Foundational Considerations

In this part of the sermon: He explains the setting of Jesus' preaching tour, briefly addresses the role of women, and then details the parable of the sower (or soils), emphasizing that the state of the…

Martin uses the historical impact of Christianity on the Roman Empire to illustrate how the Christian faith raised womanhood from a chattel-like existence to its God-intended nobility, contrasting it with feminist claims.

It is a fact that in the society of our Lord's Day, women were downgraded, and one of the noble fruits of the Christian faith and its penetration into the Roman Empire was to raise womanhood from its chattel-like existence to its true God-intended nobility. But you see, that nobility...

4:37 - 5:02 Read in full sermon

Driving home: They found an aesthetic pleasure in listening to the prophet Ezekiel. And lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument, for they hear thy words, but t…

He compares the aesthetically pleased listener to someone attending a recital or concert, seeking pleasant sounds and feelings rather than conviction or challenge, to highlight the danger of hearing preaching for mere entertainment.

Do you see what had happened? They had cultivated an aesthetic pleasure parallel to the pleasure of the person who goes to a recital or to a concert. Now, when you go to a recital, say, so-and-so soprano who's going to give a recital at Carnegie Hall or Alice Tully Hall in New York, and you pay your money, and you go and you sit down on row six, seat number B, and then the lady comes out and her accompanist comes out, what are you there for? Are you there to have your sins exposed?

21:41 - 22:19 Read in full sermon

Driving home: You see, because you put yourself under a true ministry, you automatically think you're a true hearer. And you can be on the high road to self-delusion according to this text.

Martin uses James' analogy of a man looking in a mirror and forgetting his appearance to illustrate the self-delusion of the forgetful listener who hears the Word but does not apply it to his life.

Deluded? What's the difference? The difference is the case of the one. The interaction with the word is like the fleeting glance of a rather plain man when he sees himself in the mirror.

29:35 - 29:55 Read in full sermon

The point: Preachers and teachers must labor to make the Word of God clear, lucid, and aesthetically pleasing in its presentation.

He references New England farmers pulling rocks from fields to illustrate the rocky subsoil that prevents roots from going deep, symbolizing the ill-prepared heart that cannot receive the seed of the Word.

The rocky shelf beneath the shallow layer of soil had not been plowed up and dug out and pulled out. Any of you who've gone by fields in New England, you know what that's like. Almost all of them have a huge rock pile. Every year, the farmers got to pull out the rocks that come to the surface.

35:32 - 35:49 Read in full sermon

The point: As fathers, when leading family worship, have confidence that the Word is a sword and hammer that can pierce and break even resistant hearts.

Martin tells a hypothetical story of a seed growing into a plowshare to illustrate the miraculous, transformative power of the Word of God, which can create the very conditions for its own reception.

But we must not allow our concentration to be limited to the Word of God. The Word of God is divine seed under the blessing of the Spirit does something no other seed can do. Let me illustrate. You children who went on vacation with Mom and Dad this summer, what would you think if you were just watching for a bit so your Dad pulled the car along the side of the road?

40:54 - 41:34 Read in full sermon

The point: As fathers, when leading family worship, have confidence that the Word is a sword and hammer that can pierce and break even resistant hearts.

He describes the indifferent or resistant look on some Sunday school children's faces, challenging teachers to remember the Word's power as a sword, hammer, and fire to break through such hardness.

Now see, that's our confidence. That's our confidence. That's the confidence you Sunday school teachers should have. You see some of the kids sitting there as if to say, go ahead and teach me anything if you can.

44:22 - 44:32 Read in full sermon

The point: As Sunday school teachers, have confidence that the Word you are giving is a sword, hammer, and fire, capable of transforming even the most resistant children.

Martin shares his personal experience of seeing hostility or indifference in the eyes of congregants from the pulpit, explaining that the preacher's confidence comes from unleashing the powerful Word of God, not from the immediate response of the hearers.

I wish you could see one Lord's Day what I can see from up here.

45:30 - 45:33 Read in full sermon