The Diversity of Conversion

Driving home: One of the terrible indictments against the false prophets was this, that with their lies pronounced in the name of Jehovah, they were grieving and making sad God's true people, whom he had no desire to make sad. And on …

Martin compares his task of discussing conversion to a neurosurgeon operating on a brain, emphasizing the delicate balance required to avoid cutting too much (causing needless grief) or too little (failing to address spiritual cancer).

Well then, of what is that blanket of caution made? And as I enter this, I feel like a neurosurgeon who's going after a tumor embedded, deep in the brain of his patient. And he knows if he cuts just a wee bit too much, he'll kill the patient. If he cuts a wee bit too little,

10:53 - 11:20 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin argues that the time, place, surroundings, and instruments of conversion can vary widely. He uses the examples of Levi, the thief on the cross, Lydia, and the Philippian…

Martin imagines Levi telling an inquirer to become a tax collector and wait for Jesus to pass by, illustrating the absurdity of making one's specific conversion circumstances a requirement for others.

So imagine the confusion if any of the five mentioned in the introduction earlier this morning took that position. Someone comes to Levi and says, explain to me how you were converted, and he tells them. I was a mercenary of the Roman government. One day I was sitting at my place of business and Jesus of Nazareth came by.

13:17 - 13:40 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin argues that the time, place, surroundings, and instruments of conversion can vary widely. He uses the examples of Levi, the thief on the cross, Lydia, and the Philippian…

Martin imagines the thief on the cross telling an inquirer to commit a capital crime and get crucified, further illustrating the absurdity of demanding identical circumstances.

That's nonsense. And it would be nonsense. Suppose the thief were one of those who was resurrected after the resurrection of Christ. For it says many of the saints were raised up after Christ's resurrection and appeared in the city.

15:11 - 15:24 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin argues that the time, place, surroundings, and instruments of conversion can vary widely. He uses the examples of Levi, the thief on the cross, Lydia, and the Philippian…

Martin imagines Lydia telling an inquirer to become a purple seller and pray by a riverside, reinforcing the point about circumstantial diversity.

Now, you can go right through all three of them. How foolish it would be for Lydia to say, you've got to go into the purple selling business. And you've got to be a Christian business. You've got to be a traveling salesperson, saleswoman.

16:25 - 16:41 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin argues that the time, place, surroundings, and instruments of conversion can vary widely. He uses the examples of Levi, the thief on the cross, Lydia, and the Philippian…

Martin describes Finney's practice of the 'anxious seat' in evangelistic meetings, where people were verbally battered into 'immediate subjection to Christ,' as an example of imposing specific circumstances on conversion.

Well, wait a minute. Not quite so quickly. I make this point because especially, especially since the days of Charles G. Finney, who established what was called the anxious seat in his evangelistic meetings.

17:55 - 18:12 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin argues that the time, place, surroundings, and instruments of conversion can vary widely. He uses the examples of Levi, the thief on the cross, Lydia, and the Philippian…

Martin shares his personal experience growing up with the Salvation Army's 'penitent form' and 'Decision Sunday,' where conversion was expected to occur at a specific physical location, illustrating how circumstantial expectations can become embedded in one's psyche.

And that was his great terminology. And that was his great terminology. Bring the will to submit immediately, then and there. Well, from that moment on, in American evangelicalism, with various expressions of it that grew out of camp meeting experiences, the Salvation Army with what it called a penitent form.

19:13 - 19:35 Read in full sermon

The point: As we move into the biblical teaching on the essential elements of genuine conversion, remember this blanket of caution and qualification. Genuine conversions need not be circumstantially identical.

Martin mentions historical groups like the 'Shakers' and 'Barkers' who believed specific physical manifestations (shaking, barking) were essential circumstances of conversion, highlighting extreme examples of circumstantial identity.

Embedded in my whole psyche was, if I ever get converted, the circumstances of the penitent form will be involved. So don't tell me that people don't really believe this stuff and aren't really affected by it. Other parts of church history, people who generally got converted or professed to be converted got the shakes. You ever hear of the shakers?

20:46 - 21:11 Read in full sermon

The point: If you know that you are [converted], why are you fussing about it? What point did you become? ... It doesn't make much difference whether you know when it all got started. You're alive! You're breathing, you're seeing, …

Martin uses the analogy of forgetting one's birthday due to lost records to illustrate that knowing the exact 'when' or 'how' of conversion is less important than the present reality of being spiritually alive.

What point did you become? Suppose you got a knock on the head this morning, and you forgot your birthday, and then somebody destroyed your birth certificate, and the hospital burned down where the records were, and Trenton burned to the ground where the formal records are kept if you're born in New Jersey. Nobody knows when you were born, not even you. Your mother's dead, your father's dead, all your relatives, they don't, they didn't care enough to even ask.

