Grace OPC Sewickley PA

Sermon Book: Matthew

  • Preparing Disciples for His Death

    Preparing Disciples for His Death

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Misc. Matthew sermons” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, February 26, 1989.

    About this sermon

    John the Baptist’s death, just prior in Matthew’s narrative, already anticipates Jesus’ own, and the walking on water that follows is read as Jesus preparing his disciples for exactly that death. The boat on the water carries real symbolic weight for both Christ and the disciples together. What the scene finally promises is Christ’s own spiritual presence with the church, even in his physical absence.

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    Sermon transcript

    going to be a bit adventurous and turn to Matthew’s Gospel and look at verses 22-33. Matthew’s Gospel, Chapter 14, verses 22-33. to the word of God. And immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.

    And after he had sent the multitudes away, he went up to the mountain by himself to pray. And when it was evening, he was there alone. But the boat was already many stadiums away from the land, battered by the waves, so the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night, he came to them, walking upon the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were frightened, saying, It is a ghost.

    They cried out for fear. But immediately, Jesus spoke to them, saying, Take courage. It is I. Do not be afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it is you, me to come to you on the water.” And he said, come. And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, And immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and took hold of him, and said to him, Little you of little faith, why did you doubt? And when they got into the boat, the wind stopped. Those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, You are certainly God’s son.

    Our Father, we pray that our faith would be such that we would lay hold of all of the certainties that belong to us despite the fact that we must live by faith and not by sight. O Lord, may your word minister to us so that we would not be frightened by the matters and concerns of this world, and place ourselves with confidence in your hands. O God, we ask you that we might be benefited by the calm that comes because of Christ. So, Lord, we are served by you. that we might be at peace with ourselves. Now, Lord, as we reflect on your word, may there be, as we have prayed, those certainties and assurances built up for us. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

    This passage has been going round and round in my head for a couple of weeks now, ever since we had the occasion to review it in our family worship, reading the story as it was presented for us by Mary Ann Radius in her book, God With Us. the account of the New Testament, putting words that are appropriate for young readers. It’s the story of Jesus and the disciples, the boat on the sea, Jesus coming to them, his disciples walking on the water.

    So rather than returning tonight as I had intended to, the story of Elisha, I have decided to attempt some treatment of this passage this evening. Now you might just judge that I chickened out because the passage that I was going to return to is that that had to do with the floating access. And you’re just as good as mine as to what to do with that. But here we are this evening in Matthew 14. The scene is set for us by what we find in the opening twelve verses of the chapter. That is an account of the death of John the Baptist. Now, let that sink in.

    The death of John the Baptist, so that in verse 13 we have, Now, when Jesus heard it, he withdrew from there in a boat to a lonely or desolate place by himself. So there is this impact upon Christ, registered by the death of John, this one who was the precursor of his own ministry. It most definitely then, this death of John, it most definitely precipitates a crisis. It’s almost as if with the death of John there comes an anticipation for Christ of his own. The seriousness of it all settling in upon him in an unprecedented way. The cost to John of his ministry now pressing in upon Jesus, the cost of his ministry sure to fall. for one death begetting the other.”

    Jesus reviewing those circumstances, is it too far for us to go in suggesting that Jesus shudders? But this brings in view, then, the fact that Jesus, in his death, will in fact be taken away from this world. There will be a withdrawal for him. So we move into verses 13 through 21, and the story of the feeding of the 5,000. As Jesus withdraws, there is something of a death taking place even there, as his withdrawal anticipates the separation of himself from the world. So it will be when Christ dies. he will be taken out of the world, away from the world, in his flesh. And his people will be left, as it were, to abide in a desolate place, a wilderness, while he is in his body, absent from them.

    His absence does not mean that he is forgotten. He withdraws, but the world seeks him. The multitudes still come after him. But the way in which Jesus now treats this circumstance of the multitude’s pursuit is as if he were not there, and that conveyed through the instruction that he gives to the disciples that are present with him. The multitudes go out to meet him, to seek after him, and they find themselves in a wilderness, in the wilderness of this world, a desolate place. They themselves, there, just as Christ has been before them. For they, in seeking him, have become a pilgrim people. a people who truly have no abiding city here. But we have suggested that the way in which Jesus will treat the multitude and the circumstance, this situation, is along the lines of his coming absence.

    For when the day draws on toward the evening, The disciples beseech him to send the multitudes away that they might find something to eat, that they might not faint. But Jesus, in verse sixteen, tells his disciples, you give them something to eat. As if they have the resources As if they were the ones equipped, as if he was not even there at all, they were the ones to whom then the multitudes were to look for their provision. Is it not significant then that after The loaves and the fishes are multiplied in that story, and the five thousand are fed. We are told that twelve baskets full of fragments were taken up and one for each of the disciples. The provision remains there to dispense.

    The story then anticipates a time in which Jesus will not be present. And those who are the disciples of Christ will have the resources given them of Christ, by which then the multitudes of the world will be fed and satisfied. Jesus fully expects them in that day in which he is withdrawn from this world, his disciples, capable of ministering to the multitude of humanity that seek him. Well, it won’t be merely a physical bread you see that is supplied. I don’t know many ministers today who have been at work multiplying loaves and fishes The supply, you see, is spiritual.

    The bread that is multiplied that day is indicative of a greater print by which the multitudes of the earth will be satisfied, if in fact they can be satisfied So that sets the tone, you see, the death of John, anticipating the death of Jesus, John’s removal, anticipating Jesus’ removal, the disciples present and in their presence in the world with Jesus removed, they then to be capable of supplying with that provision that he provides what is necessary for the sustenance of all of those that would seek life from Christ, the people fed by the Word.

    But now we move on to this story we read, verses 22-33, and Jesus upon the water. As if one would wobble were not enough. Jesus, there in verse 13, having withdrawn initially, now there is a subsequent withdrawal. There is more yet to teach. There is more instruction to be given along these lines. Here, the multitudes themselves are not central, but the disciples themselves. The cycles are central to this event, not the wilderness, not desolated place, out in the wilderness, but the sea, the wind, the waves, the storm. These become central for the story.

    Here, as Jesus withdraws, once more there will be underscored the fact that Christ, in his body, in his flesh, will withdraw from this world. And not just from the world, but from his disciples. There will be a seeming separation between him and his church. And Jesus is the one who forces the issue. It’s something that is under his control. Read well that twenty-second verse, and immediately he made better read. He compelled the disciples to get into the boat and forced them to leave. The separation is not their choice, it’s his.

    So, the disciples launch out upon the sea. If that land, that territory into which the multitudes came, spoke of a wilderness and suggested then privation and need such as only Christ could answer, now we are upon the sea. We are upon troubled waters. The wind comes, the storm rages. it is contrary to the movements of the ship that is on the sea. Here is indicated for us all of those powers that conspire to set themselves against the Church of Christ, for that is, after all, what those disciples are in that boat, the Church. Forced to separate at 22nd verse, anticipating Christ’s voluntary withdrawal from his Church he in his body, in his flesh, being taken away from his church seemingly. The boat upon the waters is nothing less than the church herself, opposed by all of those elements in the created order, be they seen or unseen, that set themselves against the Church and her progress. Most specifically, the waves torment the Church. Most specifically, the wind is contrary to the Church. As it seems as if there is no progress for her. As if she is getting nowhere. In the midst of her perplexing circumstance, there comes to her. Her savior. Walking upon the waters. The troubled sea.

    Through the wind. he comes to them with the message of resurrection, with the message of power. That by him and through him she herself shall prevail, she shall be triumphant. Who are frightened at what they see, but he extends to them the comforts of glory. Take courage, it is I. Don’t be afraid. What is it out of this gospel specifically, then, that this message would register upon our souls and conscience. Is it not the fact that the Church, in all of her striving, in all of her labors, may well be convinced that she makes little progress, gets nowhere. But yet, in the midst of all that is set against her, she is certain of triumph in the end, Her Savior comes to her, ministering to her in her need. And by root of that, victory is given. Triumph is accomplished. We have as well the incident of Peter. the church represented by this figure, too? Hesitant with regard to the claims of Christ? Drawing back? Doubtful? If it’s really you, Lord, command that I might come to you on the waters.

    The invitation is given by Christ Christ extending it to his people, they then venturing forth in their conformity to him. As Christ is on the waters, so Peter as well. As Christ is on the waters, so Peter is on the waters in his conformity to the Savior.

    The church then ventures out in confidence not taking heed to all that is contrary, the wind itself blowing, but it is unnoticed until finally it is noticed indeed. The Church is overwhelmed in her lack of faith, and she begins to sink. Christ’s admonition comes As mercy is extended to his church, and he chides her for her unbelief, how could she doubt?

    This one brings calm as he enters the boat. Progress is achieved with him on board, and the disciples acknowledge him through worship and a confession that he is truly the Son of God. That’s the story. It is a story not simply about the cycles in the first century or one of them Peter. It is a story that is meant for the church as a whole. For the entirety of her time.

    When she is separated from her Lord, he absent from her in his body, they then expected to carry on in his absence. How real that faith portrayed here. The apprehension of the Christ who comes to his people through all of the troubles that assail her, bringing to his church that confirmation of her faith that she does not in fact believe in vain. What is it that conspires to rob the church of her confidence.

    There are the waves themselves, the wind that is contrary. Very interestingly, in verse 30 we are told that Peter saw the wind. If he did, he is the first to ever. The impact of that statement, however, is to register itself upon us, because you see there is a substantial approach to the wind that Matthew intends in the telling of the story in this way. The wind was contrary, verse 24. Verse 30, Peter sees the wind.

    That is, you see, he saw all those things that were in fact contrary, and he believed the contrary things. He takes his eye off Christ, he sees the things that are contrary, set against the progress of the Church, those things that are seemingly contrary to the faith itself, and in that, you see, he is submerged. His faith fails, doubt triumphs.

    What of the Church as a whole? I will start with the collective aspects of the application of this passage. The Church as a whole, she too laboring against remarkable odds, all of the factors of nature, of the creative order, seen and unseen, conspiring against her that she not reach her appointed end, that she not make progress, that she be overwhelmed. We make the mistake, do we not, imagining that the Church of the first century was somehow, some kind of glorious assembly, innumerable in number, unable to be counted, as if it was credible occurrence comparable to what we have witnessed in our own time. Maybe church is just growing up overnight. Littlefloss, rather. That’s, you see, what was the standard of the day. The church of that day, looking at herself and saying, how can it be possible that such a little flock like this can have any impact?

    How is it ever going to be able to stand up to all the forces that conspire against her? How shall she succeed? She won’t succeed at all. It’s impossible for her to succeed. But in the midst of all of that, there comes to her that one who seems to be a ghost, a spirit, if you will, disembodied. as if he in the spirit comes to her to convince her of the triumph that is hers, that is assured to her.

    In her missionary activities, she sends them out to the ends of the earth, the known world at that time. What about today, the ends of the earth now? What about Japan, a land that has been particularly Resistance to the message of the gospel will be a penetration. What can we look for as the church sits in the midst of that land? Any kind of success whatsoever are not the fees of this world and the wind. Contrary there will the church be victorious? Yes, you shall. Yes, you should. You take stock of your own denomination. The Orthodox Church, the Syrian Church, you look at her, you say, nothing spectacular here, there’s nothing to delay over long years.

    Why in the world would I throw in my lot with that sorry lot of people? Why would I throw in my lot with something spectacular, something that can extend to assurances that I’m part of something that is making a difference in the world. Why in the world would I ever give myself to such an enterprise as that?

    And what of yourselves? If we start with the Church as a whole and move on to the individual, if you are a leader of these folks, that’s another step down in the water. which is battering waves in a contrary way. What about humans and their own personal lives? You know, beings have tried to say what I can do, and no one controls it. Aren’t we weird? Only if you look at that one who comes to you upon the race and has the power without a boat to stay afloat. I think even Robert Schiller would have liked that. All right. In the midst of it all, he extends a hand to you even though you faltered. He grabs you and you cry out, Lord save me. And he’s faithful to do just that. There comes, though, his interrogation of you and your faith has faltered. Why did you doubt? Why did you doubt? Don’t you know I love you?

    Well, whether you’re In the desolated place, or on the sea, in either circumstance, Jesus absent in his body, in his flesh, be assured of your triumph nonetheless. You by faith endure. You by faith are saved. O Lord, we ask you that with regard to your Church we would have confidence and hope. With regard to ourselves, nothing less. The assurances afforded us through Christ would be even more and more confirmed in our souls. We would be content to live by faith. All the things may be contrary to us, but Lord, we know with you, we shall triumph. In Jesus name.

    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.

  • Tomorrow’s Bread, Given Today

    Tomorrow’s Bread, Given Today

    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, February 19, 1989.

    About this sermon

    The manna of Exodus 16 lies at the heart of the fourth petition’s daily bread, a connection the catechisms have never fully drawn out. ‘Give us today tomorrow’s bread’ captures the petition’s startling shape. The petition asks all along for Christ himself, the eternal Sabbath bread.

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    Sermon transcript

    We begin with the eleventh verse, and we will be reading through verse thirty-one. Here is the word of God. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread. Ye shall know that I am the Lord your God.

    And it came to pass that at even the quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoarfrost on the ground. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, What is it? Those that sat under them, this is the bread which the Lord hath given you, dear. This is the thing which the Lord has commanded.

    Gather of it every man according to his heeding, and Omer for every man according to the number of your persons. Take ye every man for them which are in his tents. And the children of Israel did so. Gathered some more, some less. Then they did meet it with an Omer. He that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack. They gathered every man according to his feeding.

    And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. Notwithstanding, they hearkened not unto Moses, but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was brought with them. They gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating, and when the sun waxed hot, it melted. And it came to pass that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread. Two omers for one man, and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. And he said unto them, this is that which the Lord has said.

    Tomorrow is the rest of the Holy Sabbath unto the Lord. That which you will bake today and see that you will see and that which remain it over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. And they laid it up till the morning as Moses bade, and it did not stink. Neither was there any worm therein. Moses said, Eat that today. For today is a Sabbath unto the Lord.

    Today ye will not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none. And it came to pass that there went out some of the people on the seventh day together, and they found none. And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? See, for that the Lord hath given you the Sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days.

    Abide ye every man in his place let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day, and the house of Israel called the name thereof, Nana. And it was like coriander seed, right? And the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. Then from Matthew 6, 11, give us this day our daily bread.

    Let’s pray together. Father, in our hearts, we would strain on behalf of the many raised up to preach. Lord, you have commanded that we pray for laborers for the harvest, and Father, may we force ourselves to our knees. We force our souls and hearts by humility, your spirit himself driving us to intercede with regard to this matter. Lord, your word and servants for it, men of strength and conviction, men of power in your spirit, your word burning within them so that they cannot keep it inside. So Lord, even now, across the continents, in many lands, in those especially where we have friends and know men by name who have been sent to proclaim the word, our God, Give us a heart to pray for them.

