Lessons About God

In this part of the sermon: Martin outlines the historical facts: King Ahaziah's illness, his inquiry of Baal-zebub, Elijah's interception of the messengers, the king's repeated attempts to seize Elijah, and…

Martin wonders if the contemporary writer of 'Lord of the Flies' got his title from Baal-zebub, the 'lord of the flies,' to illustrate the nature of the heathen deity Ahaziah consulted.

He falls down having leaned upon the banister or some kind of a railing in his balcony, and he's sick with a sickness that is quite grave. We would say he was on the critical list. And because he wants to know what will happen to him, he inquires of this Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, literally the lord of the flies. I wonder if this contemporary writer got his title for his book from this.

9:56 - 10:23 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin outlines the historical facts: King Ahaziah's illness, his inquiry of Baal-zebub, Elijah's interception of the messengers, the king's repeated attempts to seize Elijah, and…

Martin expresses a wish that preachers would be as accurate in conveying God's words as Ahaziah's messengers were in reporting Elijah's message, emphasizing the importance of faithful proclamation.

I couldn't help but think as I was reading over them, wouldn't it be to God that preachers would be as accurate in conveying the words of God as these messengers were? They didn't pare down Elijah's words one bit. They gave it to him verbatim. And they said, This is what the prophets said.

12:28 - 12:42 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin outlines the historical facts: King Ahaziah's illness, his inquiry of Baal-zebub, Elijah's interception of the messengers, the king's repeated attempts to seize Elijah, and…

Elijah's fearless confrontation with King Ahaziah and Jezebel is compared to Daniel in the lion's den, illustrating God's power to restrain wicked authorities.

And while they stand there stunned and powerless, he turns on his heel and walks out. Are you amazed when you read the book of Daniel, how the Lord shut the mouths of the lions? Well, this is a Daniel's lion's den. The Lord is shutting the mouth and restraining the fury of a Jezebel and all the wicked cohorts of that court in Samaria.

18:47 - 19:09 Read in full sermon

The point: Give unto God the love and the worship of your heart, accepting your place as a creature utterly dependent upon Him.

Martin tells unconverted persons that if they are not thanking God for the air they breathe, they are breathing 'borrowed air in a very ungrateful manner,' to illustrate their dependence on God despite their rebellion.

Utterly dependent upon him, the creator for all things, and gladly acknowledging it. You are dependent though you acknowledge it or not. And if you're not a child of God thanking him for the air you breathe, you're breathing borrowed air in a very ungrateful manner.

29:41 - 29:55 Read in full sermon

The point: Believe and express by your practice that the word of God is the sufficient rule both of faith and of practice.

Martin critiques the contemporary approach of 'Christian coffee houses' with rock and roll music and dancing, arguing it's a form of 'going to Baal-zebub' by borrowing from the world rather than relying on God's sufficiency.

Their very marked difference was to be their glory. The philosophy in our day is our sameness with the world will be the bridge of our contact with it. So we'll open up our so-called Christian coffee houses.

33:24 - 33:39 Read in full sermon

Driving home: When God starts to put forth his hand to do something, who's going to put their hand on God and say, hey, wait a minute, who gave you permission for that?

Martin uses the example of a parent staying a child's hand from taking band-aids or a bank teller's hand from taking money to illustrate that no one can stay God's hand or question His authority.

To use scriptural terminology, who can stay his hand and say, oh, wait a minute God, who gave you permission for that? I see my son going to the ministry in the medicine cabin. I say, where are you going? What are you doing?

35:23 - 35:35 Read in full sermon

The point: Find comfort in the midst of unusual national upheavals, knowing that God is holding the reins.

Martin uses the examples of Red China's goal of world conquest and men rising to political influence based on their name to illustrate the need for comfort in God's absolute sovereignty over nations amidst global and national upheavals.

What kind of comfort do you have if you don't believe that God is absolutely sovereign in the disposition of nation? You see a nation like Red China rising up that's not the least bit embarrassed to say what its goal is, world conquest. It doesn't have the subtlety of the Russian brand of communism that talks peace and love out of one side of the mouth, but has the dagger of conquest and the rest out of the other. No, no, no, no.

40:37 - 41:09 Read in full sermon

The point: Let the thought of God's sovereign justice strike fear to your heart, knowing He could cut you off suddenly.

Martin shares a personal anecdote from his unconverted days, fearing choking on a bee or gristle, to illustrate the dread and torment an unconverted person should feel at the thought of sudden judgment from God.

To think that if it pleases God, He could open the heavens tonight and send fire to consume you in your state of rebellion. Doesn't that strike fear to your heart? I tell you in my unconverted days I used to live in dread and torment that I might just be sucking in a good mouth of air because being a mouth breather I can't breathe through my nose and have a bee stick in my throat and have me choke and die. At times I get a piece of gristle caught in my throat and I think this is it.

50:04 - 50:35 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The fourth attribute is God's burning anger against impenitent sinners, vividly displayed by the fire from heaven consuming the soldiers. Martin emphasizes that God's character…

Martin uses the metaphor of 'day glow paint' for justice in the Old Testament and 'soft off-white' for mercy, then reversing them for the New Testament, to illustrate the progressive revelation of God's character, where mercy is currently highlighted but justice will return in full glory.

They are both revealed in the Old Testament everywhere you turn. They're both revealed in the New Testament. But will you picture those two words up here in big block letters? Justice and mercy.

57:31 - 57:47 Read in full sermon