Basic/Fundamental Issues, Part 1

The point: Be able to instinctively respond, 'I know for sure that my Lord Jesus Christ is coming again,' when asked what you know for sure.

Martin recalls an old greeting, 'What do you know for sure?' to introduce the idea that Christians should instinctively respond with the certainty of Christ's return, contrasting it with agnosticism and nihilism.

When I was a little boy back in the dark ages, and I don't know where it originated, I can remember some of the men in my circle of interaction and acquaintance, when they would greet one another, they would say, hi, John. Hi, Harry. What do you know for sure? Instead of saying, what's up?

14:29 - 14:48 Read in full sermon

The point: If you begin to waffle in your persuasion of Christ's return, recover by repentance and faith, lest you become wreckage strewn along the road as an apostate from Christ.

The analogy of God's faithfulness in keeping His promise to Noah (no more universal flood, consistent seasons) is used to underscore the certainty that God will also meticulously fulfill His prophecies regarding Christ's second coming.

so will it be with respect to the second coming. Every prophecy will be meticulously fulfilled. And as certainly as God has kept and will continue to keep the promise made to Noah, as long as the earth remains, there will never again be a universal flood, seed time in harvest, summer and winter. God has kept that commitment.

39:02 - 39:23 Read in full sermon

The point: If you begin to waffle in your persuasion of Christ's return, recover by repentance and faith, lest you become wreckage strewn along the road as an apostate from Christ.

Martin compares his personal desk calendar with a 'to-do list' to God's calendar, suggesting that God has a specific, certain date marked for sending His Son back, emphasizing the absolute certainty of the event.

and that God has said throughout the scriptures, Jesus is returning. As I sat at my study meditating upon these things and had occasion to pull out my top left drawer where I keep my desk calendar and I see how this Monday if I am spared and the Lord delays his coming, I've got my to-do list and they're all filled in there on the 16th. and I thought if God keeps a calendar he's got a calendar and he's got a date circle and it says on that day send my son back and it's as certain as though the date has come and gone in the mind and purpose of God

39:59 - 40:45 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin explains that Christ's return is climactic, meaning it is the final, culminating event in the series of redemptive events. He illustrates this with an Olympic analogy and…

The experience of an Olympic athlete (Marion Jones) winning a gold medal is used to illustrate the concept of a 'climactic event,' arguing that the second coming is the ultimate, culminating event in redemptive history, not merely a step towards a later climax.

And that which is climactic, the final culminating event, is the second coming of the Lord Jesus. Let me illustrate it this way. For Marion Jones, who had hoped to come back with five golds from the Olympics, I believe she did win the 200 meters in one or two others and took a second or third. Now, if you were to ask an Olympic athlete, what was your climactic experience in conjunction with the 200-meter dash?

58:51 - 59:23 Read in full sermon

The point: Repent of your sin and cast yourself upon His dear Son, the Lord Jesus, who died and rose again, and who delays His coming out of purposes of salvation.

The analogy of the days before the flood, when people were eating, drinking, and marrying, unaware until the flood came, is used to illustrate the unexpected and sudden nature of Christ's return, warning against skepticism and willful forgetfulness.

As in the days before the flood, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. They were eating and drinking and marrying, giving in marriage, and knew not until the flood came and took them all away, so shall it also be in the days of the Son of Man.

68:51 - 69:07 Read in full sermon