Accepting One's Own Identity

Driving home: But if we underestimate, then we are refusing to acknowledge God's grace, and we fail to exercise that which God has dispensed for our own sanctification and that of others.

Martin quotes Professor Murray's commentary on Romans 12:3 to explain that 'thinking soberly' means accurate, humble self-assessment, avoiding both inflated notions and false humility.

he ought to think so having an overly inflated estimate of the nature and measure of our gifts is the danger explicitly warned against but then implicit in the terminology that is given as the contrast to that but to think soberly implies that we are not to come in with a false modesty with too low an estimate of the measure and nature of our gifts to think soberly is to think in terms of reality sober thinking is accurate thinking to the degree that a man is not sober he is out of touch with reality professor murray in his excellent commentary on the book of romans in the international commen...

6:58 - 8:19 Read in full sermon

Driving home: But if we underestimate, then we are refusing to acknowledge God's grace, and we fail to exercise that which God has dispensed for our own sanctification and that of others.

Pastor Hufstetter's imagery of the mother's womb as a loom where God weaves the tapestry of one's humanity is used to illustrate God's intentional and unique creation of each person, including physical and mental attributes.

Then surely it is the part of spiritual wisdom for us to have an accurate assessment of what our God-given abilities are. And therefore, whatever the talents may be, they will find a channel of usage and investment in conjunction with this accurate assessment of our individual ability. Or we might take Psalm 139 as another strand of biblical teaching with reference to the necessity of having a sober and accurate assessment of what we are as men and as servants of Christ in this wonderful psalm in which David celebrates the omniscience of God the omnipresence of God. He brings into play this be...

10:42 - 12:09 Read in full sermon

The point: Continually assess your abilities and roles dynamically, recognizing that strengths and weaknesses change with age and experience.

The analogy of children playing Superman with a cape and 'S' on their sweater, then jumping off a roof, illustrates the danger of attempting ministry beyond one's actual God-given abilities and gifts.

On the other hand there are some who through a false modesty, through other unbiblical things at work in his own mind and psyche do not come to an accurate assessment of what grace has deposited and to some degree, though they could not be called the wicked servant who utterly buried the talent, to some degree they are guilty of that spirit in that they do not strike out and accomplish what their gifts warrant that they should attempt to accomplish. Now I am aware that the Bible commands us to covet earnestly the better gifts, but to covet and to pray and to obtain is quite another thing. Some...

15:26 - 16:52 Read in full sermon

The point: Continually assess your abilities and roles dynamically, recognizing that strengths and weaknesses change with age and experience.

The story of David in 2 Samuel 21:15 is used as an example of dynamic self-assessment, where David recognized his weakening physical abilities and adapted his role from leading troops to being a stable center of government.

So in this whole area brethren I urge you I solemnly entreat you to be concerned to discover who you are as a man and a preacher and to do this with true biblical sobriety. Furthermore, by way of application let me remind you that this assessment is not once for all or static. As we grow as men and as preachers hopefully we are developing and certain areas of strength will emerge at age 40 that weren't there at age 30. However, at the same time that certain powers are increasing and developing others are lessening and weakening with the passing of time. And you better face up to that as well. ...

16:54 - 18:21 Read in full sermon

The point: Continually assess your abilities and roles dynamically, recognizing that strengths and weaknesses change with age and experience.

The example of opera singer Richard Tucker, whose voice continued to develop until his death at 67, illustrates the dynamic and ongoing nature of assessing one's abilities and potential throughout life.

tremendous emotional and psychological trauma when for the first time he had to see his troops go forth to battle and he stayed behind not in a backslidden state as we read in 2 Samuel chapter 11 but recognizing that the cause of God is better served by some young bucks going out and slinging swords than by this aging warrior attempting to do now what he could do 20 years ago. I've always been amazed at this in terms of some of those who've had sustained prominence in the operatic field. A man like Richard Tucker who was sort of king of the hill among dramatic tenors particularly singing the V...

