Grace OPC Sewickley PA

Sermon Series: Considering the Church

  • Money as Blessing and Curse

    Money as Blessing and Curse

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Considering the Church” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, February 6, 1994.

    About this sermon

    The Old Testament treats money as both a real blessing and a real danger, and 1 Timothy 6 keeps that tension by calling riches a temptation. Against that backdrop, ‘poor in spirit’ describes a posture toward wealth more than literal poverty. The New Testament counts a different kind of wealth than a full bank account.

    More sermons from 1 Corinthians · Browse all sermons

    Sermon transcript

    We begin our scripture reading this morning in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. We are at chapter 9, and once more we are beginning our reading at verse 1. This is 1 Corinthians chapter 9, and we are beginning at verse 1, and I will be reading from the New American Standard Version. Give your attention to the Word of God.

    Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. My defense to those who examine me is this. Do we not have a right to eat and drink? Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?

    Or do only Barnabas and I not have a right to refrain from working? Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants the vineyard and does not eat the fruit of it? Or who tends the flock and does not use the milk of the flock? I am not speaking these things according to human judgment, am I? Or does not the law also say these things? For it is written in the law of Moses, You shall not muzzle the ox when he is threshing. God is not concerned about oxen, is he? Or is he speaking altogether for our sake? Yes, for our sake it was written, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the crops.

    If we showed spiritual things to you, is it too much if we should reap material things from you? If others share the right over you, do not we more? Nevertheless, we did not use this right, but we endure all things that we may cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ. Do you not know that those who perform sacred services eat the food of the temple? Those who attend regularly to the altar have their share with the altar. So also the Lord directed that those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel.

    But I have used none of these things, and I am not writing these things that it may be done so in my case. For it would be better for me to die than have any man make my boast an empty one. For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion. For woe is me if I preach not the gospel. For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward. But if, against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me, what then is my reward? That when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

    For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, that I might win the more.” turning his gaze on his disciples, he began to say, “‘Blessed are you, the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall Blessed are you when men hate you and ostracize you and heap insults upon you and spurn your name as evil for the sake of the Son of Man. Be glad on that day and weep for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven, for in the same manner their fathers used to treat the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full.”

    Pray with me now. What a comfort you are to us You are the supreme comfort, O God, and we find our rest in You. And though we have been foolish, sinfully foolish, may we not be foolish any longer. But find, Lord, Your Word to be that source of comfort for us. Bless us in the full range of that word, your inspired word. While it is comforting to us, it might also correct us. Lord, may we be corrected by your loving hand, knowing that we are disciplined by a Father who cares for us infinitely.

    We pray this through Jesus, your Son, This morning I am preaching on a subject I have rarely preached on in my ministry. The Church and money. Now, I have often used the moments before the morning offering to call again to your attention a specific text that speaks to you about your gifts and your offerings. I have also used that occasion to deliver to you brief reminders and encouragements, and even short homilies on your Christian duty. Today, in the course of this present series, considering the Church, we begin to deal with this matter of the Church and money more in depth, building to another look at that ninth chapter in 1 Corinthians and other texts in the Corinthian correspondence.

    Do I have to say something to you about your attitude towards money? may well be necessary at all times for the minister of the Word to point out to the people of God their responsibilities, and also that attitude which they should cultivate toward money. Dangers come and dangers go, to be sure. But there is always that threat that our attention will be diverted, we will look away from our goals, from the prize promised us, because of money, because of even prosperity.

    Looking first of all through the Old Testament in this regard. We note that wealth in the Old Testament is viewed as a mark of prosperity. Prosperity given by God, a testament to God’s blessing. And in this regard, to think of the patriarchs, think specifically of Genesis 13 verse 2, where we hear about Abram. Abram was very rich in livestock, we read, and in silver and in gold, and we understand that these blessings that came to Abram were, in fact, the gifts of God. Moving along in the Genesis account, we come to others. For instance, we come to and know that God prospered Jacob while he was in the house of Laban, his uncle. We need not stop here.

    We can think of the entirety of the Pentateuch, those first five books of the Old Testament, and the testimony that they give again and again in this matter of prosperity and blessing related to that prosperity, even from the hand of God. We think of the covenant as it is expressed in those Pentateuchal books. We think specifically of Deuteronomy and the way in which blessing is mentioned, reflected upon there.

    Blessing and material enrichment, these coming to God’s people as His gifts to them, but also as reward in the covenant. and also with respect to Israel’s obedience. Look, for instance, at Deuteronomy chapter 28 and the blessings enumerated in that chapter. You can scan the chapter, look down through it, see that in view here is the promise in light of the prospect of the land into which the Israelites will enter. But having entered the land, they are to stand at Gerizim, and there they are to have the blessings of the covenant enumerated for them with respect to them. These blessings reflecting upon the material enrichment that the children of God will enjoy.

    But we do not stop, of course, with the Pentateuch. We have also the Psalms. and the witness that the Psalms bear to this very thing. The material enrichment and prosperity of the people of God is spoken of time and time again. We turn to the book of Proverbs, for instance. There is much confusion about the book of Proverbs, even with respect to this matter of prosperity, but here we see again and again this matter of prosperity related to obedience to the Lord, that, in fact, what the Lord will confer upon his children in this covenantal bond that he sustains to them. We think of the book of Job. We think of how Job was a rich man, how he lost his wealth, but then by the 42nd chapter of Job, that wealth is restored to him as a testament of God’s blessing to him.

    Now, not that the Old Testament doesn’t let loose against the vanities of riches, and against the vanity of the rich. Not that we don’t find in the Old Testament the prophet’s voice raised against the financially fat, who in the name of their own greed, for the sake of their own greed, devour the poor and incur the wrath of the Lord. If you need an example of this, I direct your attention to the prophecy of Amos, where in that book the prophet Amos will continually bring the word of God to bear upon those who are in fact rich, and in their riches, in their prosperity, take advantage of those who are poor. But Amos is no exception in the Old Testament, we find. What Amos has to say is echoed throughout the entirety of the Old Testament. The Old Testament, then, speaks out against the wicked rich.

