eventually been either converted or having been converted have ended up among us as members have said. The first thing that struck them that there was something different about this place was the way you, the people of God, came in.

2:57 - 3:31 Read in full sermon

The point: Show undistracted engagement with the preacher, letting your face register what is being said.

Martin uses the analogy of a 'cow face' – an unimpassioned, blank stare – to describe the undesirable lack of engagement some congregants display during preaching, urging them to show visible signs of registering the message.

And their Amen is the validation of that engagement. And then your undistracted engagement with the preacher. So that when there are little touches of unplanned humor, the smile is on your face. You don't have that blank look, that stare of a cow.

5:21 - 5:38 Read in full sermon

The point: Invite visitors to lunch, even if it means making sacrifices.

Martin gives an example of gracious aggressiveness by suggesting inviting visitors to lunch, even if it means 'putting a little water in the soup' or 'cutting slices of meat a little thinner,' to show love and hospitality.

And they showed expressions of love to me. You may not have barely enough food to go around for your own family. Just tell them. Say, hey, you got anywhere to go to lunch?

7:06 - 7:14 Read in full sermon

The point: Resist the addiction to merely audio and visual means of communication and be readers to grow in grace.

Martin shares his personal practice of listening to many tapes in his car (e.g., Southern Family Conference, evaluating a preacher) to demonstrate that he is not against audio means of communication, but emphasizes that it cannot replace the printed page.

with all of our might that we believe that there is something in the printed page that cannot, cannot be replaced by what we merely listen to. I have tapes in my car. I rarely am going anywhere. I've listened to all 12 tapes of the Southern Family Conference, all of them in my car. I've listened to,

9:33 - 9:56 Read in full sermon

The point: Cultivate a deep desire to be used of God as a verbal witness for Christ and be armed with materials to help in communicating the Gospel.

Martin uses the metaphor of a pendulum, which swings swiftest through its center and is stationary at its extremes, to illustrate how sin causes Christians to swing to extremes rather than holding to the tensions of truth.

point and is stationary at both this extremes, right? The pendulum is stationary at both of these extremes. Then the pendulum does its perfect job, and it is also pentru. Remember this pendulum is stationary in both its extremes. It has been working at both the middle part of the body,

12:20 - 12:28 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: This section recommends essential reference works for biblical knowledge, including whole-Bible commentaries (Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole), exhaustive concordances (Strong's…

Martin shares a ditty he learned as a young Christian to distinguish between concordances, acknowledging its questionable validity but highlighting its memorability.

the hebrew words for forsake and put them all together and list the text and then the other hebrew word for forsake and list them all together so it's called the analytical concordance he does some of the shifting out and reorganizing the text and then the other hebrew word for forsake and list them all together and list them all together so it's called the analytical concordance he does the numbers for you and then if you want a smaller concordance crudence as a young christian i remember this little ditty young's for the young strong's for the strong and crudence for the crude it's been stic...

15:09 - 15:52 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: This section recommends essential reference works for biblical knowledge, including whole-Bible commentaries (Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole), exhaustive concordances (Strong's…

Martin recalls his experience as a young Christian, sitting at a dining room table and looking up 'repentance' and 'faith' in a concordance, which led him to preach repentance despite its neglect in his evangelical context.

you do have to have a good concordance i can remember as a young christian i remember the question wanting to know the basics of my christian experience and sitting at the dining room table was the only place at that time where i could spread out anything and looking up the words repentance and faith and and though i was surrounded in a context where evangelicals didn't preach repentance and and in my early christian experience very little i always preached repentance because as a baby christian just a few months old in the lord as a 17 year old kid or just a turning 18 i had seen the many pas...

15:52 - 16:35 Read in full sermon

Driving home: And when you think of those key terms of regeneration, of calling, of justification, of adoption, there is nothing that will help you to grasp the biblical truth more firmly and clearly in my present understanding than t…

Martin shares that someone had his paperback copy of John Murray's 'Redemption Accomplished and Applied' covered in leather, and it has accompanied him around the world, illustrating his high esteem for the book.

We would urge you, not as a reference work, but as a work to be mastered, redemption accomplished and applied by John Murray. It's a paperback. It's a paperback. It's of only about a hundred and, I think, twenty pages altogether.

