The Amen: Some Dangers to be Avoided

Driving home: There is no Christian duty or privilege, individual or corporate, which is not liable to abuse, and there is no duty to which remaining sin, whether an individual or corporate duty, does not create in us an inbred aversi…

Martin quotes John Owen's masterful treatment of indwelling sin to emphasize that sin is most active when believers are pursuing the highest good, illustrating why dangers must be addressed even in worship.

Galatians 5.17 The flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. And these two are contrary, the one to the other. Furthermore, Romans 7.21 says, I find that to me who would do good, evil is present with me. And as John Owen in his masterful treatment of indwelling sin underscores so powerfully, never is the presence of indwelling sin more active than when we are set upon the highest good. When I would do good, evil, evil is present with me. And 1 Corinthians chapter 14 is a clear indication that though God had conferred these marvelous gifts for the edification of the ch...

5:44 - 6:43 Read in full sermon

The point: Beware of using the amen in such a way as to do violence to yourself.

Martin uses the analogy of unique fingerprints to illustrate that God has given each person a distinct temperament, just as He knit them together uniquely in the womb, arguing that grace does not war with nature.

Now in this particular context, what I'm attempting to say is this. God has given to each one of us His own distinct temperament. Just as my fingerprints are uniquely mine and no one else's, and yours are uniquely yours and no one else's, so according to Psalm 139 and verse 13, when God knit us together in our mother's wombs, He knit us as distinct individuals as distinct individuals as distinct individuals according to His own design and purpose. For thou didst form my inward parts, thou didst cover me in my mother's womb. My frame was not hidden from thee when I was made in secret. And here ...

16:25 - 17:36 Read in full sermon

The point: Beware of using the amen in such a way as to do violence to yourself.

Martin quotes a servant of God who notes cultural differences in expressing 'Amen' (e.g., Scot vs. South American, Irish Puritans vs. English Puritans) to illustrate that while expression varies, unanimity in employment of the 'Amen' is desired.

And one servant of God writing on this very subject has very perceptively commented to be sure there are cultural differences within the universal church. The Scot or the New Englander may be less expressive than the South American or the Southern American. During the days of the British Commonwealth there were marked differences of expression within the churches of Great Britain. The Irish Puritans expressed themselves in the public worship with a kind of shrill sound while some of the English Puritans did so with a kind of a grunt.

17:37 - 18:17 Read in full sermon

The point: Self-control will enable some who are more naturally vocal and expressive to restrain themselves out of deference to not detracting from the glory of God, attracting attention to themselves or offending their brethren. B…

Martin uses the example of being vocal at a football or soccer game to illustrate how natural temperament for expression carries into worship, requiring self-control for some to restrain themselves and for others to overcome reticence.

And God does not expect us to have all of that neutered when we walk through those doors. And therefore the manner, in which we affirm from the heart our so be it to the reading and preaching of the Word. The manner in which we affirm from the heart so be it I place my vocal signature upon the praise and the petitions that have been offered in so doing we will do so in a manner consistent with the fingerprints of our own God given temperament. Now granted one of the fruit, the nine-fold fruit of the Spirit is self-control. That means for some of us who by temperament and nature are very vocal ...

19:49 - 21:00 Read in full sermon

The point: Beware of using the Amen in an inappropriate set of circumstances.

Martin describes the labor, sweat, mental anguish, and prayerful dependence involved in composing hymns like 'More Love to Thee, O Christ' or 'Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness' to illustrate that true worship, including singing, requires active engagement of the mind and soul, not passive reception.

And when a hymn writer, seeking to be true to the mind of Scripture, was trying to express the yearning of a soul for Christ, don't you think it took sweat and mental anguish and intense concentration and prayerful dependence upon God to pen such words? More love to thee, O Christ. More love to thee. This is the peer thou the prayer I make on bended knee.

35:40 - 36:10 Read in full sermon

The point: Beware of indulging a carnal reticence to engage in a biblically disciplined use of the Amen.

Martin uses the analogy of students saying the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag to illustrate that a biblically disciplined corporate 'Amen' is a divinely warranted 'Pledge of Allegiance' to the Word of God and worship, and silence can be an insult.

I'm trying to illustrate this, the first incident that came to my mind because of my frequent visits to the Christian school. Is that when the students have finished the chapel period, one of their number is assigned to go to the front of the group gathered in the phase one auditorium and hold a little American flag. Then all of the students are expected to stand, place their hand over their heart, and say the Pledge of Allegiance. Now suppose a student stood, put his hand on his heart, but refused to say, I pledge allegiance to the flag.

45:12 - 45:48 Read in full sermon

The point: One's conscience is convinced by the word of God that one of the very crucial ways in which God has ordained group participation in his public worship is by the biblically disciplined use of the amen than any reticence t…

Martin uses the analogy of standing out of respect when a dignitary enters a room to illustrate that refusing to say the corporate 'Amen' is a silent but powerful statement of insult to God, akin to refusing to stand for a dignitary.

Again, if a dignitary were to enter the room and social decorum warrants that all stand out of respect and you sit, what are you doing by your refusal to stand? You're making a silent but very powerful statement of insult to that dignitary. And when the congregation with one voice at the end of the prayers and praises to God revealed in Christ affirms its commitment to that praise and to the sentiments of aspiration and praise by the corporate amen at the end of our songs and hymns, at the end of the prayers, just simply because you don't feel like it, that's a carnal reticence and that needs ...

47:19 - 48:35 Read in full sermon

The point: One's conscience is convinced by the word of God that one of the very crucial ways in which God has ordained group participation in his public worship is by the biblically disciplined use of the amen than any reticence t…

Martin quotes Jerome's fourth-century description of the corporate 'Amen' sounding like a clap of thunder to highlight the historical practice and contrast it with the often-subdued 'Amens' in modern congregations, encouraging a more robust expression.

One's conscience is convinced by the word of God that one of the very crucial ways in which God has ordained group participation in his public worship is by the biblically disciplined use of the amen than any reticence to use that amen as a pattern, not the exceptions I mentioned earlier, can only be regarded as a manifestation of indulgence of carnality. Just as someone so determined to boom out his amens even though it detracts others and attracts attention to himself, no matter how spiritual he may be, once that's been pointed out and he continues, that is a carnal, that is a carnal indulge...

48:35 - 50:02 Read in full sermon