Christ Is Our Peace

Driving home: To the Jew, every non-Jew was a Gentile dog. And to the Gentile, every Jew was this antagonistic and exclusivistic oddball with whom he wished to have nothing to do.

Martin uses contemporary examples from the mid-seventies (Northern Ireland, Middle East, racial tensions in the US) to show that the problem of alienation is not new, setting the stage for the timeless solution in Ephesians.

Well, I'm sure we know they're part and parcel of the mid-seventies. We see them in our own country. If we're at all aware of what's going on in the world, we know that these things are present in certain parts of the United Kingdom, particularly in Northern Ireland.

0:36 - 0:52 Read in full sermon

The point: Understand that theological liberalism has no answer to the problems of alienation because it denies the true Christ.

He poses a rhetorical question about what could bring antagonistic Jews and Gentiles in Ephesus to embrace, highlighting the inadequacy of human solutions and pointing to Christ as the only answer.

Insipid humanism is no answer, as it was no answer at Ephesus. What in the world would bring those Jews, who congregated at the local synagogue there, at Ephesus, who, when they passed their Gentile neighbors, would look upon them as dogs? What will ever bring those people, not just to look at one another with some degree of civilized decency, but to embrace one another with a holy kiss?

32:00 - 32:28 Read in full sermon

The point: See the folly of mysticism (e.g., TM) in attempting to find peace by turning inward, as the answer lies outside of us in Christ.

Martin uses TM and its bumper stickers as an example of contemporary mysticism that foolishly seeks peace by turning inward, contrasting it with the external, divine source of peace in Christ.

that dark and pagan Gentile to bring them to the cross. See the folly then of insipid humanism, theological liberalism. Do you see the folly of the mysticism of our day? We live in the day of TM.

35:34 - 35:54 Read in full sermon

The point: Reject sociological manipulation (e.g., forced association by legislation) as a means to make peace, as it cannot change hearts.

He illustrates sociological manipulation by describing forcing Jew and Gentile to sit together, even with a policeman present, to show that external coercion cannot produce true internal peace or reconciliation.

Forced association.

36:57 - 36:59 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The best way to produce peace between alienated minds is to bring them to the same Savior. That will do more to silence contentions and to heal alienations than any and all other means.

Martin quotes an unnamed 'man of God' (likely Albert Barnes) who argues that bringing alienated minds to the same Savior, cross, love, and hope is the most effective way to silence contentions and heal alienations.

He'll have anything but the cross. But as one man of God has so clearly said, and I want to read this paragraph to you, the best way to produce peace between alienated minds is to bring them to the same Savior. That will do more to silence contentions and to heal alienations than any and all other means. Bring men around the same cross.

38:41 - 39:09 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The best way to produce peace between alienated minds is to bring them to the same Savior. That will do more to silence contentions and to heal alienations than any and all other means.

He describes the diverse ethnic and cultural makeup of his own congregation (Oriental, African, Latin, 'heints') as living proof of Christ's power to unite people who might otherwise be suspicious of one another.

And isn't that what God has done in this place, dear people? As I look out, I see what could be a little cross-section of the U.N. I see some whose faces reflect oriental blood in your veins.

40:00 - 40:17 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin quotes another man of God, asserting that bringing people to the same Savior and filling them with the same love for the Redeemer is the only way to end alienation. He then…

He humorously notes that members of his diverse congregation not only tolerate each other but find joy in one another's sight, even having to restrain themselves from hugging, illustrating the deep, Christ-wrought unity.

Many of you are able to say an amen in your heart when in prayer this morning, I thank God on behalf of the congregation that many of us find our hearts leaping for joy just at the sight of one another. Just at the sight of one another. We find delight just in the sight of one another. Some of us, lest people question certain aspects of our character, we have to restrain ourselves from hugging each other every time we see one another.

41:10 - 41:40 Read in full sermon

The point: Keep Christ uppermost in your eye to get along with fellow believers; if you put others in your eye, problems will arise.

He uses the analogy of keeping Christ 'uppermost in your eye' to explain that focusing on Christ fosters peace among believers, whereas focusing on each other leads to problems.

But you begin to put me in your eye or I put you in my eye, then we're going to have some problems.

49:29 - 49:35 Read in full sermon

The point: As Christ becomes more and more the lodestone, center point, and focal point of desire, aspiration, meditation, joy, and worship, a congregation will be drawn into loving communion with one another.

He uses the metaphor of Christ as the 'lodestone,' 'center point,' and 'focal point' to explain that the more a congregation is drawn to Him, the more they are drawn into loving communion with one another.

He is our peace. And it's as Christ is all to the people of God in any given place. As He becomes more and more the lodestone, the center point, the focal point of their desire and their aspirations, their meditation, their joy, their worship. The more they are drawn to Him, the more they are drawn into loving communion with one another.

49:37 - 50:02 Read in full sermon