Wrath of God

Pastor Martin begins defining the fear of God by examining how the Hebrew and Greek words for fear are used in ordinary Scripture language. He identifies two aspects: the fear of dread and terror (illustrated by Adam hiding from God, and Jesus commanding fear of Him who can cast into hell), and the fear of reverence and awe (illustrated by the command to fear parents). He then expounds the first aspect at length, showing from both Testaments that a legitimate dread of God is commanded and commended, even for Christians, as a deterrent from sin.

Pastor Martin completes his exposition of the essence of Christ's sacrifice with the words 'penal' and 'satisfaction.' He explains that Christ's sufferings were not merely calamity or chastisement but legal punishment that fully met the demands of God's law against sin. Drawing on the triangular realities of the nature of the law, the nature of God, and the nature of man, he shows from Galatians 3:13, Deuteronomy 21:22-23, and Colossians 2:14 that Christ bore the curse of the law as the God-man, and he closes with John Owen's beautiful imagery of the sinner as Noah's dove finding rest only in the ark of Christ.

Pastor Martin presses deeper into the sacrifice of Christ by considering it under the category of propitiation. He establishes the necessity of the category from Hebrews 2:17, 1 John 2:2, 1 John 4:10, and Romans 3:25, then defines propitiation from Old Testament origin and classical Greek usage, illustrated from Jacob's appeasing Esau in Genesis 32 and Proverbs 16:14. He explains that propitiation presupposes the wrath of God — His aversion to sin, displeasure at the sinner, and will to avenge — and shows how Christ averted that wrath in His blood.

Pastor Martin treats the second great error concerning propitiation: neutralizing the need for it. He exposes the heresy of the enemies of the gospel who deny divine wrath as an attribute of God (refuted by explicit Scripture statements, historical manifestations, and Calvary itself), and the serious error of the friends of the gospel who present the gospel without starting from divine wrath. He criticizes modern 'God loves you, smile' evangelism and the 'Four Spiritual Laws' approach for violating the pattern of Romans 1-3 where Paul begins his gospel exposition with the wrath of God.

In the final sermon on Christ's kingship in Revelation, Pastor Martin expounds 11:15-18, the sounding of the seventh trumpet and the great voices declaring, 'The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.' Using the illustration of a family's photo album arranged in thematic cycles rather than chronologically, he explains that Revelation brings us to the consummation six or seven times under different figures. The substance of the vision is the proclamation of an arrived universal and eternal kingdom, and the worship of the twenty-four elders over the events that usher it in. The significance is a pointed word of admonition to the impenitent, a powerful summons to adoration for the saints, and a precious salve of consolation for the suffering church — for the kingdom is as good as come.

Pastor Martin opens his treatment of the doctrine of justification by underscoring its supreme importance. After showing that the doctrine answers the most fundamental of human questions, 'How shall sinful man find acceptance with God?', he argues for its importance on two grounds: the glory of God, since in justifying the ungodly God displays the brilliance of every divine attribute, and the good of the creature, both for the conversion of sinners and the establishing peace, holiness, and joy in believers.