A Godly Man's Reading Plan (2/15/12)

Driving home: The Place of a Disciplined Reading Program in the Life of a Fruitful Man of God.

Martin shares that the sermon is delivered on the 60th anniversary of his conversion, connecting his personal journey of being led by the Lord as his shepherd (Psalm 23) to the early commitment to a disciplined reading program.

other form of ministry, that it would be fruitful, not famous, not necessarily astounding, not necessarily leaving a record that someone would want to embalm in printer's ink and write your biography, but you long that you would be a fruitful man of God. For Jesus said, herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much. Fruit. And the reason for choosing Psalm 23 as a platform of introduction is because this time of the year, and this particular year, has special significance for this old man, almost 78 in April, I'll turn 78, God willing. It was about this time, 60 years ago, when the Lord Je...

4:20 - 5:39 Read in full sermon

The point: Be a regular, disciplined reader of your whole Bible.

Martin recounts his decades of experience preaching at pastors' conferences, observing that a 'crowning sin of ministers is they don't read their whole Bibles regularly,' lending weight to his exhortation.

Now you might say, well surely, Pastor Martin, you're talking to seminary students. Why in the world are you daring to stand and say, read your Bible? Well, because my brethren, for decades it's been my privilege to preach at pastor's conferences in many countries and in many settings, to men representing many theological disciplines and frameworks of reference, and I have found again and again, one of the crowning sins of ministers is they don't read their whole Bibles regularly. I don't say that off the cuff as a 25 year old young buck who's just graduated from Bible college or seminary. I s...

7:56 - 9:07 Read in full sermon

The point: If you do not have right now a commitment to a regular disciplined reading of the whole of your Bible, following your own program or McShane's, I have used one for years in which reading two chapters of the old every day…

Martin describes his own Bible reading plan: two Old Testament chapters, one New Testament chapter daily (excluding Lord's Days) to read the whole Bible every two years and the New Testament annually, plus a Psalm daily, as a concrete example for the audience.

in it day and night. And then that wonderful statement concerning Apollos in Acts 18.24. He was mighty, dunitas, in the scriptures. How did he get that way? By the constant acquisition of heart acquaintance with the scriptures. And so I urge upon you men, if you do not have right now a commitment to a regular disciplined reading of the whole of your Bible, following your own program or McShane's, I have used one for years in which reading two chapters of the old every day, a chapter in the new, barring Lord's days, gets me through my Bible, the whole of my Bible, once every two years. It gets ...

11:42 - 12:43 Read in full sermon

The point: I hope you will let no kind of reading keep you from looking daily, if only, for five minutes, into a class of writers who are not attractive in regard to letters, but who unite great talents, great Bible knowledge, and …

Martin quotes Alexander's 'Thoughts on Preaching,' which urges ministers to daily read authors who unite great talents, Bible knowledge, and unction, specifically naming Owen, to illustrate the value of such reading.

these are just miscellaneous paragraphs to ministerial students, on page 93. I hope you will let no kind of reading keep you from looking daily, if only, for five minutes, into a class of writers who are not attractive in regard to letters, but who unite great talents, great Bible knowledge, and great unction. At the head of these stands Owen. My father used to say one should read Owen's spiritual mindedness once a year. I have found it to be tremendously profitable. I've never read it once a year, but I believe I've gone through six or seven times over the course of decades. I add to his fath...

14:46 - 16:09 Read in full sermon

The point: I hope you will let no kind of reading keep you from looking daily, if only, for five minutes, into a class of writers who are not attractive in regard to letters, but who unite great talents, great Bible knowledge, and …

Martin shares his father's advice to read Owen's 'Spiritual Mindedness' once a year, highlighting the profound and repeated benefit of engaging with such deep theological works.

these are just miscellaneous paragraphs to ministerial students, on page 93. I hope you will let no kind of reading keep you from looking daily, if only, for five minutes, into a class of writers who are not attractive in regard to letters, but who unite great talents, great Bible knowledge, and great unction. At the head of these stands Owen. My father used to say one should read Owen's spiritual mindedness once a year. I have found it to be tremendously profitable. I've never read it once a year, but I believe I've gone through six or seven times over the course of decades. I add to his fath...

14:46 - 16:09 Read in full sermon

The point: Pick up Flavel and read that marvelous treatise based on the text Proverbs 4.23. Above all that you guard, guard your heart, for out of it are the issues of life, and you will find it, if you have real spiritual life, yo…

Martin uses the analogy of 'priming the pump' to describe his method of reading Puritans like Flavel and Brooks for 10-15 minutes in the morning. This helps to 'prime the pump of my affections' and focus his mind on heart issues, preparing him for prayer and Scripture reading.

In such a way, and our lives are ordered in such a way by divine providence, that we will not have the same favorite authors who have that capacity to warm the heart, to search out our sin, and to set Christ before us in his beauty and glory. As I was a very young man at the time and began to acquire some of the sets of the Puritan's works, I looked at them sitting on my shelves and say, no way, no way I'm ever going to get through all that. But I said, yes, there is a way. And I came up with the concept, some of you don't even remember what you had to do to the old way of getting water when y...

