Cast Not Your Pearls Before Swine (SS Open Forum)

The point: Understand that the London Confession of 1689 provides a specific doctrinal framework for the church, and these are not matters for debate but for ongoing exploration.

Pastor Blaze twice returned to the train at Victoria Station to ensure the Martins got off at the correct stop, illustrating God's kind providence and the care of a brother.

When we got on the train to go from London down into the Haywards Heath Cookfield area, Pastor Blaze and Glenwyn went with Mrs. Martin and me to Victoria Station, or took us there in the car, and Pastor Blaze helped us with our baggage onto the train, and then he left us to go back to get his car and make his way back to East London, but then it occurred to him that because I knew that Errol Hulse lived in Haywards Heath, but the church was in Cookfield, that I might wait for the announcer to say, next station Cookfield, and then be on the train until it got all the way down to Brighton. And s...

3:13 - 4:42 Read in full sermon

The point: Understand that the London Confession of 1689 provides a specific doctrinal framework for the church, and these are not matters for debate but for ongoing exploration.

Pastor Blaze's second return providentially delayed him, causing him to run into Stanley Hogwood amidst thousands of people at Victoria Station, allowing for unexpected fellowship and illustrating God's kind providence.

When we got on the train to go from London down into the Haywards Heath Cookfield area, Pastor Blaze and Glenwyn went with Mrs. Martin and me to Victoria Station, or took us there in the car, and Pastor Blaze helped us with our baggage onto the train, and then he left us to go back to get his car and make his way back to East London, but then it occurred to him that because I knew that Errol Hulse lived in Haywards Heath, but the church was in Cookfield, that I might wait for the announcer to say, next station Cookfield, and then be on the train until it got all the way down to Brighton. And s...

3:13 - 4:42 Read in full sermon

The point: Understand that the London Confession of 1689 provides a specific doctrinal framework for the church, and these are not matters for debate but for ongoing exploration.

The Hogwoods' home is described as a 'hostel,' accommodating many people for sleeping and meals, illustrating ripe, mature piety and godliness in concrete expression through hospitality.

family present to celebrate the Ruby wedding anniversary of the Hogwoods. Now, the peculiar ministry that the Hogwoods have had through the years has been a unique ministry of hospitality. Their home has literally been a hostel. We stayed there one weekend, Mrs. Martin and I, one of our early trips to the UK, and I think there were no fewer than 17,000 people. There were 17 people sleeping there on a Saturday night, and no fewer than 30 to 35 being fed for the noonday meal on Sunday. So all Saturday afternoon, Stanley and Marion, just like caterers, were preparing the meal and finding their gr...

6:07 - 6:54 Read in full sermon

The point: Understand that the London Confession of 1689 provides a specific doctrinal framework for the church, and these are not matters for debate but for ongoing exploration.

Stanley Hogwood, a dignified Englishman, dropped to his knees to plead with his grandchildren to come to Christ and carry on the torch of truth, illustrating profound godliness, evangelistic zeal, and the responsibility of instructing children.

he literally went through the hall of their home, knocking on the door and saying, all right now, show a leg, show a leg. And it was terminology we had never heard before. And at first, we weren't quite sure about the modesty of the demand that was being made upon us. Now, that gives you a little idea, if you've not met dear Stanley, of something of his personality. And then, I trust until my dying day that I shall never, never forget his response to the kind words that Pastor Hulse brought and the expression of his love for me. And I think that's a great thing. And I think that's a great thin...

6:54 - 8:14 Read in full sermon

Driving home: If we are to identify the dogs and the swine, we must understand the biblical distinction between the simple, that is, an uninstructed sinner and a recalcitrant sinner who begins to scoff and mock at the things of God.

The analogy of a swine trampling pearls and butting the giver is used to explain the behavior of those who reject and abuse holy things, rather than appreciating their worth.

When you were clean or unclean? Okay, so I don't think the answer lies in that direction of pressing the significance of the swine as an unclean animal. The significance seems to be in the passage notice that if you take some lovely pearls and you throw them at a swine, he thinks you're throwing stones at him and instead of appreciating the worth of your pearls, he tramples them in the mud and then he butts you.

16:11 - 16:37 Read in full sermon

The point: The frightening reality of those who appear to be saved but fall away should drive us to our knees and to a deeper understanding of perseverance.

Martin shares a personal story of two young men he was convinced were saved, spending hours in prayer and street preaching with them, only for their subsequent history to reveal they were strangers to God's grace, illustrating the frightening reality of apparent conversion that is not genuine perseverance.

If you had asked me thirty years ago name the five people that you're convinced are saved. It would have been my mother, my father, myself and two other young men that I was very close to. The subsequent history of a couple of them has indicated that they were probably strangers to the grace of God. The past twenty-five years has indicated that what they seemed to have the first five years was not real.

35:19 - 35:48 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not engage in discussion or debate with well-trained heretics unless you are adequately prepared biblically, lest your own faith be shaken.

The analogy of being left 'all twisted and tied up in knots' with one's 'left leg hung around your right ear' by a Russellite (Jehovah's Witness) illustrates the danger of engaging well-trained heretics without adequate preparation.

Well, here again. Don't get involved with him and go not forth hastily to strive. If you're not equipped to handle a Russellite don't you get engaged in a discussion with him or he'll leave you all twisted and tied up in knots and your left leg will be hung around your right ear and all the rest and you'll be in bad shape. So you don't mess around with well-trained heretics unless you are a well-trained person who can meet him on biblical grounds.

36:49 - 37:20 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He provides an example of a gracious way to respond to someone who has blasphemed, using their apology as a bridge to convict their conscience about offending God. Martin also…

Martin provides a hypothetical dialogue where someone apologizes for offending him by taking the Lord's name in vain, and he suggests a gracious way to turn that apology into a conviction of conscience about offending God, illustrating how to apply the principle of wisdom and discretion.

Yes. All right. Would you suggest a gracious way to make that distinction to them? Suppose now I had used the Lord's name in vain, and you graciously rebuked me, and then I responded, and I said, well, Dean, I'm really sorry if I offended you.

51:26 - 51:48 Read in full sermon