23:47 - 23:59 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: This section focuses on books for the Christian life, emphasizing works that have proven pastorally helpful. Recommendations include Pilgrim's Progress (Bunyan), works by J.C…

Martin explains that he recommends certain books (e.g., Ryle's Holiness, Lloyd-Jones' Spiritual Depression) because he has personally seen them used by God to do pastoral work when people come to him struggling with aspects of the Christian life.

When people have come struggling with an aspect of the Christian life, I've loaned them my copy of Ryle's Holiness or Ryle's Practical Religion or Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones' Spiritual Discipline, Depression. I've seen these books used of God to do pastoral work. So it's not theoretical.

30:43 - 31:02 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: This section focuses on books for the Christian life, emphasizing works that have proven pastorally helpful. Recommendations include Pilgrim's Progress (Bunyan), works by J.C…

Martin mentions that Charles Spurgeon reportedly read 'Pilgrim's Progress' at least a hundred times, using it as an example of the book's enduring value and how it reveals new insights with each reading as one grows in grace.

Now others may have found other books and so we do not question the validity but here we go. The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. It is said that Charles Spurgeon read it through at least a hundred times in his lifetime.

31:03 - 31:17 Read in full sermon

Driving home: He said before I die I want to master my three John's. John Calvin, John Owen and John Murray.

Martin quotes J.I. Packer describing John Owen's writing as 'ponderous Ciceronian English' with a 'Latinized mind,' and notes Packer's advice that reading Owen aloud often helps unlock complex sentences, illustrating the difficulty and reward of reading Owen.

I'm reading one of them right now. No, I'm reading one from level number two and finding it very helpful. Owen is a constant companion in my own reading and there's no excuse for me not to take Owen at level one. But for many of you that would be difficult time-wise and the old English and then I think Packer said he writes in ponderous Ciceronian English.

33:24 - 33:51 Read in full sermon

Driving home: He said before I die I want to master my three John's. John Calvin, John Owen and John Murray.

Martin recounts Sinclair Ferguson stating that as he gets older, he is less enamored with contemporary books and desires to master his 'three Johns': John Calvin, John Owen, and John Murray, serving as a fresh stimulus for Martin.

So it's rough going but it's worth it if you can hack it. But these reductions of Owen and let me say this and it has stuck with me since I heard it. A few months ago Dr. Sinclair Ferguson was speaking at a pastor's conference and he said the older I get the less enamored I am with contemporary books.

34:17 - 34:37 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Owen said that the Lord's Day is the hedge around all of the other institutions of God.

Martin quotes John Owen, who said that 'the Lord's Day is the hedge around all of the other institutions of God,' emphasizing the sanctity and importance of the Sabbath.

And then I've mentioned the Lord's Day by Joseph Piper. The whole matter of the benefit and blessing and principles to guide our conduct on the Lord's Day. Owen said that the Lord's Day is the hedge around all of the other institutions of God. Now you think about that.

35:26 - 35:49 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Long before children can cognitively grasp the majority of the content of family worship, they are learning from the climate and the atmosphere the tremendous importance of family worship.

Martin shares that pastors attending their conference have sometimes expressed never knowing what family worship was until they experienced it in one of the church members' homes, highlighting the erosion of this practice.

And here I've divided it into two categories. The biblical basis for family worship. Some of you come out of a background where family worship is like something from Mars. We have had pastors who've come to our pastor's conference who said they never knew what family worship was till they got into one of our homes during the pastor's conference.

36:36 - 36:56 Read in full sermon

The point: Give a higher place to singing in family worship.

Martin shares his personal practice of catechizing his granddaughter 'night after night,' getting biblical truths into her mind and conscience, trusting God to eventually put them into her heart, as an example of the importance of catechism.

I'm just spurting because with my little granddaughter, night after night, that poor little pagan child, getting these truths into her mind and into her conscience, trusting that God will eventually put them into her heart. Take the time to catechize your children and then all others, hymn books. We recommend our own Trinity hymn book, but not exclusively. You come across some good hymn books with solid hymns.

