No Crisis Experience Commanded #1
In this adult Sunday school class, Pastor Martin introduces the fourth major principle of Christian living: "There is no crisis experience promised or commanded as an essential element of living the Christian life." He clarifies that while Christians may have life-transforming crisis experiences, the Bible does not mandate or promise them as necessary for all believers. Martin then identifies and describes various forms of 'crisis teaching,' including classic Pentecostalism, the modern charismatic movement, Wesleyan sanctification/perfectionism, higher life teaching (Keswick), the sealing of the Spirit, and a water baptism crisis of sanctification, highlighting their distinct emphases and potential dangers.
Topics
Outline 7 sections · 53 min
- Introduction and Review of Previous Principles 0:03
- Introducing the Fourth Principle: No Commanded Crisis Experience 4:22
- Identifying Major Forms of Crisis Teaching: Classic Pentecostalism 9:48
- Identifying Major Forms of Crisis Teaching: Modern Charismatic Movement 24:19
- Identifying Major Forms of Crisis Teaching: Wesleyan Sanctification and Higher Life 32:26
- Identifying Major Forms of Crisis Teaching: Sealing of the Spirit and Water Baptism Crisis 38:41
- Pastoral Reflection and Homework Assignment 45:24
Key Quotes
“There is no crisis experience promised or commanded as an essential element of living the Christian life.”
“What I am saying, if you're listening carefully, is that no crisis experience is either promised in the Word of God or commanded in the Word of God as essential to living the Christian life.”
“Which is defined as a second definite, instantaneous work of grace subsequent to regeneration.”
“my mind totally unfruitful and blank but I'm praying in the Spirit and so much of the emphasis in the modern charismatic movement falls not so much on a baptism of power but on a baptism of the Spirit with some of these subjective exciting satisfying exotic inward mystic religious experiences”
“he's just leaped right over the wall and brought Roman Catholics and Protestants into oneness in this experience of the baptism of the Holy Spirit isn't that marvelous isn't that a wonderful thing that God has done”
“if sin is any lack of conformity unto a transgression of the law of God are you loving God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength right now in this very instant as long as remaining sin attaches to every pulse of your affections are you loving God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength yes or no no so you are sinning the actings of your indwelling sin are sin right here and now and that's the fatal flaw in that kind of reasoning”
“if you get this sealing of the spirit you don't need the evidences to enter into the question of your salvation when you see that opens up the door to rank deception and antinomianism and a host of other things”
“You are content to live at a level lower than that which Jesus Christ has purchased and purposed for all of his people now that's a serious accusation to make and we must be certain in our minds that this is not true”
Applications
All listeners
- Do not become defensive if you have had a crisis experience; Pastor Martin is not trying to rob anyone of their experience but to ascertain the teaching of God's Word.
- We must come to grips with teaching that asserts crisis experiences are commanded and promised, and are fundamental to fruitful Christian living, to establish if the Word of God supports it.
- Be thankful for being in a well-guarded church with elders concerned to protect you from heresies and errors that would cripple you and send you chasing after 'carrots.'
- Be certain in your minds that the accusation of living at a lower level than Christ purposed, if you don't seek a crisis experience, is not true.
- Reflect on the common denominators of all these theories of Christian life that teach a crisis experience is essential to truly live the Christian life.
A full transcript is available on the tab. 76 paragraphs, roughly 53 minutes.
Introduction and Review of Previous Principles
This adult Sunday school class was held on September 12, 1982, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now we take up again this morning our consideration of the very broad but vital theme that we've been considering for the past ten Lord's Day mornings in the adult Sunday school class that I have been teaching the class. There have been some other subjects dealt with in between, but this is the eleventh Lord's Day morning in which we have occupied ourselves with the broad subject of some major principles of living the Christian life.
