Grace OPC Sewickley PA

Sermon Series: Christmas

Jacob’s Joseph, Mary’s Joseph

This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Christmas” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, December 20, 1987.

About this sermon

God speaks through angels, visions, and dreams across the Bible, and Matthew’s Joseph receives his instructions the same way. Jacob’s son Joseph stands behind him. The two Josephs, one in the Old Testament and one in the New, both serve God’s purpose to bring Christ into the world.

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Sermon transcript

We are reading from Matthew chapter one, and we are beginning with verse sixteen. And Jacob begat Joseph. the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who was called Christ. So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this lawn. When, as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just, a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privately. But while he thought on these things, Behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost, and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sin.” Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophets, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which being interpreted is God with us. Then Joseph, being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him. and took unto him his wife, and knew her not till she brought forth her firstborn son, and he called his name Jesus.”

Father, before the mystery of your son’s incarnation and before the mystery of your word appearing in the world, may we with all seriousness and all reverence, take stock of ourselves. Lord, we would be your children. We would be those given new life by root of that gift which you have given to us. Lord, may we be those children of your calling, even if it is a matter of us becoming such, in this service, this morning, for Jesus’ sake. Amen. angels, visions, and dreams. Angels, visions, and dreams.

They go together in the Bible. In the Old Testament, there are two times in particular that seem to be chock-full of angels, visions, and dreams. One of those times is that of the exile, the exile of the children of Israel into Babylon, that period in which God then would reveal himself and his intention to save his people through angels’ visions and dreams. You can think about Ezekiel and his many visions.

You can also think of the dramatic story of Daniel And what is recorded for us in his prophecy? Again, the appearance of angels, the use by God of visions and dreams. That wonderful story, that wonderful story of the fiery furnace and the three friends of Daniel. put into it, yet when the king looked, there was a fourth, the angel, the angel of the Lord. You can think of the dreams of Daniel himself, and the intention of those dreams with regard to the final resolution of all matters concerning this world. You can think of the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, the great king, and the exposition of that dream that comes through the prophecy of Daniel. Well, in that time, an empire to end all empires, an empire that epitomizes the strength of the kingdoms of this world.

It collapses before angels, before the visions and dreams, but the pavilion of God, the pavilion of the Lord, it triumphs. Salvation is assured to those to whom it is promised through that one who is described by Daniel as one like unto the Son of Man. through that one who is spoken of by Daniel in his dreams, in his visions, as the coming prince of princes.

That’s one time in which the angels’ visions and dreams are so important. But there’s another time, another period, a period many years earlier, a time of beginnings, the time of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. It, too, a time filled with angels, visions and dreams. And in that time, two figures stand out in relationship to the angels, the visions, the dreams.

Jacob and his son, Joseph. Jacob dreamed of angels ascending and descending a ladder, a ladder stretching from the earth to heaven, a ladder stretching from Bethel to the throne of God in glory. And in the night visions, Jacob wrestled with the angel of the Lord, and was said to have And then there was Joseph, his son, the son of his love, the son of his beloved Rachel.

He was a child of dreams, he was called the dreamer by his brothers, and as a young man he became an interpreter of dreams while living in Egypt. When still a boy, he dreamed dreams, and saw in his dreams the sheaves of his brothers in the fields, bowing down to Ishi. He saw the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowing down to him, to which his brothers said, Do you imagine that your father and your mother and we as well will bow down to you? insignificant curve. But ironically, the rage and the plots and the schemes of his brothers serve to fulfill those very dreams sold into slavery by his brothers.

Joseph, in time, rises to power and eventually his father and his brothers pay him homage. from the depths of his humiliation, but yet in keeping with those revelatory dreams, Joseph rises as a savior and as a ruler for the sake of his father’s ancient household.

But though a savior, Joseph is not the Savior. And though a ruler, Joseph is not the ruler. And thus the patriarchal period, the book of Genesis, is incomplete. That period punctuated by angels, visions, and dreams. It is incomplete without the concluding prophecy which Father Jacob speaks to his sons before his departure. For the ultimate blessing according to Father Jacob does not rest on Joseph, nor even upon his sons Ephraim and Manasseh, but upon someone else altogether. upon another son, Judah, and it is to Judah that Jacob says, your brothers shall praise you, your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies, your father’s sons shall bow down to you as if a parody of the very dreams that had been given to Joseph. For Joseph must give way to Judah. The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet.” Jacob to Joseph in this era of angels’ visions and dreams. Jacob to Joseph giving way to Judah in the end.

But interestingly, and as you know full well, there is still one more epoch of angels’ visions and dreams. It is the era of the Son of God. The epoch of the New Testament. And right at the beginning, at the outset of that epoch, as if matching, paralleling, as if fulfilling, in a sense, the patriarchal premonition, we find here, in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, a Jacob who bears a son, Joseph.

But now, here, both Jacob and Joseph are of the tribe for whom prophecies have been made formally. This Jacob and Joseph are of themselves from the tribe of Judah. and therefore in the line of the promised ruler, that ruler promised from the days of the patriarchs. In this setting, the angels, the visions and dreams are active again, but they focus their attention upon the full and perfect salvation of God. a salvation which was only hinted at, pointed to, by the restoration of Israel from exile in Babylon, only hinted at and pointed to by that deliverance that was effected through Joseph, when the world was ravaged by famine and life could be found nowhere else but in the courts. of Egypt. So then, in this final epoch of angels’ visions and dreams, the angel now speaks to a New Testament Joseph.

He speaks to him about his betrothed, that one to whom he is engaged, and the child she miraculously carries. In this setting, you see, at issue is that child, that in keeping with the dream and the angel who appears in that dream. At issue is the child.

