Gospel Holiness: Source, Agent, Manner

The point: Do not seek a 'simple secret' to holiness, but understand it is a lifetime of learning and involves many details.

Martin refutes the idea of a 'simple little secret' to abounding sanctity, arguing that if such existed, Paul would have merely written a short letter to churches like Corinth or Philippi, rather than lengthy epistles detailing the complexities of Christian living. This illustrates that holiness is a lifetime of learning and involves details, not a quick fix.

then the Apostle Paul wasted a lot of ink and wasted a lot of time if there was one simple little secret that would be the open sacrament to a life of abounding sanctity and sanctification that all Paul would have done when he wrote the church at Corinth would have said to all the saints at Corinth greetings from the Apostle Paul you've got some problems here's a secret learn this and all is well sincerely Paul he would have written to the church at Philippi given the same little secret so when somebody comes along and gets your spiritual fangs all moistened and dripping by saying are you wear...

12:04 - 13:34 Read in full sermon

Driving home: could it be that the reason we know so little experimentally as well as doctrinally of the subject of holiness is because we know so little experimentally and biblically and doctrinally of the subject of repentance

Martin references Bishop Ryle's warning against an unbalanced emphasis on 'Christ in you' in the emerging Keswick movement, which he observed often excluded the person and ministry of the Holy Spirit. This serves to introduce the Holy Spirit's role as agent and to caution against theological imbalance.

Holiness by Bishop Ryle Bishop Ryle has a page or two dealing with what he saw as one of the emerging heresies in his day living in England as he did he was very close to the beginnings of what we now know as the Keswick movement and this is by no means a blanket sweeping condemnation of the movement or the men connected with it I trust we're adult enough to be objective and separate personalities from principles and that's what I'm seeking to do tonight and he saw in the emergence of this movement an unbalanced emphasis on Christ in you and I have found from my own experience moving in these ...

15:02 - 16:30 Read in full sermon

Driving home: could it be that the reason we know so little experimentally as well as doctrinally of the subject of holiness is because we know so little experimentally and biblically and doctrinally of the subject of repentance

The contrast between a 'heart of stone' (adamant, inflexible, insensitive to God's will) and a 'heart of flesh' (warmth, feeling, life) from Ezekiel 36:26-27 illustrates the radical change wrought by the Holy Spirit in regeneration, which is the beginning of holiness.

clearly teach that this covenant is the covenant ratified by the blood of Christ made real in all believers now this is not something that they pushed out into some future age it's made with true Israel the elect of God and God says in verse 26 a new heart also will I give you and the new spirit will I put within you Ezekiel 36 26 and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you an heart of flesh and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and ye shall keep my judgments and do that now get the contrast Romans 8 in verse 7 describes the dis...

17:58 - 19:25 Read in full sermon

Driving home: that that holiness never comes to its realization apart from the involvement of the totality of the believer his mind, his will, his thought and all that he is only in the involvement of the whole man will it come to its…

Luther's experience as a monk, beating himself and sleeping on hard beds in an attempt to achieve holiness through rigid self-discipline, is used as a classic example of seeking holiness apart from Christ as the source and the Spirit as the agent, leading to condemnation and frustration.

in the pursuit of that holiness there are some who would deny the first and second principles that I laid down for you tonight they would deny the place of the holy spirit and the Lord Jesus in the matter of sanctification and they would say we must be holy this of course would be some of the error that was rife in the early centuries of the church and it gave birth to monasticism and some of these other things where holiness was looked upon in terms of rigid self-discipline and ascetic forms of behavior where people were going to pummel the flesh and they were going to beat it into subjection...

33:58 - 35:25 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He presents numerous biblical commands (e.g., watch, pray, resist the devil, put to death, flee lusts, cleanse ourselves, add to your faith, put on armor) to demonstrate that…

The analogy of a soldier in Vietnam, alertly watching for the enemy in a rice paddy, straining his eyes and reacting to every twitch of a leaf, illustrates the intense, conscious, and total involvement required of the believer in 'watching' and pursuing sanctification.

will it come to its realization now you say that sounds like a contradiction well the Bible is full of not contradictions but those antinomies that Dr. Packer would call them I want to get to you very briefly a number of texts we won't turn to them in the interest of time I'll just quote them that if they teach anything they teach that holiness is never realized apart from the whole man being involved in the pursuit of it the text that is basic to our study reveals this follow after, persecute, track down strive after that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord our Lord Jesus Christ ...

36:50 - 38:17 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He presents numerous biblical commands (e.g., watch, pray, resist the devil, put to death, flee lusts, cleanse ourselves, add to your faith, put on armor) to demonstrate that…

The image of someone with their shoulder against a door, pitting all their strength against an intruder trying to break in, illustrates the strong, active, and continuous effort required to 'resist the devil' in the pursuit of holiness.

it speaks of an involvement of the whole man in this matter of sanctification watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation we're told in James 4 in verse 7 resist the devil a strong word the picture of someone trying to break into my house and I have my shoulder against the door and as long as I feel the pressure of his body against it I pit all the strength of mine against his resist the devil Peter states it even a little more strongly when he says in 1 Peter 5 verse 8 whom resist steadfast in the faith we're told in Colossians 3 verse 5 put to death therefore your members which are upon...