    That, to be sure, but it also preaches, as we have noted, prosperity as God’s gift and reward. Take stock, then, of this pattern that we find in the Old Testament. On the one hand, the Old Testament speaking out against the wicked rich, and at the same time preaching prosperity as God’s gift and reward. Now think about the New Testament. Think of what we find in the New Testament.

    One searches in vain, one searches in vain in the New Testament for that message that worldly prosperity and wealth is an indication of God’s blessing. One searches the New Testament in vain for that message that worldly prosperity and wealth is a testimony of God’s blessing. Now, some have suggested that the parable of the talents upholds the message of Old Testament prosperity in a New Testament setting. But the parable of the talents isn’t really about financial prosperity, is it?

    The New Testament message, then, is consistent. representative of that message is what we find in 1 Timothy 6, specifically verses 17-19. This is what Paul says, 1 Timothy 6, 17-19. Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future. so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.” Now, you may let your eyes review the entirety of that sixth chapter, that marvelous sixth chapter of 1 Timothy, particularly running up to the sixth verse of that very chapter, where you find these words. But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, and it is certain that we will carry nothing out. And if we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.

    But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare. and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many a pain.

    But flee from these things, you men of God, and pursue after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. fight the good fight of faith, take hold of eternal life to which you were called, and you made a good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” These words from the Apostle Paul have in them the sound of words from our Savior. I have in mind in this respect what we find in Matthew’s Gospel, the sixth chapter, verses 19 through 21, words that I’m sure some of you can rattle off from memory. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moths and rust corrupt, and thieves break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

    You will recall as well, as we have been reminded this morning from our reading, that Jesus speaks very bluntly about the rich. Luke 6 verse 24. Woe to the rich, Jesus says, for you are receiving your comfort in full. This, he says, you will note, in deference to the poor, about whom he has already spoken in the twentieth verse of that sixth chapter, where he says, Blessed are you, the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

    Now, I hope that none of us here is so naive or ignorant to think that Jesus is speaking about the poor indiscriminately when he speaks these words and in this fashion. There are those, yes, even within the Church of Jesus Christ, who are worse than naive and worse than ignorant. In fact, they are blind and they are wicked. having taken Jesus’ words at this point and turned them into the apology for a gospel that has in view not eternal life, but a better life. As if Jesus’ prime interest was, yes, transforming the state of the poor of this world so that they might in fact become the rich. that isn’t his intention at all, or that Jesus in this text, in these verses, is speaking indiscriminately about the poor of the whole world. Jesus, in fact, has his people specifically in view. He is not laying out his program for social transformation. Jesus is not a social engineer. Jesus’ concern is for his Church. Jesus’ concern is for his people.

    He is describing his people in this Luke text passage as the poor. His people are the poor. If you are a part of the people of God, you are being described by your Lord as the poor. But why should Jesus describe you as the poor? Why should Jesus describe, why should he identify his people specifically as the poor? Is it because his people must see themselves as spiritually and morally bankrupt? with no true religious currency by which they might barter or buy their way back into God’s favor.

    I’m fully aware that such is the precise interpretation given by so many—in fact, by so many conservatives and evangelicals—with respect to this text in Luke 6. These who understand this text this way go on to cite Matthew 5, verse 3, the first of the Beatitudes, and Jesus’ statement there, “…blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Claiming that Jesus cannot have in mind anything but spiritual and moral poverty, the spiritual and moral poverty of those he blesses. these who approach these texts this way, then blend together the Matthew text with the Luke text, and tell us that we must understand the Luke text in light of the Matthew text, and that both texts are telling us about the same thing, namely the spiritual and moral poverty of the people of God. This means that Jesus, in his first beatitude, according to this approach, is talking about the process of conversion and the fact that only those who admit their spiritual and moral poverty before God are blessed with and in the kingdom of heaven. Now, let me say before we go on, I fully agree that our abject humility and contrite brokenness as sinful creatures before an absolutely holy God is necessary for us to be blessed in the kingdom of God.

    And that teaching is abundantly evident everywhere throughout the entirety of Scripture, and is certainly the position of Jesus Christ. But that is not what Jesus is speaking about in these texts, in the Matthew text or in the Luke text. Instead, Jesus is describing here his people as the poor, yes, as the literal poor, as those who are the impoverished, as those who are without this world’s guilt. They are so described because, as before, there are those who have their wealth elsewhere. There are those who have their wealth elsewhere. How does it go for you? Who are in school these days? Is the ambition money? Is that why you study? Is that what your education is all about? More money?

    Jesus describes his people as the poor because they have their wealth elsewhere. He also describes them as the poor because they in this world are the weak and even disreputable. They are the hated. Because of the poor, they are the victims of those who are rich in the things of this world. Now, think of the justification which those who are rich in Israel would provide for themselves in light of Jesus’ preaching on this matter. Surely Jesus’ message about the poor is a surprise to them. Wasn’t the objective in Israel to become rich? Wasn’t it property within the territories of the promised land? Wasn’t it material advancement for you and for your family? Wasn’t it the guarantees that such advancement would afford you?

    So now you have these Jews reacting to the way in which Jesus expresses himself, they claiming their prosperity as a defense against Jesus’ very message, and going so far as to say, we have the Old Testament on our side. God’s gift and reward to me is in fact my prosperity. This prosperity that I enjoy, this wealth which has come to me, has in fact been a worthy goal in itself, a worthy objective for my life to which I could commit myself. God wants me rich. And this is what I have to say to you, Jesus. I can cite chapter and verse.

    Let me introduce you to a young man, a young Jew. He is known in the scriptures as the rich young ruler. And let me tell you that this rich young man has no other thoughts than those that I just expressed. And he imagines himself on good and solid Old Testament ground in maintaining those thoughts. but I will go further. You remember the scene, Luke 18, Jesus on his way to Jerusalem, confronted by this rich young man. The disciples are there with Jesus, and you see, Jesus’ disciples in that context have no other thoughts than those which this rich young man has himself.

    You see, their idea of the kingdom meant a great and marvelous change for them, such a change that they would become like this rich young ruler. That is why they are on their way to Jerusalem. Thrones have been promised to them in the kingdom of God. They believe that they have the promise of becoming worldly successful by following Jesus. They believe that they have the promise of becoming wealthy, of becoming rulers. The rich young ruler standing in front of them on that occasion was in fact their role model.