And again, because we have visitors and newcomers amongst us, just a brief word of review is in order. First, we are concerned under this broad heading not to deal with an exhaustive statement and biblical teaching on living the Christian life, but some of the major principles of living the Christian life, that is, the principles of the Word of God which regulate how we are to live as the people of God. We are not concerned with the question how we enter life, but having entered upon life by the grace of God in union with Christ, how are we to live the life upon which we have entered? And we've been trying to set before you
of these broad principles and then reflect upon some of the errors which often fail to come to grips with these principles and then to see their foundation in the Word of God. Now, thus far, we've covered three of these major principles. Will you tell me, please, what they are? Principle number one, Gene? Now, that was number two. All right. Principle
number one, in order, please, Mr. Van Dalen. All right. There is no one master key, no one master key to living the Christian life. Now, that's Martinese cryptic language. All
right. There is no one master key to living the Christian life. And how vital it is that we understand that, never be looking for that one master key that will somehow, bring us into a whole new dimension of spiritual vigor. And then the second principle to which Mrs. Podolsky referred, there is no release from tension and conflict in living the Christian
life. The realities of indwelling sin, the pressure of the world, the opposition of the devil, and the fact that we are saved in hope make impossible any release, no release, and conflict in living the Christian life. And then the last principle that we concluded examining last week is, you can give the summarized version or the lengthy one. All right. No negation or suspension of the conscious
engagement of any of our redeemed faculties in living the Christian life, or the shortened version, there is no area of passivity in living the Christian life. No area of passivity. All of our faculties, mind, affection, memory, the use of our members, the use of our members, all of the faculties are to be consciously engaged in living the Christian life. Now, since our last session concluded, as I was expounding the epitomizing texts, that is, those texts in the Bible, which state in a very succinct way the truths of that principle, we had no time for discussion, and I said we would begin today, as we stand on the threshold
of principle number four, with entertaining any questions that may be hanging over from our treatment of the Third Principle. Now, are there any such questions? I will keep my word of promise and give you an opportunity to ask them. All right. If not, then let's
Introducing the Fourth Principle: No Commanded Crisis Experience
press on and begin this morning to examine a fourth principle and another very vital principle with respect to the Christian life, and it is this. There is no crisis experience promised or commanded as an essential element of living the Christian life. There is no crisis experience promised or commanded as an essential element in living the Christian life. Now, in opening up that principle, first of all, I'll explain briefly the significance of the language. Then I'm going to ask, in the second
place, for you to help in flushing out the identification and description of what we might call crisis teaching with respect to the Christian life. And if we have time, we'll deal in the third place with the common denominators of all of the various brands of this teaching. Now, when I use the terminology, there is no crisis experience. I am speaking of a spiritual crisis described by differing names in which a person who has, according to their terminology, merely been
converted or regenerated enters upon an entirely new dimension of spiritual power in relationship to service and victory in relationship to the struggle with sin. The basic idea is that you have the man or the woman who has near the conversion, who's struggling along down here, and then, when he has this crisis experience, called by different names, described in different ways, supposedly based upon differing passages
of scripture, he enters a qualitatively new dimension of spiritual life and experience. And no matter where he is along the way, from that point on, he can always look back to this crisis experience. Now, the crisis as the turning point, the point at which he entered into something that he never knew or experienced when he was merely converted, merely regenerated. But it was in reality this crisis experience that gave the true significance to his present walk and experience as a Christian.
Now, furthermore, it is asserted by many that such a crisis experience, as we have seen, is commanded and promised by God. And therefore, if we do not seek it, and if we do not press to the attainment of it, we are in reality living in disobedience to God. We are accepting a lower plane of Christian experience than God has ordained and that God has revealed as being His will for His children. Now, that basically is what is bound up in the language of the principle, there is no crisis experience promised or commanded
as an essential element of living the Christian life. Now, as we'll see later on, I am not asserting that the Bible nowhere describes believers who have crisis experiences which radically transform them. Nor am I saying that Christians do not have crisis experiences which are life transforming, and in many cases, radically alter the whole pattern of their lives. I am not saying that. What I am saying, if you're listening carefully, is
that no crisis experience is either promised in the Word of God or commanded in the Word of God as essential to living the Christian life. Now, I've chosen my words very carefully, so if someone is sitting here, who can look at me and say, who can look to a point in his life when you had a very real crisis experience in which the grace and power of God, as it were, broke loose in new dimensions upon your life, don't become defensive and say, I'm not going to let Pastor Martin rob me of that experience. I'm not trying to rob anybody of anything. For one thing, I'm not in the business of being a thief, let alone a spiritual thief.
