Grace OPC Sewickley PA

Sermon Book: Ephesians

  • Order, Office, and Heavenly Realities

    Order, Office, and Heavenly Realities

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Christians & Their Vows” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, April 1, 1990.

    About this sermon

    The church’s order and offices reflect heavenly realities themselves. Several New Testament passages call members to respect church officers and call officers to humility.

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    Sermon transcript

    This morning our scripture reading is from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. We begin our reading in chapter 2, verse 11. Hear the word of God. Say the word of God. Therefore remember that you, who were once Gentiles in the flesh, were called uncircumcision by those who are called the circumcision in the flesh, made by hands. At that time, you were without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the promises, having no hope and without God in the world.

    But now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who has made both groups one and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility. He abolished in his flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that he might create in himself one new humanity, making peace. He did this so that he might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thereby ending the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and to those who were near. For through him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household. You are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ himself as the cornerstone. In him, the whole building, joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him, you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

    Then turning to chapter four, beginning with verse eleven: And he gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ.

    Can we all come into unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ? That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, but speaking the truth in love may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head—even Christ—from whom the whole body, fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

    We are wrapping up a series that has dealt with Christians and their vows. And this last installment in this series has to do with the matter of office.

    This topic may not be of immediate interest to you. You may not think of yourself as someone called to office, and there are only certain individuals within the Church who are called to office. Therefore, discussing this issue might bring before us a subject that does not involve everyone, and you might think so immediately. But is this true? Are we not all interested in the church and her order? Do we not have a vested interest in our church’s order? Are not the church’s officers important to us, since they are set in the church for our good?

    I wish this morning merely to place before you a proposition and develop it, in order to lay the foundation for consideration of the matter of those vows particular to the officers of this church. That proposition is this: When we deal with the church’s order and her offices, we must remember—we must remember—we are dealing with heavenly things. That is the proposition. When we deal with the Church’s order and her officers, we must remember that we are dealing with heavenly things.

    You might recall some of the material from that letter to the Hebrews. In that letter, at several points, the writer tells us that the old order, even the old order, was a copy and shadow of heavenly realities. It was as if there was a reflection from above into the earth of the form and outline of those heavenly truths. You have then in the heavens the truth, the realities, the substance, if you will. And in the old order, with the tabernacle and the temple, its sacrifices and services, even its offices, there is a reflection from heaven to earth.

    But then the writer goes on. If he makes this point clear in chapter 8 and chapter 9, by the time we reach chapter 12 he is pressing us further. In that chapter he goes on to say that we now no longer come to that which was a copy and shadow, but to the very reality itself. He tells us that we have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, so that there is now a sense in which the people of God are in direct contact with that heavenly substance in a way that those under the older administration were not. But he is not done. He presses us further, moving on from chapter 12 to chapter 13.

    Specifically, in the seventeenth verse, he tells us: “Obey your leaders. Obey those officers who have been established within the assembly.” And specifically with respect to these leaders, there is an authority that does not come from a shadow or a copy. It does not come from an earthly administration, even if that administration is as glorious as the one revealed at Sinai. Rather, there is an authority that is unique to this leadership, possessing heavenly weight, significance, and reality. These leaders are in direct contact with heaven itself, which explains the seriousness with which the writer to the Hebrews speaks. Indeed, these leaders may come and go, they may rise, flourish for a time, grow old, and die. But even though they come and go, they serve in the name of and in the power of Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

    Hebrews 13:8. There is then this truth: the heavenly priest, the heavenly officer, glorified as he is, is now asserting his rule through these leaders who have taken their place in the church. This affirms a vital and substantive connection between what is true in heaven and what is happening in the world. The proposition is this: when we deal with the church and her order, when we deal with the church and her offices, we must remember that we are dealing with heavenly things. What we have said, using Hebrews as our background, is confirmed by many considerations in the New Testament.

    Do you remember Jesus at Caesarea Philippi? Do you remember Matthew 16? That is a contested passage, the passage in which Jesus speaks specifically to Peter. He tells Peter, “I am giving you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” You must not overlook the relationship between those keys and heaven itself. And Jesus goes on to explain, “Whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”

    You see, there is something heavenly taking place here. Regardless of our disagreements with the Roman Catholic Church regarding the role of Peter, we can set those aside for a moment. It is clear, is it not, that there is something heavenly taking place here. As Protestants, we often emphasize chapter 18, where that specific blessing—or responsibility—given to Peter is now extended, it seems, to all the disciples.

    For in verse 18 of that chapter, Jesus says to the disciples as a group what he had said formally to Peter. The same language is used: “Whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”

    But the words here are very interesting, because Jesus is not specifically dealing with the disciples per se. This passage deals broadly with the matter of the church itself. The church, in her exercise of authority, as that authority will in fact be exercised throughout the church’s history, from Christ’s resurrection to our own time. So it is, once more, made plain to us from Jesus himself, that there is a relationship that exists between things in heaven and things on earth, a relationship that has never before been so clearly established. The focal point of this relationship is the church, and specifically the church’s offices. Jesus appears after his resurrection in the upper room, as recorded in John 20, where he makes a similar statement to his disciples, in verse 23. He tells them that the sins they forgive will be forgiven, and the sins they bind will remain bound. This authority from Christ resides with the church in its authoritative offices. That is what we find generally in the Gospels.

    What about the Apostle Paul? There are two images that Paul uses with respect to the church. These two images appear repeatedly. He speaks of the church as the body of Christ. He also speaks of the church as a new, final, or heavenly temple of God. Both images are used, and both of these images have been used in the passages from Ephesians that we read this morning. With respect to the first, we are told that the church is the body of Christ. Now that is interesting language, is it not? Because we know that the body of Christ is at the right hand of the Father. And yet Paul speaks of the church as the body of Christ. To what end? That things in heaven may be connected to things on earth. Yet there is this relationship, now established as never before, between things above and things here.

    The body of Christ is a body. Yet the church can also be called the body of Christ. The church is also called the temple of God. She is the final dwelling place of God in the Spirit. The end of Ephesians 2 makes this clear. And this temple, this final abode for God and His people, actually binds things eternal and heavenly to those things that are here in our present existence, in our present order of things. How pervasive this matter of the church as the temple of God is throughout the epistles of Paul. It is clearly asserted, especially in the pastorals. For example, in Ephesians 2, Paul speaks of the church as the household of God.

    This language is used again by Paul when he writes to Timothy in 1 Timothy 3:15. He has written these things to Timothy so that he might know how to behave himself in the house of God. The term used by Paul here is not to be understood in a domestic sense, as if it refers to a private home or villa. It refers to the temple. So that you might know how to behave yourself in the temple of God—the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth, the new and final temple of God. In this temple, as it is spelled out in the pastoral epistles—1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus—there is presented to you the ordering of the new and final temple of God and the offices that are established within it. How close was Luke to Paul? Things in heaven and things on earth. The body of Christ, the temple of God. How close was Luke to Paul? Would we be surprised to find Paul’s attitudes reflected in Luke’s writings?

    Not at all. Survey the book of Acts. What is the intention there? Is it not to show that we have moved from the old order and its temple to the new order and its temple, which is centered in the church of Jesus Christ, the work of the Spirit, bringing order out of chaos, and establishing for the church her offices? This is not a moving beyond Paul and Luke. What about John in the book of Revelation? The language there about temple and order. How heaven opens and John sees into heaven itself. And what does he find there in the fourth chapter?

    He finds twenty-four elders surrounding the throne, even in the eternal order. The office persists, and not only are the twenty-four elders mentioned, but also four living creatures. Was it any accident that in the ancient church each of those creatures, the four living creatures, was associated with one of the gospel writers? The proclamation of the Word is related to those creatures, as there are four corners of the earth, so there are four creatures, and the Word of God goes out to the ends of the earth. The four creatures thus indicate the preaching office, and the twenty-four elders indicate the ruling office, even in eternity. The heavenly truth asserting itself in earthly circumstances is the good of heaven.

    Now does that not sober you? If indeed what is happening here, and that through the work of Jesus Christ, is a glimpse of heaven, and if you are now in touch with heaven in a way that was never before possible, how seriously ought you to take the matters that pertain to the church, her orders, and her offices? How ought you to treat your officers? How ought you to respect them? How should you reverence them for the sake of the office, not because they cannot fall or stumble, not because they cannot destroy your confidence or do things that ruin their effectiveness within the office, or even discredit themselves to the point of being removed? But be that as it may. The office itself demands your respect, because these are heavenly matters. Indeed, in the assembly you are exalted, yet simultaneously sobered. And what of you who hold office? Or what of us who have office? Yes, there is a glory.

    For there are functions of office that place us on the side of God, as God would speak to you through us for your good and benefit. But what humility is necessary! For the one we serve is the Lord Jesus Christ, the greatest officer, who is known specifically for his humility and who gave himself for his sheep. Here is the background: we are touching heavenly things, as the church generally, and also specifically as we consider the church’s order and her offices. Let us keep that in mind as we move on next week to think about the vows, the oaths that are peculiar to office, and the obligations and duties that come with it. Let us pray.

    Now, our Lord, may we, though unworthy, again think deeply and earnestly about the eternal realm of heaven, about the kingdom above. What the ministry of your Son has meant, through which we have now been brought into such vital connection, into such wonderful and amazing contact with those heavenly truths. Indeed, we have come to the heavenly Jerusalem, and as the body of Christ and the temple of God, we are bound to things above. And, oh Lord, may we understand that this order exists because we are in contact with it, as our Christ, the head and king of the church, exerts his rule and reign in ways that please him among his people in the world. Prepare us now, Lord, as we approach the cross of our Savior, that we may be mindful of what he has done for us. We rejoice in our God.

    The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.

  • The Marriage Vow

    The Marriage Vow

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Christians & Their Vows” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, March 11, 1990.

    About this sermon

    The Puritans took oaths seriously, and the OPC’s marriage ceremony carries real doctrinal weight. Marriage today is unhealthy, and only Christ makes marriages strong.

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    Sermon transcript

    This morning we are reading from Ephesians chapter 5, and we will begin with verse 15 and read to the end of that chapter. Hear the word of God. See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as those who are wise. Since the days are evil, therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which there is excess, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Give thanks always for all things to God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for God. Why? Submit to one another, even as the wives submit to their own husbands, as to the Lord.

    For the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head of the Church. He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, as the Church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of water with the Word, so that He might present the Church to Himself in glory, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the Church.