    Devotion to them in spirit. Those close at hand as well. May we be a people of prayer. May we be a people of the word. May we see the two come together. Those that you’ve raised up to proclaim your word to your people. Thus we would ask for good preaching good teaching as you would give us good men to proclaim your riches, the excellency of your grace. We pray this in Christ’s name. Amen.

    It certainly wasn’t the first time that he had heard them rumble. Wasn’t the first time that he heard them complain. But today, today of all days, today was exactly one month after their departure from Egypt. They were one month to the day out of the land of their oppression, out of the territory of their slavery. Today, of all days, that they would grumble, that they would complain.

    They had moved eastward from Goshen to the Red Sea. And there, the Lord had caused them to stand and to see his salvation. The waters parted. The people walked through. They experienced a baptism there, moving through the Red Sea as those who move on dry ground. And on the east side of the Red Sea, they had seen the walls of the Red Sea waters collapse and devour their enemies. They had celebrated there. They had glorified the Lord. And from there they had moved southward along the banks of the Red Sea into the Sinai wilderness. They had come to the place that was called Marah, a three-day journey.

    A place called Mara, that name memorializing the waters that were found there. Mara meaning bitter, and the waters there were bitter, but the waters were not the only thing bitter, for we find out that the hearts of the people were bitter also. God, in his grace, in this day before Sinai, comes in a ministration of mercy. The tree is applied to the bitter waters, and speaks of a greater day when a tree, the cross itself, will be applied to the bitterness of man, to the complaints of God’s people.

    So once more, the people tested, detroyed, they move out from Mara to Elam. that little oasis, a bit to the south, more to the east, an oasis of paradise, if you will, where the children of Israel find a spring of water for each of the tribes, twelve in number, and seventy day palms memorializing the number of those that originally went down into Egypt with Jacob.

    The people drink and eat and are satisfied in this newfound Eden, but they can’t stay there. You cannot stay in any so-called Eden of this creation. The people are on a journey. There is a better inheritance. So they break the king. And they move out once more, led abroad. They are in the desert. They are in the wilderness now. The Red Sea, Mara, Elam behind them.

    And once more, Moses is treated to a chorus of groans and venomous complaint. And this time, he is so treated because the people consider themselves deprived, they have no meat, they have no bread. But in this day prior to Sinai, Despite now the obvious bitter attack upon the Lord’s servant, Moses, and the bitter attack upon him who stands behind the servant or above him, God himself, this one, our God, their God, in his grace, sends to them meat and bread. The meat comes in the form of the quails, the flocks that cover the camp at evening.

    This meat is a luxury, it is a one-time phenomenon. It comes and then it doesn’t come again. But the bread, the bread came in the morning, and it will come every morning. Every morning except the seventh morning of each week. In its coming, its appearance day by day, there is even the pattern of eternity and perpetuity found in it. God’s eternal perpetual design to feed his people. So the bread, this miraculous bread that continues for the duration of the forty years, is rewonderous in the wilderness.

    But this story, surveying what we have read and reviewed here now, in Exodus 16, this story is packed, all of it, into the simple fourth petition of the Lord’s Prayer. the petition that we have taught to recite this way. Give us this day our daily bread.

    As we turn our attention then to the prayer which our Lord teaches his disciples. We can take stock of the movement that we find in that prayer as we consider this fourth petition, because, you see, this fourth petition does signal for us something of a shift. We have now moved from the thy petitions, thy name, thy kingdom, thy will, to the us and our petitions, with which The prayer concludes. There are the three hour petitions, and according to my calculation, there are four us-an-hour petitions, concluding the prayer, giving us seven petitions. This prayer, then, with seven petitions being the perfect prayer, the complete and full prayer, that pattern for prayer made perfectly to our Father in Heaven. It has been observed with regard to this shift that we observe in the prayer itself, that we move from that mode of thought wherein we are literally subjecting our desires to the desires of our Father in Heaven. to that mode where we are requesting our father to subject his desires to ours.

    The movement then being the consideration of our God in his sovereign plan and purpose for all that it is, for all that there is, that his name above all else would be exalted, his kingdom come be realized, that his will be accomplished. in the earth as it is in heaven.

    In that, his kingship and sovereignty manifest. But then, there comes to the fore our needs. The bread we need, forgiveness, protection from temptation, deliverance from evil, Will God, our Father, submit himself to our needs and supply our needs as the King becomes the servant? To do that for us. And observing that in this, then, the perfect prayer, we also are observing the perfection of the Father’s heart, are we not? That perfection is supremely revealed to us in the cross of our Savior, where the great King manifests his servanthood for our sakes, giving himself to us in order that our need may be supplied.

    The Lord’s Prayer is the prayer at the center at which stands the cross. Even though it’s not mentioned, it’s laid between the lines. And it is there. To be sure. But we’ve been saying now, with regard to this petition that the. Material that we reviewed this morning from Exodus sixteen is packed into this fourth petition. And it is only by route of that story which we have read that we will arrive at the proper and full meaning of the petition before us. Unfortunately. Many of us, if not most. Have come to understand the petition only partially. only partially.

    That part which we have come to understand, as precious as it is to us, concerns what has been called our personal request for God to supply our physical needs. Now you may recall your catechism explanations of the Fourth Petition. And you might remember that that catechism explanation moves along this specific line. What do we pray for in the Fourth Petition? In the Fourth Petition we pray that of God’s free gift we may receive a competent portion of the good things of this life and enjoy his blessing. Question one of the shorter.

    We can all be quite sympathetic with this healthy reform affirmation of God’s creation and our place in that creation. And we can be quite encouraged by this affirmation of God’s concern for our physical well-being, expressed so ably by the Tanakins. But our difficulty is not with the appropriateness of such an affirmation in its place. Our difficulty is with the adequacy The adequacy of such an affirmation in light of the petition when read against the background of Exodus 16. The issue is not so much what the Catechism does say, but with what it leaves out and doesn’t say.

    Generally, during our Church’s history, throughout the history of the Church, there have been three interpretations of this fourth petition. And each of these interpretations revolve around the meaning of the word, which has been translated in our English versions as daily. Give us this day our daily bread. The traditional understanding is in keeping with this translation. And I don’t have to tell you that this interpretation of the petition has much going for it.

    We can even lay it within the context of a finally developed biblical theology and approach to redemptive history. In view is the Pilgrim character of the people of God, who have been constituted by the call of Jesus Christ. And these are utterly dependent upon God, their Heavenly Father, for their daily provision as they move through life and existence in this world. And of importance in this regard is, as well, the experience of Israel as God’s people as they move through the wilderness. There is an analogy, there is a parallel. As those people receive daily the provision, we, too, are receiving daily our provision. Therefore, we are requesting God, so it is said, to be mindful of our creature needs day by day, as He was with Israel in their day by day creature needs.

    And if Israel was cared for, we who believe in Jesus Christ, we who are his church, can expect nothing less. Well, there’s tremendous power in that. And we find ourselves sitting in our pew, we find ourselves pouring over scripture, or reading this petition, or even saying it, and dissenting to that sort of thought, or that line of reasoning, that particular interpretation of the petition. It certainly has a lot going for it. God will provide for us. Here, emphasized, is our faith, our trust in Him. There’s another interpretation, and it runs along these lines. Give us this day our needful bread, it suggests, or our necessary bread, that bread which is necessary.

    Once more, we are brought back to the experience of the people of Israel in the wilderness, and even more specifically, the experience of those people recorded for us in Exodus 16. You will remember that one of the things that is said about the manna Verse 18 was this, that he who gathered much had no excess, and he who gathered little had no lack. There is conveyed from that story, and then as that is superimposed upon the fourth petition, this whole dimension of satisfaction, being satisfied with what we have. Therefore, when Jesus teaches his disciples to pray, his instruction focuses upon the adequacy of the provision and upon a satisfied heart.

    Now, if you want to get me going on something, and you want a little sermon in the midst of the sermon, Even though you’re looking at your watches and thinking this is going to go on for some time yet. Yeah, you’re right, it is. I may not end up concluding that this petition is moving along those lines, but there is an element of this interpretation to be found in this petition. And if the Christian Church needs anything now More, I don’t know what it is, than a spirit of satisfaction.

    We are all becoming Rachel’s. Do you know who Rachel is? Do you understand Rachel? Rachel is the woman who epitomizes dissatisfaction. She is the figure of dissatisfaction. Though she’s best loved, she isn’t satisfied with that. Give me a son. She gets a son, she names him Joseph.

    Why? Because that means addition. There has been an addition made to me. Looking for even further addition. Because she’s not even satisfied with Joseph. So there is satisfaction for once another child. She gets it, doesn’t she? And that child is his dessert. And so is your dissatisfaction. It is a classic. It is a killer. It is a killer. Appropriate punctuation. It is a killer.

    And what’s the later day? word about Rachel. Oh Rachel, Rachel, a voice arising out of rain, weeping, lamenting, Rachel crying for her children, refusing to be incapable of being satisfied because they were no more. So yes, I could interrupt the sermon and go off in that direction, and I think it’s a great benefit to us all.

    Learning about the satisfaction that is found in Christ. Having food and rain as a covering over our heads, we ought to be satisfied. Godliness with contentment, that’s great gain. I have learned that whatever state I am in, there is to be content. That’s what the Apostle Paul says, and that is the pattern for us. Your dissatisfaction will kill you.

    It’s just another form of grumbling and groaning and complaining in the wilderness. But with both of these interpretations that I’ve suggested here for you this morning, the one that focuses upon trust, the one that focuses upon satisfaction, There is a common problem. They suffer from the same short sightedness. Neither does justice to what is central in that story in Exodus 16. The bread. The men. If we grant that the story in Exodus 16 is directly related to this petition, the fourth petition of the Lord’s Prayer, what is the precise nature, precise character of the relationship between the petition and the story?

    Is it the fact that the bread came daily? Or that it was adequate for satisfying the physical appetites of the people? You see, the focus as we concentrate on those features, take us in the direction of that which is natural. So we are automatically prepared to accept that interpretation of the petition that sees, first of all and foremostly, physical bread at the heart of it.

    But what is the truth about this bread that has been given by God? It’s not natural bread, it’s supernatural bread. And nowhere is this more evident than when the Lord gives the double portion, you see, on the sixth day. It is a miraculous bread. Any other day you gather it, if you leave it over a night, it breeds worms, it decays, it stinks. But you gather the double portion on the sixth day, it is kept over till the next day. It doesn’t breed worms, it doesn’t decay, it doesn’t stink. This is miracle bread.

    It is precisely this feature. The fact that this bread is kept over, you see, on that sixth day for the seventh, which Jesus has in mind in the fourth petition. That’s what’s behind the word. You see that word that we translated daily. is best translated tomorrow, not today or daily, but tomorrow. Jesus is therefore teaching his disciples to pray. Give us today. Tomorrow’s bread. Give us today. Tomorrow’s bread.

    You see, his emphasis is upon the reception of the following day’s provision in the present day, in the day which is current, the day in which we are living. But on what day did Israel receive the following day’s provision? Of course, the day before the Sabbath. In mind, therefore, is not the regular daily provision of bread which the Jews gathered, Nor can the meaning be the adequacy of the provision upon those days when they gathered.

    Instead, tomorrow’s bread is the Sabbath day’s provision for the today of our lives. You see, in this petition, Tomorrow’s bread is nothing less than the bread that comes forth for us out of the eternal Sabbath of God. Before and beyond any physical bread for which we might ask, we are asking for the eternal bread.

    But don’t you know, if God will give you the eternal breath, will he not give you your daily breath? Only if you start with the eternal breath, will you understand it. These, then, are not Earth’s natural resources for which we ask. These are Heaven’s resources. In fact, we can say Earth’s natural bread was never the point of the manna story to begin with.

    For even that bread, the manna, preached to Israel, the character of a bread which would come eventually to satisfy her, for just as that bread came forth from God, so now the living bread, Jesus Christ himself, comes down from heaven. He is the true bread of life, and those who keep on feasting on him today, he being the eternal bread, will be kept from hunger, and in fact, they will never Never go hungry. Never. He that stirred not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? O Lord, if we are to pray for our bread, even that bread that comes to us day by day and is set upon our tables, and even though, O Lord, we have thankful hearts and joy in receiving those gifts from you, may we always put first of all that bread which is of tomorrow, which is given us today, the eternal bread, and we feeding on it, knowing satisfaction to the depths then of our souls, shall not hunger, we shall not hunger again. We thank you, Lord, for the bread you’ve given. The very bread of life. Jesus Christ, your Son.

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

  • God’s Work Alone

    God’s Work Alone

    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, February 12, 1989.

    About this sermon

    Readers usually approach ‘thy kingdom come’ in one of two ways, as personal holiness or as world renewal. Isaiah 65 and Revelation 21 point instead to God’s own work alone. Real prayer starts from the end God has already accomplished, and the petition rests on what God does.

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    Sermon transcript

    The passage from Isaiah chapter sixty-five, we are reading from verse seventeen to the end of that chapter. Hear the word of God. and the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create, for behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in my people, and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her nor the voice of crying.

    There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days. For the child shall die a hundred years old, but the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed. And they shall build houses and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build and another inhabit, they shall not plant and another eat, For as the days of a tree are, the days of my people and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble, for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord and their offspring with them.

    And it shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer. And while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock, and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.” And then from Matthew chapter six, verses nine and ten.

    After this manner, therefore, pray ye, Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Lord, we would not forget those we know throughout the world who bear your word with them as seed to be sown. And Father, as we think of them at this time, may we also remember those to whom that word that they bear is sent. And Father, in keeping with your promise and your purpose, the harvest comes forth. For the word goes forth to accomplish that which you have ordained. It does not return to you empty, but establishes your purpose.

    Our God, in light of this glorious expectation and this wonderful certainty, May your servants declare your word today. We pray it in Jesus’ name. Amen. This morning we come to the third petition of the Lord’s Prayer, the last of the so-called thy petitions.

    How will be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, now in earth as it is in heaven. That’s the rendering of it that we are accustomed to. That’s the one that we say week by week, or even more often as we have occasion, that third petition, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Actually, the literal translation of it is this, Thy will be done as in heaven, so in There have been traditionally two approaches to this third petition.

    Those two could be described in this way. On the one hand, there is that approach that focuses upon what we would call holiness. place that on this side. There has also been an approach that is focused more on what we might call the aspect or dimension of destiny. And we can place that on this side. than traditional approaches to the petition.

    Holiness on this side is something of a focus upon what we have called sanctification. And in regard to that, the place of the law, the law’s work, as it relates to the will, the will of God and the outworking of that will in the world through us. On the other side, we have that word, destiny. And here, not that it isn’t in view on the holiness side, but even more so over here, is a concentration upon the whole of God’s sovereignty, in its comprehensiveness, in its scope, the expansiveness of its scope. We might press it a bit, as we have mentioned sanctification over here. We might also mention another sophisticated theological term on this side as well, that of eschatology.

