Idolatry

Pastor Martin begins the section on 'The God Whom We Worship and Confess' by laying down the fundamental proposition that there is but one true and living God. He then develops the first of four major assertions about Him: that this God is the God of absolute perfection, perfect in Himself (self-sufficient and needing nothing), perfect in all His attributes (every attribute infinite and held in perfect balance with the others), and perfect in all His ways and works as testified by Moses, David, and the redeemed in heaven.

Pastor Martin brings in a fifth group of witnesses to Christ's deity: the fact that divine worship is directed to Him and received by Him without rebuke. Beginning with the strict monotheism of the Old Testament and Peter's and Paul's refusal to receive worship, he traces how calling on Christ's name, being baptized into His name, looking to Him for grace, and the worship of heaven itself all demonstrate that Christ is truly God. The sermon closes with searching questions: Is this the Christ you worship? And a lament over the cheap, flippant "Jesus" of much modern preaching.

Pastor Martin completes his treatment of the corporate implications of Christ's prophetic office by warning against the opposite error from undervaluing the ministry: idolizing the ministers themselves. He uses Matthew 23, the noble Bereans of Acts 17, and Paul's command not to become bondslaves of men to plead that God's people honor the ministry of the Word without ever surrendering the right of private judgment under Scripture. The sermon urges critical, Berean-like listening that holds fast only to what is genuinely from God, lest lazy hearers be led into the tyranny that always follows uncritical attachment to human teachers.