What we are trying to do is to ascertain the teaching of the Word of God with respect to living the Christian life, and since much teaching on the Christian life in the past and in our own day asserts very emphatically that crisis experiences of one sort or another are both commanded and promised, and in reality are the fundamental difference between a successful, fruitful Christian and a non-successful, non-fruitful Christian, we must come to grips with such teaching and establish whether or not the Word of God does indeed support it. All right? Having given a statement of the principle,
Identifying Major Forms of Crisis Teaching: Classic Pentecostalism
a basic explanation of the words embodied in the principle, now I want you to help me as we ask the question, what are some of the major forms of this crisis teaching? We want to identify and describe some of the major forms of this crisis teaching. Our concern this morning is not so much to go to the Scriptures and to examine what the Scripture says about the teaching. We want, first of all, to have the teaching laid out, and I'm sure there are not a few of you who've encountered various forms of this teaching.
So let's begin to list and describe some of these forms of teaching that fit under this principle. All right? All right, Pastor Clark. All right.
Which is defined as a second definite, instantaneous work of grace subsequent to regeneration. All right. Run that by again. A second definite, instantaneous work of grace subsequent to regeneration.
All right? second definite, instantaneous, work of grace subsequent to regeneration. That's right. excellent did you practice that oh you learned it many years ago alright now you'll notice I've put that here number three because I've worked out what I believe in my study and in my exposure to Christians and in my own spiritual quest are five of the major manifestations of this teaching and so I'm putting this one one of them Wesleyan sanctification or we might put as another word Wesleyan perfectionism and we say Wesleyan because it goes back to
it's a real popularization to the teaching of John Wesley and his followers alright other forms of that alright yes here alright in the charismatic movement you have baptism of the Holy Spirit which basically is what alright so that it's found generally in connection with speaking in tongues and what else alright tongues prophecy and the other what we might call revelatory gifts alright another form of this is what Gene
alright though it is the step it is a stepchild of Wesleyan perfectionism I do think there are enough characteristics of it to put it in a separate category so I'm calling it various forms of the higher life teaching various forms of the higher life teaching the Keswick movement with its emphasis upon entering into the rest of faith entering into the abiding life a lot of emphasis on Romans chapter 6 as we saw in a previous study but various forms of higher life teaching alright we'll examine all of these
in greater detail after we've listed them alright any other crisis teaching on the Christian life that you've encountered along the way any of you yes George alright but that teaching would not so much say that you can get this healing or perfection of body by a crisis would it but to say that Christ is your healer and you ought to trust him to be your healer as whenever sickness occurs so I don't think strictly speaking though you will often find that teaching in conjunction with this I don't know
that we'd put that as a separate category George ok alright Jeff alright but where does that fit various forms of higher life teaching in which we cease to be carnal Christian and become spiritual Christians that would come under one of the forms of the higher life teaching alright David and that that was not regarded as something
you got on the threshold but a second work of grace yeah I have to put that as a six that's why I ask you there's more heresy floating out there than I've encountered alright so let's call this a water baptism crisis of sanctification alright good ok yes Sam very good it's what I'm called a sealing of the spirit in fact there is a group in the
United Kingdom now who call themselves they've identified themselves as now don't laugh reformed sealers they want to be identified as people who hold to classic reformed theology but who believe in a distinct separate subsequent work of the Holy Spirit called a sealing of the spirit and we'll open up subsequently what the particular emphases are within that framework but that had some very able proponents in the Puritan period Goodwin is one of the Puritans who taught this you read his commentary on Ephesians 1 verse 13 you will find it and the modern proponent of this who's very
strong on this particularly in his later years Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones held this very very strongly in fact the present movement in the United Kingdom in reform circles is basically the child of the doctor's emphasis and this is one of the reasons frankly why we're reluctant to encourage people to read at a broad scale some of his later commentaries the Sermon on the Mount his masterful and his treatment on spiritual depression which has been in the hands of not a few of you doing pastoral work for me when you've come for counseling I've given you that for homework assignments but in his later works it seems wherever there's anything that gives him an opportunity to make this emphasis he makes it that there is
a definite distinct work of the spirit of God subsequent to regeneration he defines it in terms of a ceiling and its primary emphasis is in the area of bringing a definite assurance and with that assurance new dimensions of power both for godliness and for certainty and authority and witness and in testimony all right now there's one other you probably wouldn't think of it because you think it's probably identified with this but I think it does warrant a separate treatment and I'm starting with that is what I'm calling classic Pentecostalism in distinction from the modern charismatic movement but classic
