Preaching in the Fear of God

Driving home: I exercise myself. I place myself under strict and rigorous spiritual discipline to have a conscience void of offense towards God and men always.

Conscience is described as 'the eyelash of God rubbing across the sensitive folds of the human heart,' reminding the believer of God's constant scrutiny and displeasure at sin, serving as a present reminder of accountability.

Conscience is God's present reminder of those two great realities. That his eye is upon us and that we shall stand before him to give account of our deeds. That is conscience when it is properly functioning. When conscience is functioning as an element of our constitution, which has come within the orbit of the gracious influences of the Holy Spirit and the instruction of the word, conscience becomes the eyelash of God rubbing across the sensitive folds of the human heart, reminding me his eye is upon me.

11:30 - 12:08 Read in full sermon

Driving home: I exercise myself. I place myself under strict and rigorous spiritual discipline to have a conscience void of offense towards God and men always.

Conscience is presented as 'God's personal preview of the day of judgment,' an inner whispering about accountability that will culminate at the resurrection and great day.

So that in my thoughts and in my secret deeds and in my unspoken longings, if they deviate from the standard of the word and the gracious influences, of the spirit, there is that sense, God's eye is upon me. He is displeased. And so conscience is the eyelash of God brushing the sensitive folds of the heart. And secondly, it is God's personal preview of the day of judgment.

12:09 - 12:36 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin further illustrates the importance of a clear conscience with 2 Corinthians 4:1-2, where Paul renounces hidden things of shame and commends himself in God's sight. He also…

Paul's indifference to the Corinthians' judgment of him (despising the 'little hook-nosed Jew' who lacked Greek rhetoric) illustrates his focus on God's ultimate judgment, not human opinion.

He's saying, I can afford the luxury of being blessedly indifferent to your judgment. Because I'm on my way to the judgment of another who knows the secrets of the heart. You judge by appearance. And you've come to despise the little hook-nosed Jew who came not with the embellishments of Greek rhetoric.

17:00 - 17:22 Read in full sermon

The point: If you have Greek/Hebrew, do your spade work in the original; if not, surround yourself with competent men who can help you penetrate the mind of God in the text.

Martin shares his personal effort to learn Hebrew via tapes and a syllabus, demonstrating his commitment to accurate biblical interpretation because he feels 'always uncertain' when declaring 'this is what God says' without examining the original language.

That's why all your sermons will start with your spade work in the original if you have had enough Greek to know your way around in it. And if you don't have the Greek or the Hebrew, you'll have sense enough to surround yourself with men who are competent in the languages, who can help you to penetrate to the mind of God in the text. It may mean you'll have to do what I'm presently doing. When I go back, six tapes worked out by the Hebrew Instructor at Reformed Seminary down in Jackson, Mississippi, is going to tutor me in Hebrew by a tape and a syllabus that he's worked out for me.

21:43 - 22:18 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not play cute with sermonizing, using clever alliteration or homiletical ditties that don't penetrate the mind of God in the text.

He criticizes 'cute little homiletical ditties' and 'clever arrangement of three P's or three C's' as playing 'cute with sermonizing,' arguing that such practices indicate a forgotten consciousness of God's eye and throne.

Something about the English mind that has a peculiar, and in some cases, a grotesque gift of alliteration. And cute little homiletical ditties are completely, posed around the clever arrangement of three P's or three C's that have nothing to do with penetrating the mind of God in the text. And I believe, brethren, if we're trafficking in that kind of abominable practice is because we've long since forgotten. I'm under his eye.

23:04 - 23:37 Read in full sermon

The point: Examine your convictions on baptism honestly before God; do not immerse or sprinkle without true conviction, fearing loss of friends or church.

Martin describes young men who suppress their conscience regarding baptismal positions due to fear of losing their church or stipend, calling them 'hirelings' unfit to preach, emphasizing the need for conviction over convenience.

Or fear of the consequences if you come up on the other side? I've met young men who've said, well, I've got serious reservations about the Baptist position or the pedo-Baptist position, but if I move from the one to the other under the pressure of my conscience enlightened by my present understanding of the word, it'll mean no church, no stipend, no this, no that! I say to them, you're hiring! You're not fit to preach!

27:21 - 27:47 Read in full sermon

The point: Examine your convictions on baptism honestly before God; do not immerse or sprinkle without true conviction, fearing loss of friends or church.

He references 450 men who left an assembly (likely referring to the Disruption of 1843 in Scotland) over the kingship of Christ being intruded upon by civil authority, illustrating a willingness to sacrifice everything for a good conscience before God.

Those 450 men walked out of that assembly. What was the issue? Liberalism? Modernism?

27:47 - 27:56 Read in full sermon

The point: Examine all forms of worship and evangelism in your churches in light of the Word, remembering that God's throne is over every aspect of building His house.

