Grace OPC Sewickley PA

Sermon Book: Matthew

  • An Astounding New Access to God

    An Astounding New Access to God

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Sermon on the Mount” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, September 23, 1990.

    About this sermon

    ‘Ask, seek, knock’ in Matthew 7:7 describes an access to God so astounding that, set against it, even the real access Old Testament saints had can look like almost none at all. Psalm 88, one of Scripture’s bleakest psalms, supplies the contrast deliberately. Christ’s coming changed what access to God actually means; it did far more than improve on prayer.

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    Sermon transcript

    We will begin our scripture reading with Psalm 88. Let us hear the inspired servant of the Lord. O Lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee. Let my prayer come before thee, inclined by near unto my cry. For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.

    I am counted with them that go down into the pits I am, as a man that hath no strength, free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more. And they are cut off from thy hand. Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. My wrath lie apart upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy ways. Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me. Thou hast made me an abomination unto them. I am shut up, and I cannot come forth. Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction.

    Lord, I have called daily upon Thee. I have stretched out my hands unto Thee. Wilt Thou show wonders to the dead? Shall the dead arise and praise Thee? shall by lovingkindness be declared in the grave, or by faithfulness in destruction shall by wonders be known in the dark and by righteousness in the land of forgetfulness. But unto thee have I cried, O Lord, and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee.”

    Lord, why castest thou off my soul? Why hidest thou thy face from me? I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up. While I suffer thy terrors, I am distracted. Thy fierce wrath goeth over me. Thy terrors have cut me off. They came round about me daily like water. They compassed me about together. Lover and friend, hast thou put far from me and mine acquaintance into darkness.”

    Then, turning to Matthew 7, verses 7 and 8, Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”

    Our hearts, Lord, yearn for your word, and your word is a feast for us. We are fed. Yes, we are fed from your hand with those things that you give out of the produce of the earth, but we are also fed from your hand out of heaven as your word comes as our sustenance. we are preserved, Lord, and we will be satisfied with what you give. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

    There are a couple more messages in this section of the Sermon on the Mount. verses 7 through 12 of Matthew 7. Next week we will be taking up the matter of, well, do I get everything I want and everything I ask for then? And the following week we will be dealing with verse 12, the so-called golden rule. But this morning we are focusing again on verses 7 and 8.

    These words of Jesus explode. They explode with newness and with a freshness They explode as if they were glad tidings in themselves, as if these words were in fact gospel to waiting ears. Ask, seek, knock, and you won’t be disappointed. The effectiveness of this statement by Christ, this invitation and this appeal, the effectiveness of these words is heightened by the build-up that we’ve had in the Sermon on the Mount to this point. What goes before Chapter 6, then, verse 1 to the 7th chapter of the 6th verse. We have listed there for us, repeatedly, the negative imperatives, the negative commands.

    Jesus saying, when you pray, don’t pray like this. When you give your arahomes, don’t give them in this fashion. He tells you not to lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. He tells you, don’t be anxious. He says at the beginning of the seventh chapter there, don’t judge. And then in verse six of that chapter, don’t give what is holy to God. These seven negative imperatives then commands from Christ are an exposition of that practice of righteousness that distinguishes disciples who are in and of the kingdom of heaven.

    But then there comes this astounding affirmation, variously phrased, Ask, Seek, Knock, and you won’t be disappointed. It has been our contention thus far that the newness that we hear in these verses, the freshness that grabs us, is a result of what God is doing in Christ. God at work. The kingdom of heaven has come, and at the center of this kingdom is the person and work of God’s Son. the very one who presently speaks in these verses. Therefore, the power of these words is not merely felt because of the buildup from the prior verses. Rather, the power of these words is felt because of the buildup of the entirety of the history of redemption. With these words you burst into New Testament fullness and fulfillment.

    The freshness, the newness then, is ultimately traceable to the fact that God himself is doing something fresh. and new, something that he has never done before. God has acted, and now the very face of things is changed. The very complexion of things is altered. And because God has acted, you can be assured that when you ask, seek, or knock, you will not be disappointed.

    Do you pick up on the force of what Jesus is saying here? From the way These words are phrased, it is as if never before has the Father in heaven been accessible as he is now. You have entered a new day. It is, in fact, a day in which you live according to God’s calendar.

    But you may ask, hadn’t God acted previously? Hadn’t he been accessible throughout the Old Testament? Well, of course, the answer to these questions is Yes, we know God had acted. We know God had been accessible. Still, is it not clear to us that the Old Testament was afflicted by limitation? Is that not clear to us? Are we not able to say that the Old Testament was itself plagued even by weakness? If that were not the case, what need would there have been for Christ? Don’t you remember the statements that are made about the prior administration? Now be assured, we are reformed people. We hold to the unity of the covenants, the integrity of our Bible. We believe that the Old Testament is useful to us. It is God’s inspired Word. and that the law is righteous, holy and good.

    Nevertheless, are we not convinced that that administration that precedes the coming of Christ and the appearance of the kingdom of heaven in him was an administration that was characterized by incompletion? It was a preparatory administration. It was no end in itself, but pushes on to fulfillment. John will say, the law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Not so as to fault the law by no means. only to point out the fact that the law under Moses was a provisional administration.

    So when the new comes, that older administration is variously characterized. Paul will tell us that it had a glory, but its glory was fading. He will say that it was an administration of the letter, but now there has come the administration of the Spirit. He will even go so far as to say that that former administration is a revelation of God, but under a veil. He will tell us that in certain aspects it is worthy to be characterized with the rudimentary and beggarly elements of this present world and present age. destined to pass, for it was provisional, temporary, incomplete.

    And we learn from Paul the Apostle elsewhere that this administration was but a tutor to lead us to Christ, Galatians 3. And what shall we say of Paul in yet other passages or the epistle to the Hebrews that speaks so pointedly with regard to this matter, suggesting to us then that we are dealing in the old administration with the copy of things, shadows, that await the arrival of the reality.

    God’s revelation of himself, therefore, in the Old Testament came with certain limitations. There were weaknesses that cried out for the strength and the fullness that we find in Christ that would be resolved only by way of him. When we come to the matter of the approach of God’s people, therefore, in that older administration, their asking, their seeking, their knocking, their approach to God, do we find there limitations, weaknesses as well? Well, we do, in fact, find limitations and weaknesses.

    Israel’s religion takes shape around the mediation of that earthly priesthood. And think of the arrangement in the camp and for the nation The males of age can approach the altar, but women and children have to stay at a distance, and beyond them there is the court of the Gentiles. But no one but the priest is able to enter into the sanctuary in that former administration.

    The Old Testament in this regard, even when we come to the matter of access, of approach to God, himself is preparatory. And through that older priesthood there was the pointing forward to the ministry of God’s great and final High Priest. Jesus Christ, through whom all God’s children are given new and fresh access to the Father.

    That’s what Galatians 3.28 is all about.

    The passage that is being debated back and forth now within Protestant circles with respect to the matter of office, with respect to the whole matter of the place of women in the Church. People grab hold of that text in which Paul says, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And they suggest to us that that passage pertains to office. That passage does not pertain to office. in the sense in which it is made to pertain in the hands of some.

    The point is now, the former distinctions and barriers that were in place in the old administration in the courts of the tabernacle and in the courts of the temple have been torn down, so that now Jew and Greek, slave and free man, those who formerly had no access male and female, are all one in Christ and may have direct access to the Father, just as the priest did in the Old Testament. So yes, it’s true, is it not?

    There were administrative limitations to the Old Testament economy, even with respect to the approach one made to God, the access one had to him. But these limitations and weaknesses are now overcome in Christ. We are faced likewise in the Old Testament with certain limitations with respect to the religious spirit. with regard to the personality of those who would approach, the religious reflection of those who would approach God. So that we find, throughout that older administration, throughout the Old Testament, anywhere short of God’s conclusive act in Christ, that there remains a constant battle for the religious soul that invariably breaks out in expressions of utter desperation. As you read through the Old Testament, are there not there found examples in which you can detect the notes of hesitation, reservation, if not doubt, as you hear, as you listen to the anguished cry of the religious soul seeking God, asking of Him, knocking that it might be open.

    Genesis 4.26, a marvelous, marvelous text, records for us the birth of Seth that then goes on and says, “…and then men began to call upon the name of the Lord.”

    There’s great argument and debate about the force and power of that statement at the end of Genesis 4. But would you note the context of that birth? Read through the entirety of that fourth chapter. In fact, read through the third and the fourth chapter to get the force and power of what is being said there.

    You come then to the end of that chapter, and hearing that text aright, you discern the strain that is laid within the line, the strain of the soul. men beginning to call upon the name of the Lord, because the Lord himself is not obviously there. He is absent, and their cry unto him is one of desperation. Why? Because the sons of Cain have taken over the world, and they are the purveyors of violence and destruction. The call upon the name of the Lord is a desperate act.

    What do we do about the repeated statements that we find in the Psalms? Have you puzzled over some of those statements? To be sure, as we all know, the Psalter is filled with such glorious affirmations of faith and confidence, we go to the Psalms to be built up. These men, inspired of God, speaking with faith and assurance, how beautiful it is.

    And you note what is said in that 145th Psalm, which we read and sang today. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of them that fear Him. He will hear their cry. He will save them. Yet, at the same time, you have those marvelous expressions of confidence and assurance.

    You’re faced with statement after statement that reveal great anguish of soul. You hear the opening of Psalm 22. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And what do you do with Psalm 88? Were you on the downward side of things as we concluded the reading of that psalm this morning? To be sure, it’s not without hope, it’s not without faith. He is calling upon the Lord in that psalm, but then there come those questions.

    Is there any remembrance of thee in the grave? Am I not about to go into the land of forgetfulness?” You see, anywhere short of that conclusive act of God in Christ, There remain these unresolved perplexities that afflict the human soul, and when Jesus Christ comes, he will take every one of them to himself for you. That your doubts and fears may be resolved, that you would never, ever have to take upon your lips those words. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

    Those words had been said for the last time by Christ. And there’s the resolution to the question of the psalmist that he asks in Psalm 88 concerning the grave. You know, on the third day he came out of the tomb, he was raised. And whatever doubts and fears and troubles of spirit and anguish that we find expressed there on the pages of the Old Testament now have their resolution by root of that action from God.

    Psalm 88 is not a psalm that many like to read, let alone sing. Because, as I said, it seems to end on the downward side. But how important that psalm is. Do we need bring up the book of Ecclesiastes? Have you read Ecclesiastes recently? Have you puzzled over the apparent despair of this man who speaks? Vanity of vanity, all is vanity, a striving after wind, emptiness, nothingness, meaninglessness.

    So yes, with respect to the whole matter of the religious soul seeking access to God out of the pages of the Old Testament, there comes marvelous affirmation, but also statements of doubt, question, even despair. As if all of this weren’t enough, you have the concrete action of God with regard to the nation as a whole. He has been accessible in that Old Testament way to these people. But now they in their sin have rebelled in such a way that they bring down upon them his wrath.

    And he says, I will not hear you anymore. Ask all you want. Seek me all you want. Knock as often as you care. But I will not respond to you because of your sin. And then come Jesus’ words. Against this background come Jesus’ words. Ask. Seek. Knock. It’s a new day. And you don’t have to be afraid. Needn’t be plagued by worry or doubt. Ask, seek, knock and be assured that you will not be disappointed. What a wonderful, wonderful day of access it is. Are we not encouraged in the epistle to the Hebrews?

    Come boldly to the throne of grace. You see why it’s a new day for access to the one who sits upon the throne. Jesus himself will say in John’s gospel, ask anything in my name and the Father will give it to you. In Luke’s gospel he says, ask the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit will be given to you who will come in the language of the Apostle Paul as a down payment of your inheritance above. And he who spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” It’s the new day of access for the people of God. So great is your assurance, then, in this circumstance in which you live. that if you say to this mountain, Be ye picked up and carried into the midst of the sea, it shall be done. Ask in faith, doubting nothing, and it shall be accomplished.”

    We’re shocked. We’re liable to be sitting there and saying, it isn’t true. It isn’t true. It’s a fiction. It doesn’t work. Oh yes, it does. So much is this the point, and I say this in conclusion, that as Jesus expresses himself in these two verses, 7 and 8 of that seventh chapter, You are given no hint whatsoever that there is anything that you can ask that God won’t give you. And that is precisely the impression that Jesus wishes these words to make on you. Whatever limitations we may come up with in further consideration, whatever we may say next week about the limits The impact of these words upon the hearer is, ask what you will. Seek, Rock.

    It will all be given to you. For such is the heart of our Father in Heaven with respect to all of his dear, called, chosen children. Lord, we would take our asking, seeking and knocking very seriously in light of the new day that has come. Free us from doubt and fear and anguish of soul, through the ministration of your Son who is at work in us, to convince us of what is true above, where you reign. ready and willing to respond to those who now have access to you through a new and living way through Jesus Christ.

    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.

  • Idea-Centered or Event-Centered

    Idea-Centered or Event-Centered

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Sermon on the Mount” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, September 16, 1990.

    About this sermon

    “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Matthew 7:7-12 gathers up the themes of the Sermon on the Mount, asking, seeking and giving, under the Father who gives good gifts. Jesus speaks as a preacher, not a lecturer, full of power and urgency. Jeremiah 29 promised that after the exile God would let himself be found by those who sought him. That day has come in Christ, God’s decisive act; preaching should announce what God has done, not lecture on ideas.

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    Sermon transcript

    This morning our scripture reading is found, first of all, in the book of Jeremiah, and that before we turn over to the book of Matthew in the New Testament. So, Jeremiah chapter 29, verses 4 through 14. Let’s hear what God says. “‘Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon, build ye houses, and dwell in them, and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them. Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters, that ye may be increased there and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city, whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it, for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.” For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Let not your prophets and your diviners that be in the midst of you deceive you, neither hearken to their dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.

    For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name. I have not sent them, saith the Lord. For thus saith the Lord.” that after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you, and I will perform my good word toward you in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

    Then shall ye call upon me.” and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you, and ye shall seek me and find me when ye search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the Lord, and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord. and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.” Then from Matthew 7, verses 7-12, verse 8, “…ask, and it shall be given you, seek, and ye shall find.” knock and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

    For what man is there of you whom if his son ask bread will give him a stone, or if he ask a fish will give him a serpent? If he then, being evil, Know how to give good gifts unto your children. How much more shall your Father, which is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him?

    Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them, for this is the law and the prophets.” with me now. Our hearts come to you, Lord, we present them. We would be satisfied with your word, filled with what you have for us there. And, Father, we would pray for your servants throughout this land and around the world who give forth that word today. May they be blessed mightily as they proclaim that word in truth, and may the Lord Jesus Christ be set before the congregations that belong to you and before the nations, that there might be strengthening for the saints, that there might be light and salvation for those who are lost. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

    Is this not the masterpiece? Is this not the masterpiece of sermons given by the one who is in fact the master preacher? It was not easy in its construction. An analysis of this sermon has occupied the Church since it was given. It has riches, depths to be mined, and the Church has been about the task of digging out the treasures of this sermon from it, from the time Jesus spoke it so many centuries ago. What a masterpiece from the Master, from the Master Preacher, Jesus himself.

    What Jesus has to say now, in verses 7 through 12 of this seventh chapter in Matthew, begins his summary of things. Now, I know that in your Bibles the paragraphs might be divided differently. In the commentaries that you might consult, you might find that the commentators have divided the passage differently. But at this point, in verses 7 through 12 of that seventh chapter, Jesus begins His summary of things. In these verses, He begins to draw together many points of reference from throughout that sermon thus far.