    Their reading of the Old Testament, along with the reading of the Old Testament by the rich young ruler, had taught them in their expectation to expect nothing less than enrichment. material enrichment upon their arrival in Jerusalem. But how wrong they were.

    As disciples of Jesus, they are defined as the poor. As disciples of Jesus, they are defined by Jesus himself, who was the one who had nowhere to lay his head. the one who was going to Jerusalem not to set up some kingdom in the earth, but to die upon a cross. The one who was going to Jerusalem to die as someone judged disreputable, as a victim of the wealthy and the powerful. Jesus was in fact poorer in this world, but as you know, he was poor and that in deference to the true wealth that he knew awaited him in the treasures of heaven. Those to which he would be brought by way of resurrection. Resurrection from the grave.

    And it is here, you see, at the cross that the message from the Old Testament, that Old Testament that we love, The message from the Old Testament about wealth is properly exegeted and interpreted. It is as if such wealth as is spoken about in the Old Testament was always to be viewed by the Old Testament saints as transparent. That is to say, it was to be viewed in such a way that they could always look through it to something greater. to something eternally permanent, to the wealth of glory, and even to God himself, our true reward. This was the case with Abraham, was it not? That Old Testament rich man Is this not what the epistle to the Hebrews tells us about Abraham, that he looked through the wealth that had been given to him in this world?

    He, with others, according to Hebrews 11.16, desired a better country, that is, a heavenly one.

    Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for As the Old Testament then itself testifies, when read aright, when read in light of the cross of Jesus Christ, when read in light of his resurrection and the eternal glory given to him. As the Old Testament itself testifies, when read aright, the believer, the believer who says, my soul waits in silence for God only. Psalm 62 verse 1. is also that believer who goes on to say, if riches increase, set not your heart upon them. Psalm 62, verse 10.

    We then, with God’s saints, Old Testament saints and new, are the poor, regardless of our financial standing, and regardless of where we may find ourselves in the course of history, up until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our hope is not the reversal of our financial condition in this world. That is not our hope. Our hope is the riches and glory of heaven. For we are those awaiting God, fixing our hope in him, who shall bring us into his heavenly to see our Savior, the One who became poor for our sakes, so that we might enjoy Him and His riches above, when this world and all of its wealth are no more.

    It is in fact, O God, a great temptation to us to think that our lives depend upon our financial standing, upon our material wealth. How foolish we are, O God. We ask you, Lord, that our foolishness would not become overt wickedness. by which we prefer the wealth of this world to you. In fact, become willing to compromise you for the sake of the promise of this world. O God, as the poor, we know that our wealth and treasure is elsewhere. But we also know, O God, that as such we will be those who are hated by the world. The world displaces all of its stock in material advancement and in wealth. Preserve us as your people, that we might delight in the way in which you, in your Son, have described us. the poor who are blessed, to whom are given the kingdom of 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.

  • Free Enough to Be a Slave

    Free Enough to Be a Slave

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Considering the Church” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, January 23, 1994.

    About this sermon

    The 1960s produced two rival idols, the worship of government and the worship of personal freedom, and Scripture opposes both. In 1 Corinthians 9:19 Paul is free enough to make himself a slave to everyone, and that paradox cuts against both idols at once. Real liberty shows in what a person is free to give up.

    More sermons from 1 Corinthians · Browse all sermons

    Sermon transcript

    We read this morning from 1 Corinthians 9, and we are beginning with verse 1. This is 1 Corinthians 9, beginning at verse 1, and I want you to give your attention to the word of God. I am reading from the New American Standard. Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus, our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. My defense to those who examine me is this. Do we not have a right to eat and drink? Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord even seek us?

    Or do only Barnabas and I not have the right to refrain from working? Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat the fruit of it? Or who tends a flock and does not use the milk of the flock? I am not speaking these things according to human judgment, am I? Or does not the law also say these things? For it is written in the law of Moses, You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing. God is not concerned about oxen, is he?

    Or is he speaking altogether for our sake? For our sake it was written because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the cross. If we sowed spiritual things to you, is it too much? If we should reap material things from you, if others share the right over you, do not we more?

    Nevertheless, we do not use this right. that endure all things, that we may cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ. Do you not know that those who perform sacred services eat the food of the temple, and those who attend regularly to the altar have their share with the altar? So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel.

    But I have used none of these things. and I am not writing these things that it may be done so in my case. For it would be better for me to die than have any man make my boast an empty one. For if I preach the gospel I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion, for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. For if I do this voluntarily I have a reward, but if against my will I have a stewardship entrusted to me. What then is my reward? That when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, that I might win the more.

    Let’s pray together. We are drawn together, our God, before your word. Lord, we would have your word central to our experience as believers and even to the experience of this church. May we honor you and honor your word. May we receive, then, your word as that infallible truth inspired by you through your servants. O God, may we hear. May our hearing be obedient. hearing. We ask it for the sake of Christ, who always heard and obeyed perfectly. Amen. At the end of the sixties, a British television program made its way across the Atlantic, and for a while captured the minds of all of us restless, yet so intelligent types.

    The program was called The Prisoner. It starred Patrick McGowan in the role of a man attempting to quit the system, particularly the political intelligence system. Each episode opened with what became a famous sequence, so expressive of the mood of the time, and even my own. McGowan was seen running along a deserted beach as if pursued by some unseen force, then stopping to raise his clenched fist to the heavens and cry, I am not a number, but a free man. who would have rather missed the Super Bowl, maybe even in those days much more easily missed church than missed the next episode of The Prisoner, understood the storyline to be more complex than just another exercise in bashing the establishment. The political intelligence system that had McGowan by the throat, or No. 6 as he was known in the program, was only a symbol, a symbol for the forces of that which is inevitable, fate itself, if you will. those unavoidable pressures of existence by which we perceive that we are anything but free.

    Those of us who were the devotees of that program decided, with McGowan and a whole host of others in our corner, life was, above all, unfair. life was, above all, unfair. And that our major task in life was to let everyone, including God, know just how unfair everything was. Of course, the truly profound and original impulse of the sixties was that of the heroic stand against the inevitability of fate. Here was the true rebel, not the one who foolishly sought to change what could not be changed. but the one who defiantly scorned all convention, and even those silly thoughts that, indeed, things might be changed.