    For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church. Therefore, each one of you in particular should love his wife as himself, and the wife should reverence her husband.

    We ask of you, our God, that we might be fed with your word. Teach us obedience in our daily tasks. May we honor you, Lord, with our offerings and with our lives. Encourage us in our jobs. Bless us, Lord, if we struggle in them. Encourage us, Lord, where we are in great need, in our homes. In the distress that may well be a part of our hearts, these burdens dwell within the fabric of our lives at this time. Through your word, Lord, send help and healing. We beseech you through Christ, in the power of the Spirit. Amen.

    There are advantages to being a Puritan. There are great advantages to being a self-conscious, even a determined Puritan. There are advantages in the austerity of our heritage in Puritanism. There are advantages in its sober simplicity and in its steadfast piety.

    The reason I say this is because the Puritan, unlike us, would not let a vow pass without reviewing that vow and that oath with full seriousness. The habit of the Puritan was not merely to meditate upon the Word day and night, but also to take with utmost seriousness vows and oaths spoken, so that before they were uttered publicly, they were carefully considered and deeply reflected upon.

    Now I know how it is in our time. The occasion often overshadows the oath. Not because the oath is given little thought, but because the event is so important, so monumental, so utterly significant. We find ourselves overtaken by excitement. We find ourselves unreflective. We find ourselves in a non-meditative state. We do not take time to think about what we are saying because of the excitement of the moment. The particularities of the occasion eclipse the significance of the event itself, especially the vows.

    So, do you remember your vows in baptism? Do you remember your vows in membership? If you are an officer, do you remember your vows when assuming office? Can you recite for me this morning, from memory, your marriage vows? I guarantee that only pure and worthless salt could. Call them to mind instantly. This morning we want to review both the event and its vow. Because, unfortunately, we are much too unlike our European forefathers.

    I will be using the service that appears in the standards of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, and I dare say that though there may be some differences, there are also striking and marked similarities between this service and other services, even the service that may have been yours, particularly.

    Believe it or not, the wedding ceremony is highly doctrinal. It is filled with doctrinal content. The wedding ceremony is built upon a doctrinal foundation and expresses itself in doctrinal ways as it progresses. Let us then consider the parts of the service, the ceremony, and think about their doctrinal significance.

    To begin with, there is the institution, or the words of institution. In these words, what is happening is that, in Christian marriage, God establishes His heredity. The institution of marriage, the words of institution in this section that now begins the wedding ceremony, are God establishing His prerogatives. First of all, with respect to this whole matter of institution, there is the recognition of witnesses. This casts the whole matter in a legal frame. We cannot avoid it. That is what I plead with you: continually, we cannot avoid the legal frame of the various activities, institutions, events, and character of our lives. Built within the framework of nature itself is this legal structure. So at the very outset of marriage, at the ceremony, the words of institution bring before us this establishment of God’s prerogatives in the recognition of witnesses. How does it go?

    I think some of you can provide this part of the ceremony. Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the presence of God to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony. The witnesses are twofold. There is, of course, the congregation assembled. They are witnesses to the event. Strictly speaking, they are qualified to give testimony in a court of law regarding what has taken place in the ceremony. See, the legal nature of the ceremony continues.

    But not only is the assembly a witness, God Himself is also a witness. The couple has come before God, and the congregation has assembled in His presence. He is the primary witness. While you may not hear the testimony of human beings, you must hear the testimony of God. The unseen witness is the most important witness.

    And life lived afterward, in the knowledge of that one who is unseen. How glorious a life that promises to be. Thus, the first part of the institution—the words of institution and the gathering of the witnesses. Then comes God’s ordination, another part of this section. Marriage is by God’s ordination. Here we are presented with the clear teaching of God’s revelation. His word.

    We are told that in the time of man’s innocence, God gave to man a wife, preparing for man a woman who would be a suitable helper. God Himself sanctioned marriage in creation, giving us revelation about what occurred in the state of man’s innocence. But after the fall of man, marriage continues, and it continues to have God’s blessing. This is confirmed to us by Christ Himself.

    We are told that in the wedding service, Christ was present at the wedding at Cana, as recorded in John chapter 2. We also have Christ’s words in Matthew 19, verse 6, where He says, “What God has joined together, let no man separate.” God is present in the garden, in the ministry of Christ, and also in the authority of the apostles. This is what we find in Ephesians 5 and elsewhere.

    The apostles speak well of the institution of marriage and confirm God’s ordination of it. It may be judged. Paul could choose to remain unmarried or to marry. We know this from 1 Corinthians 7, for example. At the same time, the Apostle Paul speaks glowingly and powerfully about marriage in Ephesians chapter 5 and elsewhere.

    God’s ordination is rooted in revelation, and this is confirmed by the testimony of the church. As the church reflects upon that revelation, it concludes that God has given marriage to humanity for the enrichment of those who enter into this estate.

    Marriage is meant to be an enrichment. It is the addition of another person to a single soul. The coming together of two persons means an expansion, not a subtraction—an expansion of one’s own consciousness, sensitivity, and vision of life. This is what makes selfishness and a solitary life within marriage so terrible, so destructive, and so damaging. Marriage is meant to be an enrichment, a deepening.

    We also say in the ceremony that, having reflected upon the revelation of God, marriage is for the propagation of the human race.

    We are not selfish in the sense that we stand solitarily before one another in the marriage relationship, but we are not selfish either as a couple standing solitarily before the world. It is very difficult to defend the justifications and rationalizations that we hear today, which many couples use to justify having no children. We are taught in Scripture that marriage is in fact for the propagation of the race. The natural result is children.

    And also for the extension of Christ’s church to the glory of the covenant of God. It is not merely so that we might have children, but that other households may be established. You see, it is through the establishment of households that we see the extension of Christ’s Church. There is a natural means by which this is accomplished.

    It is not only through conversions, people coming in from unbelief. It is through the seed of the Church. Households being established, then multiplying. And that is how the church grows. Here is church growth in a way that some have forgotten in our time. So we have it.

    The words of institution. We also have God’s ordination. But now we come to the charge. The charge can be very sensitive, but I want you to understand the charge in this context. It is for the maintaining of the integrity of the community. You know how this session stands.

    These two persons have come to be joined in this holiest state of marriage. If any man can show just cause why they may not lawfully be wedded, let him now declare it, or else hereafter forever hold his peace. The charge given to those assembled is for the maintaining of the integrity of the community. There may well be reasons why this couple should not be joined together. There have been matters raised in times past. There are matters raised in Scripture itself. Proximity due to blood. Facts coming to light from the communities at that time that speak to this case.

    There may be issues regarding indecency and morality that rightly should prevent these people from coming together. There are also matters of faith within the community to consider. Do these people profess a common faith? Do they believe in the same God? Do they serve and worship the same Savior? After posing these questions to the community, the same questions are then placed before the couple.

    I require and charge you both that if either of you knows any just cause why you may not be lawfully joined together in matrimony, you do now confess it. This is for the integrity of the community. This is no formality. These matters, having been considered seriously, are then set aside, assuming that both the community and the couple maintain their integrity. Neither the assembly nor the couple is lying. Thus, all suspicions, all questions, and all implied doubts are set aside and dismissed. If you are sitting in the congregation, you have had your opportunity.

    This is the charge, and it was judged to be very serious by those who originally included it in the sermons. But we now move from the charge to the change. From the charge to the change. In this, we see the maintenance of the integrity of the households involved.

    Have you considered the giving of the bride? Have you thought about the act involved in this tradition? And why, in the traditional wedding service, this is an essential part? There is a great deal of doctrine behind this simple action, this simple practice. The giving of the bride. The bride is moving from one household to another. She is moving from under the authority of one head to a position under the authority of another.

    Therefore, the head of the previous household gives his consent and gives her over to the one who will now establish a household for her. Thus, the head of the household, or someone standing in his place, gives this woman to them at this point in the ceremony.

    And that is why we find next the question, posed directly to the man. The question put to him is, will you have this woman to be your wedded wife, to live with her according to God’s commandments and in the holy estate of marriage? And will you love her, honor her, and cherish her as long as she shall live? In this, the man to whom she is to be bound declares to all his intention to provide for her a home, a household. And in that household, he declares that he is prepared to provide for her in love, in honor, and in cherishing her as long as they both shall live. A permanent arrangement.

    It is only at this point that the woman declares her willingness. Only after she has heard the man does she herself express her willingness with respect to him. Will you have this man to be your wedded husband, to live with him according to God’s commandments in the holiest state of marriage, and will you love him, cherish him, and obey him as long as you both shall live? Again, the theology becomes clear, does it not?

    I know that this is a source of frustration for many in this day and age, because they have gone so far as to change that portion of the wedding ceremony to remove all reference to obedience and submission. But you see, what was at work in this part of the ceremony in times past was this: the woman passes from one household to another, with the guarantee and promise coming from this man that he will provide for her and take care of her.

    What a tragedy it is when a woman discovers that her husband is unworthy. And he did not need to say a word. She is vulnerable. She is vulnerable. And what a tragedy for a man to assert his freedom and his power in such a way as to utterly destroy the integrity of that vow by failing to provide for this woman.

    And that brings us to the vow itself. This vow exists for the maintenance of the integrity of the couple. The man speaks first. The exchange is now in view. The woman has passed from her father’s household or from her former home to this man’s household. Now the man declares: “I take thee to be my wedded wife, and I do promise and covenant before God and these witnesses to be thy loving and faithful husband, in sickness and in health, in plenty and in want, in joy and in sorrow, as long as we both shall live.”

    First, there is a declaration of reception. He has received her. “I take thee.” This is permanent. Then follows a promise and covenant that covers all aspects of life, leaving nothing untouched by its scope. In sickness and in health, relating to physical well-being and the body; in plenty and in want, relating to economic circumstances; in joy and in sorrow, encompassing all emotional and psychological experiences of life. You pledge yourself. You take her into your home to provide for her and care for her.

    Only after hearing this declaration from the man does the woman then declare her own commitment in the same manner. The vow is sealed with a ring. This is a tradition. There is nothing biblical about this practice. It is a tradition that originated in the Roman Catholic Church. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Amen. That is the truth. That is the truth. The ring is placed on the fourth finger, often called the “Amen finger,” because it is the left hand, which is used less frequently than the right hand.

    At the conclusion, there is a declaration and blessing for the maintenance of the integrity of the Church. The minister declares: “By virtue of the authority committed to me by the Church of Christ and by the law of the state, I now pronounce you husband and wife in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” There is a final reminder: “God hath joined together, and no man shall put asunder,” and the blessing is given freely.

