Nature of Saving Faith, Part 2

Driving home: But no man, woman, boy, or girl is fit to live or to die if he or she is ignorant of what Paul is teaching us in Ephesians 2, 8 through 10.

Martin uses the example of school children wishing to be ignorant of many subjects to highlight that while some ignorance is harmless, ignorance of Ephesians 2:8-10 is a matter of life and death.

There are many things concerning which a man may be totally ignorant, and yet live and die in the same way. I know you kids wish there were a lot more things you could be ignorant of and still live a reasonably well-ordered life that would make school a lot easier and a lot simpler. There are many things that you're even forced to learn now that you could live quite well without and die quite well without. But no man, woman, boy, or girl is fit to live or to die if he or she is ignorant of what Paul is teaching us in Ephesians 2, 8 through 10.

1:26 - 2:10 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The only certain source of this essential knowledge is the Holy Scriptures, as shown in 2 Timothy 3:15 and Romans 1:1-5. Martin warns against relying on 'experts' or religious…

He criticizes the modern reliance on 'experts' in parenting and education, noting that today's experts often contradict yesterday's, to underscore that spiritual truth should not be sought from changing human opinions but from Scripture.

We suffer in every realm today from the tyranny of the so-called experts. Parents don't know how to raise their kids, we're told. It takes us experts to tell you how to raise them. You don't know how to educate them.

23:11 - 23:23 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: This truth serves as a scathing indictment against modern religious thought (e.g., 'have faith, hope, and charity' without an object, faith in self, faith in decisions, faith in…

Martin quotes a ditty by Roy Rogers and his wife ('Have faith, hope, and charity. That's the way to live successfully. How do I know? The Bible tells me so.') to exemplify the vague, object-less 'faith' prevalent in modern religious thought.

Let me just give you a couple to get your mind going. And then you can complete this part of the sermon at your leisure. This fact, that knowledge is essential to saving faith, is first of all a scathing indictment against much modern religious thought and practice. As I was trying to bring into a brief statement what is the common mentality in our day in religious circles, I thought of a little ditty that Roy Rogers and his wife sing.

26:50 - 27:19 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: This truth serves as a scathing indictment against modern religious thought (e.g., 'have faith, hope, and charity' without an object, faith in self, faith in decisions, faith in…

He cites Reverend Ike and Norman Vincent Peale as examples of successful religious figures who promote 'faith in yourself,' illustrating the danger of divorcing faith from its proper object.

This is the kind of climate that has made the Reverend Ikes and the Norman Vincent Peale so successful. You ever listen to Reverend Ike?

28:14 - 28:22 Read in full sermon

The point: Contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints, recognizing that right notions about God, self, and Christ are essential for salvation.

Martin asks if a community would tolerate a doctor peddling crippling and poisoning medicines, to argue that believers should not tolerate false teachers who peddle damnable heresies in the name of truth.

And if we're to have a gospel to lead, to unborn generations, away with this irresponsible smoothness and sweetness that says if people are sincere, and if people are finding meaning in their religious experience, leave them alone, my friend! We will not leave them alone!

32:57 - 33:15 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Saving faith culminates in trust (fiducia), the resting of the soul upon Jesus Christ. Martin uses vivid illustrations of a drowning man on a plank and a weary traveler resting in…

An elder's illustration of a drowning man, at the point of despair, grabbing onto a plank and resting his full weight on it, is used to depict saving faith as the soul's complete resting on Christ.

this last night in our elders meeting two of the brethren mentioned illustrations that they've used to demonstrate this, and with this I'll close this morning. One said in teaching his class he's tried to illustrate it this way. Here's a man who's out in an angry sea. Ship has been sunk.

46:33 - 46:52 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Saving faith culminates in trust (fiducia), the resting of the soul upon Jesus Christ. Martin uses vivid illustrations of a drowning man on a plank and a weary traveler resting in…

A missionary's search for a word for 'faith' in a native language, finding it in the image of a bone-weary man slumping down and resting his full weight on a chair, illustrates saving faith as complete reliance on Jesus.

please take the youngster out. It's distracting the mind. It's of the people.

48:22 - 48:28 Read in full sermon