Separation: How to Attain, Part 3

The point: Constantly pray for the spiritual discernment to see the things of the world for what they really are and not for what they may appear to be.

Martin uses the metaphor of a 'patchwork quilt sermon' to describe how he will add to previous points and introduce new ones, indicating the sermon's structure.

Thirdly, constantly pray for the spiritual discernment to see the things of the world for what they really are and not for what they may appear to be. And I was opening up that third counsel when I looked at the clock and it was ten minutes to one, and I said it's time to get this plane out down from 30,000 and parked at the gate and go home. And I really did not fully open up some of the concerns upon my heart. And so this is going to be a patchwork quilt sermon tonight.

6:13 - 6:50 Read in full sermon

The point: Constantly pray for the spiritual discernment to see the things of the world for what they really are and not for what they may appear to be.

Martin uses a flyer promoting 'Dance Praise' as a concrete example of worldly trends infiltrating the church, illustrating the lack of discernment he warns against.

especially matters that would intrude themselves into the church and into our patterns of life, to ask, where has this trend come from and where does it lead? Not to evaluate it in terms of how it may appear isolated from those realities of where it came from, where is it leading? And then just this afternoon when I took the things out of my letter file and I often will do that to make sure there's nothing of pressing importance that I ought to take care of with one of the sheep when I come back in the evening, I found these pages in my letter file. You all can't see them.

7:34 - 8:17 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin expands on the third counsel, urging prayer for discernment to see the world's trends for what they truly are. He uses the example of 'Dance Praise' in churches to…

He uses the metaphor of a 'pinball machine bounce' to illustrate the unpredictable and escalating negative trajectory of compromise when discernment is not applied.

Well, we've got to have something that'll spice up the gospel a little bit here, a little bit there. And people failed to ask, where is this spicing up desire coming from? And where is it going? Where will the ball in the pinball machine bounce next?

11:27 - 11:49 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin expands on the third counsel, urging prayer for discernment to see the world's trends for what they truly are. He uses the example of 'Dance Praise' in churches to…

Martin shares a personal anecdote from his youth, describing a time when teenagers were so devoted to prayer and street preaching that even a suggestion of going for a hamburger after prayer felt 'unclean,' contrasting it with the worldly desires he critiques.

So the church has turned into the world instead of the church having a message of power that delivers people out of the world and into Christ and into a hunger for His word and a hunger for holiness and a hunger to pray. Don't tell me it can't be done. I was birthed in such a movement of the Spirit of God where teenagers knew what it was to have half-nights of prayer and preach on the street corner three and four times a week. And none of us was sad.

12:17 - 12:53 Read in full sermon

The point: Pray for love to abound in knowledge and discernment, to approve excellent things, and be sincere and without offense until the day of Christ.

He draws an analogy between Jesus's actions in cleansing the temple and what Jesus would do in a church promoting 'Dance Praise,' emphasizing Christ's zeal against worldly corruption.

I'm trying to give you a sense of when God gives us in Christ the true satisfaction we don't need this drivel and this nonsense to be paraded and promoted. Our Lord Jesus would come into a church where this was going on and He'd do exactly what He did in the temple. He would tear up the dance pads. He would smash the PCs.

13:09 - 13:36 Read in full sermon

The point: Be responsible to make sure you do nothing in your lifestyle, dress, words, or actions that provokes others to sin.

He uses the example of women's dress and modesty to illustrate how one can be responsible for provoking others to sin, applying the principle of not causing others to stumble.

and disciples being in that world occasions of stumbling will come the world's pressure at times will at least temporarily overcome some of the people of God. But woe be to that man through whom the occasion comes which by the way means that I am responsible to make sure that I do nothing in my lifestyle my dress my words my actions that provokes others to sin because though offenses will come if I trigger the offense God will hold me accountable

19:48 - 20:30 Read in full sermon

The point: Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts.

He uses the tragic example of someone addicted to pornography who wishes they had 'gouged out his eyes' or 'cut off the hand that clicked the mouse,' to illustrate the eternal consequences of not ruthlessly cutting off sin.

and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. You must not only put on Christ you must shut the door to every unnecessary avenue to your mind and your life of the world that can lead to sin. Make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. There's many a person in hell who wishes that while he was in this life he had gouged out his eyes had cut off the hand that clicked the mouse

22:41 - 23:24 Read in full sermon

The point: Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts.