    So there you have it. The event, with its vows, is once more before your consideration. I realize that these are not easy times. It is not a good time for marriage. And if that is true outside the church, it is also true inside the church. Because the number of broken marriages is increasing. It used to be that the woman was especially vulnerable. I have already mentioned that. Now, increasingly, the man is also becoming vulnerable. And the wreckage lies along the path that once was covered with rose petals.

    A scandal in the Church of Jesus Christ. A great deal of pain. Tragic circumstances as marriages are torn apart. People are wounded. The suffering is intense. It is as though one is undergoing crucifixion. In such circumstances, those who are caught in this situation should look to God and flee to Christ.

    Many come with true humility, not claiming their own perfection in any way, but casting themselves upon the mercy of God and upon Jesus Christ for His grace. They realize that vows were made, and perhaps they did not do all that they could have. Perhaps the fault lies with them. Perhaps they are the ones responsible. They are willing to admit this. But in coming to Jesus Christ, they realize that there is one here in their Savior who keeps vows perfectly, where they have failed miserably. And their hope is in Him. It may well be that they must bear the consequences of a broken home and a broken marriage. But there is grace to be found in Jesus Christ. And they cast themselves upon Him. He is the perfect Bridegroom. And He is the one who provides perfect sanctification for the bride.

    And if I have stumbled and fallen, then, by His mercy, I can get up again and walk forward, doing better in His power, what I should have done all along. I will not excuse myself. I will not make charges against my spouse or my former spouse, Alberto. But above all else, I will find strength, power, comfort, and consolation in my God, who, by His grace, has provided me with a perfect, full, and complete Savior—one who makes promises and keeps them. And that is for me. Marriage and the vows pertaining to it are important. I trust that this message has brought me help.

    Let us pray. O Lord, what a great and glorious God You are. Help us in our vows, in our promises, with the very power that You have demonstrated in Jesus, Your Son. And with His Spirit, may we continue to live as we are, to do the things that we should. And where we have stumbled, may we receive forgiveness. Where we need help, Lord, may we receive from You Your encouragement.

    The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.

  • Divine Foreknowledge and the Five Points

    Divine Foreknowledge and the Five Points

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of “The Bible and Calvinism” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, December 6, 1987.

    About this sermon

    The series closes with the five points summarized once more and a look at the Arminian view of divine foreknowledge associated with Dr. Craig. Real mystery remains in God’s eternal prescience, even while affirming the ‘already and not yet’ character of our heavenly life in Christ.

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    Sermon transcript

    Paul writes, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love. Having predestined us for adoption as His children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, in which He has made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. He has made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself. That in the fullness of time He might gather all things together in Christ, both things in heaven and things on earth, in Him. In whom we also have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His own will, so that we might be to the praise of His glory, who were the first to hope in Christ. After you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom, after you believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. This Spirit is the guarantee, the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

    We have come to the seventh and final message in this series entitled The Bible and Calvinism.

    It has been an interesting journey, though not without complexity. We have reviewed the five points, the traditional five points, once again, known to us by the acronym TULIP. The T, total depravity, gives us our doctrine of humanity. The U, unconditional election, gives us our doctrine of God. The L, limited atonement, gives us our doctrine of Christ. The I, irresistible grace, gives us our doctrine of the Holy Spirit. And the P, perseverance of the saints, gives us our doctrine of the Church.

    We have not only reviewed these five points once again, but we have also examined the historical background from which they emerged. We have recalled once more the struggles of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. We have come to understand anew the context in which these doctrines were formulated, first upon the foundation laid by Calvin, then further developed by our Dutch ancestors as they sought to uphold the truths of the Belgic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism, and later reaffirmed by our English and Scottish forebears, who likewise sought to preserve these same truths. As is fitting, our journey has been in the Word and with the Word. In our messages, we have directly quoted from thirty-two books of the Bible to establish our case. In the end, the Bible provides us with an infallible foundation for the convictions we hold dear.

    Given the weight of this evidence, how can anyone stand before the flood of testimony from Scripture concerning God’s absolute freedom and His absolute sovereignty in all things? Yet, the majority of Christendom at this point in history does just that.

    William Lane is an articulate man. He is well spoken and makes no apology for his views. He traces his doctrinal heritage to the seventeenth-century resistance to Calvinism, a movement that has come to be known as Arminianism, named for its founder, Jacob Arminius.

    Dr. Craig has written a book called The Only Wise God. When we have finished reading the book, we are not certain that the God he describes is as wise as he claims. He has written this book, which turns out to be a classic defense of the Arminian doctrine of God’s foreknowledge, based on what Scripture teaches.

    What is the Arminian doctrine of God’s foreknowledge? Simply this: because God knows all things—past, present, and future—he therefore foreknows all things. His foreknowledge takes precedence over every kind of activity in which God is engaged. His foreknowledge precedes even his foreordination, his predestination, and his election. Therefore, God’s decision to act in a certain way, or to save a particular person, is based solely on his foresight.

    In other words, God chooses you because he foresees that you will choose him. God chooses you because he foresees that you will, in time, believe the gospel. The basis of God’s choice of you, then, is your choice of him—the Arminian doctrine of God’s foreknowledge.

    There are serious errors in this position. First, it makes even God’s foresight entirely dependent on human will. You can see this clearly. Second, as has been regularly pointed out, it completely misunderstands the biblical concept of God’s foreknowledge.

    This word in Scripture does not refer to God’s acquisition of information prior to events actually occurring. Instead, it pertains specifically to God’s relationship—his intimate relationship—with his people. It is the biblical sense of knowing that is at work in the word for knowing. This word then pertains specifically to God’s relationship to his people and his love. Read “know” as “love.” That love which was set upon those whom he is calling to himself before time began, from before the foundation of the world.

    That is the sense of it in Romans 8, where it is used, and that idea, though the word is not expressly used in Ephesians 1 and 4, is present there nonetheless. Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. But there is yet another and more serious fallacy, and one which is often overlooked by Calvinists themselves. You see, this Arminian doctrine of the foreknowledge of God assumes a single-dimensional, one-dimensional understanding of the person of God. Hang with me. Let me explain this.

    According to Dr. Craig, God is a being who knows and experiences time, as you and I do. Therefore, God, like us, passes from the past into the present, just as we do. Although God, unlike us, knows all things past, present, and future, he, like us, only experiences those things when they have become present. He experiences them at the same time his creatures do. Well, what about this? To be sure, there is that sense in which God limits himself by and for his creation—a creation that is time-bound, in which there is past, present, and future. And we see in Scripture God moving through the events from Genesis to Revelation, as if he was experiencing them at the same time at which those in his creation were experiencing them.

    And that speaks to us of God’s marvelous condescension, that He would limit Himself in that way. But this is only one dimension to our consideration of our great God. And I might say a self-limiting and self-restrained dimension at that. This single dimension, this one-dimensional God, is quite intelligible to us. For He conceived a plan and then He sets about to realize that plan. We as Calvinists hold that He will realize that plan certainly, completely, and infallibly. Still, while it is true that we have before us our God in keeping with this single dimension, a being that we can, in some sense, understand.

    Yet, we, in keeping with our Calvinist conviction, must acknowledge that our God is also incomprehensible to us. When we are faced with Him and His incomprehensibility, He leaves us awestruck and dumbfounded. For our God, in His essence, is not bound by time, by the succession of moments, or hours, or days, or years, or eons. Our God, in a way that is beyond our comprehension, encompasses the entirety of time.

    He not only knows the end from the beginning; He is spoken of in Scripture as being the end, as well as the beginning. He is called the Alpha and the Omega, the one who is, who was, who is to come, seemingly impervious to time. He is the one who reveals Himself to Moses at the burning bush with that great statement of self-definition: “I am that I am.”

    There is no past tense in God. In His essence. And there is no future tense in Him. In His essence. In His transcendence, He simply is not subject to time as we know it. There is, then, a sense in which He stands at the end, at the end, at precisely the same moment He stands at the beginning. And we, standing before such a God as this, are thrown into the company of the simplest child. Is there a profounder question asked than that by the child? “Dad, who made God?”

    Think of it. When your mind attempts to understand this question, it is as if there is a short circuit. It is as if your mental energy is drained. You cannot conceive of a being who had no beginning. You cannot conceive of such a being. But when faced with God, who is the beginning and the end, seemingly transcending time itself, our minds again experience a short circuit, and our mental energy fails us. How can there be such a being? Before Him, we are all overwhelmed, completely overwhelmed. Who is God like our God? Truly, our mental energy is exhausted in contemplating Him. We must confess that our God’s knowledge of the future is not limited to a part of His omniscience.

    That is precisely what the Arminian claims. The Arminian denies that God is present in the future. But you see, when the future arrives, God is already there. And He has been there. This teaching is so wonderful that the comfort it brings is inestimable. For you, all things are as certain as the existence of God. For you, not to reach the end to which God has predestined you, not to attain that goal, not to persevere to the inheritance, would be like God abandoning His own being, His existence. But because He does exist, the future for you is guaranteed. And that is why, you see, you need not worry. Because everything is already secure. He is there. Even in the moments you have not yet experienced. He is already there. And it will be alright.

    Our God therefore remains, yes, a multidimensional being. He is, in one sense, comprehensible to us, yet in another, a mystery and utterly unfathomable. But we, his creatures, are different. There is a sense in which we, like our God, are single, one-dimensional beings. We experience our moments, our days, one by one, as these moments of time give way to further experiences in time. Yet interestingly, strangely, marvelously, the incomprehensible begins to impact us. The incomprehensible even intrudes into our experience so that we are faced with it in an unmistakable way.

    For while it is true that we, along one dimension, a single dimension, are enduring our pilgrimage, enduring the journey that is laid out for us, persevering in it unto the end, as Scripture speaks, there is also, marvelous to say, another dimension that comes and intrudes into our lives. For we, too, know the future.

    The goal of our faith, the objective of our perseverance, is glory. This is our inheritance from God. This is heaven itself, purchased for us through the blood of Christ. And by this, we know our destiny. Yet in the most remarkable way, incomprehensible to us, we, by grace, have been granted not only to know the future, but to experience it now.

