The Main Themes of the Book (Albert Martin)

The point: Read through the book of Revelation multiple times until certain things are crystal clear in your mind as the message of the Spirit of God to your heart.

The recurrence of themes in Revelation is compared to the main theme of a beautiful musical composition, woven throughout the entire work, to explain what a 'main theme' means.

I know that's painfully inadequate and you have many questions, but you'll just have to live with some of those questions because I gave you an assignment and also committed myself to a specific focus of concern in this class. The assignment was to come prepared to enunciate what are the main themes of the book of the Revelation. What themes, what motifs occur again and again like the theme of a beautiful work of music that is set before us many times in the opening bars and then comes to us again and again woven through the fabric of that entire composition. Well, there are certain themes, ce...

5:19 - 6:03 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin presents his first dominant theme: Jesus Christ is in the midst of His church through all its trials and triumphs, perfecting it until His return, as seen in John's opening…

Martin vividly describes John's experience on Patmos, hearing the trumpet blast and being terrified, to emphasize the holy terror and awe associated with divine revelation.

Here's John in lonely exile, in isolation. He's hearing nothing but the breaking of the waves upon the shore of the Isle of Patmos if he was close enough to it. And all of a sudden, out of the, as it were, almost deafening silence of any other sound of the dashing of waves comes the voice of a blast of a trumpet. I'm sure his skin raised on his flesh.

21:26 - 21:50 Read in full sermon

The point: Develop a philosophy of history in the light of the principles of the book of the Revelation, understanding that everything that happens has reference to the history, well-being, calling, and preservation of the Church o…

The misuse of Revelation to predict geopolitical futures (Russia, China, Middle East) is likened to a 'crystal ball mentality,' which Martin calls a 'prostitution' of the book's true purpose.

Everything that happens has reference to the history, to the well-being, to the calling, to the preservation of the Church of Christ. Now that's the curse of this crystal ball mentality. But reference to the book of the Revelation. People want to gaze into the book of the Revelation and into Gog and Magog and into Armageddon to wonder what is the future of Russia?

27:15 - 27:38 Read in full sermon

The point: Respond to the needs of suffering churches, understanding that our treatment of God's people is regarded by Christ as our treatment of Him.

Martin uses the example of churches in peaceful countries versus those in famine-stricken Africa or war-torn Vietnam to illustrate how God orders all events with reference to His people, testing both the suffering and the prosperous.

Pastor Martin? Yes. I wonder if you could illustrate what you're talking about a little bit. Think of the Church in the, let's say, the countries that are peaceful now like our country and its relationship to the Church in Africa where the famine is and the Church in Vietnam.

28:12 - 28:27 Read in full sermon

The point: Respond to the needs of suffering churches, understanding that our treatment of God's people is regarded by Christ as our treatment of Him.

The ability of a sensitive church historian to look back and see God's wisdom in past events, even when contemporary believers were confused, is used to encourage trust in God's purposes despite present incomprehension.

And you must believe me that I do. And that becomes a tremendous stabilizer when we can't seem to fit the pieces together. And oft times, you see, even now, without being infallible, enough time has passed that the sensitive, spiritually minded, scripturally soaked Church historian may look back at certain periods in the Church's history that while the Church was in that period, people probably said, Lord, nothing makes sense. But we look back and say how wise God was to do what He did at that particular time.

30:06 - 30:40 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The third theme emphasizes that all of human history is under the direct, sovereign control of God and the Lamb, illustrated by the vision of the enthroned God and the Lamb…

Martin humorously describes the angel's promise to show John 'things which must come to pass hereafter' but then showing him a 'throne set in heaven,' explaining that the throne is the key to understanding all subsequent events.

Behold, I saw a throne set. Well, wait a minute, Mr. Angel Man. You're going to show me things come to pass or things that are set in heaven.

33:08 - 33:18 Read in full sermon

Driving home: God is far more concerned to get this message through to us and, if necessary, even give smart Alec some fuel to throw up into his face than to allow his suffering saints to have any other understanding of human history …

God's perfect administration of history is contrasted with the unreliability of the Long Island Railroad or Penn Central, emphasizing that 'everything, Lord, is right on schedule.'