    Now, the words themselves shouldn’t give you pause. You know what sanctification is, that word we placed on this side. Some of you know well the catechism definition. how we are to understand it as the renewing of the whole man after the image of God, so that that man is enabled more and more to die unto sin and to live unto righteousness. That pertains to sanctification. Eschatology, we should not be put off by that word either. We know about eschatology, eschatology, eschaton is a Greek word for last things.

    The two then approaches to the third petition along these lines. If you have a scale or a balance one of those old-fashioned scales or balances, an arm going out on either side, this arm being the arm of holiness, and this arm being the arm of destiny, considered along these lines. But it isn’t enough just to divide the traditional approaches in this way. For on each side there is a further division. There have been those, for instance, who have approached the holiness side in terms of what we would call the personal dimension. There were those who have also approached the holiness side in terms of what we would call the cosmical dimension and consideration. And the same goes for the destiny side, personal and cosmical.

    You have the picture. You have world, fashion, scale, and balance. But each scale and balance has two chains. And the one chain is personal. The other is cosmical. On either side, the same. From those who approach the petition, now, why will be done? As in heaven, so on earth. How do those who have this approach to this petition along the lines of personal feelings understand the petition? Well, they certainly grasp hold of something that is biblically true. biblically right.

    Personal holiness is in sad decline. We’re very easy on ourselves, aren’t we? The whole matter of sanctification, the personal pursuit of godliness, tragically in sad decline. sad decline amongst the people of God. Of course when one starts talking about the matter of personal holiness, finger pointing is very easy. But it’s difficult Of course, for those who point fingers as those to whom they point personal.

    Certainly this is something that is a major theme of Scripture. You remember that passage that beats out of the page from Hebrews twelve without holiness without sanctification, no man shall see the Lord. If you wish then to play fast and loose with this matter, you are but deceiving yourself.

    And how it is then related, how it is then related to the issue of the law and the commandments of God, is there not then that glorious statement that comes to us out of Psalm forty-eight verse, I believe. Behold, I come in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O God. As the spokesman there speaks about his personal holiness, his devotion to the commandments and the law of the Lord. certainly nothing that is optional, certainly something that is right, biblically speaking. If this not then carried further by Jesus himself in the Sermon on the Mount, if you just turn the page to Matthew chapter seven, the twenty-first verse, there you have that startling, if not terrifying, passage Not everyone who says unto me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my father who is in heaven. Jesus underscoring that whole matter of personal holiness and devotion, devotion to the commandments of God, to those things which he has prescribed. And what will we do with that incredibly profound and startling passage that comes to us from Paul? First, that’s a loading chapter four verse three here, sanctification and the will of God are brought together unmistakably. This is the will of God for you, even your sanctification, even your personal.

    So there are those who have approached this passage, this petition of the Lord’s Prayer along these lines. that in view is the realization of personal holiness, and we are praying for that personal holiness to be a reality in us. That there are those who have been dissatisfied with this approach as it stood by itself in relationship to this petition.

    Not that they are arguing with personal holiness, God forbid. Their contention is The scope of the petition is much broader, it is cosmical. Larger, expansive, much more comprehensive. So we are not here dealing with personal holiness, we are dealing with a holiness that has worldwide, worldwide impact. and extensiveness that reaches to the ends of the earth.

    There have been those that have approached the whole matter of the cosmical holiness in terms of mission, that as the mission of Christ’s Church is fulfilled, there goes through the world, by way of the gospel, that by which then the nations themselves are renovated and holiness is realized in their midst, because of the place that the commandments and the law of God now play. There were those who had focused not so much upon mission, the mission of the Church, as they have upon societal renewal. As they look at this petition, so when the petition is spoken, I will be done as in heaven. So on Earth, they have in mind a cosmic, a world renovation. This is the objective of the prayer, the petition itself, world renovation, holiness, real, not just personal, but in a societal way. in a way that affects institutions and organizations, the ways in which men do things on the face of the earth.

    So the point of the message this morning is not so much to argue about the validity of various visions for the future of the world and the place that the law may well have someday and transforming society or doing institutions that isn’t my purpose. Nor is it my purpose to say anything that would diminish in our estimation God’s requirement for personal holiness and our expectation that where the gospel is sung holiness will be the fruit. The question isn’t whether or not these approaches by themselves in terms of themselves are not correct, for in fact they may well be fully assertive. A biblical theme, worthy pursuit.

    The question, however, is whether or not this petition has those matters in view. Whether the petition itself is dealing specifically with holiness, be it personal or societal. And the realization of that holiness in the earth as it is in heaven, that is the question. The reason why we may suspect that that isn’t the intention of the petition is this.

    It doesn’t matter how you slice the cake. When you’re on that side of the balance, when I’m standing on this side of the platform this morning, you see, working its way into our consideration invariably is something that we do. Something that we accomplish. I am at work, am I not? In this whole matter of my personal holiness, Is there not a focus upon the energies and the expenditure of energies from men in the accomplishment of God’s will in the earth, be it through mission or be it unto the end of societal renewal? The focus is upon what we do, at least in part. It works its way into the consideration.

    But is that what Jesus intends When he gives us this petition, the third one, thy will be done as in heaven, so in earth. There have been those then who have reacted against this side of the balance, this side of the scale. Not because they were disagreeing with personal holiness or sanctification or the mission of the church, or societal renewal. It’s just that they saw something else operative in that petition.

    And that is what we describe with the word destiny. Destiny. Now, I said that there are two chains hanging down from each arm of this scale. There is the chain that is focusing on the personal and then the cosmical, and it’s the same over here. You have the personal with regard to destiny itself. We’re, however, relating our own personal lives to the will of God.

    We have that passage in James, Chapter four, verse fifteen. He’s chiding those to whom he writes a bit, for they’re a bit presumptuous. They say, we’re going to go to this city and do such and such and make this amount of money and accomplish this or that, and James rebukes them. He says, well, if the Lord will.

    The will of the Lord with regard to your own personal destiny. That operative too, at least in measure as you consider Christ. God’s will for him personally as he sweats out the matter of the will of God in the Garden of Gethsemane. Not my will, but thy will be done. And what of Paul? His own personal destiny. He’s on his way to Jerusalem. He meets with the prophet. The prophet tells him, if you go to Jerusalem, you are going to be bound, you are going to suffer. His response? The Lord’s will be done. His own personal destiny will be fulfilled in terms of the will of God.

    And that brought in relationship then to the petition itself. personal destiny. There have been those who have been dissatisfied with just a personal focus with regard to their destiny. In deference to that position, they move again to that which is more expansive, comprehensive, the cosmical, something that is more inclusive.

    They start thinking about the will of God, not just as it relates to a person, an individual, but the entire administration of God’s purpose. You turn to the book of Ephesians, the first chapter, and there you read about the mystery of the will of God that has now been revealed in Jesus Christ, in the gospel events. Christ has died, he has been raised again, and in this now God is summing up all things. He is at work summing up all things in Christ. the manifestation, the revelation of the mystery of the will of God, moving it beyond just the personal, is something that is much more comprehensive and inclusive. But then those who have approached the petition in that respect have been brought up short for they realize that there’s this whole matter of personal destiny drawn in relationship with a petition, that as that is done, it seems that there comes a day when the personal destiny or the cosmical destiny in relationship to the mystery of the will of God achieves the fulfillment that then dismisses the petition. God’s will fulfilled for me, God’s will fulfilled in Christ, his death, his resurrection, his ascension. And this then moves others on, as they reflect upon this petition, even greater matters still.

    Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Certainly not just personal, regardless of what side of the scale you’re on. most definitely cosmical, but in what sense? In the sense in which we are praying that God, by his work in the Church and through the Church, would revolutionize the face of the Earth? By the things in which we participate, the things which we do and accomplish? Or is the focus As we look at it in its cosmical dimensions, something which God does alone, which he accomplishes exclusively, to which we are but the spectators as he does it.

    The language of heaven and earth driving us to that conclusion for the melding of heaven and earth is, from this petition, reaching out to the magnificent conclusion with which all things shall be brought to an end. In heaven comes to earth, and the new heavens and the new earth are reality.

    Thus the significance of Isaiah 65, but even more compellingly, John’s reading of Isaiah 65 in Revelation chapter 21. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth passed away and there was no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and he shall dwell among them, and they shall be his peoples, and God himself shall be among them.

    And he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no longer any death. There shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain. The first things have passed away. And he who sits on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said, Write, for these words are faithful and true.”

    That is the focus of the third petition. heaven and earth one in the day of the new heavens and the new earth and your affections in your prayers directed toward that end. So there is then the common thread that is sewn through all the first The power of the Father’s name. through a work which he himself accomplishes at the conclusion, when all that oppose him are removed. The hallowing of his name, his kingdom coming in all of its perfection, an act which he is responsible for, and he is responsible for alone. He winning it, and the accomplishment of his will perfectly, fully, summarily, as the realities of heaven become those realities that are also upon the earth, through an act of God whereby he concludes all things for his own glory. As you begin your prayers, be done with lesser petitions and start with the end. And having the end firmly in grasp, understand then everything that leads to the end in light of it. For having settled that matter, every other matter is settled and resolved.

    Now, Lord. Even though we may not be well trained in it. And led to believe other things with regard to it. Clear the slate. But the glory. The incomparable glory. Of our God. and his heavenly kingdom would be apparent to us, and all of our prayers begin with that conclusion, that concluding work by which you shall perfect your purpose, your plan, your will. May we long therefore our God as we are in the flesh and as we are in this pilgrimage. For that day. Come Lord Jesus. Even so.

    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.

  • Petitions Answered by Christ’s Righteousness

    Petitions Answered by Christ’s Righteousness

    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, February 5, 1989.

    About this sermon

    Christ’s own righteousness already answers the first three petitions of the Lord’s Prayer on behalf of believers. The cross stands at the heart of that answer. God delivers his people from their own cross as he delivered Christ from his, through resurrection and never by exemption.

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    Sermon transcript

    This morning our scripture reading is from Matthew chapter 6, we are reading verses 5 through 15. This is Matthew chapter 6, again the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus dealing with the three pillars of piety, almsgiving prayer and fasting. This morning we are reading the section on prayer once more. Heal the word of God.

    And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the street, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret. and thy father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. And when ye pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them, for your father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him.

    After this manner therefore pray Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

    The first three petitions of the Lord’s Prayer concerning the Father’s name, the Father’s kingdom, the Father’s will. The first three petitions of the Lord’s Prayer are set to parallel each other. They are read in a line. We are to understand all three in the same light. If you understand one, then you will understand all three. In getting a handle on one, you have in your grasp the meaning of all three.

    Now the light in which we are to understand these three petitions is given us in the fifth chapter of Matthew, the twentieth verse, Jesus speaking there about that superlative righteousness, that righteousness that surpasses the righteousness of scribes and Pharisees. a righteousness that is so extraordinary that it is unlike any righteousness of this earth.

    Rather, it is the very righteousness of heaven that is given to us by which we then must enter into the kingdom that is promised. Matthew 5 verse 20. This extraordinary heavenly unearthly righteousness is found nowhere but in and through Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, the One who has come from heaven, for the very purpose of making this righteousness plain and clear.

    Presently, then, this righteousness asserts itself. It asserts itself to the end that there might be melded in us, that there might be harmonized in us our actions and our thoughts, our doing and our thinking. That consistency reflected in our teachers and also in all citizens, every disciple of the kingdom. This melding, this harmonizing of which I speak at this point is of a peace with heaven itself. Think of heaven. Your word will match your actions perfectly. There will be no contradiction between what you think and what you do in heaven. It isn’t so presently, is it?

    Yet, that marvelous righteousness of heaven is asserting itself presently because of the ministry and power of Jesus Christ at work amongst those who are His. Heaven, then, where behavior perfectly matches attitude But even more now, our eyes having been directed to heaven, this righteousness of which we speak works itself out in my conformity to my Father who is in heaven. Verse 48 of that fifth chapter. This righteousness, one more time, works itself out in my conformity to my Father who is in heaven. Therefore be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

    But at the very center of this, my conformity unto my Father above, is at the same time his inexplicable conformity unto me here presently in the world, through his Son, through Christ. that one who presently speaks, that one by whom the very administration of heaven is meeting. To the extent then, to which then, to the extent then, to which then, that conformity unto us is laid bare before us in the words of our Savior. To that extent, the love and the purity of heaven is also asserting itself, infruiting upon us here in this creation. The extent to which the Father will go in order to seal that love and purity from heaven in his relationship with us is the cross of Christ. the pattern then not only for his conformity unto us, but our conformity unto him.

    He has laid aside all, as if forgetting himself for the sake of you, and now you lay yourself aside for his sake. He places others above Himself, seemingly. In order that His own may be redeemed, we place others above ourselves in conformity to Him. By that cross, the Father in Heaven interprets Himself to us. By that cross, also, I now explain myself to him.

    Without that cross, there is no revelation of the righteousness of God from heaven. Without that cross, there is no obedience on my part here in the earth. Now it’s true. The cross at this point is as many as three years away from Christ himself in actual experience.

    Yet its weight, its impressive shadow reaches backward and touches every aspect of his public ministry. He states to John the Baptist, at the Jordan River, that it’s necessary for him to undergo a baptism. Think of Jesus being baptized for his own sins. No, but that he might be made conformable even unto us who are sinners, who are in need of baptism. Even then, he says that it’s necessary in order to fulfill all righteousness.

    We see the cross. in the baptism of Jesus. Moving on to his teaching, here, Jesus on the mount, delivering these words, speaking the Beatitudes, whether he is giving us the blessings, or expounding upon the law, or presenting his understanding of the three pillars of piety, almsgiving prayer and fasting, the cross is actually the supporting beam upon which the entirety of the message is constructed. Rip out the cross and you have nothing distinctive, nothing Christian. Jesus is just another Jewish rabble. Yet it is this cross that so many cannot see, and sadly even more, cannot accept.

    It was, for instance, an earthly and cross-less kingdom the Jews of Jesus’ day expected. They anticipated the advent of the Messiah, the coming of the kingdom. They saw them, the Messiah’s coming, the coming of the kingdom, as one and the same. When the Messiah and the kingdom arrive, then, they judged, all hostility, all opposition, all shame for the people of God, for the nation of Israel will be liberally removed.

    In their own convictions, Jesus’ disciples at this point are not especially distinguishable from those who are hostile to him, for they too are earthbound. They too cannot conceive of a crucified Christ. Far be it from thee, Lord, that you should die. But when Jesus speaks, when he gives his message here in the Sermon on the Mount, you see, he is assuming the cross.

    His words are an exposition of it. It may not be apparent to us, but you see, it is as hidden as is His Messiahship. It is as hidden, at this point, as is His Kingdom. It’s laid between the lines. And it is the eye of faith that is poised, set, to receive all, to see all, that God would have for his children, that will in fact survey the whole of the territory while surveying the cross.

