Preservation of God's Truth, Part 2 (Jude 3)

Driving home: And thirdly, we are committed to the preservation of God's changeless body of revealed truth.

Martin uses the common human experience of forgetting important things and remembering trivial ones to highlight the impact of sin on the mind and the need for constant remembrance of God's truth.

One of the most patent and undeniable evidences that sin has tragically affected, our minds is that we so soon forget what we ought to remember and so easily remember what we ought to forget. Does that answer to your experience? That you constantly find yourself forgetting what you ought to remember and remembering what you ought to forget. And it is for this very reason that in our sorrowful, calm this morning, David stirred himself up to what? Forget not. David had this problem. He was honest about it and so he spoke to his soul, telling his soul, don't forget what you ought to remember.

1:59 - 3:01 Read in full sermon

Driving home: And thirdly, we are committed to the preservation of God's changeless body of revealed truth.

God's repeated warnings to Israel in Deuteronomy not to forget His law, especially after entering Canaan and receiving blessings, illustrates the historical pattern of God's people forgetting His truth.

God's forgiving mercy, God's care over his physical frame and the healing of his diseases, God crowning him with loving kindness. It is for this reason that God spoke to his ancient people, Israel, when they were about to enter the land of Canaan and told them that they were not to forget his law, that every seven years that law was to be publicly read to the entire congregation. He warned them again and again, said, when you go into the land and my blessing is upon you and you have material blessing on every hand, beware lest you forget. Again and again in the book of Deuteronomy, God says, b...

3:01 - 4:29 Read in full sermon

Driving home: And thirdly, we are committed to the preservation of God's changeless body of revealed truth.

The church's constitutional requirement to preach the Confession and Constitution every five years is presented as a practical measure to combat the human tendency to forget biblical truths.

God's forgiving mercy, God's care over his physical frame and the healing of his diseases, God crowning him with loving kindness. It is for this reason that God spoke to his ancient people, Israel, when they were about to enter the land of Canaan and told them that they were not to forget his law, that every seven years that law was to be publicly read to the entire congregation. He warned them again and again, said, when you go into the land and my blessing is upon you and you have material blessing on every hand, beware lest you forget. Again and again in the book of Deuteronomy, God says, b...

3:01 - 4:29 Read in full sermon

The point: Get the tape of the previous sermon to understand the critical issues of contending for the faith.

This analogy explains that one can become expert at detecting counterfeit $20 bills either by studying all known counterfeits or by mastering the distinctive features of a genuine bill. Martin uses this to argue that believers should focus on knowing the features of true faith rather than cataloging every error.

Those of you who've been here any length of time at all know that I usually have a reason for what I do, and I don't think I stand up here and just effuse and rattle on and ramble. And I have a purpose for taking the time to set before you two very different analogies, illustrations, which I trust will be helpful as we move into what is the heart of the message this morning, and God willing, again, next Lord's Day morning. The first analogy that I want to work with, is that of counterfeit money. Those skilled in making counterfeit bills are able to make the bogus bills look and feel so much li...

14:44 - 16:14 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin introduces two analogies to frame the sermon's approach: detecting counterfeit money by knowing the real thing, and identifying the irreducible features on a normal human…

This analogy posits that a normal human face always has irreducible features (two eyes, a nose, a mouth, two ears) in specific relative positions. Martin uses this to argue that true faith, God's revealed truth, will always exhibit certain 'features' regardless of its context or presentation.

And when you have learned instinctively to judge any truth claim by these five things, very seldom, will you be vulnerable to swallow that which is set before you as food for the soul, when in reality, it is poison. But then there's a second analogy I want to use, and this is the one I've chosen to use for the title of our study. It's the analogy of the features on a normal human face. You say, Pastor, these are the kind of things you think of at your study.

20:05 - 20:40 Read in full sermon

The point: If a truth claim has the slightest tendency to crack your confidence in the Scriptures, run from it for your life.

The serpent's temptation of Eve in Genesis 3, first by questioning God's word ('Hath God said?') and then by directly denying it ('Ye shall not surely die'), illustrates the enemy's primary tactic of undermining confidence in Scripture.

Remember the first attack the enemy of God and man made upon Eve in the garden? Remember what it was? Turn to Genesis 3. Perhaps some of you have forgotten.

36:10 - 36:23 Read in full sermon

The point: Deepen your persuasion that God has spoken in His word, clearly, and means what He says.

The example of Shirley MacLaine receiving widespread acceptance for her claims about reincarnation in a woman's magazine illustrates the modern cultural climate of 'let every man be true' and the rejection of objective truth.

disposition must be that of the Apostle Paul, where he wrote in Romans, Romans 3 and verse 4, let God be found true, but every man a liar. You and I live in a climate that has totally reversed that. Let every man be true. Anyone wants to make any truth claim he or she wishes. It's an open-ended game these days. Shirley MacLaine gets front cover press in a woman's magazine. Saw it somewhere recently. There she is on the cover. And she gets several pages to tell you the truth about reincarnation. And she's received without question by multitudes. The climate of our day is let every man be true. ...