    This is the force and the power of Ephesians 1:3 through 14, and this is the vantage point from which the apostle speaks. He speaks of our experiencing the future in two ways. In verse 3, he tells us that we have been blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ. This is more than just an awareness of those blessings or an experience of their benefit. Paul is talking about an actual participation in the heavenly places, because of our union with Christ.

    Later, in verses thirteen and fourteen, he speaks about the Holy Spirit, who mediates to us the realities of our destiny and the realities of our inheritance above. The Holy Spirit comes bearing with him the certainty of our inheritance, and the certainty of the peace that belongs to it. Now it is out of the background of this kind of realization and certainty that the greatest articulation and the greatest confession of God’s absolute freedom and his absolute sovereignty arrives.

    For you see, to participate in the future realities of the inheritance, in the future realities of heaven, places you at the end. And it is from the vantage point of the end that you now look back upon all of life, upon your entire existence, and indeed upon the entirety of the history of the world. What you see is testimony to God and his workings, not to your own righteousness, or your own ability, or your own cleverness, or anything else. The conclusion of the matter is the magnification of grace, for in the conclusion, at the end, at the consummation, it becomes abundantly clear to you that you did not have one thing to do with your salvation. It was all of God, every bit of it, and thus, thoroughly and completely, by his grace that you were saved.

    So then. The key. The perseverance of the same. As we thought of it last week, a journey to our destination. But as we consider it this week, the participation in the world, the participation in the end. The objective of our journey is already present, even though our journey is not yet complete.

    So now, what is that hymn that arises from the people of God as they contemplate the magnificence of His workings from all eternity for their sake? All of grace, all of grace, is unmerited love, is undeserved favor. Father, we will not be moved except by Your Spirit, and therefore, Lord, may we be moved indeed in our contemplation of the great incomprehensible God. And may we be moved, Lord, by the testimony You have borne to us of Your inexplicable grace—its wonder, its magnitude—how we are overwhelmed as we think of what has been done for us, and that this has focused in Christ and been applied by Your Spirit. Even now, Lord, as we, in the present, participate in future things in a mysterious and wonderful way, may we be prompted with Your saints in every age to sing the hymn of praise: All of Grace. All of Grace.

    The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.

  • The Meaning of Unconditional Election

    The Meaning of Unconditional Election

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of “The Bible and Calvinism” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, November 1, 1987.

    About this sermon

    Arminian doctrine took shape through a specific history, and the five points of Calvinism make clear what ‘unconditional’ election means. Election and regeneration produce good works and even faith itself, and never the reverse.

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    This morning we are reading from Ephesians chapter two verses one through ten. And you have been made alive. who were dead in trespasses and then. Well, even in time past, he walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now workers in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the last of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were, by nature, the children of wrath, even as others.

    But God, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sin, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace, we are saved, and hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

    For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them.”

    Oh God, you send forth your word, and the rich harvest, it comes forth. And it comes forth for your sake, as your church takes shape. Lord, your servants, all of us, bow before you. we who have become the beneficiaries of your word. And Lord, we acknowledge that we are part of the harvest. And Lord, how we rejoice in the harvest that is gathered by you. Your servants throughout the world, they preach today, the harvest shall be gathered and you are glorified. Amen.

    In 1609, Jacob Arminius, a Dutch theologian In the following year, 1610, his followers issued their five articles of faith. These five articles were presented to the state of Holland and its church. in the form of a protest called the Remonstrance. At this time, the Dutch churches held to the Belgic Confession of Faith of 1561 and the rightly famous Heidelberg Catechism of 1563. The Dutch churches held to these documents as the official expression of their doctrinal position.

    Both confession and catechism were thoroughly Calvinist. The followers of Arminius, later known as Arminian, were lodging five complaints against the classic statement. Concerning the faith. Taking exception to their teachings about divine sovereignty, human depravity and the consequences of those doctrines.

    Essentially They were overturing the Church of Holland, desirous of obtaining a revision of the standards in keeping with the statements of their five points. In 1618, eight years after The lodging of this protest, the National Synod of the Dutch Reformed Churches, convened in the city of Dort. And by May of the following year, that synod had completed its work on what now are called the Canons of Dort. five chapters written especially to refute the five articles of Arminian faith. Now these chapters are expansive, but they have been distilled and popularized in the so-called five points of Calvinism. and have come down to us in the popular form of the acronym PHILIP, in which each letter in that word signifies a cardinal doctrine held by the Calvinist or the Reformed faith. supplies us with our doctrine of man, that man is totally the prey.

    The you is our doctrine of God. God is absolutely sovereign in his salvation of sinners, and his election is unconditional, thus the you, for unconditional election. The L is our doctrine of Christ. Not one drop of Christ’s blood is wasted upon the cross, for his atoning death is directed specifically towards and limited to the elect. The R is our doctrine of the Holy Spirit. He applies God’s grace, the efficaciousness of Christ’s death, irresistibly upon the elect. The I, therefore, coming from that word, irresistible. The P, preservation of the saints, our doctrine of the Church, namely God’s those for whom Christ has died, they alone shall persevere until the end.”

    Thus far we have considered the key our doctrine of man, total depravity, and by that we have reminded ourselves that when we speak of the total depravity of man, we are not saying that man is as sinful or as wicked as he can be, but that man in all of his faculties is affected by sin and he is thus corrupted in such a way that he cannot commend himself before God. on the basis of his own righteousness or his own marriage. We have also considered, in part, the you for unconditional election. We considered the you, first of all, in the broadest manner. as it pertains to God’s sovereign election and the reality that on every page of the Scriptures from beginning to end, that doctrine is manifest and clear. God’s sovereign election has been defined as that profound mystery in God’s eternal decree, expressing his perfect freedom in choosing, calling, saving whomever he will. This morning, we continue our reflection upon the you by concentrating on the unconditional of that election from God.

    What does it mean to say election is unconditioned? Well, it means that God’s choice of you, his choice of me, his choice of his people is not conditioned by anything in us, and that the reason for that choice is found in and rests solely with him. What does it mean to speak of election as unconditional? It means that God’s choice of you, of me, of His people, is not conditioned by anything in us, but the reason for His choice is found in and rests solely with Him.

    You walk out of the door this morning on your way to church. possibly feeling particularly fine because you were on your way to Grace Church, that bastion of Calvinistic orthodoxy. You looked across the street and you noticed your neighbor, and for a moment, however brief, you felt that twinge of superiority, since not only was he not a Calvinist, he doesn’t even go to church, and you have no indication of his spiritual vitality whatsoever. In fact, you thought to yourself, again, momentarily, however fleetingly, that you have some very attractive features inherently distinguishing you from your neighbor. Ones which made you an obvious choice by God over him. But such thoughts are a direct contradiction of the Calvinism you hold. The reasons are not found in you. You do not create the conditions for your election in any sense. That decision rests in and with God solely.

    Ephesians 1 verse 4 tells us, He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Now, were you there informing God? That is, before we had opportunity in this life to even exhibit those resilient characteristics, of our personality, we are told that God chose us.

    This is explicitly stated with regard to Jacob and Esau. Most people don’t like to consider what the Apostle Paul has to say about these boys. They were not yet born and had not done either good or evil, in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works, but because of his call. So it is said, the elder will serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob I love, but Esau I hate.

    Now if you want to check that out, It is found in Romans 9, verses 11-13. You see, not only does this passage present the sovereignty of God’s election, but it makes the call of God the root cause. It makes the call of God the root cause of the distinction between Jacob and Esau. and going beyond that, looking at it even a bit closer, specifically it excludes works as the reason for that call.

    But it might be, in the end, all of grace. Now the same sort of thing Paul says to Timothy The second epistle, the first chapter, the ninth verse, God saved us and called us with a holy calling, not in virtue of our words, but in virtue of his own purpose and the grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus ages ago, or before all ages. God’s election is unconditional. There is no place, fear, or strife.

    But even beyond this, you see, while we may be tempted to flatter ourselves, we are compelled to take into account the biblical testimony concerning our nature, we’ve already spoken about that with regard to the first point of Calvinism, namely total depravity. Not an inherent goodness, not all those redeeming features, none of these things catch God’s attention, and none of them provide the basis of his choice of us. Scripture testifies that we are sold under sin.

    Ephesians 2.1 tells us that we were dead in our trespasses and sins. What does a dead man have that he can commend to anyone? Nor is it a matter, as some have suggested, of God foreseeing our works down the corridors of history. and the particular wonderful features of our character down the corridors of history, and making his choice on the basis of his foresight of the works that we will perform or the faith that we will exercise. But hear out the testimony of the Word and the consistent testimony of the Reformed Church, God’s election, His call, is the cause of our good works. The positive features of our character are the result of his electing grace. Paul tells us we were chosen that we should be holy and without blame before him.

    Again, Ephesians 1.4. the impact of Ephesians 2.10. Our recreation in Christ, we who were dead, is unto good works.

    Those good works do not provide the basis for our recreation, our election, but they are the result of our election. And notice the order of things in John fifteen sixteen, where Christ said, You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit. The fruit bearing comes after the choosing. No, good works are the result, not the ground of our election, and similarly with our faith.

    God does not choose us because he foresees our faith. We are told once more by Paul in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 13, God chose us from the beginning to be saved through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. Our sanctification and our belief come on the heels of God’s electing purpose and choice of us. I am amazed, I am amazed that people can continually read John 3 and miss the point. That chapter begins with Jesus speaking about the utter impossibility of a man doing anything to save himself, let alone find something within himself that enables him to commend himself to God.

    I have heard sermons, and I know you have too, in which we are led to believe that the faith that is spoken of by Jesus in John 3.16 actually becomes the condition of the movement of the Spirit. And Calvin, with all of his energy, resisted that, and we should resist it too. Does faith and repentance precede regeneration? Do they, in some sense, precede God’s election? No, God’s election is unconditional, and our salvation rests in Him. The Spirit blows where it will. You hear the sound of it. You can’t tell where it’s going, where it came from. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit.

    The honor, absolute sovereignty of God in choosing sinners for salvation. The election is unconditioned. It is not conditioned upon our character, our good works, or even our faith or the foresight of the same. Its cause rests in God, in the mystery of His will. It rests in His love. It rests in his inexplicable grace, which he pours out then in time upon the undeserving, who in themselves can lay no claim upon him.

    Will it be by grace and grace of love. Will it be by God’s choice, or by some other? No. When I walk out the door on a Sunday morning and look across the street, and I spy my neighbor in his yard at his door, I cannot content myself that there is some inherent quality in me that makes me better than him. Not at all. He is God’s grace. And because it is, we praise him all the more. election, the U of II, a doctrine solidly anchored in the Word of God and in the testimony of the Reformed and Presbyterian Church for generations.

