Importance of These Doctrines

In this part of the sermon: The first reason for the importance of these doctrines is that integrity in handling the Word of God demands them. Martin expounds 2 Corinthians 4:1-2 on not handling God's Word…

Martin explains the Greek word 'rest' (wrest) in 2 Peter 3:16 by comparing it to a torture rack, where a person is stretched out of their natural shape. This illustrates how false teachers distort the plain meaning of Scripture, particularly regarding heaven and hell.

Now the verb, they rest, the scriptures, is a verb which comes from a root, which means to put on a torture rack. Now some of you kids have seen pictures, of the Middle Ages, when people were tortured for one reason or another, and they put them on racks in which they tightened winches, and stretched out their hands and their arms until they were taken out of their sockets or their legs. And if you were hunting for a word to describe what was happening to someone who was receiving such cruel treatment, you would say he was being rested, he was being stretched and tortured out of his own natura...

15:09 - 16:04 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The first reason for the importance of these doctrines is that integrity in handling the Word of God demands them. Martin expounds 2 Corinthians 4:1-2 on not handling God's Word…

Martin recounts seeing someone deny eternal hell by lighting a piece of paper with a match, claiming its consumption illustrated 'unquenchable fire.' He refutes this by pointing out the lack of 'smoke of torment' going up forever, as described in the Bible, demonstrating how the plain sense of Scripture is twisted.

I saw one of them on one occasion in my presence say, well, do you know what eternal fire is? And what it means to be destroyed by the fire of hell? Well, let me show you. And he very cleverly and histrionically took out a match, lit a piece of paper and said, now watch it.

17:07 - 17:24 Read in full sermon

The point: If a gray question mark forms in your mind about the biblical doctrines of heaven and hell, reject it with every fiber of your being, sending it back to the pit from whence it came.

Martin quotes Charles Hodge on the danger of 'skillful exegetical management' to force the Bible to mean what one wishes, rather than seeking the Holy Spirit's intended meaning. This reinforces the call for integrity in interpreting Scripture regarding heaven and hell.

while rejecting the biblical doctrines of heaven and hell. Hodge, in his excellent volume entitled Popular Lectures on Theological Themes, makes the most perceptive comment on this very point. Listen carefully as I quote him. The question is not what can we with skillful exegetical management, that's just a big term for saying, playing loose with the words of the Bible, the question is not what can we, the question is not what can we, the question is not what can we, the question is not what can we, with skillful exegetical management, get out of the Bible on this question by breaking up the t...

21:06 - 22:28 Read in full sermon

The point: If a gray question mark forms in your mind about the biblical doctrines of heaven and hell, reject it with every fiber of your being, sending it back to the pit from whence it came.

Martin uses the metaphor of the Bible as a 'nose of wax' to be shaped by one's predispositions, contrasting it with approaching Scripture as humble disciples. This highlights the danger of imposing one's will on the text rather than submitting to its authority.

by the general method in which He has conducted the argument? You see what he's saying? It's not a question of what can we do, enforcing the Word of God, or the words of the Bible to bend to our own predisposition, but what is the obvious sense and meaning of the words of the Bible in their cumulative testimony from Genesis to Revelation. In one case we come to the Bible as though it were a nose of wax to be shaped according to the whim of our own predisposed notion.

22:28 - 23:07 Read in full sermon

The point: If a gray question mark forms in your mind about the biblical doctrines of heaven and hell, reject it with every fiber of your being, sending it back to the pit from whence it came.

Martin observes that often, the rejection of orthodox heaven and hell is the 'first thread' pulled that ultimately dismantles the entire fabric of evangelical Christianity in individuals, denominations, and institutions. This illustrates the foundational importance of these doctrines.

In the other we come as humble disciples, saying, O God, whatever you have said, I am prepared to believe and to live in the light of it. And it's very interesting that in the history of the Church, more than on a few occasions, individuals, whole denominations, whole seminaries and schools of higher learning have ultimately rejected every distinctive doctrine of the Christian faith when they began to put a gray question mark over the orthodox doctrines of heaven and of hell. Often the first thread that was pulled that ultimately dismantled the whole fabric of evangelical Christianity in indiv...

23:07 - 24:31 Read in full sermon

Driving home: If I simply cannot stand the major melodic line of a given symphony, there is no way I can listen to that symphony and find any enjoyment. Because everywhere I turn in my listening, that line confronts me, developed in d…

Martin compares revealed religion to a symphony with dominant and subdominant melodic lines. He argues that the doctrines of heaven and hell constitute the 'very melodic line' of revealed religion, meaning one cannot appreciate the whole if they reject this central theme.

liken it to a symphony. Often a symphony, one of those majestic works of musical art, will have a basic theme. That theme will be introduced early in that musical composition. It will be picked up and developed in the various movements, if it has three movements, and it is what you would call the dominant melodic line of that symphony.