    For instance, these verses, it seems plain on the surface of things, doesn’t it? These verses have something to do with prayer. Ask, and it will be given you. But these aren’t the first remarks that Jesus has made in this sermon about prayer. You remember what he has said, for instance, in the sixth chapter, verses 5 through 14. And when you pray, etc., etc., And then, beginning with verse 9 of that sixth chapter, there is given to you what has been called the Lord’s Prayer. And Jesus has some remarks to make about that prayer in verses 14 and 15. So, you see, this is not the first instance in which Jesus has spoken about prayer in the Sermon on the Mount.

    You might also note the themes of asking, seeking and giving that occur here in the verses that are before us this morning. And although each of these themes is given something of a different cast in other passages, the themes themselves are not new.

    You might look at the 5th chapter, the 42nd verse. where Jesus says, give to him who asks of you and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. With regard to seeking, you have chapter 6, verse 33, that most famous of verses, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. As to the giving, in a somewhat sardonic twist of things, you have the 6th verse of that 7th chapter. Do not give what is holy to dogs. The themes are there. Whether it’s a matter of asking or seeking or giving, the themes are there, but now they’re being drawn together once more in summary fashion. Notice this also.

    There is the figure, the incomparable figure in this sermon of the Father, our Father, who is in heaven. Would you not say that the figure of the Father who is in heaven clearly dominates the sermon throughout? Jesus directing the attention of his disciples to the one who is above, who reigns over all, and is kindly disposed to his own. So, the Heavenly Father is prominent in these verses as well. Verse 11. sort of the fulcrum upon which the passage itself depends.

    If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your own children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give that which is good to those who ask him? A marvelous summary statement as things are now being drawn together by Jesus. The Father in heaven throughout the sermon is to be the pattern for believers’ life. You remember how Jesus puts it at the end of chapter 5, verse 48? Therefore, you ought to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.

    And as we move, then, from that eleventh to the twelfth verse in chapter seven, consideration of the Father in heaven in verse eleven, on to what is called the golden rule in verse twelve. Is it not the pattern that is found in the Heavenly Father that determines our behavior towards others? Likewise, Jesus’ remarks about the Heavenly Father are foundational, too, fundamental to the spirit of His whole message, in that our consideration of our Father above, our Father who is in heaven, is meant to inspire in us confidence. meant to ease our fears, we being His children, meant to stop our worry, to call to a halt our anxiety. Jesus says this with respect to the Father in heaven.

    Chapter 6, verse 26, look at the birds of the air. that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?” Don’t be anxious. Why? Because you have a Father in heaven. Who cares for you?

    And now that spirit that has been at work throughout the sermon to this point is asserting itself and asserting itself in a summary fashion, conclusively and so powerfully. One other item that drives us to the conclusion that Jesus now has begun his conclusion in this sermon is what is said at the end of that twelfth verse. We know that verse as the golden rule. Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do so for them.

    But Jesus concludes this way, for this is the law and the prophets. The mention of the law and the prophets rings a bell, for with that phrase are we not taken back to the fifth chapter, the seventeenth verse? Do not think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.”

    So Jesus now is drawing all of these matters by making reference to particular points throughout the sermon. He is bringing to a conclusion his remarks. Here begins his summary, his push on to the end. Listen to him carefully as he speaks summarily. There’s something else here. as we make our way with respect to the text and as we gain an appreciation of the sermon and the preacher. For we will note as Jesus begins his conclusion, as this summary is put in place now and commences, We are faced with comments that are so remarkably fresh and exhilarating.

    It’s almost as if you’re hardly on the downward swing, hardly involved in a descent. Rather, it’s almost as if you’re on ascent. Things are building. And as you hear Jesus speak here, your pulse quickens and you’re drawn in. So, if you have been paying attention to this point throughout the sermon, you will be all the more intent now as Jesus begins to speak in the fashion in which He does. The freshness of it, the remarkable, exhilarating character, how it bursts out to you and from the page, Ask, and it shall be given to you. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”

    The text shouts at us, even if Jesus didn’t. There is nothing stale here. There is nothing pedantic. There is nothing formal or wooden about his style or his approach or his vocabulary. There is no mere rehash here. Nor is there anything that smacks of quaintness or banality. There is nothing of the lecturer in Jesus. For Jesus is the preacher. And as such, he is brimming over, overflowing with power and urgency and appeal. Ask. Seek. Knock.

    I’m sorry to say that we, for the most part, are robbed of this perspective on preaching in our time. Much of what we witness in Jesus the preacher is gone out of preaching presently. A great deal of preaching in our time has become conversational. It’s almost as if the preacher were standing beside a fireplace and merely chatting with us. Sermons for all too many have become talks. with ministers trained in the art of cool communication, subtle persuasion, if not out-and-out manipulation. Preachers nowadays do in fact chat with us calmly, evenly, rationally. It’s not that a number of them don’t do this well, they do it very well. In fact, they have become quite professional at it. And tragically, many Christians have come to prefer this tame and civilized approach.

    None of this business of men clothed in camel hair, strapped together with a leather belt, eating honey and locusts. None of this wild-eyed prophet stuff. Please excuse me!” And although many would not admit it or even recognize it, their tastes have gone over to what might be called the religious discourse, if not lecture. but hardly, hardly preaching. Preaching is not faring well. And you might say, well, it’s the fault of the preachers, or it’s the fault of the seminaries. Well, I think that that could be said, But you see, it’s also your fault because you stand for it. You tolerate it. And in some cases, even prefer it.

    Well, what’s the difference? You don’t like the confrontational approach of preaching? You don’t like its hot and direct address form? Let me ask you, what is the difference between the professional conversationalist, the religious lecturer, and the preacher? What’s the difference? Do you know? Is it just because the preacher gets excited and the lecturer doesn’t? The lecturer is automatically and invariably dull? That’s not true.

    Well, as to that difference, here it is. At the heart of things, The conversationalist, the religious lecturer, is interested in ideas. He is interested in ideas. They may be very orthodox ideas, quite rational, quite wonderfully conveyed. They may even be animated by illustrations, annotated with cute, clever, even incisive inquiries into the human personality. But in the end, the heart of things is the idea. The mind.

    Preaching, however, has a different focus. and there is something else altogether at its heart. You see, preaching is proclamation of an event. Preaching is electrified by and centered upon the activity of God. his concrete action. God has done something. And now, what he has done is announced and explained by the preacher to the healer. As the church moves away from the proclamation character of preaching, she loses her true power and urgency.

    Not that there hasn’t been effectiveness in the present all-too-common method to which we are subjected, Not that we aren’t witnessing its great success. Have you visited a megachurch? Not that the people under its spell aren’t becoming, what we might call in worldly terms, better people, exalting the ethical. Thank you, Immanuel Kant.

    More restrained, more comfortable, even more civilized. that even though that is true, the preaching and the people are out of step with Jesus, his method and his message, regardless of their piety and religious posture. So I have said to you this morning that Jesus is bringing together this remarkable sermon, and He is proving to be the preacher to the end. And that being the case, as the preacher, his interests are not to communicate to you some abiding principle. for better moral health. Nor is His purpose to communicate to you some eternally valid idea about God and His relationship to humanity. As if when he said, ask and it shall be given to you, he had in mind the notion that humanity must grasp the fact that Deity, the Divine Father, is eternally open and accessible to everyone.

    His message then being nearly that we must get that idea straight in our thinking. Actually, you see, Jesus’ words are conditioned by the fact that something has happened. God is at work, and in his action he is, in fact, discriminating between his own and those who are not. between his disciples and those who are not. His action makes sense against the background of what we know from the prophets.

    For as we read in Jeremiah this morning, It becomes clear to us that there was envisioned a coming day when God would respond to His own. He would respond to those who called upon Him, who asked of Him, who sought Him out. He would answer them, and that conclusively, unmistakably, and infallibly. You can read the verses again for yourself, Jeremiah 29, verses 12 and 13.

    The captivity will come to an end and it will inaugurate an era in which God will turn his ear to his people and he will allow himself to be found by them. So therefore, you see, What is at the center of Jesus’ preaching, even here in verse 7 of chapter 7, is an event, an unprecedented event. God has acted afresh.

    And now, whereby formerly it may have been that you felt you had no access, or there was no access, the day of access has arrived. And you can walk right into the midst of heaven and make request of your Father there. There has never been a day like this before in the history of the world. And the beautiful thing about it is that day hasn’t ended. You’re still in it.

    What of your confidence then? Why are you so fearful? Why do you doubt when you approach the throne? Don’t you know that your Heavenly Father wants to give you all the good things of the kingdom? Isn’t it plain to you and that predicated upon the fact that God has acted so to prove it to you?

    The very one who speaks proves it. For he is, after all, that final, conclusive, summary, action of God. Ideas may change, they may come and go, But the event is fixed. You cannot make it not so. You cannot undo it. God has come. It is fixed. And now your faith is fixed. And so is your access in the kingdom. Do you believe it? Do you believe it? Right now, are you conscious of your access to heaven because of what Jesus Christ has done?

    Do you know you have a hearing? and that your Father delights in giving you the things that you ask for in his kingdom. Well, Jesus puts it this way in John’s Gospel. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything, he will give it to you in my name. Until now, you see there’s the event character of it all, until now you have asked for nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive that your joy may be made full. Jesus the preacher then. Here, wonderfully drawing his message to a conclusion, but not losing his grip on preaching’s true and proper focus, the activity of God. That God who now in his Son has made himself accessible as never before.

    Come. Come, won’t you? Don’t you venture on Christ? Come to the waters. You who have no money, come buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Come. Ask. We are bold, our God, to venture on you, for you have come to us. You have come to us in Jesus Christ, our Savior. and in him you have inaugurated a new day of access unto you. We thank you and pray that we might venture upon the activity which you have performed for us and upon the promises that are laid within that activity. Surely you will not turn us away, but delight in giving us the things of the kingdom of heaven.

    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.

  • An Event, Not an Idea

    An Event, Not an Idea

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Sermon on the Mount” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, September 9, 1990.

    About this sermon

    Christ’s teaching on the mountain presents the historical event of the kingdom of heaven arriving, and it offers neither an idea nor a moral system. In 7:7, ‘ask, and it shall be given,’ the cross and resurrection already stand inside a simple imperative. The whole Sermon on the Mount belongs to the category of event.

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    Sermon transcript

    This morning our scripture reading is found in Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 7. And we begin reading at verse 7, and we will read through verse 23. Hear the word of God. Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. For what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father, which is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him? Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.

    For this is the law and the prophet. enter ye in at the straight gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. Because straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

    Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? Even so, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.” A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them.

    Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. that he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works?

    And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Let’s try to get it out. Our Father, our desire is for the Word, and we know that your elect around the world desire that Word as well. We do pray, our Father, that they may be fed as we are fed this day. May we delight in your Word, and may we have that Word to the full that we may fully serve you. We pray it in Jesus’ name. Amen.

    We have some unfinished business. Some unfinished business with the Sermon on the Mount. We have been studying the Sermon on the Mount over the course of some time, but some of you will remember that our study of this sermon broke off last December, as we began to consider some other things, that now we want to return to the Sermon on the Mount, picking up here with the sixth verse of the seventh chapter, and finish the course. What I would like to do this morning, as we become reacquainted with the Sermon on the Mount is to set the table. Set the table for the final course in this incomparable feast served up to us in Jesus’ sermon from that Mount. There are a number of things that we do well to keep in mind. You have the table and its setting. You have the guests assembled. But you also have the atmosphere. The air that all breathe as they sit down at banquet. with the Lord.

    Is it any mistake that Jesus has ascended a mountain to preach this most glorious of sermons? Do we see in the mount that he ascends at that time another mount which he will ascend? And as he speaks from that mountain to his disciples in former times, does he continue now to speak from a mountain in glory, from Zion itself? And has he changed his mind? Does he say something different from the mountain in glory that he said from the mountain in Galilee.

    Mahdo. So as we give our consideration to this feast, this feast on the Word, let us keep in mind the atmosphere, the air we breathe, it is supercharged. It is well for us to keep in mind then, if we are going to go at this sermon aright, what is in the air as Jesus speaks. I cannot emphasize it enough. I cannot speak of it too often to you. But what this sermon has at its center is not an idea as if Jesus was the latest in a long list of worldly philosophers. One more who has come down the road with a bright new idea to make sense out of living. In the air, then, as Jesus speaks, at the center of that atmosphere that pervades is not an idea, neither is it a moral.

    As if Jesus were an ethicist, concerned principally above all else with behavior and morality. Liberals and decadent Protestants are interested in morality. Kant is interested in ethics. Jesus is interested in redemption. At the center then is not a bright new idea as if Jesus were a philosopher at the center is not some sort of moral ideal, as if Jesus were an ethicist. Jesus is not someone who comes bearing sage wisdom, wise words to live by. He doesn’t even bring a theological notion.

    You see, what is central for this atmosphere is an event. An event. Not something mental, but something historical. Something momentous has occurred. God has acted. God has done something. And his action is unprecedented. Never has he acted as he has now acted. Listen to Jesus with regard to this event. He makes himself known in Galilee, Matthew 4, verse 17.

    From that time, Jesus began to preach and say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. You hear it? The kingdom of heaven is at hand. In fact, now Jesus comes announcing the advent of that kingdom. It is that event that supercharges the air, the atmosphere, for the feast on the word when Jesus preaches from the mount. The kingdom of heaven has dawned. Later in that chapter, the twenty-third verse, you hear Jesus now going about throughout the territories of Galilee proclaiming the gospel, that is, the good news, news about an event, an historical event, the gospel of the kingdom of heaven. It has gone. It has arrived. The event, therefore, that sets the tone for the Sermon on the Mount is the coming of the Kingdom.

    I cannot stress it enough for you. Though you don’t see the immediate application of that or implications of it, I cannot stress it enough for your well-being. For the expositions of this sermon are multiplied, they abound, you can pick them up in any Bible bookstore and you peruse the pages of those commentaries and you find not one single mention about the appearance, the arrival, the advent of the kingdom.

    As having any bearing upon what Jesus is saying, it’s almost as if These folk who write these commentaries were telling us that Jesus was a philosopher. He is an ethicist. All he has in mind is a set of morals. All he’s concerned about is your behavior and that alone. I’m sorry to say that even some of the best of Reformed commentaries have proceeded along that line. I missed the point.

    God has done something. And what that means for you is, if God has acted in the dawning of the kingdom, the kingdom will come to its appointed end, and you have a place in it. Our exposition then of this sermon must do justice to this unprecedented, world-altering, prophecy-fulfilling event. Now there’s another thing that we have to keep in mind. With respect to the atmosphere, of this sermon. The thought is a little difficult, so you may have to put on your seatbelt. But stay with me now. with respect to this second element that supercharges the air of Jesus’ preaching.

    When you see Jesus go up on the mount in Matthew 5 at the beginning, we have already suggested that his ascending of that mountain is suggestive of a yet future ascension by Him, of a greater mountain still. And when Jesus sits down on that mountain, is the picture becoming clear? He ascends and He sits down. It is suggestive of a yet future session of the Son of God, when He will sit in glory at His Father’s right hand. But you object.

    You say, When he goes up on that mountain in Matthew 5, that takes place before his ministry was completed. That takes place before he died and was raised again. But I say to you that when he goes up on that mountain in Matthew 5, he ascends it fully conscious of the completion of his work, and he goes up on the mountain as if the work were already done. So that when you deal with the Sermon on the Mount, It cannot be irrespective of the accomplishment of Christ’s work and ministry.

    You cannot edit out of this sermon Christ’s death and resurrection and understand the sermon. Am I registering? Am I getting through? People read the Sermon on the Mount, they say, I find in here nothing of Christ’s death on the cross. I find here nothing about His humiliation and suffering. I find nothing here about His resurrection and His ascension.

