Dr. Martin's Farewell

Alpha & Omega Ministries

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As some of you might know, my name is Leroy Steinschmidt.

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I've been invited to say a few kind words about the dearly beloved, respected, admired, and appreciated retired professor.

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His name is something. Washington. No, no, not

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Washington. D .C. That's it. D .C. as in Martin. And in saying a few words about him, they will be words of deep reverence and respect.

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Genuinely sincere from the bottom of my heart. Because it's logical that anybody would ask me to talk about D .C.

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Martin. I've known him longer than anybody in this room. Maybe not better, but longer.

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And with that kind of experience and background, let me tell you about him.

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Two significant things in his life. Now, pay attention.

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There may be a ten -question pop quiz at the end of the session. Probably the most significant thing about this man, which all of you know, is he has cancer.

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And it is terminal cancer, which means cancer with an end.

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But he wishes for me to tell you that he has terminal cancer, but he's a better Christian for it.

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Now, isn't that sweet of him? He has cancer, he is dying, and it's made him a better Christian.

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I tell you that about him because that's a tragic statement. That anybody would wait to become a good

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Christian until they got cancer or AIDS or some other terminal disease.

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His whole life's appeal to you is to be a good Christian with or without cancer.

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Now, after that sublime acknowledgement, a basic foundational principle, guideline, conviction of his life has been three love affairs.

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Yes, to the surprise of many, this beloved saint of the

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Lord has had three. Not one, not two, but three love affairs.

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Now, you're way ahead of me, I'm sure. You know exactly what I'm talking about when

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I speak of Dr. Martin and his three love affairs. He is 72 years of age now.

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He met the Lord Jesus Christ and accepted him as his personal

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Savior when he was five years old. His first love affair began with the

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Lord Jesus Christ and has lasted these 67 or more years.

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And let me say a word about that love affair. The one whom he accepted as personal

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Savior said one time, if you love your life, you'll lose it.

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And then the same one said, but if you love your life for my sake, you'll find it.

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Sixty -seven years' experience permits me to say this of Dr. Martin.

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That is absolutely correct. If you'll lose your life for Jesus, you will have life.

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Life, add any word to it that you like. Joyful, full, abundant, rich, beautiful, verily, even eternal life.

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But only as a person loses his life does he really find it in Christ.

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The second love affair was with a beautiful young lady named Carolyn Galloway.

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Carolyn Galloway was from Arcadia, Louisiana, and attended

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Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary where DC and she met on a blind date.

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And they've had a love affair ever since. Quite a flame. In a few more months, 50 years of married life.

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But more than 50 years of knowing each other. And it has been quite a flame.

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He is greatly indebted to that little woman who's seen him through thick and thin.

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Rich and poor until death do us part. So says the ceremony.

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And the third love affair. I was introduced to a man named

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Leroy Smith, who in turn said, we're building a

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Baptist college out in Arizona. We'd like for you to come to the

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West. Be a part of the Lord's ministry in the West.

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To shorten the story, I went West. Dr. Martin also went

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West with me. And we traveled together, surprisingly.

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And he became the pastor for Southern Baptist Church, which housed

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Grand Canyon College. There the love affair began. It has not ended, all opinions to the contrary notwithstanding.

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That love affair began between the pastor and his flock.

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A bunch of antelopes. And that love affair has continued through the decades.

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A beautiful love affair. Now if there's any application to all of this, let me encourage you to have two or three love affairs.

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If you've never fallen in love with Jesus, do it. But you say you're already a

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Christian. That probably wasn't my statement.

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Dr. Martin would say, if you haven't fallen in love with Jesus as a

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Christian, or as a non -Christian, accept

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Him and fall in love with Him. How do you do that?

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One of the most confused, misunderstood, and debated questions in common

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Christian circles of common Christian people is the very simple little question, how do you become a

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Christian? I recognize there are many answers to that question.

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When probably in reality there is only one. When a person is asked here in America, for instance, are you a

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Christian? The answers are really surprising.

