The Work of Faith in the Christian Life

In this part of the sermon: Pastor Martin expresses gratitude for the conference and the attendees' serious attention to the Word. He introduces the broad subject of 'the work of faith in the Christian…

Martin shares his personal testimony of God's grace transforming him from a 'confused, pimply-faced, foul-mouthed, purposeless high school senior' to a minister of the Word, illustrating the amazing grace of God.

When I say that I count it a great privilege to minister Christ's Word, I mean that sincerely, and I seek periodically to reflect upon the amazing grace of God that would take a confused, pimply-faced, foul-mouthed, purposeless high school senior, change him by his grace, and then give him the unspeakable privilege of spending his life in telling others of that grace. And I'm thankful for the privilege extended to me

0:47 - 1:31 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Well in the thinking of the New Testament, faith is one of the vital signs, of the state of the Christian life. As it is strong or weak, active or dormant, so we stand, so we live, so we walk, so we fight, so we war, so …

The analogy of a seriously injured person having 'stable vital signs' (heartbeat, blood pressure) is used to explain that faith is a crucial 'vital sign' of the Christian life, indicating its health and progress.

And he says that we who possess that salvation as believers are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. And then in first John 5 4, we are told that it is by faith that we overcome the world. Now surely brethren, this selective list of text, demonstrates the crucial place of the grace of faith in the Christian life. When someone has undergone a serious accident, and we're apprehensive about their condition,

24:17 - 25:02 Read in full sermon

The point: Turn the exceeding great and precious promises of God into the very basis of that which we plead from God and expect from God. Do it consciously, deliberately, and if to strengthen our faith, not to help God's memory, pu…

Abraham's body being 'as good as dead' is compared to a 'corpse in a graveyard' to emphasize the human impossibility of him fathering a child, highlighting the need for faith in God's promise.

He had told him that his seed would be as vast as the stars of the heaven and the sea upon the shores, the sand upon the shore of the sea. And having this word from God, how did faith operate? Verse 19, and without being weakened in faith, he considered his own body now as good as dead, he being about a hundred years old. There was as much chance that Abraham physiologically could father a child as a corpse in a graveyard,

29:26 - 30:10 Read in full sermon

The point: Turn the exceeding great and precious promises of God into the very basis of that which we plead from God and expect from God. Do it consciously, deliberately, and if to strengthen our faith, not to help God's memory, pu…

Martin describes physically putting his finger on a Bible verse (1 John 1:9) and saying, 'God, this is what you have said,' to illustrate consciously pleading God's promises to strengthen faith.

not to help God's memory. I know God knows all that he has pronounced. I find it helpful at times even to put my very finger on the words of God in script and say, God, this is what you have said. And one verse that I have blessed God, though it's quite stained with body oil in my Bible, has not lost a moment of its freshness and validity with God.

32:30 - 33:01 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not live with the consciousness of sin that is not brought immediately to the fountain open for sin and uncleanness, as this hardens your heart and strangles faith. Go to God again and again and again and again becaus…

The idea of 'evangelical penance' (groveling in guilt for days after sin) is used to contrast with immediate confession and pleading God's promise, showing how delaying confession hardens the heart and strangles faith.

You see, it is wicked, evil, unbelief, Christian, to think that when you've sinned, you must somehow do a kind of evangelical penance, groveling for an hour or two or three or four days with the guilt of that sin, before you go and confess it to God and plead His promise that He is faithful and righteous to forgive and to cleanse from all unrighteousness. Every moment you live with the consciousness of sin that is not brought immediately to the fountain open

33:39 - 34:23 Read in full sermon

The point: When you feel yourself weak and vulnerable on the verge of being seduced by the world or by your own lust, bring a promise like Jeremiah 32:40 to God and say, 'Lord, I hold You to Your sworn oath. I hold You to Your cove…

The challenge of parenting teenage children and cultivating independent judgment, especially when facing unclear decisions, is used to illustrate the need for God's wisdom and pleading James 1.

You say, is this an issue that we ought to bring to a resolution, particularly as you're seeking to cultivate in your teenage children the capacity of independent judgment? Parenting little ones is relatively easy. It is wearisome physically, but mentally and psychologically and spiritually, it's relatively easy. You make the decisions.

38:35 - 39:00 Read in full sermon

The point: As parents, when facing dilemmas in child discipline, turn to James chapter 1 and plead for God's wisdom to make wise decisions and train your children.

The emotional exhaustion of a young mother feeling overwhelmed by demands is used to illustrate the need to remember and plead Isaiah 40 for renewed strength.

When you young mothers feel, if I hear the word, Mama, one more time, I'm going to scream. I'm going to screech. I'm going to kick the wall. I'm going to spit on something or somebody.

41:01 - 41:15 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second major acting of faith is to fix the eye of the soul on the unseen world of spiritual reality and judge all seen reality by its light. 2 Corinthians 4 is expounded to…

A watch is used as an example of a 'seen thing,' and the soul as an 'unseen thing,' to clarify Paul's distinction in 2 Corinthians 4 between 'things which are seen' and 'things which are not seen' as substantial realities.

A thing is a substantial reality. This watch is a thing. It is a thing which can be seen. I am speaking to you out of the actings of a soul interacting with my body.

45:09 - 45:26 Read in full sermon

The point: Maintain communion with God in a climate of ethical and moral uprightness, avoiding any sin that blurs faith's vision and hardens the heart.

Sin is described as a 'cinder in the eye of faith' that blurs faith's vision, making Christ and spiritual reality hazy, illustrating the intimate connection between ethical uprightness and growing faith.

in departing from the living God and how is that evil heart of unbelief to be avoided exhort one another daily while it is called a day lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin any sin is like a cinder in the eye of faith it'll blur faith's vision so that Christ is not clearly seen the world of spiritual reality does not stand out in bold relief it begins to be hazy and dim and dull and distant and this is why there is an intimate connection

57:45 - 58:30 Read in full sermon