39:50 - 40:22 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: This section provides resources for evangelism, starting with Packer's 'Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God' for theological grounding and Metzger's 'Tell the Truth' for…

Martin highlights Will Metzger's extensive experience in campus evangelism for decades from a thoroughly biblical and Reformed perspective, establishing Metzger's credentials to write a 'how-to' book on evangelism.

It is tell the truth by Will Metzger. No finer how-to book written from a sound theological perspective by someone who has. Who has engaged in the work of evangelism in a concentrated way for many years. God has given to Will Metzger, who is a personal friend, an unusual opportunity in campus evangelism.

42:44 - 43:06 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: This section provides resources for evangelism, starting with Packer's 'Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God' for theological grounding and Metzger's 'Tell the Truth' for…

Martin uses the analogy of a young doctor not wanting to read a book on liver or kidney removal written by someone who has never performed such a surgery, to illustrate the importance of an author's credentials when writing 'how-to' books.

He's worked at it for decades from a thoroughly biblical and reformed perspective. And in that sense, he's earned the right to write on the subject. Whenever I get a how-to book, I always want to ask the question, what right does this man have to write this book? I don't want to if I'm a young doctor reading the book on how to take out a liver which someone ain't never took out a liver.

43:06 - 43:32 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: This section provides resources for evangelism, starting with Packer's 'Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God' for theological grounding and Metzger's 'Tell the Truth' for…

Martin recounts a recent evangelistic encounter with a man named Todd, where he listened for 45 minutes, then gave him Blanchard's 'Ultimate Questions' and his own booklet 'Bad Record, Bad Heart,' along with church directions, as an example of using evangelistic materials.

And I have some books that are based on the history and history of the world. I don't want to go into detail, but I want to make sure that we understand what they mean to me and why I believe it. This is a good example of a good example of a good example of a good example of solitude. And I'd like you all to understand that there's a great deal of a lot of time that we need to spend so hard to write about it.

43:57 - 44:27 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: This section provides resources for evangelism, starting with Packer's 'Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God' for theological grounding and Metzger's 'Tell the Truth' for…

Martin mentions seeing 'goofy tracts' that look like money being left as tips, making waitresses mad, as an example of how not to use evangelistic tracts, emphasizing the need for judicious and prayerful use.

And then the tracts in our tract rack, most of those are evangelistic tracts, and again, many of us have reacted against people. That put these goofy tracts in place of a tip, they put something that looks like money, and get the waitress mad. You've seen them, maybe you haven't, maybe you've been spared some of the things that I've seen. But you don't want to be boorish, but judiciously, prayerfully, these can be instruments of God to put in the hands of others, and we would commend them to you.

45:38 - 46:13 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin stresses the importance of church history and biography for every Christian, recommending S.M. Houghton's 'Sketches of Church History' for a one-volume overview. He also…

Martin shares his personal acquaintance with S.M. Houghton, describing him as a humble, godly, and meticulous historian who even corrected Ian Murray's references, illustrating Houghton's expertise and the reliability of his 'Sketches of Church History'.

And nothing in one volume, to my knowledge, is of better help in that direction than Sketches of Church History by S.M. Houghton. It was my privilege to know Mr. Houghton, one of the most humble, gracious, godly men that I've met in my pilgrimage.

46:49 - 47:08 Read in full sermon

Driving home: because it is in biography that we see the truth fleshed out in real lives.

Martin shares a standing agreement with his grandson Landon, where he gets him three 'Youth With A Mission' biographies at a time, and Landon calls for more when finished, illustrating the blessing and hunger these books create in children.

My grandson Landon and I have a standing agreement. I get him three at a time, and when he's done reading them, he calls Grandpa and starts politicking for the next three. And these have been a great blessing to him. They will be to your children and you as adults.

48:56 - 49:10 Read in full sermon

The point: Be modest and realistic in your reading goals, starting with a small, consistent amount like five pages a day.

Martin shares his personal experience of working through 'whole sets of Puritan works' by consistently reading just five pages a day, demonstrating the power of modest, realistic reading goals.

That's all. Just five pages. And it's amazing. I have worked through whole sets of Puritan works.

50:11 - 50:18 Read in full sermon