    I’m saying to you that all of that is laid between the lines and is the assumption of Christ as he preaches, so that you cannot expound this sermon aright unless you do justice to the cross and to the empty tomb. This means that you can preach the cross of Christ from Matthew 5 through 7. And if you don’t preach Christ crucified, from Matthew 5-7, you haven’t preached the text. These are the things that are missed by even the best of commentaries. And we are short-changed because these things are not brought out for us. because we are not trained to see more clearly in these words from Christ the significance of the coming of the kingdom of heaven and the glory of our Savior who gives himself up unto death and is raised for our salvation.

    No mere ethical treatise then. This sermon assumes the accomplished work of Christ. It’s built upon the accomplishment of Christ’s work, our redemption through Him. So Jesus in this sermon is not here telling us to be good for goodness sake. He’s not holding out to us here a set of moral values, hoping that we might try to live up to them. He’s here preaching the consequences of redemption that have come now in the arrival of the kingdom of heaven. If God has sent his Son And this son is appointed to death and then vindication. For you, then what will your life be like? Here it is. Here it is. the life of citizens of the kingdom of heaven saved by grace through the coming of the kingdom in Jesus Christ. There it is.

    There are many commands given throughout this sermon. We learned in our English classes in years gone by that we can call a command an imperative. There are many imperatives in the Sermon on the Mountain. Don’t do this. do this instead. There are many imperatives, but none of those imperatives hang in the air as if suspended in gas. Those imperatives are grounded upon what we call indicatives, the indicatives of God’s work. the fact that he has acted. God gives no imperative, no command to his people that is not grounded upon his action, first of all. He does not call you to perform something that he hasn’t performed for you before you even raised your hand.

    The power you seek is found in him, in what he has accomplished. So the sermon on the mount is not intended to leave you frustrated, as if, well, he’s only given us another impossible demand. How can he expect me to live up to this thing? He is solidly grounded upon the finished, accomplished work of God.

    God has acted, not only to motivate you, But to actually do for you what you cannot do, that you in Him might have life. That’s redemption, not ethics. That’s salvation. Not philosophy. That’s Christianity. That’s Christianity. These things then, for your consideration, as you inhale, as you breathe in the air at this Feast on the Word, it’s the best air. He did it for you. He did it for you.

    Well, in setting the table, we better get the settings set down right around the table now. So I’d like to put before you also the matter of the outline of the sermon once more. There can be argument about this and I expect as we make our way to the end of the seventh chapter we may have to make a few adjustments. But I’ll lay this before you this morning. Some of these things we can be pretty confident of. But if you’re interested, maybe you’d like to jot down these thoughts about the outline. We have, of course, the opening, Matthew 5, the first two verses. That establishes the setting for us. We’ve already talked about it.

    Jesus on the mount, his disciples come to him. He opens his mouth now and teaches them. So it’s instruction for the church, no one else. It’s instruction for the church. The multitudes may hear, they may be impressed, but ultimately the instruction is for the church, those called.

    So you have the setting, verses 1 and 2, chapter 5. Then, you know, you have the Beatitudes. I’d love to go back and start there again, because I love to preach on the Beatitudes. But there you have it, verses 3 through 16, the Beatitudes with their commentary. With their commentary. It’s not often that you get an inspired commentary going along with what Jesus gives you, but in this case you happen to have an inspired commentary. given you going along with those Beatitudes. So the Beatitudes are verses 3 through 9 and then you have the inspired commentary verses 10 through 16. And how would we describe that section of the Sermon on the Mount?

    Here is what I have. The life of the citizen of the kingdom of heaven. There it is. the life of the citizen of the kingdom of heaven. Then we have chapter 5 verses 17 through 48. And set out before you now is the superlative righteousness of the kingdom of heaven that has now become the possession of the citizens of that realm.

    This is where many of us stumble, because you see, the superlative righteousness of the kingdom of heaven, expounded by Jesus here, even exceeds the righteousness of the law. It is greater still Then we have chapter 6, verse 1 now, through chapter 7, verse 6. That’s where we ended in our study previously. And the keynote here is given to you by Jesus in the very first verse of this section, verse 1 of chapter 6, where he talks about practicing your righteousness.

    Here is the practice. of the righteousness of the kingdom of heaven. This is followed then, beginning at verse 7 in chapter 7, and I’ve said through 23, we may have to adjust that, but I’ve said through verse 23, and we might entitle this, Invitations and Warnings to the citizens of the realm. Invitations and warnings to the citizens of the realm. And then verses 24 through 27 of that seventh chapter, a closing parable on the importance of the kingdom of heaven and the word of the King, followed by an epilogue where Jesus descends now after having preached.

    Verses 28 and 29. how wonderfully we are prepared for what Jesus says in that seventh verse. Just by way of introduction now to this specific section as we concern ourselves with the table that is set. Do you note the progression through the previous section? Chapter 6, verse 1 through 7, verse 6.

    It’s powerful. Powerful stuff. I don’t even have to say that to you. You know this is powerful stuff from the Lord. But note the way in which he phrases things. A series of seven negatives. Now, that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t couple them with corollary positives. He does. But as you run through that section, you have a series of seven negatives.

    Verse 2, with regard to almsgiving, don’t give like this. Verse 5, with regard to prayer, don’t pray like this. Verse 16, with regard to fasting, don’t fast like this. Verse 19, don’t lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth. Verse 25, don’t be anxious. Verse 1 of chapter 7, don’t judge. Verse 6, don’t be stupid.

    So we have this series of seven negatives given you. And they come one after another. Now, he’s pushing you with regard to those negatives that you might consider the positives that are corollary. And, of course, the principle positive statement that he makes in this section is what you find in verse 33 of chapter 6. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. There’s the magnificent positive, but even with that positive and the other positives that you find in that section, the negative statement dominates.

    Don’t. Do not. Then you come to verse 7 of chapter 7. It is a veritable explosion. Here he comes. Ask. You can just see him opening up his lines. Ask, it’s so magnificently affirmative. Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and you shall find. No question about it. Knock, it shall be opened to you. Was there ever invitation like this to the citizens? Never. For you. You are so loved. You are so loved. All you have to do is ask. You are so beloved that your seeking will not end in frustration and emptiness. You will find. Look, it’s certain the door will be open. And how do you know? Because Jesus asked. Because Jesus sought. Because Jesus knocked. And now this one is alive to intercede for you in all of your asking and seeking and knocking.

    You see, I can even preach the cross and the resurrection from Matthew 7-7. And friends, that’s meat and drink to you. Let’s pray. O Lord, what a banquet, what a feast, and how marvelous a host is Christ as He gives the Word Our hunger, our thirst abates, and we are satisfied. Help us, Father, in light of what we learn here. Encourage us, our God, with respect to the kingdom of heaven which is dawned, with respect to the King himself, who suffered for us but is raised, who even now makes intercession for us at your right hand. 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.

  • Ahimelech and the Showbread

    Ahimelech and the Showbread

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Lord of the Sabbath” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, May 13, 1990.

    About this sermon

    The story of David, Samuel, and the priest Ahimelech gives three reasons why God did not condemn Ahimelech for giving David the showbread. Ahimelech carries Messianic significance, and Matthew 12’s use of the episode reveals something of Christ himself.

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    Sermon transcript

    Chapter 12, verses 1 through 8, and then we will return to the Old Testament again to examine the story of Ahimelech in more detail. This is Matthew 12, verses 1 through 8. At that time, Jesus was walking on the Sabbath through the grain fields, and his disciples became hungry. They began to pick the heads of grain and eat.

    When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” But he replied to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry? He and those with him entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those with him, but only for the priests.”

    Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and are innocent? But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what this means—’I desire mercy, not sacrifice’—you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

    Then turning back to 1 Samuel once more, chapter 21, verses 1 to 7. This is 1 Samuel 21, verses 1 to 7.

    Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest, and Ahimelech came trembling to meet David. He said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one is with you?” David answered Ahimelech the priest, “The king has commissioned me with a matter, and he has said to me, ‘Let no one know anything about the matter on which I am sending you, or about which I have commissioned you.’ I have directed the young men to a certain place.”

    Now, therefore, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.” And the priest answered David and said, “There is no ordinary bread on hand, but there is consecrated bread, if only the young men have kept themselves from women.” And David answered the priest and said to him, “Surely women have been kept from us, as previously when I set out, and the vessels of the young men were holy, though it was an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?” So the priest gave him consecrated bread, for there was no bread there except the bread of the presence, which was removed from before the Lord in order to put hot bread in its place when it was taken away. Now, one of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord, and his name was Doeg, the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s shepherds.

    Then turning to the twenty-second chapter, beginning with verse eleven and reading through verse twenty. This is chapter twenty-two, verse eleven. Then the king sent someone to summon Ahimelech, the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s household, the priests who were in Nob, and all of them came to the king. And Saul said, “Listen now, son of Ahitub.” And he answered, “Here I am, my lord.” Saul then said to him, “Why have you and the sons of Jesse conspired against me, in that you have given him bread and a sword and have inquired of God for him, that he should rise up against me by lying in ambush, as it is this day?”

    Then Ahimelech answered the king and said, “And who among all your servants is as faithful as David, even the king’s son-in-law, who is captain over your guard and is honored in your house? Did I just begin to inquire of God for him today? Far be it from me.”

    Do not let the king impute anything to his servant or to any of the household of my father, for your servant knows nothing at all of this whole affair. But the king said, “You shall surely die, Hamilech, you and all your father’s household.” And the king said to the guards who were attending him, “Turn around and put the priests of the Lord to death, because their hand also was with David, and because they knew that he was fleeing and did not reveal it to me.” But the servants of the king were not willing to put forth their hands to attack the priests of the Lord. Then the king said to Doeg, “You turn around and attack the priests.” And Doeg, the Edomite, turned around and attacked the priests, and he killed that day eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod. And he struck Nob, the city of the priests, with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and infants, also oxen, donkeys, and sheep; he struck them with the edge of the sword. But one son of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David.

    It was virtually impossible for me to pass from this morning’s message without further comment on what we have read out of 1 Samuel. A number of things deserve further comment, two of which are the figure of Ahimelech himself, as he is described for us in 1 Samuel, and also what we might observe from the parallel passage in Matthew 12, verses 1 through 8.

    Ahimelech is one of those remarkable figures from Scripture. One that is liable to fall through the cracks simply because we so quickly pass over the reference to him, or because we are unwilling to spend the time reflecting upon him and his significance. Well, here he is, this fellow Ahimelech. Maybe you do not remember hearing much about him before today. You might have noted that in the New Testament texts, the figure of Abiathar is mentioned, who is actually Ahimelech’s son.

    We have read of Abiathar here at the end of our scripture reading this evening, in verse 20 of 1 Samuel 22. But here is this figure—a priest named Ahimelech—who appears in the context now of David’s flight from King Saul. Ever since David triumphed over Goliath, as recorded in the seventeenth chapter of 1 Samuel, the tensions between Saul and David have been clearly evident, and they have been growing throughout this time to the point that David flees from the presence of Saul. Saul’s anger has now reached its peak, and David, with Jonathan’s help, has fled for his life. This is recorded in the twentieth chapter of 1 Samuel. Thus, David, whom God has chosen and secretly anointed by Samuel, is a fugitive from the king’s anger.

    He, with his companions, has fled from Saul’s court, which has been established in Saul’s hometown of Gibeah, a town in the territory of Benjamin, just north of the territory belonging to Judah. But now David is moving southward into the territory of Judah, and he comes to the sanctuary in the city of Nob, N-O-B, a mountain town east of Jerusalem.

    This town may have further significance; I am speculating here. Some have suggested that the town of Nob is located at the site of the New Testament town of Bethphage, the town mentioned in connection with Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem and from which he traveled on the day of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This place is most likely on the eastern slopes of the Mount of Olives, lying to the east of Jerusalem itself. As for Jerusalem at this time, it remains unconquered. It is still in the hands of the Jebusites, a Canaanite tribe, and will not pass into the full possession of the Israelites until David himself accomplishes that mission.

    The sanctuary is now at Nob, and this city has become a refuge city for the priests of the Lord at this time in Israel’s history. It was established as a refuge city for the priests of the Lord because of the destruction of the previous site where the priests had gathered. That site was Shiloh, where Eli had conducted his ministry. Now, prominent among the priests at Nob is Ahimelech, who may well be the high priest, the chief priest among the priests at Nob.

    He is the son of Ahitub, who is the son of Phinehas, who is the son of Eli. This is his family tree. You can trace it yourself by checking 1 Samuel 14, verse 3. Ahimelech and the other priests, as we see from 1 Samuel 22, were many in number. They were executed by Doeg. Ahimelech and the other priests were carrying out their prescribed service to the Lord, for the tabernacle had been set up there. It is clear that the table for the showbread was present, because that is the table from which the bread was taken to give to David. Thus, the tabernacle and the services related to the tabernacle were located at Nob with the priests, and Ahimelech was serving as the chief priest at this time.

    There are indications in the text, specifically in 1 Samuel 21, a passage we have read, that David’s arrival at Nob is connected to the Sabbath day. This is an interesting detail in itself. The connection becomes evident in relation to the consecrated bread. We are told that the consecrated bread was due to be removed from before the Lord, as stated in verse 6 of the passage. According to the law, as recorded in Leviticus 24, verse 8, the bread was removed weekly from before the Lord on the Sabbath. Every Sabbath, new bread was brought in, and the old bread was taken out. The old bread then became the provision given to the priests, who ate the bread that had been removed from the presence of the Lord.

    Also we have this figure, Doeg, and it may well be that this man, although an Edomite, is mentioned in verse 7. It may be that his presence there was due to being detained before the Lord in Nob. The reason may be that he found himself in the region of Nob, or at Nob, the city of Nob, on the Sabbath day. He was caught there on the Sabbath and could not continue his journey. The practice of the Jews was that one was permitted only a limited distance to travel on the Sabbath, so there he was, detained. Not because he was a worshipper of the Lord, but because he was within the territory of Israel and served as a servant of the King of Israel, he was obligated to follow the laws and statutes of Israel. Now, if it is the Sabbath, and that seems likely, David’s presence at Nob is very interesting.

    For he may have planned his flight in such a way as to arrive at the house of God on the Sabbath day. He may have fled to the house of God in order to seek the Lord. He may have gone to the house of God in order to seek encouragement and receive rest, to have peace provided through God’s presence, as God had promised to be especially present at the sanctuary. As David says elsewhere, “My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.” Now, the haste with which David has fled has left him without provisions. He has no food for himself or his companions. So he comes to Nob, the city of the priests, not only on the Sabbath, but hungry.

    You could reflect on that a little. He comes to the house of God and into the presence of God in order to be fed and nourished. But in any case, having arrived, he is greeted now by a priest. You know how I like to reflect on the meaning of names.

    The name Ahimelech means “brother of the king.” Brother of the king. Therefore, his name emphasizes his faithfulness, which could be directed in two ways at the same time. It could be directed toward Israel’s king, and in this case, Saul himself. Ahimelech, the priest of the Lord, is a brother to the king, and his heart is united with Israel’s king, Saul. But of course, we can also consider another direction. The king could be God, so that the intention of Ahimelech, the priest of God, is aligned with God, Israel’s true king.

    In either case, Ahimelech’s loyalty is emphasized. His faithfulness is evident; he is faithful to the King, whether Saul or the Lord. His loyalty to the King’s house may explain the exchange between him and David. Note how the account begins in the first verse of chapter 21.

    It appears that Ahimelech is cautious. We are told that he comes and greets David, trembling. He may be suspicious because he notices that none of the king’s attendants are with David. There were others present, but none of the king’s attendants are with him. He asks, particularly with regard to this matter: Why is this the case, David?

