In a Call to the Ministry

Driving home: Error always loves the dark, the misty, and the nebulous.

Error loves the dark, the misty, and the nebulous -- lurking in dark verbal shadows -- while truth is most at home in the clear, unambiguous noonday sunlight. Used to justify the plain-statement approach of the manifesto series.

Error always loves the dark, the misty, and the nebulous.

0:00 - 0:07 Read in full sermon

The point: Churches must take the quality of their spiritual leadership with the utmost seriousness, recognizing from biblical history that godly leaders produce seasons of blessing and ungodly leaders produce tragedy for God's peo…

Martin uses the book of Judges to illustrate how Israel's history -- blessed or cursed -- directly correlated with the spiritual quality of its leaders: when God blessed He raised up men of stature, wisdom, and courage; when He cursed He left them at the mercy of ungodly, cowardly men.

One can plot the history of the nation of Israel under the period of the Judges by the good and the evil Judges. And when God would bless His people, He would raise up a man of spiritual stature, of wisdom, of gift, and of courage. And when God would curse a people, He would leave them at the mercy of ungodly, unwise, incompetent, and cowardly men. Read through the books of 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles, and the same thing is true with reference to the kings of Israel.

7:13 - 7:55 Read in full sermon

The point: Churches must take the quality of their spiritual leadership with the utmost seriousness, recognizing from biblical history that godly leaders produce seasons of blessing and ungodly leaders produce tragedy for God's peo…

The books of Kings and Chronicles show the same pattern as the Judges: godly kings bring blessing, wicked kings bring judgment -- stamping the principle of leadership quality on large sections of Holy Scripture.

One can plot the history of the nation of Israel under the period of the Judges by the good and the evil Judges. And when God would bless His people, He would raise up a man of spiritual stature, of wisdom, of gift, and of courage. And when God would curse a people, He would leave them at the mercy of ungodly, unwise, incompetent, and cowardly men. Read through the books of 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles, and the same thing is true with reference to the kings of Israel.

7:13 - 7:55 Read in full sermon

The point: Churches must take the quality of their spiritual leadership with the utmost seriousness, recognizing from biblical history that godly leaders produce seasons of blessing and ungodly leaders produce tragedy for God's peo…

The prophetic books show constant conflict between false prophets (found by the handfuls) and true prophets (a minority), with whole chapters of divine denunciation upon false shepherds in both the prophetic and kingly sense.

Read through the prophets, and you see the constant conflict between false prophets who were to be found by the handfuls, while true prophets, prophets were found in the minority. And whole chapters are given over to divine nation upon these false shepherds, whether they are shepherds in the prophetic or in the kingly sense. Ezekiel 34, Jeremiah 23. These chapters demonstrate the principle that I've articulated that leadership among the people of God is crucial, to the well-being of those people.

7:56 - 8:41 Read in full sermon

The point: Churches must take the quality of their spiritual leadership with the utmost seriousness, recognizing from biblical history that godly leaders produce seasons of blessing and ungodly leaders produce tragedy for God's peo…

Christ's scathing indictment of the recognized spiritual leaders at His time is described as perhaps the worst commentary on the spiritual state of the nation itself, demonstrating the devastating consequence of corrupt leadership at the highest level.

And perhaps nothing highlights the principle more vividly in a negative way than the condemnation of our Lord upon the recognized spiritual leaders in Israel at the time of our Lord. Matthew 23, the scathing indictment upon the leadership both produced by the nation of Israel at that time is perhaps the worst commentary on the spiritual state of the nation itself.

8:41 - 9:15 Read in full sermon

The point: A man sensing a call to ministry must shut himself up with God and his Bible to undergo sober, honest self-assessment -- evaluating actual gifts and graces rather than nursing pride or false humility.

Christ does not mark out ministers and send them to the church like a birthday gift with a tag reading 'Here is a shepherd who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.' God works through ordinary means, not supernatural labels.

It has to do not only in practice of the Christian life which is Christ-centered and church-based or theology and practice of evangelism and missions which is Christ-centered and church-based but our theology and practice of ministerial recognition preparation and ordination which is Christ-authorized and church-based We turn to the word of God to see if indeed this is so. And we're going to look then first of all at that which will answer the first question. The agents involved in the preliminary recognition of a man as a potential gift of Christ to his church as a shepherd after God's own he...

13:55 - 15:23 Read in full sermon

The point: A man sensing a call to ministry must shut himself up with God and his Bible to undergo sober, honest self-assessment -- evaluating actual gifts and graces rather than nursing pride or false humility.