16:30 - 17:52 Read in full sermon

The point: Pick up Flavel and read that marvelous treatise based on the text Proverbs 4.23. Above all that you guard, guard your heart, for out of it are the issues of life, and you will find it, if you have real spiritual life, yo…

Martin humorously recounts Ian Murray's strong reaction to seeing his books underlined with ballpoint pens, illustrating the deep reverence some have for books and the importance of careful study habits (now using a mechanical pencil).

would, perhaps with God's blessing, be a means of grace to put you in a praying frame, you in a frame where the other elements of your reading of the scriptures and seeking the face of God will be more warm, more passionate, more earnest as you seek to meet with God. I have to say this was my experience. In fact, I'm a little bit sad this morning because when I complete my reading years ago, Ian Murray saw some of my books and I had underlined them with ballpoint pens, and he almost went to my fellow, well, was suggesting I be excommunicated. With Ian's love of books, the thought that anyone w...

17:52 - 19:02 Read in full sermon

The point: Pick up Flavel and read that marvelous treatise based on the text Proverbs 4.23. Above all that you guard, guard your heart, for out of it are the issues of life, and you will find it, if you have real spiritual life, yo…

Martin shares a profound insight from Owen about the primary reason God gives glorified eyes in the resurrection body: to actually see Christ. This personal anecdote illustrates how deep reading can profoundly impact one's spiritual affections and understanding.

fifth or sixth time, oh, in volume one, and I felt a sadness. He has set Christ before me in ways I've never seen him before. I've wondered that I could have read that stuff four and five times, some of it's underlined. For example, he said, you know, the main reason God's giving us real eyes in the resurrection body, you know what his primary reason is?

19:02 - 19:30 Read in full sermon

The point: If you've never read through your Gospels with old Bishop Ryle at your elbow, his expository thoughts on the Gospels. This will enrich your soul.

Martin recommends Bishop Ryle's 'Expository Thoughts on the Gospels,' describing Ryle's ability to extract principles, articulate them clearly, and make practical applications, serving as an example of a valuable pastoral commentary.

one that's based on sound exposition, sound principles of opening up the word, but pastorally sensitive, where the applicatory note is woven through and constantly attendant upon the explanatory elements of those commentaries, the ones that I have found particularly helpful over the years. I would find that good, and when I say good, if you've never read through your Gospels with old Bishop Ryle at your elbow, his expository thoughts on the Gospels. This will enrich your soul. Ryle had the ability to go into a text, extract the major principles, articulate them in a very clean, unmistakably st...

23:10 - 24:27 Read in full sermon

The point: If you want to have people who relish your preaching because it's retainable and patently clear as you preach, but apart from that, I cannot say enough about the use of Calvin in this area, and also, though they're not T…

Martin mentions that George Whitefield read Matthew Henry's commentary on his knees multiple times, learning his theology and Bible from it, to underscore the historical value and depth of Henry's work.

sitting in the pew, with no text in front of them, needs to know when you're moving from head one to head two, and when you're moving to head three, where you came by head one and head two. And though I know it is not popular, if you want to have people who relish your preaching because it's retainable and patently clear as you preach, but apart from that, I cannot say enough about the use of Calvin in this area, and also, though they're not This will bring sneers in many circles of contemporary academia, is old Matthew Henry. Let me read a tribute I got in my inbox this morning. There's a dea...

26:59 - 28:14 Read in full sermon

The point: If you want to have people who relish your preaching because it's retainable and patently clear as you preach, but apart from that, I cannot say enough about the use of Calvin in this area, and also, though they're not T…

Martin shares an email from a friend who is reading Matthew Henry's unabridged commentary on a three-year schedule, finding it 'singularly unappreciated' but 'exceptionally excellent,' providing a contemporary testimony to its value.

I'm sorry I didn't receive your message sooner, but hopefully you'll receive this in time for your message tomorrow. That's a real friend who's staying up till midnight to answer my query. Yes, you are right in your recollection. In January 2011, I began.

28:37 - 28:55 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin encourages the judicious use of good, pastorally sensitive commentaries, grounding this in Ephesians 4:11 and 1 Corinthians 3:21-22, which speak of God-given teachers for…

The same friend's email details his systematic reading of Calvin's Institutes, confirming it as a 'truly profitable investment' and expressing deep indebtedness to Calvin for his doctrine and practice, illustrating the benefit of structured theological reading.

I'm now 50 and in the pastorate 22 years, and it is proving an immense help to me. And then he goes on to speak of Calvary. And then he goes on to speak of Calvin, and the place that he now has in his affection and his appreciation. He said, since your topic is reading habits, I would mention that last year I finished Calvin's Institutes also according to a systematic reading schedule.