Pentecostalism and I think if you have these five were the ones that I have encountered for the most part in my own experience this is kind of a new wrinkle for me though apparently some of you have encountered is there any other one that you think would make a major category that you've encountered yes Ken well yeah they talked in terms of in fact it's interesting the whole the in terminology or the term that was in through the 60s in evangelical circles about having an encounter with Christ
was taken right out of neo-orthodox existential theology but that was more in conjunction with conversion and then there were subsequent things but I do not know that I've ever seen any formulated theology of a definite second work of grace alright so I don't think it would fit in this category yes oh right in here Wesleyan the Nazarene church is the present heir of Wesleyan perfectionism and perhaps along with the the old some of the old Methodist groups what's the the Wesleyan Methodists yeah and the free what free Methodists and the Wesleyan
Methodist the denomination that sponsors Houghton College they still hold very strongly yes and then as very seminary so there are living proponents of this who fall within what we would call the broad camp of evangelicals people who believe in Christ as God and man but they hold to Wesleyan sanctification alright I think then we've covered the major categories of the teaching and now what I want to do is go back and just briefly flush out some of the peculiarities of each of these and then we want to look at their common denominators now in classic Pentecostalism now I'm speaking of Pentecostalism
as it came to expression beginning with the movement out in California in the very early 1900s I think it was 1905 and many many traits modern Pentecostalism which we would now call classic Pentecostalism to a prayer meeting the Azusa street prayer meeting well the basic teaching is this that subsequent to conversion I better not mess these up subsequent to conversion there is a baptism in the Holy Spirit to be experienced the initial manifestation of which
is always speaking in tongues now there may be no subsequent speaking in tongues the person who speaks in tongues when he gets his initial baptism in the Holy Spirit may never speak in tongues again but if he did not speak in tongues on one occasion of his life he had no real certain grounds to believe that he had the baptism of the Spirit now would you say that's a Mr. Clark was in that for a number of years I was in circles that represented this teaching as a young Christian and I can remember a debate going on because someone had this crisis experience in which they just doubled over with gales of holy laughter and they were trying
to decide whether or not that holy laughter would do for the tongues they weren't quite sure did he get it or didn't he well he didn't speak in tongues but he laughed in a way that was completely contrary to his ordinary personality so if the gibberish will do why not gales of holy laughter now we sit here and laugh but this was they were dead in earnest because how are you going to know when you've had it and at least I say this in fairness to old classic Pentecostalism they had a good objective criteria either you did or you didn't either you spoke in tongues or you didn't and no matter how much you had sulked and tarried and waited and I met people who had been tarrying for 20 years
I mean that for 20 years and I'd hear people say well last Saturday night I almost got to baptism what they meant is they felt they had almost come to the place where they could have let themselves go enough to have broken out in some form of gibberish now dear people that's pathetic but that's reality and we're not caricaturing people who've been in it are sitting here nodding their heads now the result is that there will be a change as radical in your life according to this teaching as the change that occurred in the apostles and the early Christians prior to and subsequent to Pentecost now they were a different bunch after Pentecost and because their theology
is based primarily upon a very careless exegesis and mismanagement of what we might call the four Pentecost passages in the book of Acts Acts 2 Acts 8 Acts 10 and Acts 19 they reason that the change should be just as radical as the change in the book of Acts in the book of Acts those timid fearful Christ denying disciples prior to Pentecost and those bold flaming evangelists fearless in their witness and aggressive in their testimony and greatly augmented in personal holiness after Pentecost and the primary emphasis in old classic Pentecostalism not exclusive but primary
is on a baptism of the Holy Spirit resulting in power particularly power for witness in Acts 1.8 is one of their key texts they would not say that the baptism of the Spirit has no relationship to holiness of life and sanctification but the primary emphasis was upon power power for witness alright that's old classic Pentecostalism now that exists in such denominations today with some degree of modification the assemblies of God the Church of God and there are different wings of the Church of God you have the Church of God with its base out in Anderson, Indiana that is not Pentecostal by any stretch of the means but one of the larger
Identifying Major Forms of Crisis Teaching: Modern Charismatic Movement
Pentecostal groups and the Pentecostal groups that would embody this basic teaching are legion it's very interesting that the Spirit who came to unify the people of God has produced one of the most splintered movements in the history of the Church and there are tremendous fragmentations that go on but that's basically classic Pentecostalism alright then you have the modern Pentecostalism charismatic movement and the peculiar emphasis of the modern charismatic movement is not that it emphasizes a baptism of the Holy Spirit subsequent to regeneration generally if not inevitably manifested with speaking in tongues that it carries over