    David, not wishing to reveal that he is fleeing from Saul, and knowing this would be especially significant if this man is completely devoted to the king, pretends to be on a secret mission. He claims this mission is one about which even his traveling companions are unaware.

    He then asks for provision, and he asks for five loaves of bread. Ahimelech tells him that no ordinary bread is available, only the consecrated bread. As his name suggests, Ahimelech is one who is faithful to the king. He stands to place even this bread—the bread of the Presence, the consecrated bread—at David’s disposal. He does so because he believes that David is an extension of the king himself. David is the emissary and the ambassador of the king. The bread will not be denied him. So loyal is Ahimelech to the king and to the king’s purposes.

    Now he says that this bread is available to David for Saul’s sake, provided that David and his men are ritually pure. That is, they have been kept from women. David assures Ahimelech that his custom is to maintain ritual purity even in the course of ordinary missions. How much more, then, in the case of this extraordinary mission, this secret mission upon which Saul has sent him. Therefore, Ahimelech gives the bread to David and to David’s companions. This is an astounding, if not shocking, act for an Israelite priest. At least, that is how it would seem.

    For this action of giving the showbread to David, as we have seen, stands contrary to the expressed commandment of the law. Yet, it is an action that is not condemned, but rather praised. And Ahimelech is not judged, but rather commended. So how is it possible for Ahimelech to perform this act, to give the showbread that belonged to the priests, and that according to the law of God, and yet remain uncondemned, and actually be commended for his position? How is it possible?

    First of all, as we have already suggested, Ahimelech is acting out of his loyalty to the king. And who is the king? The king is the Lord’s anointed. Even though that person be Saul, he is the Lord’s anointed. In his action, Ahimelech is actually giving place to the one who bears the stamp of God’s promised Messiah—the coming great and final king.

    Ahimelech is not then remiss in his loyalty, but with his loyalty he is demonstrating his devotion to the true king, God himself. But the circumstance is deeper yet, because you see Ahimelech unwittingly exhibits his loyalty to David. The truly anointed king, the one upon whom the stamp of messiahship truly and really is impressed, is none other than David, the one before whom he stands. So there is then this messianic dimension, this dimension of messiahship, in this entire transaction.

    But note, note the consequence of Ahimelech’s action. Ahimelech will pay for his loyalty to the Lord’s Anointed One. He will pay for his loyalty to the Lord’s Messiah. He will pay for his loyalty to the Lord’s Christ. And he will pay the ultimate price. He will pay with his life. And that is why I have read to you 1 Samuel 22.

    Ahimelech pays with his life for his loyalty to the Lord’s Messiah, and that at the hands of Doeg, the Edomite. Now in this, Ahimelech becomes the picture of that iron that is so peculiar to Israel. On the one hand, he will exhibit what is best in Israel, but on the other hand, he will be destroyed by Israel. Ahimelech then will portray for us faithful Israel in the service of Israel’s true king. But in being faithful Israel in the service of Israel’s true King, he will become the victim of faithless Israel, as so many in Israel were. How many of the prophets were executed? How many of those who served God truly, honorably, loyally, were executed? Not by foreigners, not by Gentiles, but by Jews. Is that not the indictment that Jesus brings upon Jerusalem finally?

    The streets of Jerusalem have run red with the blood of the prophets, the blood of those who have stood with him and his cause. So in Ahimelech, we see that irony. That irony rises again and again in Israel, while exhibiting the best in Israel, Ahimelech is destroyed by Israel.

    I once had a professor of mine tell me that the enemy always comes from outside. For the life of me, this man whom I respect, this man from whom I have learned a great deal, somehow speaks as if he has not read the Bible at all. Not from outside, but from within. From within. And that is why it behooves the people of God to always be on guard, to always watch. Please, do not be naive. And do not become sentimental when it comes to theology and doctrine. Please. These truly are matters of life and death.

    The first thing we see in this passage is the remarkable feature of loyalty to the Lord’s anointed. But there is another feature that is equally compelling. You see, this person possesses a merciful spirit. Such a merciful spirit that will not allow him to use the law as an excuse for heartlessness. Let me say that once more. This person possesses a merciful spirit—the spirit that will not allow him to use the law as an excuse for heartlessness. He sees David. David is hungry. His men are hungry. David and his men have nothing. They have no bread. So Ahimelech sees David and his men in need.

    And Ahimelech responds to that need with kindness. And in doing so, he does not fear that he has violated the law or attacked its precepts. In this way, the law is properly understood and applied, in line with what we saw this morning in our exposition of Mark chapter 2. And I want you now to take note of the quality and depth of this mercy shown by Ahimelech.

    What did Ahimelech do when he gave the bread to David and David’s men? Whose bread was it? We could go that direction. It was priestly bread. It belonged to the priests. The bread was his by law, by statute, by right. There is no other bread available.

    So when a priest gives away the bread, he is not merely responding to David’s need, to the fact that David is hungry and requires some form of provision. What Ahimelech is doing is meeting David’s need in such a way that it leaves him without. He gives what is his to David in order that David might have, even though it means he goes without. Isn’t that what the text says?

    There is no other bread in Nob. There is no other bread available. So the bread that Ahimelech gives is all the bread that could be given, and when it is given, there is none left. Ahimelech has impoverished himself in order to enrich David. We know how costly that was for him. Ultimately it meant not merely going without bread for a time, but, as we read in 1 Samuel 22, his death. So what is it, then, that Ahimelech is giving? Not just bread, but himself. Ahimelech gives himself. Ahimelech gives his life today. The priest, the high priest gives his life for David and David’s men.

    Therefore, in Ahimelech we see not merely the pattern for devotion to Christ, as if David were Christ and Ahimelech were merely a servant of Christ. Much more. In Ahimelech, we see Christ himself. For Christ will not be merely a king, but also a priest. There comes a priest after the order of Melchizedek, but also one after the order of Ahimelech.

    This priest takes from an eternal table in a heavenly tabernacle, one not made with hands, such bread that is able to answer the hunger of all the souls of God’s children. And this one responds mercifully to all of his own who cry out to him in their need. Learn about Christ from a priest. A wonderful priest, a great priest of God. For his mercy, of course, Christ will pay with his life.

    And in time, the Pharisees will do to Jesus for the mercy found in him what Saul did to Ahimelech for the mercy found in him. It is this message of mercy that is picked up and amplified so well in Matthew’s account of Jesus’ encounter with the Pharisees over the disciples plucking grain on the Sabbath day. Jesus says to the Pharisees in the Matthew account, “If you had known what this means, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent.” The point then is that the Pharisees lack what Ahimelech possessed. And what Ahimelech possessed reflects Christ. We too are to reflect Christ. And before need, we are to give and give ourselves in order that the need may be met, as Christ has met all of our needs.

    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 Vows of Church Membership

    The Vows of Church Membership

    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, February 25, 1990.

    About this sermon

    Christian piety has declined and evangelical ecumenism has grown loose, and the vows of church membership speak to both from a Reformed, Presbyterian perspective. Christ himself keeps these vows on our behalf.

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    Sermon transcript

    We will be looking at a number of passages in the New Testament, and our first is found in Matthew chapter 10, verses 32 and 33. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Turning over to Matthew 18, beginning with verse 15.

    Moreover, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not listen to you, take one or two others with you, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses to listen to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Verily I say unto you, whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

    Turning over to Paul’s letter to the Romans, chapter 10, beginning with verse four. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. For Moses describes the righteousness that is of the law, that the man who does those things shall live by them. But the righteousness that is of faith speaks on this matter. Say not in your heart, who shall ascend into heaven, that is, to bring Christ down from above, or who shall descend into the deep, that is, to bring Christ up from the dead. But what does it say? The word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart, that is, the word of faith which we preach. That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

    For the scriptures say, “Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.” Finally, from Hebrews chapter 13, verse 17: “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves. For they watch for your souls as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy and not with greed, for that is unprofitable for you.”

    I returned to western Pennsylvania nearly 14 years ago after a nine-year absence. Coming back into the area in which I was raised, I must say that my return left me somewhat disillusioned. This disillusionment was due to a number of reasons. I had heard for some time prior to my return about the great activity among Christians, especially Reformed Christians, in this area. I had also heard of a renewal of intellectual interest, or if you will, doctrinal interest, among the people here with regard to Reformed matters, Calvinistic teachings, and Presbyterian beliefs. So I must admit to you that when I came back into the area, my hopes were very high 14 years ago. But it was not long after I arrived that I began to form a more accurate and sober assessment of the situation.

    For all the activity, for all the renewed interest in doctrine, there did not seem to be, alongside that, a resurgence of Reformed or Calvinist piety, or godliness. Most specifically, there did not seem to be a resurgence of a Reformed view of the church, a Reformed ecclesiology.

    In fact, it seemed that people were quite naive and in many ways unreformed, both in their personal lives and in their theology and doctrine generally. There were two practical matters that struck me. Reformed piety has always been connected with a particular view of the Sabbath. There was a time when western Pennsylvania was especially known for its observance of the Sabbath, due to the direct influence of the Reformed and Calvinist people in this area.

    But with the resurgence and the flurry of activities, Reformed or so-called Reformed, there was not a resurgence of godliness, and there was not a resurgence of Reformed or Calvinist piety. There did not even seem to be a renewed interest in holiness of life. With respect to the matter of Reformed ecclesiology and the doctrine of the Church, it seemed to me that what was taking place was an attempt by many to shore up their securities with respect to family and individual life before God and His Church, so that individual needs, life, and family orientation took preeminence and the church was by and large displaced. Now in previous days, within Reformed circles, that would not have been tolerated at all. Because the people who had embraced the Reformed gospel had come to believe that it was the glory of God above all else and the well-being of the body of Christ above all else, because Christ himself is bound to his people corporately before he is bound to any individual or even any individual family unit.

    My conclusion, as I surveyed these matters, was that the flurry of activity and the doctrinal and intellectual resurgence were superficial. They were not substantial. That was the first of my rude awakenings. The second was this: even among the Reformed leaders—those who were speaking for the Calvinist Church and the Reformed gospel—I found, by and large, no real zeal that their institutions, in which they held leadership positions, would become citadels and articulate proponents of Reformed orthodoxy. Instead, what I found was a wide-ranging, broadly evangelical conviction that minimized Reformed distinctives and a Calvinist orientation in the interest of making a greater impact on more and more people. I remember a meeting I had with two readers of a Reformed institution in this area. I asked them about the situation in that institution and whether it was not time for them, as leaders, to begin to press Reformed orthodoxy within it.

    Their response to me was this: There is no money in it. It will not work. You cannot be articulately and militantly Reformed and survive. Therefore, the only hope is to become broadly evangelical and minimize Reformed distinctives and Calvinist distinctives in the interest of your own self-survival.

    So we move from the superficial to the pragmatic. We are not doing well, are we? But that brings me to my third observation, and this was the most devastating, because it struck closest to home. As I said, I noticed the flurry of activity, the superficial doctrinal interest, and the pragmatic concerns and directions of the leaders of Reformed institutions in this area. But there was also a devastating realization with respect to the lay of the situation.

    This area has been traditionally conservative. I was raised conservative. I was raised to support the Republican Party. That was how conservative I was. That was the belief that shaped my life. You all know my aunt. She carries small religious symbols with her. I was raised conservative and lived in a conservative heartland. In fact, I lived in a conservative community. Swiftly still votes Republican, and so does Oswald. But what struck me as I came face to face with certain realities in this region was that the conservatism I found among the lay people could not be equated with Reformed commitment and devotion.

    Let me give you an example. Do you remember the 1970s? If you go back to the time that I first became pastor of this congregation in 1876, we were in the middle of the 1970s. Some of you recall the turmoil of that decade. One of the defining characteristics of the conservative movement at that time was opposition to people breaking oaths they had taken to their country, to their nation, and to the institutions of society. How could they trample upon those oaths?

    A person’s word is his promise. If he takes an oath, he is bound by it, is he not? But I heard time and time again, in written materials and in conversations, people condemning individuals who crossed the Canadian border and engaged in other actions. So I am not speaking to condone what certain individuals did in those circumstances, such as crossing the Canadian border or committing other unlawful acts. But I want you to consider what was truly shaping the hearts and minds of many of these conservative individuals, some of whom were in churches, some of whom were in Reformed churches.

    Yes, indeed, an oath is a sacred bond. A vow is a sacred obligation, except when I wish to leave the Church. Then I walk out, despite my conservative attitude, and I do not look back. Now I may become a little emotional. I may become a little stirred up about this. Which is more sacred? Your vow to God in Christ before the people of God, or your vow to the government? Let me ask you, which is more serious? Your vow to God in Christ before the people of God, or your vow to your spouse? Now let me ask you, is there any reason why there is not respect for oaths at other levels of life in society, when in fact the heart of those who claim to revere the house does not revere the grace?

    The problem in our society today is not divorce. Among non-Christians, it is divorce among Christians who have already rejected the most serious commitment. I do not like it, so I leave. I do not like you, so I leave. You say something that offends me, and my response is to leave. I do not like the way a man dresses, or the way a man speaks, or the particular decor of that congregation. There are more exciting things happening down the street at another church, so I leave. Thus we have moved from superficiality to pragmatism to hypocrisy. The word, the vow, the oath, the promise of Christians means nothing. A little difficulty, and you are gone.

    We have been considering the membership vows that we took when we became communicant members of this church. This vow, like other vows, is a solemn commitment of our life to our word. Our word becomes our bond. We virtually place our life on the line. Our pattern in this is God Himself, who in keeping His oaths and vows, puts His life on the line. Indeed, He goes to the limit in doing so by offering His Son, so that His oath might be fulfilled toward us.

    You know, the vows we heard this morning were very meaningful. Ramsey is joining the church this morning, which gave us an opportunity to listen to the vows again and to reflect on them once more in our minds. The structure is the same as the baptism vows. There is confession and there is promise.

    There is an articulation of our faith and there is an expression of our commitment. Consider these questions. The first one concerns our allegiance to the Bible. Do you believe the Bible? Here our confession is being stated. We are declaring what we are bound to. We are bound to the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. They are the Word of God. The doctrine of Scripture found there is a doctrine of salvation that is perfect and the only true doctrine of salvation. This is what we have bound ourselves to in our confession.

    The second question continues along the same line of articulating our confession of faith. Do you confess that because of your sinfulness you abhor and humble yourself before God, and that you trust for salvation not in yourself but in Jesus Christ alone? The third question begins by expressing further our commitment with regard to confession. Do you acknowledge Jesus Christ as your sovereign Lord? These are the articles of faith to which you are bound by virtue of this confession you are making. You are laying your life on the line with respect to these doctrines. Your confession has content. You cannot treat it lightly. Is the Bible the Word of God, or is it not? Is Christ the only Savior, or is He not? Is He your Lord, or is He not?

    The tone changes halfway through the third question. You move from confession to promise. Do you promise, in reliance on the grace of God, to serve Christ with all that is in you, to forsake the world, to put to death your old nature, and to lead a godly life? You are committing yourself by promise to a life described in this way. Then you come to the clincher—the question that your session always asks, directly and clearly. Why? Because this is where the church is experiencing so much difficulty today. Not among liberal churches, which do not care, but among conservative and reformed churches. The fourth question is, do you agree to submit, in the Lord, to the government of this church? Will you submit yourself? And in the case that you are found to be deficient in doctrinal life, will you heed its discipline?

    This submission, which you have promised, is a submission to Christ Himself and His Lordship, which you have already confessed in the third question. This is the practical outworking of the Lordship of Christ. Throughout our time, as we seek the will of the Lord, every other suggestion has been offered to the Christian community about what we ought to submit ourselves to. But the truth is clear and obvious: you submit yourself to Christ and His rule in the church. This is the concept of our vows as members of the Church of Jesus Christ. We, in effect, lay our lives on the line with respect to the things we have vowed and articulated in our confession and promises.