    You see, Jesus, as this message to his disciples begins, talks as if the suffering of his disciples has an indefinite future. What kind of a message is this? What kind of an evangelist is this Jesus? What kind of a teacher is he? He starts out with a message about the indefinite future of the suffering of his disciples. He speaks of their privation. They are poor in spirit. He talks about their sorrow. They are those that mourn. He speaks about their humiliation, the meat. He speaks about their languishing, their hungry and their thirsty.

    All of which, all of which are an application, but an application of the cross of Christ to the life of his disciples. The coming of the Messiah and the Kingdom, according to Jesus’ contemporaries, would initiate an era of universal righteousness in which the perfection and the finality of the law of Moses would be apparent to all. And by root of that, swift execution of justice would then be accomplished. We move on to the latter part of Matthew chapter 5 in Jesus’ treatment of the law. Jesus, however, talks as if the struggle for righteousness is ongoing.

    This struggle resounds with the sentences of a higher court than even that court over which Moses would preside, scrutinizing not just the actions, but the thoughts of the heart. from the vantage point of heaven. And this court, which is convened in glory for all of its intolerance to sin, and that is apparent, this court, for all of its intolerance to sin, simultaneously, affectionately draws the disciples to that revelation of the Father in heaven, whose love and mercy is now mirrored back to him in a self-sacrificing, cross-bearing behavior.

    Taking up the cross, so that you are concerned to the depths of your soul about the attitude that your brother has to you. And in cross-like behavior, you march out to meet him even before he is out marching to meet you. That’s Christ-likeness. Not loving your friends and families only, but loving your enemies too. That’s Christ-likeness.

    When the Messiah and the Kingdom would come, it was believed by Jesus’ contemporaries that the goal of all piety, almsgiving, prayer, and fasting, will have been reached, thus making all of them superfluous. In the Kingdom, with the Messiah, charity would be unnecessary, for there wouldn’t be any more. would become unnecessary because the prayers of the people will have been answered, and fasting in the celebration of that kingdom would be utterly and completely out of place. Jesus, however, sees no terminus presently for all of these acts of devotion.

    He focuses them with respect to heaven above, that we perform our devotions, our acts of piety, with respect to our God, who sees in secret the secret seeing of the Father, then characterizing the age in which we live, inaugurated by Christ, until our faith is made sight, and until our God makes Himself visible to us. to reward us according to his word.

    So then these acts of devotion spoken of by Jesus and reviewed here focus with respect to the Father in heaven and upon him turning away from the applause of the earth These acts of devotion assume that as the disciples themselves involve themselves in the practice of them, there will be a struggle to forget the world, to put the applause of men behind, to not be concerned about what other people think, but rather in self-denying acts of love and commitment, we demonstrate the cross before the world. The cross itself, then, is what I am intending now as apparent in the first three petitions of the Lord’s Prayer. You see, it is precisely because the disciples bear the cross that they must pray that the Father’s name be hallowed. For as long as they bear that cross in this world, as long as there is that opposition to them because of their identification with the Father in Heaven and with His Son, that name of the Father will not have been hallowed in its perfection, in its completion.

    So then, when the disciples pray in this manner, they are giving expression to their confidence that there is coming a day in which there will be the absolute hallowing of the Father’s name. And the arrival of that day will conclude the need of these disciples and all disciples to bear the cross anyway.

    Bring the day, Lord, in which your name will be perfectly counted. Bring the day. May my heart be set upon that day, first of all, above all else. May that be the chief thing for me, for which I long, to which I look. The perfection of the hallowing of your name. Similarly with the next two petitions then. The arrival of the kingdom. Thy kingdom come. In view is the absolute form of that kingdom.

    Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven, the absolute implementation of the Father’s will here, bringing to an end all cross-bearing, all necessity for cross-bearing whatsoever for Christ’s disciples. But until that day comes, these petitions are quite appropriate and quite necessary as the prayer of all those who are now constrained to utter them from their own crosses, those crosses that they pick up daily in order to follow Christ. These petitions are your prayers from your cross. These petitions are your prayers from your cross. Which you now bear in conformity to Christ. Christ Himself is praying for nothing less from His cross. And now you pray. By these petitions then we give expression as our Savior has done before us to our confidence that the Father alone The Father alone can resolve our situation by His intervention and by our resurrection.

    Now, I know the usual line which the exposition of these petitions takes. I know it well, I’ve learned it from the time I was a child. I’ve been taught it by the Reformed divines, no less. great men than that. But you see, the compromise which that instruction invariably entails is this.

    It almost always sets at center or begins to move in the direction of seeing these petitions in terms of the activity in which I personally am involved. as if I was the one who was responsible for hallowing God’s name, bringing in his kingdom, and implementing the will of the Father on earth as it is in heaven. That is not what Jesus is talking about, and that is not what he is encouraging his disciples to pray for. It is not you that stands at the center of these petitions, and it is not your ability that is being reviewed here so that you might think well of yourself somehow in hallowing his name, manufacturing his kingdom, accomplishing his will in the earth. As much as those sentiments may be proper in their own ten contexts, they are not proper here, for the intent of these petitions is to call upon the Father in heaven to perfect, to culminate his eternal purposes for his church. by bringing to an end, as only he can, every form of privation, distress, persecution, suffering, and prosperity. They having reached their goal in the glorification of himself. finally and summarily. And we are guaranteed that we shall achieve this goal, are we not?

    Because God has done as much for his son who bore the cross and that one presently teaches us He will bring everything to conclusion for you. And the day of your cross bearing will most certainly end as surely as it did for Jesus. And you have Jesus’ word on that.

    Let us pray. Set before us, Lord, is the sacrifice which you have made. But are we not beckoned by that sacrifice ourselves? Surely The sacrifice which you have made saves us. But now, Lord, because of our love for you, our devotion to you, and our union with Christ, we are made over. We are fashioned afresh so that the image which we have seen is the image we bear. And that which has been displayed is that which we are conformed unto presently.

    O Lord, therefore when we survey the wonders cross, may we also realize that we are sacrificing our all. in a cross bearing which is our own in imitation of our great and eternal Savior. Keep our eye focused above Lord where Christ is at your right hand and while here in the world Lord may we be content to be servants even if we are suffering servants bearing our crosses until the day when you are pleased to bring everything to a conclusion. Until that day, Lord, we pray, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done in the earth as it is in heaven. 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.

  • Hallowed Be Thy Name

    Hallowed Be Thy Name

    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, January 29, 1989.

    About this sermon

    The first petition of the Lord’s Prayer asks for something specific, and Ezekiel 36’s promise of a name vindicated among the nations gives it eschatological weight. The already and not yet governs this petition as it governs the whole Sermon on the Mount. Those who truly pray for God’s name to be hallowed will stand in the day of his coming.

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    Sermon transcript

    This morning we are reading from the prophet Ezekiel. This is Ezekiel chapter 36, and we are beginning with verse 16. We will be reading through verse 32. And after we read this, we return to the New Testament passage in Matthew chapter 6. Hear the word of God. Ezekiel 36, verse 16. Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings.

    Their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman. Therefore I poured my fury upon them, for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it. And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries according to their way, and according to their doings I judged them. When they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name. When they said to them, These are the people of the Lord, and are gone forth out of his land. But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel hath profaned among the heathen, whither they went. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake. which ye have profaned among the heathen whither ye went. And I will sanctify my great name which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them. And the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

    For I will take you from among the heathen and gather you out of all the countries and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean. From all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and ye shall keep my judgments and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers and ye shall be my people and I will be your God.

    And I also will save you from all your uncleanness and I will call for the corn and will increase it and lay no famine upon you. and I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen. Then shall ye remember your own evil ways and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. But not for your sakes do I do this, saith the Lord God, be it known unto you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.” And then from Matthew 6, verse 9, After this manner, therefore, pray ye, Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

    Your son, our God, stands outside of the tomb, the tomb of a man four days dead. He has called forth faith from those who knew the man. He asks them to believe in him. But before that tune, he utters his voice, the word goes forth, and there is life. So the dead come to life. They rise. They rise unto a life of righteousness. by the word. Oh Lord, may we be those raised to newness of life through the word which we have heard. For Jesus’ sake, Amen. How will it be thy name? The first petition of the Lord’s Prayer.

    It is very important that we get off on the right foot, that we move along the right path at the first petition, so that our course may be established as we move through the other petition. Get this petition right, and you have a leg up on all the other petitions.

    Miss the point! Very likely you won’t get back on track as you move through the other petitions. You remember how Jesus presents is terrible, the first one he gives to his disciples, seemingly, is that one concerning the sower. But you recall the words of Jesus in Mark 4, verse 13, where he says, if you don’t understand this first of the parables, how will you understand any of the parables? If you don’t understand this petition, how will you understand any of the petitions?

    It is important, then, that you get it right. I would say the same with regard to beatitudes. Many of you have been discouraged because I belabored the beatitudes so much. But, you see, it’s so important that we get those beatitudes correctly. If we get the first beatitude right, We are well on our way to understanding the other Beatitudes that follow.

    So it is here with the petition. The first petition sets the tone. You get a hold on this one and there is then that good chance you’re going to understand the petitions that follow. So strain yourself a bit this morning. Stretch yourselves in your minds and in your hearts. Set yourself now, in the time we have, to get the first petition right. Understanding the Lord at this point will help you greatly, not only in following Him in this prayer, but also in being a person of prayer.

    The first petition is the chief petition. It sits atop the heap for a reason. It is the primary petition, the crown of the petition. Among all possible petitions that could have been listed, or even an altered arrangement of the petitions that we have in front of us here in the prayer, of all the possible rearrangement of the petitions. This petition is first. It has primary position. It is the chief.

    This petition, in a very unique way, in a very wonderful way, introduces us to the superlative nature of the true religious spirit. We’ve been dealing here in this section of the Sermon on the Mount with the religious spirit and proper piety, the practice of righteousness. But with the ascendancy of this petition, we are introduced to the superlative nature of that true religious spirit.

    What is religion? What is religion? What is it for us to be called religious, devout, and pious? Do you know what the word religion means? It means to bind, to tie, to bind back, to tie again. Why would such a word be used in relationship to spiritual matters? The whole idea of the binding and the tying has to do with servitude. To service. And to that most hated of words in our modern world, submission. Submission. Many want to live in a so-called religious environment. They want to live religiously. They want to be known as religious people.

    But the whole notion of, and the reality of, that word religion, they are a stranger to those things. to be tied, to be bound. That’s what religion means. The binding and the tying of those who are in servitude and thus in submission. That is what religion is all about. Strangely enough, it is not Christianity that gets it right. It is Islam. And that’s what the word means. Islam means submission. Islam is a rebuke to Christianity regarding the primary feature of the religious spirit.

    But of course there’s more to this word religion than just the binding. You see it’s a binding back and that’s what Islam means. You see, it also includes the notion of redemption, salvation, the binding back of those who are rebellious and recalcitrant. Redemption in Islam is forgotten. It is the absolutization of submission without any concept of redemption. But in so far as they have spoken about submission, they are a rebuke to Christianity. So Christianity seems to miss this all too frequently.

    This petition, the first petition, introduces us to the superlative nature of that true religious spirit and the submission that is brought before us in the expression of that religious spirit, by that religious spirit. Submissiveness, then, is at the very heart of the religious spirit, and that superlatively is expressed by this petition, hallowed be thy name. Now it’s important for us to understand precisely the character of the submission in view. The submission in view in this petition is most frequently misunderstood, misappropriated, misgrasped.

    The submission in view, you see, in this petition does not pertain to my own personal hallowing of God’s name. As if it were a sanctification that was brought before our eyes, I’m praying in this petition then that I might be one in whom the name of God is hallowed or sanctified. No, that’s not what is in view in this petition, even though that is what we are often taught. My recitation of this petition is therefore not a request of God that I might hallow his name, that I might sanctify his name. Neither is it a petition by which, in the repetition of it, God’s name is automatically hallowed or sanctified.

    Now hang with me, because I would venture a guess that most of us have grown up thinking that this First Petition has to do with our own personal pursuit of holiness and sanctification, and the hallowing of that name in ourselves. But the focus of it is something much different than that. You see, what I’m actually praying with this petition is an address to God to which I myself have submitted personally. My prayer is an indication of my acceptance of the chief and most exalted focus of God’s purpose, namely that His name be sanctified and hallowed. And my submissiveness, therefore, is in relationship to that purpose, that the purpose of God, the intention of God, namely the hallowing of His name, may be my chief my chief aim and desire, my chief focus. God shall surely sanctify and hallow his name And what I am praying in this prayer is an expression of the submissiveness of my heart to that purpose and intention of God that he shall surely hallow and sanctify his name.

    Well, he brings all things to conclusion. So the focus of the petition is not upon me first and my circumstance. The focus of the petition is upon the end of the world. When God’s purposes will be perfected and His name will be perfectly hallowed and sanctified.

    And that objective, for the purpose of God, I, in paying the petition, have made my own, I submit to it. everything else in truth, including our interpretation of the petition. We allow everything else to intrude. Every other aim is legitimate. We say, and every other petition has chief place. We make it that way.

    The house, the kids, the husband, the job, whatever, everything else, world conditions, poverty, the plight of the homeless, struggles in Central America, world peace, whatever it is, we may face it. My own holiness, my own sanctification, my own spiritual well-being.

    The hallowing of God’s name in the perfection of God’s purpose. when in fact we shall complete this purpose by bringing this world to an end. Do you like what you’re praying? Will you bring the world to an end? Do you hear what you’re praying? Come, Lord Jesus. Even so, quickly come. And that is my chief, foremost impulse, desire, and ambition. You are being trained and disciplined by the sufficient. Everything else pales into insignificance. Everything. It is the exaltation of God, and the perfection of His plan, and the accomplishing of all that is intended. The hallowed and sanctified of His plan. And that, above all else, is what we want and crave. Is it true? Is it true? Bring me the smoke. Jesus says, pray this way, I will be thy name.

    But this petition also articulates so wonderfully and so perfectly the tension of our present circumstance. First we said that it introduces us to the superlative nature of that true religious spirit, and now we say that it articulates for us so wonderfully, so perfectly, the tension of our present circumstance.

    We are praying that the Lord’s name be hallowed, because presently it isn’t being hallowed. And it will not be hallowed perfectly until God brings his purposes to conclusion, to consummation, until the end of the world. We pray for the hallowing of God’s name above all else, that being most important, because in our present circumstance, his name is not being hallowed. This petition, therefore, is one that is uttered in the setting of distress, when in fact the complete and full sanctifying of God’s name is yet in abeyance. It hasn’t yet been realized. Our prayer, then, through this petition for the hallowing of God’s name is a call for God to act conclusively and finally in vindicating his name.

