The Response of Whole Man; Fruit

Driving home: What is that gospel which Paul and the apostles preached, which, if perverted, renders a man open to this terrible, terrible curse of God upon his head?

To determine if the contemporary gospel is biblical, we must measure it against the absolute standard of Scripture, just as one would measure a man's height against a yellow line on a wall, unaffected by opinion or sentiment.

It's that thing that ought to concern all of us, for in a very real sense, the greatest need in the church of Jesus Christ today is for a rediscovery of the biblical gospel, and after that discovery, an appropriation of it to the heart, and then a proclamation of that gospel by every legitimate biblical means to the ends of the earth. Now, we established last week that if we are to answer this question around which our messages last Sunday centered, and again this morning, namely, is the contemporary gospel, the gospel preached in evangelical circles, is it indeed the biblical and apostolic go...

3:51 - 4:48 Read in full sermon

Driving home: It's to take all of the biblical data about repentance, the necessity of it, the nature of it, the fruits of it, the source of it, the essence of it, and to apply that to the consciences of men. That and that alone is pr…

Preaching Christ is not merely mentioning His name, but expounding all biblical data about Him; similarly, preaching repentance means expounding its necessity, nature, fruits, and source, not just mentioning the word.

It says in the Westminster Confession of Faith under the section on repentance, having defined repentance, it says, the duty whereof is to be preached as well as that of faith in Christ. Now when you preach something, you don't just mention it. To preach Christ is not to stand in this pulpit and say Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ. I haven't preached Christ by simply mentioning his name.

8:14 - 8:38 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin demonstrates from Scripture (Acts 10, John 1:12, Acts 16:31) that the object of saving faith is consistently the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, not just the fact of His…

Martin reconstructs the jailer's immediate understanding of 'Lord' as a sovereign, a despot, a king, drawing on the Roman context where Caesar was called 'Lord,' to emphasize the immediate implication of Christ's authority.

Try to picture with this jailer what it meant to come with this sense knowing that this is God. And his question is, I must be saved. What must I do to enter into the salvation of this great God whose power I've seen and no doubt whose message I've heard at least some of it as Paul and Silas were singing psalms and praises to God at midnight. And they said to him in essence, Mr. Jailerman, if you're ever going to get saved, the first thing you've got to do is to remember you're going to reckon with somebody and that somebody is a Lord upon a throne. Mr. Jailerman, if you're ever going to get s...

16:42 - 17:29 Read in full sermon

Driving home: saving faith is self-commitment to Christ in all the glory of His person and the perfection of His work as He is so freely and fully offered to us in the gospel.

Martin quotes John Murray's definition of saving faith as 'self-commitment to Christ in all the glory of His person and the perfection of His work as He is so freely and fully offered to us in the gospel' to provide a comprehensive and accurate understanding.

Then the essence of faith is the response of the whole person to that whole Christ. Faith is so beautifully described in the book by Professor Murray, Redemption Accomplished and Applied, in the following terms, and I've scoured years for a good definition of faith and never found one that I felt was adequate until I came across, this, will you listen as I commend it to you as an accurate statement of the truth of scripture, saving faith is self-commitment to Christ in all the glory of His person and the perfection of His work as He is so freely and fully offered to us in the gospel. That's sa...

25:32 - 26:38 Read in full sermon

Driving home: saving faith is self-commitment to Christ in all the glory of His person and the perfection of His work as He is so freely and fully offered to us in the gospel.

He uses the example of someone wanting Christ only as a prophet (to find answers to confusion) but not as priest or king, to illustrate that Christ's offices cannot be separated; one must embrace the 'whole Christ'.

So that the whole man is involved in the response of faith, which is the reflex action of God and God's regenerating, quickening work in the heart of a dead sinner. The Old Confession states it beautifully, a little differently, but the same concept when it presents the Lord Jesus as the Redeemer of God's elect in His threefold offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king. And salvation comes when He has embraced the whole Christ in all the glory of His offices. Suppose someone were to come here this morning and say, Pastor Martin, I've been listening to you preach, and in the midst of all...

27:16 - 28:33 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Defining faith as 'self-commitment to Christ in all the glory of His person and the perfection of His work,' Martin illustrates how one cannot accept Christ as Prophet without…

A humorous anecdote about a button with 'I-A-K' (I Am Confused) is used to represent someone who only wants Christ as a prophet for intellectual guidance, not for salvation from sin or submission to His rule.

You see, the only need of which I am really conscious is this. I'm confused. You know, one of these guys with the button, with the big I-A-K on it. Someone asked him and said, well, what does that button stand for?

29:49 - 30:00 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Defining faith as 'self-commitment to Christ in all the glory of His person and the perfection of His work,' Martin illustrates how one cannot accept Christ as Prophet without…

He presents the scenario of someone wanting Christ as priest (for guilt) but rejecting Him as prophet (refusing to believe Genesis literally in a 'scientific age'), to show that one cannot pick and choose Christ's offices.

They say, well, look, I'm not particularly interested in subjecting my mind to Scripture. It seems to me that Christ believed the Old Testament literally, and I can't buy that business. In a scientific age, only a fool would believe the Genesis account of creation. I can't commit intellectual suicide.

31:02 - 31:16 Read in full sermon

Driving home: the same bible teaches that if his professed faith does not issue in works of holiness and obedience it is a dead faith

He quotes the hymn 'Nothing in my hands I bring' to affirm that sinners come to Christ with no merit, but immediately follows it by asserting that true faith will produce works.

Anyone who is to believe with biblical faith can sing from the depths of his heart, nothing in my hands I bring, nothing in my hands I bring, but everything I put forward, I want to meet God. If the pain of salvation in this place is no different from what you may have seen, that is…" Look at this hymn of prayer haunting us. He talks about the great gospel hymn, the greatest gift of God, the greatest gift of расzao , and about the analysis of Jesus Christ- championships to film the glory of God. requireth is to see your need of him this he gives you this he gives you tis the spirit's rising be...

35:50 - 37:15 Read in full sermon

The point: We must, as a church, and pastor, and elders, and deacons, be intelligently, wholeheartedly committed to that task of restoring the biblical gospel.

Drawing on Isaiah's imagery of God making a 'little crooked worm' into a 'new sharp threshing instrument,' Martin encourages the church that God can use them, despite their smallness and imperfections, to accomplish great things for His gospel.

And who knows but what God may take some little crooked worms in Caldwell to thresh the mountains that we read about Wednesday night in prayer meeting. God says, Fear not thou worm, Jacob. That's not a very flattering title. God says you're a little worm.

46:03 - 46:16 Read in full sermon

The point: As we face the question, is the contemporary gospel the biblical gospel? And we walk to the line on the wall that the answer will drive us to our knees for ourselves, for the church, and for the world.

He quotes an unnamed servant of Christ who said, 'what God can do with a worm if only he can get the wiggle out of it,' to emphasize the need for believers to overcome fleshly resistance and align with God's will for the gospel.

That's how God gets his work done. And as one eminent servant of Christ said, what God can do with a worm if only he can get the wiggle out of it.

46:30 - 46:37 Read in full sermon