He uses the example of a 'fully clothed one love scene' in a movie to illustrate how even seemingly innocuous worldly influences can awaken illicit desires in the soul.

to the world's molding influence to have that movie oh yes it just has a fully clothed one love scene nobody's naked nobody's tumbling in bed just a gentle embrace what does that do to you? It awakens in you a desire if you're a woman to be embraced tenderly passionately kissed a man to hold the beautiful woman in your arms what are you doing? You can't help it when you're on your way to work and someone with no sense of social reserve makes out in the bus or in the train

24:06 - 24:48 Read in full sermon

The point: Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts.

He uses the example of people 'making out in the bus or in the train' to distinguish between unavoidable worldly exposure and voluntary engagement with worldly media.

or halfway walking down the street as I've seen this summer you're in the world you can't avoid that exposure but why in God's name do you go home and Friday night and stick the DVD and stick the video into the machine and let that worldly influence come into your soul awakening desires that are illicit do you do it? when you do it you're not on that occult way in which there must be an increasing weanedness from the world

24:48 - 25:33 Read in full sermon

The point: If your perspective of beauty is skewed by worldly media, stop letting paste-printed things come into your eyes.

He uses these common advertisements as examples of 'paste printed things' that feed a skewed perspective of beauty and lead to covetousness, illustrating how vanity enters through the eyes.

and if we are not ruthlessly dealing with what we voluntarily choose to look upon for some of you your perspective of beauty which is skewed and is not a biblical perspective know what it's fed by it's fed by your JCPenney catalog it's fed by your Macy's flyers it's fed by ladies magazines your eyes are beholding vanity and what's happening your heart is going out to covetousness without dealing with it then stop letting

35:58 - 36:40 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not sit with men of falsehood, nor go in with dissemblers or hypocrites; hate the assembly of evildoers and do not sit with the wicked where you have a choice in your associations.

He uses the weekend box office report, specifically mentioning 'Saw III' and a mafia film, to illustrate the kind of violent and immoral content that professing Christians consume, questioning their spiritual vigor.

the gathering together of evil doers and will not sit with the wicked where I have a choice in my associations I'm not going to posture myself with the wicked now follow me when I read my paper on a Monday and one of the things I always read is the weekend report on the box office at the theaters two weeks ago Halloween weekend the big number was saw three the chainsaw massacres which is nothing but gore and gruesome cutting up of people's bodies with chainsaws

38:07 - 38:51 Read in full sermon

The point: When evil is before you and you cannot help it, shut your eyes; if you can't walk for fear of stumbling, stand still until the evil passes.

He uses the vivid image of someone shaking their hands to refuse a bribe to illustrate the upright man's decisive rejection of evil gain.

who among us can dwell with the devouring fire that's not hell that's God who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings who can enter into real experiential communion with God here's the answer of verse 15 he that walks righteously speaks uprightly he that despises the gain of oppressions that shakes his hands from taking a bribe isn't that a beautiful picture someone wants to slip you a bribe and you go like this and say no way no bribes in my hand that's the upright man what else does he do the man who's going to have communion with God he shakes his hands

42:31 - 43:15 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Familiarity with sin weakens abhorrence towards sin familiarity with sin weakens abhorrence to sin

Martin quotes Bridges' commentary on Proverbs 7, using the story of the naive young man and the adulteress to illustrate how 'familiarity with sin weakens abhorrence towards sin,' a crucial point for understanding spiritual compromise.

at fornication like to look at deceitfulness like to look at that which is in opposition to almighty God see one of the things that some of you young people especially you don't know and understand and I hope you don't have to learn it experientially Bridges in writing on Proverbs 7 and the naive young man who's seduced by the experienced married woman whose husband's away on a business trip and she gets the hots for him and she's determined to seduce him and Bridges commenting on the fact that

44:43 - 45:26 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Familiarity with sin weakens abhorrence towards sin familiarity with sin weakens abhorrence to sin

He uses the example of a woman emotionally identifying with a 'potential adulteress' in a story to illustrate how visual media can subtly erode moral abhorrence and lead to sympathy with sin.

a holy and a pure and a righteous God so that thinking of sin in the light of what I am as a new man and new woman in Christ there is an emotional abhorrence to sin and that is one of the great preventives to indulge in sin is to have that emotional abhorrence strong vigorous and active but familiarity with sin bridges rightly observes weakens that abhorrence and when the emotional aversion to sin erodes you are only a step away from your will from your volitional

46:53 - 47:37 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Familiarity with sin weakens abhorrence towards sin familiarity with sin weakens abhorrence to sin

