One Return of Christ

Driving home: And she said, how I thank God. That it was the systematic, consistent, week by week, line upon line teaching that without even knowing it, imperceptibly, these great concepts of truth were taking hold of me.

A former church member wrote a letter expressing gratitude for the systematic, consistent teaching, confirming that week-by-week exposition, though unglamorous, was profoundly effective in her spiritual growth. This illustrates the value of Martin's expository ministry.

When we received a letter from Cheat, many of you remember Cheat, Carmen Cheetah Antonio, and I had asked her at some time at her convenience to write a letter evaluating what basic concepts she feels were most profitable to her in her two years with us. She wrote back a letter that goes into what I call my Blue Monday file. And I wonder sometimes if anything's worth it. As Elijah came to that place, we'll be looking at him under his juniper tree tonight.

1:14 - 1:44 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin directly confronts the popular teaching of a secret rapture occurring years before Christ's visible return, sharing a personal childhood experience with this doctrine. He…

Martin recounts a childhood experience where he came home to a dark, silent house and, having been taught about a secret rapture, feared the Lord had come and left him behind. He describes his terror and relief upon finding his sleeping sibling, illustrating the emotional impact and false expectations this teaching can create.

So this is a very practical problem, because many of you have been exposed to that teaching. How I can remember as a child having been exposed to this teaching, and I wasn't converted. I had, by nature, a very sensitive temperament, and then, by God's grace, working through the influence of my parents and by His Spirit, His prevenient grace, great fears of death and of judgment, great fears that the Lord might come and I wouldn't be ready. And I'll never forget one night coming home, and at our house, being a house full of kids, I was one of ten, and at the time, there were probably six or sev...

8:35 - 9:12 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He draws evidence from Matthew 13 (parable of the tares), Matthew 24 (Christ's visible coming, gathering of the elect, and parallel to Noah's day), and Luke 17 (explicitly stating…

He uses the examples of Noah being borne above the dead in the ark and Lot being taken from Sodom before judgment fell, to illustrate how believers will be delivered from judgment at Christ's coming, not by being removed years prior, but by being preserved through or taken at the very moment of judgment.

They did eat, drank, bought, sold, planted, building But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom It rained fire and brimstone from heaven And destroyed them all Even thus shall it be in the days of Noah What will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed What will it be of taking away of his own And in the same day destruction reigned upon the undone Now dear ones in the light of these passages I submit to every thoughtful person To at least seriously consider Whether or not it is the teaching of Scripture That there is one second coming of Christ A coming in glory That will be The ark ...

38:34 - 39:18 Read in full sermon

The point: Accept no canon of interpretation but the Scripture itself; do not let human notes or comments bind your conscience.

Martin shares a story about relatives who were deeply disturbed that their son was no longer 'bound by the notes in a certain Bible' (referring to the Schofield Bible). This illustrates the danger of elevating human interpretations (like Bible notes) to the authority of Scripture itself, comparing it to Romanism.

would bring is that of accepting no canon of interpretation but the scripture itself i had a call from one of my relatives last week and my sister wanted to buy a bible for my brother-in-law and when his parents heard that he was not interested in the scripture he said i don't believe in the scripture i don't believe in the scripture i don't believe in the scripture i don't believe in the scripture i don't believe in the scripture buying another schofield bible because he had re-examined much of the teaching in the notes and found they wouldn't hold water they were deeply deeply disturbed that...

42:09 - 42:53 Read in full sermon