Active Inquisitive Mind

The point: Use specific questions to 'break open' or 'rake through' a passage, gleaning God's thoughts.

Using questions to 'break open' or 'rake through' a passage is a metaphor for actively engaging the text to glean God's thoughts, emphasizing the vigorous mental activity required.

Under this general heading that we are to read the Scriptures with an active inquiring mind, he must not only seek to capture the flow of thought, but and I will make a statement here and then we can, by discussion, enlarge upon it. We should, to use two different analogies, we should seek to break open the passage by using questions as a crowbar or rake through the passage using certain questions as the rake to catch the thoughts of God that are in that passage for us. Combing through the passage, raking through the passage, seeking to pry open the passage with specific questions. Now, again,...

10:24 - 11:48 Read in full sermon

The point: When encountering commands, especially in the Old Testament, ask 'Is this something that is binding upon me today?' interpreting the old in light of the new.

This example of applying Deuteronomy 24 (women not wearing men's clothing, mixed cloth) illustrates the danger of literalistic application of Old Testament laws without proper hermeneutical discernment, highlighting the need to understand the Mosaic system's context.

We want to ask, is this something that is binding upon me today? For instance, I've had people come up to me, and you can almost tell them from about 20 yards away, they get a certain look in their eye, and they say, What do you think about women wearing pants? All right.

18:26 - 18:46 Read in full sermon

The point: As younger Christians, use guides and be sensitive to the consensus of the church universal and historical, avoiding theological isolation.

The example of almost every heretic being a 'loner' who rejects the safeguards of the historic church and godly teachers illustrates the danger of isolating oneself from the broader Christian community and its interpretive consensus.

And this is where again some knowledge of the general principles of hermeneutics is so helpful and where a balanced ministry, public ministry is so essential for the private disciplines of the Word of God. Almost every heretic is a man who wrenched himself loose from the safeguards of the historic witness of the church and from the contemporary influence of godly discerning teachers. Almost every heretic was a loner who assumed the sun of truth has been setting in the West until it has arisen upon my fair head. And so whenever you begin to draw away, and that's why it's so good, even in your d...

24:51 - 26:19 Read in full sermon

The point: Allow new facets of God or discovered commandments to become fuel for praise and prayer, driving you to God for grace.

The command 'Pray without ceasing' is used as an example of a simple command that, when taken seriously, drives a believer to prayer, revealing their insufficiency and need for God's grace even in daily tasks.

Pray without ceasing. Have you tried to maintain the spirit of prayer for simply one day? The God who's laid upon you duties at work, at home, at shop, at school, is not indifferent to those duties. He doesn't want you to be praying in the sense that you are consciously lifting up petitions when you're working at that piece of machinery and you could lose your finger.

27:49 - 28:13 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin highlights how discoveries about God, commands, and promises should become fuel for prayer, driving believers to God for grace and stimulating faith, citing 2 Corinthians…

The analogy of some people being 'so lovely to be able to forgive' versus others who are 'so hard to forgive' illustrates the challenge of the command 'Be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another,' showing how it drives us to prayer for grace.

Forgiving them is just like having them to sneeze. I mean, it's just natural. You know, it itches and that's the way it is to forgive some people. Some people, I almost wish they'd harm me once in a while.

29:24 - 29:36 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin highlights how discoveries about God, commands, and promises should become fuel for prayer, driving believers to God for grace and stimulating faith, citing 2 Corinthians…

Spurgeon's concept of God's promises as a 'blank check' to be signed with faith and prayer at the 'bank of heaven' illustrates how believers should actively appropriate God's promises.

They are mine in Him. See? But they need to be mixed with faith. God's promise is, to use the concept of Spurgeon, who wrote a book many people don't know about, called Faith's Checkbook.

32:24 - 32:36 Read in full sermon

The point: Strive to hold no tenet of belief, doctrinal or practical, that would cause embarrassment when expounding any part of Scripture.

Martin shares his personal story of how systematic reading of the New Testament, particularly passages on election in John, Acts, Romans, and Ephesians, challenged and ultimately transformed his theological convictions, illustrating the importance of allowing Scripture to reconstruct one's thinking.

Well, we ought to come to read the Word of God that way. Am I holding anything that makes me embarrassed at this portion of the Word? And I think I've shared with some of you when people ask, well, how is it coming from a Salvation Army background to a Salvation Army background? Well, I think I've shared with you that the things you now hold dear were not even mentioned let alone held up and attacked.

36:23 - 36:54 Read in full sermon

The point: If a truth is distasteful, pray, 'Lord, give me the grace to embrace that,' and 'perform a miracle on my taste buds until that truth becomes sweet to me.'

The metaphors of 'spiritual taste buds,' 'gullet,' 'esophagus,' and 'gastric juices' illustrate the need to pray for God to change one's heart and mind to delight in truths that are initially distasteful or cause 'indigestion'.

The word of God is to be sweet to our taste. So we can pray, Lord, that tastes are sweet to me. Now, Lord, the problems with my spiritual taste buds, you change it. Lord, perform a miracle on my taste buds until that truth turned over in my mouth becomes sweet to me.

41:12 - 41:32 Read in full sermon