    The true hero, for those who represented that original impulse behind the pullments of the came out of Greek mythology. His name was Sisyphus. Do you remember Sisyphus? He’s from mythology doomed in Hades to roll that incredibly large boulder up that incredibly steep hill, only to see that incredibly large boulder roll down that incredibly steep hill so that he can roll it back up that hill again. Here was the true rebel if in fact we were able to conclude that Sisyphus was happy. Happy since only in his happiness, by his happiness, does he defy the forces that first consigned him to Hades, and then to compel him to roll that silly rock up that wall.

    Here then was, yes, the true hero as the true and consummate rebel. Those who put Sisyphus forth as the hero of the age were not too interested, however, in figures that rose out of the Bible. For example, as a true rebel, Jesus failed. You see, the true rebel, when perched on that pinnacle of the temple, the true rebel, when perched on that pinnacle of the temple, would have chosen to stand there, to teeter there forever, rather than to give in either to Satan or to God. Only then could the true rebel experience true freedom and find his true self Apart from any external constraint or definition, whether that constraint came from below or from above. Jesus was mistaken. He took the easy route out. He appealed to an authority over against Satan. He appealed to Scripture. Jesus was not free. Jesus is no true hero. He is no true rebel.

    Here, then, was the profound and original impulse of the pursuit of freedom in the sixties, as it developed out of the atheistic French existential philosophy of John Paul and even more consistently out of Albert Camus. It’s important for you to realize that this original impulse for that pursuit of freedom had in fact broken ranks with classical liberalism that came to expression at the end of the and at the beginning of the 20th century.

    You see, existentialism is thoroughly pessimistic about the world and about society. It is also completely pessimistic about humanity, except when the individual, in an act of the will, finds freedom through resistance to all external restraint. here is true authentication of one’s being. Liberalism, on the other hand, was incurably optimistic about both humanity and its institutions. As liberalism moved through the sixties, However, it capitalized on the existentialist’s veneration of personal freedom, but it refused to accept his position on the omnivorous and inevitable power of faith. Liberalism did in fact take up the pervasive, persistent gripe of existentialism. Indeed, life is unfair, it is unjust, seemingly.

    But this gripe, with only despair, driving us to the real heroism. For real heroes don’t retire to a self-satisfied state of rebellious defiance. Real heroes don’t cage into fate. Real heroes stand up for the purpose of changing, if you will, if you can imagine it, the course of fate itself.

    After all, to the extent that we can speak about the divine, to the extent that we can speak about God, we ourselves are divine. We are gods who are at work. on the perfection of this world and the realization of an environment in which we will all be able to arrive at our full potential and our complete happiness. Man’s chief end is to glorify himself and to enjoy himself forever.

    Of course, what we have learned from the sixties is the value of the establishment for the achieving of these admirable goals. Thank goodness we have outgrown the forewarned dissent of Bob Dylan and the adolescent whine of the Doors, Tom Haven and Jerry Rubin. Thank God that we have moved beyond the appeals for violent revolution from the Black Panthers, the radicals of the SBA, and Elijah Muhammad. We may now realize, having come through this experience of the sixties, this experience that Oliver Stone wants to continually remind us of. We must now realize, as strange as it may sound, more than ever, you see, the establishment, but particularly the government, the political machine, is the vehicle for the accomplishment of our goals.

    In fact, only government, the collective effort of humanity, this in fact defining the collective effort of humanity, can superintend and secure our liberation. That political and social liberation of which we are speaking being our only true and worthy objective. The only worthy objective to which we can commit our lives, and to be denied a role in this collective effort, is to be denied any true humanity. We’re not fully human. if we are not participants in the collective effort. Government then is called upon to see to it that we are empowered to participate in the process. Government realizing then, of course, that without us being fully empowered, the dream which is government’s to realize, remains unfulfilled.

    Now if you have been paying attention and have not slept through the last few years, you know that I have just described in part the state of the nation. and the mindset of the liberal machine presently at the helm of government. Indeed, government is the savior. In fact, government is Messiah. It has become the railroad we may in fact be railroaded, it has become the railroad to a new celestial city. In the words of Nathaniel Hawthorne, the true and only heaven that is completely realizable without leaving this world at all.

    But of course, this is but a partial description of the state of things. I say that because there are those, not liberals, but conservatives, for example, who identify government not as Messiah, but as Antichrist. this enterprise standing over against the real messiah themselves.

    The only genuine mission in life is the maximizing and maintaining of my personal individual freedom. And in the working out of that scenario, falls to the strongest. Survival of the fittest. Even fate itself must back down before my own indomitable individuality.

    A true and honorable government will honor my personal mission by not messing around in my personal affairs and by keeping its grubby hands out of my wallet. Now if, in this description of the conservative cause, you have discerned that it sounds very much like a variation on the theme that you heard out of liberalism than you have been listening quite carefully and correctly.

    Over events from both stands the word of God. The word of God prohibits the worship of all idols. Whether that idol be government for the realization of freedom, or be it that freedom itself The Word of God is also born to declare to the Church that this freedom, of which it has a great deal to say, that this freedom is given to us as a gift, that this freedom cannot be improved upon by us, nor can it be taken away from us by governments or human agencies or any other thing that exists within the created order.

    This freedom of which the scripture speaks is not bound by social convention or circumstance. It was received by slaves and women in the first century, by those who were high and by those who were low. It was received by those from all of the races of humanity. It was received and delighted in, given as it was by grace to them, irrespective of their social circumstance or their standing within society.

    The Christian has been made free by God through his sovereign work in Christ. this one Christ, then that one, in fact, who proves to be the means of God’s liberation. Paul speaks about his freedom at the opening of the ninth chapter of 1 Corinthians. That question that he asks, am I not free, is a question that we ask too. Of course, implying the answer in the asking of it. We are, I am, free. Indeed, Paul was free, as are we all who are in Christ.