    It is a prayer for him to bring this world to a close in the incomparable exaltation of his name. You see, the proof of what I’ve been saying here to you this morning is this. The petition is not that we might hallow his name, but that he might hallow it. Which he will do. You can count on it. After consummation.

    So then the petition introduces us to the superlative nature of that true religious spirit. It also articulates so wonderfully, so marvelously, the tension of our present circumstances. We’re praying for the hallowing of his name because his name in the world presently is not being hallowed. And finally, this petition captures the heart, the core. the quintessence of faith. Of faith. For though the circumstances warn of distress, those who oppose God and refuse to hallow his name, yes, they set in opposition to him, yes. But in the midst of that distress, we are not those who despair.

    We are those who pray this petition with absolute certainty. For it is absolutely certain that Christ will come again. It is absolutely certain that this world is going to end. And it’s only if you will live and pray in light of the end that you will live and pray alive. This petition captures the heart and core of your faith. And the disposition expressed here is one of utter confidence that the Lord will in fact act. Do you believe it? Is Christ coming again? Is this world going to end? If he is coming, if this world is going to end, there isn’t anything more important than I can tell you than that you pray in light of the reality of those eventualities.

    Our faith, so well expressed then by this petition. Our faith expressing itself in utter confidence that the Lord will act. But there’s also something else to be said here with regard to this faith, and that in conclusion. The faith that is at work here is a disposition that is utterly confident in the faith of the Lord’s coming actions.

    You are praying now that the Lord’s name be hallowed in light of the day when his name will be perfectly hallowed, and you who are praying that prayer can stand then in that day as those in whom God will perfect the glories of his name. You praying this prayer with comprehension and understanding, you grasping its significance, looking unto that day, you praying this prayer in that fashion, know that when that day comes, you, having prayed that prayer, will stand. You will stand. and you will be vindicated in the great vindication of God himself and he will bless you with his name and you will know that name as you’ve never known it before and in that day he’ll give you a new name which only he knows and that name will completely interpret you as his name interprets him and you will dwell in the blessedness of holiness and righteousness with him forever and as it is portrayed to you in that light you cannot help but want it all the more to come So you pray, Lord, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come. Come Lord Jesus, even so, quickly come. 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.

  • Transcendent, Yet Accessible

    Transcendent, Yet Accessible

    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, January 22, 1989.

    About this sermon

    ‘Our Father in heaven’ raises a real question about what ‘in heaven’ means, and Bultmann’s answer falls short. God remains transcendent even as he becomes newly accessible, and Romans 8’s language of adoption holds that paradox together. Christ’s own Sonship is the hinge that opens that access.

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    Sermon transcript

    This morning we are reading from Romans chapter 8, and we are beginning with verse 14. We will read through verse 27. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

    For I reckoned that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waited for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope. Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

    For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit. Even we, ourselves, groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to which the redemption of our body.

    For we are saved by hope. but hope that is seen is not hope. For what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope, for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought. but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth for hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” After this manner, therefore, pray ye, our Father who art in heaven.”

    Lord, we know people who preach the word in Korea, and we know those who preach it in Japan and Taiwan and Philippines and Suriname. We know those who preach it in Cyprus and Kenya. Those who preach it in France and Belgium and Uganda. We know many, Lord. who are proclaiming your word around the world, and we know others who proclaim it here in this nation.

    We realize, too, Lord, that you have asked us to pray that you, the Lord of the harvest, would give labors for the harvest, and so we pray and commit ourselves to do so. Lord, to the end, that your word would have its full effect that your people receive its full value. May those that are sent remove from themselves every hindrance to the way of the word within themselves. We pray our God that they may be wholly dedicated unto you and it would please you to bless their preaching and teaching and that the word would have mighty success We pray this in Jesus’ name now. Amen. Everybody’s talking about it. Everybody ain’t going there. Everybody’s talking about it. Everybody ain’t going there. Heaven. Our Father, who art in heaven. What about heaven? What about heaven?

    Jesus’ words here, at the outset of the Lord’s Prayer, are specifically topological. They have to do with spatial consideration. Heaven is a place. Heaven is a dimension. So that spatial consideration, that topological consideration, that being accented by Jesus as the prayer begins, He calling your attention to that. but this placement, this reference to dimension, this reference to spatiality.

    His words here all inspire to accent as well the distance that exists, the distance that exists between heaven and earth. The Father is in heaven. In a unique way, in a special way, the Father is in heaven. He belongs to that place. He is of that dimension.

    Accented, then, is that distance and the difference that exists between that place where God is specifically, especially. and the earth. Not that God isn’t everywhere, and not that we don’t preach from the presence of God. But heaven again set apart, and the distance accented. The distance between heaven and earth.

    We’ve come to speak of heaven as up there. Heaven is up. We speak of it in that way, in a cosmological sense. We look up to the heavens. The heavens are above, but the heavens are also beyond. They are beyond in any near cosmological sense. They are beyond in the deepest theological sense, the deepest spiritual sense. The heavens are beyond.

    That is why every time I read Rudolf Fulton, I laugh. Here is the greatest theological mind of the twentieth century, and he writes an essay entitled New Testament and Mythology, and in that essay he contends that the people of Bible times were quite primitive, and they embraced a mythological cosmology. Heaven was up there, then there was Earth, and beneath there was the region of demons and the devil. A three-storied universe, which these primitive people embraced.

    And we being moderns can no longer accept that kind of description, that kind of cosmology. We have come of age. and therefore we must retranslate all of the categories of scripture into modern demythologized jargon. As I say, here is the greatest theological mind of the twentieth century, as if it escaped his notice that when Heaven is spoken of in Scripture, yes. I don’t mean to back down one bit from that spatial consideration that I gave you at the outset, but is it not apparent to you, is it not apparent to any simple reader of Scripture, someone from the hills of Germany, from which Biltmann himself came, that when you speak of heaven in the biblical sense, you are speaking about a spiritual realm. You cannot comprehend what scripture is speaking of under the categories of a mere cosmology. A pious German farmer, a godly man in his simplicity, knows more than the most brilliant theologian of our century.

    Yes, heaven is up. Christ does ascend. But heaven is also beyond. It is a dimension. spiritual. All of this then adds up in order to place before us the reality of that place of which we’ve been speaking. A place which we have come to think of as one in which there is no distress, there is no pain or frustration, and sin does not intrude at all. It is the place, yes, that is above, it is beyond, it is the place that is spoken of, too, with respect to the future we shall in fact enter. by God’s grace. But all that I’ve said so far is to place before you the truth that heaven as we are speaking of it here is a transcendent consideration. Up, above, beyond, yet to be realized for us in the day in which we enter into it by God’s grace. A transcendent reality, yes. But Jesus’ words about the Father who is in heaven are also meant to convince us of the present accessibility of heaven.

    Does it register for you? You are speaking to that One who is beyond. You are speaking to that One who dwells specifically in that world, that place that is above. You are addressing Him, and you are invited to do so. Heaven and the One who is in Heaven, our Father, is accessible to you now. Yes, the transcendence of that realm, but no less its accessibility for us today. you may talk to the one who is above and beyond. You may speak to him. Now, today. Heaven then in this form of address while maintaining all of these real features up beyond the transcendent is viewed as being accessible to us and close by. Close by.

    Now it has been close by for God’s people, has it not, from the very beginning. They, having access to their God, their petitions appropriate, their petitions heard, they addressing their God and expecting to be heard by Him. But what we are now told as Jesus places these words before us, a beginning to prayer, is that yes, though those things have been true, now they have been made true in a completely new and different way. Have I not been telling you that when Jesus comes, a whole new day of prayer begins, unparalleled, unprecedented in the history of the world. A whole new form of instruction is appropriate, for now it is clearer than ever before what God’s purpose and intention is.

    And how is it, I might ask, that we are enabled to address this one whom we are to address as the Father? Is that something that is ours by right? Is it our birthright? ours because we happen to be born into this world? Is it something that we share in common with all others who are on the face of the earth?

    No, you see, the address that is now articulated by Christ at the outset of this prayer is made possible because it assumes the fullness of His work as the Son. As the Son has opened it all up, now the Father has been manifested in all that He is, in all that He is meant to be for His people, as if for the first time His people can address Him truly. predicated upon, based upon that foundation of the Son’s work. It is the Son, after all, who teaches us to pray this life. The One who came and died. The One who was raised again. The One who, by His death and resurrection, gives you access to heaven. brings near heaven and its realities.

    All of that is true because of the work of the Son. You cannot pray the prayer unless you know the Son. And only those who know the Son can pray the prayer. For only if you know the Son are you sons. You are made sons. Not natively born, but adopted into the family of God, enabled now to cry out, you finish it. Abba Father. Well… Heaven. Everybody’s talking about it. Everybody ain’t going there.

    Heaven, that transcendent realm, that which is beyond, that which transcends, but yet that which is accessible and brought near to us through the work of Christ. Now we can say the same pattern of things. this transcended quality, this accessibility that we’ve mentioned already, we can see this pattern of things if we look also at those things with which heaven is associated specifically, and since we’re in the Gospel of Matthew, we will deal with that and how appropriate it is, because, you know, that in the gospel of Matthew, the favorite phrase by Christ for the kingdom is the kingdom of heaven. Heaven in Matthew’s gospel is specifically related to the kingdom. It is called the kingdom of heaven by him in that form. It is placed before us for our consideration, and that providentially at the outset of the New Testament canon, the New Testament Scripture, so that you’ll never lose your way.

    That is why I become so angry. That is why I become so upset. Having this providentially set before us, before the Church, we go on our way, and it isn’t long before we’re confused and muddled in our consideration, because to talk to some about the Kingdom, it’s as if heaven didn’t matter one bit. It was completely inconsequential to the consideration of the matter at all. Well, I’m sorry, I don’t want to be a Jew. I want to be a Christian after the order of Matthew. and the tone that he sets for the entirety of the New Testament canon.

    The kingdom of heaven, heaven in its relationship to the kingdom as it was with heaven and so it is now with the kingdom. Yes, it is transcendent. It is a transcendent realm. The kingdom is specifically of heaven. It relates to heaven, that is its character. Understand heaven, you understand the kingdom. Understand the kingdom, all right, and you have to understand heaven. It is a transcendent realm. As with heaven, so with the kingdom. It is a supernatural realm. It is a realm beyond.

    It is a realm that is essentially otherworldly. I know that there is an ungodly piety that is abroad in the Church that is concerned with world flight, getting out of the world, forgetting it and ignoring it. But there is an appropriate otherworldliness to the gospel, and we dare not forget that, as our keynote, the keynote that comes to us out of scripture. This one that arises to us, rises for us from the very first book in the New Testament, the kingdom of heaven, that kingdom related to heaven and the transcendental character of each.

    There is a realm, you see, where God’s reign and glory is unparalleled. That is not true of the earth. That does not mean that God is insovereign in the affairs of man, that men here conspire against him and oppose him willfully. There is a realm where God’s reign and glory are unopposed. There is a realm where God’s justice and righteousness are absolute. and in effect, present.

    That’s heaven. That’s the kingdom of heaven. And as that kingdom of heaven is transcendent, it is beyond, it is truly a kingdom into which we one day will enter. through many tribulations, we must enter into the kingdom of God. Acts 14. But what have we said about heaven? Did we not say, yes, it was transcendent, but yet at the same time accessible and close at hand? The same then will be said about the pain of these It is transcended, but simultaneously and mysteriously, wonderfully.

    It is something that is accessible to us. It is asserting itself presently in this world. It is making its presence felt. So says Jesus. From John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven is asserting itself, and determined men are taking hold of it by force. The kingdom of heaven is a reality upon the plane of the earth, mysteriously, wonderfully, so that a man, in understanding its value, goes out and sells all that he has, because he has to have the kingdom. And it can be, he said then, extending the symbol, extending the metaphor, something presently possessed, the treasure in the field, he said, for which the man sells all that he has. can be presently possessed.

    The pearl of great price can be presently possessed. You can have the kingdom of heaven in your grasp. Now. Now. And as it was with heaven, that present accessibility made possible by the work of the sun, so also the kingdom of heaven through the work of the sun. But the best comes last.

    The intro to the prayer says, our father who art in heaven. The kingdom has been related to heaven and now the father is related to heaven in this marvelous way. You see heaven is seen by Jesus as the abode of the father. The abode of the father. And it is a transcendent abode, it is up, it is beyond. But as we have said with regard to everything else this morning, so here as well, the abode of the Father is accessible, it is brought nigh, it is a present reality for those who have known the Son. in respect to all of these things.

    It’s as if we were moving towards heaven, as if we were moving towards the kingdom, towards the Father. But the marvel of marvels is this, that as we have been moving this direction and continue to do so, The grace of God has made plain to us through the gospel that heaven and the kingdom and the Father have been moving this way simultaneously, and they have become presently accessible to us. Here is the circumstance then of your life. keeping in focus the transcendent reality of heaven our father is in heaven but also the wonderful blessed access which you have to him now with boldness will he not draw near to the throne of grace that you might find grace itself in the time of need Do you not know that you have a Father above who will not turn you away?

    Do you not understand that you have a Father above who transcends all fathers here in this creation, who is perfect and utterly faithful, who will never fail you? Never fail you. Whose comfort is perfect. Whose gentleness is without measure. who is powerful to maintain the very things he has promised to give you so that you will come to possess them in full completely in blessedness in heaven there to dwell with him forever That’s the gospel I preach. And I am convinced that that’s the gospel that you must have.

    O Lord, we ask you that though you are exalted, dwell in all of your perfections above in glory, and though you reign in heaven wonderfully, where there is no opposition to your justice and righteousness, yet here in the earth We have been blessed by you so that even now we have access to that kingdom and to that glory which belongs to you in heaven above. Our Father who is in heaven and we encouraged all the more by Christ to pray in that fashion, remembering where you are, but yet how we have been brought near to you, as you have made yourself accessible to us. All of this possible because of the wonderful, incomparable work of Christ your Son, by which we have been made sons of God. 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.

  • Our Father, Our Inheritance

    Our Father, Our Inheritance

    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, January 15, 1989.

    About this sermon

    In the Lord’s Prayer believers say ‘our Father’ together, so God’s Fatherhood belongs to his people as a body, beyond any one believer. Three means of grace are the ordinary channels through which that Fatherhood reaches them. Galatians 4:7 makes the astonishing claim explicit, that in Christ’s coming God himself becomes the inheritance his adopted children receive.

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    Sermon transcript

    This morning, our scripture reading begins with Paul’s letter to the Galatians, where in the fourth chapter we’ll be reading the first seven verses, then we will turn to Matthew, chapter 6. Here’s the word of God, Galatians 4, 1 through 7. Now, I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, different nothing from a servant, though he be Lord of all. But his undertutors and governors until the time appointed of the Father, even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore, thou art no more a servant but a son, and if a son, than an heir of God through Christ. In Matthew, chapter verse 9. After this manner, therefore, craves ye, our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. We may have come today with hearts that seem to be more stone than a flesh. Lord, we may find ourselves sitting here this morning not moved by the truth of the gospel, unmoved by the things of the spirit.