35:08 - 35:36 Read in full sermon

The point: If you know that you are [converted], why are you fussing about it? What point did you become? ... It doesn't make much difference whether you know when it all got started. You're alive! You're breathing, you're seeing, …

Martin imagines Lydia being discontent because she didn't experience an earthquake like the Philippian jailer, illustrating the sinfulness of coveting another's conversion experience.

That's what's important, and that's why I emphasize that genuine conversions need not be conceptually identical, lest some of you be undermined in your confidence of God's work, you become skeptical of God's previous work, or there may be an unwarranted coveting and really discontent with how God brought you in. Suppose Lydia hears about the jailer and she says, I didn't get no work quick. God must love the jailer more than he loves me. How did you get an earthquake?

36:04 - 36:41 Read in full sermon

The point: The Lord saved you exactly the way he knew he'd get the most glory to himself in saving you. And it's time you said, God, you can do your business better than I can.

Martin refers to John Bunyan's dramatic conversion experience with deep conviction, warning against wishing for such an intense experience, as it might be detrimental to others.

May God help us then, not to be guilty of a sinful coveting. This can happen when you read the biography of someone that God dramatically saved, like a John Bunyan. You say, Oh, if going through what he did would make me what he was, why didn't God bring me through the throes of deep, deep conviction for so long a period of time? Well, for one reason, it would have killed most of us, and the rest of us, it probably would have made us so intolerant of anyone else who's getting converted any other way, we'd have been a nuisance to the church.

36:55 - 37:28 Read in full sermon

The point: Must everyone be able to recite the full definition of the Ten Commandments from the Shorter Catechism before we have any reason to believe they know anything of conviction of sin? Ought we be able to recite the full def…

Martin recounts a pamphlet about a preacher (not himself) who, after a long period of hypocrisy and deep conviction, made his specific, lengthy sequence of conviction a rule for everyone else, leading to a 'cruel doctrine' that grieved true believers and strengthened false assurance.

There was a pamphlet written called The Cruel Doctrine of, and let's call it, I'll call it myself, frankly it wasn't written about me, they took the man's name and they put ism after it. The Cruel Doctrine of Martinism. Well, what was the doctrine of Martinism though that was not the name? Well, it was the doctrine of a man who'd been an unconverted preacher for I think about two decades.

38:14 - 38:39 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin explains that while he will teach the elements of conversion in a logical sequence, the actual experience of conversion does not always follow that exact order. He uses the…

Martin uses the analogy of baking a cake with the right ingredients but wrong sequence to illustrate that order matters for a desired outcome, setting up the point about sequential identity in conversion.

Now what do I mean by that word sequentially identical? Well, when things are in a certain sequence and a certain order because without that sequence or order you can't attain a given end then we say they are necessarily sequential. Some of you kids have learned this the first time you went to bake a cake. Your mom said, all right.

40:33 - 40:57 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin explains that while he will teach the elements of conversion in a logical sequence, the actual experience of conversion does not always follow that exact order. He uses the…

Martin uses the analogy of dialing a phone number with the correct digits but wrong sequence to show that order is essential for a desired end, further illustrating sequential identity.

What's your telephone number? I jot it down. Yes, 2564560. You say, okay, good.

41:33 - 41:38 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin explains that while he will teach the elements of conversion in a logical sequence, the actual experience of conversion does not always follow that exact order. He uses the…

Martin uses the analogy of a pilot's pre-flight checklist, where the sequence of checks is vital for safety, to emphasize that while there's an ordinary sequence in conversion, it's not always rigidly identical.

Not just the right amount of numbers and the right numbers, but in a certain sequence. Whether you know it or not, that's what those pilots are doing up there in the cockpit when they're sitting there long before you get on the plane. You wonder what they're doing. You think they're in there just sipping coffee and chatting.

42:27 - 42:44 Read in full sermon

The point: If a book shakes you up before you let the book be the oracle will you check with someone who might be able to help put it in its context. Now it may be that after putting it in its context it shakes you up even more. Ha…

Martin compares Puritan treatises to 'potent 500 milligram Cipro spiritual antibiotics,' warning against taking them in isolation from their original sermon context or the broader biblical context, which can lead to misapplication and needless doubt.

You take this one sermon out of the context of the whole series on conversion and take the series on conversion out of the context of the strong emphasis from this pulpit on justification by faith alone based on the imputation of the righteousness of Christ and you could get a distorted view of this ministry. Well often when we pick up a Puritan treatise they were pastors above all else and wise pastors wise physicians and they saw the beginning of a spiritual disease and they were giving some very potent 500 milligram Cipro spiritual antibiotics. And if you just take that in isolation and mak...

50:21 - 51:26 Read in full sermon