    Father, if we take it all in, we are melted. For if we search ourselves for the reason, the reason is not apparent. And therefore we are cast upon you, and the reason is known only to you. And communicated to us, then, in terms of your love. A love inexplicable. but real, vibrant, active in this world, we ourselves being a testimony to its activity and its triumph.

    We pray our God that we would not in any way minimize the cost to you in the demonstration of that love and the procurement of sinful human beings for your kingdom. Therefore, may Jesus Christ, our Savior, be exalted even in our consideration of your unconditional election. This we pray in his name, amen.

    The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.

  • God’s Sovereignty and the Five Points

    God’s Sovereignty and the Five Points

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of “The Bible and Calvinism” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, October 4, 1987.

    About this sermon

    The series opens with what it means to be an Orthodox Presbyterian (a church ruled by elders) before introducing the five points of Calvinism centered on God’s sovereignty and predestination. Many of history’s most influential theologians were themselves Calvinists, all pointing back to the cross of Christ.

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    Sermon transcript

    Our scripture reading this morning is from the first chapter of Ephesians, Ephesians 1, verses 1–14. Here is the word of God. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus.

    Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love. He predestined us to adoption as His children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, in which He has made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. He has made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the fullness of time He might gather all things in Christ, both things in heaven and things on earth, in Him. In Him we have also obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His own will, that we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ. In Him you also trusted, after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. And when you believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

    Father, you have taught us that your word is our life, and that this word is the life of the world. For we would not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of our God. Truly, the nations wait for you and for your law, and now in the gospel of Jesus Christ, the perfection of your law goes forth, the perfection of your command and intention, your purpose, your will. So as your word is preached today, we beseech you, Lord, that we may observe the gathering of the harvest, that our souls may delight and your soul may delight as well in this, the perfection of your work, which you have purposed from before time.

    We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen. We are Orthodox Presbyterians. You can check the sign outside, the recently rehung and repainted sign. It tells us that in bold letters. You can check the front of the bulletin. We are an Orthodox Presbyterian Church. We are Orthodox Presbyterians. That is to say, we are straight-line Presbyterians.

    We affirm in our own understanding of our lineage from that line of Presbyterian purebreds who hold their Presbyterianism with great conviction and without embarrassment before the world, regardless of the cost. Now, in this, we being what we might call straight-line Presbyterians are distinguished from those who are mainline Presbyterians. The mainline Presbyterian Church in this country, the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, has its own particular heritage, it seems, a heritage which has become increasingly blurred and nondescript as far as it compares with what originally was intended. The departure from that original intent is remarkable and obvious. We are then straight-line Orthodox Presbyterians, if we can define Orthodox with the word straight-line. A straight line from that source of origin in our heritage centuries ago, but also a straight line in what we contend for, what we say we believe.

    Now, not only are we straight-line Presbyterians, we are fiercely Presbyterian. We hold our convictions with such determination that recently, in an article published in the Expository Times, written by John Kent, he described us as those fierce Presbyterians of the twentieth century. We are called fierce. Fierce with regard to what? Well, you see, there are two principles that are held as axiomatic to Presbyterian conviction, and so it is suggested, even by those who have no sympathy with us whatsoever, that we hold those axioms with great tenacity.

    As it pertains to our form of government, we hold firmly that God’s people are to be ruled by elders. We do not believe, we do not advocate, and we do not accept a hierarchical form of government—a form of government that peaks in one or a few individuals who have authority over the entire Church across its wide expanse. Nor are we congregational, for we do not believe, as some do, that all matters of the Church’s life are to be decided by majority vote. We do not believe that the power of the Church is vested solely in the congregation as a whole. We find no justification for that in Scripture, regardless of what some may say. Instead, we maintain that God’s people are to be ruled by elders, by presbyters. Thus the name Presbyterian. God’s people are to be ruled by elders, as they have always been ruled by elders, and even to this day, in keeping with that pattern, they are ruled in the same way. By holding this conviction, we say, even to those who may arise within our own circle, that rule by elders is not a New Testament innovation, nor is it a system devised due to practical pressures during the apostolic period.

    Now, believe it or not, even within the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, sentiments like that are beginning to be heard. But if we take John Kent’s statement seriously—that we are fiercely Presbyterian—we do not give in at this point in any way. We hold this principle tenaciously: rule by elders. A principle that is plain and clear for God’s people in His Word throughout. In the Old Testament, yes, even there the people of God were ruled by elders. In the New Testament, no less, and that is our conviction.

    I think it is interesting to note in this regard that there are more people who hold Presbyterian views than we would ordinarily think. I was reading a survey of churches recently, and the developments that have taken place in those churches over the last century. In the great majority of churches, at least within this country, despite the denial by those churches, they are, in the final analysis, governed in a Presbyterian manner. They make decisions for the congregation in a Presbyterian manner. You might find those leaders sitting in a Methodist Church or even in an Episcopalian Church, but they serve in those congregations in a manner that reflects Presbyterian governance. It seems that even congregationalism is being drawn toward a Presbyterian direction—now meeting for regional gatherings, even having national conventions that resemble the Presbyterian form of government, the Presbyterian General Assembly. This pattern is being reflected there.

    We are called fiercely Presbyterian, not simply because we have held to the principle of rule by elders. Even more importantly, we have been defined in this way because we have held with greater tenacity to our Reformed and Calvinistic heritage and doctrinal convictions. Now, I think we are all familiar with the usual approach to our Calvinistic convictions in this regard. When we speak of our Reformed faith and our dependence in some way upon Calvin and his teaching, the five points are invariably mentioned. We have learned them through the acronym associated with them.

    The key point is this: our doctrine of man teaches that man is totally depraved. In the Tulip, our doctrine of God teaches that God elects unconditionally, that is, without regard to anything in us—whether faith or good works, or the promise of such. The reason for our election is found in God alone. The “Y” declares to us our stand regarding the atoning death of Christ: Christ died for his own, for the elect, and not one drop of his blood was shed in vain, not one drop was wasted. The “I” presents our doctrine of the Holy Spirit: the Holy Spirit’s call is irresistible and effectual. The “P” is our doctrine of the Church: the Church of Jesus Christ will endure, and the saints of the Lord will persevere to the end. Our Reformed faith is thus helpfully presented through this acronym. Now I fully feel the weight of what some have observed.

    Specifically, Leonard Koppus, in reviewing the situation in the Reformed Church, found that simply focusing on the five points was not sufficient. He then wrote a book entitled Are the Five Points Enough? The subtitle of that book was The Ten Points of Calvinism, in which the five points were only one part. Thus, you see that there is much more to the Reformed faith and to our Calvinistic convictions than just these five points, though they have been a helpful way for us to understand what we believe. Whether it is the five points, the ten points, or the ten points with one point being the five points, you can see how this discussion could continue indefinitely.

    The focus, without doubt, in our faith is the sovereignty of God—the absolute sovereignty of God. This means that those who are Calvinistic, those who are Reformed or Presbyterian, are those who have fully acknowledged and submitted themselves to the absolute sovereignty of God in all of life, in all of history, and in all that exists. The centrality of God’s sovereignty, His rule over all things, and His power, which no one can overthrow, is fundamental. In this regard, we have typically spoken of certain key terms.

    When reflecting on God’s sovereignty, we have also mentioned His election, His sovereign choice in saving sinners. We have emphasized that this election is not a decision made in time as an emergency measure because of human sin, but rather it is something that was established before the foundation of the world. In accordance with God’s choice of sinners, He elects a people.

    We have also spoken about His predestinating purpose and the fact that He is determining destiny, even specifically our destiny, from before the very beginning of time. It is impossible—I say, impossible—for these facts to be denied. It seems that they cannot even be overlooked, even though they are by many. After all, the testimony to God’s sovereignty is plain on every page of Scripture. And repeatedly throughout, you find indications in the stories and language that describe God’s predestinating purposes and His electing choice.

    Now it may well be that Reformed believers are guilty of playing their own intellectual games in order to make everything come out right in the end. Yet that charge laid against the Calvinist or the Presbyterian, the one who embraces the Reformed faith, is hardly as serious as the charge that can be laid against those who completely deny that God is absolutely sovereign, that He is predestinating, and that He is electing, and that this has been true from before the foundation of the world. For that seems to be a plain and clear denial of what Scripture teaches.

    How do we review the testimony we have read from Ephesians 1? How can you avoid the impact of what the apostle is saying? You have verse four: “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.” There it is: that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love. Then, verse five: “He predestinated us to the adoption of sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will.” Verse eleven: “Also, we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose, who works all things according to the counsel of His will.”

    And where will the testimony end? Is it merely a feature of the book of Ephesians? I tell you, no. You find it in every one of Paul’s epistles. Consider Romans—you cannot read through Romans without encountering the truth of this doctrine, God’s choice. We all recognize the significance of Romans 8, do we not? There it speaks clearly about God’s predestinating purpose and how He will bring many sons to glory through His predestinating work and will. Consider Romans 9.

    Read that chapter. It is overwhelming. In it, Paul presents the case for God’s election, His electing purpose. In doing so, he does not rely solely on the New Testament. He appeals to the Old Testament. He quotes from Genesis and from Exodus. He speaks of Jacob and Esau, how anyone can read that story and still fail to grasp the reality of God’s absolute sovereignty. This truth is difficult, yes, it has been called difficult, but it remains clear: God made the choice. Must I read from that ninth chapter of Romans? It may leave you deeply moved. Verse eleven: “For though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, in order that God’s purpose, according to His choice, might stand—not because of works, but because of Him who calls.” It was said to her, “The older will serve the younger,” just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” Verse sixteen: “So then it does not depend on the one who wills or the one who runs, but on God who shows mercy.” For the Scripture says of Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.” So then He has mercy on whom He desires and hardens whom He will.

    Now, whatever effect this has on us internally as we wrestle with the ninth chapter of Romans, one thing we cannot deny is the clear message Paul is conveying. We may not like it, or the world may not like it, or many in the Church may not like it. But we cannot avoid it.