    And that I tell you now, so that you do get it straight, even before and apart from the Magna Carta. even before and apart from the Declaration of Independence, even before and apart from the Emancipation Proclamation, the Civil Rights Bill, and the Equal Rights Amendment. Now, I do not mean disrespect to those Lords in England that convened before Prince John, or King John, the days of the signing of the Magna Carta. I am not here being disrespectful, I hope, to our Founding Fathers or to Abraham Lincoln or to Martin Luther King, Jr. I may hesitate with regard to Gloria Steinem, but truly I do not mean any disrespect to who are concerned about the equal treatment of women before the law.

    But hear me out in this. It is not, and I mean this with all respect, it is not, great God Almighty, I am free, free at last, as Martin Luther King said, in anticipation of the realization of his dream with respect to political racial equality. No! As hard as it is to say that in this setting, in this decade, in this century, no!

    Rather, it is, great God Almighty, I have been freed at the cross. And that’s to paraphrase Martin Luther, who himself echoed the Apostle Paul, both of whom gloried in the realization of their redemption in the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. This one who alone secures us in a freedom that will last forever. secures us in a freedom from all tyranny of sin, silk, Satan, and death, secures us from the tyranny of the law, even the tyranny of the law.

    But I want you to notice how wonderful this freedom is. How much then this man who speaks in 1 Corinthians is set apart even in his expression of the freedom which he claims, which does in fact become paradigm for you, pattern for you. Notice how wonderful, how glorious this freedom is of which he speaks.

    It is so wonderful that it can actually surrender its rights for the sake of others. It can actually surrender its power for the sake of others. It can even express itself. So free is it. It can even express itself in the language of slavery. Here is the true hero.

    He tells us that he hasn’t arrived in Philippians 3, but I tell you that here’s a man who has arrived as much as we will arrive in this world. So wonderful is the freedom of which he speaks that it could express itself in the language of slavery and still claim absolute freedom.

    Did you hear it? The 19th verse? Did you hear the man? Though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all that I might win the moon. I tell you, this is true freedom. I will not comment any further on this passage this morning. I leave you to wonder at it and to wonder about it.

    Help us, our Father, in this whole matter of freedom, which so easily becomes an idol detached from You, or even one over which we have laid language about You. Save us, O Lord, from worship at the altars of false gods. And may we know that the one who is true, the true God, has acted to set us free. For freedom we have been set free in Jesus Christ. May we know that the God who has so acted on our behalf, the one who continues to work in us, guaranteeing that freedom which no government can confer or remove. O God, may we also understand that in the course of time you have been pleased to grant to us many secular freedoms.

    May we honor you for that. May we respect these freedoms, and may we prove to be good stewards of them. And may we also be concerned, Lord, that as far as it lies with us, we treat people justly, evenly, and fairly. We pray these things for the sake of Christ This one, your son, has our allegiance. We know him, our God, to be the one true Messiah. We pray through him.

    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 Church Not of This World

    A Church Not of This World

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Considering the Church” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, January 16, 1994.

    About this sermon

    Scripture has its own gallery of political power-seekers, and Romans 13 sets the church’s citizenship against that whole pattern, since the church belongs to a kingdom not of this world while it lives under an earthly magistrate. Paul’s view of civil authority avoids both rebellion and idolatry. Freedom in Christ makes a Christian free to submit.

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    Sermon transcript

    Won’t you listen to the word of God? Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God. and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good work, but to the evil.

    Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same. For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid, for he bareth not the sword in vain, for he is the minister of God, the revenger, to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore, he must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. For for this cause pay ye tribute also, for they are God’s ministers attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.

    Owe no man anything but to love one another. For he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law for this. Thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet. And if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

    And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light, Let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof. Pray together now. Help us, Father, in this matter of your word and our attentiveness to it. Be gracious to us. We are easily distracted. We lose our focus. We lose our concentration.

    But Father, we pray for your blessed strength, your spirit at work in us, that we would give our attention to your word and its proclamation. Since we know, our Father, that you bless us in the word, by the word, and in the word our God. you have determined to communicate wonderful things. Be with us then, our God, throughout the remainder of this service, that we might honor you. We pray it in Jesus’ name. Amen.

    Ours is a world that idolizes political power. Ours is a world that idolizes political power. Just how much this idol has made inroads into our lives and minds can be judged by the amount of time we spend listening to, watching, reading about, discussing and analyzing, even debating the spectacle of political reality. It is not without reason that the book of Revelation portrays political power as a beast, capable of devouring us.

    Now, don’t misunderstand me. Some people work at politics legitimately. Some people work at politics because it’s their job, and there’s nothing wrong with a job in politics, with a job in government and for the government. Nor is there an inherent evil in seeking public office. Government is health, I think you will agree. by the presence of conscientious believers. It is my contention that Theophilus, the individual mentioned at the beginning of Luke’s Gospel, to whom that Gospel was addressed, and further to whom the Acts of the Apostles was addressed, was a public figure. He was a politician. who was in the employ of the government.

    So there’s nothing wrong with a job in government or in politics. So even though ours is a world that idolizes political power, we need not avoid politics as somehow unworthy of us or beneath us. Nor should we deny the right of those for whom politics has become something of a hobby. They acquainting themselves thoroughly with politics and interacting In fact, we have in this very church some who have made politics their hobby, who are hardly idolatrously obsessed with the subject. At least, I hope that is the case, and I’m sure they do too.

    But the Bible does tell us about many obsessed with politics and political power. You may remember the early chapters of 1 Samuel. The nation as a whole, the nation of Israel, approaches Samuel the prophet. making a specific request of him, we want a king like the kings of the other nations. Israel as a nation was becoming obsessed with politics and political power. There is an interesting verse further on in 1 Samuel, chapter 14, verse 47. It reads this way.

    Now, when Saul had taken the kingdom over Israel, there may be more to these words than meet the eye. In the immediate context, Saul in this text seems to be presented in the most glowing colors, but there is an ambiguity to the verb that is used in that It can also mean seize or seethed, so as to translate that verse, when Saul had seized the kingdom over Israel, projecting the attitude of a man who was fast becoming obsessed with political power, who was already paranoid about any rival to that power. In fact, so paranoid that he became suspicious of his own son, the beloved godly Jonathan. David, the man who followed Saul to the throne, the man of God’s choice, himself had two sons who worshipped political power, Absalom and Adonijah.