    It is important for us not to give mindless assent. The Reformation stands for this: the people of God are to be alert as they speak their vows. They are to know what they are doing and what they are confessing. Therefore, Luther and Calvin fought with all their strength against mindless assent and in favor of informed consent.

    So what then lies at the root of the Reformed and Presbyterian view of membership? I have only two points here under which I wish to organize for you the passages that we read this morning. As they, in composite, present to you a view which Presbyterian and Reformed churches have held with respect to the vows that people take when they become members of the body of Christ.

    The first has to do with the nature of biblical confession. Now, here I am not speaking specifically about confession of sin; I am talking about confession of faith. The nature of biblical confession, and our text here is principally Romans 10, verses 9 and 10, that classic text. The nature of biblical confession: if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. Here are the features of biblical confession arising out of this passage. First of all, biblical confession is open, public acknowledgment. That is the meaning of the term. That is why Paul uses the words “with your mouth.” It is audible, it can be heard, and someone is there to hear you. Now, the word “confession” itself means to say the same thing as. That is the meaning of the word. The content of this confession is simple.

    Jesus is Lord. Jesus is Lord. This is the substance of the confession. By saying this and confessing it, you are affirming the same truth that God has declared about Christ. Not only that, you are affirming the same truth that God’s people have always declared about Him. You are sealing this confession in a public act. You may not be held accountable before the courts of this world for this confession, but let me tell you, you will be held accountable before the courts of heaven for it. The nature of a biblical confession is an open, public acknowledgment of Christ’s Lordship, in which you affirm the same truth that God has declared about Christ and the same truth that His people have always declared about Him. Christ is Lord. This is not merely an open, public acknowledgment; it is a heartfelt demonstration of devotion. You do not only confess with your mouth; you believe with your heart, and you believe in your heart. What is the object of this belief?

    That Christ has been raised from the dead. How do you know that He has been raised from the dead? Because the word of God has come to you. God reveals Himself through His messengers and through His Word concerning the resurrection of His Son. In view is that revelation, that divine revelation, which in fact establishes Christ’s Lordship, for Christ is Lord by reason of the resurrection from death.

    This is not a detached matter. You are bound in heart. Your emotions and affections are attached to this revelation and to this One who has indeed been raised from the dead. An open, public acknowledgment, a heartfelt demonstration of devotion, and finally, an expressed certainty that this act—this public act—is inseparably linked to your salvation.

    Closet Christians? Anonymous Christians? Christians incognito? No such thing. No such thing in the Bible. You may think I am being hard. You may think I am going too far. I am saying that without public confession of Christ, there is no salvation. And ordinarily, that public confession is related to the Church of Jesus Christ. And what I am saying is, outside of the Church, there is ordinarily no possibility of salvation. I claim as my authority not only John Calvin, but the Westminster Confession of Faith.

    And thou shalt be saved. And thou shalt be saved. The Reformed and Presbyterian view of membership vows, then, the nature of the biblical confession, the attachment of our certainty to that public declaration, unto the end that we may be saved. But finally, filling out this view, not only the nature of biblical confession, but the nature of church or Christian authority. Who makes the determination? Who scrutinizes and evaluates that confession? Whose responsibility is that? The people? Bishops? Maybe the congregations? You alone, by yourself? You know, no one else might, but you do.

    That is why we read from Matthew 18. In that passage, Jesus is speaking about the authority that is conferred upon his disciples. And that authority is given to all of them, not just Peter. And that authority is worked out in the development of the church as you find it in Acts, where it is not only apostles who have that authority, but also elders. They are mentioned in Acts 15, again in Acts 20. And their responsibilities and authorities are articulated in the pastoral epistles and uniformly throughout all of the epistles that Paul writes. That power is vested in elders and in your church leaders. Therefore, our confession is scrutinized and evaluated by those whom God has placed in authority within his church.

    You cannot have a church without order. What order will it be? The order established in Scripture is clearly that of elders and their responsibility over the household of God and the flock of Jesus Christ. This is specifically emphasized in Hebrews 13:7: “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.” There it is.

    The content of our vows—those we have taken in terms of confession and promise—along with the foundations from Scripture upon which our understanding of these vows has been built, including our specific view of biblical confession and the nature of church authority.

    How do we conclude? He took a vow. Will you keep it? This is the most important vow. Will it not affect all other vows you make? If you treat this vow lightly, will you not treat all vows lightly? You may feel uncertain, or find yourself especially weak. You may think you have taken on more than you can handle, but you are bound to Christ.

    In your vow and oath taking, you are bound to the one who keeps His oaths and promises perfectly. His perfect fulfillment of all His vows and oaths has secured salvation for you, so that in His power you may do the same. In His power, in His strength, you may succeed in keeping your promises and oaths. Your word, which you have given—He did not break His. And you must not break yours.

    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.

  • Seven ‘Do Nots,’ One Perfection

    Seven ‘Do Nots,’ One Perfection

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Sermon on the Mount” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, December 3, 1989.

    About this sermon

    Seven ‘do not’ statements run from 6:2 through 7:6, and the number seven implies a perfection the set describes together. Proverbs 9’s wisdom about worthy and unworthy hearers connects to Matthew 7:6’s warning against dogs and swine, which Matthew 10 echoes. These warnings call for wise judgment over indiscriminate tolerance.

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    Sermon transcript

    The first poem. Wisdom hath builded her house. She hath hewn down, shewn out her seven pillars. She hath killed her beasts. She hath mingled her wine. She hath also furnished her table. She hath set forth her maidens, and she triumphed upon the high place of the city.

    Whoso is simple, let him turn in his ears. As for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, Come, eat of my bread, drink of the wine which I have made. Forsake the foolish and learn, and go in the way of understanding. He let recruitment disorder give him to himself as a shame. He even rebuked it. A wicked man giveth to himself a path. His brutal, awful disorder must be defeated. Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will give thee yet life. Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning. Hear the Lord giving the wind, and the melody of the wind of the storm. I am he that is from the north to the south, and he that is from the south to the east. He shall be mine, and I shall be mine, and I shall be mine. He shall be mine, and I shall be mine. He shall be mine, and I shall be mine. I’m turning over. That looks like a 7. There’s a 6. Good Bob, that looks like he’s holding onto the dog. Either a half G or curl, or swan. That’s a trample down under their feet. Turn again. Where’d he go?

    Reflecting 7 of the 7 statements. They have by Jesus this portion of the plan. Previously, we have identified that the 6th verse of the 7th chapter is a reflection of the plan in verse 19 of the 6th chapter. Section began with the words, do not lay up to yourself treasures upon earth. And he said that the 19th verse of this chapter began with the inception of new laws, a series of new laws.

    Verse 19, do not lay up to yourself treasures upon earth. the second verse, do not, and five, do not be anxious. Then, the first verse, the seventh chapter, do not judge. And finally, the sixth verse, the seventh chapter, do not give in to drugs. And the seventh and fourth, do not.

    But now we have to re-calculate. because if you look carefully at what was preceded that section, you’ll notice something else. The power of the preceding section, when Rowe is almost all followed in that section at the end of the first six chapters. At some point in the first few chapters, Rowe begins with an opening clause, When therefore ye give alms, then will follow a do-not phrase.

    Do not sound the trumpet before him. Do not say in verse 5 that Jesus speaks about prayer. Do not say in verse 16 that Jesus talks about fasting. As for you, the structure of the Sermon on the Mount points out that we don’t really have here four Enoch statements by Jesus beginning with the 19th verse of the book.

    Rather, we have seven. There are seven statements from Jesus, including the first two in Genesis 6, and including the first two in Genesis 7. There is a difference between the first three statements and the last four. There is that qualifying reduction in each of the first three when you give your all When you pray, when you pray. So these first three statements are qualified and they apply to the occasional duties of the people of God. When in fact you find yourself involved in these activities, do not do such and such, rather do something else. It helps to simplify if you move from chapter 6, verses 2 through 18 into chapter 6, 19 through chapter 7, verse 6. And the latter four do not appear. You have no qualification whatsoever. In fact, there is no time consideration introduced at all.

    In other words, we have perpetual duties laying before us in each person. Not simply when you’re engaged in a particular activity, but whenever it might be. It is always appropriate for you to be lighting up for yourself treasures of heaven, as opposed to lighting up treasures upon earth. It is always appropriate for you to be laying to rest anxiety, on building up your confidence. It is always appropriate for you not to be engaging in judgments that are inappropriate and unrighteous. And this violence, of course, is always appropriate to do. Not to be giving too much attention to the dog. Not casting your furrow before the sword.

    Jesus and his servant suffered. There are seven statements by Jesus that are qualified by the pneumonic phrase. The pneumonic statements of Christ, healed, leading us from this chapter in 2nd Corinthians. But the grouping of things in seven statements strange loss, certainly, is a method used by Jesus. For instance, look at verse 13 of the chapter of Matthew. Some of you know this. It’s the parable chapter. And if you count the parables in Matthew 13, you’ll find that Jesus’ birth, that particular sentence, gave how many? Why, seven. Seven? Oh, by which you would explain the mystery of the kingdom. Perfect explanation for the kingdom of heaven. Seven crowns given by the man. Then if you would have turned back to the first part of the Sermon on the Mount.

    Oh, I know there’s an argument out there about how many attitudes there are, but I can tell you that yes, the attitudes move us from verse three to verse nine, and there they stop. There are seven weapons. Seven weapons. And even within the section that we’re looking at this morning, Chapter 6, moving into Chapter 7. In Chapter 6, verses 9 through 13 of the Holy Spirit, reckoning up the number of deficiencies. Some say there’s six.

    I think it’s a good case to be made for the fact that there are seven. actually seven petitions. Seven parables, seven beatitudes, seven petitions, seven do not phrases. You understand the importance of that use of seven with respect to these various categories, as I’ve already suggested with regard to the parables.

    Jesus’ explanation of the mystery of the kingdom. It’s a perfect explanation as he takes consideration of those seven. Why do I connect perfection with number 7? Because you see, the number 7 in Jewish law is always associated with completion, fullness, the full week, 7 days, God completes His work, everything is finished, the perfect work. the parables and the explanation of the mystery of the kingdom.

    Perfectly granted. Understand those parables and you’ll understand the kingdom. What about the meal? It’s not as some have suggested that we have here the perfect formula for happiness. It’s not exactly that simple. We don’t move along that superficial line.

    The Beatitudes are about blessedness. The blessedness of the kingdom that is now the property of those who are servants of, disciples of, the kingdom. Seventh Beatitudes, perfect blessedness for the disciples. the seven petitions, the perfect prayer. The Lord’s Prayer, the seven petitions, the perfect prayer. The complete prayer. Now we have the seven statements that move from the second verse of the sixth chapter through the sixth verse of the seventh chapter.

    The do not statements. And in these verses, We have expounded for us to be quiet and free. Do you want to know about the professions I have? Are you interested in holiness? Read Matthew 6 and 7. the seven statements from Christ, summarizing for you the perfect Bible.

    Now, you may be upset that these statements are negatively phrased. That may distress you somewhat. I know it’s the temperament of our time. We’re very annoying when people put things negative. There’s a negative qualifier involved in the statements that they make. And we’re very, very impatient with those that we judge who are negative. We’re very impatient with negative people. But in Jesus’ defense, the smartest, it’s important for you to remember, of course, But there’s another description of Christ we’ve given us in the Old Testament, and it too was couched in negative terms.

    Thou shalt have no other body before thee. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. So simply because it is phrased negatively, we should not discount it and ask Jesus to rephrase it for us in terms that are much more agreeable to our disposition and the disposition of our time. Neither should we conclude, as we consider Jesus’ statements here, that the advantage of the New Testament is that it moves us from the negative image of the Old Testament into a positive frame of reference. But Jesus himself never spoke negatively.

    Well, isn’t it obvious to us that he did? The negative formulation from the cases of this poet has its own advantages. Because that negative formulation presses us to consider the positive side that stands as the corollary of the negative proposition. It presses for consideration of the positive refrain statement in a way possibly the positive formulation cannot, does not.

    Do you remember the catechism exposition of the commandments, for instance? Here is the negative statement out of the commandment that then the catechism expounds upon. The formula for consideration of each of the commandments is the same. It asks us the question, what is required in this specific commandment? And then it asks us, what is forbidden?

    It’s appropriate. It is appropriate for us to consider the negative as well as the positive. Well, we have suggested that each of these negative statements have, in fact, a positive correlate. And at many points throughout, Jesus is himself expressing that positive correlate. You remember the magnificent positive corollary that appears in the latter part of the sixth chapter of Matthew? “…but seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all of these things shall be added unto you.” Well, that indeed is magnificent. But throughout, we can summarize what Jesus is saying with respect to the positive corollary. along these lines.

    As he takes up the three pillars of piety, almsgiving, prayer, and fasting, in verses 2 through 18 of chapter 6, he is telling us that in our acts of devotion, in our acts of mercy and service, our eye must always be trained with respect to God and the One who is invisible. We cannot allow ourselves to become preoccupied or distracted by the things that we see, and we cannot be engaged in these activities in order to be seen of men and to be congratulated by them. The positive statement then is, we must have an eye for God. When we come to Jesus’ statements in verses 19 through 24, He places before us the imperative of heaven.

    Not an eye that is trained for appreciation of the things of this earth, not a heart that is continually investing from the things of this earth, but rather a disposition of mind and spirit and soul that is focused well upon heaven above. We come to verses 25 through 44, chapter 6.

    And the positive corollary here that stands over against anxiety is faith, and a heart that is filled Trust. A heart that is filled with trust. Don’t be anxious. Rather, believe. Trust. The positive corollary that we find for the opening verses of the seventh chapter, where Jesus is warning us against unrighteous judgment, is that we might have a heart that’s filled with mercy, a heart that leads always with love. It’s the first step. It’s that of love, with respect to the brethren. And now we come to verse 6. The statement is framed negatively. Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine. I’ve read Proverbs this morning for a reason, you see.

    Because the positive corollary of this statement by Jesus is that we might have a soul, a spirit that is filled with wisdom. There are judgments to be rendered as to who is wise and who is a fool. And we cannot, we cannot avoid making those judgments. But may they be godly judgments. following after Jesus himself, and in compliance with what he felt. So that’s the positive injunction. But you might have a soul that is filled with wisdom. Now what is the soul that is filled with wisdom, in Jesus’ estimation?

    Well, it is a soul that is in tune with the things that he has been saying all along in the sermon. A soul that is particularly sensitive to him, to his work, to his person. A soul that is particularly in tune with his activity as it bears upon the question of the kingdom of heaven. We do not disassociate the 6th verse of the 7th chapter from the 33rd verse of the 6th chapter.

    If one is to be wise, if one is to make proper judgments, if one is to have a soul, a spirit that is filled with wisdom, it must be with respect to that kingdom that Jesus has come to express, to set before us, to inaugurate. The soul that is filled with wisdom prizes that which is holy. The soul that is filled with wisdom recognizes what is holy. The soul that is filled with wisdom is the soul that has been regenerated by the power of God.

    And it knows the value of the kingdom and the things of the kingdom. Do dogs and swine prize holy things? Do they value the kingdom and its qualities? Well, there is something of an immediate allocation for Jesus’ words as he speaks these things to his disciples. And his explication will become even clearer to us if we move into the tenth chapter of Matthew, where Jesus is giving instruction to his disciples before they go out and preach the kingdom to the people of that day. through fifteen.

    And into whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, abide there until you go away. And as you enter the house, give it your greeting. And if the house is worthy, let your greeting of peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your greeting of peace return to you. And whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake off the dust of your faith.