from classic Pentecostalism but there is much more emphasis on the continuous significance of tongues as personal prayer language as a means of inward what we might call spiritual edification and spiritual release and a means of intimate mystic communion with God I've heard people say that before I got the baptism people in the modern charismatic movement prayer used to be an agonizing thing I would feel that I was wrestling but now I can pray for two or three hours in tongues I don't have a clue of what I'm praying but it's just so wonderful I don't say that to be funny that's a fact I had it said
into these ears and they say since the Holy Spirit is giving that language he knows what I'm praying I don't have a clue but it's just marvelous to go on and pray for two hours my mind totally unfruitful and blank but I'm praying in the Spirit and so much of the emphasis in the modern charismatic movement falls not so much on a baptism of power but on a baptism of the Spirit with some of these subjective exciting satisfying exotic inward mystic religious experiences you see the difference there's a different focal point and ethos of emphasis another difference is that old classic Pentecostalism
had no sympathy for what we might call a fundamentalist definition of worldliness I mean those in old classic Pentecostalism were in a true biblical sense separatist but also in a legalistic fundamentalist sense separatist there were to be no movie attendance no theater watching they were definitely against all forms of liberalism had no sympathy for modernism for Romanism in that sense there was a much more what should we say full or sensitivity to other doctrinal concerns whereas the modern charismatic movement focuses upon this experience in the baptism of the Spirit and its subjective religious
overtones and fruits with very little concern for ethical matters and for purity of doctrine I get blurbs all the time advertising some big charismatic movement and the speakers will be the Reverend so-and-so pastor of such and such a large Southern Baptist Church the Reverend so-and-so of the Presbyterian Church and Monsignor so-and-so of such and such a diocese and the Reverend and the basic theology is that because doctrine and I heard this articulated by the great champion of this his roots are here but he's the great champion of this and I heard him on a tape I couldn't believe my ears he said
400 years ago the Reformation raised a doctrinal wall between Roman Catholicism as the largest expression of the physical Christian Church and what came out of the Reformation the Protestant Church for 400 years nothing has taken that wall down he said now in these last days you know what God has done he's surprised us all he's just leaped right over the wall and brought Roman Catholics and Protestants into oneness in this experience of the baptism of the Holy Spirit isn't that marvelous isn't that a wonderful thing that God has done and furthermore he's done it in answer to the prayer of Jesus in John 17 that they may all be one that's the truth
and you've got to be aware of that because the religious climate is not as filled with that mentality whereas the liberals the National Council of Churches crowd and the rest are saying that through organization we can pummel that wall down and force a unity these people are saying no it's a unity established entirely of God a unity in experience that need not be concerned with doctrinal differences for instance several years ago when Pastor Blaze was still with us we attended a Catholic charismatic sponsor evangelistic series or teaching series right at the Caldwell College right off Bloomfield Avenue there in Caldwell alright you know what the theme of the conference was
Jesus is Lord how can a Christian fight for that Jesus is Lord and so the first night was Jesus is Lord in salvation Jesus is Lord in something else and we went I think it was the third night Jesus is Lord in healing and when we got there we sat down and there were habited nuns sitting around us and other people probably a good mixture of Catholics and Protestants and everything in between if there are such creatures and lo and behold one of the nuns stood up in just an ordinary dress she had no special nuns closing with her guitar and you know they started singing I've got the joy joy joy joy down in my heart
yes they did and it wasn't down in my heart to stay but I want to share it with you and then they and sang little fundamentalist chorus ditties and everyone was getting into the swing of things and everything's going on fine and then a then a sister stood up ordinary garment she had no special habit and she was the speaker and she had like a Jehovah's Witness who had memorized his verses well she memorized the verses that dealt with healing and she just very masterfully strung them together and made out a pretty good case that it was always the will of God for us to heal but very interesting very interesting everything she said would refer to the fact and this virtue of Christ healing power
we will appropriate through the mass which is to follow and everything was pointing to the climax of that meeting which was a celebration of the mass at which time while Christ was being offered up afresh not by the nun now but by the priest you see who alone can do that then the healing virtue of Christ was to be appropriated very interesting so in the midst of all of this talk about Christ and knowing Christ and then because it was charismatic they had to have tongue somewhere so when she was done speaking she said now let's just throw our hands up and praise the Lord and so they did and then a few people made an effort at some gibberish and at that point then Pastor Blaze and I had had enough so we got up
