In the Words of Paul, Part 2

Driving home: But I buffet my body and bring it into bondage, lest by any means, after I have preached to others, I myself should be ad documus. That word is used eight times in the New Testament, and every other instance it means rep…

Paul's analogy of an Olympic athlete training for a corruptible crown is used to illustrate the all-encompassing self-control believers should exercise for an incorruptible crown (eternal life), emphasizing the intensity and dedication required for spiritual perseverance.

You see, the difference is not in what we do, but the difference is what we're doing it for. You see that? Here's a man determined that he is going to win the gold medal in the 400 meters in the 1980, what, four Olympics? He's determined. And what does he do? Every facet of his life for months and years is regulated by that one passion.

19:00 - 19:30 Read in full sermon

Driving home: But I buffet my body and bring it into bondage, lest by any means, after I have preached to others, I myself should be ad documus. That word is used eight times in the New Testament, and every other instance it means rep…

The gold medal or olive wreath of an athlete is described as a 'corruptible crown' to highlight the superior, 'incorruptible' nature of the spiritual reward believers strive for, underscoring the eternal stakes of their self-control.

Even the gold medal, the symbol of that which has worth and that which does not decay, even that gold will melt at the return of Christ. When the elements melt with fervent heat and the world that now is will be consumed. So that's a corruptible crown. For them, it was not a gold. Of course, it was the wreath made up of the olive leaves.

20:15 - 20:39 Read in full sermon

The point: You'd better begin to think that way, some of you. For I fear that as we've seen others drop over the edge. Into apostasy, you may be next.

The analogy of someone thinking they can stand 'six inches between the solid ground of legitimate liberty and the excess into apostasy' is used to warn against presumptuous confidence in one's ability to handle temptation without falling into sin and apostasy.

And yet he says, in spite of that, God had to judge them. And he says, wherefore, let him that thinketh he stand, take heed, lest he fall. I'm strong enough. I know the six inches between the solid ground.

26:59 - 27:20 Read in full sermon

The point: You'd better begin to think that way, some of you. For I fear that as we've seen others drop over the edge. Into apostasy, you may be next.

Examples of handling liquor, certain TV programs, soap operas, and 'adult entertainment' are used to illustrate how people rationalize their proximity to sin, believing they are mature enough to resist, while Martin warns this is foolish and dangerous.

Of legitimate liberty. And the excess into apostasy. Oh, I know my ground well. I can handle my liquor.

27:20 - 27:31 Read in full sermon

The point: This is a matter of heaven or hell. Shake some of you. This is heaven or hell.

The example of a Christian lingering by a magazine rack at a 7-Eleven, claiming to be 'informed' but secretly indulging fantasies, is used to show how seemingly small compromises can lead to lust and spiritual compromise, directly linking it to the necessity of self-control.

My friend, what a fool you are. I can walk by the magazine rack at the 7-Eleven store. I don't need to buy it. But I'm mature enough just to see.

28:08 - 28:23 Read in full sermon

The point: And part of perseverance dear child of God is this. That you continue in that hope of the gospel. That you hold fast in the language of first Corinthians 15. If ye hold fast that which we preach. Unto you. And what we pr…

The story of the publican who beat his breast saying, 'God be merciful to me, the sinner,' is used to illustrate the humble, naked confession of sin that marks a true conversion and the posture believers must maintain in their perseverance.

You came as a publican. Who would not so much as lift up his eyes to heaven. But he beat upon his breast saying. God be merciful to me.

38:18 - 38:30 Read in full sermon

The point: And so you and I must settle in our hearts before God that if we are called upon to seal our confession with our life's blood, God will give us grace, but we will not look for another path to heaven. And frankly, this di…

The story of a young person aggressively seeking a job but refusing any position that would require working on the Lord's Day is used as an encouraging example of confessional commitment to Christ, even at personal cost, shaming those who compromise for lesser reasons.

And I saw such an encouraging expression of this recently in the case of a young person looking for a job, desperately wanting to work, not wanting to sit around and be lazy, but work in obedience to the Scriptures. This young person went out aggressively seeking job opportunities, pounding the streets and going from stores to stores, things I couldn't do, I don't think, if my life depended upon it. But this individual did it. And in the course of every interview, one of the first questions this person asked was this, because these jobs were not, any of them, jobs of necessity or of mercy.

47:44 - 48:21 Read in full sermon

The point: Go to the Lord Jesus in all your weakness, in all your proneness to sin, and be honest with him. Tell him, Lord, every time that nice-looking woman in the office walks by, unto to look the second and the third time you d…

The vivid, self-deprecating example of being a 'coward' who would deny Christ even in the presence of a ladybug (if it demanded confession) is used to illustrate the depth of human weakness and the need to come to Christ for courage.

How shall he not with him freely give us all things? Go to the Lord Jesus in all your weakness, in all your proneness to sin, and be honest with him. Tell him, Lord, every time that nice-looking woman in the office walks by, unto to look the second and the third time you die, that I would not look the second time. Lord Jesus, give me the grace that flows down from your cross.

53:04 - 53:39 Read in full sermon