    Truly, I say, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in that day of judgment than for that city. And even verse 60, Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be assured that he is as wise as serpents, and as innocent as dogs.

    There is immediate application of these words from Jesus to his disciples, to his church, with respect to the proclamation of the word. But in their goings forth, they will indeed encounter those who manifestly display their own foolishness. And Jesus is saying, don’t delay. Long with them. Get them to learn, but if they don’t respond, move on. There are others yet to hear, to be reached. You might recall the missionary journeys to the Apostle Paul.

    In Antioch of Pisidia, there was a revolt against him and the message that he brought. and were moved by the Jews. They turned on him. He shakes the dust from his feet and says, I turn now to the Gentiles. He does the same thing again in Corinth, and finally, in the very last chapter of the book of Acts, something of the same occurred, as Jesus turns from the Jews of that city to the Gentiles to preach the message.

    The thing that we have to be sober about is, of course, the fact that these people were of the covenant. They are from the tribe of Abraham. They should have known that. There are fools in the house of God. There are dogs and swine in the house of God, who claim a covenant relationship. to God, even through Christ.

    It is, of course, manifest truth. Now, if it was possible for those covenant members to actually dog and swine, what of our own case? It is not without reason we see that this verse in the history of the Church has been applied to the sacraments. Now, some would say that’s a far-fetched application of this verse. Well, maybe they are. Many respected, honored theologians and thinkers in the Church have seen a connection within the covenants.

    Those who would pretend to come and partake of the sacraments not really understanding holy things, being profane in their hearts. The truth about them being that they are fools with respect to the kingdom and its grace. And the church then, rendering judgment, saying, no, we can’t allow you, we can’t permit you to come and partake, he said. Because to do so would be to give holy things to dogs to cast the pearl of the kingdom to slime. In the end, it seems that those who are false sons within the tale always prove themselves one way or another.

    Do not they in time trample under feet the holy things have they not time and time again throughout the history of the church turned upon the truth and those who preached it betrayed them and participated in tearing those honored servants of the kingdom, the friends. Well, the perfect piety for the disciples of the kingdom in the negatively phrased series of seven statements by Jesus that force you to consider the positive qualities. If, indeed, you are not to cast your pearl-course wine and give holy things to God, you are, in fact, to have a soul, a mind, a spirit, filled with wisdom and discernment, being sure at all times that you know the value of holy things and the superlative value of the kingdom of heaven Oh Lord, we pray that you will keep us from a supercilious fire One that the judge has shaped like the one that appears in the 6th verse of the 7th chapter of Matthew. As out of bounds or inappropriate for a Christian, what of you?

    O Lord, we ask, you will train us rather with respect to the wisdom that is in you. And help us, Father, even as we are about the business of our saving, as it is explained to us in that verse. Even as we are about that business, we will be kind and loving. Yet not we ourselves, but the same. May we stand with Christ for the value of holy things, for the superlative value of the Kingdom of Heaven, which is His.

    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.

  • What ‘Judge Not’ Doesn’t Mean

    What ‘Judge Not’ Doesn’t Mean

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Sermon on the Mount” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, November 19, 1989.

    About this sermon

    ‘Judge not’ has clear boundaries, and Christ never forbids all discernment, whatever the popular reading says. Christ never cared for bare ethics or morality for its own sake. The exchange of 2 Corinthians 5:21, where God made Christ sin for us, makes righteous judgment possible.

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    Sermon transcript

    But if one died for all, they were all dead. Having died for all, the thing which lives should not henceforth live under themselves, but under him which died for them and rose again. Therefore, henceforth, know we no man after the flesh, yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no longer.”

    Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Good things are passed away, behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation, to which God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you, in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sinned for us. who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Then turning over to Matthew 7, which is 1 through 5. Matthew 7, 1 through 5.

    Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged. And with what measure ye meet, it shall be measured to you again. Why beholdest thou the moat that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? But how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the moat out of thine eye, and behold, a beam is in thine own eye. Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the moat out of thy brother’s eye.

    Help us, Lord, that we might turn to your word quickly, earnestly, and in that word, Lord, may we find that truth that does not disappoint. May we find our Father there, the wonderful record of your mighty deeds, of your powerful strong, corrective, and blessed words. May we, Lord, as we turn, be inspired all the more to live for you. We pray this through Christ. Amen. This is our third and final message on Matthew 7, verses 1-5.

    So far, we have concentrated on what we might call the ethical meaning of Jesus’ words. And in focusing upon his words here, these words that have in fact generated a great deal of discussion in the history of the Church, we have endeavored to establish what our Savior means by them, and what he doesn’t mean.

    We have said that he doesn’t mean, he cannot mean, by these words, judge not lest ye be judged, that we take leave of our critical senses. That we take leave of our ability to distinguish between right and wrong, or even between the righteous and the wicked. And most especially we have concluded that our Savior could not mean by these words to outlaw the proper, the right, disciplinary function of the Church.

    He cannot mean that this responsibility is to be laid aside, forgotten. In fact, it is the responsibility of the church, we are told in many places in scripture, by Jesus himself, to judge the righteous judgment. Jesus says, John 7 verse 24, we are not to judge according to appearances. We are to judge, he says. the righteous judgment. So we know what Jesus doesn’t mean. But this is what we have concluded that he does mean.

    With these words he is prompting us to always lead with love. always lead with love and with the deepest humility. That means that we are to assume, given his illustration here, you know the illustration of the speck and the beam, we are to assume as we approach others that we have the beam in our eye, while our brother, our neighbor, has the speck in his. We approach him with the deepest humility. We lead with love.

    Put in different words, mercy must always moderate. And that not only in light of mercy already granted us by God, but in hopes of that mercy that shall be confirmed to us when we shall appear before our judge. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. What Jesus means, therefore, is that we must never give in to that destructive, that cruelly competitive, malicious, often vengeful spirit that isn’t satisfied unless it asserts its superiority, gains the advantage, or gets even.

    Now, I’ve taken pains these past three weeks to make these points clear. You have the drift. You got these things down. Well, maybe you do. Maybe you don’t. But let me say this. Even if you have these things down, you have a grip upon them, following them along this ethical line. they won’t do you much good. If you have grabbed hold merely of these words along an ethical or a moral track, along the line purely of your behavior and how you are to treat others. These words will not do you a whole lot of good. Now don’t misunderstand me.

    In this wicked world, ethics are fine things, relatively speaking. For example, in this world it is better to be ethical than unethical. And it is much better to be impressed with and attempt to follow a system of ethics derived from the teachings of Jesus than to be impressed with or attempt to follow a system of ethics derived from the thought of, say, Pete Rose or Ben Woods or Don Corleone. I understand the Godfather was on this last week. But it is precisely at this point, and particularly with a passage like this one from Matthew 7, that we are quite likely to lose hold of Jesus. In fact, ethics and morality can very easily displace him at this point.

    Did you know that Jesus isn’t interested in ethics? Did you know that Jesus is not interested in morals? Now if you’re shocked by that statement, I’m glad, because it’s intended to shock you. You see, ethics and morals considered along the lines that we have been surveying ethics and morals are generally what people are interested in if they don’t really know Jesus. The Pharisees didn’t know Jesus. They were very interested in ethics and morals. The medieval Roman church didn’t know Jesus. They were supremely interested in ethics and morals.

    The 18th century enlightened Protestant church didn’t know Jesus, but it was interested above all else in ethics and morals. In fact, it was that enlightened Protestant church, through its high priest, Immanuel Kant, K-A-N-T, that transformed both European and American Protestant religion into ethics and morals.

    And whether you want to acknowledge it or not, whether you want to admit it, you are a child of that transformation. I do not care whether you were born and raised in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. I don’t care whether you’re Reformed and have been all of your life. I don’t care whether you are sophisticated or unsophisticated. I don’t care whether you’re conservative or liberal, a scholar or a layman. You have been affected to the very roots of your being by that transformation. You lead with ethics and morality.

    Now take stock of what is in the balance because of this transformation that has been affected by that 18th century enlightened Protestantism. We together are in a state presently whereby we have had compromised for us our vital connection with the transcendent domain of our Heavenly Father’s reign. Do you understand what has happened because of that transformation in the 18th century?

    We now live in a closed universe, and you can’t get out. You can’t get out. Whatever point of reference you’re going to come up with within that universe is from within it completely and exclusively. Religion is redefined. Religion now becomes essentially ethics and morals. From Immanuel Kant to John Dewey, religion is above all else principally practical. It is first of all above all else concerned with behavior and practice, now as if it were the blood running through our veins. This preoccupation with morality and ethics has landed us in the lap of a pragmatism a view of life that is overlaid with a conviction with respect to practical action and personal behavior.

    And that is why it is so easy for us when we come to a passage like this in Matthew 7, to get off the track. to read it along the lines of a single tract. But be assured, that single solitary tract leaves us like ears removed from the world of Jesus Christ. That single solitary tract leaves us no closer to him than a clever rabbi of the first century might have been if he expressed similar thoughts. In fact, to take this single solitary tract of ethics and morality is only to increase the distance between us and Jesus.

    Jay Gresham Machen put it like this When you have a religion that is made up of ethics and morals You are no longer talking about a variation of Christianity You’re talking about an entirely different religion If you want ethics, read Aristotle. If you want morality, read the Talmud, the Jewish commentary on the law. If you want salvation, then read Jesus. If you want redemption, then read Jesus.

    Do you think that here in Matthew 7 when he says, Judge not lest ye be judged, he is somehow taking a vacation from his program, somehow he is taking a reprieve from his mission, that mission which has as its foundation His call as the Savior of His people. Do you imagine that these words can be properly understood if we lay aside for a minute His death and His resurrection? His saving work and the saving significance of His person? Not at all. There is a religion expressed as if these things could be laid aside. The cross is insignificant. The resurrection never happened. It’s not important. All you need is morality. All you need is that.

    The cross and the resurrection, the saving significance of Jesus Christ is the foundation of anything that he has to say about morality, about behavior, about your conduct. The indicatives of redemption precede all imperatives with respect to our behavior and our morality.

    And that is why it is imperative that every pulpit that would contend that it stands for the gospel clearly articulate, week by week, the saving work of Jesus Christ, the significance of that death and resurrection. To preach Christ, that is the calling. From beginning to end, then, our Lord’s consciousness is captivated by the significance of his own cross and his coming resurrection. Even here in Matthew 7, that cross is apparent and the resurrection is certain.

    Jesus did not intend by his words to supply us with moral advice for our own good. Advice intended to improve our moral character or improve the world’s collective disposition. Even here, Jesus is actively proclaiming the kingdom of heaven. Its salvation message is here in Matthew 7 as much as it is in Matthew 20 when Jesus tells us that he has come to give his life in ransom to men.

    What is the supreme task? of interpreting scripture now, in our time for the people of God, it is making sure that that message concerning Jesus Christ is readily seen from every text. It is placing Jesus before the people as their only hope. It is telling them that all is lost without Him. It is extolling for them His glory, portraying Him in all of His beauty, that He might be compelling all the more to you. That you may see Him more clearly, that you may be inspired more readily by Him, that you might love Him more dearly. But how easily we’re born. how easily we’re bored by Jesus.

    Give me something practical, we cry out. Give me something eminently practical. Some things will tell me how to get from point A to point B. Give me the steps. Write it down for me. Hand me a manual. Please. Work it all out for me. Make it programmable so I can run it on the computer. Do anything. Get it in front of me.

    But don’t bore me with these things, these thoughts, these ideas, these convictions with respect to the glory and the grandeur of Jesus Christ. Don’t bore me again and again with the details, the historical details of Christ’s work for me. I know all that. It used to do things for me. It doesn’t do anything for me anymore. Let’s get on with the business of living, please. Let’s get it on.

    My friends, we’re talking about two completely different kinds of religion here. Two completely different kinds of religion. The majority of Christians today want one form of Christianity. Jesus has another to offer. And by and large, the church doesn’t want anything to do They really would rather have Aristotle. They really would rather have the Talmud. Or it’s modern day corollary of the onus. Well, the message of salvation.

    His words even here rise out of his own person and the significance of his ministry for others, for sinners. Those to whom he ministers presently in the passage, his own disciples. Therefore when he tells us, his disciples, his church, not to judge inappropriately, he himself commends himself as his people’s only hope for he has not failed to keep perfectly the specific command in places upon them now where are you going to get the strength not to judge unrighteousness? where? where are you going to find it? in another system from somebody what he expects of us is found in him as its foundation and can be expressed by us only if we are in living, vital connection with him This is more than mere morals and bare ethics.

    Here is life. Life that comes forth only because of union with Christ. But to contend that union with Christ is at the foundation of these words assumes that Christ is alive. And to say that he is alive is to say that he has been raised from the dead there is no powerful life apart from the risen Christ you cannot keep these words you cannot even begin to obey apart from you and with him but there is one final thought Not only has Jesus Christ been raised so that we might live in him and like him, but he has also suffered and died.

    His death, to be sure, is exemplary, leaving us moral example, to be sure. It is, however, much more. For here in this world, Jesus Christ, one who had neither speck nor beam in his eyes, In this one, there is found that benevolent and merciful and gracious attitude towards others. In that he takes all our things and all our specs to himself that we might be enabled to see clearly through him.

    The kindness of this one who knew no sin, had no sin, 2 Corinthians 5.21 indeed moves us to imitate him, however it is most particularly effectual to save us.

    Since through his actions, clearing the specks and burying the beans, he has ended the affair on a cross where he was made to be sin that we through him might become the righteousness of God no mere morality no fair ethical system, redemption, salvation, the only adequate foundation out of which any morality or ethical practice can arise. Save us, Father, from morality. Save us from ethics. Lord, just save us in and through Christ.

    And we know that the life that pleases you follows as does the night, the day. We pray, our Father, that you will give us strength by this work of redemption in which we delight and may our hearts thrill increasingly because of Christ whom you’ve given to us.

    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.

  • Seeking the Kingdom of Heaven

    Seeking the Kingdom of Heaven

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Sermon on the Mount” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, September 24, 1989.

    About this sermon

    Matthew 6:33 stands at the center of Christ’s gospel. The passage draws its hearers upward and inward at once, toward heaven and toward the heart. Christ gives ‘seek’ and ‘kingdom’ a meaning that ordinary usage falls far short of.

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    Sermon transcript

    This morning we begin our scripture reading with Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians. This is 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. Then we will move over to Matthew chapter 6. Here is the word of God. and Timotheus, unto the Church of the Thessalonians, which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ.

    Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers. Remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of God and our Father Knowing brethren beloved your election of God For our gospel came not unto you in word only but also in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. And ye became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost, so that ye were examples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.” For from you sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God is spread abroad, so that we need not speak anything. For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from who he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.” Therefore, take no thought, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed?

    For after all these things do the Gentiles seek, for your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, All these things shall be added unto you. So you can go. Our Father, we would starve if it were not for your word.

    And let us be then as those who understand that our satisfaction is found with you. And may we rush then, Lord, to have your word, to have it declared in our presence, to have it presented to us for our understanding. Day by day, our God, may we read your word, take it up and reflect upon it, meditate upon it. But at the beginning of the week, on a day such as this, may we rush to hear your word and to receive the profit that you have for us in it. So train us, Lord. And we being blessed will be a blessing, a blessing unto you to be sure, but to many others as well.

    We pray this through Christ who is himself the living word. Amen. Jesus is making assault on anxiety. Jesus is making an assault on anxiety. He is in the verses we have just read this morning, delivering his second blow. The first is found in verses 25-30. Verse 25 is the occasion for his first assault. For this reason I say to you, don’t be anxious. And now verse 31, Therefore, take no thought, for do not be anxious. The third assault will follow in verse 34. But it is this second assault that is before us this morning, and this second assault Most important.