and we walked out well that could be multiplied many many times over there's been large charismatic meetings where Catholics and Protestants have met some of them out at Notre Dame some of them out here in the East Coast 25 40,000 people so this is a very powerful factor but it's great emphasis falls upon the fact that you don't really begin to live the Christian life the way God intended until you have this baptism in the Holy Spirit which will most often be manifested by speaking in tongues all right now thirdly we have Wesleyan sanctification or Wesleyan
Identifying Major Forms of Crisis Teaching: Wesleyan Sanctification and Higher Life
perfectionism and Pastor Clark gave you a good distillation of his teaching and now what we'll do is just sort of expand that a bit all right it is a definite second work of grace in other words if you profess to have had the experience of sanctification and it's called by various terms in Wesleyan teaching some of course called it perfect rest cleansing of the heart cleansing from inbred sin a lot of terminology will be found in Wesleyan literature excuse me and they'll often abuse that text in Acts 15 cleansing their hearts by faith which is a reference to the conversion of the household
of Cornelius not a second work of grace but that's the phrase they'll take and lift up out of context it is a cleansing of the heart by faith as you got your sins pardoned and you were justified by the initial act of faith now you experience heart cleansing in this second subsequent definite act of faith in conjunction with personal holiness and then it's always instantaneous if it came to you over a period of days or weeks or months you ain't got it it's like lightning lightning isn't stretched out over days and weeks and months it's instantaneous all right and then it is what did the G stand for work of grace all right it's a work of grace and subsequent to regeneration so that's the
basic heart of old Wesleyan perfectionism and the emphasis here now follow closely falls not so much upon a baptism of power but a baptism of fire and you'll find in Wesleyan literature the emphasis on that phrase Jesus will baptize you in the Holy Ghost and in fire and they take the fire to be the purifying element so there the emphasis is not so much on power for service though that will be an attendant but on heart purification so that you no longer have to go on with this relentless struggle with inbred sin there will be this cleansing of the heart
from inbred sin and you can actually enter a life of deliverance from all known sin and there are people who actually claim that they have not sinned for sin for two three months six months six years who was it recently told me they met someone they claimed he hadn't sinned for a great length of time I forgot what it was I forgot what it was yes oh he said he hasn't sinned since 1958 so you see that this is not something that just exists somewhere in books there are people who actually believe this alright then there are the various forms of higher life teaching
and what can we say there except that they are most of them as Warfield any of you interested in going into this in detail I commend you Warfield's work on perfectionism and he clearly demonstrates that all of the various forms of the higher life movement have their roots here and it's his thesis that of course even some of the more classic Pentecostalism has its roots here as well but in the various forms of higher life teaching you will not find an emphasis upon tongues that's what makes it different alright secondly you will not find an emphasis upon sinless perfection as such though there is
a semi-perfectionist teaching I don't know of any what we call standard higher life teacher who would say that we are actually made sinlessly perfect we can be brought to the place where we do not live in known conscious sin
yes a life of constant victory and often their teachers will open it up this way sitting here right now do you believe Jesus Christ can give you strength not to sin in the next 30 seconds yes or no well if 30 seconds can't you trust him for a minute and if for a minute can you not trust him for two and if for two why not for an hour and if for an hour why not for a day and if for a day why not you see how the reasoning is now what's the fatal flaw of that right at the outset that we're not examining it for now I want you to see it this is too dangerous to even let that go out without some exposure if I ask you the question can you sin can you so trust Christ that you'll not sin for the next moment
what's the proper answer to it can't trust myself no and there's even a further answer if sin is any lack of conformity unto a transgression of the law of God are you loving God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength right now in this very instant as long as remaining sin attaches to every pulse of your affections are you loving God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength yes or no no so you are sinning the actings of your indwelling sin are sin right here and now and that's the fatal flaw in that kind of reasoning but see what they're saying is that sin is to be measured by my conscious acts in which I knowingly violate the law of God but we have a much broader definition
of sin if we're thinking biblically you see so in the higher life teaching there is this emphasis upon the life of victory the life of constant victory a life in which we are lifted above known sin some use the term of counteraction they would not often they abominate any teaching of eradication we do not believe in the eradication of the old man the eradication of the old nature we believe in counteraction is one of the terms used well you'll find all this terminology but one of the common denominators is for the most part they emphasize that you begin to enter upon this higher life by a definite crisis of faith
