Necessary Mental Gifts

In this part of the sermon: Martin begins by reviewing the previous sessions on the call to ministry, distinguishing between valid and invalid reasons for aspiring to the pastoral office, such as inaccurate…

Martin contrasts the tragedy of a man running from God's call (Jonah) with the tragedy of unsent men running into ministry (Jeremiah's day), emphasizing the importance of a valid call.

of the ministry or the pastoral office. And though we often think of the tragedy of a man being a Jonah, and running away from the call of God, I think too seldom do we think of the terrible tragedy that came to pass in Jeremiah's day when God had to say, they have run, but I have not sent them, and the terrible tragedy of unsent men running into the work of the ministry. So I've been plotting very slowly in a consideration of the biblical principles relative to the subject of what constitutes a call to the pastoral office. In our first session, we looked at six major reasons why men aspire to...

0:48 - 1:37 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He categorizes ministerial gifts into mental, spiritual, and mechanical, focusing on mental gifts for this session. He emphasizes the importance of gifts, arguing that Christ…

Martin advises against being an 'overlapping teacher' who confuses listeners, using it as an analogy for structuring his sermon with clear, distinct points even if reality is more nuanced.

Now, in this area of the gifts that are requisite for the ministry, I want to divide those gifts into three areas. Now, there is some overlapping, but when you teach, please don't be an overlapping teacher, or people won't learn anything. Just teach things with some structure and tell them it's not quite as cut and dried in reality as it is in your teaching, but don't try to teach it like it is, or they'll sit there wondering which end is up and where's in and where's out. Now, some of these things overlap.

7:16 - 7:45 Read in full sermon

Driving home: And where there are no gifts unto edification, there is no gift to the church as far as you are concerned.

Martin describes his study of John Owen's volumes as 'a bee flitting from flower to flower,' illustrating his diligent and extensive research into Owen's writings on the call to ministry.

And where there are no gifts unto edification, there is no gift to the church as far as you are concerned. Now, that's the hard-nosed, ugly fact of the whole matter, and it sweeps away all sentimental notions, all subjectivism, and it brings us into that gutsy realm where we just face the fact if Christ has not endowed me with the necessary mental, spiritual, and mechanical gifts, then the best thing I can do is either wait until He does or face the fact that He's not pleased to and find the sphere of usefulness in the body of Christ other than the office of the ministry. Now, John Owen, who's...

10:27 - 11:17 Read in full sermon

The point: Never use Scripture as an occasion for punning, joking, or creating laughs; if you do, confess it and make it right.

Martin recounts his experience with Bible school students making jokes about Scripture in dorm sessions, using it to illustrate a lack of reverent submission to the Word and its unsuitability for ministry.

If so, you will never be found using Scripture as an occasion for punning and for joking. Never using Scripture as an occasion to create laughs or giggles, and if you ever do it, your heart will be so smitten you'll feel like you've fallen into a cesspool until you confess it to the Lord and make it right with those around you. As far as I'm concerned, I've cleared the average Bible school and seminary three-quarters of the young men who are there, who can sit around in dorm bowl sessions and make jokes on the Scripture. And then they think they're going to get up behind the pulpit and have th...

18:01 - 18:36 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second mental gift is a mind furnished with a grasp of the basic content of Holy Scripture. He illustrates this with an anecdote of a man unable to name the books of the Bible…

Martin shares an anecdote from an ordination council where a candidate could not name the 66 books of the Bible, illustrating the tragic lack of basic scriptural content knowledge in some aspiring ministers.

We go back to 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17 again. If it is by the Scriptures that a man is made thoroughly furnished unto all good words, then unless he has some acquaintance with the basic content of Scripture, he is not in any way furnished unto every good word. I shall never forget the occasion of sitting in on an ordination council, and the gentleman was asked to name the 66 spokes of the Bible, and he couldn't do it. We didn't ask him, will you give us, please, the basic thrust of the prophecy of Haggai, the basic contents of chapters 1 and 2, or how many chapters are there in Haggai.