    Central, if you will. Strategic. Just how strategic it is, is proven by the way in which it is constructed. We reviewed its construction last week and marked its uniqueness But just by way of reminder, it is in this section, with respect to this specific assault against anxiety, that Jesus delivers his lone positive statement. You have him in this section repeatedly saying, and you may well be waiting for him to give you a positive corollary to that negative statement.

    You don’t want me to be anxious, well then what do you want me to do? You find that positive thrust in verse 33. Don’t be anxious, rather, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Throughout this section of the Sermon on the Mount then, verses 25 through 34, there is this one lone positive statement or thrust. so as to concentrate the power of Christ’s own positive message. There are those who underline in their Bibles, and I expect that there are those who would double-underline verse 33. But even a double underline is not adequate. You need big spaces between the lines to adequately underline this verse. So important, so strategic is it.

    For it not only stands at the center of this section of the Sermon on the Mount, It stands at the center of the Sermon on the Mount as a whole. As if to say, remember this word, and you have it. Remember this line, and you have it. You can go even further. Not just the section, not just the sermon as a whole, but I would say the gospel. Here it is. For you. Above all else, seek first God’s kingdom, the kingdom of your Heavenly Father and His righteousness. Understand what I mean when I say those things.

    And if you do, gospel is yours. Salvation is within your grasp. And don’t be dismayed about the world and the things that occur in it. Everything else will take care of itself, and all the things you need will be supplied. The second assault on anxiety, the central assault, with its lone positive statement, and that for you.

    That all of the energies of your piety and devotion, all the energies of your understanding might be concentrated there. If you haven’t memorized the verse, stop listening to me this morning and spend your time profitably memorizing this verse. For it’s better for you to listen to Jesus than to listen to me.

    Here then we are brought to the heart of things. You are brought to the very heart of biblical religion. For this passage draws us upward. This passage draws us upward. heavenward to face God. It draws us upward and heavenward to a station from which we can survey the storm and stress, the uncertainties, the insecurities of life in this world. Here it is.

    Do you want a place to stand? After this past week, can you be confident that there is any place in this creation secure? A place that is literally isolated and insulated from every form of threat Be assured, there is no such place in this creation. But that does not mean that there is no place of security for you. There is a place.

    In this passage, you are drawn upward, heavenward, to face God. to a station from which you can survey the storm and stress, the uncertainties and insecurities of this world. This passage provides you the only standing place above the world. But not only does this passage draw you upward It draws you inward, and I mean that in the very best sense of that word. I know there’s a lot of discussion about inwardness and going in and finding your inner space these days. But in the very best sense, you see, sublime, biblical religion takes you not only up, but in. And here is an irony. By going up, you go in. By ascending to face God, you go in and face Him. For the one you will indeed see one day above, you shall see God, so says Christ. you presently behold by journeying inward in your soul. It is an hidden affair, you see.

    We are speaking of things invisible. Those things only grasped by faith. the means by which you grab hold of the unseen. So then, we are drawn inward as we know our hearts. as we survey our souls, as we learn and admit the truth about ourselves, and are confronted by the truth concerning what drives us, what motivates us, what we are all about. God’s righteousness?

    Take a trip inside. See if it’s true. Have the courage to take a trip inside and see if it’s true. And if it’s not, repent. Turn around. Well, this passage then will focus, obviously, on verse 33. But it does begin with verse 31. It is in 31 that we are presented with the connective. The connective. The word is therefore. That’s a connective. Binds the present passage with what has gone before. Jesus is building on what he has said in those previous verses, verses 25 through 30. The argument goes like this.

    Hold on. Since there are two essential approaches to existence, since in the one life and body are externally, I’m sorry, since in the one life and body are eternally preserved by God for those bound to him through his son. body and life in the other approach are reduced to mere meat and raiment, to the level of the mere temporal. Since the temporal serves the eternal, the provisional serves the permanent, as birds and flowers prove. Since God who gives eternal life, namely the greater, gives also the necessary things for the temporal life, namely the lesser, therefore do not be anxious.

    There it is, verses 25 through 31. So you not only begin with the premise in verse 25, you end with it in verse 31. That’s why you have the connected pairs. Therefore, do not be anxious saying, what shall we eat or what shall we drain for? With what shall we clothe ourselves? But now we move on from the connective to the conjunction. Verse 32. The conjunction is the word for.

    Jesus’ words here have a consequential and conformational force, as if he were saying, with this conjunction, After all, don’t you know? After all, don’t you know? The Gentiles, eager to speak, always After all, don’t you know your Heavenly Father knows you have need for this? This then provides his rationale. His argument continues.

    You are not to be anxious for these various things that have been listed. because the pursuit of these temporal, provisional things is truly the center of Gentile, that is, pagan existence. Jesus here is providing his own sociological analysis, his own cultural assessment. his own course in the study of the history of religion. What is Gentile existence all about? What is at the heart of pagan life?

    It is the pursuit of temporal, provisional things. That one of whom the Gentiles, the pagans, are ignorant, namely the Father in heaven, is well aware of your temporary, provisional needs. And do you not know, He loves you. And He will give you what is necessary. Maybe not what you want, but what is necessary. Now these words of Jesus in this 32nd verse need a little bit further explanation. He has mentioned the Gentiles. But the mention of the Gentiles brings to mind the subject of the Jews.

    For isn’t that how humanity is divided? Jew and Gentile? And is that not especially how humanity was divided according to those who lived in Palestine in the first century? But is Jesus here excusing the Jew? Is he suggesting the Jews don’t seek after the things that the Gentiles seek after? Does he not know the problems peculiar to the Jews? Is he holding out the Jews here specifically as immune to this kind of threat and imposition? Not at all.

    What Jesus is saying here is something actually quite profound. He marks out the Gentiles and does, by inference, call attention to the Jews, because he wants to set before his disciples the objective for Israel from time immemorial. And that objective for Israel, despite what theologians may say, despite what the rabbis may say, despite what men now may think, despite what they are saying presently in Tel Aviv, the objective for Israel was the higher life of a kingdom above where the Father in Heaven dwells. It was never a plot of ground in the world. The objective was the region above, and the righteousness of that region. The glory of it. So Jesus here speaks in such a way so that by inference he can place before his hearers, who were themselves Jews, the true objective of Israel. Not a life consumed by the things of this created order, and anxiety with regard to them, but a world that is higher above, an eternal world, a world in which there are treasures, treasures that are never diminished in glory or value, and treasures that can never be lost.

    It was the intent of the covenant. The entirety of the history of redemption. But you know the irony, don’t you? So there is coming that day in which the statement which Jesus makes here will be reversed. when he will say to Gentiles coming out from all the nations, pagans who are face-to-face with the light of the kingdom of heaven, don’t you know, after all, all these things the Jews seek after eagerly? But you are not to be like them. You, by grace, Our Gentiles, pagans, say, as were those Thessalonians, who turned from idols to the true and living God, and who wait for his Son from heaven. 1 Thessalonians 1, 9 and 10.

    We come then to verse thirty-three. We have moved from connective to conjunction to conclusion. The positive, wonderfully positive imperative. But seek ye first your Heavenly Father’s kingdom and his righteousness. Here, Jesus balances the negative statement of verse 31. Instead of living a life given to the anxious pursuit of temporal provisional things, those who are his are to live a life given to the earnest pursuit of the kingdom, the eternal kingdom, of the Father in glory. the earnest pursuit of his righteousness, with the confident assurance that subsequently all temporal provisions necessary will be given. Now there are two questions that arise with respect to Jesus’ words at this point. First, what does he mean by the word see? But seek first. The father’s king.

    Some have approached his words as if he meant a quest. As if we were to be spiritual religious explorers. who are on an expedition to discover the kingdom of God, wherever that may be, whatever dimensions it may have. That approach to this verse has been very popular in this century. The mood and method of Eastern mysticism has driven us in that direction. Jesus means quest, so that we might discover the kingdom according to our personal interests and estimations.

    But Jesus doesn’t have in mind a quest that has an indefinite and even insecure end, for how do you know you’ll find? Rather, he has in view something else altogether. The seeking in view here has in mind the attitude of heart and the disposition of affections. When he says, seek first the kingdom of heaven, he is saying, set your heart and your affections upon the kingdom, that kingdom which is revealed in and through me.

    I cannot say this without speaking about your love. What do you love most? That’s what Jesus is asking you. What do you love most? Do you love Him? Do you love the Kingdom? Do you love His Father’s righteous rule above all else? That’s what He’s asking you. But set your affections upon the kingdom of heaven first. Love first the kingdom.

    Love it. That isn’t understand it. That isn’t argue about it, discuss it. That isn’t define it. That’s love it. Love it. Your heart. Your affections. And it is with respect to the kingdom as it is with all other affections. You have to stir them up. They are constrained from within. That’s why it’s set in the mode of a command, an imperative. You have to work at this, my friends. You have to labor at setting your affections on the kingdom of heaven above all else. That’s the first question. The second question is this.

    What does Jesus actually mean by the words, the kingdom of God and his righteousness? Some have thought that he means by these words a subjective appropriation of righteousness on our part, in justification and then its concrete expression in sanctification. But that’s not what Jesus means here.

    What he means by these words is the objective reality of the kingdom, something though unseen is utterly real and true. And this objective reality is as real as his own person. It takes eyes of faith to see it in him. But this objective reality Though present in and through, Jesus Christ has an objective consummation. There shall come the appearance before the face of all nations, there shall come an appearance of the Heavenly Father’s Kingdom and a manifestation of His righteous rule over all things. the kingdom, the righteousness for which we are hungering and thirsting presently. Yes, there is that objective kingdom of glory and righteousness which shall assert itself and bring all things to conclusion. That which will conclude the entire exercise of setting our hearts upon it because we will no longer have to set our hearts upon it we will have it in all of its fullness in all of its glory and this will come about when the Father answers the prayer of all those who now earnestly seek the kingdom.

    That prayer which says, Come, Lord Jesus. Even so, quickly come. Amen. Amen. Let’s pray. O Lord, there were those believers in Thessalonica years and years ago, who had turned from idols to serve God, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from Heaven. These are they who seek first your kingdom, your righteousness, which shall be wonderfully, perfectly manifest, revealed when Jesus Christ returns. So therefore, our God, may we set our affections on that coming of Christ, on the eternal things that are part and parcel of that coming. And may we know in the meantime that the temporal things necessary are given us by a loving Heavenly Father who does not turn away from his children. but delight in giving them all things necessary. Hear us, Lord, for we are weak and many of us right now need the medicine that this verse

    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.

  • Matthew 6’s Triads

    Matthew 6’s Triads

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Sermon on the Mount” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, September 17, 1989.

    About this sermon

    Christ builds Matthew 6 in triads, and that structure reshapes how 6:19-34 reads, with 6:33 as the dominant verse the rest serves. His rhetoric works like a boxer’s combinations, each blow setting up the next. Anxiety left unchecked breeds sin and quietly abandons the cross.

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    Sermon transcript

    This morning, we are again in Matthew 6, verse 25, to the end of the chapter. This is Matthew 6, verse 25. Hear the word of God. Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor yet for your body what you shall put on. Is not the life more than me and the body and Raymond? Behold the bowels of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.

    Are ye not much better than they? Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin. And yet I say to you that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of Wherefore, if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink? Or wherewithal shall we be clothed?

    For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. For your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

    Pray with me now. Our God in all humility, we would come before you, realizing that before you we are as nothing, yet you have made us to be something, and that by your grace. Your word is at work to convince us afresh of the truth about yourself, about ourselves, and about this world in which we live. We do ask you, our God, that as you teach us from your word, we may be found to be willing to receive it and to live in keeping with what you have said. Build us up, then, Lord, we ask by that word. For Jesus’ sake, amen.

    In this part of Jesus’ sermon from the mount, he has resorted to the use of triads. He has resorted to the use of threes. Things are coming in sets of three. That’s the way it is. for the sixth chapter of Matthew throughout. Not only are there three sections for this chapter, but each section is divided into three parts. So everything is coming up in threes.

    The sections are verses 1-18, verses 19-25, and then verses 19-24, and then 25-34. I’m going to help you if you have a Bible in front of you this morning. We note how Jesus has ordered his message at this point. As I said, things are coming up in three. The first section of the chapter, verses 1 through 18, is structured around the so-called three pillars of piety. Remember? Almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. There’s the three. Now you move on to verses 19-24, and once more you find the triad. This time in terms of three images given to you.

    First, the image of the treasure. There are two kinds of treasure here. Treasures in heaven, treasures on earth. The image of the treasure. Next, the image of the lamp, or the eye. the lamp of the body is behind. There are two kinds of lamps. There is a good eye that is clear, and there is an evil eye that is not. So you have the image of the treasure, the image of the lamp, and finally the image of the master. There are two kinds of masters. There is the master called Mammon, and there is the master, God.

    Now we come to verses 25 through 34, and once more we have a triad. And this triad is obvious to us because of the repetition of a particular phrase. And note, verse 25, your version may be different than mine. Mine happens to be the New American Standard Version, and I think that it’s very helpful at this point, because it translates the words I have in mind exactly the same in each instance in which they occur. But, in verse 25 now, the words are these.

    Do not be anxious. Do not be anxious. In the King James, it comes across as take no thought for. Do not be anxious. Verse 25, the first occurrence of those words. Note again, the words occur in verse 31. Do not be anxious then. Or take no thought for. And finally, occur in verse thirty-four. Therefore, do not be anxious for tomorrow. Three times those words appear in this section. So we have, once more, a triumph.

    And you will note Now, with regard to this triad, you can put the verses respective to each part of the triad in parallel columns. For instance, in a piece of paper, to the extreme left, you could place verses 25 through 30, because that’s the first segment. In the middle of the page, you could place verses 31 through 33. And to the extreme right, you could place verse 34.

    Now these are put in parallel columns because, you see, they are actually saying the same thing. This means that you can read each section in light of the other two. Jesus is saying the same thing, using different words, conveying his idea, his message, in a different way, but that message is singular. That message is one. And of course, since he repeats himself three times, there’s no mystery as to what the message is. Do not be anxious. All right.

    You have the triad, the parallel column, that Jesus is saying the same thing again and then again, three times in succession, but with different words. But note the beauty of how Jesus has ordered his comments. It takes him a relatively long time to communicate his message in the opening part of the triad, verses 25 through 30. Here you have six verses all told.

    You can now construct a diagram that works. in tandem with the diagram that I’ve given you concerning the parallel columns. This time, write the number of the verses across the top of the page. Twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty. Now let’s see what he does. What he has taken a relatively extended period, running twenty-five to thirty, he now compresses into verses thirty-one through thirty-three. So what was six verses is now down to three. See what’s happening?

    Right verses thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three under the column that you have at the top of the page, with verses twenty-five through thirty. And finally, at the very bottom of this inverted triangle, you have verse thirty-four. What he has been saying in six verses and then reduced to three, he now reduces to one. so you have something of a funnel effect as Jesus brings his message down to but a few words compressing it and thus increasing its impact You might…

    I was looking around for an illustration to get this idea across. The best I could do was this. It says, if Jesus were an expert boxer… I know you haven’t heard that term well before. It says, If Jesus were an expert boxer who takes two-thirds of the round to size up and bulk, it is a punt.

    As the two-thirds mark of the round comes, Jesus, in effect, delivers a punch. The rest of the round remains. Jesus again stops the opponent, so that as the last minute of the round approaches, he delivers yet another blow. But then, just before the bell, enough time, of course, to get the ten count, he delivers the knockout punch. So the force and the impact of the order here is to deliver repeated blows. Of course, these blows are not intended to deck us. Rather, they are intended to build us up. to keep us standing. Well, that is the structure of the passage broadly considered, but let’s look at it once more, a little more in detail. Let’s go back to our parallel columns, and note how these various sections developed themselves. Each section begins with a negative statement.

