New Covenant

Pastor Martin introduces a series on the fear of God by demonstrating its overwhelming prevalence throughout Scripture. He surveys thirteen Old Testament and nine New Testament passages to show that the fear of God is a dominant and pervasive theme from Genesis to Revelation, concluding that to be devoid of the fear of God is to be devoid of biblical religion, and that the measure of spiritual growth is the measure to which one increases in the fear of God.

Pastor Martin addresses the origin of the fear of God, demonstrating that it is a distinct blessing of the new covenant, not something that grows on natural Adamic soil. He expounds Jeremiah 32:38-40 to show that God pledges to put His fear into the hearts of His people, then traces how the three ingredients of the fear of God correspond to the three blessings promised in Jeremiah 31:31-34. He culminates with Psalm 130:4 — 'There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared' — showing that the discovery of forgiveness through the blood of Christ is the very thing that produces true, covenant-rooted fear of God.

In this concluding sermon of the series, Pastor Martin addresses the practical question of how to maintain and increase the fear of God in the heart. He establishes the general principle that what God declares to be His own work in us must also be the concern of our conscious spiritual endeavors, then provides seven specific directives: be certain of an interest in the new covenant, feed on Scripture in general, meditate on forgiveness, feed on the majestic greatness of God, cultivate the awareness of God's presence, cultivate the consciousness of obligations to Him, and associate intimately with those who walk in His fear.

Pastor Martin introduces the doctrine of regeneration as the second threshold blessing alongside calling. He answers the question raised by effectual calling — how can a sinner dead in trespasses respond? — by turning to the grace of regeneration, 'an inner recreating of fallen human nature by the gracious, sovereign action of the Holy Spirit.' He surveys the word's usage (Matthew 19:28 and Titus 3:5) and the history of the term from baptismal perversion through the older Reformed use. Then he turns to the major Old Testament analogies Nicodemus should have known — Deuteronomy 30:6's circumcision of the heart, Ezekiel 11 and 36's giving of a new heart and spirit with cleansing, and the new covenant promises of Jeremiah 31-32 — drawing from each the fourfold emphasis of a sovereign, inward, gracious act that results in love to God, obedience, and mutual covenantal fellowship. He closes with a stinging warning against the cheapened 'born again' language of modern pop evangelicalism.