Life Between the First and Second Advents

In this part of the sermon: The second imperative, 'Do not be troubled,' encourages believers not to be inwardly disturbed by wars, international conflicts, and natural disasters, understanding these are…

Martin uses his childhood fear of thunderstorms and the dark to illustrate the 'inwardly disturbed or frightened' feeling Christ warns against, contrasting it with his later peace after conversion.

It is a command not to be troubled. And this word troubled found only here and in the parallel passage in Matthew 24 and in 2nd Thessalonians 2 and verse 2 means to be inwardly disturbed or frightened. And as I sat at my desk trying to think of an illustration, because there are no other biblical illustrations and even in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament scriptures called the Septuagint, there were no clear illustrations. My mind immediately went back to what I used to feel in a thunderstorm as a little boy.

28:05 - 28:47 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second imperative, 'Do not be troubled,' encourages believers not to be inwardly disturbed by wars, international conflicts, and natural disasters, understanding these are…

He recalls his mother's attempt to comfort him during thunderstorms by saying God was 'just moving His furniture,' highlighting how such simple explanations failed to quell his deep-seated fear.

do not be troubled. Do not be inwardly disturbed or frightened like a little insecure boy in the midst of a rumbling thunderstorm. And all of my mother's words that God was just moving His furniture didn't quiet my spirit.

29:51 - 30:09 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not pursue the dream of a utopia ushered in by combined world governance, as this is naive and contrary to Christ's prophecies.

Martin critiques the naive belief that diplomacy and international talks (like glasnost and INF) can transform nations into peaceful entities, arguing against the pursuit of a worldly utopia.

I'm amazed at how naive people are. Because the present head of the USSR has gone to an excellent school for personal impression and for diplomacy. People are actually thinking if we sit and talk long enough, the Russian bear will turn into a sweet little cooing dove. They really believe that.

39:58 - 40:27 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Oh, I trust you said something of the unshakable certainty of the word of Jesus. Remember later on in this Olivet discourse, he says, heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

He cites the Apostle Paul standing before King Agrippa and Herod, and at the center of Roman government, as a literal fulfillment of Christ's prophecy that persecution would provide a 'marvelous sounding board' for the gospel.

They think that they are in control, that they are in charge of the circumstances, that they are going to restrain the progress of the gospel, and in their very efforts, I create the gospel. The Lord says a marvelous sounding board even to the great ones of the earth. And see how that was literally fulfilled in the book of Acts. You find the apostle Paul standing before King Agrippa, standing before Herod, standing before the very center of the Roman government at Rome, making his defense on more than one occasion when all the great ones from the earth

48:31 - 49:15 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Oh, I trust you said something of the unshakable certainty of the word of Jesus. Remember later on in this Olivet discourse, he says, heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Martin addresses the abuse of Mark 13:11 by those who claim preachers need not study, asserting that 'empty mouthings' indicate a misapplication of the Holy Spirit's promise, which is for peculiar situations of intense persecution.

but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak. For it is not you that speak, but the Holy Spirit. Now this text obviously has been abused by people who say preachers need not study. They need not labor over the original languages and labor over syntax and grammar and structure.

51:52 - 52:15 Read in full sermon

The point: Exhibit tenacious, unflinching attachment to Christ and to the gospel, enduring to the end of trials, even unto death.

He illustrates the 'end' to which believers must endure by describing various forms of martyrdom, such as the guillotine, being burned at the stake, or dying of starvation in a pit.

And here the word the end does not mean the end of time. He that endures to the end of his trial, the trial that is come in conjunction with confessing the gospel. For some, the end would be the head dropping into the basket when the guillotine fell. For some, the end would be tied up upon stakes, doused with pitch and set on fire to light Roman roads.

55:27 - 56:00 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The message he did not alter. It was a divine deposit. And that message of the gospel in every single age until the consummation will always be hated by the masses of humanity. Both religious and non-religious.

Martin recounts Jesus's experience in His own synagogue at Nazareth, where His message of God's sovereign mercy provoked hatred and an attempt to cast Him down a hill, illustrating how the true gospel is hated even by the religious.

Jesus said it will be in the synagogues that you will be beaten. The synagogues, the places where the scrolls of the Old Testament scripture were guarded as a sacred deposit, where throughout the week and every Sabbath those scrolls were opened and read and expounded in the synagogues. Because when Christ came into his own synagogue at Nazareth and said what you've read,

58:34 - 59:08 Read in full sermon

Driving home: You see the motif of the Cross is the way of triumph. Merci au seigneur. The point of apparent greatest weakness is the manifestation of the gospel. Because this ministry of truancy is very happy. Some people are shorten…

He uses Paul's imprisonment, beatings, and chains as an example of God's triumph, noting that the epistles written from prison are invaluable to the church, demonstrating that apparent weakness is often God's greatest strength.

Paul said, thanks be to God who always leads us to triumph in Christ. And what happens when God)] triumphed in Christ? Paul is in prison, Paul is chained, Paul is beaten, Paul is whipped, Paul is silenced. In all of there, God was in triumph! God was in triumph!

63:37 - 64:02 Read in full sermon

The point: Be committed to living the gospel, speaking the gospel, and pouring energy into prayers, gifts, and endeavors to see the gospel preached, despite opposition.

Martin describes Christ's death on the cross, His lifeless form covered in blood and spittle, as the moment of God's greatest triumph, illustrating that the way of triumph is often through apparent defeat.

What could appear more like defeat than when it says, Our Lord cried with a loud voice, Tetelestai, it is finished! And he yielded up his spirit, bowed his head in death. There he is, his lifeless form hanging on an instrument of Roman execution, caked with his own blood and with the foul spittle of his enemies. And that was the moment of God's great triumph.

64:23 - 64:54 Read in full sermon

The point: Be rid of all silly notions that things will get better until the Lord returns.

He closes with a poem about the dangers faced by followers of Christ and the need for God's guidance and protection through life's storms, reinforcing the theme of trust and perseverance.

I close with the words of one man who captured some of these thoughts. Dangers of every shape and name attend the followers of the Lamb who leave the world's deceitful shore and leave the world's deceitful shore and leave it to return no more. Oh, Lord, the pilot's part, perform and guide and guard me through the storm. Defend me from each threatening ill.

67:51 - 68:17 Read in full sermon