Albert N. Martin

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REPENTANCE

“[P]eople experience the love of God in terms of sin, condemnation, and loss and what God has done about it” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#332 p525).

“[R]epentance embraces a change in the whole man, including his inclinations, purposes, and works. The works of men are visible, but the root of them is concealed. So the root must first be changed so that afterward it may yield fruitful works. We must first wash from the mind all uncleanness and conquer wicked inclinations so that outward testimonies may be added afterward. If any man boasts that he has changed and yet lives as he did before, it will be vain boasting for both conversion of the heart and change of life are necessary” John Calvin (ref#164, April 20th).

The road to repentance is godly sorrow (2 Corinthians 7:10). Godly sorrow is developed when we focus on the true nature of sin as an offense against God rather than something that makes us feel guilty. Sin is an affront to God’s holiness, it grieves His Holy Spirit, and it wounds afresh the Lord Jesus Christ. It also gratifies Satan, the archenemy of God. Dwelling on the true nature of sin leads us to godly sorrow, which in turn leads us to repentance.

“Having come to repentance, however, we must by faith lay hold of the cleansing blood of Christ, which alone can cleanse our conscience. In fact, it is faith in Christ and the assurance of the efficacy of His cleansing blood that leads us to repentance” Jerry Bridges (ref#192, p204-205).

“Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, does, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience” Albert N. Martin (ref#221, p15).

“I am elected to repent” Richard Baxter (ref#333, p195).

“[W]ithout repentance there is no salvation” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#189, Dec 24th).

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DEALING WITH SIN

“A principal hindrance to our embracing Christ’s righteousness, is the want of a due sense of our own unrighteousness” John M’Laurin (ref#333, p264).

“The beginning of our cure is to be sensible of our disorder” James Hervey (ref#333, p273).

“I must discipline ‘my members which are upon the earth’ (Col 3:5)—my affections, lusts, passions, pride, self-glory, and all like things. I must keep them down; I must mortify them. I must deal violently with them, in order that I may become more and more like Him” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#332, p526).

“Repentance is being sorry enough to quit your sin” Albert N. Martin (ref#221, p17-18).

“We must recapture the lost art of meditation, and meditation especially upon Him. We must think again about that birth in Bethlehem—what it meant, what it cost, what it really involved. Try to grapple with it; it is baffling—the sacrifice, the humiliation. Look at His life; take it step by step and stage by stage. Look at what He endured and suffered through the thirty hidden years and the three busy years of his earthly ministry. Look at Him; remember what He has done and what He literally and actually suffered. Let us go over these things, let us remind ourselves of them; and then as we begin to realise what He did, we shall realise His love to us” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#332, p525).

“[I]f we hate our corruptions and strive against them, they shall not be counted ours” Richard Sibbes (ref#311, p55).

“[I]t is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me” (Rom 7:17 ESV).

“It is an unequivocal mark of great spiritual fruitfulness in a believer when tenderness of conscience, contrition of spirit, low thoughts of self, and high thoughts of Jesus mark the state of his soul” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Oct 14th).

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A MATTER OF THE HEART

“[T]he heart refers to the center of one’s being including the mind, emotions, and will” ESV Study Bible (ref#125, p1907).

“Sin isn’t primarily about acts of rebellion. Sin is, first of all, a condition of the heart that results in acts of rebellion. You and I commit sins because we are sinners” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Jan 30th).

“Have you known anything of real, personal, inward consciousness of the awfulness of your guilt in the presence of a holy God? Have you seen the horribleness of a heart that is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” Albert N. Martin (ref#221, p8)?

“[D]isobedience is personal. Every sin is a violation of a relationship—a sin against God. The first way we devalue sin is to think that sin is about behavior and behavior alone. Sin is always a matter of the thoughts, desires, motives, and choices of the heart. [Y]our body physically goes where your heart has already gone” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Dec 11th ).

“[T]he LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.’” (1 Sam 16:7 ESV).

“The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust” (James 1:13-15 MSG).

“[I]t is only when God is in his rightful place in my heart that I desire to live in a way that please him. Every sin denies his existence and his authority. Every sin replaces him with something else. Every sin quests for his power and his glory. Every sin is after his throne” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Dec 11th).