38:17 - 39:46 Read in full sermon

Driving home: you work out your salvation with fear and with trembling for verse 13 it is God who worketh into both to will and to do of his good pleasure you are to work out because God is working in but his working in does not cance…

Martin clarifies what 'fear and trembling' in Philippians 2:12 does NOT mean by contrasting it with the cringing fear of a child before an erratic, drunkard father. This helps define the 'godly fear' that should motivate the believer's pursuit of holiness.

not so easy to say precisely what he does mean certainly he is not speaking of a fear and trembling that is the fear and trembling of a child before a drunkard father who doesn't know when in his erratic state of mind he's going to turn around and club him for no reason whatsoever he's not speaking of that cringing carking fear but he does say fear and we must not believe the word fear of every sense of its meaning till it becomes something other than fear and certainly the trembling is not that kind of trembling you don't believe the word of all meaning till you no longer have trembling but y...

40:57 - 42:21 Read in full sermon

The point: If your eye offends you, pluck it out; if your hand offends you, cut it off – take radical, decisive action against sin.

Jesus' commands to pluck out an offending eye or cut off an offending hand are used to illustrate the radical, decisive action required to deal with sin, emphasizing that prayer must sometimes give way to immediate, practical mortification.

by the scuff of the neck and deal mercilessly in a way of mortifying some carnal love I to God for grace look to Christ alone and out of his infinite fullness plead that I shall know his power in overcoming and then as it were stick my own foot upon my neck and ha ha that which would be displeasing to God does that sound contradictory I believe it's biblical the Lord said if thine eye offend me have in all my prayer meeting no it says pluck it out there comes a time when praying has got to give way to plucking if thine eye offend me pluck it out if thy hand offend me cut it off you've got prob...

45:17 - 46:40 Read in full sermon

The point: If your eye offends you, pluck it out; if your hand offends you, cut it off – take radical, decisive action against sin.

He gives a concrete example for young people: if struggling with youthful lusts, instead of just praying in a parked car with a girlfriend, they should immediately open the door, get out, and go home. This illustrates decisive action against temptation.

by the scuff of the neck and deal mercilessly in a way of mortifying some carnal love I to God for grace look to Christ alone and out of his infinite fullness plead that I shall know his power in overcoming and then as it were stick my own foot upon my neck and ha ha that which would be displeasing to God does that sound contradictory I believe it's biblical the Lord said if thine eye offend me have in all my prayer meeting no it says pluck it out there comes a time when praying has got to give way to plucking if thine eye offend me pluck it out if thy hand offend me cut it off you've got prob...

45:17 - 46:40 Read in full sermon

The point: Ladies, if the last ten minutes of a phone call lead to gossip or unkind words, learn to end the conversation promptly to avoid offending God.

He illustrates how women can fall into gossip during the last ten minutes of a phone call after their business is done, and suggests that instead of just praying, they should politely end the call to avoid offending God. This shows practical application of self-discipline.

scripture says the good fight of faith give no place to the devil tell you ladies your problems the last ten minutes of a fifteen minute telephone call first five minutes you've stated your business you've called the sister so and so talked to her about such and such you've stated your business and you feel you haven't given her enough and you feel you haven't given her money's worth so you've just got to talk about something so then you just start talking about something and if that last ten minutes is a fifteen minute telephone call to get you in trouble and you're guilty of gossip you're gu...

46:40 - 48:06 Read in full sermon

The point: If your conscience condemns you regarding your television use, take decisive action: unplug it, put it in the attic, or sell it.

For those with a condemned conscience about television use, he suggests radical action like unplugging it, putting it in the attic, or even selling it, rather than merely praying about it. This emphasizes decisive action over passive concern.

that doesn't sound like any deep secret it's an application of what the scripture says when it says put to death flee cut off walk out some of you have got a condemned conscience about the use of your television set you've had it for months and years and frankly I've only met in the past 15 years a half a dozen people who've been able to look me in the eye and say that they have an uncondemned conscience about the discipline and use of their television set and right now your conscience is smiting you saying oh I'm one of those I'm one of those what are you going to do about it oh you've prayed...

48:06 - 49:33 Read in full sermon

The point: If your conscience condemns you regarding your television use, take decisive action: unplug it, put it in the attic, or sell it.

For students struggling with cheating, he suggests actively asking teachers to sit alone in the back row during tests to remove temptation. This illustrates taking practical steps to avoid sin.

that doesn't sound like any deep secret it's an application of what the scripture says when it says put to death flee cut off walk out some of you have got a condemned conscience about the use of your television set you've had it for months and years and frankly I've only met in the past 15 years a half a dozen people who've been able to look me in the eye and say that they have an uncondemned conscience about the discipline and use of their television set and right now your conscience is smiting you saying oh I'm one of those I'm one of those what are you going to do about it oh you've prayed...

48:06 - 49:33 Read in full sermon

The point: If you fight with your brother or sister over specific things, make practical bargains or agreements to deal with the source of temptation.

For children who fight over specific items like bikes or books, he suggests making practical agreements or bargains to deal with the source of temptation, rather than just praying for forgiveness. This shows practical application in family relationships.

let you sit way in the back row all by yourself say I don't want to sin against my God and do the thing that's wrong teachers may I sit in the back row that's part of being a holy boy being a holy girl pursuing holiness you find you fight with your brother and sister almost all the time if there's a certain thing then you get along fine on all this thing that thing that thing but or when she goes in and takes your books or when she goes in and touches your bike or something else you just fly right off and you say Lord I know I've sinned against you you've asked the Lord to forgive you and aske...

49:33 - 50:58 Read in full sermon