38:55 - 39:51 Read in full sermon

The point: For young people entering higher learning, remember you know unbelieving professors better than they know themselves, and test their truth claims by whether they foster reverence for the Bible.

A hypothetical scenario of a psychology professor dismissing the biblical view of man as fundamentally different from animals is used to illustrate how young people might be challenged in higher education and how to respond with Scripture reverence.

without excuse. Now that brilliant, persuasive, well-educated professor, be it he or she in the classroom, will seek to make you feel very, very country bumpkin-ish and may stand up the first day in class and say, now as we approach psychology 101, let's make something very clear at the outset. If any of you have any stupid sense of believing that man is fundamentally and essentially different from animals, you're going to be lost in this class. Because our studies on what makes us tick and our drives and our needs and our responses are not only going to be based upon empirical data, extensive...

44:43 - 45:52 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second feature of true faith is that it is unashamedly mind-boggling, presenting realities that stretch human comprehension without being irrational. He illustrates this with…

A picture of a star cluster on the cover of the Banner of Truth magazine, with its unnumbered stars and vast distances, is used to illustrate the mind-boggling scale of God's creation and His knowledge.

To boggle is to be or become confused or overwhelmed by something difficult, or vast. Now, I'm using the term boggle in this sense. It is to be overwhelmed by something vast. Mind boggling is a description of what happens to the human capacity to think and to reflect in the presence of that which is so vast and expansive that the mind feels that if it's stretched one little bit more, it'll snap. Now, such, such things are not irrational or foolish. Rather, they are realities which stretch the human mind to the breaking point. For example, on the cover of the January edition of the Banner of Tr...

50:05 - 51:23 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second feature of true faith is that it is unashamedly mind-boggling, presenting realities that stretch human comprehension without being irrational. He illustrates this with…

Maria's song from 'The Sound of Music' is quoted to highlight the theological truth that 'nothing comes from nothing,' which makes the concept of God as the uncaused cause mind-boggling.

What are the opening words? In the beginning, God. Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Maria sang in the song, in the sound of music, that's got good and bad theology within a few lines.

53:25 - 53:41 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second feature of true faith is that it is unashamedly mind-boggling, presenting realities that stretch human comprehension without being irrational. He illustrates this with…

The common experience of children asking 'Who made God?' is used to illustrate the inherent human struggle with the concept of an uncaused cause and the mind-boggling nature of God's eternal existence.

Nothing comes from nothing. In the beginning, God. And you parents know, when your child begins to think about the things you're teaching them, and you start in the catechism, who made you? God made me.

54:03 - 54:16 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second feature of true faith is that it is unashamedly mind-boggling, presenting realities that stretch human comprehension without being irrational. He illustrates this with…

The detailed, gruesome scenario of a man dying at sea, being eaten by sharks, and parts of him ending up in another person's tissues, is used to illustrate the mind-boggling nature of the bodily resurrection of the dead and God's power to reconstitute matter.

Who can bring together in his own little constricted mental compass that we hold to these biblical realities? We were contemplating one of them in the adult class. The bodily resurrection of the dead. Think of the man who died at sea.

58:51 - 59:09 Read in full sermon

Driving home: As one dear servant of God said, all of our doctrinal formulas are hedges around a mystery. And you trace every doctrine up far enough and it explodes in mystery.

A quote from a 'dear servant of God' stating that 'all of our doctrinal formulas are hedges around a mystery' is used to summarize the idea that true doctrine, when traced far enough, always leads to mind-boggling mystery.

As one dear servant of God said, all of our doctrinal formulas are hedges around a mystery. And you trace every doctrine up far enough and it explodes in mystery. Now why have I said all of this? Because the faith once for all delivered to the saints is suffused with that which is mind-boggling.

62:34 - 63:02 Read in full sermon

The point: Remember that there is a 'slamming lust of the mind' that will do anything to rid itself of God, and be prepared to encounter this in brilliant, educated individuals.

A silly illustration of a professor trying to scoop the Atlantic Ocean into a 12-ounce coffee mug and then denying the ocean's existence because it doesn't fit is used to critique the rationalistic approach that dismisses anything beyond human comprehension.

You've been talking to one of your professors about your lovely experience as a child down at the Jersey Shore. You've seen beautiful sunsets coming up from the eastern horizon seen beautiful sights etc. And you're talking about the ocean the Atlantic Ocean, the ocean ocean. And one day you say well I've never seen the ocean I'd like to come with you. So they make your trip down to the Jersey Shore. And he carries with him his mug twelve ounce coffee mug and he goes over to the edge of the ocean scoops up a mug full of Jersey sea water and he holds it and looks at it and says I don't believe t...

68:35 - 69:27 Read in full sermon