    Do you have the statement from Peter? Do you think Paul is the only one who holds to this view? Peter agrees with it. The church is called an elect race by him. Jesus Christ himself is called the elect and precious stone. The people of God are called the elect of the Lord by Peter. But is it only the apostles? Jesus does as well, the one who serves. In the fifteenth chapter of John, the sixteenth verse, Jesus says, You did not choose me, but I chose you. And in the sixth chapter of John, the forty-fourth verse, he says, No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. Did Luke believe in the doctrine of predestination and God’s election? Listen to what he writes as he recounts the missionary activity of the early church. Must all missionaries be Arminians? They are not. Neither was Luke. Neither was Paul.

    But here, what Luke writes in his thirteenth chapter, the forty-eighth verse, speaking of those who respond to the message of the gospel, he says, As many as were ordained to eternal life believed. Would you like to go through the book of Revelation and discuss the Lamb’s Book of Life? From the perspective of the prophet speaking in that book, he tells us that things were inscribed before the foundation of the world. All matters, then, seem settled in God. Our firmly held Presbyterian conviction. As is true with church government, you see, there are many people in many churches who are more Presbyterian than they wish to admit.

    I remember listening to a world-famous Methodist preacher. I do not mind mentioning his name: Eugene Leiter. He was the great force behind the American Bible Society and responsible for much of the translation work done in this century. He was a prominent man who translated Scripture. He was hopelessly universalistic in his theology, but this is what he said.

    When I am walking around, I am a Methodist, by which he meant an Arminian. But on my knees, I am a Calvinist. Because there, I cannot avoid confidence in the absolute sovereignty of God. If I do not have that confidence, why pray? Well, there we are. Here we are.

    We hold to a form of church government that we do not feel is negotiable. We hold to doctrines that we do not feel are negotiable. Yet, in our current situation, although there may be supportive voices from people like Dr. Nida, there is also a certain kind of compromise and capitulation among churches that do not have the word Presbyterian in their name.

    Still, the fact is that you, and I, may feel quite alone, quite isolated in the general temperament of our society and church at this time. We have watched, for instance, the way things have developed in this century, taking them as an example.

    In the mainline church in 1903, pressure was brought upon the General Assembly to compromise its position regarding the strong Presbyterianism and Calvinism of the Westminster standards, and that pressure was successful. The confession was revised. In 1906, the merger was completed between the larger mainline body and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, a denomination that had rejected Calvinism and held that the doctrines of grace were offensive to the modern American mind. Then, in 1934, the General Assembly convened, and the president of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Dr. John McNaughter, who was an old United Presbyterian from North America, stood on the floor of the General Assembly of the mainline Presbyterian body. He openly ridiculed the Westminster standards, and he received a standing ovation. Calvinism was gone.

    The strength of Presbyterianism was being eroded. This is the general state of affairs, leaving those who hold to their Presbyterian faith somewhat alone and isolated in an age that seems hardly ready to accept them or what they have to say. But in the midst of that.

    I want you to remember a few things. I want you to remember the scriptures we reviewed today and the power of the scriptures. I have told you that on every page of the Word there is a testimony to the absolute sovereignty of God. I also want you to remember this: all major movements that have been productive for orthodoxy within the church have their roots in a Calvinistic understanding. Now I am going to say something that may surprise you. Do you know that at its roots the Roman Catholic Church is Calvinistic?

    Its greatest theologian from the fourth century was a thoroughgoing Calvinist. His name was Augustine. Do you realize that after he had taught and after he had fought against his archenemy, Pelagius, Pelagius and Pelagianism gained influence in the Roman Catholic Church and remained dominant for over a thousand years.

    Until. Until Luther, did you know that Luther was a Calvinist? It is true; Lutherans may not be today, but Luther was. All you need to do is read his book, The Bondage of the Will. He is even stronger and more resolute than Calvin. He strongly opposed Erasmus, his archenemy.

    Of course, Calvin was a Calvinist, and we know that. The roots of the Reformation are certainly in Calvinistic doctrine and teaching. Do you know that the Church of England has its roots in Calvinism? That its earliest leaders were all thoroughgoing Calvinists, and that the Thirty-Nine Articles, the Confession of Faith of that church, is a Calvinistic document, clearly stating the absolute sovereignty of God. Today, Anglicans and Episcopalians may not be Calvinists at all, but their origins are in Calvinism. Did you know that the Baptists who gained influence in the 1600s were Calvinists?

    Can you name one? John Bunyan. John Bunyan wrote *Pilgrim’s Progress*. John Bunyan was a thorough Calvinist. Do you realize that the modern missionary movement is utterly and thoroughly Calvinistic? William Carey, the man who pleaded before his English opponents that the gospel would be spread from the civilized world, as he understood it, to the third world of his day, was a convinced and thoroughgoing Calvinist. Calvinism is not the enemy of evangelism, nor of missionary work. Would you believe it? Despite all their public protestations, and here I offer their hymns as evidence, that John and Charles Wesley were very close to Calvinism in much that they wrote. For the Church to sing, well. If you feel alone, if you feel like you are the only one holding up these doctrines in these days, please do not despair. Remember the scriptures we reviewed, and remember the short survey of the history of the church.

    Warfield said that the Calvinist is the person who has seen into heaven and seen something of the matchless glory of God. Such a person, said Warfield, can never be the same again. In closing, there is one other thing I would like you to remember. I do not want it to sound as if I am standing here with an inflated chest, encouraging you to have a similar inflated chest. Pompous, proud, convinced you are right. I want you to remember the cross of Jesus Christ.

    That one who understood better than any of us the absolute sovereignty of God. Who, in humility and grace, and with that love that is beyond the love of this world, gave himself to others so that they might be helped and encouraged. You too, in imitation of him, give yourselves. The truth of your rightness will be played out in the rightness of your lives. And there is only one standard for that. And that is the cross of Jesus Christ. Let us pray. Our Father, we would acknowledge that you are perfectly and absolutely holy. We would plead with you for our own submission to the truth of this teaching.

    A glad submission, but one free of arrogance, that we might be found in the form and fashion of our Savior, truly a servant, so that the cross of Jesus Christ is being manifest in us. In this way, Lord, we may even improve on the heritage that has been given us, and that by the powerful working of your Spirit within us, you yourself receive the glory, the honor, and the thanks.

    The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.

  • Fathers, Children, and the Father

    Fathers, Children, and the Father

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Jesus and the Law” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, July 27, 1986.

    About this sermon

    Child-rearing has changed a great deal since Paul’s day, even as Paul himself pushed against the household codes of his own society to put the emphasis squarely on the Lord. The relationship of God the Father to the Son is the true pattern for every parent and child.

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    Sermon transcript

    Our scripture reading this morning is from Ephesians, chapter 5. We are looking at verse 22 and reading through chapter 6, verse 4. This is Ephesians, chapter 5, verse 22: “Submit yourselves to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the Church, and he is the Savior of the body. Therefore, as the Church is subject to Christ, so let wives be to their own husbands in everything.” Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, that he might present it to himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. So husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord cherishes the Church. For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery, that I speak concerning Christ and the Church.

    Nevertheless, let every one of you, in particular, love his wife as himself, and let the wife respect her husband. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise, that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth. And you fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. To this day, our Father, as we are gathered here, direct our thoughts, Lord. May we perceive the mysteries revealed by You and understand our own lives in light of those mysteries. We pray, our Father, that we, blessed by Your Spirit, may not be hard-hearted. Rather, may we have hearts that are flexible and open to Your word, determined to please You. For Jesus’ sake, amen.

    This morning, we take a brief detour from our direct consideration of the commandments. We do this in order to complete a thought that has been raised by the fifth commandment—“Honor your father and your mother.” You will note that this thought, in its full form, appears to us in this passage from Ephesians, the passage we have been using in connection with our study of the Fifth Commandment. You will notice the progression after Paul quotes that Fifth Commandment.

    In verses 2 and 3 of the sixth chapter in Ephesians, he continues in verse 4, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” The initial part of Ephesians 6, verses 1 to 3, is a commandment directed toward parents and those in authority.

    In other words, the movement in this passage is from the children to the parents. Honor your father and mother. Children, obey your parents in the Lord. This is right. But in verse 4, that movement is reversed. Now the direction is from the father or the parents to the children. We have already considered the initial proposition. This morning we want to consider the latter dimension of this passage: the movement from parents to children, specifically in the matter of child-rearing.

    I must be a fool to address that topic. About twelve or fifteen years ago, the Christian community as a whole was experiencing uncertainty. It moved from the teachings of J. Adams to the Gothard seminars to Dr. Dawson, seeking answers amid confusion. Today it seems that all of those insecurities have disappeared. Child-rearing is once more regarded as a private matter.

    And woe to the person who dares to enter the private sphere of another family’s children. To raise objections, make comments, or offer observations and insights—woe to that pastor. Woe to those elders who dare to speak or make a point.

    I am no more impressed with the current attitude of parental overprotection than I was with the anxiety and distress of parents a decade ago. I am just cynical enough to believe that the desperation of the early seventies stemmed from the social upheavals of that time. Likewise, the calm defensiveness seen in parents today is equally shaped by our present social climate. Times have changed, haven’t they?

    We are no longer worried about whether our children will run away and join a strange group or become a source of shame in many other ways, including abandoning the faith. Now we are more concerned about what they wear and how they appear. We are more concerned about how successful they will be and how much money they will earn. You see, fashions change, and trends come and go. Unfortunately, the Church, and many within the Church—including pastors and counselors—are too willing and ready to follow these trends and fashions.

    Your pastor, however, may respond with a look of surprise, saying, “Oh really?” When he encounters, by way of example, your words or your approach to child rearing, which reflects current trends. The apostle Paul would likely have done the same thing with the parents in the Ephesian church, for their good and for their instruction. It cannot be otherwise for me. In Paul’s time, the people of the Greco-Roman world, within that society, were deeply influenced by the customs and practices of their time.

    At that time, a widely accepted practice was what the Germans called the Haushalts. Translated, this means a table of household rules. These were detailed lists of social expectations. Rules for wives, rules for husbands, rules for children and parents, rules for slaves and servants, and rules for masters as well. These were comprehensive lists outlining household duties. Among these duties were instructions for raising children.

    When Paul addressed the church in Ephesus, it seems very likely that he used these common household tables as a framework or contrast. He spoke to wives, to husbands, to children and parents, and to slaves, servants, and their masters.

    But take note of his address. Please, consider these words not as therapeutic, but as the message itself. For in this, what Paul lays before us and before the Ephesians, there is liberty at hand. And that liberty the apostle will not compromise. It is a liberty to be found in the Lord, and the Lord is the one who steps forward, having priority, preeminence.

