“Woe is Me, for I am Undone”

The point: Be willing to receive with unusual eagerness what God says because of the peculiar circumstances in which we find ourselves.

Martin uses Christ's teaching ministry, which was called forth by specific needs, as an example of how his sermon is tailored to the church's current circumstances (Pastor Blaze's separation).

This is the second in a very brief series of two studies in this very familiar portion of the Word of God. And briefly, by way of review and introduction, I would remind you that we are directed to this passage in a very special sense because of the special circumstances in which we find ourselves as a body of God's people. One of the things that is very, very evident in the teaching ministry of our Lord is its occasional nature. That is, instruction was called forth by the specific occasions of need.

0:20 - 1:04 Read in full sermon

The point: Be willing to receive with unusual eagerness what God says because of the peculiar circumstances in which we find ourselves.

Jesus' lecture on humility when disciples argued about who would be 'big shot' illustrates the occasional nature of His instruction.

When our Lord overheard the disciples arguing about who's going to be big shot in the kingdom, he gave them a lecture and a lesson on humility.

1:05 - 1:12 Read in full sermon

The point: Constantly know and feel, 'I am a creature utterly dependent upon God the Creator.'

Adam, though sinless, was a dependent creature in the Garden of Eden, illustrating that dependence is part of creaturehood, not just sinnerhood.

You remember the apostle Paul stated it this way in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 8. But we have this treasure in earth. It says, And you see, our safety is in the constant and conscious awareness of our creaturehood as men. For as men, that which characterizes us even before sin entered is our dependentness upon God.

12:25 - 13:00 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not forget what you are as a creature, lest you be burned up with fanaticism by the devil.

The analogy that if the devil cannot freeze us with indifference, he'll burn us up with fanaticism, illustrates the danger of forgetting human creaturehood and limitations.

And the servant of God who does not face realistically his creaturehood as a man will be prey to the work of the devil in driving him beyond what God requires of him. The scripture has said, if the devil cannot freeze us out, with indifference, he'll burn us up with fanaticism. And the essence of fanaticism is to forget what I am. Oh, may God help you, Mrs. Blaze, to be a Nathan to your beloved husband when all of the pressures and responsibilities are upon him that could consume 48 hours of a 28-hour day to be his Nathan, to remind him he is but a man. And the Son of Man said, Let us come apa...

16:59 - 17:47 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not forget what you are as a creature, lest you be burned up with fanaticism by the devil.

Martin exhorts Mrs. Blaze to be a 'Nathan' to her husband, reminding him he is 'but a man' amidst ministry pressures, illustrating the need for others to help ministers remember their human limitations.

And the servant of God who does not face realistically his creaturehood as a man will be prey to the work of the devil in driving him beyond what God requires of him. The scripture has said, if the devil cannot freeze us out, with indifference, he'll burn us up with fanaticism. And the essence of fanaticism is to forget what I am. Oh, may God help you, Mrs. Blaze, to be a Nathan to your beloved husband when all of the pressures and responsibilities are upon him that could consume 48 hours of a 28-hour day to be his Nathan, to remind him he is but a man. And the Son of Man said, Let us come apa...

16:59 - 17:47 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not forget what you are as a creature, lest you be burned up with fanaticism by the devil.

Jesus' command, 'Let us come apart,' is quoted to emphasize the necessity of rest for ministers, reinforcing the reality of human creaturehood.

And the servant of God who does not face realistically his creaturehood as a man will be prey to the work of the devil in driving him beyond what God requires of him. The scripture has said, if the devil cannot freeze us out, with indifference, he'll burn us up with fanaticism. And the essence of fanaticism is to forget what I am. Oh, may God help you, Mrs. Blaze, to be a Nathan to your beloved husband when all of the pressures and responsibilities are upon him that could consume 48 hours of a 28-hour day to be his Nathan, to remind him he is but a man. And the Son of Man said, Let us come apa...

16:59 - 17:47 Read in full sermon

The point: Pray for Pastor Blaise that he may continually know communion with God, which will involve intensified and periodic insights into his own heart that will shatter and humble him.

Martin mentions reading biographies of Rutherford or David Brainerd, finding their spiritual depth so profound that he can only read a few pages a day, illustrating the deep inner life of men greatly used by God.

Without that every widening circle of influence as far as quantity is a neutralizing and a thinning out of the quality of a man's ministry. That's why the men who have been most used of God have been most powerfully wrought upon in their own hearts, so that we read some of their biographies and we say, Lord, that man's living in a realm. I know nothing of. That's why I can only handle a few pages a day.

24:59 - 25:32 Read in full sermon

The point: Pray for Pastor Blaise that he may continually know communion with God, which will involve intensified and periodic insights into his own heart that will shatter and humble him.

Martin emphasizes that Isaiah was a 'holy man of God,' not a 'bum' or 'alcoholic,' to highlight that God's shattering revelation of sin is necessary even for the godly, not just the outwardly wicked.

Remember, this was no bum. This was no alcoholic dragged off the streets. This was no lecture drawn from the paths of whore houses and red lights. This was a holy man of God.

25:52 - 26:04 Read in full sermon

The point: In the coming days, when pressures conspire to undermine a biblical church, may the Lord bring you back again and again to this revelation of Himself, that you may feel the constraining power of His grace and seal your v…

Martin quotes Thornwell's argument that the only means Jesus gave to raise up laborers is prayer, and a lack of laborers indicts the church, illustrating the need for God's power rather than human schemes.

There will be those saying, here am I. Send me. I go back to Thornwell. You forgive me if Thornwell keeps coming out because he's been coming in all week over a couple of days.

42:05 - 42:18 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Finally, God revealed the people's true worth, not as dogs slated for slaughter, but as creatures made in His image, within the privileged nation of Israel. Crucially, God…

God uses the illustration of trees (terebinth, oak) whose stock remains alive even after being felled, to explain that the 'holy seed' (remnant) will be preserved despite national judgment.

Look at that last verse. So the holy seed is the stock thereof. And God uses an illustration that was very understandable to every Hebrew person. There were certain types of trees which, even when you cut them down, the life remained in them sufficiently to support limbs.

47:36 - 47:54 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Finally, God revealed the people's true worth, not as dogs slated for slaughter, but as creatures made in His image, within the privileged nation of Israel. Crucially, God…

Martin shares a personal anecdote of his willow tree growing fresh shoots from felled hunks, reinforcing the biblical illustration of life remaining in a cut-down tree.

A year ago I cut down our willow tree. And to my amazement, two years ago, a year afterwards, I saw fresh green streets grow, uh, fresh green. Shoots growing out of hunks of the willow tree that were sitting there in my backyard. Somehow they found something to support its life system.

47:54 - 48:15 Read in full sermon