Three Questions about the Cross

In this part of the sermon: Pastor Martin begins by reflecting on his ministry and the concept of retirement, then introduces the cross as the universal symbol of the Christian faith. He argues that this is…

Martin uses the metaphor of being 'shot out of my saddle with both guns blazing' versus 'falling off a rocking chair' to humorously but profoundly express his desire to serve God actively until death, rather than retiring.

So I will be retired when I get translated to a better place. And then I tell people I would far rather be shot out of my saddle with both guns blazing than fall off a rocking chair on the porch of a retirement home and break my neck. And in that little bit of humorous response, there is a wealth of profound, I believe, biblical sense and perspective. So may the Lord be pleased to uphold us all by his grace that we may run well to the end.

1:08 - 1:44 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Pastor Martin begins by reflecting on his ministry and the concept of retirement, then introduces the cross as the universal symbol of the Christian faith. He argues that this is…

Martin shares a 'ploy' he uses with young preachers: giving unruly boys a second chance before embarrassing them, to maintain order in the service.

I won't look at you first time, you're exempt, and next time I'll look right at you, point my finger at you and say, shape up or we'll embarrass you. So you see, I'm looking up. You young preachers, this is a little ploy. I give them a second chance, but they know who they are.

2:15 - 2:32 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Pastor Martin begins by reflecting on his ministry and the concept of retirement, then introduces the cross as the universal symbol of the Christian faith. He argues that this is…

The fish symbol is mentioned as a secondary, cryptic sign of Christian identity during persecution, contrasting it with the cross's universal recognition.

In the four or five forms in which it is displayed, on the top of buildings, around people's necks, on greeting cards, and in many other ways, without debating whether it is right to even make such a symbol, that's not my concern. But it is a fact that wherever you find that symbol, in whatever setting, in that particular place, there is some kind of an association with the cross of Christ. You know that, whoever displays it is not a tax to the Muslim faith, that he is not a practicing Orthodox Jew, that he's not a Hindu, that he's not a Buddhist, that he's not an animist, that in some way or ...

4:36 - 5:51 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Pastor Martin begins by reflecting on his ministry and the concept of retirement, then introduces the cross as the universal symbol of the Christian faith. He argues that this is…

Martin uses the analogy of punctuation to explain the Judaizers' error: changing Paul's 'full stop' (faith alone) into a 'comma' (faith plus works) in the gospel message.

Paul was saying, in answer to the question, how does a sinner get right with God? Paul was saying, sinners get right with God by faith in Jesus Christ alone, full stop. And along came the Judaizers and said, no, let's stretch the period, the full stop, into a comma. And in answer to the question, how do sinners get right with God?

7:18 - 7:45 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Pastor Martin begins by reflecting on his ministry and the concept of retirement, then introduces the cross as the universal symbol of the Christian faith. He argues that this is…

Martin uses the analogy of a 'biggest gun' (the message of the cross) aimed at the devil's kingdom to explain why Satan seeks to keep people ignorant or misinformed about the cross.

And yet, and yet, there is perhaps no vital fact in Scripture concerning which there is greater ignorance than there is with reference to the cross of Christ. And if you were the devil, wouldn't you try to bring about a situation like that? If the biggest gun aimed at you, your kingdom, was that gun stamped with the words, the message of the cross. And there were a lot of lesser guns, wouldn't you go for the big gun?

12:48 - 13:22 Read in full sermon

Driving home: I say it reverently eternal God becomes a zygote in Mary's womb. Think of it think of it think of life in Mary's womb and as the cells divide and in his prenatal development he develops his fingers and his heart and his …

To illustrate the Incarnation, Martin describes the eternal Word becoming a zygote in Mary's womb, emphasizing Christ's full identification with humanity from conception.

Verse 14 And the Word now listen carefully the Word in all the integrity of his inherent deity in the beginning was the Word the Word was with God the Word was God the Word in all the fullness of his Godness the Word became flesh. That is the Word never ceased to be what he had always been from eternity but he begins to be what he had never been. Until Mary's womb he takes to himself a true human soul and a true human body. I say it reverently eternal God becomes a zygote in Mary's womb. Think of it think of it think of life in Mary's womb and as the cells divide and in his prenatal developmen...

24:28 - 25:55 Read in full sermon

Driving home: I say it reverently eternal God becomes a zygote in Mary's womb. Think of it think of it think of life in Mary's womb and as the cells divide and in his prenatal development he develops his fingers and his heart and his …

Martin vividly describes Jesus' birth with ordinary pangs, crying like any baby, learning his alphabet, and bleeding from a carpenter's knife, to underscore his true humanity and development.

and God sovereignly orders the mind and the desires of the whole Roman Empire to make sure that when her nine months are up she's not in Nazareth but she's in Bethlehem at the behest of the Roman government to start a census with a view to a taxation that will be launched sometime subsequent and Mary amidst ordinary birth pangs a young Palestinian virgin expels the Lord Jesus amidst her groan and birth blood and mucus and God incarnate needs to be washed and have his nostrils cleared and have perhaps a midwife roped in at the last minute whack his backside and God makes his appearance with tha...