27:01 - 27:27 Read in full sermon

Driving home: It's totally out of sympathy with the biblical teaching of conversion, in which escape from hell is a dominant motive.

Martin critiques Robert Schuller's 'gospel' as being out of step with biblical conversion, which uses escape from hell as a dominant motive. He contrasts Schuller's emphasis on self-esteem and unconditional love with the biblical call to repentance from wrath.

You see how totally out of step is the so-called gospel of Robert Schuller? What is the motive for conversion? Well, you will never have proper self-esteem until you look at the cross. And there, behold, not the wrath of God against human sin, the same wrath that will send you to hell unless you repent and own yourself to be a hopeless hell.

32:01 - 32:25 Read in full sermon

The point: You can't afford the luxury of quitting the fight against sin; go for the battle, hacking and hewing at the deeds of the body until you die.

Martin uses the vivid metaphor of a warrior going to his grave with his 'hand cleaving to my sword, hacking and hewing at the deeds of the body.' This illustrates the relentless, lifelong battle against sin, motivated by the reality of heaven or hell.

You can't afford the luxury of quitting. Go for the battle, and say by the grace of God, I'll go to my grave with my hand cleaving to my sword, hacking and hewing at the deeds of the body. It's the way all of us are called. Hacking and hewing till we cross the river and we leave our sword.

37:41 - 38:23 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The doctrine of hell is an integral part of the Gospel presentation, as seen in John 3:16's use of 'perish' and Paul's emphasis on God's wrath in Romans. Surprisingly, hell's…

Martin explains Romans 2:5's 'treasuring up wrath' using commercial language, likening it to putting 'more and more capital of divine wrath' into a bank. This illustrates the accumulating judgment for continued sin and impenitence.

But after thy hardness, verse 5, after thy hardness and impenitent heart, you treasure up unto yourself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteousness and judgment of God, who shall render to every man according to his works. What a picture! What a picture! Every day you live in your sin and impenitence, you're putting something in the bank of heaven.

40:55 - 41:25 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Just as hell, heaven's glorious realities are a powerful incentive for conversion. Martin points to Jesus' promise of 'life' in the narrow gate passage, His offer of 'treasure in…

Martin uses the example of giving up television completely if it's a source of sin, drawing a parallel to the rich young ruler needing to give up all his riches. This illustrates the radical self-denial sometimes required for mortification of sin.

The way some of you the only way you can get rid of sinning with your television get rid of the television completely. That's right. The only way some of you can get rid of other sins is to completely steer away even from the legitimate use of the thing which to you becomes sin like Pastor Nichols Presses. Those of you who are on the inn you know what we're talking about.

49:03 - 49:26 Read in full sermon

The point: Comfort one another with the words of Christ's return and the resurrection of the dead when standing at a graveside.

Martin shares a personal anecdote of standing at a graveside and inwardly saying to the grave, 'Grave, you will give up precious brother my Lord God.' This illustrates the comfort and hope derived from the doctrine of resurrection and heaven in the face of death.

So shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. Words that reflect the reality of our entrance into the consummate bliss of heaven at the return of Christ and the resurrection of the dead. That's the word that we are to pump into one another's ears until our souls lay hold of it and we can see in the midst of the burning tears that course down our cheeks we can see by faith that that grave now opened and into which the coffin is lowered shall give up and we can stand and say to that grave if not audibly inwardly and I have stood and said it as I've looked int...

57:05 - 58:29 Read in full sermon

The point: As a Christian, discipline your thought process so that when you feel a pinch in life, you look up and say, 'Lord Jesus, thank you. It won't always be this way.'

Martin uses the phrase 'holding your private pity party' to describe a Christian who wallows in self-pity during trials. He contrasts this with looking up to Jesus and remembering that 'it won't always be this way,' motivated by the hope of heaven.

May God help you in the language of John to flee from the coming wrath. For if you've never entered the narrow gate of true conversion, never owned your sins, and repented and fled in faith to Jesus Christ, upon the testimony of the Word of God, the Scripture says, you are on your way to that awful place that the Bible describes as hell. Nothing but a sound and thorough conversion can change your present course. Could it be that you are a child of God, that you've allowed the eroding influence of the world, you've become so taken up with things temporal, that rather than allowing them and maki...

61:58 - 63:24 Read in full sermon