It's not like the Long Island Railroad. No, no, it's not like the Penn Central. Everything, Lord, is right on schedule. Why?

35:57 - 36:06 Read in full sermon

The point: Believe that all that transpires in human history is under the sovereign control of God and of the Lamb, especially when civil liberties are stripped and families are severed, to avoid becoming an atheist who curses God.

The hypothetical scenario of a pastor in Vietnam facing bombs, loss of liberties, and potential imprisonment is used to demonstrate that the doctrine of God's sovereign control is a vital, non-abstract truth for suffering saints.

God is far more concerned to get this message through to us and, if necessary, even give smart Alec some fuel to throw up into his face than to allow his suffering saints to have any other understanding of human history than the one I've enunciated. Everything that transpires is under the sovereign control of God and of the Lamb. Now, that's no theoretical abstraction. To some dear pastor who has seen half his flock decimated in the past three weeks in Vietnam,

37:39 - 38:11 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Death is now a discipline. Death is a discipline. But the experience of dying is still a discipline. Death is a discipline. Death is still a discipline.

The fear of dying is compared to the fear of a first visit to the dentist, a first airplane flight, or a first elevator ride, to normalize the fear of the unknown experience of death.

Secondly, you've never been down that experience before. Just like the first time you went to the dentist. You were scared to death. And if you had a good experience, you weren't quite so scared the next time.

43:57 - 44:07 Read in full sermon

The point: Know that when men inflict violent death or suffering upon you, all they can do is chase you up to heaven to join the crowd that looks upon the Lamb, where you will be better off.

The suffering of martyrs, even to the point of violent death, is reframed as merely being 'chased up to heaven to join the crowd that looks upon the land,' emphasizing the immediate blessedness of their state.

They need to know let men pull your fingernails out, let men pull your fingers out, let them do everything that's put in Fox's Book of Martyrs to the saints of God. Let them do what they will when they've done their last dastardly deed and they've caused the wrenching loose of soul and body. All they can do is chase you up to heaven to join the crowd that looks upon the land.

45:32 - 45:53 Read in full sermon

The point: Know that when men inflict violent death or suffering upon you, all they can do is chase you up to heaven to join the crowd that looks upon the Lamb, where you will be better off.

The Schlitz beer advertisement slogan, 'You only go around once, get all the gusto you can,' is used as a perceptive index of the materialistic, affluent 20th-century Western culture's mentality, which contrasts sharply with the Christian hope.

We need to know that, dear men. You see, the whole philosophy of our materialistic, affluent, 20th century Western culture is this is your only heaven. Live it up now because you don't know what lies beyond. The Schlitz-Bierad is the most perceptive index of the mentality of the average American.

46:03 - 46:22 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The sixth theme highlights the preserving power of Jesus Christ, ensuring that saints will be kept through all opposition, not by their own strength but by His grace.

Martin recounts meeting a converted German brother, Ed Pointner, years after their last encounter, and praising God that Ed had persevered in faith, attributing it to God's preserving grace rather than Ed's own power, illustrating the sixth theme.

I met a dear man, a converted German brother, Hart. I hope you can meet this man. He is the most lovable, godly brother. I met him some years ago at a conference in Canada and he was helped under my ministry there and it's been years since we've seen one another and when we saw one another up at Gordon College, he's at the seminary and he came down to one of the meetings and we just ran up and we embraced.

48:38 - 49:01 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not rest on the certainty of preservation at the expense of taking seriously the necessity of overcoming, nor cease holding firm to the necessity of overcoming without your eye fixed on the certainty of preservation.

The impossibility of buying Cadillacs with a $25 checking account is used to illustrate the inadequacy of one's own resources to overcome, highlighting the need to rely on Christ's preserving power.

I'll never make it. And you put all your focus on the necessity of overcoming and you look at your own resources and you say it just ain't enough to make it. You don't go buy Cadillacs with a $25 checking account.

51:30 - 51:41 Read in full sermon