Hindrances to Worship in the Converted, #2

Driving home: The more spiritual any activity may be, the more we have direct dealings with God, in that activity, the more violent will be the opposition of indwelling sin.

Martin quotes John Owen to explain that all opposition to spiritual good, whether from the mind, will, or affections, directly targets God Himself, emphasizing the enmity of remaining sin against God.

For in a very real sense, the human spirit is the battleground of the Holy Spirit and of remaining corruption. The verse we referred to earlier, Galatians 5.17, the flesh lusting against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. Now, if we are conscious of the reality of indwelling sin, lusting against the spirit in the area of our physical weaknesses, if we are conscious of indwelling sin in the realm of our mental weaknesses, ignorance and mental dullness and distraction, we will be most conscious of the activity of indwelling sin in those aspects of worship which are most important to us...

6:42 - 8:07 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The more spiritual any activity may be, the more we have direct dealings with God, in that activity, the more violent will be the opposition of indwelling sin.

Martin quotes Owen again to reinforce that the closer anything is to God, and the more spiritual and holy it is, the greater the enmity of the flesh towards it, highlighting the intensity of spiritual warfare in worship.

Owen goes on to say on this very point, the nearer, if I may so say, anything is to God, the greater is the enmity of the flesh unto it. The more of spirituality and holiness is in anything, the greater is the enmity of the flesh to that thing. That which hath most of God, hath most of the opposition of indwelling sin. Now, Owen didn't speak as a detached theologian.

8:37 - 9:10 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The more spiritual any activity may be, the more we have direct dealings with God, in that activity, the more violent will be the opposition of indwelling sin.

Martin provides examples like sitting erect, breathing deeply, or pinching cheeks to overcome physical dullness, contrasting these relatively easy solutions with the more complex spiritual hindrances.

He spoke as a pastor and as a saint who knew his own heart as well as his Bible. So then, when we think of the hindrances to worship, and we move into the realm of those distinctively spiritual hindrances, the hindrances that are not limited or bounded by the dullness of the body that we can in great measure overcome by sitting erect in the chair and sucking plenty of air into our lungs and, if necessary, pinching our cheeks or doing something else to clear our heads and to give ourselves to worship, when we move from that relatively external realm, we move from the relatively easy to the more...

9:10 - 10:27 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The greatest difficulty before is to win the heart to God. The greatest difficulty after is to keep the heart with God. Here lies the very pinch and stress of true religion.

Martin quotes John Flavel's treatise 'Keeping the Heart' to underscore that the greatest difficulty in conversion is winning the heart to God, and after conversion, keeping it with God, emphasizing the centrality of heart work in true religion.

And John Flavel in his marvelous treatise, which every believer ought to attempt to read periodically, dealing with the subject keeping the heart, Proverbs 4.23, John Flavel introduces this vast subject with these words, the greatest difficulty in conversion is to win the heart to God. Now that's true. The only reason any man, woman, boy or girl sits here this morning unconverted, it's not that you don't know the gospel, it's that your heart is set upon the world, the flesh and the devil, upon sin, upon sin and death.

31:02 - 31:40 Read in full sermon

The point: Sequester yourself from earthly employments and set apart some time for solemn preparation to meet God in worship.

Martin quotes Flavel comparing the heart after being plunged into the world to a sea after a storm, still muddy and disquiet, to illustrate the need for time to settle and prepare the heart for worship.

I want to speak realistically. You must somewhere along the line, whether it's driving to church, whether it's sitting in the few moments before the opening of the hour or whether it's sitting in the closet or whatever, you must be conscious, deliberate preparation of the heart for the exercises of worship. It's in this connection that Flavel says, sequester yourself from all earthly employments and set apart some time for solemn preparation to meet God in the duties of worship. It is with the heart a few minutes since plunged into the world now at the feet of God, just as with the sea after a...

34:30 - 36:00 Read in full sermon

The point: Sequester yourself from earthly employments and set apart some time for solemn preparation to meet God in worship.

Martin uses the analogies of a field needing plowing, a garden needing weeding, and an instrument needing tuning to illustrate the deliberate work required to prepare the heart for worship and maintain its spiritual vitality.

We must look upon our hearts as a field which cannot receive seed until it's plowed up and harrowed and made soft and pliable. And time must be spent to plow up the heart. We must look upon the heart as a garden which cannot produce lush fruits unless we spend some time pulling out the weeds that will choke out the nutrients of the soil that will, by their foliage, keep the sunlight from bearing down upon our plants. We must look upon the heart as an instrument whose strings must be tuned if we are to bring the praise worthy. You see, the tragedy of indwelling sin is that it is never inactive....

37:04 - 38:26 Read in full sermon

The point: Sequester yourself from earthly employments and set apart some time for solemn preparation to meet God in worship.

Martin shares his personal experience of seeing his garden full of weeds, noting that a well-dressed garden requires work, to illustrate that a fervent heart in worship doesn't happen by itself but requires conscious effort to pull out 'weeds' of sin.

We must look upon our hearts as a field which cannot receive seed until it's plowed up and harrowed and made soft and pliable. And time must be spent to plow up the heart. We must look upon the heart as a garden which cannot produce lush fruits unless we spend some time pulling out the weeds that will choke out the nutrients of the soil that will, by their foliage, keep the sunlight from bearing down upon our plants. We must look upon the heart as an instrument whose strings must be tuned if we are to bring the praise worthy. You see, the tragedy of indwelling sin is that it is never inactive....

37:04 - 38:26 Read in full sermon

The point: Labor and work at becoming true worshipers to the glory of God and the blessing of your own hearts.

The story of the woman of Samaria is used as an example of someone who, after encountering Jesus, found the true meaning of life and became a worshiper, contrasting her previous life of sexual dalliance with her newfound delight in God.

Fill you with such lofty thoughts of God. And such understanding of the glory of Christ. That you will find your delight as did that woman of Samaria. Who up till that encounter with Jesus.

46:24 - 46:40 Read in full sermon