His Knees, Part 2

The point: Have a clear vision of the goal to which you are pressing, that God will mold and fashion you into men of God.

Maurice Roberts' essay title is used to introduce the theme of godliness and the anatomy of a man of God, highlighting a contemporary concern about the lack of visible godliness.

In the Sunday school hour, our brother Pete Leon announced the fact that it was time to renew subscriptions for the Banner of Truth magazine. And in a recent edition of that magazine, Maurice Roberts, the present editor of the magazine, published an essay with the very arresting title, Where Have All the Saints Gone? And the main thrust of that searching essay is captured in the opening words of the concluding paragraph in which Mr. Roberts writes as follows, Where have the saints gone?

2:14 - 2:58 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Expounding Psalm 2, Martin demonstrates that even Messiah himself, whose kingdom is divinely secured, must ask and receive the nations as his inheritance. This establishes prayer…

The raging nations and peoples against the Lord in Psalm 2 are described as a 'seething cauldron of rebellion' to vividly portray their intense opposition to God's rule.

and in Hebrews chapter 1. Now, many of you are familiar with the Psalm. It begins in the first three verses with a description of what we might call the seething age of men against, the rule of his anointed king. Why do the nations rage and the peoples meditate a vain thing?

11:26 - 11:52 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Expounding Psalm 2, Martin demonstrates that even Messiah himself, whose kingdom is divinely secured, must ask and receive the nations as his inheritance. This establishes prayer…

God's laughter at man's opposition is emphasized by calling man 'puny little man,' underscoring the futility of human rebellion against an Almighty God.

The Lord will have them in derision. God's first response is to laugh. Puny little man who thinks he can oppose Almighty God. But then he not only laughs, verse 5 says, he will speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure.

12:30 - 12:52 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Through numerous examples from Luke's Gospel (baptism, desert place, choosing disciples, transfiguration, Gethsemane), Martin illustrates Jesus's constant and fervent prayer life…

Martin refutes the idea that Jesus healed and preached in a 'magical mechanical way,' emphasizing that Christ's ministry involved deep empathy and groaning, not a bypass of his truly human soul.

when he was found in a desert place away from the multitudes early in the morning for Mark tells us in Mark 1 in verse 35 and in the morning a great while before day he rose up and went out and departed into a desert place and there pray if ever it would be legitimate for a man to sleep in a little in the morning it would have been that morning for the context indicates that he was up into what we would call the late hours of the night under the pressure of the needy multitudes pouring our soul in identifying with men in their bruised and battered physical condition and even in their greater b...

22:55 - 24:24 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Through numerous examples from Luke's Gospel (baptism, desert place, choosing disciples, transfiguration, Gethsemane), Martin illustrates Jesus's constant and fervent prayer life…

Jesus's teaching on prayer in Matthew 6 and 7 is called the 'Magna Carta of the King' to signify its foundational importance for how subjects of his kingdom obtain grace.

but thy will be done by me. O my Father, give me strength actively to take the cup, actively to drink the cup. And in commenting upon that very experience, the writer to Hebrews says in chapter 5, who in the days of his flesh, when he had prayed with strong and was heard in that he feared, though he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered. Well, do you see in the life of our Lord the principle clearly established that if the law of the kingdom is asked and it shall be given, then surely we should expect that in the record of the life of our blessed Lord, we would s...

33:16 - 34:42 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The man, in other words, it is what a man as a Christian that is the foundation on which his function as a minister is built and never the other way around.

The metaphor of a 'shriveled soul of a babe in Christ' or a 'grotesquely developed soul' is used to warn against placing spiritually immature or unholy men into ministry, stressing that a man's Christian character is foundational.

Well, first and foremost, and hear me carefully, first and foremost, the knees of a man of God are bowed before the Father to seek the things he needs for the health and vigor of his own soul as a Christian man. The knees of a man of God are constantly bowed before God his Father to seek the things which needs to be thundered from the rooftops in our days. The man, in other words, it is what a man as a Christian that is the foundation on which his function as a minister is built and never the other way around. You do not take the shriveled soul of a babe in Christ

36:30 - 37:57 Read in full sermon

The point: Take heed to yourselves and to all of the flock; take heed to yourself and to the teaching.

The hidden sins within a minister's heart are called 'demons of pride and of envy and of lust and of greed' to illustrate the constant need for confession and grace to restrain internal corruption.

And therefore his first business at the throne of grace is to be a worshipper of the Father as a Christian man. Secondly, he goes to the throne room of the Father not only primarily to worship and praise and adore the Christian man, but he goes to the throne room of the Father to confess his sins and to plead for forgiveness, to pour out the consciousness of his own wretchedness and to pour out of his own self-loathing. He does not go, first of all, to pray for wisdom, to know how judiciously to be the mouthpiece of the congregation to confess its sins. But he goes because he has remaining sin...

40:52 - 42:14 Read in full sermon

The point: Take heed to yourselves and to all of the flock; take heed to yourself and to the teaching.

Martin shares his personal experience of repeatedly pleading 1 John 1:9 before God, highlighting his own constant need for forgiveness and the verse's enduring relevance for a man of God.