    Father, we pray that we all may find in you that which turns us about in our thinking and grants to us, Lord, that animation that is from above. Lord, may we be compelled, therefore, by your word and put far from us those things that would deaden our response. For your word is given for our comfort, but also for our correction. Do therefore, Lord, at this time, by Christ through the Spirit instruct us. And in this way, our Father who art in heaven. Now, first of all, it is corporate. It is plural. You need to hear it. It’s not my Father, though, of course, that is appropriate in its place. It is our Father, plural. It is corporate in character. Just who is it that Jesus is addressing? He’s addressing the disciples. There is an individual address here, all that all disciples, that each disciple would comply with those things that Jesus says. But the disciples are here gathered as a group. They are here collectively. They are plural. They are corporate. The hour belongs to them as they are congregated as an assembly before Christ, their Lord. In these disciples then, as they are so gathered, we see the Church in its infant form. The body that is being gathered, collected back, which will be described as the body of Christ. I know that I am liable to be misunderstood. But there is that sense from Scripture that teaches us that we must, first of all, learn of the corporate reality and then understand our individuality in light of it. There is a discipline involved in all of this as well. So this is specifically what conspires against our selfishness, our self-sutteredness. God is redeeming for Himself a people, and you find your place amongst the people as one of His people. The body is made up of many members, not just one.

    There is the corporate dimension of the activity of God. You do not, you cannot survive on your own. Salvation is not meant for you as if for no one else. You will not be in heaven alone, nor can you be as part of the Church of Christ here, claiming to be bounded to Christ, claiming to be of an Indian, alone, solitude. And it is, you see, this beginning for the prayer Jesus teaches His disciples that lends to us that conclusive proof that Jesus’ words in verse 6, where He speaks about going into the inner room, closing the door, and there speaking to your Father who is in secret, here is the conclusive proof that Jesus, by those words, did not mean to encourage a private, individualistic retreat. Rather, you see, the inner room that Jesus has in mind is a very, very large place, so large, in fact, as to accommodate all of the children of God.

    Actually, what Jesus has in mind with those words in verse 6 is a heavenly chamber into which the saints of the Lord gather in order that they might pray before their Father who is unseen. It is a corporate activity as all of the people of God enter into that chamber, close the door to the world, and there commune with the Father. The corporate character of the address, training our vision and disciplining us with regard to the character of the people of God, the nature of our faith, its focus, and its operation. We, not functioning alone, individualistically, separately, but as part of the body, with regard to this means of grace, that we are to speak then of the fellowship and the communion of the saints. The means of grace, I’ve mentioned it again, there are three. What are them? Can we rattle them off? This morning, can you give them to me?

    What are the three means of grace? The word, the sacraments, and prayer, to which some have wished to add a fourth. They want to add, as a means of grace, the communion and fellowship of the saints. But you see, those of a good mind, those of a good theological and doctrinal line, have always recoiled from that. Why? Because they saw that the means of grace always have their flop of context within the fellowship and the communion of the saints. So it’s not as if you can make the fellowship and the communion of the saints as one of the means of grace, though the means of grace function within the context of the communion and the fellowship of the saints. That is why you see, I am so anxious for you that you hear the word of God in the company of other believers, that you read and rehearse and hear the word of God in the company of others, in the company of the saints, in the assembly of the Lord.

    That’s why I become so impatient. It is because I am zealous for that fellowship and communion of the saints, and I am zealous for your soul, because I know that to cut yourself off from the communion and the fellowship of the saints is to cut yourself off from the means of grace. The focus is, first of all, then, on that corporate experience of the fellowship of the saints, in which these various means find their operation, and there, as it has been with the words, so also with the sacraments, do you wish to celebrate the sacraments by yourself? How about at your kitchen table, a little bread, a little wine, just you by yourself or maybe with your family members? How about a private baptism in your bathtub? In the bathtub, in the shower, a private celebration of the sacrum of baptism, you see, is unfeasible. Is it not unthinkable to you? If the sacraments are so to be considered, never to be abstracted then from the fellowship of the saints, much less than this particular aspect of the word, in that it belongs to the people, and in the assembly of the saints, that word is declared for their benefit, as with the word and the sacraments, so with prayer. You tell me about your prayers.

    Your prayers were informed by and disciplined by the power of our Father. For I do prayers perpetually, disciplined by, informed by, and I, and am I. Give me, hear me, resolve my kiss. Then, you see, will you go to hear about the concerns of others? Is it conceivable of you for you to fall down on your knees and begin with someone else beside yourself, to start in your prayers with other people, or to start with an understanding that you’re part of a body, you’re part of a fellowship, that your presence at worship or when prayer is offered is important, nay, I will say essential, that you might know how to pray for one another. The message is getting through. There were 21 at prayer meetings, and the message, I’m confident, is getting through to you. And you know the truth of the things of which I stood. Of course, my hope is that I don’t have to convince you of these things, I just have to remind you. I don’t have to make an argument with you. You already know these things to be true, but I really have to remind you. It should be. You mean this in a modern sense. It should be a wonderfully spiritual experience when we, as a body, say this prayer. When the saying of it together, there is that affirmation of that confession of our corporality, our body nature, in our prayer, life and experience. And in that, we are brought under the discipline of our Lord, being trained by Him to see things in a way that takes us far beyond ourselves, just. This is probably the time for confession. I know that I have the habit of racing you through the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer in our service. And some of you have spoken to me about that, especially as it relates to your children and the fact that you feel your children can’t keep up with the pace. And I appreciate that. We shouldn’t pray this prayer, recite it glibly. We should recite it in a measured manner and savor its words and endeavor as we pray together this prayer to bring from it the full and proper meaning. Beginning pronoun is also a possessive and its possession. The power of it, you see, is brought before us when we hold on to that fact which we have been learning, namely that the coming of Christ has meant a new day of prayer and a new day of prayer has come with Him. And when Jesus now encourages His disciples to pray with words like these, our Father, focusing particularly upon the possessive quality of that opening word, our, the power of it all registers upon us in that it describes something which now has become ours, which was not ours only. The Father here is described by Jesus then with this address as that one who has become our possession. He is our Father. The force of it is to suggest to us that the Father now has given Himself to us and He belongs to us. He is one upon whom we can make the claim that He is ours. The idea here therefore is not simply that of suggesting a relationship between us and the Father. He is the Father. We are His children. Yes, that is in view, but it is more for the parentage that is in view as Jesus uses these words. Our Father is parentage in an ideal sense, the sense in which this parent, this Father, is not simply our source of life and our provider like any earthly father, but ideally, idealistically conceived. This one has literally given Himself to us for our good, and He has made Himself ours for our well-being. He is the very substance of that which has been given. Of course now what is coming to expression is the marvel of the covenantal relationship that exists between the Father and the children. Between the Father and us, that covenant has been variously described and often inadequately because it likes to live at the level of the legal aspects of the arrangements that exist. The Father is legally bound. The children before the law are bound as well, and surely the covenant has those legal aspects to it, but it is much more using.

    The covenant is expressive of a relationship, and what perfection is here manifested in this relationship that exists between our Father and us. Yes, it is true. We are His possession, but marvel of marvels, He has given Himself to us as our possession. We possess God. That is why this prayer expresses us, expressive of the unique relationship that exists between God and His people, setting those people apart from all others that are in the world. This prayer is not the common property of humanity. This prayer belongs to the covenantal people of God alone. It belongs to those of whom it can be said that God, the true God, the Father is their possession because the Father has given Himself to them. The sole matter of the covenant as it relates to possession is actually what is spelled out for us in the first question and answer of the short attempts, and if there was no other question than that question produced by the Westminster Assembly, we would have had all we needed to understand the marvels of God’s grace and love and the contours of His gospel overture. What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God. What does it mean to glorify God? It means to demonstrate concretely that you are His possession, that you belong to Him. But the fact is the answer doesn’t end there. It goes on. It says, and to enjoy Him forever. You see how the reflex is introduced? Not only are we God’s possession, but God has given Himself to us as our possession, that we might enjoy Him forever. And that is the goal, the objective of the covenant, and that is why it is not adequate, you see, to describe the covenant simply along the legal lines. You have to describe it, understand it along the lines of the fullness of that relationship that is in view, that covenantal bond that exists between God and His people. We belong to Him. He belongs to me and to us. What is the point of Paul’s description? In Galatians 4, the first seven verses, what is the objective? The objective is to convince the people that they are heirs. Heirs of what? Notice it again, verse 7.

    Of what are you heirs? Your heirs of God. What does that mean? That means that you inherit God. Not the kingdom. Not a piece of property someplace. Not a corner of heaven. You inherit God. He becomes your possession. The kingdom of it has already been given you in the Holy Spirit, who dwells within you. The Holy Spirit is given to me as your possession. Father, corporate character of that first word, and the possessive character of that word as well. Play it from now on. Remember that there are a host of people that belong to the Father, and that you’re one. You’re one of those, and that you with them have inherited God Himself through the work of Christ the Son, by whom you have been made sons. How great you are, how magnificent you are in all of your splendor is very mighty Lord like you, yet you have revealed yourself to us through Christ as our Father. Lord, we are trained by this address to understand that we are of the company of the redeemed, but also that as such we have you as the supreme gift given to us. Now Lord, we ask that as we would pray such a prayer as you have given us through your son, that we would be cognizant of the force and power of those words which we recite.

    That we, not only with our words, but by our lives, may acknowledge that you are, after all, our Father, the Father of your children, of your church, of that body which belongs to Christ. We pray these things through Him who loved us and gave Himself 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.

  • A New Obedience in Prayer

    A New Obedience in Prayer

    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 18, 1988.

    About this sermon

    Christ’s coming does more than permit prayer. It gives believers a new obedience, exercised through him. The Lord’s Prayer shows three ways Christ has brought in a new covenant, and what the prayer teaches rests on what that covenant has already accomplished.

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    Sermon transcript

    We continue to look at Matthew chapter 6, verse 5 through 15. Here now, the word of God. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are. for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men.

    Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” But when ye pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them, for your father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him. After this manner, therefore, pray ye.

    Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. For if he forgives men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if he forgives not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Play with me again.

    Your word, our Father, brought forth into being that which is. And are you not able by this word to bring into being new creations, those that are now made afresh, made over for your glory, in which then your praises will be perfected. So it is, our God, your word, not the word of man. Your word is all-powerful. By your word you make all things new. We have been made new, our God, by your word, and we, in the newness of our lives, are determined to live for you. For Christ’s sake, amen.

    Last week we preached on prayer, and that message last week could well be called Christ and Prayer. And in that message I attempted to accomplish two things. One, I attempted to expose the deplorable state to which devotion to and practice of prayer as. But I also endeavored to present to you.

    The glorious state to which prayer is elevated in and through the work of Jesus Christ. My contention is this, that with the coming of Christ and the accomplishment of his work, a new day of prayer has begun. That being the case, We might be severely distressed, if not depressed, by our reflections upon our own condition, our reflections upon our own prayer life. The thesis is this. With the coming of Christ and the accomplishment of His work, a new day of prayer, unprecedented, has begun. How sad it is if the people of God are not participating fully in that new day of prayer. The new day of prayer has dawned then. But this new day has brought not only incomparable blessing for us as the disciples of Christ, the household of God, it has as well brought with it an unparalleled scrutiny of the prayer life, the prayer practices of the peoples of the world.

    This is the significance of Christ’s review in verse five of that sixth chapter of that which has now come to predominate Judaism. And then in verse seven, that which has come to predominate in the exercises of the Gentiles. Don’t be as the hypocrites Jesus warns. Likewise, don’t be as the Gentiles. The Jews do not understand the significance of Christ’s coming and the dawning of the new day of prayer. For they are infected with a prideful confidence, a self-sufficiency that has degenerated to an externalism, a formalism. An exercise which, in the end, is designed to call attention to themselves, not give glory to God.

    And what of the Gentiles? What of the nations? What is their condition? If the Jews are infected by a prideful confidence, the Gentiles are infected by a tragic anxiety. that leads to a skepticism that is resolved through the multiplication of petitions, in hopes that through the multiplication of those petitions they might be heard.

    Christ and prayer. A new day has come. But with that new day of blessing, unparalleled scrutiny of the religious activities of men. But how we ended our message last week, as we drew together our consideration of prayer and the figure of Christ. For if we do not draw them together, we too will end in despair. We will end in a powerless condition, increasingly frustrated with the emptiness of our prayers and frustrated by the fact that we do not have any sense of fulfillment in them, or any expectation that they will, in fact, be heard and answered. So it is essential in this new day of prayer brought by Christ that we understand that when we go to prayer, we do not go to prayer alone, but by our prayers we enter into that one who prays. without ceasing for us. The activities of Christ, then, for us, are more than just the fact that he dies upon the cross for our sins. No, there is an active obedience to the life of our Christ, and that active obedience is for us, as well as that passive obedience of the cross. If you are then looking for power in your prayers, let me direct your attention to Jesus Christ.

    For who is this One who prays incessantly, without fail, as He faces the tribulation and the trial of life, as He faces the cross and the demand made upon Him by the Father in Heaven? Who is it that fails? Who is it that prays without failing, then? Is it not Christ?

    You see, you are entering into Him, and those prayers which He has uttered in His pilgrimage become effectual for you in your pilgrimage. But it is even more glorious yet. for the one who faced the cross at the end of his pilgrimage was also the one who was exalted into the very presence of God. And that one, at the right hand of God now, does not fail to make intercession for you.

    I can’t keep it up, you say. I cannot continue to pray. I always wear out. I always wear down. I’m good for about a week, and then I fall on my face. Don’t you understand? First of all, you must comprehend, grab hold of the significance of your union with Christ before there will be any power, any persistence, any constancy, any regularity. in your prayers. In fact, in being united to Christ, the one who prays, without ceasing, you will be driven to your knees in prayer. So you see, the question isn’t, first of all, am I free? The question is, first of all, do I understand what it means to be united to Christ?

    That’s Christ and prayer. We want to go on this morning and take up the matter of. Covenant. From Christ and prayer to covenant. And we can proceed. With this subject. along the same lines that we preceded with the previous subject. For here, as formally, we note, with the coming of Christ and the accomplishment of his work, the promised new covenant has arrived.

    And the coming of that new covenant, its realization means the heightening, the intensifying and the radicalizing of the relationship of the believer to God in the experience of prayer. Never before has it been like this. So that he that is his belief in the kingdom of heaven The kingdom of God is greater than any of the Old Testament saints. And I’m not concerned about who you pick. David? Elijah? The least is greater.

    In light of what has come in the new covenant. And likewise, as with our former consideration, prayer in the new covenant now leaves the prayers of the Jews and the Gentiles as common expressions, falling far short of the covenantal intention of God in Christ. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Jew or a Gentile. Now in this day of the fulfillment of the new covenant, those religious expressions by Jew and Gentile are viewed as common expressions falling far short of the covenantal intention of God in Christ. Covenant and prayer.

