Reasons to Take up This Study, Part 2

Driving home: He does not own anyone as his disciple whose attachment to him is not of such a nature that should martyrdom be the necessary consequence of confessing that. Attachment, if he's unworthy for martyrdom, Jesus said he's no…

Examples of a boxer and Miss America publicly thanking Jesus Christ illustrate how easy it is to profess attachment to Christ in contemporary society, even amidst widespread immorality.

And those three things together leave us peculiarly vulnerable to deception. First, then, the state of society in general. While we live in a society marked by abounding wickedness, shameless immorality, increasing secularism and irreligion, yet there are a number of factors that make it relatively easy for us to profess attachment to Christ and to carry out the activities that are generally associated with that profession. Regular church attendance, perhaps even carrying a Bible and having it sit on our desk in our place of business, passing out gospel literature, etc., etc. It is not unusual...

9:11 - 10:38 Read in full sermon

Driving home: but they themselves measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves with themselves are without understanding as long as they take themselves as their measuring stick they're all right but he says in so do th…

Martin quotes Fausset's commentary to explain how comparing oneself to others of low spiritual standard leads to self-delusion and a lack of spiritual understanding.

And what happens when there's a general low state of individual and corporate piety will turn to 2 Corinthians 10-12. This text, to me, more than any other that I could think of in preparation for trying to drive people crazy. home this point came to my own mind and heart with freshness paul is having to defend himself against those who were seeking to neutralize his influence over the corinthians by pointing out what they perceive to be inconsistencies in his demeanor in his method and manner of ministry and as paul is defending himself that he might maintain his place of god-given influence ...

27:49 - 29:06 Read in full sermon

Driving home: but they themselves measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves with themselves are without understanding as long as they take themselves as their measuring stick they're all right but he says in so do th…

This analogy, drawn from Fausset, illustrates how in a community with low spiritual standards, someone with slightly more piety can be seen as exceptional, masking the true, higher biblical standard.

hence their high self-esteem the one-eyed man easily becomes a king among the blind the one-eyed man easily becomes king among the blind you see the force of that little parabolic statement let me illustrate it this way suppose they were a community where as the result of some brutal act of some conquering tribal king in an area where they have tribes everyone had all of his fingers except this finger cut off thumb so that on the left and right hand everyone in that village had just one finger they get so accustomed to seeing one-fingered human beings they think one-fingered human beings are t...

30:34 - 32:01 Read in full sermon

Driving home: but they themselves measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves with themselves are without understanding as long as they take themselves as their measuring stick they're all right but he says in so do th…

A hypothetical story of a community where everyone has only one finger, and a man with two fingers is considered a marvel, further illustrates the danger of comparing oneself to a low, unnatural standard rather than God's design.

hence their high self-esteem the one-eyed man easily becomes a king among the blind the one-eyed man easily becomes king among the blind you see the force of that little parabolic statement let me illustrate it this way suppose they were a community where as the result of some brutal act of some conquering tribal king in an area where they have tribes everyone had all of his fingers except this finger cut off thumb so that on the left and right hand everyone in that village had just one finger they get so accustomed to seeing one-fingered human beings they think one-fingered human beings are t...

30:34 - 32:01 Read in full sermon

Driving home: but they themselves measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves with themselves are without understanding as long as they take themselves as their measuring stick they're all right but he says in so do th…

Martin references an essay by Morris Roberts to lament the decline in natural, heart-driven spiritual conversation among believers, indicating a low level of piety.

You see, dear people, our great danger is, in terms of the state of the evangelical church in general, there is such a low level of piety, a low level of hunger, a low level of godly sobriety, a low level of pursuing holiness with diligence, a low level of heavenly-mindedness. I think of the editorial of our dear friend Morris Roberts of the Banner of Truth, Where Have All the Saints Gone? A haunting, penetrating essay, Where Have All the Saints Gone? And he writes, In the rites of days in the church of Christ, when it was natural when men and women gathered to share in their conversation, not...

32:03 - 33:29 Read in full sermon

Driving home: but they themselves measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves with themselves are without understanding as long as they take themselves as their measuring stick they're all right but he says in so do th…

Examples of Christians discussing secular topics like the Knicks or O.J. Simpson's escapade illustrate how worldly conversation can dominate, indicating a lack of heart-ravishing love for Christ.

If the world is all talking about the Knicks, they're talking about the Knicks. If the world is all absorbed with O.J.'s escapade, O.J.'s talk is well.

33:30 - 33:44 Read in full sermon

Driving home: but they themselves measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves with themselves are without understanding as long as they take themselves as their measuring stick they're all right but he says in so do th…

The metaphor of pygmies comparing their height to one another reinforces the idea that comparing oneself to a low standard makes everyone appear normal, obscuring the true, higher standard.

When a bunch of pygmies all stand comparing their height with one another, they all look very normal.

34:15 - 34:22 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Next, Martin discusses the state of the evangelical church, characterized by a generally low level of individual and corporate piety. He warns against the danger of comparing…

Martin shares a personal anecdote from his high school days, where he and a few friends were so zealous for Christ that the idea of going for a hamburger after a prayer meeting felt like an invitation to a 'whorehouse,' illustrating a high standard of spiritual devotion.

We must turn to the annals of church history, not as an infallible revelation, but as a confirming revelation of what the Spirit of God has done in the great epochs of His working. One of my prayers for some of you teenagers has been this, Oh God, come down and get hold of one high school young man, and give him a and make him sold out, because I saw God for half a dozen of us in high school. Nobody had for an hour. And I can remember the first time, after one of our prayer meetings, when someone just said, should we go out and have a hamburger?

34:54 - 36:18 Read in full sermon

The point: If you have only known outward conformity and knowledge without the internal work of the Holy Spirit, you are deceived.

The analogy of a young couple 'head over heels with infatuation' illustrates the natural delight and eagerness of true communion with Christ, contrasting it with a forced, duty-bound religious practice.

and call me those names it makes no difference I've seen the glory of God in the face of Christ and he's captured my heart and I can say as a young person as a teenager for this person for this guy for this gal to live is Christ and to be mocked that's gain to be ostracized that's gain sure I feel it sure I feel it but I'd feel something far more keenly that's the loss of communion with Christ because when I go in my room and open my Bible and pray now I'm in touch with someone I'm in touch with God I'm in touch with God I'm not just doing what mom and dad tell me I'm doing now what I delight ...

57:19 - 58:47 Read in full sermon

The point: If you have only known outward conformity and knowledge without the internal work of the Holy Spirit, you are deceived.

Martin shares his personal testimony of how his initial spiritual fervor, which classmates predicted would fade, has only intensified over 42 years, illustrating the enduring reality of true conversion.

and some of us can remember who had only had dealings with prayer in a form imposed and thanked upon us when the Holy Ghost revealed Christ to us we knew what it was to go to this book and have God talk and when we prayed have communion with Jesus that was real it was foiled ain't been the same since high school classmates said oh Al you'll get over it in a few months 42 years later it's getting worse and worse for the path of the justice as the dawning of the day that shineth more and more unto the perfect day and the sun's getting high in my sky I see the face of my brother who's walked with...

58:47 - 60:17 Read in full sermon