Salvation for God’s people is vested in Him alone. And as the Old Testament Joseph was constrained to give way to Judah, now the New Testament Joseph, who is of the tribe of Judah, must give way to this child, must give way to Jesus. For there will be no boast in the end, even for Judah. Even Judah’s boast is manicured, is chained by the virginally conceived Son of Mary. If the Old Testament Joseph is humbled by his father’s prophecy, the New Testament Joseph is humbled by the fulfillment of that prophecy. Or is he? Or is he humbled? Or was he in need of humbling? Or was he already well prepared. The enigmatic figure of the New Testament, Joseph. He is one who is portrayed for us as having been already humbled and prepared. The dream overtakes him.

The angel speaks, and we hear nothing from him that suggests to us strains of arrogance or self-importance. We hear nothing from him that suggests any form of argumentation or remonstration before the Lord. In fact, the impression given us here by the text is that there is no hesitancy in the man at all. You see, Joseph is presented to us as the perfectly godly, unobtrusive personality.

That is the one who will not and does not call attention to himself. He is not vain. He is not insisting on better things for himself. Nor is he wounded, as if short-changed in the whole affair, not getting his due. After all, is he not the descendant of David? Here is a man devoid of sinful ambition, incapable, if you will, by the grace of God, of a calculating boast.

A marvel in the world, and truly an exception. The man does not know pride. Joseph is a man satisfied in and with God. He is a man content in the will of the Lord. In this regard, he stands completely opposite his ancestry. He even stands opposite his Old Testament namesake.

In the Old Testament, you will recall that Joseph there had a father who was little better than a flim-flammer. A devilish, if not demonic, huckster. A man always continually seeking the advantage. And the Old Testament Joseph had a mother who would stop at little, it seems, in order to get the advantage.

So much was she possessed with the spirit of competitiveness. And you know that that spirit eventually meant her death. Not satisfied with one child, she names her first one Joseph, which means addition, increase, and says, May the Lord give me another son. Why? So that I can better compete. with Leah, my sister, and show her up.

And what of the Old Testament Joseph himself? Do you read those stories of Joseph? Do you like him? as much as it seems his father did, doesn’t he appear to you to be a little, if not a lot, obnoxious? I had a dream, brothers, and in my dream you all bowed down and worshipped me.

Now for his brothers to do what they did to him means that there was much more to it than just the rehearsing of a couple of dreams. We’re dealing here with a way of life. So that Joseph continually flaunted himself in front of his brothers, aggravated. the sore that was there. Gloating over his privilege. Gloating in his dreams. But here is a Joseph who is none of these things.

The opposite of his ancestry. Matthew calls him, in the 19th verse, a righteous man, a just man. And how great that righteousness! So great is it that Joseph, who disappears, it seems, from the pages of the New Testament after the accounts of the birth of Jesus, so great is that righteousness that that disappearance by Joseph from the pages of the New Testament must be understood as an expression of that righteousness itself.

Now, I know what we ordinarily say. We have guessed that Joseph’s absence in the later narratives of the New Testament is because he must have passed away. He must have died before the years of Jesus’ maturity in ministry, before Jesus himself died, before Jesus was raised from the dead. Whether that is true or not, we cannot know for certain. But we do know, we do know, that Joseph is portrayed as that one who will not intrude upon Jesus.

He disappears from the scene. There will be no competition. This is a deliberate device. The diminution of the man, the receiving of the figure of Joseph before Jesus, so that Jesus may appear to be everything. And by contrast, Joseph has nothing except as he has a special role to play in relationship to that one who is all in all.

You remember the testimony of John the Baptist coming to us out of John’s Gospel, the third chapter. John is speaking to his disciples. He says of Jesus, he must increase, but I must decrease. Well, before John says it, Joseph is living it. He must increase. In effect, that is what Joseph means.

But I, I, even my tribe, even the tribe of Judah, the tribe that has the largest, the most significant boast in all Israel, my clan, my nation, must decrease in comparison. Now in this, you see, even though Joseph lives before Christ’s ministry, even before Christ’s accomplishment of his mission, Joseph is portrayed for us as the prototype of the New Testament Christian disciple. What we all should and must be in relationship to this child spoken of by angels and revealed in visions and dreams. We think too little of Joseph, generally placing him in the company of simple-minded peasantry, unimportant, uncomplicated, a man who didn’t think too much, probably wasn’t capable of it.

Oh no, this man was royalty. This man was royalty. No one in Israel had greater claim to acclaim. And that magnified now because it was to him that the angel came in the dream. And he has the distinction of supervising Jesus in his young years. But no one was better suited than Joseph to preach the loss of identity, even the loss of life for the sake of Christ.

Now, there’s something else here in the text that adds weight to this understanding of the figure of Joseph. And with this, we will conclude. You see, we are approaching Joseph now as if he were, before the time, a prototype of the disciple, the true disciple of Jesus Christ.

In this regard, note, if you will, what is said about him and his righteousness. He is called a righteous man in that 19th verse. But take stock, take into account the description of that specific outworking of righteousness. We are told he wished to spare Mary public disgrace so that, so he was looking, he was looking for a way to put her away privately. Now think about that for a minute. He was wishing to spare her public disgrace And because of that, he was looking for a way to put her away privately. Now try to understand that in the light of what you know about the Old Testament.

Does that sound like the action of a righteous man according to Old Testament standards? Not at all! Joseph is swept into a New Testament environment, and he appears as a New Testament man. For you see, if he judges his righteousness, and his righteousness is judged by Old Testament standards, then you see, in his eyes, in accordance with the law, Mary is a candidate for execution. By Old Testament standards, she was to be stoned.

