General Introduction to the Gospels, Part 3

The point: Use the three words (reverence, dependence, expectancy) as a constant prod and checklist to prepare your heart for ongoing studies in the Gospel of Mark.

Martin uses the example of pagan tribes revering a witch doctor or people superstitiously revering clergymen (especially those claiming to turn wafers into Christ's body) to illustrate a false, unintelligent reverence, contrasting it with true spiritual reverence.

Reverence draws to itself the idea of reverence. The ideas of awe, solemnity, respect, and at times an awe and a solemnity and a respect that border on dread. Now, reverence can be born either of superstition or of spiritual intelligence. For instance, those in the little village in some pagan tribe in West Irian or down in the bush of one of the jungles of Brazil have tremendous respect for reverence.

7:27 - 8:01 Read in full sermon

The point: Come to the Word as students and humble believers, never as judges and critics, standing under the Word as disciples, not over it.

The Gospels are described as 'four picture galleries of the king,' each reflecting a different perspective, but all presenting the Spirit-inspired, infallible words of God. This metaphor emphasizes the diverse yet unified portrayal of Christ.

We ought to come to them with a holy reverence, a reverence that is rooted in this conviction that to read the gospel records of the doings and the sayings of Jesus as Luke calls them in Acts 1 in verse 1. We are encountering nothing less than the spirit-inspired infallible word of the living God. Now we do not minimize the fact that in these records that we have called the picture galleries of the king, that there is a God-ordained and divinely planned difference of perspective, of language, of emphasis. A divinely planned diversity of selectivity and collation of the materials. And I've emph...

15:07 - 16:11 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second conviction fostering reverence is that believers will be held accountable for the unspeakable privilege of having the Gospels. Martin highlights that prophets and…

Martin compares the experience of an eyewitness who might only see part of a miracle and need to ask others for details, to the privilege of having the complete, inspired Gospel records. This highlights the superior access to truth believers now have.

For now we have the permanent embodiment of all that He did. We don't need to go back from one of those gatherings where a miracle was performed and if we happen to be on the short side or happen to be pushed out to the fringe of the crowd, perhaps only saw a part of the miracle. Perhaps it was the incident in which Jesus healed the blind man. And all we, we could see as a general commotion.

20:05 - 20:31 Read in full sermon

Driving home: We need a reverence in approaching the Gospel records in general and the Gospel of Mark in particular. A reverence born of this conviction that if we are given a privilege denied prophets and righteous men, with that pri…

He uses the analogy of missing part of a sermon and not being able to recall it, contrasting it with the ability to 'sit and reflect and meditate and ponder and ruminate' on the written words of Jesus in the Gospels. This emphasizes the permanence and accessibility of the written Word.

Then that had to be carried over into another language to be written. And with all the reflection and all the accuracy born of our biblical doctrine of the inspiration of the Spirit, we now have those words before us. We don't need to go home and say, you know, as I was concentrating, on the first part of that sermon on the mount, I missed the middle part. What did he say?

21:16 - 21:39 Read in full sermon

Driving home: So I am not appealing for a reverence that is born of superstition or hung upon a skyhook, but one that is embedded in that two-fold conviction.

The story of the rich man in hell asking Abraham to send someone back to warn his brothers is used to show that if people won't believe Moses and the Prophets (the written Word), they won't believe even a miracle, underscoring the sufficiency of Scripture.

And if you would produce miracles, and if you would produce signs and wonders, then there would be reverence. I remind you, my friend, of Jesus' own words in Luke 16. A man in hell says to Abraham, send someone back, let me go back and warn my brothers that they come not to this place of torment. And what does Abraham say in Luke 16, 29?

23:44 - 24:09 Read in full sermon

The point: Manifest dependence by a vigorous repudiation of all creature confidence in yourselves or in the preacher.

Drawing from Jeremiah 17:5-6, Martin contrasts those who trust in man (like a 'heath in the desert' that 'shall not see when good cometh') with those who trust in the Lord (like a 'well-watered garden'). This illustrates the spiritual barrenness that results from creature confidence.

Look at the description. He shall be like the heath in the desert. She shall not see when good cometh, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land and not inhabited. That's the sad description of many people who attend regularly upon a faithful biblical ministry.

34:22 - 34:42 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The third disposition is expectancy, which means looking forward to something happening. Martin explains that the Gospels are unique literature because their great subject, Jesus…

Martin extensively quotes Hugh Martin to articulate the unique nature of the Gospels, specifically the problem of having only biography or only the promise of presence, and how the Gospels uniquely combine both to present the living Christ.

Now, I have never read anything that so perceptively and the inward now is insightfully. I don't even know if it's a proper word but it's used. Sets forth this truth then Hugh Martin, a Scotsman of another generation, in his book called The Abiding Presence, he lays out what has been to me a most helpful perspective. Turn to Matthew's gospel, chapter 1, as I try to set before you the framework for this expectancy.

38:28 - 38:59 Read in full sermon