Martin states he would rather have his home burned and friends taken, standing in the 'charred ruins' with a clear conscience, than have 'a thousand voices to praise me' while his conscience is compromised.

The issue was what would be called in our inner pouring was not minor to them when the kingship of Christ was intruded upon by the civil authority. They left home, church, whatever stipend was coming to do what? To throw themselves upon the goodness and mercy of the God into whose face they could look with a good conscience. And my friend, I'd rather have my home burned and every friend taken from me and stand in the midst of the charred ruins of the home and look up and say, Oh God, thou knowest my conscience is void of offense.

27:59 - 28:38 Read in full sermon

Driving home: A minister without boldness is like a smooth file, a knife without an edge, a sentinel afraid to shoot his gun. If men will be bold to sin, ministers must be bold to reprove.

A quote from Gurnall likens a minister without boldness to 'a smooth file, a knife without an edge, a sentinel afraid to shoot his gun,' underscoring the necessity of courage in reproving sin.

And oh, how many tongues of preachers are snared from reproving, rebuking, exhorting, from preaching the whole counsel of God because of the fear of man. Listen to the words of Gurnall. A minister without boldness is like a smooth file, a knife without an edge, a sentinel afraid to shoot his gun. If men will be bold to sin, ministers must be bold to reprove.

36:02 - 36:38 Read in full sermon

The point: When tempted to court man's favorable judgment or play to the gallery, plead that the realization of God's judgment will make you indifferent to human praise or censure.

The account of Paul and Silas singing hymns and praying at midnight in prison (Acts 16) illustrates how a clear conscience and God's approval bring joy and rest, even amidst severe persecution and human disapproval.

And your conscience is at rest. Look at Paul and Silas at midnight. What are they doing? Having a meeting that some of us would have been a little suspicious of.

42:24 - 42:34 Read in full sermon

The point: Maintain consistent prayer disciplines to keep the awareness of God's eye fresh and prevent accountability from becoming a detached religious concept.

A quote from John Welsh, son-in-law to John Knox, states that when he remembers he stands before God's sacred majesty, 'I could not pay any regard, regard to the face of man, even if I wished ever so much to do so,' demonstrating how the awareness of God's presence eradicates the fear of man.

What said Knox, John Welsh, a fervent Scottish minister, son-in-law to the celebrated John Knox? What that I should regard, regard or fear the face of any man when I remember and assure myself, you see the principle, conscious spiritual discipline, when I remember and assure myself that I'm standing before that sacred and glorious majesty whose word in his very sight I am preaching to his servants and his creatures. Believe me, when this thought enters my mind, I could not pay any regard, regard to the face of man, even if I wished ever so much to do so.

44:10 - 44:54 Read in full sermon

The point: Go before God, confess your helplessness and blindness, and cry out for Him to open His word so you can preach comprehensively and declare what He has revealed.

Martin shares his personal experience of being humbled and wanting to 'run off and hide' when preaching consecutively through Ephesians 1, particularly the 'massive verses' on Christ's glory and the church, illustrating the humbling power of God's comprehensive truth.

I've preached long enough in one place, eleven years now, under the rigorous discipline of consecutive preaching through great themes and most of the time, through large sections of the word, this discipline, nothing more humbling to the mind. I don't know that I've still recovered yet from the sense of wanting to run off and hide as I came in the consecutive preaching through Ephesians 1 to those massive verses beginning with verse 18 and following. The eyes of the understanding enlightened that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the sai...

51:46 - 52:28 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not use crafty, cunning gimmicks or treat people like Pavlov's dogs to condition a response; this is abominable in God's sight.

He alludes to Robert Murray McShane, saying he preached 'as if he was a die to have you convinced,' challenging preachers to have similar urgency and passion in their persuasion.

the mumbling of a little prayer. This is abominable in the sight of God in butchering to the souls of men. But brethren, in our reaction against that which is under God's indictment, where is the impassivity? As was said of McShane, as if he was a die to have you convinced.

56:55 - 57:28 Read in full sermon

The point: Envision your hearers standing before God on judgment day, recognizing that your preaching may mean the difference between eternal bliss and misery, to fuel urgency.

Martin describes his practice of looking out at his congregation before preaching and envisioning them standing before God on judgment day, realizing that his words might mean the difference between 'exquisite blissfulness' and 'indescribable misery,' which fuels his urgency.

Often I seek when I sit in the chair to the left of the pulpit When the offering is being received prior to the hymn before the opening of the scriptures To look out amongst my people and envision what it will be When they all stand before him in that day And I say, oh God, every one of them Shall in that day go off into exquisite blissfulness in the presence of God Or descend into indescribable misery in the pit of hell And what I say today may mean the difference

58:49 - 59:31 Read in full sermon