The Hope of His Calling, Part 2

The point: Use unceasing diligence in acquiring a correct knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus, and pray without ceasing for the influence of the Holy Spirit to render the truth effectual in the sanctification of the whole man.

Martin quotes Alexander's 'Thoughts on Religious Experience' to establish that genuine religious experience is the impression of divine truth on the mind by the Holy Spirit, thus making knowledge of truth essential for piety. This explains why Paul prays for wisdom and revelation.

why is it that the Apostle focuses his prayer upon this distinct matter of the Spirit's work of illuminating the minds of Christians concerning some of the great realities of their faith? Why does he want them to have more distinct, definitive views of truth? And I know that the Apostle, and I know that the Apostle, and I know that the Apostle, and I know that the Apostle, and I know that the Apostle, have no better answer to that question than to read from Alexander's Thoughts on Religious Experience, in which he introduces this whole subject with these words. If genuine religious experience ...

2:29 - 3:23 Read in full sermon

The point: Use unceasing diligence in acquiring a correct knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus, and pray without ceasing for the influence of the Holy Spirit to render the truth effectual in the sanctification of the whole man.

Martin uses the example of people feeling elevated after a Catholic mass, believing the body and blood of Christ are physically present, to illustrate how subjective feelings can be mistaken for genuine Christian experience if not rooted in divine truth.

What is genuine religious experience? How can you tell if what you have felt this morning that you thought was joy is Christian joy? How can you tell if what you thought was the running out of your heart in genuine Christian worship was indeed genuine Christian worship? There are millions of people this morning looking at the front of cathedrals where a priest is mumbling some words, and saying that the body and blood of Christ are actually there, physically present, and they will go out greatly elevated and feel very close to Christ.

3:24 - 4:03 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The sermon transitions to defining 'the hope of His calling,' noting hope as one of the three dominant Christian graces (faith, hope, love). Martin contrasts the modern American…

Martin compares understanding hope to examining a beautiful gem, turning it to see its various hues as light breaks through, illustrating the desire for a deep, multifaceted knowledge of hope rather than a superficial one.

He says, I want you to know that hope. I want you to not just know it from a distance, look at it from afar, but I want you to draw up close to it, and like a beautiful gem, I want you to look at it, and let the light come, and let the prism of that gem break up that light into its various hues, and then I want you to turn it and look at it another way, and turn it and look at it another way. He said, I want you to know what that hope is. You already have it if you're called.

10:24 - 10:50 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The sermon transitions to defining 'the hope of His calling,' noting hope as one of the three dominant Christian graces (faith, hope, love). Martin contrasts the modern American…

Martin uses common phrases like 'I hope it snows on Christmas' or 'I hope USC beats Ohio State' to demonstrate the modern American usage of 'hope' as a mere wish or strong yearning, contrasting it with the biblical meaning.

All right? What is this hope that Paul longs for them to know? And here again we're at tremendous disadvantage. In our present American usage, the word hope means nothing more than a wish, a desire, or sometimes a strong yearning.

11:17 - 11:38 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Every child of God knows what it is to be possessed of those longings and yearnings for the consummation of His redemption. To say in the words of Robert Murray McShane, when I see Thee as Thou art, love Thee with unsinn…

Martin describes a thirsty traveler from a desert receiving only a tablespoon of ice water. This illustrates that the Spirit's indwelling (the 'earnest') is a taste of future glory that intensifies longing for full salvation, rather than fully satisfying it, showing how the Spirit produces hope.

If a thirsty traveler were to come off a burning desert, his tongue cleaving to the roof of his mouth, his lips almost stuck together, and you were to hold up to him a spoon that had been kept in a freezer so it was all nice and cold, a tablespoon, and you poured into it some ice water and held it to his lips, would that satisfy him? What would it do to him? I don't answer, just think. If we had a class, we'd get you all answered, but that would be a little bit of a surprise.

29:24 - 29:56 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Beginning to examine the nature of this hope, Martin asserts that its grand author and object is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, citing 1 Timothy 1:1. He explains that Christ…

Martin quotes a hymn to emphasize that Jesus Christ is the supreme object of Christian hope, stating that 'heaven itself without Thee, dark as night would be,' reinforcing Christ's centrality to the believer's future joy.

That's why Peter says, we have been begotten unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Because of His place in the work of mediation, He is, I say, the supreme object of the hope of believers. We can say in the words of that wonderful hymn, I wish it were in our hymnal, Jesus, wondrous Savior, Christ of kings, the King, angels fall before Thee, prostrate worshiping. Fairest they confess Thee in the heaven above, we would sing Thee fairest here in hymns of love.

40:19 - 41:02 Read in full sermon