The Priority of Being a Peacemaker

Driving home: And it is God's purpose that his people, called the city set on the hill, his people who are to constitute the new humanity in Christ, are to be, among many other things, an oasis of peace and concord and amity in a worl…

Martin describes the pervasive animosity in society, from fighting on basketball courts to popular rappers and talk shows, to illustrate the stark contrast with the church's calling to be an oasis of peace.

of being and seeking to be a promoter of peace, within the household of God. Being a maker and a promoter of peace, within the household of God. In a society increasingly marked by those attitudes, words, and actions which put men at one another's throats, a society in which men increasingly foment hatred among themselves, animosity, suspicion, and ill-will, and a general climate of in-your-face-ism is all I know to call it, from the shocking outcropping of constant fighting on basketball courts and on baseball fields when baseball was being played, to the disposition of the most popular rappe...

7:15 - 8:32 Read in full sermon

The point: Do all you can without sacrificing truth and righteousness to be at peace with all men, even a godless hostile world, and especially within the family of God.

He defines 'implacable' as people so determined to be nasty that even the Archangel Michael couldn't persuade them to change, illustrating the limits of peacemaking efforts with some individuals.

He knows that there will be both in the world and alas at times in the church some who in the old English version are called implacable. You know what implacable means? You can't placate them. People so determined to be nasty, and so determined to be at odds with you, that the Archangel Michael attended by all of his entourage could come down out of heaven and lay out a case as to why you ought to change your disposition and your perspective on a given situation, and they couldn't persuade you.

30:47 - 31:26 Read in full sermon

The point: Do all you can without sacrificing truth and righteousness to be at peace with all men, even a godless hostile world, and especially within the family of God.

Martin tells a story of someone cutting in line at the bank to illustrate how a believer can respond with peace and grace ('as much as in you lies') rather than confrontation, even when provoked.

how much more within the family of God if with those with whom I have so little in common I am to make conscience of seeking to be an ameliorating influence in a society that I described in the introduction as increasingly marked by hostility and in your facism I am to seek to be at peace with all men when the person standing in line at the bank cuts his way in front of me I can do one of two things as much as in you lies live peaceably with all men he looks at me with a set jaw as if to say alright I've made my move you make yours you can do one of two things as much as in you lies live peace...

34:25 - 35:42 Read in full sermon

The point: Cultivate a certain perspective and disposition and action towards your elders: know them, esteem them exceedingly highly in love for their work's sake, and be at peace among yourselves.

He uses the imagery of watchdogs that cannot bark (from the Old Testament) to describe false shepherds, contrasting them with true elders who lovingly admonish the flock, linking it to the church's peace.

as men as Christian men as fathers know them know them but not only know them esteem them exceeding highly in love for their work's sake You may not be able to esteem them highly for this or that natural characteristic or for this or that natural endowment for this or that ability or non-ability but esteem them exceeding highly in love for their work's sake They have taken on the task the awesome solemn task for which they'll give account in the day of judgment of watching over your soul and in pursuit of that task when they see you stepping out of the way they admonish you they lovingly point...

39:04 - 40:32 Read in full sermon