But breaking in to this setting and in upon this man is the glorious light of the gospel of mercy found only in Christ. So it’s as if Joseph himself has been translated for us in this account. And he becomes full well a New Testament figure. One who is expressing in himself the grandeur and the magnificence of the gospel of Jesus Christ. For in keeping with that gospel, Mary now is made a candidate for special care and beneficence. Already, the gospel of Jesus for giving grace is traced out in the man who precedes Him. For the man who precedes Him actually follows Him. And is righteous but in the light of the righteousness that is dawning in the gospel of His Son.

You do well to consider this son of Jacob, this son of Judah, to whom the angel came in a dream, to learn by root of him satisfaction, contentment, to learn through him that checking of ambition, to learn from him the fact that your importance is only relative to that of Jesus Christ. Period. And to be as accepting of that as was chosen. So that it becomes your glory and not your burden. and to learn from him that you are an ambassador of mercy in keeping with the law of Christ in this day of fullness, in this day of grace.

Even before the time, Joseph comes, O God, as one prepared by you. He stands at the outset of an era, not simply as one to live, looking forward to the Savior and the accomplishment of his mission, but as one who lives in full light of the revelation that shines forth from this child yet to be born. O Lord, now may we take up the mantle of Joseph, that we then with all humility, that we filled with mercy. may live out our days to the glory of our Savior, our lives meaningful only as they are relative to Him, the One who is all in all, Christ the Lord.

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.

December 20, 1987
Gabriel Comes to Nazareth

This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Christmas” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, December 13, 1987.

About this sermon

The birth of Christ answers the first creation with a new one. Gabriel, the ‘man’ from God, comes to Nazareth, and Mary carries in herself both the sorrow and the joy of Judah. The angel names the child’s attributes, and Mary submits: ‘be it unto me according to thy word.’

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Sermon transcript

This morning we are reading from Luke’s Gospel chapter one. We are reading verses 26 through 38. Hear the word of God. And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin, espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary.

And the angel came in unto her and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured. The Lord is with thee.” And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God.

And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call his name Jesus. He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said under her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon the in the power of the highest shall overshadow the.

Therefore, also that only thing which shall be born of the shall be called the son of God. And behold, my cousin Elizabeth. She have also conceived a son in her old age. This is the sixth month with her who was cold and barren, for with God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, Behold, the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

Father, you send forth your word and there is life. That which was dead is brought to life again. And Lord. That life should show for. Your great grace. Father, throughout the world today. Your word is proclaimed, and life is coming to those who were dead, and freedom to those who are captive. The eyes of the blind are being opened, and those who are lame are leaping for joy because of the word of God. Do strengthen your servants who bring it, that they in truth would preach uprightly. For Jesus’ sake, Amen.

It was six months since the angel Gabriel appeared to Zacharias in the temple. Those six months were like six days. The six days that pressed on to their appointed conclusion in the original creation of God. On that sixth day, the goal was reached and man was created.

Now, the angel appeared The angel Gabriel appears, and oddly enough, his name means man of God, a strange name for an angel. But this one comes as that angel from God’s presence specifically, as he has said to Zacharias in verse 19 of this first chapter of Luke. Gabriel, then, that angel who comes from the Lord’s presence, that one who stands seemingly perpetually in the presence of God as a reminder of God’s man-directed agenda for his creation. Gabriel is dispatched in the service of salvation and the ultimate blessing of those who are ordained to inherit that salvation. The six months like the six days.

The scene here changes. not only from the original creation, but also within the land of promise, this time not to Jerusalem, nor to its temple as previously in the case of Zacharias, and in the case of his barren wife Elizabeth, but to Galilee, the circuit of the Gentiles, and to the city of Nazareth, the site fifteen miles to the west of the southern extremity of the Sea of Galilee, a sheltered valley well guarded among the southern ridges of the Lebanon Mountains, very fruitful and always abounding in the glory of the flowers for which that area was known.

From the hill behind the town, an extraordinary view. From the massive majesty of Mount Hermon to the north, to the steps of Samaria to the south. From the sweet reaches of Gilead to the east, to the mighty expanse of the Mediterranean to the west. You could see it all from Nazareth.

A beautiful world, a beautiful world set like a gem in the creation, and set far away from that world which seems to have had its center in Herod’s courts. a world of contrivance and manufactured graciousness. Nazareth, something of a land-bound harbor, preaching the measure of creation and the widest range of that creation’s glorious future, Gentile regions lapped by Jewish rank and file, Naphtali, Asher, Zebulon, Issachar, and this family from the tribe of Judah.

A patrimony of hope, a veritable garden as if a bit of Eden still were in the earth. And this garden adorned, adorned by a virgin whose posture proclaims a patient godliness, yet Despite that patient godliness, her name, her name proclaiming sorrow and grief. She is Mary. Her name means tear or teardrop.

With her betrothed, Joseph, both of royal blood, they reflect a lost dominion, a lost dominion for the tribe of Judah, an abdicated and an abandoned throne, and the sorrow of a people whose lives have been submerged in futility, if not into the blindness of iniquity.

But now, the six months like the six days, and Gabriel, coming on by God himself, enters into Mary’s life, his greeting a consolation, a consolation beyond the hardships and the tragedies of a fallen creation, which she, too, endured. Gabriel, once before, many years before, had visited the earth in a different setting. He came to Daniel in exile with a message about fire, fire directed against empires that had set themselves against God. Gabriel had come with a message for Daniel, a message about an anguish for and a rejection of the Lord’s Messiah.