18:21 - 19:49 Read in full sermon

Driving home: I will be most fully me, when most fully possessed and filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit.

Martin quotes McPherson's 'The Burden of the Lord' to explain that the preacher's personality is not a mere conduit but like a living tree, with sap seeping through every fiber, emphasizing the vital role of the preacher's whole being in communication.

McPherson, in a book that has so much to commend it, it's long since out of print called The Burden of the Lord.

45:58 - 46:04 Read in full sermon

The point: Be yourself, full of Christ and the Holy Spirit, so that God's true people will love and receive you as a servant of God, avoiding anything forced or unnatural.

The analogy of trying to mask the smell of fish with Lysol is used to illustrate how unnatural or forced spirituality, even with good motives, can make people suspicious and uncomfortable, rather than genuinely spiritual.

Because it's natural. Am I the only freak around here that you know what I'm talking about? Well, you see, God's people are that way. And if they sense that in the pulpit, if they sense that you're assuming a tone that is elevated beyond your present experience, it smells funny. It's like trying to mask the smell of fish with Lysol. And when the two get mixed in your nostrils, it's neither Lysol nor fish. And it just makes you all the more suspicious that as soon as the Lysol blows, it's not Lysol. It's Lysol. It's Lysol. It's Lysol. It's Lysol. It's Lysol. It's Lysol. It's Lysol. It's Lysol. ...

54:33 - 55:05 Read in full sermon

The point: Make conscious efforts to overcome weaknesses and limitations in your ministry, striving for progress and excellence in all areas.

The historical anecdote of Demosthenes overcoming a speech impediment by practicing with marbles in his mouth by the seashore illustrates the necessity of conscious effort to overcome weaknesses.

them incorrectly and indistinctly. Therefore, if I'm going to be natural, no. No. No, because the Scripture tells us in 2 Timothy 2.15, Do your utmost to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who needs not to be ashamed. In 1 Timothy 4.15, Let your progress in ministerial things in the context be manifest unto all. Never forget Demosthenes and his monotheism.

57:09 - 57:40 Read in full sermon

The point: Accept the fact that God made you with certain limitations, and strive to be the best version of what God made you to be, for His glory, without pouting or fatalistically accepting underperformance.

The analogy of a four-cylinder Chevette versus a Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud illustrates that while one should strive to be the best version of what God made them (a 'finely tuned Chevette'), they should not pout about not being something else (a Rolls-Royce).

For example, a finely tuned, mechanically sound, four-cylinder Chevette will go no further nor faster with greater comfort than... Then a finely tuned, mechanically sound, four-cylinder Chevette was turned off the assembly line to go.

58:31 - 58:52 Read in full sermon

The point: Stop daydreaming about imagined ways you could be more useful if only you were different; embrace reality and determine to become all that grace in Christ can make you.

Martin quotes Alexander, who advises preachers to 'Be yourself' and recognize that every true servant of the gospel has his own way of being a preacher, cautioning against imposing one's methods as a universal standard.

determine that by the grace of God, you're going to become all that that grace in Jesus Christ can make you as a man and as a preacher. Don't sit around daydreaming. What would I be, and how could I be used if only this and only that? That isn't reality. So stop daydreaming and building castles out of imagination. Imagined ways you could be more useful. I'll give you a couple of words from some of the old masters with which to close. Alexander, on page 160, says this.

67:45 - 68:23 Read in full sermon

The point: Be prepared for others to misjudge your ministry, either thinking you are burying your gifts or are a 'wild-eyed fanatic'; remain true to what God has called you to be and do.

Martin recounts a personal anecdote where a well-known preacher dismissed his ministry as 'what a waste,' illustrating the need to resist external assessments and remain true to God's call for one's unique ministry.

Back some years ago, a well-known preacher in our generation on a Sunday night sat on the back of the cracker box when I was preaching, and his comment to the friend who brought him, after he sat there and saw me pour out my heart and open up the word to a little packed house of about... about 180 or 200 people, he said, what a waste.

70:26 - 70:47 Read in full sermon