Ingredients of the Fear of God

Pastor Martin shifts focus from the fear of dread to the dominant biblical theme: the fear of reverential awe. He examines biblical examples of this awe in Jacob at Bethel, Moses at the burning bush, Isaiah in the temple, Peter at the miraculous catch of fish, and John before the glorified Christ. He then defines the fear of God as 'the controlling sense of the majesty and holiness of God and the profound reverence which this apprehension draws forth,' and introduces the first essential ingredient of the fear of God: correct concepts of the character of God, particularly His immensity, majesty, and holiness.

Pastor Martin expounds the second essential ingredient of the fear of God: a pervasive sense of the presence of God. He distinguishes mere intellectual knowledge of God's omnipresence from the experiential awareness that God is here, using the Grand Canyon analogy to show how facts become transforming only in the presence of their object. He traces this theme through Abraham's walk before God Almighty, Joseph's refusal of Potiphar's wife, and David's meditation in Psalm 139, applying it to the ethical and moral implications for daily Christian living.

Pastor Martin expounds the third essential ingredient of the fear of God: a constraining awareness of one's obligations to God. The essence of that obligation is threefold — to love God supremely, obey Him implicitly, and trust Him completely. He illustrates this powerfully through Abraham's offering of Isaac (where God singled out fear as the virtue tested) and through Christ in Gethsemane and at Calvary, showing how the fear of God operates in supreme love, implicit obedience, and complete trust even unto death.