And though the most discerning person may never see those demons breaking out, as it were, into such control that anyone would ever call him a lustful, a greedy, a proud, a haughty man, demons are there. And it's only grace that can restrain the horrible influence of that remaining corruption within his breast. And he therefore goes continually into the throne room of the Father, to say, Father, forgive my trespasses, even as I forgive those who trespass against me. He goes to plead a promise which I personally have said hundreds of times before God. I'm so glad forever, O Lord, your word is s...

42:14 - 43:27 Read in full sermon

The point: Let the conviction that the price for the nurture of your own soul must be paid in the presence of God be wrought into the fibers of your soul, even if it means lopping off right hands and plucking out right eyes.

A hypothetical scenario of a stroke rendering a minister unable to speak publicly is used to emphasize that a man of God's fundamental business at the throne of grace is his personal relationship with God, not his public ministry.

In the case of a true man of God, if he were to have a stroke and the stroke affected only the motor coordination of his tongue, just one little blood vessel that sends the signals from the brain, to make the tongue speak, follow me now, in a man of God, if he had a stroke that rendered him in a moment of time utterly unable ever to speak a name, ever speak, I'm sorry, a word in the name of Christ publicly again, his fundamental business at the throne of grace would not be changed one iota. His fundamental, I didn't say his total business, I said his fundamental business at the throne of grace...

47:03 - 48:24 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Any man who has anything that approaches a one-tenth accurate perspective of what the work of the ministry is, I don't care what his IQ is, I don't care what his formal education is, I don't care what his native's gifts …

The contrasting temperaments of Peter (volatile) and Timothy (timid) are used as examples to show how different ministers have unique needs for grace in prayer, tailored to their specific personalities and weaknesses.

Spurgeon and Augustine, I don't care what his education is, I don't care what his work is, I don't care what his abo tien. And the courage of Athanasius and Luther all rolled into one, the mystic assesment of the ministry. And even a Superman like that would cry out, I am not sufficient for these things. And therefore, the man of God has a lot of added business at the throne of grace that the ordinary Christian man doesn't have. Let me point out a few areas. Number one, he has a broad spectrum of need rooted in his own peculiar temperament, and physical condition. He has a broad spectrum of ne...

50:04 - 51:06 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Any man who has anything that approaches a one-tenth accurate perspective of what the work of the ministry is, I don't care what his IQ is, I don't care what his formal education is, I don't care what his native's gifts …

The false claim of Joe Smith's 'imaginary spectacles' for reading ancient writing is used as an analogy to contrast with the true need for spiritual illumination from God to understand Scripture, emphasizing that ministers have no inherent special ability.

early years when solomon was ambitious not for a hair of moderics but he said oh give unto thy servant wisdom that he may judge this thy so great a people and the man of god in conjunction with the needs of his ministry is not only constantly at the throne of grace seeking special grace for his own peculiar temperamental and physical condition but the demands of his public ministry he needs them to know what to preach and then he needs illumination as he pours over the word he has no special spectacles like joe smith's imaginary spectacles that supposedly helped him to read this ancient writin...

53:42 - 55:04 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Secondly, the man of God prays for special grace related to his ministerial tasks, acknowledging his insufficiency. This includes praying for needs rooted in his temperament and…

The 'unction of the spirit' in preaching is likened to 'power in the chariot of preaching,' illustrating that without it, even well-prepared sermons with truth and outline will 'go nowhere.'

presence of god and greater yet no cause of shame in the last day that he would be found as one who manipulated and twisted the word of god he needs wisdom to know what to preach illumination as he labors over the text skills of his ministry his character his character he needs wisdom as he is able to hear and understand the word of god and his presence and his presence is a great way to be able to understand the word of god and his presence is a great way to be able to understand the word of god in opening it up and laying it out then he needs boldness to declare it that's why Paul in Ephesia...

55:04 - 56:30 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Secondly, the man of God prays for special grace related to his ministerial tasks, acknowledging his insufficiency. This includes praying for needs rooted in his temperament and…

Martin shares his personal struggle and desire to 'run from the ministry' when faced with bleeding souls in counseling for whom he lacks immediate wisdom, illustrating the intense pressure and dependence on God for private ministry.

I tell you, it's not easy for some of us to go to a brother, to a sister, and point out a besetting sin that is glaring, that borders on being scandalous. It's not easy to tell a man, do you know you treat your wife like dirt? And I'm going to give you the proofs. Sit and listen to me. That's not easy. And when someone comes into the counseling room and pours out his or her complaint and cries out, I don't know how to deal with it. And you sit there and you say, oh God, I don't know how to deal with it easier. Few things make me want to run from the ministry, but that's one of them. When a ble...

59:11 - 60:16 Read in full sermon

The point: Turn from the things that will damn you and run to the one who is life and love and liberty, who alone can give you access to the father, acceptance in the court of heaven, the pledge and title of eternal life, the gift …

The vivid image of 'the flames of hell licking at his own feet' is used to describe the man of God's personal conviction of sin and deserved judgment, which fuels his yearning and prayer for the salvation of others.

And the great pattern of this is the apostle Paul in Romans 10.1. Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. A man who has felt the flames of hell licking at his own feet, and knows that at any given moment were God to charge him with the sins of the past hour, no matter how holy he is, God could justly send him to hell for an eternity.

64:05 - 64:36 Read in full sermon