But now his greeting of Mary addresses the furthest extent that her name, in all of its significance, could reach. the frailty, not just of her position, but of her well-pavilioned garden, her harbour, its eventual superficiality, betrayed by her name, but then transcended by Gabriel’s greeting. favored one, the Lord is with you.

Not since Eve had there been a woman so richly blessed, the old creation’s first mother, and now the new creation’s first mother. And Mary with nearly a child’s simplicity, a naivete, baffled, surprised, stunned, yet her response is not, well, of course, who else but me? The Lord’s favor, His grace, overtakes her at the cross-section of the ages. Yet her experience, not unlike that of the most inconspicuous of God’s children, the charm of her astonishment, the same that glows from each child of God, truly humble before Him.

She says, Why should you, an angel of the Lord, say such things to me? For who am I? Not that she wasn’t afraid. She was, but not terrified. She was reverent, awestruck. Yes, fearful. Nevertheless, she was bold in receiving the angel’s soothing words. Mary, don’t tremble. He tells her. I bear you the message of God’s benevolent look. His favor shines out upon you.

God’s regard grounded in his grace catapults her past the ordinary, even the ordinariness of Eve. Past also the extraordinary women of the Old Testament who received miraculous visitations, and children out of their barren wombs, out of their private wildernesses, out of their private and individual cursed captivities. She passes even Elizabeth, her cousin, whose conception of John the Baptist predates her own conception of a child. And how fresh she is, and how far beyond the extraordinary. Her womb, the scene of humanity’s new birth. By grace, she centers the new creation, the child.

He will be named Salvation of Jehovah only. The significance of his name, Jesus. But this one has a greater name yet. So says Gabriel. He is the son of the Most High. In the naming of that child by the angel, the angel himself indicates then that this most unique woman Herself gives way to the more unique child. He is the son of glory. He is the fountain of grace and salvation, not her.

He is the one to whom the throne belongs, that throne that counters throne. that have raised up their power and their pretense against him. He shall recover then the throne, the ancient throne, that throne that was promised to the forefather, the And in so doing, he shall lay bare that throne’s eternal and transcendent significance. No end for this throne, no end to the reign of the one who sits upon it, says the angel.

Creation’s cause and Israel’s destiny coalesce. This child sets both right. and even Gabriel, and all the angelic host will worship him. The mother, so informed about the child, forms her words with shaking, bewildered credulity. the miracle children of the Old Testament. Isaac, think of him, born to Abraham and Sarah in their old age. Joseph, born to Baron Rachel. Samson, Samuel, the child of Hannah. They all had fathers, fathers of this world. And Mary says, whose child will this be, seeing that I have known no man intimately, not even my betrothed.”

But remember, remember the God with whom we are dealing. His breath shot life into a man of clay at the beginning. of all things. And now, says the angel, the Holy Spirit shall visit Mary with life for a new beginning. And as he speaks these words to her, the names that he has already given, they are now transcended. For he tells her that the one she bears will be none other than the Son of God. The Virgin shall conceive and bear a son. The child given, the son appointed. His name will be Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Impossible impossible. Beyond the wildest dreams of Israel’s most pious. The impossible bursts upon the stage of a simple and dead world. Nothing shall be impossible for God. Nothing shall be impossible in wiping the tear out of Mary’s name. Nothing shall be impossible in wiping the tear from the eyes of redeemed womankind. In restoring a fallen humanity, in restoring a fallen and buried dynasty, In setting creation right, in forgiving sins, in raising the dead, in bringing glory into focus, and bestowing its wealth upon us, nothing shall be impossible for this God. A new creation, a new world then. announced by an angel, announced by Gabriel. Into that new world, Mary steps.

And how do we find her? Hesitant? Possibly, but not resistant. Reflective? Possibly, but not calculating. strained, possibly, but not like many an Old Testament saint with disobedient uncertainty. Instead, her words become the model for this new creation affected in the child she bears. the literal translation. Behold, the bond slave of the Lord. Be it done to me. According to the word. She then.

In that submissiveness speaks of the submissiveness which is to characterize all God’s children who dwell in the new creation through Jesus Christ Gabriel leaves and she’s alone alone in a world which to her looks little different, but in her body is conceived that which is wholly new, the world’s Pope, Jesus, the Son of the Most High, the Son of God. that one through whom sins will be forgiven, that one through whom life from the dead shall be granted, that one through whom there shall be granted life in the paradise of God, and that by root of certain promise. For this one who is conceived by the Holy Spirit shall mature and accomplish the mission given him from heaven, and in his last hours he will hang upon a cross, and he will be taunted by the crowds, and he will be taunted by the thieves who are crucified with him, until that point that one of them will come to himself, to his senses, and to God, and say to the one hanging there beside him, when thou comest into thy kingdom, and Jesus’ response to him is, This day you shall be with me in paradise. In the true garden of God, in the better Eden, reserved for those who put their trust in that one who was a child. but became the man who died, died for our sins and was raised again for our justification. All who live for him in his kingdom, in this new creation that finds itself only in him, will say then, and do say with Mary.

Her motto becomes their motto. Behold, the bond slave of the Lord. That is what I am. Be it done unto me according to your word. O God, for that is my life. The Lord the angel comes as an emissary from glory into a fallen world and addresses a humble virgin and speaks to her about impossible things. Things that seem truly impossible from the vantage point of this creation. But Lord Truly you have made it plain to us, we who believe, that nothing shall be impossible for you, that by your gracious love you shall put then in motion all of those things, all of that energy by which the new creation shall take shape, at the center of which is Christ. that one by whose blood we have been forgiven, that one by whose resurrection we ourselves have been granted newness of life. Father, in light of this, may we not be disobedient, but may we be found bond slaves of our God. And may we welcome your word. May it be unto us according as you have spoken.