    I’m not going to review their stories for you this morning, but to tell you that neither of them were admirable, and they both came to a horrible end. The pagan kings that forayed past us in the moving on in the history of redemption. All worshiped political power and political reality as if it were the only reality. And as if generated by these kings, their case centers stage as the New Testament era opens a figure who equally worships political power and political reality as if it were the only reality, and I have in mind Herod the Great. During and even after the ministry of Jesus in the life of the early Church, the God of politics reveals himself in the ignorance who could not, without the Holy Spirit, break free of the notion that they and many Israelites revered, namely that the hope that they held and cherished was for a political Messiah. As the revelation given to us in the New Testament spells out for us, the Lord closed the shrine to that particular misconception, calling to himself many of the confused, and even a number of those who had formerly given themselves to political insurrection and revolution.

    Do you recall the zealots, the party of the zealots? It is stated that one of the disciples, the other Simon, not Peter, was a zealot. He is so called in Luke 6 verse 15. The zealots were identified by Josephus, the great Jewish historian of the first century, as the fourth philosophy within Judaism. You might know the other three. You might be able to identify them without any help. There were the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes. the precursors of the modern-day Pacific Jews. The Zealots were the fourth philosophy.

    They were especially political in their orientation. Outside political rule irked the Zealots, and they were determined in their zeal for their political vision, and in their zeal for their particular interpretation of the Old Testament, to rid Palestine of foreign domination. Of course, they doused their political platform with enough holy language to give Jehovah his due, and let others know that they were on a holy mission. This was God’s cause.

    Now even though they were the fourth philosophy, all we need do is survey first century Judaism to realize, recognize, just how successful they were. Although the other parties were not openly revolutionary as were the zealots The majority of those other parties embraced similar political aspirations, and in the end they followed the zealot into oblivion.

    Do you know your first century Jewish history? Do you remember what took place to the position of prominence, enlisting the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and even the Essenes in their cause, to such an extent that they bring the Romans down upon them with all Roman force, and Jerusalem is destroyed in A.D. 70, completely razed to the ground. The zealots, at least the leaders, escaped into the wilderness. They escaped to a place called Masada, and three years later, after being besieged by the Romans, they committed mass suicide, rather than fall into the hands of the uncircumcised. But this was Judaism.

    What about the Church? The spirit of the zealous and the veneration of the political God found a place even among the followers of Christ and in his Church. And I dare say that this is the case not just for first century Christians, but even down to the present. The spirit of the zealots and the veneration of the political god finds a place amongst the followers of Christ, and even within his church. Now to be sure, many in the church who have been found worshipping at the shrine of the political god have done so in ignorance.

    And much like the disciples in the presence of Jesus, and much like those early Christians under the tutelage of the apostles, eventually they are disciplined by the grand New Testament that grand New Testament truth that Jesus drops with such calmness and serenity like a bomb into the lap of Pilate. My kingdom is not of this world. how difficult this truth is to understand and accept. Especially for those who are, shall we say, relatively innocent and ignorant, how difficult it is to understand and accept this truth, especially when you have breathing down your neck those well-armed with Old Testament texts, endeavoring to convince you that the Christian and the Church are under obligation to produce a Christian state, a Christian government, even a holy Christian empire, which works amazingly similar to the Old Testament theocracy. and that the Christian politician, if he is to call himself a Christian politician at all, must work for the establishment of an explicit Christian government, one that recognizes Jesus Christ as the King of Nations in its official documents. Mind you, all of this pressure being brought to bear when so precious little is said by Jesus or by any other New Testament figure about politics at all. And as if this slight, this oversight by God with respect to the political deity worked himself rough. What is said explicitly on that subject seems to these people to be outright blasphemy.

    John the Baptist speaks calmly to Roman soldiers. He speaks kindly to women soldiers. John the Baptist refuses to tell tax collectors in the employ of the women government to quit their jobs. He refuses. And Jesus actually encourages payment of the Roman tax. Jesus goes further. He chastens Zealot Peter. Do you remember Peter, in the garden, in the moment of Jesus’ great extremity, acts like a villain. He draws his sword and attacks those arresting his Lord.

    And in that interview, to which we’ve already alluded, that interview between Jesus and Jesus identifies himself as a king, but oh, what a king, and what a kingdom this king has. Both he and that kingdom are of a different order, a heavenly order transcendent.

    And so as to confirm this reading of things as we move out of the Gospels, look at the case of the Church in the Book of Acts. The Church in Acts has no political mission. If any group should be lobbying for legislation, it should be the Church. But the Church has no political mission. It promotes no legislation, it assembles no armies. Most remarkably, we observe the transformation that takes place in the zealot Peter. From the seeing in Gethsemane, you move on to his first epistle, the second chapter.

    Here he speaks about the duty which believers have to an unbelieving, godless government. but the greatest insult of all to those who continue to worship at the shrine of the political God within the Church is that which is delivered by the Apostle Paul in the thirteenth chapter of Romans.

    Here it seems the Apostle blesses those who hold office irrespective of their own religious conviction. In fact, he goes so far as to call them the ministers of God. Now I know, and you do also, how that chapter and those statements by the Apostle have been interpreted even by those within the Reformed camp. We are told that this text, these verses, are meant to prescribe what the politician or the government official ought to be. But Paul’s true interest here is to call the magistrate into account to a particular code. that this magistrate is obliged to implement the law of God, specifically the Mosaic law, the Old Testament legal system, in the discharge of his responsibilities. And he is to recognize Jesus Christ as King, and in that sense, then, he can be considered a minister of God for good. Now, you read the text. You tell me, is that what it says?

    My judgment is, and I think that you will agree with me in this, that these comments are not intended to prescribe what the magistrate ought to be, but rather they are to describe when he is. and that irrespective of his religious orientation. Paul is not interested here to call the magistrate into account to a particular code. He is not saying, if the magistrate seeks to implement the Old Testament legal system or recognize Jesus Christ as King, then he will be a minister of God for good. No, not at all. Rather, Paul is saying, that the civil magistrate, apart from any of these things, or apart from any of these considerations, apart from any knowledge of his part before God, his standing before the true God, is a minister for God.

