“Foreknowledge”

The point: Prepare our hearts to come with gratitude and with a greater measure of understanding as we meet about the Lord's table.

Martin contrasts preaching for oratorical reputation with preaching to teach God's truth, emphasizing that his method of review and repetition is for spiritual maturity, not personal acclaim.

This way of preaching will never gain one any reputation as an orator, but that's not what we're here for. We're here to teach God's truth. We're here that by the teaching of the truth, men may come to the knowledge of God and come to spiritual maturity. And so I want to adopt the course.

2:18 - 2:37 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The sermon introduces 'foreknowledge' as the second key word for study, focusing on Romans 8:28-29 and 1 Peter 1:1-2. Martin addresses the common misinterpretation that…

He uses the analogy of respectful conversation, where one tries to understand the speaker's intended meaning, to illustrate the believer's obligation to discover God's intended meaning of His words in Scripture.

What we are doing when we put that meaning on the word for knowledge is imposing a predisposed a presuppositional attitude and interpretation upon the word a meaning upon the word. Now if you like me and I like you. And you. When you respect me and I respect you when we converse we are continually trying to do something you're not conscious of it but you are.

18:49 - 19:12 Read in full sermon

The point: Seek to discover what God meant by the word 'foreknowledge' when He used it through His servants.

Martin uses the example of calling his daughter, 'Beth, come' versus 'Beth, you come,' to show how inflection and context change the meaning of the same words, highlighting the importance of discerning God's intended meaning.

I say to one of my children Beth come. She knows that's an invitation to a little loving. I say Beth you come. You know that's a command for a little spanking say or something else.

19:44 - 19:57 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The sermon concludes by examining Acts 13:48 and Acts 18:27, asserting that these verses clearly teach that faith is the fruit of God's ordination and grace, not the basis for it…

Martin shares his personal struggle with Acts 13:48, admitting he tried to make it say something other than its obvious meaning, illustrating the natural heart's resistance to the doctrine of sovereign grace.

The text that in the days when my natural heart. Fought the doctrine of the word of God. Concerning the sovereignty of God in grace. I looked up every lexicon.

43:32 - 43:41 Read in full sermon