Nor does Christ send an angel from heaven with a white-hot branding iron stamping 'G.O.D.' on the foreheads of those called, so the church can go around looking at foreheads saying 'there's one, there's one.' A reductio ad absurdum of purely supernatural call-identification.

Here is a shepherd who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. Nor does he send an angel down from heaven with a white hot branding iron with the letters G period O period D period and sear the forehead of those whom he has marked out gift of Christ. So we go around looking at foreheads and say oh there's one there's one there's one. He doesn't do it that way.

15:24 - 15:55 Read in full sermon

The point: A man sensing a call to ministry must shut himself up with God and his Bible to undergo sober, honest self-assessment -- evaluating actual gifts and graces rather than nursing pride or false humility.

Professor Murray's commentary on Romans 12:3: 'pride consists in coveting or exercising a prerogative that does not belong to us,' illustrated from the fall of our first parents who coveted experimental knowledge of good and evil that did not belong to them. Applied to the danger of coveting ministry office without the gift.

hymn number 444 little place if thou be glorified all have been best love for Christ sweet disposition will make a man a minister all that's been dealt with Romans 12 1 and 2 and now a man disposition that's prepared to prove in his experience the good and acceptable and perfect will of God whatever it is seeks to undergo in the solemn presence of God evaluation Professor Murray's comments on this passage are most perceptive why does the apostle say to think soberly be in touch with reality he says one of the ways in which the design contemplated by the apostle is frustrated is by the sin of p...

20:12 - 21:41 Read in full sermon

The point: Unmortified pride and carnal ambition will blind a man's judgment about his calling; these must be identified and mortified before reliable self-assessment is possible. Both overestimating and underestimating one's gifts…

Murray quotes a commentator: 'he therefore who covets a higher or another standpoint in sphere of activity in the community and is not contented with that which corresponds to the measure of faith bestowed on him evidences a willful self-exaltation which is without measure and is not of God.' Applied to the sin of aspiring to ministry without the corresponding gift.

in coveting or exercising a prerogative that does not belong to us what is pride pride consists in coveting or exercising a prerogative that does not the devil of the most high I worry that them belong to me what is not given to me as a creature it was pride that entered into the sin of our first parents ye shall be as God's knowing you'll have something that doesn't belong to you an experimental knowledge of good and evil you'll have something and so it was pride that led to the fall of our first parents the negative is here again to be noted in the liability to indulgence is marked by the ne...

21:41 - 23:11 Read in full sermon

The point: A man who has already made up his mind about his calling and refuses to seek or heed counsel from the body of Christ demonstrates pride and rages against sound wisdom -- his ministry, if pursued, is likely to be a blight…

A king sought wise, mature counselors but didn't like their answer -- he was looking for confirmation, not counsel -- so he turned to his young companions who agreed with him. Applied to men itching for the ministry who bypass older, seasoned saints and seek only peers who will affirm them.

be objective but it's in a multitude of counselors who are those who have an earned reputation for spiritual grace and wisdom and the maturity that only years brings when people walk with God in the multitude of such counselors their safety not in the multitude of any kind of counselors remember the king who sought out the wise mature counselors and he didn't like what they said he was looking for confirmation not counsel so he got his young buddies and they agreed with him and he said ah I'll do what they say they got the wisdom and I've no men itching for the ministry to go around and get th...

26:19 - 27:48 Read in full sermon

The point: A man who has already made up his mind about his calling and refuses to seek or heed counsel from the body of Christ demonstrates pride and rages against sound wisdom -- his ministry, if pursued, is likely to be a blight…

A.W. Tozer: 'Whenever I take counsel from a man I look for the oil on his forehead. If he's got the oil on his forehead -- that is the mark of a man living in the spirit, talking with God -- then I'll listen to his counsel. No oil on his forehead, nix on his counsel.' Applied to the standard for whose counsel a man should seek regarding a call to ministry.

be objective but it's in a multitude of counselors who are those who have an earned reputation for spiritual grace and wisdom and the maturity that only years brings when people walk with God in the multitude of such counselors their safety not in the multitude of any kind of counselors remember the king who sought out the wise mature counselors and he didn't like what they said he was looking for confirmation not counsel so he got his young buddies and they agreed with him and he said ah I'll do what they say they got the wisdom and I've no men itching for the ministry to go around and get th...

