Consistent Obedience in the Fear of God

Driving home: paul is not content for the eagle of that general exhortation simply to fly by the philippians that they might admire the majestic flight of the eagle he tells the eagle to pause in its flight and to drop upon the consci…

Paul, as a wise pastor, does not leave general exhortations hanging but makes specific applications, like an eagle pausing its majestic flight to sink its talons into the conscience.

but let it be evident that the gospel calls men into a radically different lifestyle that impinges upon the totality of life in all of its reaches and in all of its dimensions but now the apostle is a good preacher and he's a wise pastor and a good preacher and a wise pastor will never hang general exhortations on a sky hook but he will always hook general general exhortations into the consciences of men and women with specific applications

5:13 - 5:53 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Through vivid illustrations of a couple deciding on entertainment and men socializing, Martin demonstrates how the absence of a conscious fear of God leads to compromised…

Martin shares a personal anecdote about unconsciously adopting gestures from another preacher he listened to, illustrating how influences can be absorbed and manifest without conscious effort, setting up the idea of Paul's influence on the Philippians.

Will you? And if once in a while you see a jester that doesn't look native to me, I've been listening to another preacher for a whole week, and I find jesters, see, coming out that aren't mine. They just get programmed in. And having sat for hours at Pastor Blaze's feet, a couple of weeks I'll be back to myself, so bear with me. It's not conscious. Those

24:04 - 24:24 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Through vivid illustrations of a couple deciding on entertainment and men socializing, Martin demonstrates how the absence of a conscious fear of God leads to compromised…

A hypothetical story of a Philippian couple debating whether to see a play with immoral themes, illustrating how the absence of Paul's direct presence might lead to compromised decisions, contrasting with living in the fear of God.

imagination with me. Here's a couple at Philippi, and they have just been to the assembly on the Lord's Day, and they heard Epaphroditus reading the letter from Paul, the letter in which he said, I long to depart and to be with Christ, but I long to remain on and to help you. And he says, I have a high degree of confidence that I shall yet be released and returned for your further instruction. And so Mr. and Mrs., whoever they are at Philippi, say, wasn't that wonderful to hear that the

24:39 - 25:14 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Through vivid illustrations of a couple deciding on entertainment and men socializing, Martin demonstrates how the absence of a conscious fear of God leads to compromised…

A hypothetical story of Philippian men drinking beer and their conversation becoming less spiritual, illustrating how the absence of Paul's direct presence might lead to excessive indulgence and a lack of self-control.

Tuesday night, some of the fellows get together. It's their social time. And they like to eat whatever was the equivalent of pizza in that day, and snort down a little of whatever was the parallel of modern beer. And the fellows are sitting around talking, maybe even about the services of the Lord's Day, maybe even about Paul's letter. And they said, oh, wasn't that good to hear from the apostle and to

28:12 - 28:37 Read in full sermon

Driving home: God took his finger and pierced the top of that veil in the temple and he ripped it from top to bottom saying, because my son died, man may come back in to the presence of God, not only having his guilt pardoned, having …

The analogy of man losing the presence of God in Paradise Lost and Christ restoring it in Paradise Regained, explaining that the gospel brings believers back into God's presence to live under His eye.

Here it is. When man sinned and was driven out of paradise, what did he lose? The moment man sinned, he had an aversion to God, ran from God in his guilt and his shame, in rejection to the law of God, with no thought of delight in living under the eye of God. The text says that the man Adam ran to hide himself from the presence of God amidst the trees. Paradise lost

31:50 - 32:29 Read in full sermon

Driving home: God took his finger and pierced the top of that veil in the temple and he ripped it from top to bottom saying, because my son died, man may come back in to the presence of God, not only having his guilt pardoned, having …

An example of a husband speaking harshly to his wife when she burns his pancakes, illustrating how a lack of living in God's presence leads to un-gospel-like behavior in daily interactions.

In the presence of God, so that we live all of life under God's eye, God's finger, and the charisma of the glory of our Redeemer. So that whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, we do it to the glory of God, in the presence of God, under the eye of God, in the consistency of conformity to the divine. That's the connection. How can my life be worthy of the gospel, if I live in such a way as to indicate, oh, I'm in the presence of God in the morning,

34:09 - 34:53 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He explains that man lost the delightful presence of God in the Fall, and Christ's death restored access to God's presence. Living in the fear of God means living all of life…

An example of someone buying pornography at a 7-Eleven store, illustrating how they conveniently leave the sense of God's presence outside the store to indulge in sin.

When you go from church, some of you, and on Monday, you go by the 7-Eleven store to pick up some milk, and there you see that carousel of vomit, the carousel with its playboy and its hustler and whatever else is there, and you actually take money that God has given as a stewardship, and you clunk it on the counter to buy raw sewerage, to pour it into your eyes and into your soul. Why? Because you're not in the presence of God. You very

35:48 - 36:29 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He explains that man lost the delightful presence of God in the Fall, and Christ's death restored access to God's presence. Living in the fear of God means living all of life…

An example of a woman engaging in idle gossip on the phone after her devotions, illustrating how she 'left her God at the table' and did not bring Him into her conversations.

conveniently leave the sense of the eye of God, the finger of God, the charisma of the love of Christ. You very conveniently leave it out in the trunk of your car when you get out and go into that store. Then some of you ladies, you get your morning chores done, you get on the phone, you've had your devotions, someone calls and, oh, what you say on the phone, idle gossip. Did you know that? And were you aware of that? And wasn't it a shame

36:29 - 37:03 Read in full sermon

The point: Ask yourself: Would the details of your family life, social life, business life, and school life have been different in the presence of Paul or your elders?

The analogy of international travelers like Mr. Barker and Mr. Spence maintaining their citizenship wherever they go, illustrating that a Christian's citizenship in the kingdom of heaven is constant and applies everywhere.

is a citizen a citizen? Well, a citizen is a citizen all the time and in every place. He never ceases to be a citizen. Mr. Barker and Mr. Spence are international travelers.

44:39 - 44:53 Read in full sermon