26:57 - 28:24 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The first question addressed is 'Who died upon that cross?' Martin asserts that it was Jesus, the King of the Jews, but then delves deeper into his person. He establishes Christ's…

Martin quotes a hymn that beautifully traces Christ's journey from helpless child to suffering man to crucified Lord, encapsulating the mystery of the God-man.

of who died and it traces from the way I've tried to trace it with you this morning from what was there in the manger what was there weeping over Jerusalem what was there in the disappointments and sorrows of his earthly pilgrimage who is it in the garden shedding drops of sweat mingled with blood as the capillaries burst near the surface of his skin and who is it that hangs upon the cross listen to the beautiful way the hymn writer has captured the essence of what I've tried to preach from these many texts who is this so weak and helpless child of lowly Hebrew maid rudely in a stable sheltere...

32:50 - 34:18 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second question is 'Why did he die there?' Martin clarifies that Christ was not a helpless victim but voluntarily laid down his life. He presents two fundamental reasons…

The brutal details of Christ's scourging and the soldiers' mockery with a purple robe are recounted to emphasize the cruelty he endured.

and pilot sees through the fact that it was envy that caused them to hate him this unprincipled ungodly pagan could see through the charade of their accusations and he wants to wash his hands of the whole mess and he said well uh let's let's herod's in town let's send him up to herod and herod hopes to see him and he wants to see a miracle done he's heard things about this jesus and herod finds no cause of of accusing him and of condemning him and he's not going to and so he sends him back to pilot and spine this wimp of a man he caves in to crowd psychology and to the roaring of the crowd we ...

38:34 - 39:54 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second question is 'Why did he die there?' Martin clarifies that Christ was not a helpless victim but voluntarily laid down his life. He presents two fundamental reasons…

The three hours of darkness at the crucifixion are compared to the darkness that descended upon Egypt, suggesting it paralyzed even the mockers.

pilot says behold your king they say we have no king but caesar think of the hypocrisy the crowd that resented caesar now they pledge allegiance if that's the they must pay for jesus blood and they take him out and they hang him on the cross he refuses the drugged wine he's determined to be fully conscious as he bears what he bears upon that cross and then after he's impaled and hung upon that cross they continue to taunt him and even the two thieves one one side one the other they taunt him no pity they walk by a scene that would make both of us turn away in horror of fun in sheer disruption ...

39:54 - 41:18 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second question is 'Why did he die there?' Martin clarifies that Christ was not a helpless victim but voluntarily laid down his life. He presents two fundamental reasons…

The judgment of Satan and his angels is used as an example of God's unfrustrated justice when his holiness is offended, contrasting it with his love for humanity.

Think with me for a moment. God's holiness offends a human sin. God's justice incensed and chomping at the bit to do with all sinners. What he did with the devil and his angels.

48:12 - 48:26 Read in full sermon

Driving home: it pleased the lord to bruise him did you ever stop at those words it pleased the lord to bruise him pleased him is god a sadist he likes the pain of his son because his son was rendering that obedience unto death which …

An old Puritan's saying, 'All of humanity... hang on either the belt of Adam or the belt of Christ,' is used to explain Christ's role as the representative man.

God is but because of the unique position that Christ is in when he dies on that cross does he go there as a whole integrated person the person of our Lord Jesus yes but he doesn't go there as a private person he does not go to the cross simply because those around him wanted to get rid of him and he was willing to be gotten rid of and so as a lamb before it shears his dumb he opens not his mouth he lets them condemn him and murder him no he's very conscious of his unique position he is there on that cross as the representative man he's there as the second the last Adam all of humanity is one ...

51:12 - 52:36 Read in full sermon

Driving home: it pleased the lord to bruise him did you ever stop at those words it pleased the lord to bruise him pleased him is god a sadist he likes the pain of his son because his son was rendering that obedience unto death which …

The crucifixion is depicted as a scene in the 'courtroom of heaven,' where Christ, laden with sin, pleads guilty and receives the Father's wrath, mirroring the visible events.

soul he felt nothing less than the horrors of hell which as we saw yesterday are bound up in the universe words, Depart from me. Depart from me. In the court of heaven, where human eyes could not see, there was something being enacted that was mirrored in the visible world. From the time Jesus was apprehended in the garden until he hangs upon the cross and dies, everything about him says he's a guilty felon who deserves to be executed. Everything pointed in that direction. You know why? God is saying what's happening in the theater of the visible, physical, observable world is transpiring in t...

55:19 - 56:28 Read in full sermon

Driving home: it pleased the lord to bruise him did you ever stop at those words it pleased the lord to bruise him pleased him is god a sadist he likes the pain of his son because his son was rendering that obedience unto death which …

Martin quotes a hymn that poetically expresses Christ bearing the 'load,' 'cup,' 'rod,' 'tempest,' and 'sword' of God's wrath, emphasizing his substitutionary atonement.

he was there because of the position he voluntarily assumed and was assigned to him by his father he is there bearing the curse for us in the language of second corinthians five twenty one he who knew no sin was made sin for us the first peter three eighteen u died for us the just for the unjust all we like sheep have gone astray we've turned each one of us to his own way but the lord is made to strike upon him the iniquity of us all began over the years as i've sought to find poetic expressions of these great biblical truths this is one of the most precious i've ever found here the words of t...