26:19 - 27:48 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin traces the pattern of formal church leadership involvement in ministerial recognition through Acts 1 (replacement of Judas), Acts 6 (selection of the seven), Acts 16…

In Acts 1, Matthias did not jump up and say 'Hey fellas, I believe I'm the one!' Instead, qualifications were laid out by Peter, candidates were narrowed to two, and lots were cast. The whole process was governed by the formal encouragement of the church through its existing leadership.

of Christ but then the third agent now this is just the preliminary recognition of a man as a potential gift of Christ to his church the first agent is the man himself secondly the mature people of God as a body of wise counsel thirdly the formal encouragement of the church through its appointed leadership the formal encouragement of the church through its appointed leadership from the first instance in the New Testament church of seeking out office bearers this principle stands out very vividly you remember Acts chapter 1 when they were looking for a replacement for Judas what happened Peter ...

29:17 - 30:46 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin traces the pattern of formal church leadership involvement in ministerial recognition through Acts 1 (replacement of Judas), Acts 6 (selection of the seven), Acts 16…

The apostles recognized the problem of inequitable table service, set standards, had the congregation identify candidates, brought them forward, prayed over them, and laid hands on them -- illustrating the same principle of formal church-leadership recognition and the laying on of hands.

therefore those that fit that description let's narrow them down who are they they narrowed them down to two and then there was the casting of the lots and the recognition of the one same thing in Acts chapter 6 it was the apostles who were the spiritual leaders of the church in Jerusalem who recognized this problem of the inequities of serving the tables of the widows and they said look we must come up with a holy expedient it's not fit for us to leave the word of God and serve tables therefore they said you people look out among you then they gave the standard and then when they sought out t...

30:46 - 32:16 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin traces the pattern of formal church leadership involvement in ministerial recognition through Acts 1 (replacement of Judas), Acts 6 (selection of the seven), Acts 16…

Everywhere Paul went, Timothy's name came up among the brethren who reported well of him. Timothy was not going around persuading people he was called; his life, gifts, and graces had gone before him. This grassroots consensus preceded Paul's formal recognition, extended mentorship, and eventual entrustment of tremendous responsibilities.

judgment in conjunction with the consensus of the people of God is this a faithful man who will be competent to teach judgments are to be made does not claim or promise that we shall have infallibility in those judgments there are many encouragements to believe that he will keep us from repeatedly and wickedly erring again and again if we will use the means of his appointment and one other pivotal passage that I had overlooked in previous studies of this subject is Acts chapter 16 where young Timothy some want to put him in his teens at this point but most likely he was in his early twenties A...

32:16 - 33:43 Read in full sermon

The point: After self-assessment and congregational counsel, a man must submit his conclusions to his elders and put his sense of call to the test of the objective standards of God's word. Subjective impressions -- however vivid --…

A young man claims he felt a flutter in his right ventricle at 3:33 in the morning, realized it was Morse code, deciphered it, and it said 'George, go preach the gospel.' Martin's response: tell him to get his fibrillation checked out, go home, and open Romans 12 for sober self-assessment -- and seek out the brothers and sisters with oil on their forehead who can assess whether they see the marks of God's hand.

and as I put my hand on my heart I realized it was Morse code and when I wrote it down and I deciphered it it said George go preach the gospel we don't fall on our knees and say hallelujah God's called him God's called him no they don't work that way Morse code or not why because there's no warrant for that in the word of God no way tell the fellow maybe you got the same kind of problem the president does go have your thyroid checked and get some medicine get your fibrillation checked out and then go home and take Romans 12 and start doing some sober self-assessment as to whether or not the he...

35:10 - 36:38 Read in full sermon

The point: After self-assessment and congregational counsel, a man must submit his conclusions to his elders and put his sense of call to the test of the objective standards of God's word. Subjective impressions -- however vivid --…

Samuel Miller (1834): 'Suppose a population of 10,000 families to be laboring under a contagious and mortal disease. Would it be better to send among them half a dozen wise and skillful physicians, or 50 or even a hundred miserable people quacks who would be more likely to kill more than they would cure?' Used to argue that quality of ministry matters more than quantity.

and then be prepared to come with your conclusions and sit down before your own elders and put your fibrillations to the test of the objective standards of the word of God someone says pastor you aren't going to have many people going into ministry that way and don't we need a lot more ministers than we have well that objection was raised back in the days of Samuel Miller Samuel Miller was calling for a higher standard of admission into the work of the ministry and people said to Miller but if you do that why you're just not going to have enough ministers and listen to Miller's answer a Presby...