“You’re cheating on God. If all you want is your own way. [W]hat he gives in love is far better than anything else you’ll find” (James  4:4-6 MSG).

TRUE CHRISTIAN OR FAUX?

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OUTWARD PROFESSION

“…in whose righteousness do you stand at this moment?…Many have lived in an outward profession; they have put on Christ with external garb, have talked well of Him, have been baptized in His name, have given liberally for His cause…” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Aug 10th).

How perilous it is to know how to act like a Christian.  I fool others and myself.

“They never give Christ any honor on account of His glory and excellency.  They may, and often do, pay Christ an external and seeming respect, but they do not honor Christ in their hearts.  They have no exalting thoughts of Christ, no inward respect of reverence towards Him” Jonathan Edwards (ref#229, p50).

“Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen.  But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:23-24 ESV).

“…’I prefer a flexible heart to an inflexible ritual’…” (Matt 12:6-8 MSG).

“…Compassion doesn’t originate in our bleeding hearts or moral sweat, but in God’s mercy….God has the first word, initiating the action in which we play our part…” (Rom 9:14-18 MSG).

“A biblical Christian is a person who manifests in his life that his claims to repentance and faith are real….Wherever there is true faith in Christ, genuine love to Christ will be implanted.  And where there is love to Christ there will be obedience to Christ….(John 14:21-24).  We are saved by trusting Christ, not by loving and obeying Christ; but a trust that does not produce love and obedience is not true saving faith” Albert N. Martin (ref#221, p20).

“…go ahead with what you’ve been given.  You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him….do what you’ve been taught….quit studying the subject and start living it…” (Col 2:6-7 MSG).

TRUE CHRISTIAN OR FAUX?

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SHUN VAIN BABBLINGS

“Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything?  Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it?…God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense” (James 2:14-17 MSG)?  “…It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts…” (James 3:13-16 MSG).

“When the Prodigal Son recognized his sin, he did not sit there and think about it, write poetry about it, or send telegrams home to dad” Albert N. Martin (ref#221, p16).

“Don’t shoot off your mouth, or speak before you think.  Don’t be too quick to tell God what you think he wants to hear….” (Eccl 5:2 MSG).  “…when…words grow many, there is vanity…” (Eccl 5:7 ESV).

“…shun vain babblings, for they offer nothing but fine rhetoric and exquisite words to give credit to him that speaks and to show that he is well learned.  None of this should be received into the church; it must be banished….the desire for anything new is always powerful….we are tempted to find something novel to say, and, in the pursuit of that goal, to veer into vain babbling” John Calvin (ref#164, Nov 9th).

“…the real trouble with the person who is seated there in his study reading beautiful poems or books about love and who feels that he is controlled by it and that he is a fine Christian is this: What is really happening to that person is that he is simply in love with himself, because he appreciates these elevating thoughts” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#211, p116).

“…Merely hearing God’s law is a waste of your time if you don’t do what he commands.  Doing, not hearing, is what makes the difference with God” (Rom 2:13 MSG).

“Christianity is not primarily teaching; it is a recorded history.  Christianity is not urging men to think and to try to delve into the mystery and to discover the truth about God….our salvation depends not upon our understanding but upon what God has done in Christ” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#189, July 3rd).

TRUE CHRISTIAN OR FAUX?

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PUFFED UP CARNAL

You who sit in the pews—who keep GOD from knowing you—commit two evils.  You are more evil than the prodigal son, who committed only one evil by forsaking Me.  But you commit two evils; you forsake Me and fashion Christianity to your choosing.

“The curse of a godless man can sound more pleasant in God’s ears than the Hallelujah of the pious” Martin Luther (ref#28, p9).

“Though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me…” (Jer 2:22 ESV).

“…Their lives are perpetual fashion shows…” (Matt 23:4-7 MSG).  “…they make confident assertions” (1 Tim 1:7 ESV).  “These people make a big show of saying the right thing, but their heart isn’t in it.  They act like they’re worshiping me, but they don’t mean it.  They just use me as a cover for teaching whatever suits their fancy” (Matt 15:3-9 MSG).