    Notice, will you, how brief Paul’s comments are. Not tracks, not volumes, not manuals with appropriate indices and cross-references. Not a large book to be carried around, requiring you to check chapter and verse to find out what to do in this situation, or to set aside. Notice how brief and compact his comments are. His brevity in itself is an answer to the Greco-Roman style of lengthy writing and elaborate expression. His objective is to call attention to the simple, unencumbered directive from the Lord.

    And that directive stands in opposition to the household code, the table of household rules. A system that had long-standing popularity in the middle of the first century. At the heart of Paul’s response is not simply a reaction to a current Roman trend. His objective is to place the divine word in opposition to human tradition. The eternal word in opposition to that word which fades like a flower in the changing moods of society.

    Therefore, when Paul speaks, he does not offer a prescriptive list, nor does he provide a sophisticated system guaranteed to produce model citizens or model children. Rather, he places before the Ephesians and before us a near-state designed to prompt us to explore it and to delight in its depths. Within his words there is a reminder for those with discernment and a tender heart that God himself stands directly in the center of these social, communal, and familial relationships. I do not think that I have to survey what he says about wives and husbands in this regard.

    His approach to that subject is this: if by looking at the relationship between a husband and a wife, you can see in that an allegory describing the relationship between Christ and the Church, is it any different when he deals with masters and slaves? Read those verses after the fourth verse in Ephesians 6. Consider how prominent the person of the Lord is in those verses.

    And it is no different, you see, when Paul addresses the issue of children and parents. At the center of it is the person of God and the relationship that he maintains with his own. Paul’s directive in verse 4, that fathers not provoke their children to anger, is truly a reflection of the Father in heaven. Behind these earthly fathers stands the Father in heaven. The issue is imitation—not through distant observation, but through intimate communion. The Heavenly Father, intimately connected to his children, becomes the model for the relationship between fathers and their children.

    Perhaps that is why the statement is so brief. It is not something upon which one should spend much time reflecting. The impulse comes naturally, as naturally as it flows from God. It becomes part of one’s nature, such is the character of the intimate relationship that is sustained.

    What have we done to ourselves? Ten or twelve years ago, we were going to the corner Christian bookstore and buying many books on parenting, telling, in our insecurity, how to raise our children. Now, no one can tell us anything. We have ruined ourselves by this. We have moved from insecurity to overconfidence, and then to isolation—separating ourselves from that which was intended to help and encourage.

    And here it is. The simplicity of it all. At the center of the relationship is God with His children. The intimacy that exists there is of such a nature that it seems to happen naturally. You do not need to think about being a follower. You simply are one, living in accordance with the intimacy found between God and His Church. Do not provoke your children to anger. You might expect that the apostles would have much more to say about this matter. Do not provoke your children to anger.

    What is He emphasizing? Continuing, He speaks of raising them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord, in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Once more, behind the apostles’ words lies a reality that is true, profound, and deeply meaningful.

    Consider the Father in heaven, not provoking His children to anger. Even better, consider the intimate relationship that exists between the Father and the Son. The discipline and instruction given by the Father for the sake of the Son, yet the Father in heaven does not provoke the Son to anger. How is this possible? Because the Father makes a promise and keeps His word.

    The frustration that arises in a child, the anger provoked within the child, truly comes from the child reaching a point where he can no longer trust the parent. Or the child has learned so well how to manipulate the parent that he knows exactly how to exploit the parent’s weaknesses. Do not underestimate the ability of a three-year-old to do this. Must we wait until this happens? The son, then, receives the reward and the inheritance promised, through discipline and admonition from his father. This is the pattern and the model for how we should treat our children.

    And not as if the whole arrangement is something distant. It is something that surrounds you. It is something that takes you into its presence. Therefore, it is not the result of extensive reflection, but rather the result of simple living in Christ. Simple living in Christ. Brief, compact, and clear. Standing against the fads and trends of the age, the eternal word that rests upon eternal truths revealed in the Father, and specifically in the Father’s relationship to the Son of God.

    Let us rejoice in this kind of freedom. Let us not be proud, hostile, or sullen. Let us not be arrogant or indifferent. Let us not follow every passing desire or trend. Let us hold fast to the word, the beautiful and simple instruction given to us by our God through the Apostle, reflecting the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our Father, may the words of the Apostle be an encouragement to us, a true help, a wonderful help, a blessing.

    May it be so in its simplicity and brevity, and also because the death of Christ is present for us. May we rejoice in the riches of our God. May we rejoice in the riches of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Help us, Lord, to walk in humility and speak in kindness. Father, may we be a delight to one another as we help each other. And Lord, may it be true of us that a wonderful intimacy between us and our children is recognized and seen as natural in Christ, because behind it, around it, and through it is the grand and glorious communion that our God maintains with His children and with His own Son. We pray this now in Christ’s name. We come to the table this morning, singing together in 222. 222.

    The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.

  • Inheritance for Jew and Gentile

    Inheritance for Jew and Gentile

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Misc. NT sermons” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, May 4, 1975.

    About this sermon

    God extends Paul’s inheritance by grace to Jew and Gentile alike, and pagan Ephesus mirrors Canaan’s Gentile past, the same corruption Romans 1 describes. The redemption of the exodus shows what that inheritance cost to secure. In Ephesians 2 Paul’s teaching on Jews and Gentiles together assumes that shared, costly inheritance.

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    Sermon transcript

    Our scripture reading tonight is Ephesians chapter 2. And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them, we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

    But God, being rich in mercy because of His great love with which He hath loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, in order that in the ages to come he might show the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not as the result of works that no one should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

    Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who were called uncircumcision by the so-called circumcision which is performed in the flesh by human hands, Remember that you were at that time separated or separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world, that now in Christ Jesus you who were formerly far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall. abolishing in his flesh the enmity which is the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that in himself he might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. And he came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were for through him we both have our access and one spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saint and are of God’s household, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building being fitted together is growing up into a holy temple in the Lord. in whom you also are being built together into a growing of God from the Spirit.

    Let’s pray together. Father, it is the power of your word that confronts us with our own sin and need of forgiveness. It is your word, our God, as you by your Spirit convince us of our need of regeneration. And we call upon You for the quickening power of Your Word to work in our hearts, that we might be full of Your Spirit, that we might be born again, that we might be built up into this household of God that we read about in this passage. And we are asking, Lord, that we might not walk away from Your Word without becoming impressed with what is there for us. Burn it upon our minds, seal it to us in our hearts, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

    Last week we were considering the book of Hebrews, and this week we are looking at the book of Ephesians, a letter that Paul writes to a Gentile church, a church which was located in a city in Asia Minor on the western shore, a city which was known for its paganism and its heathen worship. And we read in the book of Acts about the pagan practices of that city.

    We read that there was a great temple to Diana. Diana was the goddess of love, and this wasn’t some sort of innocent Romantic cult that was going on. It was a religious practice that was full of every kind of debauchery. When we read about the pagan gods and goddesses of Greece and Rome, We shouldn’t be lulled into some sort of romantic ideology that we might gain from Homer, for instance. But we ought to see this as a spirit expressing itself religiously against everything that our God stands for.

    Involved in this worship were cultic practices of temple prostitution, legal selling, buying of sex, of such a terrible character that even historians in writing about these practices are as bold as they might be in describing the practices that went on in these temples during these days. It was a great embarrassment, a great source of outrage. For instance, to Paul, as he went from city to city in the Roman Empire, and he confronted these practices and the immorality that was associated with idolatry.

    You can get a pretty fair description of that in the first chapter of Romans. Anytime when you are tempted to become quite romantic about the gods and goddesses of the ancient world, Maybe to sober yourself up, you should read that first chapter of Romans and see just how offensive it was to God and his people.

    Well, I guess what I’m trying to say to you is that I’m going to draw a parallel to what is happening here with Paul entering these cities, and what happened when the children of Israel entered the land of promise. there is a similarity. For you remember that when the children of Israel entered the land of promise, the inheritance that had been promised to their father Abraham, they were commanded by God to put to death all of these heathen nations of the Canaanites, and not to even spare the women and the children. It sounds pretty horrible.

    But in those Old Testament times, we are getting a preview of the judgment of God in very vivid terms. The message of Paul is one which is completely controlled by grace. He is saying to us, in effect, that the wrath of God against the children of disobedience, whether they be Canaanites in the Old Testament or Romans in the New Testament, is being delayed. and it is the age of grace, in which God’s unmerited favor is being extended to all. That’s the structure of the book of Ephesians.

    It’s a book written to Gentiles by a Jew, a Jew with a unique perspective on what is happening in his day. Notice how he begins the letter. If we look at chapter one, you can see how he starts out. He first of all identifies himself, as he does in all of his letters, being called the Apostle of Jesus Christ, not by the will of man, but by the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus, who are the faithful in Jesus Christ. He greets them with grace and peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of all the kingdoms of the earth. And then he goes into this section, verses 3 through 13, where rather, verses 3 through 12, in which he is showing to these Gentiles the new dimensions, the new dimensions that the Messiah has brought for a Jew such as himself. Notice the language that he uses in this first part of the letter.

    He talks about the blessing A blessing that would automatically turn our minds to the pages of the Old Testament in terms of that promise that was given to Abraham. The blessing that was to come according to the promises that were given to Abraham. But now we are seeing a new day, a new dimension. It’s as if the curtain has been drawn back and we’re seeing a whole new world, and that whole new world has been made possible through the Messiah, through Jesus. It’s a day of new blessings, of new blessings that are not isolated to a corner of the world, that don’t have simply in view some geographical location in a corner of the Mediterranean world. but rather these are blessings that are eternal in the heaven. For we are being blessed not with blessings that pertain to this earth, but we have now, in the Messiah, received blessings that pertain to eternity. These blessings are the blessings that God the Father has given to us in Christ Jesus, as He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing every blessing in the Holy Spirit, in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” he says in verse 3.

    These are new dimensions for the Jews. Here is a Jew writing, and he’s talking in Jewish language. He’s talking in language that would make sense to a Jew. He’s talking about a new vocabulary for Jews, or the old vocabulary with new meaning. It’s a new world. with new meanings, with new vistas, with new horizons. He sees beyond the land of Palestine.