    And because of that fact, we as Christians are obliged to give him respect and to submit. I will say it again then. Paul here is not prescribing what the magistrate ought to be, he is describing what he is, even apart from his knowledge of his position as a minister of God. As the Apostle expresses himself here, you should understand that this is a continuation of what he has been saying from the beginning of the twelfth chapter. The attitude which the Church and the Christians ought to have with respect to the civil magistrate and political authority flows forth from that renewed mind of which the Apostles speak in chapter 12, verse 2.

    That mind that is set upon heaven, that actually has a transcendent point of view over all of the affairs and considerations of man and of this world. This is the position of true freedom. And if you don’t have this position, you’re not free at all, regardless of what freedom some political government may afford you. You see what the Apostle has done by this exposition of the relationship between the Church and the State. He has declared that the Christian and the Church have a transcendent position with respect to the affairs of the State, and therefore this position which they have is an extension of the freedom that they enjoy in Christ, and that freedom cannot be taken away from them by any government, nor can it be conferred by any government.

    One of the most amazing texts that is disregarded is what we find in 1 Peter 2. You know, verse 13, in that second chapter, 1 Peter, “…submit yourselves to the Lord’s faith through every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evil doers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God, that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men as free men.” What does Peter think he’s doing?

    Because these Christians dream on. Why? Because they enjoy the transcendent freedom that will not be circumscribed or defined by any political reality or power. The point is, if you turn this text into a prescriptive to a civil magistrate you have given evidence of the fact that you are not free, but are in fact enslaved to the god of political power. Is it any wonder why you are obsessed with today’s news and what’s going on on the front Why you’re obsessed with CNN? Is it any wonder why you’re obsessed with Russ Limbaugh? You’re not free. Those who continue to worship the political god from within the ranks of Christianity are actually denying this reason, as they push their prescriptive approach to Romans 13 upon the Church as a whole.

    To the degree we heed this call, we fail to heed our Savior and we compromise our freedom, making it especially difficult for us to profit from the true sense the gospel’s message and meaning. Dear Lord, save us from idols, even from the idol of politics. Our Father, may we know the freedom that you have given us, and may we delight in that freedom, rejoice in it, and may it not be compromised by the worship of false gods, even the God of government, in which we might put too much importance. too much value in which we might see so much power as to think in our practical understanding of things that this world actually is determined by political power and reality. Father may we confess our membership in that kingdom which Jesus declared, the one that is not of this world. And with renewed minds born of that kingdom, may we then rightly assess all of the affairs of life, even the world of politics.

    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.

  • Officers Who Serve Like Christ

    Officers Who Serve Like Christ

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Considering the Church” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, January 9, 1994.

    About this sermon

    The Westminster Confession’s account of the church and Paul’s appeal in Romans 12 call church leaders to humility and faithfulness over status. Officers exist to serve the church as Christ served it. That standard matters more than any detail of polity.

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    Sermon transcript

    This morning we have before us Romans chapter 12 once more. I want you to give your attention to the word of God, beginning at verse 1. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

    And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one member is one of another.

    Having been gistering according to the grace which is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith, or ministry, let us wait on our ministering, or he that teacheth on teaching, or he that exalteth on exhortation, he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity, he that ruleth with diligence, he that showeth mercy with cheerfulness, let love be without dissimulation.

    Abhor that which is evil. Plead to that which is good. Be kind to affection one toward another. with brotherly love, in honor preferring one another, not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer, distributing to the necessity of the saints, given to hospitality. Bless them which persecute you, bless and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of lowest state. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.

    If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath, for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, if by an enemy hunger, feed him, if he thirst, give him drink, for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”

    Pray together now. O Lord, we have longed for light, and you have given light. Indeed, Jesus is the light of the world. He, your communication to us. He, your word in the flesh. How blessed we are, O God, that this one who is the word himself is also given the word in such a way that it may be set down in writing. Father, it is no small matter that we have the very words of God in our hands. Father, may we glory in you and rejoice because of this great gift. And may we always honor you and your word. We pray it in Jesus’ name.

    Many casual readers of the Westminster Confession of Faith, as well as a number of students of that document quite mistakenly believe that the chapter headings and their positions in that document determine the teaching priorities of the Confession. Therefore, since the Church is not considered until Chapter 25, The writers of the Confession, so it is thought, obviously had greater concerns than the doctrine of the Church. These people failed to realize just how central the doctrine of the Church, the Church itself, is to the Confession and for the Westminster divines.

    Taking another look at the Confession, you may want to check me out in this as we move through the citations. You can find the Confession at the back of the hymnal. But taking another look at the Confession, you can see just how prominent the Church is. In the very first chapter, the first paragraph, we find these words.

    It pleased the Lord at sundry times and in diverse manners to reveal himself and to declare that unto his Church. And afterwards, for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the Church against the corruption of the flesh and the malice of Satan and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing. Church is most definitely on the mind of the Westminster divines as they begin to write the document. But then moving to chapter 5, paragraph 7, we find these words, “…as the providence of God doth in general reach to all creatures, so after a most special manner it taketh care of his Church, and disposeth all things to the good thereof.”

    And so it goes throughout the Confession, even in sections where the word Church is not used at all. The reality of the Church is pressed home to the reader with unmistakable force. Just one example with regard to those sections where the word church is not used but is clearly in view, you might turn to chapter 7 and that very important chapter on the covenant. You will notice that the word church is not used in this chapter, but I direct your attention to the sixth paragraph, the final paragraph in that chapter. where we are told that the way in which the covenant is extended to us is through the ordinances of the preaching of the word and the administration of the sacrament, which take place in, through, and from the Church. I point this out to you in order that you might realize just how central the issue of the Church is to the Westminster Confession of Faith. that you need not wait until chapter 25, which deals specifically with the subject of the Church, to encounter that doctrine, it being laid within the very fabric of the Confession throughout.

    Now, I have been making the same point to you in this present series which I have entitled, Considering the Church. I have been making the same point to you as we have looked at the Scriptures. We have considered the Gospels, particularly the Gospel of Matthew and also the Gospel of John. We have looked at the Book of Acts, and we are now looking at the Book of Romans, considering how vital and essential the Church is to the New Testament revelation.

    The testimony with respect to the Church is woven throughout the entirety of the New Testament revelation. And particularly with regard to Romans, we have seen how the doctrine of the Church in its broad and Catholic, that is, universal sense, permeates this letter.

