Blessed Be God

Driving home: we can't say the word blessed simply means praised. That's a part, but if you make the part the whole, you end up with an untruth.

Used to illustrate that some symbols, like the raised, clenched fist, cannot be explained in a single word or sentence because they embody complex sociological patterns and drifts of thought, just as 'blessed' cannot be reduced to a single synonym.

But if I tried to do that, I would be butchering the meaning of that word. You see, many times we have even physical symbols as well as verbal symbols that cannot have their significance explained in one word or even a sentence. Explain in one word. The physical symbol of the sprinter Evans who stood upon the award box there at the Olympics and raised his fist in the salute of black power.

6:06 - 6:39 Read in full sermon

Driving home: we can't say the word blessed simply means praised. That's a part, but if you make the part the whole, you end up with an untruth.

Used to further illustrate that a single word or gesture can embody a whole context of thought, reinforcing the idea that 'blessed' is a multifaceted concept.

You can't describe that in one word. Packed into that whole symbol of the raised, clenched fist with the black glove is a whole sociological drift and pattern of thinking. And you'd be foolish to try to explain it in one word or one sentence. How could you explain in one word the symbolism of a fanatical follower of Hitler who in the days of his power when they saw Hitler coming by would say Heil!

6:40 - 7:10 Read in full sermon

Driving home: we can't say the word blessed simply means praised. That's a part, but if you make the part the whole, you end up with an untruth.

Compares the process of understanding the word 'blessed' to holding up a beautiful gem and turning it to see its intrinsic beauty from different angles, suggesting a multi-faceted approach to its meaning.

And so what I'm going to do and what I'm going to attempt to do is what you do with a beautiful gem. You hold it up this way and certain light reflects off it and there are certain insights as to its intrinsic beauty. Then you turn it this way and you get other insights. So we're going to hold up this little word and looking at it from several perspectives seek to grasp something of the meaning which the Holy Spirit has bound up and deposited in this word blessed.

7:35 - 8:03 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin expounds on Goodwin's definition of blessing God as wishing and speaking well of God out of goodwill and a sense of His goodness to us, distinguishing it from forced…

An extended quotation from Goodwin's commentary on Ephesians, defining blessing God as 'to wish well to and speak well of God out of goodwill to God and a sense of his goodness unto us,' which serves as a foundational definition for much of the sermon.

The most helpful thing that I came across in my preparation were the comments of Goodwin in his commentary in the book of Ephesians in which he defines blessing God in the following way. Blessing God is to wish well to and speak well of God out of goodwill to God and a sense of his goodness unto us. Now let's just exegete that definition. Right?

10:05 - 10:36 Read in full sermon