During the Sermon, Part 1

The point: Face the sobering fact that the insidious and soul-destructive influence of our remaining sin and of the devil himself are neither suspended nor negated while hearing the Word of God.

Facts are compared to the Matterhorn mountain, which cannot be removed by ignoring, denying, or wishful thinking, emphasizing the stubborn reality of the sobering fact being presented.

Won't remove them, denying them won't destroy them and wishful thinking won't vaporize them. They stand there like the Matterhorn. You can wave your hand and say abracadabra be thou gone Matterhorn and the greatest slight of hand artist and illusionist in our day can't hold up a cloak and wave it and make the Matterhorn go away. Facts are stubborn realities that are part of the world that God made.

5:35 - 6:06 Read in full sermon

Driving home: And the more noble, the more intensified the good, the more active will be remaining sin.

The law is described as pulling away scales from Paul's eyes, allowing him to see himself as a sinner, dead, unclean, vile, and guilty, rather than acceptable to God.

And from verses 7 through verse 13, he describes the function of the law in pulling away the scales that were over his eyes so that Paul, who previously looked in the mirror and saw a creature acceptable to God on the grounds of his own self-wrought, personally woven fabric of man-made righteousness, now saw himself, but naked and full of open, ugly, wounded, putrefying swords. He saw himself a sinner, dead, unclean, vile, and guilty. And the law was God's instrument to show him his true state. But then moving on into the present tense, beginning with verse 14,

12:20 - 13:05 Read in full sermon

Driving home: And the more noble, the more intensified the good, the more active will be remaining sin.

Martin contrasts the lack of spiritual opposition when reading a newspaper with the sudden dullness, heaviness, and distractions experienced when attempting to read the Bible, illustrating the active presence of indwelling sin when pursuing spiritual good.

I find then the law, that to me who would do good, evil is present, and literally is near at hand. Do you ever feel a great stirring up of indwelling sin when you say, I think I'll sit down, and kick my feet up, and read the headlines of the newspaper? No. Why?

14:28 - 14:51 Read in full sermon

The point: If you do not face this fact (of indwelling sin's activity), you will be defeated again and again and again because you won't recognize the devil's subtle distractions.

The mind's reception of the Word is compared to a nursing babe's mouth yearning for its mother's breast, highlighting that any distraction, whether innocent or vile, prevents the proper reception of God's Word.

that that's not the case. That so-called innocent wandering thought is as effective to neutralize the word as if you sat in this place and thought blasphemous, vile, lecherous thought. The devil doesn't care if he fills your mind with thoughts about the roast at home, or about tomorrow's activities, innocent and noble as they may be, or whether he fills your mind with lusting after a man or woman sitting in a room in this place other than your husband or wife. So long as your mind is not like the mouth in the digestive system of a nursing babe,

16:52 - 17:34 Read in full sermon