36:38 - 38:05 Read in full sermon

The point: The primary school of general ministerial formation is thorough, long-term involvement in the life of a biblical local church -- its preaching, prayer, discipline, benevolence, and body life. Men who bypass this cannot r…

If a mother has never seen a normal baby, she would not know whether what she holds after delivery has a tragic genetic abnormality -- one eye in the middle of its head, the wrong number of ears, one leg. A minister trained outside a real church cannot recognize a healthy church when he encounters one.

500 for my bible says one shall chase a thousand and two shall put ten thousand to flight and you guys that like to play with numbers in your computers work with that up to the number 10 one puts a thousand to flight ten thousand to flight what do you got by the time you get up to ten that's our God for it is not with the Lord to save by many or by few but he does save by those whom he puts into his service well that's what we're committed to you say you know that's easy to talk about yeah you believe the church is unique what's the proof of it well here it is here's the plain manifestation of...

39:34 - 41:03 Read in full sermon

The point: A pastor dealing with ministers trained in institutions disconnected from the local church should counsel them to plant themselves in a living, biblical church where they will learn more in one year than in decades of ac…

Men converted, told they are called to the ministry, shipped to Bible school with no real church, then to seminary taught by professors who never agonized with a doubting soul -- now in the real ministry calling Martin asking how to handle basic pastoral situations. Martin sometimes tells them to quit and find a living, viable church.

of the wise council existing in a mature church and he is willing to submit himself to the judgment and the official recognition or non-recognition of his elders and the congregation but then I hasten and less extensively to take up in the second place the agents involved in the generalization and specialized training of these potential gifts of Christ the agents involved in the general and specialized training of these potential gifts of Christ to his church well the general training is to be imparted by thorough involvement in the life of a biblical church as God's primary agent of training ...

41:03 - 42:32 Read in full sermon

The point: Even specialized theological training -- biblical languages, church history, systematic and pastoral theology -- should be acquired primarily within the context of a local church, not in a freestanding seminary divorced …

A man who buys a home computer, works it to capacity, and wants to enter the field professionally will go off to school for six months or a year of concentrated specialized training to overlay his general knowledge with specialist expertise. Similarly, ministerial specialized training overlays the general knowledge gained in the church.

when you held a baby and you know what a normal baby's like and after the birth pangs and the mucus has been extracted and the baby's plumped on your breast and you look down and you count its fingers and you look at its nose and you say thank you God for a normal healthy baby you know what one is think of the men in the ministry they've never seen a church never been part of a church why they got converted they showed the normal fruits of conversion they loved God read their Bibles and witnessed someone said you're called to the ministry so they shipped them off to Bible school where there wa...

43:59 - 45:29 Read in full sermon

The point: Even specialized theological training -- biblical languages, church history, systematic and pastoral theology -- should be acquired primarily within the context of a local church, not in a freestanding seminary divorced …

Training a man in medicine while taking him out of a hospital makes no sense -- doctors do their residency in hospitals, not watching a veterinarian cut a cow's belly open on a farm. Similarly, a man's most concentrated period of theological training should occur within the church, the pillar and ground of the truth.

how do I deal with this and there are times they say brother my counsel to you is quit the ministry put yourself down in a living viable church I never say perfect church there ain't one the minute they came it'd be imperfect I say find a church that's seeking to conduct its life biblically seeking to conduct its life by the word of God and you'll learn more than you'll learn in 30 years using up all my time and somebody else is on the telephone that's the place where the general acquisition of the knowledge of the work of the ministry is acquired where did Timothy get it he was well reported ...

45:29 - 46:58 Read in full sermon

The point: Even specialized theological training -- biblical languages, church history, systematic and pastoral theology -- should be acquired primarily within the context of a local church, not in a freestanding seminary divorced …

Samuel Miller: 'I am perfectly persuaded it may be laid down as an unqualified rule that no voluntary association ought ever to be countenanced which enables men who have no responsibility to the church to interfere with or to govern her affairs.' Quoted as Martin's conclusion against freestanding theological institutions replacing the church in ministerial training.

was laboring in the churches well the central training is to be imparted by a thorough involvement in the life of a biblical church but then secondly the specialized training where needed is to be acquired in the context of the church hear me carefully now as its primary agent I didn't say necessarily its exclusive agent but primarily for the context of the church as its primary agent and that's you say well why do you need specialized training at all well let me use an illustration here's a guy that buys a a home computer he gets himself a smaller computer and he gets fascinated with it works...

46:58 - 48:28 Read in full sermon