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.

December 13, 1987
A Great Light in Galilee

This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Christmas” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, December 31, 1978.

About this sermon

Isaiah prophesied to a king, Ahaz, and a people in the northern tribes who had run out of hope. Into that darkness Isaiah 9 promises a great light, the hope of Christ. The world has secularized Christmas, and it misreads the angels’ ‘peace on earth’ in Luke 2:14 in the same way.

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Sermon transcript

But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish. In earlier times he treated the land of Zebulon and the land of Napoli with contempt, but later on he shall make it glorious by the way of the sea on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.

Let us pray briefly. Father, it is not eloquence, it is not style, it is not even the sound of one’s voice that makes the word compelling. It alone has its own compulsion. for it is the word of the Spirit, the word of the Christ, the word of the living God. Today it is important that we hear this word, for the overtures of the word are serious, and the matters contained in it are matters of life and death. We beseech you then, in godly fear, that we might hear and that we might obey And that, Father, in everything we might exalt you, the one who is glorious indeed, through Jesus Christ. Amen. It was a great reign.

The kingdom flourished under Uzziah. and the kingdom flourished under Jotham, his son. But now Ahaz has ascended the throne, and troubles have come. Ahaz is king in Jerusalem, in the midst of the two southern tribes, Judah and Benjamin. To the north there is Syria, And Syria is led by Reza, the son of Ramallah, whose throne is set in Damascus. He has taken up cause with the king of Samaria, the capital of the ten northern tribes, and they’ve made their assault upon the south.

Ahaz is looking for help. It’s the message of Isaiah that help is found in trusting God, and that our fears can only be taken away if we see and understand that the promise of God is to be with us, his people. and thus the significance of the name Immanuel, God with us. The glorious message of Isaiah to Ahaz and to the southern tribes, trust in God. But Ahaz can’t trust in God, for he doesn’t believe in God.

He has rebuilt temples for idol worship. He has refurbished the groves. He has again established the high places, so that the people themselves are being led away into false worship and idolatry. Ahaz is breaking covenant with God, forsaking the word of the Lord.

And when he looks for help, he does not look to heaven, rather he looks to the northeast. For there’s an upstart of a kingdom just beginning to develop on the Euphrates. Its capital is Nineveh. The king of Nineveh has a name that’s a real mouthful, Tiglath-Poleser. He looks to the Assyrians to help him against the alliance. They will be able to stay the threat.

I suppose that the events of this last week have finally brought about the culmination of things that we have feared for a long time in our own nation. Now I don’t want to be so foolish as to match up one-on-one the events that took place in Judah and Israel, and those things that are taking place in our own day, but there is the matter of wisdom. Do we actually believe that China is a reed upon which we can lean? What are the reasons that we give for the alliance which we have struck?

Is it righteousness? Or is it profit? Is it the sinking dollar? Is it the prospect The prospect of an incredible resource of cheap labor. Is it entering into the balance of trade and the balance of power? And what some analyzers of the modern corporate scene have called gamemanship. There’s wisdom in the Word. And it should be wisdom that we apply to the situations at hand. Well, that’s the historical background at least.

We have the last days then of the northern tribes. We have Jerusalem perched upon her mountain and she thinks that she’s unassailable, unable to be touched. We have the alliance of Syria and Israel against Judah. And we have Judah turning not to the Lord, but to the upstart kingdom of Assyria for help. In the midst of this, Isaiah has a message to speak. And his message has meaning on the background of hopelessness.

You see, the ten northern tribes had leaned upon Assyria for their aid, but they found that in the game of power politics and international intrigue, Syria was not reliable. It could not protect it against the onslaught of Assyria and Tiglath-Balazer. The ten northern tribes fell. and they fell in an irretrievable way. What is it like to live without hope? Can you imagine utter hopelessness, absolute despair? Have you ever thought of suicide? We have an example of hopelessness in our own most recent history.

The effect of Jonestown is beginning to wane, but I believe that the question that remains to be answered with regard to that event is, how can nearly a thousand people reach a state in their mind, collectively, in which they completely abandon all hope in this world? I think that for Americans, that’s what makes Jonestown incomprehensible. An American without hope? I can’t understand such a thing. The background of this portion of scripture that we’ve read this morning is hopelessness, utter hopelessness.

And Isaiah is playing upon the lesson in hopelessness that Judah should learn from the events that have transpired in the ten northern tribes. The lesson of the ten northern tribes is one that leads us into the depths of complete and utter despair. For here are ten tribes that were destroyed, literally destroyed, by the Assyrian army and led away captive in such a manner that their identity has been completely lost to history. That’s as if history has devoured them and there’s no trace of them left anywhere. Now, of course, we do have the modern theory that the nation of Britain is comprised of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel and the modern cult of the British Israelite-ish movement, and we also have the belief of the Mormon Church that the Ten Lost Tribes were the Aztecs and the Incas and the Mayas and the American Indians, and therefore they hold them in great respect and honor. But these constructions are mere fables, not true. The lesson of the ten northern tribes is a lesson in hopelessness and utter despair. And that is what is being described at the end of chapter eight. He’s describing the fate there of the ten northern tribes as they have been led into utter distress, darkness, and bloom of anguish.

They have been driven away into darkness, and you should read that as utter darkness, no light at all. The darkness and the anguish and the gloom that is in view here is literally, in the mind of the writer, the disappearance into death, the dissolution into nothingness, so that nothing is left and you are forgotten.

