Introduction; Christ's Commendation (Rev. 2:1-3)

In this part of the sermon: He identifies the 'angel' as the leader(s) or pastors of the church, noting that while the message is directly to them, its application extends to all churches in all ages. Martin…

The metaphor of 'spiritual dry rot' is used to describe the subtle, difficult-to-discern decay and declension that can set into a church over time, undermining its foundations.

enough time has passed to establish people in the truth a church is not established in the truth overnight it takes a long period of time for the concepts of the word of god to be established in the truth and to be established in the truth to work down into the warp and woof and into the very fiber of any given church. Sufficient time has passed at Ephesus for that work of establishment in the truth to be realized. But also, enough time has passed for decay and declension to set in, and you have a problem of the beginnings of spiritual dry rot,

9:52 - 10:33 Read in full sermon

The point: Believe that your response to God's word, rightly expounded, is your response to the Lord Himself, and seek a fresh revelation of His glory if your heart is sluggish.

Martin uses common human experiences of responding to words based on one's estimation of the speaker ('I could have taken it from anyone else but not from him') to illustrate the inseparable fusion of Christ's person and His words.

impossible whosoever is ashamed of me and of my words now you and i operate on this basis of the fusion of the person with his words constantly have you ever said when someone has said something well i could have taken it from anyone else but not from him what you're saying is i couldn't separate the words spoken from the person who spoke them conversely i've heard people saying boy coming from anyone else that would have just gotten me so mad but i can take it from him have you ever said that you see you operate on this basis all the time that your response to a

14:02 - 14:41 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Whatever I say in commendation, whatever I say in complaint, in condemnation, I say out of perfect knowledge of what you are.

The analogy of a puppet's hands being moved by strings is used to contrast a superficial external action with the biblical understanding of 'works,' which includes motive and end in view, known by Christ's omniscience.

Whatever the Lord Jesus says in a way of commendation or in a way of complaint, he says out of perfect knowledge of the people involved. I know thy works. A knowledge that was as extensive as the burning eye of omniscience. For in the Bible sense, a work is not just what is done externally, like a puppet's hands are moved by the strings, but a work, in the biblical sense, takes in not only what is done, but the motive that prompts the act, the end in view in the doing of the act.

21:29 - 22:11 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Whatever I say in commendation, whatever I say in complaint, in condemnation, I say out of perfect knowledge of what you are.

Martin quotes a writer who beautifully articulates Christ's omniscience: His eye is distinctly riveted on each beating heart in the assembly as if it were the only one, emphasizing His personal and perfect knowledge.

As one writer has said, only think there is not one beating heart in this assembly upon which the eye of Christ is not distinctly riveted as if that heart were the only one in the universe of God.

23:15 - 23:33 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The deed that you did in secret sounds like seven thunders in God's ear. That thought which flashed through your soul with the speed of the lightning's wing left its shadow before God.

Martin quotes a writer on the constant, penetrating omniscience of God, stating that secret deeds sound like thunders in God's ear and fleeting thoughts leave a shadow in His records, highlighting the inescapable nature of divine knowledge.

And so it is in the same time, the most comforting and the most convicting of all thoughts. One writer has said so beautifully, and I toyed with whether or not I ought to read it to you, but it so blessed me that I felt I just had to. Concerning this principle, let us ever recollect this solemn truth that Christ eyes upon each one of us. There's no such thing as a divine absenteeism.

26:38 - 27:03 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The deed that you did in secret sounds like seven thunders in God's ear. That thought which flashed through your soul with the speed of the lightning's wing left its shadow before God.

Continuing the previous quotation, Martin shares how Christ's omniscience also delights in noticing secret virtues: unheard prayers, unexpressed sympathy, unhelpful pity, and hidden acts of charity, showing His gracious recognition of inner spiritual realities.

But blessed be his name, his omniscience does not occupy itself with looking only at our sins. But it delights also to take cognizance of our virtues which he himself has created. That prayer that is scarcely expressed by the lips but that leaps secretly from the heart, Christ hears. That sympathy within for which you have no expression without, Christ sees.

27:37 - 28:01 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Let someone do something to us that is a grief to our hearts and immediately that becomes the issue that fills the whole horizon of our thought and whenever we think of that person and look at that person, all we see is …

Martin contrasts Christ's method of beginning with commendation with the common human tendency to let a single offense cloud out all virtues, rupturing relationships by focusing solely on the negative.

Oh, how unlike us is our Lord. When we human beings in our relationship with others have something that offends us, we allow the one offense to cloud out all the virtues and we ride herd on that issue until we rupture friendships and relationships. How unlike our Lord we are. Let someone do us ill and we must have dealings with that person.

30:11 - 30:40 Read in full sermon

The point: Examine if there are 'calloused hands and circled eyes' in your midst, evidencing intense labor for the extension of His kingdom.

The metaphor of 'calloused hands and circled eyes' is used to represent the physical and emotional toll of intense labor and sacrifice for the kingdom of Christ, which the Lord commends.

No, God's mighty working does not bypass our diligent labors. His mighty working comes to light through our diligent labors. And so our Lord says to this church, to the extent that you have some calloused hands, and some circled eyes for the sake of my kingdom, I commend you.

34:36 - 35:00 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The Lord praises the Ephesians for trying and exposing false apostles, demonstrating intense zeal for preserving Christ's truth. Martin argues that this requires fixed canons of…

Martin shares an anecdote about conversations with brethren in mixed denominations, where an 'unwritten law' prevents the use of terms like 'heretic' or 'error,' even between conservative and liberal wings, illustrating the problem of doctrinal compromise.

If the church is a community of free-thinking religious people who can concoct anything they want to about God and life and morals, how in the world can you have a heresy trial? And as I've said to some of my brethren who remain in the pale of these mixed denominations where the leadership and the schools and for the most part the entire denomination has gone liberal, they say, well, we're evangelicals and we're able to preach. I said, yes, but the unwritten law is this. In all your dealings with your fellow churchmen, you must never use the word heretic.

40:17 - 40:51 Read in full sermon

The point: Recognize that if the Lord sees intense labor, zeal for purity, zeal for truth, and persevering stability in us, He commends it as the fruit of His own work.

The metaphor of 'flash in the pan rocket like Christians' is used to describe those who lack persevering stability, contrasting them with the Ephesians who 'had not fainted' in their work and sufferings for Christ's name.

It's what I'm calling persevering stability in the work and sufferings of Christ. Thou hast born and for my name's sake. He says, you've not fainted. They were no flash in the pan rocket like Christians.

48:35 - 48:50 Read in full sermon