Identifying Major Forms of Crisis Teaching: Sealing of the Spirit and Water Baptism Crisis
and surrender those are the terms that they use again and again you come to the place where you enter a crisis of surrender and faith which does not eradicate sin but it does bring you to an entirely new plateau of spiritual victory and reality and power all right now then we have this sealing of the spirit teaching now what is that teaching well it's basically this that there are many Christians who are in a state of grace they've been genuinely converted truly regenerated but they have great doubts and questions with regard to the all important question of one who's in a state of grace
how may I know or can I know that I am truly a child of God well the teaching here is that subsequent to conversion there is a distinct work of the spirit and the term baptism of the spirit is used by some of these but not with the same degree of emphasis and precision but sealing of the spirit is the term that's more used and this sealing is a direct attestation of God the spirit to my sonship in other words it is an immediate testimony of God the Holy Spirit to my consciousness saying to me you are a child of God it is not an assurance that comes
mediately through the word or through the seeing in my life of those things which God says are the fruit of God's work but it is a direct testimony of the Holy Spirit to my spirit that I am a child of God and as one current proponent of this said and I could not believe my ears so I turned the tape back three times and I said to my wife I said honey am I hearing what I am hearing rightly I want to make sure she was in the car with me in Florida and we were traveling somewhere a couple of years ago and was listening to this tape this was basically the gist of what he said when you have this sealing of the Holy Spirit this baptism of the spirit
this sealing of the spirit this crisis in conjunction with assurance you absolutely you have no more need of the evidences of the grace of God with respect to assurance than a man who is away from home has nothing but a picture of his wife and family to look at to remind him of that reality once he is home and has his wife in his arms and his kids hanging on his legs he no longer needs the pictures he says that is the way it is with evidences you may need the evidences of love of the brethren pursuit of holiness and all those other birthmarks of first John if you have not had this sealing of the spirit but if you get this sealing of the spirit you don't need the evidences to enter into the question
of your salvation when you see that opens up the door to rank deception and antinomianism and a host of other things things that some of the men who teach this would not want at all but logic will have its way and it is out so this sealing of the spirit is a definite second work of the spirit of God but not so much in conjunction now with power though it has that the spirit of God will result as a secondary thing or with the cleansing of the heart but with assurance of salvation and then Dave you'll have to expound that last one because that's a new one to me you want to give us just a word on that yeah yeah come up here so we'll have it on the tape there might
be some people out there who've encountered it yeah I haven't heard it outside of my own experience in the group that I was in this particular teaching takes as its focal point Romans 6 and Colossians 2 where it's talking of baptism in connection with our dying with Christ and being raised with Christ and the teaching basically says that at the point of water baptism it is then and there that we are actually brought into death with Christ and resurrection with Christ thereby enabling us to live a more holy life a more spiritual life many of the effects are close to Wesleyan sanctification and the higher life movement that at the point of water baptism subsequent to conversion
we enter into this new experience of the power of Christ in enabling us to overcome our sins and enabling us to live in more conformity to Christ and being in and under this teaching I experienced a tremendous amount of frustration because even though I was baptized by this group under this teaching I could never come to a place where I felt that I had a attained what I was supposed to get I never got it and it was a situation that I think is terrible and it's interesting to see that this group now is denying the reformation and is
moving into a coalition with the Roman church and so we see what happens with this kind of teaching it's amazing how people will take an element of truth you see and blow it all out of proportion now I have heard the teaching that one cannot really say that he is converted until he's baptized some have dubbed it the realistic teaching of baptism that grace is actually imparted to us and of course you have the Campbellites the church of Christ which actually teaches that and they say we teach salvation by grace we don't teach salvation by water but the grace meets you under the water and if you expect to get grace anywhere else you can't get it and so they'll baptize people at three o'clock in the morning
and they say that's scriptural Paul baptized the Philippian jailer in his household in the wee hours of the morning so grace meets you in the water we don't believe the grace is in the water they say but how come that you only get it there so but that's in conjunction with conversion and this is the first time I had heard this kind of teaching that says no grace comes by faith in Jesus Christ but the power to live as one who is a subject of grace and the recipient of grace awaits your baptism and new grace will be measures of grace given in that crisis of baptism well you see for some of you you sit there this morning and say where I've been living I'll tell you where you've been living you've been living in a well-guarded church with elders
