A Message About God and Sin

Driving home: But you see, there will never be a council of men who can change what God has said concerning what is the gospel.

Compares the unchanging standard of God's Word to physical measurements like a foot or yard, which, unlike human agreements, cannot be arbitrarily redefined by men.

The scripture-aided revelation of God's mind, found in the Old and the New Testaments, here and here alone. Do we have that inflexible, that eternal, that unchangeable source book to answer the question, what is the gospel? And there is nothing in human experience that is light to it. I used to use the illustration of physical measurements, that someone may claim something is six feet long and all of their protestations, The protestations and the bringing in the philosophers and the rest cannot change it.

9:43 - 10:15 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Drawing on J.I. Packer's framework, Martin presents the gospel as a message about God, sin, Christ, and repentance/faith. He uses the analogy of a bridal party, where Christ's…

Uses the analogy of a wedding party to explain the components of the gospel: Christ's person and work are the bride and groom, but God is the best man, and sin/repentance/faith are the attendants, all necessary for the full picture.

The proclamation of the facts concerning the person and work of Jesus Christ are like the bride and the bridegroom in a bridal party.

15:43 - 15:54 Read in full sermon

Driving home: So you see, unless the gospel starts with God, all of its distinct blessings cannot be appreciated.

Highlights Paul's approach in Acts 17, starting with God the Creator and Sovereign, as a model for gospel proclamation, demonstrating the necessity of establishing God's identity first.

And so the gospel must of necessity begin with a message about God. And certainly the classic example of a gospel preacher who understood this is the Apostle Paul himself And in the 17th chapter of the book of the Acts, standing as a gospel preacher in a pagan society that knew nothing of the true God, longing to see these people brought to the knowledge of Christ, liberated from the ignorance and the bondage of paganism.

22:01 - 22:38 Read in full sermon

The point: Your presence in church may be God's sovereign act to show you that you are ungodly.

Contrasts viewing oneself through the 'clouded glasses' of natural sight with seeing oneself in the 'mirror of the Word of God' to understand one's true state of sinfulness.

Maybe for years you've been in a church that flattered you and told you you weren't ungodly, you just had a religious elbow out of joint, and if you come to church, you get it back in joint, and everything's all right. You've just got a little myopia in your spiritual vision, and get the glasses of going to church, and being sweet, and keeping the golden rule, and you'll have twenty-twenty vision. You see, your presence here, may not so much be an indication you're godly, as that Almighty God in mercy has brought you here in His sovereignty to show you that you're ungodly. My friend, don't loo...

43:51 - 44:34 Read in full sermon