No Crisis Experience Commanded #2

The point: Be forever immunized against any hope that you will somewhere find some one key that will unlock all of your problems and resolve all of your difficulties.

The analogy of a 'master key' is used to explain that there isn't a single solution to all Christian life problems, but rather the whole of Scripture is profitable.

Second Timothy 3, 16 and 17 tell us that all Scripture is given by the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, by inspiration of God, and is also profitable for, and then the various strands of its profitableness are mentioned to the end, that the man of God may be perfect or mature, thoroughly furnished unto every good work. And in the language of Matthew 4, 4, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. So there is no one master ke...

1:20 - 2:48 Read in full sermon

Driving home: You see, there's no denial of the initial work of grace. That's alright if you want to go second class. But if you want to go first class, then come along and have this experience.

The analogy of 'first-class' versus 'second-class' citizens is used to illustrate how crisis teaching demeans initial conversion, suggesting it's only for those content with a lesser Christian experience.

Oh, you're just saved? Well, that's alright if you want to be a second-class citizen. Come along with me and we'll travel first class. Right?

16:07 - 16:17 Read in full sermon

Driving home: So the issue is not now any longer those who are in Christ and out of Christ, but amongst those who are in Christ, those that are really with it. And those that are simply dragging their heels.

Martin recounts reading Finney's systematic theology to refresh his mind, noting that it forcefully argues for a double standard of sin to accommodate a doctrine of perfectionism, which he finds problematic.

Lisa? Uh-huh. Alright? You see the point she's made that many of them, if not all of these, have a distorted standard of what constitutes sin. For instance, higher life movement will talk about deliverance from a life of known sin. I was just re-reading Charles Finney last night around somewhere when it was getting late. Just to refresh my mind, I one time plowed through every page and every word of his systematic theology. And if anything will cure you from being a Finneyite, it's to read his so-called systematic theology. And in it, he makes this point very forcefully. The perfection of eart...

20:07 - 21:07 Read in full sermon

Driving home: So the issue is not now any longer those who are in Christ and out of Christ, but amongst those who are in Christ, those that are really with it. And those that are simply dragging their heels.

Martin shares a personal story about his godly Pentecostal grandmother who prayed for him to 'go all the way' and 'get the full blessing' (the baptism of the Holy Spirit), illustrating the deep-seated mentality of crisis teaching even within his own family.

You have people who are natural men. That's the lost. Then you have spiritual men. Those who are filled with the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, who've attained the higher life, though not necessarily by a crisis. Then you have this great mass of carnal Christians. They're Christians, but they are predominated by the flesh, and so you have this division. Then, of course, you have, in classic Pentecostalism and in the charismatic movement, a strong emphasis upon those who have and have not received the baptism. And I can remember people coming and saying, have you received the baptism? Have you ...

22:42 - 23:30 Read in full sermon

Driving home: So the issue is not now any longer those who are in Christ and out of Christ, but amongst those who are in Christ, those that are really with it. And those that are simply dragging their heels.

The analogy of a 'yo-yo' is used to describe the instability of a Christian life based on crisis experiences, where one can be in and out of the 'blessing' and never know what 'ticket' they hold.

And if I could have come and said, murmur, you know what happened on such and such a day, then she would have thrown her hands up and said, hallelujah, hallelujah, and she would have felt her prayers were answered, you see, and now I was in. I had entered a new class. So I say that not with any bitterness or any rancor but to show how close it comes to home even in my own background and in my own experience and in the Salvation Army. The same thing with their Wesleyan teaching on perfectionism. The problem is you can be in one class today, in the higher class tomorrow and back in the first cla...

24:39 - 25:40 Read in full sermon

The point: Stop and ask ourselves, is that the emphasis of the Word of God? So that we don't merely make a critique and an analysis, but we turn to the Scriptures.

Martin quotes a critic of the Pentecostal movement who titles a chapter 'The Theology of More,' highlighting the core idea in crisis teaching that initial conversion is insufficient and something additional is needed.

But it's saying that the initial work leaves you inadequately furnished to live your life. You need something more. And one recent critic and very astute and penetrating critic of the Pentecostal movement, both old and present charismatic thinking and teaching, has a chapter in his book called The Theology of More. The Theology of More. And he demonstrates, that this lies at the heart of all of these forms of Christ's teaching. Regeneration and conversion leave one inadequately furnished for living a biblically normal Christian life. I've heard it stated along these lines. Well, conversion wil...

33:15 - 34:09 Read in full sermon

The point: Stop and ask ourselves, is that the emphasis of the Word of God? So that we don't merely make a critique and an analysis, but we turn to the Scriptures.

The saying 'conversion will fit you for dying, but that's not enough for living' is used to illustrate how crisis teaching depreciates initial conversion, suggesting it's only adequate for the end of life, not for vibrant daily living.

But it's saying that the initial work leaves you inadequately furnished to live your life. You need something more. And one recent critic and very astute and penetrating critic of the Pentecostal movement, both old and present charismatic thinking and teaching, has a chapter in his book called The Theology of More. The Theology of More. And he demonstrates, that this lies at the heart of all of these forms of Christ's teaching. Regeneration and conversion leave one inadequately furnished for living a biblically normal Christian life. I've heard it stated along these lines. Well, conversion wil...

33:15 - 34:09 Read in full sermon

The point: Don't use the lack of a crisis experience as a cop-out or a way to blame God for your messed-up life; confront your love for sin.

Martin suggests that crisis teaching appeals to a psychology where the 'obvious' (day-by-day discipline, self-denial) is too difficult, leading people to seek an 'easier way' through a crisis experience.

So you're saying that perhaps underneath this, the psychology that works in many people is that the obvious is too difficult and therefore they're looking for some easier way to get to the end that they know they ought to get to. Is that what you're saying? Yeah, and I think there's a lot of good sense in that. I mean, that's true. I mean, this is all pretty ordinary stuff, isn't it? And the battle is won and lost. In those old theaters of the day-by-day discipline, self-denial, cross-bearing, all of these things, and our flesh doesn't like that. And so if we're living a botched-up life, it's ...

45:38 - 46:24 Read in full sermon

The point: Don't use the lack of a crisis experience as a cop-out or a way to blame God for your messed-up life; confront your love for sin.

The analogy of not cutting off a right hand but blaming God for not showing where the knife is, is used to illustrate how crisis teaching can become a 'cop-out' and a form of self-justification for a 'messed-up life'.

had a certain insight. So I can excuse myself for the messed-up way I'm living. See, it's a form of self-justification. If only God would give me the insight or give me the experience, then I'd live differently. And until He does, there's nothing much I can do about it. That's a cop-out. That's blaming God for your messed-up life. See, you haven't cut off that right hand, but you're saying God hasn't shown me where the knife is and how to put it on my wrist.

46:24 - 46:53 Read in full sermon