Definition and Demonstration

In this part of the sermon: Martin clarifies his use of 'church,' distinguishing it from broad, institutional, or universal-only definitions, and instead defines it as an instituted society of called-out…

Martin uses Mormonism and Roman Catholicism as examples of institutions that claim the name 'church' but do not align with a biblical definition, highlighting the need for careful definition.

For others, the word church is used very loosely. For any institution which is a branch of the Christian faith or in some way professes to be connected to the Bible and to Christ, you have the so-called church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is a man-made religion spun out of the woolly head and perverse, devil-deceived mind of Joseph Smith. Mormonism, in all of its ludicrous claims, claims to be the church of God, the church of Jesus Christ.

3:00 - 3:36 Read in full sermon

Driving home: They define the church in terms of the biblical data which describe the church as the gathering of the saints, those in union with Christ, committed to walk together under the rule of Christ as administered in the word o…

He quotes John Owen's catechism to provide a precise, biblical definition of an instituted church, grounding his sermon's understanding in Reformed theology.

And the Roman Catholic Church claims to be the one true church of Christ. Well, I'm not using the word in terms of institutions that take to themselves the name church. Rather, I am using it in the sense in which it is helpfully defined in John Owen's little catechism, a brief instruction in the worship of God. And question 19 is this.

3:36 - 4:03 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He emphasizes that if the church does not have a unique place, their commitment is a 'fool's errand,' but if it does, then woe to those who create their own institutions…

Martin uses the analogy of the family as a 'spiritual womb' to explain that while the family is important, it is not the unique institution for God's saving purposes in the same way the church is, clarifying the distinction between 'unique' and 'exclusive'.

Now again, I'm choosing words carefully. I didn't say God has given an exclusive place. He has given an exclusive place to the church in His saving purposes. With all the attention we've been giving to the family, one of our great burdens is we recognize that the family ordered by the Word of God will often become a spiritual womb out of which God will bring forth children to Himself who will take their place in the church and be the rising generation of pillars in the house of God.

9:35 - 10:07 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He demonstrates that Christ committed the keys of the kingdom exclusively to the church, not to individuals or other groups, drawing from Matthew 16:19 and Matthew 18:18-19.

He uses the analogy of keys that 'cannot be copied and handed out to any and every group' to illustrate that Christ alone dispenses the keys of the kingdom, and He dispenses them only to His church, not to other organizations.

this much? You will not find Jesus Christ talking to any other individual or speaking about any other institution and saying, the keys are given to it. Jesus Christ committed the keys of the kingdom to only one institution. And keys cannot be copied and handed out to any and every group that's got a vision.

17:17 - 17:46 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He shows that the apostles labored to establish only the church as a permanent institution for God's redemptive purposes, focusing all their energies on planting and strengthening…

Martin uses the phrase 'plain Jane church' to contrast the apostles' singular focus on the church with those who might think themselves 'wiser than apostles' by seeking to establish other permanent institutions.

Now, does that say something? If they were content with plain Jane church, God have mercy on those who think themselves wiser than apostles. The apostles labored to establish only one permanent institution to carry on the redemptive purposes of God throughout the earth. Therefore, when one such apostle is describing the church in Ephesians 2, he describes it as a structure built upon a foundation of apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus, the chief cornerstone.

29:57 - 30:39 Read in full sermon

Driving home: And if it begins to have the termites of careless churchmanship eating at its foundations, it's the truth that's at stake.

He uses the common idiom 'fiddling while Rome burns' to represent the criticism that meticulous churchmanship is a distraction from soul-winning, then counters it by suggesting the apostle Paul himself 'fiddled' in this way.

1 Timothy chapter 3, where Paul leaves his beloved companion Timothy behind at Ephesus, though he himself, Paul, has labored there for several years. They are a mature, flourishing, God-blessed church, yet he leaves his companion behind in order to carry on labors in that church. Well, why is he such a high churchman? There are those who tell him, there are those who tell us, don't be fastidious about the church, get as many souls saved as you can in as short amount of time as possible, and even if they get to heaven in bad shape, they'll get there.

34:47 - 35:23 Read in full sermon

Driving home: And if it begins to have the termites of careless churchmanship eating at its foundations, it's the truth that's at stake.

The metaphor of 'termites of careless churchmanship eating at its foundations' illustrates how neglecting the proper ordering of the church undermines the truth it is meant to uphold.

Why? Because the apostolic teaching asserts that there is but one institution designated by God as the pillar and ground of the truth. And if it begins to have the termites of careless churchmanship eating at its foundations, it's the truth that's at stake. It's God's truth.

36:24 - 36:43 Read in full sermon

The point: Recognize that professed love for Christ not expressed in love and commitment to His church is either ignorant or hypocritical.

Martin shares his personal story of having an intense love for Christ as a young Christian but being 'ignorant of the church for years,' illustrating that genuine love for Christ can exist without a developed doctrine of the church, though this ignorance is not willful.

real love, loyalty, and real commitment to the church. Now it is possible that people can have an uninstructed love to Christ. I had it for years. My love to Christ as a young Christian in many ways I believe burned more intensely to my shame than it does in certain areas now.

43:13 - 43:41 Read in full sermon

The point: Recognize that professed love for Christ not expressed in love and commitment to His church is either ignorant or hypocritical.

He recounts how he and other young 'fanatics' were taken in by a small mission of 'white haired men that knew God' in Connecticut, highlighting a context where genuine faith existed but without a formal doctrine or structure of the church.

The only people that recognized what God had done in some of our hearts and the only people that were ready to receive it for others in the polite evangelical churches it was too hot to handle what God had done for a few of us. We wanted to preach in the street corner and carry our Bibles to school. And we were causing the whole high school to get upset. And the whole town was buzzing with what was going on with these fanatics.

43:58 - 44:21 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin concludes with three vital questions: whether the teaching has become a Bible-based conviction, whether professed love for Christ is expressed in love for His church, and…

Martin describes his five years as an itinerant evangelist and Bible teacher, during which he began to see the biblical truth about the church, illustrating his journey from ignorance to conviction.

And I kicked around the country for five years as an itinerant evangelist and Bible teacher. And that's when I began to see in my Bible that if this is what the Bible means when it says church, either God doesn't do what He did in days gone by or what this professes to be is bogus. And that's when I began to see. But I'd been a Christian 10, 15 years before those things began to really come to birth.

45:17 - 45:43 Read in full sermon

The point: Humble yourself and read your Bible to understand that 'freelance Christians' are not recognized in the New Testament.

He uses the vivid imagery of someone bristling, rearing back on their 'hind legs,' and snorting 'out your ears and your nose' to describe the resistance to the idea that there are no 'freelance Christians' recognized in the New Testament.

You want to be a freelance Christian. No such person is recognized in the New Testament. You can bristle and rear back in your hind legs and snort out your ears and your nose as well. But if you take time enough to come off your high horse and read your Bible, you'll see that what I say is true.

46:54 - 47:14 Read in full sermon