58:57 - 60:18 Read in full sermon

Driving home: i like to think of the resurrection god's delayed amen to the cry it is finished jesus says it's accomplished i paid it all no voice comes out of heaven saying yes you have my son god says i got a better amen i'm going t…

The resurrection is described as God's 'delayed Amen' to Christ's cry 'It is finished,' demonstrating divine satisfaction with his payment for sin.

here he's risen and you know what i like to think of the resurrection god's delayed amen to the cry it is finished jesus says it's accomplished i paid it all no voice comes out of heaven saying yes you have my son god says i got a better amen i'm going to raise my son from the dead and as paul says in romans 4 25 he was delivered up for our offenses he was raised on account of our justification the ah with the accusative you greek students raised on account of our justification god says my amen is going to wait because i don't want anybody to think that by reviving him upon that cross he never...

64:23 - 65:51 Read in full sermon

The point: Listen to what God is saying to you from that cross, because ignoring it will lead to regret on the day of judgment.

Martin shares a personal story from his childhood about being scared to go to sleep, fearing death and hell, to illustrate the terror of condemnation and the comfort of no condemnation in Christ.

of god's rod or judicial punishment for your sin for the bible says there is therefore now,here and now,no condemnation to those who are in christ jesus the day of judgement as far as punishment for my sins has come and gone in the cross and the open tomb of the lord jesus i tell you kids i used to go to sleep every night scared to go to sleep when i was your age? you will know why? I was afraid I'd die and wake up in hell. And I can remember lying on my bed saying, God, forever and ever and ever.

68:31 - 69:10 Read in full sermon

The point: Repent by turning from being a 'little self-determining, independent little god' and getting out of the 'God business,' allowing God to rule your life.

Repentance is explained as getting 'out of the God business,' illustrated by the analogy of humans acting as 'little independent puppet gods' on the throne of their hearts, like the devil.

That's what repentance is at the end of the day. It's you saying, oh, God, I've had it all backwards. I've been trying to sit on the throne, determining what's right, what's wrong, what's good, what's bad, what I want, where I want to go, what I'm going to do with my life. God didn't make you to be a little independent puppet God sitting on the throne of your heart.

74:22 - 74:42 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The wrath of God is hanging over you right now. If you're not in Christ. But I don't feel the wrath of God. That's because you've been blinded by the God of this world to reality.

The analogy of a roof over the audience's heads, of which they are unconscious but which is physically present, is used to explain that God's wrath abides on unbelievers regardless of their awareness.

Look up at this roof, if you would. Now you've all been looking at me while I've preached and I appreciate your attention. You've not been conscious that this roof has been over us the whole while we're here. It has been.

76:51 - 77:04 Read in full sermon

The point: Use your youthful strength to glorify God with 100% effort, just as you would in sports or other endeavors.

Martin uses the hypothetical image of a 'red tattoo on the forehead' of young people, signifying 'I've been bought by another,' to illustrate the concept of belonging to Christ and resisting temptation.

Then when some guy gets soft down and says hey you know I. You look at him and say I've been bought by another. This body doesn't belong to me. It belongs to the one who died for me.

83:19 - 83:30 Read in full sermon

The point: Use your youthful strength to glorify God with 100% effort, just as you would in sports or other endeavors.

Martin compares his intensity in preaching to how he played football, giving 100%, to challenge young men to use their strength fully for Christ.

To spend it in sports along? People ask me why are you preachers? I said it's the way I played football. When I was on the football field I didn't muck around.

83:40 - 83:48 Read in full sermon

The point: Live no longer to yourself but unto Christ who died and rose again for you, as the inescapable logic of the cross demands.

Martin imagines a nervous encounter with the Apostle Paul, asking him to condense his philosophy of life, leading to Paul's simple declaration: 'For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.'

This brilliant young Pharisee who was outstripping all of his peers. And you've heard that he's been converted and becomes a passionate preacher and missionary. And you've been allowed to read some of his letters and you get into Ephesians and into Colossians and these mind-stretching, mind-boggling concepts of who Christ is and cosmic redemption. And you say man, oh man, I mean this guy must have had an IQ of about 164, 200.

85:43 - 86:12 Read in full sermon

The point: Simplify your life by living it by the cross, embracing the philosophy 'For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.'

Martin briefly mentions living with cancer in his house and dealing with broken hearts and apostate children, to acknowledge life's complexities while affirming the simplicity of living for Christ.

Oh yes, there are complexities. I'm not Pollyannish. We've lived with the C word in our house for four years. My cancer, my wife's cancer.

87:48 - 87:58 Read in full sermon