29:44 - 30:14 Read in full sermon

The point: Once you are settled into the basic rhythms of your responsibilities and labors as a pastor, as soon as possible, establish a comprehensive, realistic, and balanced general reading program.

Martin recounts his early ministry days after a limited Bible college education, where he had dedicated mornings for general reading to 'catch up' on Reformed theology, illustrating the importance of self-disciplined learning beyond formal education.

The papers you are required to prepare. And if you do not discipline yourself to continue to have a comprehensive, realistic reading program, there are going to be holes in various aspects of your ministry. I can remember with jealousy those early days in my ministry when I didn't have a course to put together, in pastoral theology, and I was preaching just twice a week on the Lord's Day, and had two to three days a week where my mornings were blocked out for general reading. I only had a four-year Bible college theological education, which left much to be desired. And when I came home and my ...

33:23 - 34:37 Read in full sermon

The point: Seek to select your readings so that in the course of your more serious theological reading, for a period of weeks, if not months, you draw close to one great mind until something of the way they approach the scriptures,…

Martin describes his practice of drawing close to 'one great mind' (e.g., Warfield) for weeks or months, allowing their approach to Scripture and truth to be absorbed into his own soul, illustrating a method for deep theological engagement.

And it was in those years that God helped me to do much catch-up, and I've sought even when in the midst of many pressures, the kind some of your professors have, preaching at this conference and that conference, preparing class lectures. There was a period where I could only husband one morning a week, but I cherish that morning that I might continue to have some kind of a structured, realistic, comprehensive reading program. Now, by those words, comprehensive, I mean reading in the areas of theology, systematics, biblical theology, practical and pastoral issues, biography, historical, polemi...

34:50 - 36:17 Read in full sermon

The point: Seek to select your readings so that in the course of your more serious theological reading, for a period of weeks, if not months, you draw close to one great mind until something of the way they approach the scriptures,…

Martin shares how reading Warfield's essay on the emotional life of Christ 'blew me to pieces,' revealing the Savior's humanity in a new way. This illustrates the transformative power of engaging deeply with theological writers.

and of your own mind. And I used to say to my wife, she'd seen me going around with a volume of Warfield's selected shorter, greater writings, longer writings, or some of his other works, and she'd say, you're on your Warfield kick. And I would. And I found that to be a tremendous benefit to get inside a theological writer and try to understand how he handles the word of God.

36:17 - 36:44 Read in full sermon

The point: Seek to select your readings so that in the course of your more serious theological reading, for a period of weeks, if not months, you draw close to one great mind until something of the way they approach the scriptures,…

Martin quotes Sinclair Ferguson's desire to 'master my three Johns' (Calvin, Owen, Murray) before he dies, illustrating a focused approach to deep theological study and a discerning appetite for quality literature.

It was somewhere, I think, in one of these rooms or at a restaurant nearby that Sinclair Ferguson said, before I die, I want to master my three Johns. You know who they are? John Calvin, John Owen, and John Murray. He said, I have less and less appetite for much.

37:22 - 37:46 Read in full sermon

The point: Try to have a time when you have some reading that relaxes your mind and yet enriches your understanding of humanity, of God's common grace, special grace.

Martin humorously recounts reading four biographies of Wilberforce for several months, with his wife teasing him about his 'boyfriend,' illustrating how biographical reading can be relaxing and enriching.

That's what I personally have found very helpful at night to do my biographical reading when we were celebrating the 200th anniversary of Wilberforce's birth, I believe it was, several years ago. Someone gave me four biographies of Wilberforce. So for night after night, for several months, my wife would come by, see me propped up in bed reading, say, huh, you're with your boyfriend again. Well, Wilberforce became my boyfriend and I feel, I've been enriched by it.

38:15 - 38:48 Read in full sermon

The point: Try to have a time when you have some reading that relaxes your mind and yet enriches your understanding of humanity, of God's common grace, special grace.

Martin recommends Eric Metaxas's biography of Bonhoeffer, noting its objective approach due to the author's non-evangelical background, as an example of enriching biographical reading.

I would say the same of that marvelous biography of Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas. He takes an approach that only a man who had no evangelical background could take and I believe be much more objective about Bonhoeffer without whitewashing some of his deficiencies. And personally, I like, because I lived through the Second World War, I like World War II stories. I've just completed reading through them.

38:48 - 39:17 Read in full sermon

The point: Try to have a time when you have some reading that relaxes your mind and yet enriches your understanding of humanity, of God's common grace, special grace.

Martin shares his personal enjoyment of reading World War II stories, which he finds relaxing and insightful into 'men and things and the real world,' illustrating a type of reading for mental relaxation and general understanding.

I would say the same of that marvelous biography of Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas. He takes an approach that only a man who had no evangelical background could take and I believe be much more objective about Bonhoeffer without whitewashing some of his deficiencies. And personally, I like, because I lived through the Second World War, I like World War II stories. I've just completed reading through them.

38:48 - 39:17 Read in full sermon