    The blessings of that covenant, the realization of it. The heightening intensification radicalizing of the relationship of the believer to God in the experience of prayer. How would we unpack all of that? How would we? Define describe. These lessons. Prayer now in the day of the new covenant.

    Brings before us first of all in unprecedented way the fulfillment of God’s Lordship. It brings before us in unprecedented way the fulfillment of God’s Lordship Notice the assertion of that lordship in the prayer which Jesus teaches to his disciples.

    It is, after all, the name of our God which is to be hallowed. It is his kingdom which is here in view, taking precedent, it above all else, his will that is to be done in the earth as well as in heaven. It is to him that we are to look for our bread. It is to him that we are to go for our forgiveness, with him and with him alone. is the preservation and protection of our life against temptation and against the intrusion of superlative evil, that evil which would separate us from him. And as the postscript says, his is the kingdom, the glory, the power forever.

    In an unprecedented way, there is place before us now, as we come to this One who is our God, the fulfillment of our God’s Lordship with regard to us, its emphasis then being placed before us in terms of His sovereignty, His absolute sovereignty, our absolute dependence upon Him, His authority, His right, not ours. And with such an emphasis as that, the only proper response on our part is prostration, submission. In this new day brought by Christ, in the prayers that are offered in this day of the new covenant, There is the unprecedented fulfillment of our God’s Lordship over all, and our acknowledgment of it, and our submission to it. You must begin your prayers. It’s right on the surface. As you move through the Lord’s Prayer, it is right on the surface. You cannot miss it. You must submit. you must submit.

    The prayer in this day of the new covenant also brings before us in unprecedented fashion. The revelation of our God as father. So while we have placed before us the fulfillment of our God’s Lordship, we are not to think of our God in His Lordship as being one who rules despotically and cruelly, actually intended in His authority and the exercise of it to do us harm. No, this One whom we acknowledge to be Lord, to be King, to be our God, is our Father. And that’s precisely how the prayer begins. Our Father who art in heaven. The emphasis there falling upon our God’s affection, His care, His accessibility to us.

    This now being brought before us in unprecedented fashion. Nor, it wasn’t able, it wasn’t capable of being put before us formally. But now it is in light of the revelation of Christ himself the son. Our response then. To this revelation of our God is father is confidence. As his children. Confidence. Submission but confidence as well.

    And finally, prayer in this new day of the covenant brings before us in unprecedented form the realization that not only is our God the Lord, not only is our God the Father, but our God is the servant, our Lord is the servant in this covenant to provide us with what we need. Here’s the genius of the prayer. Notice its development. Do you hear Christ as he lays it out before you? First of all, he gives you all of the thy petitions. Note the thy petitions. Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. The thy petitions, those thy petitions asserting the preeminence of God himself, underscoring the sovereignty of his person, But those bi-petitions are then followed by the us-petitions.

    Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation. Deliver us from evil. The us-petitions follow the bi-petitions. You see the progression that is worked out for you in the prayer. The prayer becomes the expression of the covenant itself, the relationship that exists between God and His people. It is preaching to you the significance of what God has done in order to accomplish His covenant, to bring it to pass. For the one who is the Lord, whose sovereignty is acknowledged, becomes the servant to His people when they make requests of Him that they be given their daily bread. that their sins be forgiven, that they be kept from temptation and evil.

    He becomes servant to them. Your request becomes His command. And He wants it that way. And isn’t it plain that He wants it that way? For the one who is the Lord, has become the servant and given himself for his people that they might have the full bounty of the king.

    Don’t you see how Jesus is able then to tell his disciples and us through them, ask whatever Whatever you want. Don’t you know your father wants to give you these things? He wants to give you the kingdom. Ask and you shall receive. For the Lord has made himself your servant. And when you pray, you come to him and he presents himself to you as that servant in order that you might have what you need. Now you see why Jesus is able to go on later in this chapter and says, why do you worry? Why do you worry? Don’t you know? You have a Father who goes unseen, who cares for you better than any Father of this creation could ever care for.

    And He’s proved it to you in the cross. where the Lord was indeed the servant for your sake. Now I realize it takes a lot of convincing and you have to have a lot of long talks with yourself. You might even want to read Hebrews, the letter to the Hebrews again and again come with fullness to the fulness of grace that you might receive grace in the time of need knowing that you have a high priest with you who is ministering for you and that without fail. The Lord’s Prayer preaches to us the covenant, the bond between God and his people, and of course in the end, the cross, the gospel, our salvation.

    Pray like this, he says. Let us pray. O Lord, sweep away all of our pretentiousness. Sweep away all of our anxiety and skepticism, all of our doubts. Though the world may mock, and it may seem contrary to all appearances of things, may we entrust ourselves to you, the King, the One who is the Father, the One who is manifest Himself as the Servant as well, in and through His Son, Jesus Christ. O God, therefore with boldness we will come Our response being one of jubilation and expectation, realizing that you are a servant to us in our need that we might have what is needful and necessary. Help us, our God, for we would pray as we should, but we must understand better, grasp, hold on better that vital union that exists between us and Christ. And we must see at the center of things the marvel of your activity for us. In giving us your son. But in bringing about a new day of prayer. In the context of. The fullness and fulfillment of your covenant. Thank.

    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.

  • Prayer in Dire Straits

    Prayer in Dire Straits

    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 11, 1988.

    About this sermon

    Prayer is in dire straits in the modern church, and the crisis runs deeper than neglect. Two principles answer it. Christ’s new day makes praying without ceasing possible, and boasting about how long or how often one prays is a danger to guard against.

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    Sermon transcript

    This morning our scripture is Matthew 6, beginning at verse 5, and we will read through verse 15. This is Matthew 6, beginning with verse 5. Hear the word of God. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men.

    Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, Use not vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them, for your father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him. After this manner, therefore, pray ye, Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

    Thy kingdom come. thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, Neither will your father forgive your trespasses. Let’s pray together.

    O Lord, how our desire is not simply for ourselves, that the word would be precious to us and have its full impact upon us. We think of congregations that we know and love, those throughout this presbytery, those that may well be of other denominations where the gospel is proclaimed. And we plead, Lord, with you on their behalf for the servants that you have raised up to stand in pulpits and proclaim the word of grace that your people may be encouraged, that sinners may be convicted, that those who do not believe might believe, having been brought to believe by the effectual work of your Holy Spirit. We do plead with you on behalf, then, of these ministries that you would be pleased, our God, to build up courage and confidence and assurance in and through those activities. We pray, our God, nothing less for ourselves, for we would turn to you, for surely there is no one else to whom we can turn. and we do turn our God through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

    Amen. prayer, the activity of prayer. Prayer itself is in desperate straits. I have reference to the activity of individuals. I have reference to the corporate enterprise of the church. Is prayer the lost dimension of devotion? Has it been eaten away from the life of the believer, from the life of the Church, because of pressing demand?

    A pastor that I know stops praying. because he finds invariably that that experience of prayer only mercilessly compounds his frustration. So compounding his frustration that he feels worse after he’s prayed than when he had begun. Now, not that his feelings are to the measure of anything really, but Why subject himself to that torment, that torture regularly?

    I know of a steel worker. In his forties, battered by his responsibilities at work, his struggle for and with his family, who confided in a close friend, I stopped praying. I don’t even bother. I know a housewife who once wondered out loud to her shocked husband.

    Why should I pray anyway? God knows everything doesn’t he? There’s a teenager shedding the coil of her dependence upon her parents, who now in these mature years thinks that prayer is simply a sentimental superstitious habit of childhood. She is now more comfortable spending her time with her fantasies than praying.

    There are the complications for prayer. You simply don’t know my schedule. You don’t know how things are at my house. When am I going to get any time to pray or There simply isn’t any place in my house where I can pray. Prayer. Prayer experiencing then. This kind of pressure. prayer looked upon increasingly as something that is unnecessary. Something that is a formality possibly.

    But something that is not essential to the well-being of the life of the believer and the well-being of the church. is the prayer meeting, for instance, something that within the next twenty years will die, will die uniformly in the churches in this country. Now many of you came out of churches, mainline churches, that were of the habit of paying their ministers Exorbitant salaries for conducting one service a week, that’s Sunday morning. And many of you left those churches because you perceived that there was a deadness there that simply was not going to be corrected. And one of the evidences of that deadness According to you and your assessment was the fact that the people did not engage in any meaningful prayer activity. The midweek prayer service was something that was long gone, long forgotten. We observe things a little closer to home then. I can ask the question about Grace Church. Will the prayer meeting of Grace Church survive? Not the next twenty years, but the next year! Yes, this is an advertisement. This is a promotional appeal. And really, I shouldn’t laugh about it.

    What about our Protestant and Reformed churches? At one time, those churches passionately committed themselves to prayer. An installation service of pastor or officers within a church could not pass without a concerted effort of prayer, a season of prayer in which the congregation gave itself to prayer. Not just for five minutes, not for ten, not even for an hour, but for an entire week. Can you believe it? There was once a time in the life of the church, Protestant, Reformed, Calvinistic congregations, in which you could point to a number of individuals in that church who had given themselves to a life of prayer. Modern day Anna, if you will.

    That was their habit of life. We hear the stories of pastors and people who gave themselves to prayer. Was it Martin Luther who said, I don’t think I can live a day unless I begin it with three hours of prayer? We’re worn out by that, I think. getting through the day, a matter of having it grounded in three hours of prayer. We have difficulty concentrating for ten minutes.

    After all, we’ve been convinced of what now has been called the balanced life. The balanced life includes no extremes. You don’t want to give yourself too much to any one thing. And in this approach to the Christian life, prayer has become merely the salt and pepper, the seasoning for a diet of severe activism, extreme activism. Prayer, after all, must fit into our schedule. It must be part of the program or a program in order to be judged worthwhile by us.

    More and more, the noise that comes forth from congregations is not the noise of praise and prayer from the people of God, pleading with God, imploring Him, making their requests known unto Him. Rather, the noise that increasingly is coming forth from churches, from congregations, is the noise of committee meetings, socials, and planning sessions for the next campaign or enterprise. In the church setting, prayer becomes a reflex. Well, of course, we always begin and close our meetings with prayer.

    Simply perfunctory. Or it becomes a useful and even superstitious reaction. Well, There’s always the possibility that things won’t go well, so let’s pray and baptize our efforts with prayer. And on top of all of this, we find ourselves in a world particularly unsuited to prayer.

    For instance, We have known leaders of the church who are of a liberal stripe or whom prayer has been some sort of romantic exercise, inspirational exercise. We know those who have adopted a style of life in which prayer plays no part at all. I had the dubious opportunity to sit in a classroom of Princeton Theological Seminary a few years ago and listen to one of the most prestigious ministers of the churches in New York City. And he informed that class of worshipful students that he never prayed. And he informed them of that boastingly. He said, after all, my life is my prayer. And if God isn’t satisfied with that, well, then that’s too bad for God. I guess that was the next line.

    Now, before we get too hard on the liberals and the pastor from New York City, I would remind you of a little survey that I took a few years ago in prayer meeting right here in this building. The question was, apart from prayers at mealtime, apart from prayers where you are part of a group such as church, do you regularly pray? Could I have a show of hands? This is an Orthodox Presbyterian church. There were officers of the church present at that prayer meeting that night, and not one hand, not one hand went up. Now how is it with you? Now, I can’t be too hard on you. If I’m not praying at the offices of the church, I’m praying, what can we expect of you? You would do well to set a good example for us and get us back on track.

    Have we lost our confidence in prayer? Have we lost our motivation for it? Do we no longer understand it? as it becomes something that is utterly ordinary and perfunctory for us, a mere formality, something we hardly think about, let alone practice. But here we are considering Jesus’ words in Matthew 6.

    And as we introduce ourselves to these words by Jesus, I would like to put before you two principles. And I hope that these two principles will be very helpful for you in focusing your life with regard to prayer. In fact, I’m hoping that these principles might put before you the proper ground for your own prayer life and motivation for you in prayer. Out of that arising a confidence and assurance in your prayers. The first principle is this.

    The coming of Jesus Christ brings to us an entirely new day of prayer. The coming of Jesus Christ brings to us an entirely new day of prayer, with its own motivation and its own constraints, its own glory. Think now of the reflex that we find in the New Testament after Christ has completed his ministry, after he has died and been raised again.

    We get a statement like this from the Apostle Paul, 1 Thessalonians 5.17, you know it, a very short verse, pray without ceasing. Pray without ceasing.

    Now I want to ask you a question, do you hear any statement like that out of the Old Testament. Now, please understand, I do not mean to suggest to you that the people of the Old Testament were not afraid that they didn’t pray. They did pray, but you don’t have any prescription that approaches that one that Paul gives you in First Thessalonians five pray without. Now, you might ask yourself the question, How in the world is Paul come to this statement? How does he arrive at this statement? He arrives at it because he is reflecting on prayer in light of the work of Jesus Christ. He is reflecting on prayer in light of the coming of Jesus Christ and what that coming has meant. That admonition by Paul is like unto one given by Christ himself.

    You have the statement by Jesus in the garden to his disciples, Matthew 26, verse 41. Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation. Those two statements, they’re now possible, you see, as Christ himself is speaking about a perpetual, continual posture for Christian living. Our disposition is always to be one that is ready to and engaged in prayer. I have said to you that this first principle, then. Places before us the significance of the coming of Christ for an entirely new day of prayer. That statement by Jesus in the garden. then comes to his disciples as an instruction to them as how they might meet the press of circumstances which they face as those who have been united to him. The constraint upon them now to pray is because they are united to the one who, while he was making his progress towards the cross and to the fulfillment and consummation of his ministry, he prayed without ceasing.

    This is the missing dynamic for prayer, and this is the missing motivation for you in your praying, you see. If you lose sight of the fact that you are united to Christ in this new day of prayer, That motivation, that ground, that foundation is obscured and lost. You do not see it, and your prayers might as well come out of a Buddhist temple somewhere, a Jewish synagogue, as be in a Christian church or in a Christian environment. It is specifically that union with Christ that makes prayer utterly distinct now, and in light of the fulfillment of his ministry on your behalf.

    For your praying as you watch against temptation is merely an entering into the praying of that Christ who has prayed in that way as he faced temptation himself. But the Christian life is not just a matter of watching and praying, as we would then make our way, as Christ did, towards the culmination of our lives. Our praying is also informed by the fulfillment of Christ’s ministry in the resurrection.

    What stands behind Paul’s statement in 1 Thessalonians 5, 17, pray without ceasing? Once more, it’s this whole matter of union with Christ. Don’t you understand? The One to whom you are united not only prayed while He was facing the cross, but now in heaven, He prays without ceasing for you. The reason why you can’t persist in your praying, the reason why the foundation crumbles, why you lose your way, is because you do not have clearly before you your union with Christ. You are joined to Him.

