Salute Every Saint in Christ Jesus

Driving home: And whenever you find it in the New Testament, and you will find it again and again and again, you must think of this word as nothing less than expressions, or connotating expressions of greeting, throbbing with genuine …

Used to contrast the common understanding of 'salute' with the Greek word's broader meaning of general greeting, emphasizing that the biblical term implies fondness and affection.

Now, when we hear the word salute, we generally think of it in terms of a very specific and limited connotation. You children, when you hear the word salute, what do you think about? Well, you might think of, a soldier who throws a military salute. Or you might think of the Boy Scout or the Girl Scout salute.

3:33 - 4:04 Read in full sermon

Driving home: And whenever you find it in the New Testament, and you will find it again and again and again, you must think of this word as nothing less than expressions, or connotating expressions of greeting, throbbing with genuine …

Martin recounts his experience in Pakistan, giving and receiving numerous embraces and kisses as a cultural expression of greeting, illustrating the physical manifestation of the 'holy kiss' mentioned in Scripture.

Now you see again, it was a common practice in the East, as it is in many parts of the East to this day, to greet someone with an embrace and with a kiss upon the cheek. I don't know how many kisses I gave in my three weeks time in Pakistan several years ago. I remember one occasion at the end of a pastor's conference where there were close to a hundred Pakistani pastors, and I had to give them the typical Pakistani Christian greeting, which was an embrace over one shoulder, an embrace over another shoulder, and then back to the former shoulder, and then in some cases a kiss upon the cheek. We...

6:53 - 7:50 Read in full sermon

Driving home: I'm not the greeting type. That's not a matter. It's not a matter what type you are. You submerge your type to the word of God. You submerge your native inclinations to the word of God. It's not a matter of what you feel…

He uses his mother's ability to easily connect with strangers to illustrate the 'gregarious, outgoing' personality type, contrasting it with bashful types, to show that the command to greet applies to all, regardless of natural inclination.

greet every saint, and then by the example of the two indicatives, the brethren that are with me greet you, all the saints greet you, especially they of Caesar's household, God is setting before us our Christian duty. Now I'm quite confident that in the church at Philippi, as in any church, in any place, in any age, there was represented the full range of differing personality types. I'm sure at Philippi you had some of the gregarious, outgoing, back-slapping, how-do-you-do kind of characters who found it easy in a place, where they were total strangers, to walk up to anyone, talk to them, ent...

28:02 - 29:13 Read in full sermon

The point: Be aware of and concerned for the universal church, praying for other churches and engaging with pastors from other regions.

Martin shares an anecdote about a pastor feeling isolated and discouraged, which he used to illustrate the need for Trinity Church to cultivate awareness and fellowship with the universal church, fulfilling its duty to other true churches.

I was to have taken a little break and he said, I know you're tired, you're supposed to take a break, but can I speak to you? Well, what could you say? So I let him talk to me and his problem was this. He said, I'm pastor of a Reformed Baptist church in such and such a place, but I feel so isolated.

40:39 - 40:54 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The mention of 'saints of Caesar's household' provides a basis for renewed faith in the gospel's power. Martin likens it to a 'sweet smell coming out of a garbage heap,'…

This analogy is used to powerfully convey the unexpected and miraculous nature of the gospel's penetration into Caesar's household, a place of paganism and wickedness, highlighting the gospel's transformative power.

It sets before us a basis of renewed faith and confidence in the power of the gospel. It sets before us a basis of renewed faith and confidence in the power of the gospel. Now what would you children think if someone on the street came running down towards your house tomorrow and says, you've got to come with me. I've just been to the local garbage dump and there's the most wonderful smell coming out of the dump.

42:44 - 43:16 Read in full sermon