After the Sermon Part 4

Driving home: No, the word that profits you is that which is not only laid out upon the table, taken into the mouth and into the stomach by careful hearing while it is preached, but that which through meditation gets down into the sma…

The analogy of spiritual bulimia describes those who hear the Word (put food in their mouth) but then 'vomit it out' through worldly conversation and preoccupation, preventing spiritual digestion and growth.

which determines your spiritual growth and health. It is not the amount of food that you merely put into your mouth by carefully listening while the word is preached. You may be a spiritual bulimic who before you get home you stuck your finger down your throat and you vomited out whatever you chewed and initially swallowed by careful hearing. Vomited out by worldly conversation, by a preoccupation of your mind with worldly concerns.

13:22 - 13:56 Read in full sermon

The point: After the preaching of the Word, engage in sufficient repetition to fasten a phrase, text, or concept upon your mind, and then engage in meditation upon that Word to know its profit.

An analogy of a family physician observing a sallow, listless patient who eats well but isn't gaining weight. This illustrates that merely consuming spiritual food (hearing the Word) is insufficient; there must be proper digestion (meditation) for spiritual health.

of spiritual digestion. One of the great concerns of any thoughtful and perceptive family physician who knows you well is if you came in for a regular checkup and you seemed sallow and listless and you had obviously lost an excessive amount of weight in a short time, the first question he'd ask is, what in the world is wrong with you? And if you were to lay out what you were eating and it was evident you were eating a well-balanced diet and consuming sufficient calories with balanced intake that this was on your table and in your mouth and initially going into your stomach, he'd say something'...

14:39 - 15:22 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Meditation is the life of all the means of grace and that which makes them fruitful to our souls.

Manton's analogy of a hen straying from her nest, causing her eggs to chill, is used to explain that if we do not 'set a brood upon holy thoughts' (meditate), the truth will not take root and do good.

What is the reason there is so much preaching and so little practice for lack of meditation. Constant thoughts are operative thoughts. If a hen straggles out from her nest she brings forth nothing. Her eggs chill.

18:33 - 18:52 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Meditation is the life of all the means of grace and that which makes them fruitful to our souls.

Manton's metaphor of truth coming 'like a flash of lightning' illustrates how quickly divine truths are forgotten if not dwelt upon through meditation, preventing any lasting impression.

If we give them time and space we shall feel their effects. So if we hold truths in our minds and dwell upon them there will be an answerable impression. But when they come like a flash of lightning they are gone. And we run over them in a shallow way.

19:24 - 19:42 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not pummel your mind with worldly sounds and concepts, as this will lead to shallow, fruitless, and stunted spiritual growth.

Martin uses the metaphor of a 'toothless clawless pussycat' to describe the diluted, comfortable image of God held by many modern evangelicals, contrasting it with the biblical God who demands reverence and obedience.

It's a delusive spirit from the devil. And if you pummel your mind with sounds and concepts from all the trinkets and toys available ready and willing to pummel your mind God will not accommodate himself to your folly but your shallow fruitless stunted spiritual growth will be the monument of your folly and of mine. I am weary

21:47 - 22:28 Read in full sermon

The point: Flee from your sins and cast yourself upon the Savior, turning from sin to find mercy from the God who is both an angry lion to the disobedient and a welcoming father to the repentant.

God is likened to an 'angry lion' for those who forget Him and disdain His Word, but also to a 'welcoming father' for the prodigal son, illustrating His dual nature of justice and mercy.

God says consider this you that forget me I will come and deal with you as an angry lion and there shall be none to die. God grants that you flee from your sins and find that that God who says will be an angry lion is the God who also likens himself to a welcoming father to a prodigal son and bids you to come to him through his beloved son. Bids you to turn from your sin and to cast yourself upon the Savior in the promise that he will have mercy upon you.

22:56 - 23:41 Read in full sermon