19:39 - 20:19 Read in full sermon

The point: If you claim God's hand is upon you for ministry, spend more time in Scripture than on TV, magazines, or sports, or face the fact of disobedience or an unconfirmed call.

Martin recalls a senior-year Bible school test where students struggled to identify the book and chapter of basic Scripture quotations, highlighting the widespread ignorance of biblical content even among those preparing for ministry.

I'm just talking about an acquaintance with the basic contents of those sixty-six books that were given to us by divine inspiration, which are the sum and substance of the tools of a man's ministry. And I think, again, it's one of the tragedies I shall never forget in my senior year at Bible school. We had a course in general epistles. It started with Peter and went through 1 and 2 Peter, James, 1 and 2, John, and Jude.

22:07 - 22:40 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not take the office of ministry and feed God's people on the husks of your own ideas; give them Scripture, interpreted, illustrated, and applied by Scripture.

Martin uses the metaphor of 'selling bananas' to contrast a minister's task of preaching God's Word with relying on one's own cleverness, emphasizing that people need Scripture, not human ideas.

Give a Scripture sixteen ounces to the pound, the Bible interpreted by the Bible, illustrated by the Bible, enforced by the Bible, then you'll feed our hearts. Otherwise, go on out and sell bananas. Show how clever you can be in getting up your own little spiel to sell bananas. And sell all the bananas you want, but don't take the office of the ministry and feed the people of God upon the husks of your own ideas.

24:03 - 24:31 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not take the office of ministry and feed God's people on the husks of your own ideas; give them Scripture, interpreted, illustrated, and applied by Scripture.

Martin points to the Puritans' deep knowledge of the human heart, evident in their sermons, as an example of how they derived profound psychological insight from the sufficiency of Scripture, contrasting it with modern seminary emphases.

You become a safe guide in holy things, only so far as your directives are rooted in and flow out of a deep experimental acquaintance with the Word of God. And I think, again, the whole thrust in so many of our seminaries today on course after course on pastoral counseling and the pastor as administrator and all this is reflective of the fact that we've drifted from this perspective. What gives real thrust and authority to some of those sermons written three hundred years ago of our Puritan forefathers? What makes them so relevant that you'd think these guys had their degrees in advanced psych...

25:42 - 26:27 Read in full sermon

Driving home: You're going to have that dear soul come to you who hasn't made the distinction between the grounds of his acceptance before God, on the basis of the merits of Christ, and the grounds of his assurance that he is accepted…

Martin recounts an instance where he immediately identified a man as an Arian (likely a Jehovah's Witness) during a discussion, illustrating the practical necessity of historical theology to recognize and confront heresy.

All right, some of you remember, who may have been here a couple of years ago, when I think, was it Mr. Starrett who was teaching the class? I sat right there, and Mr. Starrett sat here, and we opened up for discussion, and some man said about three sentences.

31:07 - 31:23 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The fifth mental gift is a mind furnished with sound practical judgment, characterized by sober-mindedness and discretion. Martin illustrates this with Paul's flexibility…

Martin uses the analogy of serving a T-bone steak to a three-week-old child or milk to a 30-year-old man to illustrate a lack of sound practical judgment in ministry, where good food is given at the wrong time or in the wrong form.

They're giving out good food, but it is incongruous as serving up a beautiful one-inch, that-sized T-bone steak, to a three-week-old child. You're going to waste the steak on that poor kid. He won't even appreciate it. He touches to his lips, give me this, give me a bottle, that's what he wants.

48:01 - 48:22 Read in full sermon

The point: Pray that God will endow you with sound practical judgment as you aspire to the work of the ministry.

Martin uses Paul's differing approaches to circumcision for Timothy (circumcised for strategic evangelism) and Titus (not circumcised to defend gospel truth) as a prime example of sound practical judgment and sanctified flexibility.

Can you imagine what would have happened if when he goes out to preach with Timothy, he said, no, sirree, I'm not going to let any Jew think that circumcision has any merit whatsoever. No circumcision for Timothy. So everywhere he'd go, people would be prejudiced against the gospel. No, he didn't do that.

49:10 - 49:28 Read in full sermon