It is the ultimate judgment of God. This lesson then is given to Judah, the southern tribe, so that there would be no thought at all that God’s work and word and his judgments are idle threats. It’s on the background of hopelessness that the word of grace is given. And thus begins chapter 9. The correspondence in the mind of Isaiah is simply this, as with the ten northern tribes, so with Judah. except that with Judah now there is the word of grace, but that word of grace should always be measured by the seriousness of the threat of the lesson of the ten northern tribes, the threat of nothingness, the threat of extinction, the threat of the doom and darkness and gloom of irretrievable death. their experience in the future, as Isaiah foretells, will be one of being led away into exile, into captivity, much like the ten northern tribes. They are not permitted to think of that exile in any other terms than a descent into death from which there is never any hope of ever coming to life again, except by the promise of God.

And that is where the hope, the hope of Isaiah resides, that though it is true that Judah shall be led away in conformity to the judgment that had been meted out upon Israel, there will be that message that God Himself, by His power, will make again glorious that land that has been desolated. He will bring them back from the other side of the Jordan, and there, in Galilee of the Gentiles, the glorious light will begin to shine. It is that light that begins to appear when the Jews return from Babylon to be sure, when the remnant is returned to the land, but it is culminated only when the light of the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ appears in those northern calves. in those counties which were thought by every Jew to be thoroughly and completely desolate and worthless, to the extent that it had become a proverb in Israel to say these words, can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Does any prophet come from Nazareth? The scene of the glory of God will be the scene that he himself has made desolate to show to you that it is only by the power of God that there can be a reversal of all of these things that seem to have led into complete and utter despair.

In the middle of the message of doom and gloom, Isaiah preaches the message of Christmas promise. Only God can deliver, and there is no hope but in Him. The point is that dead men and women do nothing. Their condition is hopeless except God act. There is no light except God say, let there be light.

And that light shines in our hearts. Here begin the contours of gospel faith as well. not merely Christmas promise, but gospel faith. For you see, it is only those who hear the word of promise that survive. Habakkuk in his prophecy When he is reflecting upon these events, the devastation of the Babylonian army, the leading away of the people in the captivity, says, he that lives by faith shall be justified. The just man shall live by his faith. Even here, gospel is being preached. Even here in Isaiah, 700 years before the coming of Christ, the message is being proclaimed.

He who holds on to the promise of God by faith, though he descends into hell, though he goes down into a pit from which there is no rescue, though he goes into utter darkness and gloom, The man who holds on to faith will be raised up, will be resurrected, and the light will shine upon him. It will be by the act of God and him alone, so that you should not boast in yourselves. There are important things for us to say at this time of the year in light of what Isaiah says.

We all know the Christmas spirit, how it has been secularized and how every aspect of Christ himself has been excised from it. I think on the one hand the Christmas spirit says something like this, well, people are really good after all. And Christmas time is a time for believing the best about your fellow man. Because, after all, people are good.

They are not. But you see, it’s not our custom to send Christmas cards, nor is it the custom of Hallmark or any other card company to produce Christmas cards that say, repent because if you don’t repent, you’re going to hell. That wouldn’t be very good business, I guess. But that’s the message, you see, of Isaiah. That’s his Christmas card. That’s the kind of message he’s handing out to Ahaz and the people of Jerusalem in his day. What is awaiting you is exactly what’s taken place to the ten northern tribes. Unless you believe in the promise of God, you will share their fate.

I think on the other hand, the Christmas spirit says, well, God, if there is a God, must be nice. If he looks like anything, he looks like Santa Claus, except he has white sheets on instead of a red suit. And after all, God loves us regardless of what might be true of us.

And I think that this comes from a loose understanding of what the angels say when they visited the shepherds. You know how that passage has come down to us. Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men. This is how that passage should read. living to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom he is well pleased.”

The spirit of Christmas is not that God loves us anyway, regardless. The message of Christmas is God keeps covenant for the sake of those who believe. And that’s why you see in Isaiah’s prophecy there in the eighth chapter, he has spoken about the law and the testimony, and those who have given themselves to the law and the testimony of God, that being the focus of their faith and their commitment. Less and less people in our world understand this kind of Christian and Christmas greeting.

The seriousness of sin and its threat. The call for faith. The firm assurance and promises of God. A God who alone is able to deliver us from the pits of hell and death. Let’s learn to rejoice with that kind of background in mind, for having seen that we have been rescued from utter despair, death of an irretrievable kind, let us praise our God and his Father in heaven, we thank you for the ministry and the work of Isaiah the prophet, who preached the gospel to his own generation. We rejoice, Lord, in your calling of him and the sealing of his ministry in the temple, when he had the vision of the great glory of God and his Messiah. We pray now, Lord, that as he confessed that he was not worthy a man of unclean lips who dwelt in the midst of a people of unclean lips, that we too would receive of you your cleansing and sanctifying ministry, so that we, our God, might stand with him, receptive, having humbly believed the message of judgment with regard to ourselves, and embraced the message of deliverance through the arrival of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray these things now, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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

December 31, 1978
The Child Called Wonderful

This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Christmas” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, December 31, 1978.

About this sermon

Isaiah uses the child as a symbol, and a barren woman conceives by God’s power alone. Isaiah 9:6 names the child Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. The minister’s job is to proclaim that child, and the church confesses him.

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Sermon transcript

Our text this morning is Isaiah chapter nine, verse six. Isaiah chapter nine, verse six. For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will rest on his shoulders, and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace.

