The Christian Man in a Wicked Generation

In this part of the sermon: Pastor Martin opens by expressing amazement at God's grace for his own salvation and leads in prayer, acknowledging sovereign grace and asking for help to understand how to be…

Martin reflects on being 60 years old and singing praises, marveling that he is not in hell, illustrating the profound amazement at God's grace.

and I asked myself the question, Lord, why should I, with three score years behind me, be found standing in a group of your servants and your children, singing your praises, when I ought to be roasting in hell or marking time to be sent there? May God help us that we never cease to be amazed at the grace of God. Let's pray and ask God to help us as we seek better to know what it is to be good soldiers of Christ in our generation.

0:17 - 0:59 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Pastor Martin opens by expressing amazement at God's grace for his own salvation and leads in prayer, acknowledging sovereign grace and asking for help to understand how to be…

The rich man pleading for a drop of water in hell is used to contrast the present grace of not being enmeshed in sin's shackles and finding God as the fountain of life.

We thank you that we are not in hell, that our cry is not mingling with that of the rich man pleading for a drop of water. We thank you that this, this day we are not enmeshed in the shackles of sin, seeking to find some fountain at which we could drink and fill the burning thirst of our souls, only to turn away in bitter disappointment with the parched lips of our souls reminding us that you and you alone are the fountain of life. Oh God, we thank you for the privilege of being here.

1:31 - 2:13 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Do not let your life be a canvas upon which the world paints its concepts.

An artist reproducing a still life on canvas illustrates how the world seeks to paint its concepts of reality, worth, right, and wrong upon the canvas of a believer's soul, which must be resisted.

fashioned according to this world or this age. A present, passive, imperative. And the imagery is something like this. Here's a man who's an artist, or attempting to be one, and he sets his canvas, and he's going to do a still life work of art. So he takes his fruit and arranges it on the

14:16 - 14:47 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Do not let your life be a canvas upon which the world paints its concepts.

Pouring liquid plaster of Paris into a mold illustrates how the world has a fixed mold for what a man ought to be and constantly attempts to shape believers into its contours, which are marked by perversity and apostasy.

word of the Spirit. This is my favorite phrase. That's the same phrase that I use in my scripture, and it appears to be a devoted Christian. of a vase, or a vase, however you pronounce it, or it may be some kind of a mug or a jug, whatever it is, and when you pour in the plaster of Paris, it conforms to the contours of that mold. And what the Apostle is saying is this, the world has the contours of a mold as to what

16:40 - 17:11 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin explains 1 Peter 1:13-14, urging believers to 'gird up the loins of your mind,' be sober, and set hope on Christ's revelation, consciously rejecting former lusts and the…

Likening the mind to a long-flowing robe that needs its loose ends gathered up with a sash illustrates the call to conscious, intense mental concentration and focus.

this, you see a similar motif to the Apostle Paul. I beseech you by the mercies of God, Peter is saying, wherefore, in the light of all that is yours right now in Christ, and all that shall be yours in Christ, and in the light of the privilege of having these things in possession, not by prophecy and type and shadow, but in their substance in the gospel, gird up the loins of your mind. He likens the mind to a long-flowing, long-flowing robe. And he says, take all of the loose ends and gather them up at the waist and tie

21:13 - 21:57 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin explains 1 Peter 1:13-14, urging believers to 'gird up the loins of your mind,' be sober, and set hope on Christ's revelation, consciously rejecting former lusts and the…

A man inebriated by alcohol, unable to see things as they really are, illustrates the spiritual sobriety required to have one's mind and heart fixed upon reality, not irresponsible fantasy.

yourself smashed on booze, though it does say that, be not drunk with wine. But what it's saying is, be spiritually sober. So, Peter says, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober. Now, when the Bible tells us what a sober man is in regard to physical realities, you see, if a man gets too much unabsorbed alcohol or, what's the word I want, unmetabolized alcohol gathering in his brain, it becomes a wall between him and reality. The man who is inebriated does not see things as they

22:42 - 23:13 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin explains 1 Peter 1:13-14, urging believers to 'gird up the loins of your mind,' be sober, and set hope on Christ's revelation, consciously rejecting former lusts and the…

Martin states he has never met someone 'so heavenly-minded, he's no earthly good,' but thousands who are 'so earthly-minded, he's no heavenly good,' emphasizing the need to set one's hope on the future.

I've never yet met such a person. But I've met thousands, and I live with one whose problem is that he's so earthly-minded, he's no heavenly good.

24:29 - 24:39 Read in full sermon

The point: We must apply all of our faculties and in particular the faculties of our minds to be transformed in the totality of the function of that mind with respect to all aspects of reality.

The process of a caterpillar changing into a butterfly (metamorphosis) is used to explain the Greek word for 'transformed,' highlighting the radical change in form believers are called to undergo.

be continually transformed now notice how by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Now what does he call us to? Well using another present imperative passive verb he says you are to be transformed literally changed in form. When the caterpillar changes into the butterfly we call that process the process of metamorphosis

41:09 - 41:53 Read in full sermon

The point: Do all things without murmuring and questioning; do all things without grousing and grumping.

The 'fear and trembling' in working out salvation is distinguished from a criminal's fear of apprehension; instead, it's the fear of a son desiring to please his master and grieved at displeasing him, leading to dependence on God's strength.

be more careful and more intense work out your own salvation with fear and trembling that is with a full engagement of all of your faculties you see again men no room here for blase part time Christianity there is no such thing except in hell.

47:50 - 48:09 Read in full sermon

The point: Do all things without murmuring and questioning; do all things without grousing and grumping.

Examples like a foreman, job load, or family sickness are used to illustrate how grousing and complaining deny one's profession of a sovereign God, hindering blamelessness and testimony.

That they will be known as just well-mannered, nice guys? No. In order that you may become blameless, no just cause to lay blame upon you as one who professes to be a Christian, who says you have a sovereign God who orders all the details of your life, even the foreman you have, even the job load for that particular week, even the sickness that has come into the family and thrown all of the family's schedule into a cockpit, even in the midst of that, you say you serve a God who is ordering all things together for your good, then surely for you to be grousing and complaining is a denial of what...

50:42 - 51:22 Read in full sermon

The point: Response to this call to a Christian man's duty in a wicked generation is not optional.

The verb 'dioko,' used to describe Saul of Tarsus persecuting the church with zeal, is applied to the believer's pursuit of holiness, emphasizing fixed sights and burning passion.

For what is it but the call to a life of practical holiness? In Hebrews 12, 14 says, follow after peace with all men. And the verb used there in the imperative is the verb dioko. The very verb used to describe what Saul of Tarsus was doing when he persecuted the church, fixed his sights upon Christians, tracked them down, with zeal and with a burning passion. God

62:22 - 62:53 Read in full sermon

The point: If 'Nobody's perfect' is not your bed of thorns, men, face the fact you've probably a stranger to grace.

Rabbi Duncan's quote, 'Nobody's perfect. This is the hypocrite's couch. It is the believer's bed of thorns,' is used to distinguish between those who use imperfection as an excuse for inaction and those who are grieved by it while striving for holiness.

of remaining sin in the influence of a seducing world. Rabbi Duncan said this, Nobody's perfect.

72:08 - 72:17 Read in full sermon