    Verse 25, do not be anxious. It is repeated, verse 31, repeated again, verse 34. But note, after the negative statement, you have Jesus giving to his audience, to his disciples, a rationale, the reason why they should not be anxious. So the negative statement followed by the reason, and that’s the general structure that you find throughout. Negative, statement, then reason. There is, however, another dimension. And I think that you can anticipate that. For if there has been the negative statement, do not be anxious, you may well be waiting for the positive statement.

    If Jesus doesn’t want us to do this, then what does he want us to do? Well, if you look in verses 25 through 30, you are not given a positive statement. All you have there is the negative and the rationale. Also, in verse thirty-four, you are not given the positive statement. What you have is the negative statement plus the rationale. However, in verses thirty-one through thirty-three, the positive statement is given.

    Do not be anxious about these various things, because these are precisely the things that for which the Gentiles are anxious. In fact, your Heavenly Father knows that you have need of these things. There’s the rationale given afterwards as to why you shouldn’t be anxious. But verse thirty-three gives to you then the positive state. Instead of being anxious, seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these other things shall be added unto you.”

    Now, why do you think that Jesus has that positive statement, stand there in such solitary form? Why should there be but one positive statement as he moves through this triumph. Because you see, he wants all of your interest, all of your attention, to focus precisely there. That is the one comment that stands out uniquely in the way in which Jesus has ordered his words. And that’s where he wants the emphasis to be. It is not without reason then, you see, as this portion of the Bible has been read, or the Sermon on the Mount has been reviewed. This verse stands out so starkly. We have the structure of the passage before us. in terms of its broad considerations, but also now some of the details.

    Let’s look at verses 25 through 30, and the meaning of the words that Jesus has for his people, for his disciples. We have already made comments about the conjunction or connective, but therefore, with which he begins this verse, that is to throw us back to verses 19-24, so that this section functions as something of a conclusion as to what he has said before. You dare not enter into these verses unless you have understood what Jesus was saying in verses 19-24. And just by way of reminder briefly as to what he was focusing on there, two words, heaven and cross. Verses 19 through 24, heaven and cross.

    If you understand the focus as heaven, if you understand the life of the disciples The life of the disciples is to be one of conformity to Christ himself, that laying up treasures in heaven, in effect, means taking up Christ’s cross herself and following him.

    Then you have understood what Jesus means. The conclusion of those thoughts now moves us on into the present session. If, in fact, you grasp hold of these things, you need none. The end. 25, then places before us an exhortation. Now, I praise it that way deliberately, for you could understand what Jesus is saying here as a command, an imperative, an unencumbered, unblurred command, directive. Do not be anxious. And you can almost hear in some people’s understanding of those words, a bit of a severity, a sternness, if you will. Do not be anxious, it is a commandment. But you see, I have spoken of it as an exhortation, because I believe that Christ is content here. It is not meant as bare command, it is meant as exhortation or as encouragement. It is pastoral. It is as much a plea and an appeal as it is a command, an imperative. He is appealing to us.

    Now don’t you be anxious. Jesus is shepherding here his own. and the emphasis is falling upon his gentleness, upon his love for his own. Now, don’t you be anxious. There’s no reason for it. If heaven has been granted to you, If your call is to the cross and you know the end of that road is resurrection, don’t you be anxious. Don’t you worry. It’s all right. It’s all right now. So imperative, yes, but not dare to command, not dare to command.

    Exhortation, encouragement, gentleness, love. Thus the appropriateness of the images that we use. The birds of the heavens, the flowers, the lilies, The pastor is using a pastoral scene. And the images themselves convey the gentleness and the peacefulness of Jesus’ intent.

    Now that is not to say that Jesus here isn’t being utterly serious. nor is his view of gentleness free of the nudge, free of the appropriate rebuke. Did you notice verse 30? O ye of little faith. O ye of little faith. Jesus the pastor, the one who is gentle, the shepherd, but utterly serious about the things he says, providing the appropriate nudge, the appropriate rebuke. Oh, ye of little faith. So that’s the tone. That’s the tone. Now what about the content? There seem to be two concerns in verse 25.

    One, which Jesus expresses in terms of life. and the other that he expresses in terms of the body. Don’t be anxious about your life as to what you eat or what you will drink. Life. Don’t be anxious either about your body, what you shall put on. His concern is for life and body. But then, before the verse ends, he launches into his rationale. The reason why you need not be anxious concerning life or body. He tells you that life is more than meat. more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Now the question rises as to what precisely Jesus means at this point.

    Does he mean to bring nearly into view some sort of quantitative difference between life and meat and body and clothing? If you’re thinking of food, you’re thinking too smallly, too narrowly, too constrictedly. If you’re thinking of clothing, you’re doing the same thing. It’s a quantitative consideration here, or is it a qualitative consideration?

    There is a view of life that sees meet as the meaning of life. There is a view of life that sees Raymond’s clothing as the purpose of life. There is that view of life that sets its sights upon the things that are temporary, that perish There is also that view of life that sees things quite differently.

    Life and body are for more than service to those temporary things. For those who love God, for those who are citizens of the kingdom of heaven, life and body are more than food and clothes. Because for them, life and body will in fact endure unto eternity. Jesus is not here making a general statement which can be read out upon the face of the earth, applicable in every society in which you might plug it in. Jesus is speaking here specifically to the covenantal community, to the disciples, to the church, to those who serve the Father in heaven, those who are bound to him by faith. And for them, life and body are indeed more than meat and raiment, because life and body will in fact endure unto eternity. It is not a quantitative difference that Jesus is condemning on at the end of verse 25, but a qualitative difference, a completely different view of life than that which places food and raiment at the center.

    Having said this, it becomes apparent now that what Jesus is speaking of here is laden with the gospel. For if he is putting before us life and body that endures unto eternity, he cannot do that without assuming the doctrine and the reality of the resurrection. The God who then gives us life in the kingdom, raises and will, in fact, raise our body to dwell in glory. This God who gives us the greater life, the superlative life, will certainly take care of our needs in this world. He who gives the greater will supply us in the lesser. Even the domain of the lesser teaches us this truth, the birds of heaven, the leaves of the field.

    Why don’t you take time to look at them? Are they anxious? Are the birds of the heaven anxious? Are the flowers of the field anxious? If they in the lesser are not anxious, how much more you who have the greatest should be without anxiety and pain? Don’t you be anxious. Don’t you worry.

    You have eternal life. Your body is destined for it. Now there’s an adjunct here in conclusion that we arrive at by something of an extension of the thought of Christ? You see, Jesus wants us anxiety-free because he wants us peace-filled. But he wants us anxiety-free also because he knows that an anxiety-free, an anxiety-filled breeds the occasion of. An anxiety filled life.

    Turns life and body into food and clothes. He turns these things into life itself. Jesus may well have been anxious in the wilderness. Satan says, turn these stones into bread. But Jesus knows Stones turned into bread turns bread into life. And that bread becomes the meaning of life. And that bread symbolizes satisfaction of my desire, satisfaction of myself. and such self-satisfaction forgoes the cross.

    It never arrives. It never gets there. For having turned bread and raiment into life, how could you conceivably give them up? An anxiety-filled existence breathes occasionally for sin. Israel had succumbed in wilderness. It wanted bread, as if bread were life.

    But Moses had said, you shall not live by bread. but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God and where Israel failed Jesus has triumphed the one in whom we see the eternal end of life and the body that which has been given to us through him and because of that we need not fear nor need we be anxious how great you are our God And would you convince us of the greater things? Of eternity? Of life with you? Of the survival of the body beyond death? Of your intent with regard to our life and our body? and having these things settled within us, O God, may we be anxiety free and may we rejoice

    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.

  • Christ Assaults Time

    Christ Assaults Time

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Sermon on the Mount” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, September 10, 1989.

    About this sermon

    In Matthew 6:34, ‘take no thought for the morrow,’ Christ assaults the way his hearers relate to time itself. 6:25-30 separates what has value in the worldly order from what has value in the heavenly one. In 6:31-33 Christ tells believers to seek righteousness, the one thing that reorders every other value.

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    Sermon transcript

    This morning we are in Matthew 6 once more. We are reading from verse 19 to the end of the chapter. This will provide us our last message on these verses specifically. We will move on to other considerations from here. Hear the word of God. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye. If therefore thine eye be single, Thine whole body shall be full of light, but if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. He cannot serve God and manner.

    Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, nor yet for your body what ye shall put on. Is not life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather in the barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.

    Are ye not much better than they? Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought, for, Raymond, consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

    Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for tomorrow, for tomorrow shall take thought for the things of itself. sufficient unto the day of evil thereof.

    Jesus is assaulting anxiety. Jesus is assaulting anxiety for the sake of those he loves, for the sake of his disciples. for those who are citizens of the kingdom of heaven for the sake of his church. He attacks three times. His assault is a three-fold assault. We are at first thirty four this morning. This is his last assault. It is meant to be. On the face of it is an assault upon the purity of time. It is an assault upon the tyranny of the future, the oppression of tomorrow. His first assault was verses 25 through 30. And that first assault drew before our eyes a disparity of value. Note the conclusion of the twenty-fifth verse.

    Is not life more than food, and the body more than raiment? He draws before us a disparity of value. Life surpasses meat. The body surpasses raiment. Our worth, we who are of the kingdom, surpasses that of birds and flowers. There are, after all, two orders of existence. Two orders of existence. One in which meat and clothes constitute the reality. The reality.

    The other, where life and body are seen in the dimensions, in the light and hues of eternity, are seen as significant beneath the purview of the kingdom of heaven. And for the sake of that kingdom, and body, eternal and immortal, and thus of supreme significance.

    In the one order of existence, anxiety is as natural as breathing. In the other, nature itself birds and flowers, if you will, conspire to exclude anxiety altogether. Anxiety-free. In the one order, things are pursued, sought after, as the remedy for anxiety. But ironically, Anxiety multiplies.

    In the other order, things are forsaken, given up, sacrificed for God. But ironically, oddly enough, in this order, anxiety dissipates. and finally disappears. The kingdom of heaven brought by Christ, proclaimed by him, resident in him, turns things upside down. Turns upside down our ordinary expectations. we would have thought a life given to acquisition.

    We would have thought a life given to acquisition would actually diminish worry. Have more, worry less. Have more, worry less. But such a life doesn’t diminish worry, instead it compounds worry. Whereas a life given to the kingdom of heaven, we would think, would leave us supremely vulnerable, in a position in which our anxiety would be compounded mercilessly. but wonder of wonders, it doesn’t at all. Instead, our anxiety is eradicated because that order of existence into which we have been brought, with which now we have contact, is an order of existence in which anxiety is an impossibility. Is there worry in heaven? Is there anxiety in heaven?

    No. No. And that’s the order of existence to which you belong. In Jesus’ second assault, verses 31 through 33, he makes it clear that the one order of existence that he would have us turn away from is actually the order of existence pursued by the Gentiles. While the other order is that for which, understand what I’m saying here, Is that for which Israel was destined? And the true Israel gains. Love of the most earnest affection for, here we are at verse 33, love of the most earnest affection for heaven’s kingdom and the father’s righteous rule, his reign, carries in its wake all things necessary, all things necessary.

    It simultaneously carries away all our sins. Train your heart. Discipline your soul. Set your affections upon the Kingdom of God and His righteous reign. And everything else will be taken care of. But now for his third assault, the lone verse, verse 34.

    This point here, first of all, is what we might call, now please, Bear with me here, I’m going to use a word with a lot of letters in it. We are indeed moving beyond the Reader’s Digest. We are leaping beyond the parameters of Guidepost Magazine. We’re going to use a big word. Now when I use it, I don’t want you all to tune out.

    The word is eschatological. Do you know what eschatology is? Right? Traditionally, it’s the doctrine of the last days, isn’t it? And for Jesus to speak eschatologically means that he is speaking from the vantage point, from the perspective of last things. Last things reality. His first point here in verse 34 then is what we call eschatological. That is, he is qualified by Jesus, unsurpassed knowledge of the last things. Now many have raised questions at this point.

    They say if Jesus is really speaking in an eschatological way, he would have said, therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow, because tomorrow may never come. Or, therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow for tomorrow the kingdom in all of its glory may arrive. In fact, we may even find that we and others comfort ourselves with that line of reason. Jesus may be back before midnight, so don’t worry about it.

    But because of this general approach, that Jesus would have spoken otherwise if in fact he had the last things, eschatology in mind. Because of that, people have dismissed this passage from the ranks of the eschatological message. But such an approach as this misses the truth about Jesus’ grasp of eschatology and the truth that is laid within this passage. Jesus, for instance, knows that the world is not about to end anytime soon when he speaks these words.

    That’s the problem for his disciples, don’t you know? They have been raised in good Jewish theology. The Messiah appears, the kingdom comes, and everything is brought to its conclusion. Life and history are not going to go on. Jesus’ message about the kingdom presents something quite different, yes. The end times have commenced, the kingdom has arrived in him, the blessings even of the eschatological, or the heavenly state, are being conferred upon those who believe, but the consummation, the end, is yet distant. Jesus’ eschatology is what we call already, but not yet. Already, you are being blessed with end-time blessings, but the fullness has not yet arrived, the consummation, the still future. Therefore, the fact that he speaks about tomorrow, even The care is peculiar to each day.

    There is no denial of his eschatological vision. In fact, his comment here confirms that vision. You see, it is precisely because the far distant future has been resolved for you that the near, proximate future carries no intimidation or threat for you. It is precisely here, then, that the power of the connection between verses 33 and 34 becomes apparent for us. We who have set our hearts upon the appearance of the kingdom of heaven and upon the Father’s righteous reign, we who have resolved the question of history’s destination, its direction, and its end, We who have been quieted concerning the horizon, the far distant horizon, and the certainty of our place in that horizon, need not be anxious about the few feet of territory that we must traverse tomorrow. The weightier matter has been settled. The less important issue is thus resolved.

    Our Savior here has a second point as well. It is what we call His version of realism. You see, Jesus knows that short of glory, short of that end point, when glory in all of its magnificence shines forth upon us, Jesus knows that we in our lives now experience our days as days that are being filled with Days filled with trouble. And this, despite the fact that the time of salvation blessing is already here.

    Troubles persist. They continue, even temptations through evil and apostasy persist. But now you see, the trick of the disciple’s life, the trick of that life for the citizen of the kingdom of heaven, is the assessment and treatment of those troubles that are inevitable. They will not be avoided.

    The trick for us who are of the Church is our assessment and treatment of those troubles by a heart set upon treasure in heaven. Verse 21. The assessment and treatment of those troubles with an eye that is clear, letting in the light of glory even now. Verse 22. For us, the trick is the assessment and treatment of those troubles by way of a service that is determined upon devotion to God. Verse 24, by a soul that knows life is eternal and more than meat, by a soul that knows that our bodies are immortal and more than clothing, and more than that, destined for resurrection. verse 25, “…by a love that binds us to the kingdom and the Father’s righteous reign above all else.” Verse 33. My dear beloved friends, you need not be terrorized by time, by the tyranny of tomorrow. All of the great issues are resolved. Do not be anxious. Do not be anxious.

    Dearest Lord, even in the midst of our troubles, for the present day will bring them, but in this present day, Lord, and we understand how in fact the operations of your son in our souls set us in a position wherein anxiety is dissipated and a free, glorious, wonderful expression of love and praise is forthcoming. We pray this in Jesus name, who gains all of this for us.

    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.