Briefly, our God, we would halt before we speak to ask of you that the word proclaimed would come from you and not from us, and that our spirits would agree with the intent and purpose which you have intended. Our God, forgive us, for we have been hesitant to be obedient We have refused our God to show our love as we ought. And now, our Father, hearing your word, we would repent and renew our faith and obedience to our Lord. We pray, our God, that you will keep us in your care and guide us in the road that we should travel. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

What is it about a child, a child that causes us, often for unknown reasons, to be so joyful, to be so exuberant, to renew our hope? I don’t know, sometimes when I got discouraged in Carrington, New Jersey, my former congregation, I always was grateful that God sent us, our own family, a child, because it was with the coming of the child that our spirits seemed to lift. And by seeing the child, we even gained new hope for the congregation that we were serving. and how often true that is for a family. Spirits are low, problems in the home, husbands and wives at each other’s throats, but the child comes and suddenly things are laid aside and there’s a new harmony, a new hope, a new joy. It’s almost as if new life has come. Child, the child of hope. This is an ancient thing. It’s an ancient habit. As long as there has been mankind, the child has been the symbol of hope and expectation. From the first promise given to sinful Eve and Adam. to the promise, the expectation that was given to Abraham, the promise and expectation of the child about which this passage concerns itself this morning.

There was a sign given to old Ahaz, king of Judah, He ruled in Jerusalem, but not wisely, not according to the commandments of God. In fact, we learn from ancient history, and from the word reported in the Bible, that he caused his own child to pass through the fire, which means that he sacrificed his child to a foreign and heathen God. To this king there came a word spoken by Isaiah. Isaiah, who had asked Ahaz to demand of God a sign, spoke to Ahaz when Ahaz said, Oh, I wouldn’t ask for a sign. Under his breath he was saying, I don’t even believe in this God.

But nonetheless, the sign was to be that a virgin would conceive and bear a son, and his name would be called Emmanuel, God with us. The names of Isaiah’s children also spoke prophecy, spoke hope to Israel to Judah in her future. In the seventh chapter, we read that one of Isaiah’s sons’ names was Shir Jeshu, a funny name, to our way of thinking, but a beautiful name in Hebrew. It means, the remnant shall return. so that the child itself in Israel was a symbol of hope. It was a symbol of Messianic expectation, the coming of the promised one, the expectation of Jerusalem’s deliverance. Because of this hope associated with the child, in scripture bearmanness or inability to bear was a particular problem.

It was almost as if the woman who could not bear was devoid of hope. She had no hope. She was not one who would experience the kind of life the kind of hopefulness and exhilaration that a woman who did bear children would. But barrenness in the scriptures is also a sign to us, so that the women who were barren and spoken of in the Word become for us a symbol, a sign of the inability The inability of man, of our inability, to bring forth our own hope and our own deliverance.

The barren woman is then shut up to God alone, and except God act, she will not know joy. Except God intervene, she will not be delivered. Except God act, Sarah will never mother a child. Except God act, Hannah’s reproach will remain upon her. Unless God, in the mercy of miracle, hear the prayer There will be no child, and there will be no joy, and there will be no life. These people then are like, these women then are like the people of God, whose hope cannot be even conceived, let alone born, except by God.

This verse, this morning, is the conclusion of a very powerful passage. It spells out for us the last factor, the ultimate reason and cause of the coming glory that is mentioned in the first verse of this prophecy. but there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish in earlier times. God treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on he shall make it glorious.” The cause of the great glory coming is the child spoken of. It is He who shall be the source of the great light that rises upon those who dwell in darkness. He will be the cause for the multiplication of the nation and the abundance of joy, and He it will be who is the source of the presence of God.” Verse 6 then of Isaiah 9 begins by stating, that the child will be born to us, a son will be given to us. There are two things that we should notice then about this opening.

Isaiah here is speaking on behalf of those who will keep faith with God, even though they, according to the word of the prophet, will go down into darkness and experience exile, according to the judgments of God upon them as a nation. Though they descend into darkness, they will keep faith with God. will then by their faith be declared to be righteous. And in that circumstance, the righteous man will live by his faith, and only by his faith will he endure. And that faith is not some sort of nondescript optimism. but confident faith in the promises of God who has spoken His word.

Isaiah speaks on behalf of them. The us of that passage is the faithful. The faithful remnant, those who endure, those who have not broken faith with God, who have maintained the covenant by their faith in Him. This is not to say that they are perfect. This is not to say that they are without sin. It is merely to say that the direction of their life, the commitment of their heart, is to God.

It is as if then we are to see this remnant as the barren mother The faithful themselves, who cannot of themselves produce deliverance, cannot bring forth joy. The exhilaration of the new life will not issue from them unless God acts, unless God intervenes.

This child born, promised, then is to be seen as our child, our son. He belongs to us, and the message of the prophecy is so that you might understand that. The stress here, then, is not that the child is the son of God. but that the child is the son of the faithful remnant. He belongs to us. The remnant, as I have said, in the second place is to be understood then as unable to produce, as down. She cannot produce, and therefore the son must be given. The son must be a gift. The Son, then, is the product of God, who alone can accomplish this. And how the degree of difficulty is compounded when in the hour of fulfillment we discover that the woman, Mary, is not barren, but a virgin.

But this child, so verse 6 tells us, is meant for rule. The government will rest upon his shoulders, and in this he contrasts the misrule of Israel, the misrule of Judah and her kings, who for their own self-indulgence have sold Jehovah. This child answers also the tyranny and oppression of the Gentiles, and it is by this child that the boot of every warrior is consigned to the fire. The child is not misshapen for rule, so as to be childish in his irresponsibility, so as to play at his job, or to look at his job as if it were play. And there needs to be a word spoken today about this very thing.