He uses the example of plastic surgery and airbrushing in women's magazines to illustrate how artificial images of beauty can break down an emotional abhorrence to 'plastic nothingness' and lead to covetousness.

faculty choosing that sin and you see this is the great danger of the visual medium it draws you in at the emotional level with the images and before long you are in sympathy with that lovely woman devoted to that klutz of a husband who is emotionally dead and neutered and along comes the devil who is sensitive who is understanding who is touchy feely and before you know it you are emotionally identifying with the potential adulteress

47:37 - 48:22 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin quotes Bridges on Proverbs 7, warning that familiarity with sin weakens abhorrence towards it, especially through visual mediums that draw one in emotionally. He then…

He alludes to a hymn about panting for a cool spring to satisfy thirst, using it as a metaphor for the soul's deep longing that only Christ can satisfy, contrasting it with worldly 'drivel'.

christian i would be less than truthful did i tell you then you're not ready to become a christian that's the path that you'll enter if you get through the narrow gate but blessed be god on that path there are springs and pleasures none but zion's children know all my life long i had panted for a draft from some cool spring that would satisfy

49:51 - 50:36 Read in full sermon

Driving home: This is the way to make the pulse of your soul beat feebly and languidly this is the way to make the edge of your feeling about sin because come blunt and dull. This is the way to dim the eyes of your spiritual discernme…

He shares an anecdote about a young man who, after wandering in the far country, bore witness that cutting off 'all unnecessary exposure to the world's molding influence' was evidence of truly finding Christ.

the burning of the thirst i felt within hallelujah i have found him whom my soul had i had another note recently a young man that wandered in the far country far too long and god roped him in a couple years ago and he said in his

50:36 - 51:20 Read in full sermon

The point: Determine this night to ruthlessly cut off whatever unnecessary exposure to the world's molding influence means for you personally.

Martin quotes J.C. Ryle extensively on the dangers of making unscriptural choices and unnecessarily settling among worldly people, using vivid metaphors to describe the damage to one's spirituality, discernment, and strength.

that's not Christianity that's bogus sham shallow empty fake religion folks that's not the real thing well then i have one final word of counsel and it is this well i got to read you a little quote from ryle before i move on to that ryle writes make a wrong choice in life an unscriptural choice settle yourself down unnecessarily see there's the word again in the midst of worldly people in your job in your neighborhood you're in the midst of them unnecessarily you've got to be there but when you settle yourself down unnecessarily in the

53:31 - 54:13 Read in full sermon

The point: Determine this night to ruthlessly cut off whatever unnecessary exposure to the world's molding influence means for you personally.

Ryle's quote uses the metaphor of Samson losing his strength by having his hair cut off to illustrate how worldly compromise cripples spiritual energies and gives advantage to the devil.

as if the grasshopper was a burden. This is the way to sell the past to your worst enemy, to give the devil vantage ground in the battle, to tie your arms in fighting, to fetter your legs in running, to dry up the sources of your strength, to cripple your energies, to cut off your own hair like Samson, and give yourself into the hands of the Philistines to put out your own eyes, grind at the mill, and become a slave. Is that what you want? If not, then determine this night before you pillow your head, I am going to, by the grace of God, begin as a Christian to ruthlessly cut off whatever that

54:56 - 55:38 Read in full sermon

The point: Allow nothing and no one to dampen your love for and your single-eyed devotion to and communion with the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

He alludes to the parable of the treasure in the field to illustrate the supreme value of Christ, for whom a man joyfully sells all he has.

the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Allow nothing and no one to dampen your love for, single-eyed devotion to and communion with Jesus Christ Himself. Remember the parable of the treasure in the field, which a man found and hid, and a count of his joy sold all that he had that he might obtain the treasure. Paul found the treasure, and he said, the things that were gained to me, these I count loss for Christ. I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ

56:23 - 57:08 Read in full sermon

The point: Turn from sin and self-trust and throw yourselves at the feet of the Savior, come through the gate, and be found upon the narrow way.

He alludes to an old gospel hymn, 'It will be worth it all when we see Jesus,' to convey the ultimate hope and motivation for persevering on the narrow way.

as we anticipate the day when at the end of that compressed, restricted narrow difficult way we'll behold him face to face, and in the language of one of the old gospel hymns again, it will be worth it all when we see Jesus one look of his dear face all sorrow will erase so bravely run the race, till we see Christ dear people, these are sobering days for me, the Lord spares me, my times

59:03 - 59:47 Read in full sermon