Pastoral Reflection and Homework Assignment
who've been concerned to protect you from heresies and errors that would cripple you and send you chasing after carrots that's where you've been so you can be thankful but some of us have encountered and even been subject to and perhaps for a while believed and tried to live one or more of these things how many x-tongue speakers have we got here this morning alright keep your hands up keep your hands up alright the rest of you look around 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 13 alright so over a dozen x-tongue speakers so we're not talking about things that happen to people way out there somewhere in the woods of Montville that was right here alright how many
of you have had any first-hand contacts with the charismatic movement and its teaching alright now look at the audience alright how many of you have had any contact here fewer of us but look another oh another 12, 15, 18 I was brought up in the Salvation Army Salvation Army is based theologically upon Wesleyan theology alright how about the higher life oh yeah now we've got more okay and how many of you have been aware of this the sealing of the spirit teaching just a few of them alright and Dave I think you're going to be all alone on this anyone else
You see they try to condition the conscience to believe that if you're not convinced that God both commands and promises this crisis experience whether defined after the manner of classic Pentecostalism the modern charismatic movement Wesleyan perfectionism the various forms of the higher life the sealing of the spirit or this water baptism crisis they are saying though some would not come out and say it in so many words you are content to live at a level lower than that which Jesus Christ has purchased and purposed for all of his people now that's a serious accusation to make and we must be certain in our
minds that this is not true some of us so eager to have all God had for us chased more than one of these carrots and that's what makes earnest Christians vulnerable to this teaching when someone says are you discontent with your present level of love to Christ are you how many are discontent with their present level of love to Christ okay how many are discontent with your present level of victory over sin all right you see how we could go how many are you content with your present measure of power and how many of you desire more power in your witness well you see all of those things appeal to the most fundamental longings of every regenerate person
so when these people say well if you want all of those things you must have this crisis experience and our time is gone so we can't analyze the common denominators but that will be your homework in between waiting for traffic lights to change on Bloomfield Avenue and other times when some of you ladies at home have a chance to let your mind wander for a moment amidst your many pressures and duties at work or at home just try to reflect now what are the common denominators of all of these theories of the Christian life taught in terms of a crisis experience being essential truly to live the
Christian life as we are there are three common denominators now as you reflect on this you see if you can come up with them alright and God willing in our next session that's what we'll do we'll examine the common denominators then God willing we will turn to the scriptures and see whether or not any of this teaching holds water in the light of the word of God and establish I trust a positive presentation that the teaching of the Bible is that all that is both commanded and promised is a life of continuous growth from the inception of that life in conversion that will be our thesis that the teaching of the Bible is that all that is commanded
and promised is a life of growth and development now we are not saying as I said at the beginning that there may not be crises along the way but they are simply incidentals in the sovereignty of God they are not essentials in the purpose and plan of God with respect to how God saves his people they are incidentals in the sovereignty of God in the dealings with his individual children they are not essentials in the plan and purpose of God as revealed in the scriptures all right let's pray together and ask God to continue to guide us as we wrestle with these matters
our father we bow in your presence conscious this morning that there are men who have held to some of these teachings whose shoes we are not worthy to unloose we think of John Wesley and how greatly you used him in his generation we think of Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones and how greatly you used him in our generation we think of other holy useful godly men A.B. Simpson Andrew Murray a host of others who held to some of these teachings that we have examined this morning and we thank you even for the memory of those
whose lives were fragrant with the reality of Christ and whose lives were useful and yet our father we call no man master and we desire with all of our hearts to know the teaching of your word with respect to your will and provisions for us in Christ so that we may live in a manner that pleases you help us then as we reflect upon these things during the week and if it please you when we gather next Lord's Day may we find great joy and help as together we seek to analyze the common denominators of this teaching and then turn to the scriptures to see what you have revealed in this
vital aspect of Christian experience help us then and continue to lead us we plead through our Lord Jesus Christ Amen
This transcript was generated by automated speech recognition and may contain errors. It is provided for study and reference only; the audio recording is the authoritative source.
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