Because within the Reformed community it has become the habit of some to begin to speak of their tasks as mere celebration, and celebration only. That can be nothing but a misrepresentation of facts to which each of us can attest. Work is not mere celebration.

It’s hard. It’s exacting. Especially for those who work well. And who works well? The son. The son works well, who bears the government upon his shoulder. He is not playing at the job. He remembers whose child he is. It is not at this point that we speak of him as the child of God, but our child, and he keeps faith and he rules for us, and he works hard at his job for us.

He alone has the strength to bear the load of such government that is placed upon his shoulders, and he discharges his office faithfully. And I love the phrase of Calvin, not merely with the tips of his fingers, but with his full strength. The image that you should have in your mind is a man stripped to his waist, putting his full strength into the job. Not some sort of a feminist king who sits upon some throne eating dainties all day, delighting in people merely coming to serve his whim and his wish.

He is a child fit for the task. He bears the burden, he does the work, he does it with all his strength and for you. Although he is a child, and our child, And we name him. The naming of this child is something that takes place in the experiencing of his wonderful ministry for us. And as we know him, we come to name him in such a way as to burst human containment. As a counselor, he’s a wonder. That is, he’s incomprehensible. He’s without human equivalent. He’s awe-inspiring in the wisdom that he displays.

We are left dumbfounded before his counsel. Before him and his word of wisdom, we are left speechless. much like many of those who came to confound him in the days of his flesh. They were left without a word, without a retort. They had no comeback, even though they were trained to debate. Here is a king, a wonder of a counselor, who needs no staff of advisors, He needs no cabinet, for all the wisdom is in him.

We shall give him this name, Wonderful Counselor. It will be our confession when we have beheld how he, by his counsel, has preserved us. It is by his word of wisdom that we endure. And we survive, and we maintain faith, and we live as we are. How beautiful the benediction of the book of Jude is. Now unto him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise Why does Jude put wise in there? To the only wise God our Savior. Because by His wisdom, we are preserved. Only His wisdom will do it.

I am somewhat amused at the little volumes that appear on the bookshelves, the wit and wisdom of this celebrity, that celebrity, this governmental figure, that president. Here’s the counseling. We will be able then to cry out with Paul, O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments, and unfathomable his ways. For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has become his counsel? We will profess with the Apostle, in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Beyond that, we will also pronounce upon him, this child of ours, the name Mighty God.

No counseling for this king that leaves the advice suspended someplace near the ceiling over your head. Advice suspended someplace in theory dangling as pious advice. Words of wisdom, words to live by, if you so chose, so choose. Not advice or counsel that’s cooped up in the remote and removed quarters of the counseling center.

No. But in the thick of things, this one, this counselor, as the mighty God, will execute his counsel for us. By the root of power he ensures his word and will keep his word. The mighty God proves the match for all of those things that are aligned against us and whose intent is the overthrowing of our faith. Our mighty God proves the match for the principalities and powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, the spiritual wickedness in high places. By Him we are preserved, not merely by His counsel, but by His might, and His might is the very might of God.

By this the remnant shall endure, and the faithful in every generation shall survive. Jesus says, he who endures to the end shall be saved. We call Him the Eternal Father, or the Father of Eternity, or the Father of the Age to Come, because He, as Father, is the One who is the author of everlasting life, and everlasting, eternal life proceeds from Him. As Father, He gives life to all His children, to His Church, to His people who live by His Word. And as Father, he tenderly cares for those who are his children and who have passed from death to life and now are his children forever.

Our confession ends with the phrase, Prince of Peace. And here, one can be lost in a good sense. Not in the bad sense of being lost in darkness, but lost in peace. in an incomprehensible peace, in a peace that passes all understanding, for it is this peace which this prince affords us. He ushers us into the realm of peace which secures the conscience of each of his children against the accusations of Satan. The realm of peace belongs to him and preaches to us the prosperity of life with our king, for with him at the father’s right hand there are pleasures and treasures forevermore.

Here is our child, our son, and these are the names that we give to him. We were without power to conceive We were unable to bring him forth, but by the power of God he has been born to us and for us. And now, observing him, we are compelled to call him Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace.

That is our confession about this child. This is no description of a superstar, a superhero, Superman. And none of those descriptions are adequate. To apply to him merely human title to us who have found him to be what our confession declares is sheer foolishness. We stake our stand with a man who finds himself with a group of other men inside a closed upper room. He’s been a doubter.

But now he sees the risen Christ. He says, my Lord and my God. We confess with those who at Nicaea in the year 325 A.D. spoke of Jesus in these words. God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God. With those at Westminster who confessed Him to be the Very and Eternal God.

What about herself? Can you number yourself with the faithful remnant to whom this child has been given? And is it your confession that now names the child that has been born? Are you able, with all of your heart, to say of Him that He is for you the wonderful Counselor, the mighty God, Father of eternal life, the Prince of your peace. If you can say that, you will live forever with Him. If you cannot, the faith of Israel and Judah shall be yours.

Our Father in Heaven, we do ask you that our confession might be triumphant and and that all gathered here today may join in naming the child with their confession. O Lord, may it be that we see your son at your right hand as the one who is the very fullness of wisdom, the strength and light of our God, the source of eternal life, the One who conveys to us the peace that passes all understanding. Now, Father, may we add our voices to those in every age with the remnant of Isaiah’s day, taking our stand with the prophets and the apostles and your people, and as your Church May we live in the might and glory and counsel and wisdom and peace of our Redeemer for eternity.

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.

December 31, 1978