Comforts of God Experienced in Affliction

Driving home: While no true servant of Christ ever makes his own person or experience the basis or the theme of his ministry, every true servant of Christ preaches Christ out of the context and the matrix of his own experience of Chri…

Martin uses the analogy of a true servant of Christ preaching Christ 'out of the context and the matrix of his own experience of Christ' to explain how his personal story fits into his sermon.

Now you can mark it down as an indisputable fact that no true servant of Jesus Christ preaches himself or his experience as the substance of his ministry. If you ever hear any man claiming to be a true servant of Christ, in whom the Holy Spirit is the source of his life, if you ever hear any man claiming to be a true servant of Christ, in whom the Holy Spirit is the source of his life, if you ever hear any man claiming to be a true servant of Christ, in whom the Holy Spirit is the source of his life, if you ever hear any man claiming to be a true servant of Christ, in whom the Holy Spirit is t...

4:29 - 5:52 Read in full sermon

Driving home: While no true servant of Christ ever makes his own person or experience the basis or the theme of his ministry, every true servant of Christ preaches Christ out of the context and the matrix of his own experience of Chri…

Martin shares his personal story of being diagnosed with prostate cancer and facing major surgery, which serves as the immediate context and motivation for the sermon on God's comfort.

himself, he preaches Christ out of the context of his own experience. experience of Christ. And in a very focused way, that's what I will attempt to do this morning. As most, if not all of you know, at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning, I will be wheeled into an operating room at Chiltern Hospital for major surgery, the goal of which is to remove a cancerous prostate and any other cancerous tissue that may be found in the surrounding area. The events of tomorrow morning are the culmination of issues that began to unfold on April the 15th of this year, when, during my first visit to a specialist, I was t...

5:52 - 6:59 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Expounding 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Martin blesses God as the 'God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,' 'Father of mercies,' and 'God of all comfort.' He explains that God comforts…

Martin uses the analogy of a lion acting like a lion and a lamb acting like a lamb to explain that God manifests compassion and comfort because it is in His very essence and nature.

As a lion always acts like a lion because in his nature he is a lion, a lamb acts like a lamb because in its nature and disposition it is a lamb, so God is the God who can be called Father of mercies and God of all comfort because it is in his very essence and nature to manifest his disposition of compassion and his being. To be a compassionating and a comforting God. And Paul blesses God that he is these things in himself. But then secondly, he blesses God for what he has been doing to his servants.

12:59 - 13:43 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin identifies the first comfort as the sovereign will of God, drawing from Romans 11:36 and Romans 8:28. He testifies that the doctrine of God's gracious, all-wise, and…

Martin illustrates God's sovereignty by referring to 'recreate reality, in its largest and smallest motion and disposition, from the farthest yet undiscovered galaxy, to the subatomic particles,' including cancer cells.

Of Him, in sovereign will and purpose, through Him, by sovereign, immanent, all-encompassing providence, and unto Him, in praise and honor and glory, are all, recreate reality, in its largest and smallest motion and disposition, from the farthest yet undiscovered galaxy, to the subatomic particles, with its quarks, and all of the other terms, that people give to them, are all. For in the language of Ephesians 1 in verse 11, He is the God who is working, actively, imminently, powerfully, infallibly, He is working all things, after the counsel of His own will. The all things of the familiar text...

23:59 - 25:27 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin identifies the first comfort as the sovereign will of God, drawing from Romans 11:36 and Romans 8:28. He testifies that the doctrine of God's gracious, all-wise, and…

Martin shares his practice of listening to his old sermons critically and recounts how he listened to a sermon on God's sovereignty over nature, which uncannily anticipated his current health crisis.

From time to time, I make a point of listening, to one of my sermons, not to admire it, but to criticize it. And to see if I've fallen into patterns of verbal expressions, that are trite, and unusually, or unnecessarily repetitive, and the rest. And I listen with a critical ear. And a couple of months ago, after the first visit, in April 15th, I was listening to a sermon, that I've never preached here, that was prepared and preached, at the Ligonier Conference, in February of 1996.

26:45 - 27:18 Read in full sermon

The point: Amidst pain, grief, and fears, and responsible actions, submit to God's sovereign will, saying, 'Nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done.'

Martin uses the examples of a Down Syndrome child and the proliferation of destructive cells (cancer) to press the question of God's sovereignty over all natural processes.

Well, I'm not saying, that God's sovereignty, over nature, is the only thing, that God's sovereignty, is the only thing, that is in control, of God. And then I had, two specific, illustrations, to press. Was God, really there, at the conception, of that down syndrome, child? My second, was this.

28:15 - 28:36 Read in full sermon

The point: Amidst pain, grief, and fears, and responsible actions, submit to God's sovereign will, saying, 'Nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done.'

Martin recounts how, in a sermon preached months before his diagnosis, he specifically asked, 'What will you do, when the doctor, tells you, that the report, has come back, from the pathologist? And he says, the C word,' which proved to be a prophetic application for his own life.

Was God, really there, when the processes, which caused, the proliferation, of destructive cells, occurred? And then, what was not in my notes, and it was uncanny, as I listened to it, said, what will you do, when the doctor, tells you, that the report, has come back, from the pathologist? And he says, the C word. Yes, without claiming, to be a prophet, in getting specific, in the application, it was in the very area, that God was preparing, me to face, some months later.