“…Christians are too puffed up by a sense of what they suppose they are doing for God, to earnestly study what God has promised to do for and in His people.  They are so occupied with their fleshly efforts to ‘win souls for Christ’ that they feel not their own deep need of the Spirit’s anointing” A.W. Pink (ref#269. P6).

“…a Christian is a person who has faced realistically the problem of his own personal sin…Christianity is…a sinner’s religion” Albert N. Martin (ref#221, p4).

FATHER, we all are so susceptible to being caught in doing instead of being.  The enemy urges us toward “Christian service” projects and human nature jumps at the chance to “serve.”  This is a classic example of the cart before the horse.  Putting ourselves in relationship with You must come first.

“Whatever does not issue from waiting upon God, from depending upon the Holy Spirit, is unquestionably of the flesh” Watchman Nee (ref#33, p114).

TRUE CHRISTIAN OR FAUX?

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CARNAL – NOT YET FULL OF THE SPIRIT

“There is a notion today that people can walk up an aisle, pray a little prayer, and do God a favor by making their decision…” Albert N. Martin (ref#221, p17).  “It will not do to say merely, Christ died but now lives, and therefore I shall live also.  There must be a vital union between our souls and him by faith or we must assuredly perish” Charles Ross (ref#241, p103).

“Because of the lack of clear and spiritual views of the freeness of the atonement—the perfectly unconditional bestowment of the blessings of pardon and justification—many are kept, even among those “called to be saints,” from entering fully into the liberty and peace of the gospel.  They have been convinced of their need of Christ; they have been made to hunger and thirst for pardon and acceptance; they may have been brought through a deep law work of the soul to stand as on the very borders of the land that flows with milk and honey; but looking more to themselves, and less to Christ,…waiting for some condition to be performed, some fitness to be experienced, or some price to bring, they are kept back from those rich and untold blessings which a closing in with Jesus the Savior of sinners would assuredly bring into their possession” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Oct 18th).

“…if…we desire to enjoy…the Spirit’s power and blessing, we must give Christ the throne of our hearts and crown Him the Lord of our lives” A.W. Pink (ref#269, p45).

“The…mark of the carnal state is a man’s inability to receive spiritual truths….We give…men spiritual teaching, and they admire it, and understand it, and rejoice in such ministry; yet their lives are not practically affected….we dare not say they are spiritual men, full of the Holy Spirit” Andrew Murray (ref#272, p14).

“Therefore, I say that I must never attempt by any means or method to get to know God or to try to make myself love God except in and through my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  I must avoid every other direct approach to God…” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#189, Nov 26th).

TRUE CHRISTIAN OR FAUX?

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CARNAL-LIKE CHRISTIAN VS. A SOUND CONVERT

“…the carnal state is a state of continual sinning and failure…sins…are the sign that we are not living a healthy life…” Andrew Murray (ref#272, p12).

“A biblical Christian is one who has wholeheartedly complied with the terms for obtaining God’s provision for sin….True faith is permeated with repentance, and true repentance is permeated with faith….a believing penitent and a penitent believer” Albert N. Martin (ref#221, p15).

“The unsound ‘convert’ takes Christ by halves.  He is all for the salvation, but not sanctification.  He is all for the privileges, but neglects the person of Christ.  He divides the offices and benefits of Christ….They desire salvation from suffering, but do not desire to be saved from sinning.  They would be saved and keep their lusts; they are content to destroy some sins, but cannot leave the lap of Delilah….” Joseph Alleine (ref#301, Aug 26th).

“The sound convert takes a whole Christ without exceptions, without limitations, without reserve.  He is willing to have Christ upon any terms.  He is willing to have the dominion of Christ as well as deliverance” Joseph Alleine (ref#301, Aug 26th).

“You see a mark of the carnal state not only in unlovingness, self-consciousness and bitterness, but in so many other sins.  How much worldliness, how much ambition among men, how much seeking for the honor that comes from man—all the fruit of the carnal life—to be found in the midst of Christian activity” Andrew Murray (ref#272, p12)!

“…spiritual men were not called so because there was no flesh in them but because the Spirit in them had obtained dominance…” Andrew Murray (ref#272, p14).