    He sees Heaven, and the blessings that are eternal in Heaven. This is what was meant for the Jews in the Old Testament, but for the most part they couldn’t see it. But now Paul, in the fullness of time, a Jew reflecting on the work and ministry of Jesus Christ, sees it, and he declares it to these Gentiles. He is a Jew that has received these blessings that are eternal in the heaven. He is one who gains a new perspective on God’s choice, as he says in verse four, for God has chosen him before the foundation of the world, a Jew that he should be holy, blameless before him. He talks about God’s predestination.

    He talks about being predestined as a son. for these sons are adopted now into the family of God.” Language that makes sense on the background of the Old Testament, language that was full of meaning for any Jew, because he recognized that the Jewish nation were the adopted sons of God. They were adopted in the Exodus. When the children of Israel came out of Egypt, they were adopted as the sons of God, crying out to their father for deliverance. But now they have been introduced into a new adoption, an adoption through Jesus Christ himself. And this is an adoption that issues in freedom, a new kind of freedom, a new kind of liberty for all the sons of God, as he says in verse 6.

    He, as a Jew, reflects upon redemption. We know what redemption means. It means to buy back. The great act of redemption in the Old Testament is when God buys back his people from slavery. They were in bondage in Egypt. He redeems them. He redeems them with the blood of the lamb that is slain on the Passover Eve. He redeems them with a sacrificial system as the lambs and the goats are led to the slaughter for the sins of the people.

    But now there has been a new redemption work for the people of God through the blood of And it is this redemption that brings forgiveness of sins according to the riches of God’s grace, which He has lavished upon all of the Jews who believe in Christ. But this is a new day of revelation as well. This is a new day of revelation. You remember the great revelation of the Old Testament was at Sinai.

    There God descended upon the mountain, and the people were full of fear. They wouldn’t come up to the mountain because they were afraid. And God spoke, and the people said, we don’t want to hear the voice of the Lord, because we’ll die. Therefore, let him speak only to Moses, and Moses will tell us what God says, and then we will do it. But here is a day of new revelation, a day which is spoken of here in verse 9.

    He made known to us the mystery of His will according to the kind intention which He purposed in Him. in view of an administration suitable for the fullness of time. Now God is not just calling unisolated people to Himself, mainly the Jews, but He is involved in summing up all things unto Himself, summing up all things in the Messiah, in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth.

    And as there was an inheritance in the Old Testament, so there’s an inheritance now in the New Testament. In the inheritance that’s spoken of in verse 11, in Christ, in the Messiah, we now have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose, who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who are the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. All that Paul is saying there is that salvation is first extended, the inheritance is first extended to the Jews. and then to the Greek, to the Jew first, and then the Gentile. That’s the pattern of Paul’s missionary journeys. He goes to the Jew first, and then he comes to the Gentile.

    But the salvation is meant for all, as in the Messiah. All things are being summed up, brought to their conclusion. Everything is being finalized in Him. Things in heaven, things in earth. This is the salutation of a Jewish Christian to Gentile Christians. And he’s talking in language that means so much to him.

    Do you get a special feeling in yourself when you hear the word inheritance? Does it mean anything to you? Does it mean anything to you when you hear language about God’s choice, His election, His predestination? Does it mean anything when you hear language about redemption, forgiveness of sins through the blood of Christ? Does it mean anything to you when we talk about the full revelation of God, the full unveiling God that were held secret from the very foundation of the world.

    These things meant something to a Jew, and they meant something to the Gentiles that Paul spoke to. And he is pressing these Gentiles that they might mean more and more and more to him. That’s why he goes on. In verse 13 he says, “…in this Messiah you Gentiles also, after listening to the message of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed in addition to us Jews, you were sealed in the Messiah with the Holy Spirit of promise.”

    When you hear about the promise, does it mean anything to you? You talk to a Jew about the promise, and you watch his face. You talk to a Jew about the inheritance, and you watch his face. I had the privilege one time to sit in the company of a Jewish Christian and to hear him talk about the inheritance. It was like a whole new world. It doesn’t mean to us what it means to them. That’s their life. And Paul is shaping these Gentiles, and he’s telling them that everything that that promise of the Americans means to him, it can mean to them. Everything.

    We, Gentiles, in addition to the Jews, have been sealed in the Messiah with the Holy Spirit of Christ. The promise that was promised to the Jews has now been extended to the Gentiles. And the Gentiles have been given a pledge of the inheritance with the Jew, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession through the praise of His glory, because God not only owns one nation of the world, He owns all the earth. The whole earth is the Lord’s and the fullest thereof, the world and they that dwell therein.

    Everything belongs to God, and His program of redemption, that has begun with Abraham, in the blessings of the covenant, in all of the language that meant so much to Abraham, and every Jew, is now being extended to all the nations. This is how your Bible begins to become meaningful to you. When you start draining these words of their meaning, and you get emotionally involved in them, the inheritance, The promise is mine. I am God’s possession, and He is reclaiming me by redemption, through the blood of the Messiah, through whom He is bringing all things together, things in heaven and things on earth. All things are His.

    Well, this is a salutation from a Jewish Christian to some Gentiles. And he speaks in Jewish language. Language that means a great deal to a Jew. But he wants so much for this language to mean just as much to his Gentile ears. So notice what he does. Notice what he does in verse 15.

    He starts to speak about praying for them. For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you while making mention of you in my prayers.” And what does he pray? He tells you that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.” Why, that’s just what he talked about up there as being the special possession of the Jew. Notice what he said there? Notice what he talked about in verse 8 at the end? “…in all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will.”

    And now he is praying for these Gentiles that they, too, might have the spirit of wisdom and of revelation and of knowledge, the knowledge of God. And I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of your calling. What is the hope of your calling? What are the riches of the glory of His impertinence in the saints?” He’s praying that the Gentiles might begin to think along Jewish lines. That you, that they, might understand their Old Testaments when they read them, and that those Old Testaments might have meaning for them.

    The inheritance doesn’t belong just to the Jew, The inheritance belongs to all who believe, and that’s exactly what he goes on to say. And what is the surpassing greatness of his power to us who believe, to all of us who believe, whether you are a Jew or a Gentile? These are in accordance with the working of the strength of his might, which he brought about in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at the right hand in the heavenly places. above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And He has put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave this Christ, this Messiah, as head over all things, to the Church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all things.” his promised land, when the Jews entered into that land under the leadership of Joshua.

    But now we have a greater Joshua, we have Jesus, and this Jesus has done battle with all the forces that live and dwell in the spiritual realm of our inheritance, and he has conquered them. And we need not fear anything, because Christ is the victor, and as we enter in upon the train of this Joshua, This new Savior, we are given our lot, our inheritance, among the saints. The lines are fallen unto us in pleasant places. The boundaries of our inheritance are sweet. And this is the fullness that each one of us desires for our lives. the fullness of the inheritance of God and the promises that he has made for us.

    He goes on, and he, in chapter 2, delineates the fact that this is a Jew-Gentile thing. It ain’t for the Jews alone, and it ain’t for the Gentiles alone, it’s for both against. And it’s always by God’s grace. What is God’s grace? What is unmerited favor is undeserved of us. It is undeserved for the Jew, and it is undeserved for the Gentile. We all are saved through faith by grace, by God’s grace. It is a gift of God.

    As much as that promise of the Spirit in which we have been sealed is our gift, as much as our inheritance is a gift, as much as the promised land in the Old Testament was a gift, so our salvation through faith is a gift. It’s not by words. lest when you reach the gate you can boast before God and claim by your own merits you are worthy to enter into that inheritance. You are not worthy to enter into that inheritance by your own merits, because as Paul says in verse 1 of chapter 2, you were all dead in your trespasses and in your sins. Every one of you.

    But now, in Christ Jesus, we have been raised with Him, and we have been seated with Christ in the heavenly places. The heavenly places are our inheritance. That’s where we’re going, that’s our destination. He’s there already, and because He’s there, we are there in Him.

    That’s what He has told us. that we have been raised up with Him,” in verse 6, and seated with Him in the heavenly places in our Messiah, in order that in the ages to come He might show forth the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness towards us in the Messiah, Jesus. For by grace, God’s unmerited favor, you have been saved, whether Jew or Gentile, through faith, and that not of yourself. It has always been, it still is, and it always will be a gift of God, not the result of your own works, lest any one of us should boast.” He goes on to say a few more things here in concluding this whole business.

    He is trying to impress these Gentiles with the fact that they are now come into the fellowship of the redeemed. They have now come into the commonwealth of Israel whereby they were excluded before. They were strangers to the covenant of promise. In verse 12, they had no hope. They were without God in the world.

    But now in Christ Jesus, they who were formerly far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. It is Christ who has made peace with Jew and Gentile. as if you have the Jews coming up to those heathen nations in the land of promise in ancient Palestine, and instead of doing battle this time with them, the walls of Jericho are torn down by Jesus Christ, and peace is established between those who are inside and those who are marching around the walls. And the Gentile unbeliever and the Jew share in the peace that Christ the Messiah has brought It’s a new day.

    It’s a new day. And what is the work that we are all involved in now? It’s not a work at which we are driving out the Gentiles from the land of promise, you see, setting up our little politic practices in Jerusalem, building our tabernacles and our temples there. No! Now they’re being a temple built that is far superior to any of the temples of the Old Testament, even Solomon’s. And this is the temple that is made out of human beings, out of Jews and Gentiles alike, as he concludes this section and tells us that we, the Church of Jesus Christ, Jews and Gentiles, saved by grace, are a building which God is erecting as a dwelling for Himself in the Spirit. There is no difference now. between Jew and Gentile. God-free, barbaric Scythian, name-thief, but we are all one, and Christ who is all, if you know.

    I don’t know whether you appreciate What this meant for a Jew who was schooled to hate the Gentiles all of his life until he met Jesus Christ. Who do you hate? Is it true that maybe in your heart you believe that there is no place for someone or some group in the Church of Jesus Christ. That is a lie. It’s not true.

    For Christ the Messiah is summing up all things in heaven and in earth to the praise of the glory of the grace of God. Father in Heaven, we thank you for the grace that has been extended to certainly the Jew first, but also the Gentile. We rejoice, Father, that we have been included, and that the language that meant so much to Paul as an Old Testament Jew means so much to us now as New Testament believers, that he has been the vehicle of your revelation, whereby you are able now to make plain to us the height and depth and the riches of the inheritance that we have with the saints in glory. We are praying, Father, that we would rejoice in these things that He speaks so movingly about, and that we would embrace them to our hearts, and that we would look longingly to the fullness of the inheritance that has been promised to us and been guaranteed to us through the reception of the Spirit by grace.

    The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.