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Are you a Christian? Well, yes, I think so. Are you a

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Christian? Well, I'm trying to be. On and on.

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Dr. Martin's insistence is that a person may know the answer to the question, are you a

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Christian, as firmly and as completely as one may know the answer to this question, are you married?

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I've never asked anybody, are you married?

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And get any response other than a simple yes or a simple no.

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Should you be that like him? Should you be like that?

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And the question, are you a Christian? Are you married? Well, I think

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I am. Are you married? Well, I try to be.

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Are you married? Well, I was married there for a while, but I stopped going to marriage, and so I'm not sure whether I'm still married or not.

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Are you married? Oh, yes. Both my mother and father were married.

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They believed in matrimony, and they just rubbed off on me. I could go on with all these silly questions, but you and I may know specifically, clearly, without question, are you a

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Christian? And the answer is either yes or no. Well, all of these many efforts to explain how to become a

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Christian really are confusing. I think

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I have a simple solution, a simple answer, one that clarifies the issue, one that removes all questions and doubts, and that is a strong emphasis, as is true in the

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Bible, on the little preposition in, I am.

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Sirs, the jailer asked Paul and Silas, what must

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I do to be saved? And the King James Version says that Paul said,

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Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. But Paul didn't say believe on.

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He said believe in. I ask you a question. Is there a difference between believing in Christ and believing on Christ?

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Let me illustrate very simply, and yet quite clearly and specifically.

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This thumb, will that represent the non -Christian?

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And then you can put any word on that you want to. Let the thumb represent the non -Christian.

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Let this hand represent Christ. And when

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Scripture refers to one's saving encounter with Jesus Christ, it's always the preposition in.

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Believe in the

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Lord Jesus Christ. Not on. The person over here may say, in answer to the question, do you believe the

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Bible? Yes, I believe the Bible. Do you believe Jesus? Yes, I believe Jesus.

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Born of a virgin? Yes. Died on the cross? Yes. Resurrected from the grave?

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Yes. Do you believe all that? Yes. Must be a Christian. Maybe not.

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Until that body of belief results in and consummates in the experience of an encounter with Jesus.

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In Jesus. In is a preposition. It's a locative preposition.

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It locates. We are in this room. We are in Christ.

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And as Christ himself said, once we're in Christ, he is around to protect us.

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And even the hand of God encompasses and surrounds us with a guaranteed immortality and eternity.

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One is saved in Christ. Are you a

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Christian? Well, I think so.

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I try to live a Christian life. I live a good

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Christian life as anybody else. Besides, I'm a member of the church.

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I get off my back. A person is a

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Christian if and when that person is in Christ. Believe in Christ.

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A man named Charles Williams was a Southern Baptist who developed an excellent translation of the

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New Testament. He came to the preposition in in the

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Greek language. He translated that preposition in, I am, with these two words, in union with, well, that's three words, isn't it?

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Paying attention. In union with Christ. A person becomes a

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Christian when he has that in union with experience.

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In union with Christ. Do you see further similarities between the marriage experience and the

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Christian experience? Scripture says that two people become one flesh.

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And in both the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament, the word flesh is there.

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Sometimes it's not translated. And the translator will simply leave it.

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And they become one. One in soul and one in spirit and one in mood and one in soul.

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God said, one in flesh.

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I won't pursue that. I'm sure you can carry that on. It's a logical conclusion. A person is one in Christ when there's a proposal of falling in love and entering into one with the other.

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So Dr. Martin would have me tell you that he has cancer. It's made him a better Christian.

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Don't let it all become a good Christian. And that he has had three love affairs and they've all molded his life deliciously as well as mindlessly.

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And that you too may know the experience of salvation by trusting, believing, putting your confidence in Christ.

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Let Jesus come into your heart as you enter into his life to live the rich, abundant, full life.

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He that loveth his life shall lose it. But he that loses his life for the sake of the

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Lord Jesus Christ shall find it. May you have that kind of life with God's richest blessings.