“…let us beware lest the blessing God gives us in our work deceive us and lead us to think that because He has blessed us, we must be spiritual men.  God may give us gifts that we use, and yet our lives may not be wholly in the power of the Holy Spirit” Andrew Murray (ref#272, p14).

“The sincere convert accepts a complete Christ.  He loves not only the reward, but labour.  He seeks not only the benefits, but the burden of Christ.  He takes up the commands, yes, even the cross of Christ” Joseph Alleine (ref#301, Aug 26th).

TRUE CHRISTIAN OR FAUX?

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A TRUE CHRISTIAN OR FAUX? – YOU DECIDE

A series of posts from 8/30/2021 to 12/31/2021.

PREREQUISITE ON THE SUBJECT

I have a special tenderness toward people who do not oppose Christianity outright, yet are not experiencing the joy that true Christians have.  I carry an obligation to present the Gospel Truth in a forthright, organized way that readers may make an informed choice to move ahead in Christianity or regress into denying it altogether.

“There are many matters concerning which total ignorance and complete indifference are neither tragic nor fatal….few…can explain all the processes by which a brown cow eats green grass and gives white milk…some matters, however, concerning which ignorance and indifference are both tragic and fatal…..One must not make the assumption lightly that he or she is a true Christian.  A false conclusion at this point is tragic and fatal” Albert N. Martin (ref#221, p3).

These blog posts are to urge all of us to continue our pursuit of CHRIST’s fellowship.  To stop or to go backwards is to our peril.

The thief on the cross had only to believe to gain eternal life.  But we who live on this earth day after day need to add effort to make our eternal life sure (Phil 3:12,13).

“…’Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man….The one who conquers will have this heritage…But as for the cowardly, the faithless…their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire…” (Rev 21:3,7-8 ESV).

In all seven churches JESUS speaks to in the book of Revelation, He ends by saying, “to the one who conquers” (Rev 2:7,11,17,26; 3:5,12,21).  Blessings go to the one who conquers.  Being a Christian is work.

It is human nature to arrive at a place of comfort and attempt to maintain it.  We do this with our Christian faith.  It is a kind of treading water.  But we cannot keep ourselves afloat forever by treading water.  Eventually we sink or have to swim.  It is “tragic and fatal” if we convince ourselves that we are okay with GOD and fail to swim ahead with Him.

FAITH

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FAITH IS

“To believe, in the language of the New Testament, is simply to trust….Every one that believes on the Son of God, and trusts his soul to Him, is at once pardoned, forgiven, justified, counted righteous, reckoned innocent, and freed from all liability to condemnation” J.C. Ryle (ref#273, p181).

“…doing something by relying on the strength which God supplies simply means doing it by faith” John Piper (ref#220, p245).  “…it is simply going out of yourself and taking up your rest in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Sept 22nd).

“A true faith includes more than a mere belief; it is accepting the gospel…It is something more than a mere assent of the understanding, because it is called obeying the gospel…(1 Pet 4:17)” Jonathan Edwards (ref#229, p93).

“…anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him” (Acts 10:35 ESV).

“…faith is trusting God and responding to him” ESV Study Bible (ref#125, p2104, [Acts 10:35]).  “Faith consists in two things: in being persuaded of the promises and in embracing them…(Heb 11:13)” Jonathan Edwards (ref#229, p94).

“True belief in Christ is the unreserved trust of a heart convinced of sin, in Christ, as an all-sufficient Saviour.  It is the combined act of the whole man’s head, conscience, heart and will” J.C Ryle (ref#273, p183).  “The belief of an individual involves ‘the mind, emotions and the will’” Josh McDowell (ref#275, p4).

“Faith is likened to looking to Christ, and following Christ, and fleeing to Christ….Faith brings nothing to Christ but an empty hand, by which it takes Christ and all that is in Him” Albert N. Martin (ref#221, p18).

“Faith is the ceasing from all nature’s efforts, and all other dependence; faith is confessed helplessness casting itself upon God’s promise, and claiming its fulfillment; faith is the putting ourselves quietly into God’s hands for Him to do his work” Andrew Murray (ref#266, p83).