28:36 - 29:13 Read in full sermon

The point: Amidst pain, grief, and fears, and responsible actions, submit to God's sovereign will, saying, 'Nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done.'

Martin quotes Pastor Carr's sermons on Christian contentment to clarify that submission to God's sovereignty does not mean painlessness, prayerlessness, or paralysis.

And I would be, shamefully, and willfully, guilty, of reproaching God, if I did not say, that the doctrine, of God's sovereignty, better stated, the reality, of a loving, gracious, sovereign God, has been, the sheet anchor, to our souls. As Pastor Carr, pointed out, in his masterful sermons, on Christian contentment, submission, to the sovereignty, of God, does not mean, painlessness, it does not mean, prayerlessness, it does not mean, paralysis. But it means, amidst, the pouring out, of the pain, and the grief, and the fears, amidst, the pleading, with God, amidst, taking every effort, respon...

29:13 - 30:41 Read in full sermon

The point: When intense afflictions come, do not ask 'Why me, Lord?' but 'Who, then, Lord?' to better prove God's grace to minister to others.

Martin shares a very personal prayer request he made to God before surgery: that if he babbled under anesthesia, his words would be Christian, reflecting hymns or God's Word, rather than sinful language from his past.

But, He that will lose, His life, for my sake, in the Gospels, the same, shall save it. And, Philippians 1, He says, according to my earnest expectation, and hope, that in nothing, I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, now, as always, Christ, shall be magnified, in my body, whether by life, or by death. His great passion, was not a smooth road, of comfort, into retirement, and into a rest home, and then fade off, into the sunset. He said, in this bodily existence, I want my entire being, to be one magnifying glass, that when you look at me, Christ, becomes big in your eyes. Whether b...

31:50 - 33:18 Read in full sermon

The point: Repudiate all sinful anxiety as out of bounds for Christians, and in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

Martin describes how, after praying Philippians 4:6-7 with his wife, God sent a 'garrison of soldiers' around their hearts and minds, providing an unbroken peace for eleven weeks, despite his naturally timid and fearful temperament.

with Christ, and we said, something along this line, as I led us in prayer, now Lord, we can't do the last, but you've committed, yourself to do it, and we are pleading, with you, to fulfill your promise, and I stand, to testify, in this place, this morning, the best I know, in judgment day, honesty, somewhere, in the next, several hours, before we awakened, in the morning, God sent, that garrison, of soldiers, around our hearts, and minds, and they have not, broken ranks, for five minutes, over the last, eleven weeks, and that's not, because by nature, either my wife, or, this man, standing i...

39:31 - 41:00 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin highlights the third comfort: the prayers and expressed love of the people of God, referencing 2 Corinthians 1:11 and 7:5-7. He explains that God often mediates His comfort…

Martin uses the example of Titus's arrival comforting Paul (2 Corinthians 7:5-7) to illustrate how God mediates His comfort through fellow redeemed sinners and the loving spiritual intercourse of His people.

No. He comforted us by the coming of Titus. One day when Paul was feeling the pressure of all of these circumstances, and his spirit was heavy, and no doubt crying out to God for the consolations of His grace, there was a creek in the hinges. And through the door came Titus, and the comfort of God was mediated through the loving spiritual intercourse with his dear brother.

45:35 - 46:06 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin highlights the third comfort: the prayers and expressed love of the people of God, referencing 2 Corinthians 1:11 and 7:5-7. He explains that God often mediates His comfort…

Martin shares personal examples of receiving cards, letters, notes from children, and a phone call from Germany, which served as conduits for God's comfort and compassion.

And we have known that in a most precious way in these days. Cards, letters, notes from some of the kids, barely able to frame their ABCs. This morning at nine o'clock, a telephone call from Germany, from our dear brother Hart. So many expressions of your love.

47:11 - 47:32 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin highlights the third comfort: the prayers and expressed love of the people of God, referencing 2 Corinthians 1:11 and 7:5-7. He explains that God often mediates His comfort…

Martin reflects on the overwhelming thought of thousands of God's people worldwide praying for him, a 'hell-deserving sinner,' leading to a mingled sense of unworthiness and overwhelming gratitude for God's mercy.

And what does that do? It mediates the very comfort that God is, and that God communicates to His people. It becomes the conduit through which we know the comfort of God, and the compassions of God. The other day as I thought upon it, and realized that God willing, tomorrow morning, there will literally be several thousands of God's precious ones from the Philippines, to Australia, to the Middle East, to the Caribbean, to the U.K., and all points in this country, praying for this hell-deserving sinner. And I said, Lord, among the four and a half billions of this world's population, how many li...

47:33 - 48:48 Read in full sermon

The point: For those who have been careless and indifferent, use the things shared this morning as an instrument to seek the Lord while He may be found and call upon Him while He is near.

Martin describes the sobering reality of impending surgery, the possibility of not waking up, and how it 'yanks your chain,' leading him to reflect on the solid ground of his faith in Christ and the stripping of death's power.

From the human standpoint, we have every reason to be hopeful and expected that the surgery tomorrow will be God's instrument to put this chapter behind us, hopefully enriched by all the things that God has taught in so many areas and that the Lord will continue to exegete in the days to come. But as the Scripture says, we know not what a day may bring forth any day. When you know in a few hours the mask is going to be on your face and you're off in no man's land and you know that you're going to be opened up and there's the real possibility, one in a hundred, never get off the table, it has a...

60:43 - 62:05 Read in full sermon