The Duty; Ruling Disposition of Heart

In this part of the sermon: Martin introduces the sermon's theme, 'Councils for Peacemakers,' explaining its origin from his exposition of Philippians 4:2-3 and Pastor Hofstetter's remarks on Matthew 5:23-24…

The disunity between these two women in Philippians 4:2-3 serves as a concrete example of the need for peacemaking within the church, prompting the sermon's theme.

And I have chosen to speak on this theme for two basic reasons. First of all, as I hinted this morning, the regular course of expositions in the book of Philippians, found us in Philippians chapter 4, verses 2 and 3, in which the Apostle Paul, writing to that church which caused him such great joy and delight, the church at Philippi, had to entreat two leading influential women to deal with whatever factors were causing a barrier in their fellowship, and he had to write to them, saying, I beseech Oodia, and I beseech Oodia, Syntyche, to be of the same mind in the Lord. And after opening up tha...

2:23 - 3:43 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin introduces the sermon's theme, 'Councils for Peacemakers,' explaining its origin from his exposition of Philippians 4:2-3 and Pastor Hofstetter's remarks on Matthew 5:23-24…

Pastor Hofstetter's observation that Matthew 5:23-24 and 18:15 are frequently defied in the church highlights the practical urgency of the sermon's topic on peacemaking.

But then factor number two is this. In the course of his lectures to us in the academy this past week, Pastor Hofstetter was dealing with the general subject of pastoral oversight, that function of elders in which they take the initiative to consider the state of the various members of the flock of God. And in the course of dealing with that subject, he said, and this is not a verbatim quote, but it reflects the intent of his statement, that perhaps no two passages of the word of God were more frequently and openly defied in the church of Christ than Matthew 5, 23 and 24, and Matthew 18, 15 an...

3:43 - 5:06 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin clarifies that his focus is on peacemaking within the church, not worldly political activism. He stresses that this peace must be pursued in a context of righteousness, not…

Used to distinguish the sermon's focus on internal church peace from misguided Christian activism for international peace, which Martin views as naive and foolish.

Now, before we come to the subject proper, I have one basic statement of qualification to make. When I speak tonight of peacemakers, I am speaking of the kind of peace that is to be promoted within the boundaries of the fellowship of the church of Jesus Christ. As the people of God, we are not indifferent to international peace, and frequently from this pulpit, in obedience to 1 Timothy 2, we pray for peace among the nations. But of this foolishness that goes on in the name of Christianity, in which church groups are found picketing the UN, and picketing nuclear plants and all of the rest, I s...

5:06 - 5:57 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He introduces forgetfulness as the second crucial disposition, explaining that a fervent love 'covers a multitude of sins' by not dwelling on minor faults, contrasting this with…

An anecdote about a husband forgetting his anniversary illustrates how forgetfulness can cause trouble in certain areas, setting up the contrast with 'holy forgetfulness'.

The ruling disposition must not only be one of forgiveness, but of forgetfulness. Now, forgetfulness gets us in all kinds of trouble in certain areas. Some of you husbands have found that out. When you came home on your anniversary and your wife's eyes were all lit up like firecrackers and you met her at the door and you said, well, she looks awfully excited to see me.

36:03 - 36:31 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He introduces forgetfulness as the second crucial disposition, explaining that a fervent love 'covers a multitude of sins' by not dwelling on minor faults, contrasting this with…

The idea of conveniently turning down the volume to forget things we don't want to remember is used to highlight a negative kind of forgetfulness, contrasting it with a positive, God-like virtue.

And you kids, if you're supposed to be home at 5 o'clock and you forget and sometimes the little thing that makes you remember, we can conveniently turn down the volume, can't we? And there's a kind of willful forgetfulness, huh? We forget the things we want to. But there's an area in which forgetfulness is a wonderful God-like virtue.

36:46 - 37:06 Read in full sermon

The point: Have such a fervency of love that it covers a multitude of sins, delighting to throw a blanket over infirmities rather than magnifying them.

Love is described as a loom creating a blanket to throw over the 'multitude of sins' (infirmities and failures), rather than magnifying them, illustrating the concept of covering sins.

And we're not to act as though those things don't exist. But according to Peter's words, we are to have such a fervency of love that that love becomes a loom. And that loom creates a blanket. And we delight to throw that blanket over the sins instead of running to the desk and pulling the magnifying glass out of the drawer and magnifying those sins.

40:19 - 40:49 Read in full sermon

The point: Have such a fervency of love that it covers a multitude of sins, delighting to throw a blanket over infirmities rather than magnifying them.

The metaphor of 'harping on a matter' (plunking on a string again and again) illustrates how dwelling on another's faults, even mentally, can separate close friends and disrupt peace.

Chapter 17 and verse 9. He that covers a transgression seeks love. That is, as he covers the transgression, he is seeking to do the thing that love does. But he that harpeth on a matter.

41:40 - 41:58 Read in full sermon

The point: Beware of harping on faults, even in your own mind, as it can separate you from chief friends.

Martin shares the heartbreaking experience of seeing the 'love light' in the eyes of his 'sheep' (children in the congregation) disappear, illustrating the pain of disunity and separation in ministry.

And he could read that love light in your eyes. And it was the legitimate kind of love that exists between the shepherd and the sheep. It's the kind of look I see in the little kids every Sunday morning. When my eyes catch theirs and I know I'm looking at a friend and they know they're looking at a friend and we know it's only a matter of time before they traverse the distance between the two of us.

43:07 - 43:31 Read in full sermon

The point: If unforgiveness is the ruling principle of your heart, you better ask God where you are and take seriously what the Scripture says.

The parable from Matthew 18 is referenced to illustrate that a person who has truly understood God's infinite forgiveness for their own great debt cannot consistently be unforgiving towards others.

I said if you know yourself to be a sinner, then you stand in constant need of God's forgiveness. It is unthinkable that a heart soaked in the glorious provision of divine forgiveness can be one that finds it difficult as a rule to extend forgiveness to others. That's the whole thrust of that parable of Matthew 18. That guy who got his servant who owed him a few cents and started to wring his neck off, the reason he was dealt with as a wicked man, it showed he never understood the principle of forgiveness with respect to his own great debt.

50:02 - 50:40 Read in full sermon

The point: Pray that God will give you holy forgetfulness to avoid being crippled by perceived offenses or 'mirages'.

The tragedy of spiritual lives crippled for years by 'niggling little issues' or 'mirages' (perceived offenses that were not substantial) highlights the importance of holy forgetfulness and dealing with real offenses.

Meditate upon the nature of God's forgiveness to you, and in the light of that, extend forgiveness to others, and then pray that God will give you holy forgetfulness. One of the most heartbreaking things in pastoral work is to talk with people whose spiritual lives have been crippled for six months, a year, two, three, four, five, ten years, because of some niggling little issue that went back for years when they thought that somebody offended them, and when they finally get around to tracking the thing down, they have been crippled by a mirage for ten years in their own... What a tragedy!

52:07 - 52:56 Read in full sermon