    A new day has come. And it’s not a matter of you being sustained by your own efforts, as if we were reintroducing some principle of worth righteousness here for you. You have to struggle all over again in order to gain approval with God through your prayers. Not at all. You see what’s happening.

    The gift of grace to you is Christ himself. He has been perfectly successful in watching and praying as he made his way towards the cross. and that perfection of prayer is at your disposal. You enter into his prayers. You enter into his praying activity. It’s not as if you stand out here, separated from him. It is as if you have been brought right into him, and the power of his prayer life has become the power of your own. You are united to him, nothing less than that is taking place now with regard to the heavenly session of Christ. Have you not been told by the word that he makes continual intercession for you?

    Your union with him draws you within the circumference of his prayer life now. That is where the drive for prayer comes. You want to hear it from the Apostle Paul? He’s writing to some Colossian Christians and to some Laodicean Christians. You can read all about it in Colossians chapter 2, the first verse.

    These people have never even seen his face, yet he pours himself out continually for them. He prays for them without ceasing. Where in the world does this guy get the energy, the motivation to pray for people that he’s never seen? Why I have a difficult time praying for those. I know. I have a difficult enough time praying for you. And here’s a guy who’s praying for people that have never seen his face.

    He’s doing that continually, The only ground for activity and devotion like that is union with Christ. So you see there’s another one whose face the Colossians and Laodiceans have never seen. And it’s Christ. And the very pattern and power of the Apostle’s prayer line is that of Christ’s. So real is that union to the Apostle that the Apostle can’t help but be like Christ.

    And that’s the first principle that I want to put before you, and I won’t speak extensively on the second, but just pointed out for you here. Not only does the coming of Christ bring an entirely new day of prayer. But this new day brings with it. That exposure commensurate with the kingdom of heaven.

    That makes it plain that there is a practice of righteousness, a piety that has nothing to do with what Jesus is talking about. There is a practice of piety within Christian circles that is out of touch with the significance of the coming of Christ, as that coming has heralded a new day of prayer. There is a practice of piety that is eminently self-centered.

    Don’t tell me how long you pray. I had to sit and listen to a minister one in which he told his congregation that he had finally achieved what he thought was unachievable. He had been able to pray for the entire night. There is a piety, you see, that parades There’s a piety that is meant for applause. There’s a piety that calls attention to itself and knows nothing. Of that motivation. That undergirds the experience of the Apostle Paul in his prayer. That union between him. And to say. which has as its objective no reward in this world but the pleasure of the God who is above and presently unseen.

    These principles then for you as you think about prayer and in the weeks to come we will be reviewing Jesus statements here more specifically. But hold on to the coming of Christ brings an entirely new day of prayer. And there is a practice of piety that has nothing nothing to do whatsoever with what Jesus is talking.

    O Lord, we ask that we might precede then even our approach to you with that affirmation of our union with Christ, that we might see ourselves as united to the one who prayed perpetually as he faced the ordeal that would conclude his life and ministry. And may we also see ourselves united to that one who is raised, who even now makes continual intercession for us. And out of this, O Lord, may it be plain and clear that the power for our prayers and our power to pray does not arise from ourselves, but it is found in Him, who is that sufficient and adequate Savior, whose name we bless. We pray these things

    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 Cross in Marriage

    The Cross in Marriage

    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 20, 1988.

    About this sermon

    Malachi 2:16 says bluntly that God hates divorce, and the church can take a real stand against divorce only by turning to Christ. In Matthew 19 Christ replaces Moses’ concession on divorce. The cross has to live inside a marriage day by day, long after the wedding.

    More sermons from Matthew · Browse all sermons

    Sermon transcript

    Our scripture reading this morning is, first of all, from Matthew chapter nineteen verses one through twelve, and then we’ll be backing up into the Sermon on the Mount. This is Matthew nineteen verses one through twelve. Hear the word of God. And it came to pass that when Jesus had finished these sayings, He departed from Galilee and came into the coasts of Judea beyond Jordan, and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them there.

    The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cost? And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read? that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female and said for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife and they twain shall be one flesh wherefore they are no more twain but one flesh what therefore God hath joined together let not man put asunder they say unto him Why did Moses then command to give up writing of divorcement and to put her away? He saith unto them, Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, suffered you to put away your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.

    And I say unto you, whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery. And whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. His disciples say unto him, If the case of a man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry. But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given.

    For there are some eunuchs which are so, which were so born from their mother’s womb. And there were some eunuchs which were made eunuchs of men. And there be eunuchs which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it. And then from Matthew chapter five, verses thirty one and thirty two. It happens that whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of this divorce. But I say unto you that whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, cause of her to commit adultery and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced, committed adultery.

    We come in our hunger, O God, to be fed. And though our lives are oftentimes desperate, especially before the scrutinizing of your word, we pray that we may come, come to that feast that is prepared for us found in your word, and there partaking, be satisfied, but also made to be willing, willing in our obedience to you, our King. Through Christ we pray. Amen.

    I have to preach this sermon. Now I realize that you were expecting me to go on with Matthew 6 and so was I. But I have to back up into Matthew 5 and preach this sermon. Now for some of you this is not an immediate concern. Some of you consider yourselves too young to think about it. But it is a pressing issue. And it is a pressing issue for this congregation. Now I don’t intend to go after this subject with kid gloves on. We are faced with an epidemic, an epidemic that is ravaging the land and ravaging the Church.

    It is not extraordinary for an alumnus of a Christian college in these days to pick the latest alumni news. And find as they read through the items that talk about the various classes. Mention of someone that they know, but it seems that that person is no longer hooked up with someone else that they know. The partners have been changed somewhere along the line.

    We are faced with an epidemic that is ravaging the land and ravaging the church. And how powerfully this was brought home to me this last week. Friday morning, phone rings. A call from a friend of the family. a Christian woman. She had an appointment to see my wife later in the day, but she was obviously distressed. When my wife inquired, her words were, my husband is filed for divorce. This is a Christian couple. The husband a believer, the wife a believer. Her words, my husband has filed for divorce.

    Now that experience of Friday morning was accented by what had taken place this past Tuesday night. I was sitting in some friend’s home in Philadelphia. I innocently asked about a young mother, Christian, who had risen to the top of the reformed world through her stance with regard to women their place in the church, their place in society, who they are, what they are all about. I was informed, I was informed that she had left her husband. And as she was walking out, her explanation was, I just don’t love you anymore. It brought back a flood of memories. Me sitting in a car outside of a house in that same city years ago, arguing painfully with a family member, pleading with her with regard to her family, with regard to her marriage. She had walked out And as she had walked out, she did so with this excuse, God wants me to be happy.

    We are facing an epidemic. More than that, we are facing a wholesale collapse. The question is, where can you look for help? You’re not going to find it in the legal system of this country. The legal system of this country has already capitulated. It has already adopted the mindset whatever you want. In divorce, so our courts tell us there are no guilty parties. That’s what we call no fault divorce. What about the counseling establishment? Can we turn to them?

    They have surrendered to what you might call arbitration. That means that we parcel out the blame if blame is to be assigned at all. If you will accept 20%, if you will accept 30% of the blame, how about 50? We begin to negotiate in terms of percentages of the blame.

    If that approach is used at all, but more often than not, the approach of the establishment of the counseling establishment is precisely that of the legal system. Whatever you want. You don’t want to be married anymore. Fine, let’s work this thing out. Well at least there’s the church. Oh yeah? Tell me about it.

    The church turns its back. It doesn’t want to know. It doesn’t want to know. It doesn’t want to deal with It wants to plead ignorance if the issue is important at all. There are certain edicts of the word that you have to come to grips. That the church has to come to grips.

    For it seems in our time the church is conveniently forgetting Malachi 2.16. The Lord says, I hate divorce. I hate divorce. It has to come to grips with passages like what we find here in Matthew 5 and again in Matthew 19. the severity of the circumstance scrutinized by Christ himself, and the language which he uses.

    Now there’s a good side to all of this, believe it or not. There’s a good side to it. For you see, the person stripped of society’s supports, the person stripped of the support of the legal system, the person stripped of the support of the counseling establishment, the individual stripped even of the support and understanding and integrity of the Church, will have to learn how to stand, if he’s going to stand at all, before the all-surveying eye of God. The character is going to have to be constructed. It’s going to have to be established from within you. And from this vantage point, you see, even the disaster that is coming upon us in society and in the church can be seen as a blessing if it isn’t in you, if that character is not there. Well, the opportunity is now afforded you. What are you going to do with the text?

    The Church might forget them. The establishments may deny them, countermand them, but what are you going to do with them? There is also the blessing here for the Church that’s trying. It’s not an easy easy task for the church in our time, but there are churches that are trying. Believe me, they are trying. They are not especially popular. They are not ordinarily drawing the crowd, but there are some that are trying. They increasingly realizing the cost of their attempt. the loss of popularity, the strains within the congregations, what are the effects, what are the ripple effects? We’ve heard all about ripple effects.

    What if, what if it’s the son of an elder in the congregation? The church tries to take action against the son, the elder himself becomes missed. He takes his whole family with him in train as they march out the door. Is the church willing to stand its ground?

    Insist upon the truth. regardless of the cost. Well, surviving, whether it be the individual or the church, surviving in this chaotic circumstance in which we find ourselves is no easy, easy task. But wonderfully, though there is this positive note to be heard, even as the society in effect is collapsing around us, yet even more, there is power and perspective to be found in the words, in the posture of Christ, and that is what is being supplied us here by Him as He comes to address this very, very serious issue. The individual stripped of society’s props, the individual stripped even by the Church, disappointed in the Church and the Church’s attitude to where will that individual turn? That individual yet can turn, must turn to Christ. Where will the church turn? In the midst of that opposition and hatred thrown at her because of her stance. She will turn to her Lord and there find the strength that she needs, not the strength merely, but the perspective from which she is to view this very, very important issue. What is Jesus’ message?

    Two words. No divorce. in the case of infidelity, breach of bond, violation of the covenant. Now we can talk about that for a long time. We can talk about just how pervasive that exception clause is that is given by Jesus But rather than going in that direction, I want to try and latch hold of the perspective that Jesus is bringing to bear on the whole issue. I’ve already let you in on the secret.

    The secret of the Sermon on the Mount. and the two things which you must always keep in view as you read this message by Jesus, regardless of where you find yourself in it. And that is this. First of all, you must remember heaven, and secondly, you must remember the cross. And even these two things, rather these two things, even have their impact upon an issue as central to our life as important as marriage and divorce.

    I have suggested to you that there is this transposition of environments taking place in this sermon. Jesus is letting one environment go, and he’s asserting another. He’s telling you that the reality of heaven has now come. It is asserting itself in the world, and the assertion of that reality into our world changes everything. It changes even the way you look at marriage and divorce. How so? How so? Because behind This relationship between a man and a woman is the relationship between God and his people. Think of that.

    How is God bound to his people? Will he break covenant with his people? He will not, except for the case of apostasy. Manifest infidelity. You see, the reality of heaven is asserting itself here. The pattern found in God himself is forcing itself upon the people of the kingdom. Just as it is with God, so it is with the people.

    This is something new. You may not want to think so. You might want to think that this is the way that it was always to be, and even was under the administration of the law. Not so. The provision made by the law is here, and I will use the word displaced. Under Moses, you could write the bills of divorcement, and they multiplied. Of course, they were abused. and the prophets spoke out against that abuse. But now we’ve even gone further. It’s no mere adjustment with regard to that Old Testament law. No, it is a displacement. And how radical the displacement.

    You were permitted to put your wife away in the Old Testament. You could write that Bill of Divorcement. It was within the law. You suffered nothing for it. Now, if you put your wife away and you put her away for reasons that are contrary to the one articulated here by Jesus Christ, you have committed an executable offense.

    In the Old Testament, they executed adulterers. Divorce considered willy-nilly, resorted to as just one more way in which to live out our days in this world without any seriousness whatsoever We’ll bring upon you the eternal wrath and judgment of God.

    Our society and the church is playing with hellfire. They are playing with hellfire. I have spoken also of the cross. There has been that displacement of environments as the world itself gives way to heaven and the realities of heaven now begin to assert themselves upon the people of the kingdom. But I said that the cross is also to be found here.

    What is it that lies behind the marriage relationship? We’ve already said it’s the relationship between God and his people and that as it is expressed between husband and wife, a relationship between Christ and his church. that already asserting itself here in these texts, which we’ve read this morning.

    What becomes operative if you adopt that model? Nothing less than this, for the sake of my partner in this covenant of marriage, I will die for them. Now, if you’ve already settled that question, If you’ve gone into the relationship and said, I will die for this person, you can put up with a lot of grief. You can put up with a lot of annoyances, a lot of distress, a lot of simple aggravations, because the weightier issue has always been the silence. What’s the tragedy of the first marriage?

    You think of it. Genesis 3. Here you have Eve seduced by Satan. She partakes. But there’s this gap. There’s this gap between the time in which Eve partakes and Adam partakes. Here comes Adam. He sees the circumstance, the situation. He still has that clairvoyance of his innocency.

    What decision does he make? What’s the seriousness of the fall in which he’s complicated? implicated. The decision of Adam is this, I won’t die for her. I won’t go to God and plead for her, and I will not die for her. What’s the significance of the stories of Abraham? He goes down into Egypt. He’s also involved with the Philistine king. Each time, each instance, He makes a decision. It’s better to live than to die. I won’t die for Sarah. But there is one who did die for his crime. And you see, now you cannot look at marriage any other way.

    It’s a beautiful story about a couple in South Jersey a few years ago, Christian family, experiencing real trauma in their home, husband and wife at each other’s throats continually. In came the pastor, one of the most godly men I’ve ever known, marvelously Christlike in all of his attitudes and words and disposition imprinted with Jesus Christ. It wasn’t so much what he said as how he conducted himself and healing was affected the confession of the husband afterwards was it occurred to me that you loved my wife more than I did because you seemed willing to die for her heaven, the pattern found in the Father, the cross, the pattern found in Christ. These as our therapy, as the resolution to the problems, the difficulties that we find, around marriage and divorce. Let’s pray.

    Father, it is true that we cannot look at anything the same as if we were those who stood before the coming of Christ. For what has come with him but the kingdom of heaven? And how do we see the marvelous and superlative righteousness of that kingdom manifest but through the cross? And in each respect, heaven and the cross, now we being transformed so that our attitudes are transformed themselves.

    Surely in our relationships, one with another, this wonderfully obvious. So now our God. to your glory and for our benefit, let us live. Through Jesus Christ. To the glory of our God. And father, we pray. We pray for the marriages of this congregation. We pray also for those who have been battered. Who have been wasted in marriage relationships those who are delivered by you and that righteous life would you bless the families and those individuals with the wonder and mercy of your presence so as to confirm them in their life with you We pray.

    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.