    We have seen how even a text Like Romans 10.9, that very famous text, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. How this text is properly interpreted, only if the confession spoken of be understood as a confession in the Church. how it was possible for the Westminster divines in the Westminster Confession of Faith to state in their chapter on the Church that outside of the Church there is no ordinary possibility of salvation. Outside of the Church there is no ordinary possibility of salvation.

    By building their case on a text like Romans 10.9. If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved.

    The confession in view in that text is specifically confession in and before the people of God, and that’s the force of the words, with your mouth. This is no private confession. This is no confession merely in the interest of winning a soul to Christ. This is a confession before, in the presence of God’s people. That is in view.

    Now, we have been pushing this case also with regard to Romans 12, and specifically in that chapter, verses 4 and 5. We are contended that these verses have in view membership in the body of Christ, which means membership in the Church. We are not here talking about something ethereal, something abstract, something invisible. We are talking about something that is very concrete. membership in the visible Church, membership in the visible body of believers, in the assembly of those who confess Jesus Christ as the living Lord, in a congregation like the one to which Paul presently writes.

    Here is the only appropriate way to understand Paul’s words, then. For just as we have many members in one body, and all members do not have the same function, so we who are many are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” He’s describing the Church in a most concrete and direct fashion. The only proper way for you to understand these words, then, is to grasp them in relationship to a body of believers. Paul has nothing else in view. We deny this, we ignore this to the peril of our own souls. That’s how serious it is.

    But of course, Paul is not arguing in these verses here in Romans 12 the case for Church membership, as if that were the issue for the saints in Rome. He didn’t have to press on them the necessity of membership in the Church. since these to whom he writes are already members. He was not dealing with the mindset that has become prevalent, I would say, I would judge, in the last two hundred years, that the faith can be pursued genuinely apart from outside of the Church of Jesus Christ. But while Paul is not arguing the case for church membership here, he is pressing the case for what sort of church members his readers, and even we, should be.

    Before he is done, taking our cue from the beginning of that twelfth chapter, before us through into the opening verses of the fifteenth chapter, he will make it clear that what he has to say does indeed apply to every member of the Church, every member of the congregation, in fact, at Rome.

    But I want you to note also the language at the beginning of that twelfth chapter, particularly the first eight verses. It’s language that may find a counterpart in what we read this morning in Psalm 115, if you were noticing that. Our praises are called for from the house of Israel, generally, the congregation of the people, but also from the house of Aaron. We ordained officers within the Church, and then you have in that 115th Psalm remarks made about how all, great and small, that means those who are high, have position, authority, and those who do not, all are to give glory to God. But notice here in these opening verses of the twelfth chapter that there is a particular an extension of the Apostle’s thought.

    You can see that he has in mind specifically those who hold office. It is woven within the fabric of what he is saying here with regard to general membership in the Church, but also he is making this point having in view those who hold office. Notice what he says in verse 3. He appeals there to his own office. He doesn’t come right out and speak about his apostleship. He doesn’t even mention the word apostleship, but he does speak about that grace which has been given to him.

    For through the grace given to me, I say to every man among you, that phrase, through the grace given to me, brings in view his calling, his apostleship, his office in the Church. His appeal then from this point, at least through verse 8, specifically concentrates on office bearers or those who aspire to office within the Church.

    Therefore he calls on every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he and you ought to feel the force of the ambiguity of the way in which he speaks at that point. He says, I call on every man among you. Now, you see, Paul certainly uses the word man in the generic sense in many places in his writings, but here there may be an ambiguity to his remark in that he has specifically the male leadership of the congregation in view. This text may then uphold, in some sense, the fact that that office is reserved for the male within the congregation of the Lord. But at any rate, now, he is calling on these, every man among you, not to think more highly of himself than he ought.

    And this, as it particularly bears now on the whole question of leadership, the whole It is a call, you see, to humility, and a call that he is laying before those who have office, who would aspire to office. a call that they cannot ignore. It must be heeded by those who would bear office within the assembly, those who lead, if there is to be any hope. And here comes the connection with the rest of the congregation, if there is to be any hope for the general spiritual maturity of the congregation. There is not going to be spiritual progress, there is not going to be that spiritual maturity found within the congregation if, in fact, those who lead lack humility, if they do, indeed, think more highly of themselves than they ought.

    Now we are not here talking about success in worldly terms. We’re not talking about large congregations and mega ministries. We are talking about spiritual maturity. Whole interest is not in numbers. It never was in numbers. His zeal was for spiritual maturity, and here, as he works his language, weaving together considerations about the laity and the ordained officers within the Church, his supreme interest is the spiritual maturity of the congregation, and he is bringing weight to bear upon those who do in fact lead. those in whom humility is sound, you cannot lead in hopes that there will be any spiritual maturation in the congregation to which you are attached.

    Arrogance is outlawed. That distant spirit It’s outlawed. That aloofness has no place. Ramblings, jockeying for position, quests for power, pursuing the chief seats. None of this serves the Church well. There is the trickle-down effect. You see, there’s the trickle-down effect. If these kinds of things are found in the leaders, then what can you expect from the people?

    But Paul isn’t going to leave things at this point. There is that need for more than a mere humility, because mere humility can be misunderstood, grievously misunderstood, and even exploited by those who claim for themselves humility. There is, after all, the humble who sleep, the humble who are just downright under the guise of humility, lazy. Out and out, lazy. So Paul is not going to leave things at that level. That specifically comes into view in verses 6-8. For here Paul, keeping office in mind now, adds to humility, faithfulness in the discharge of responsibility and diligence.

    The Church needs in its leaders more than sweet personalities and dispositions. needs in its leaders more than those who are just generally inoffensive. That inoffensiveness being translated into humility by those who exhibit it, and even others who are taken in by it. True leaders are those who know how to stand their ground in faithful discharge of their call. He must not overstep his calling, but he needs by all means to fulfill his calling, to be true to his word and to the Church.

    Gifts of prophecy mentioned here, 6 through 8, service, an ordained service, in view, teaching, exhortation, ministry, rule, or administration, mercy. These things that are listed in these verses should be fully expressed by those who have been called to express them, that the Church might be served. Now, you might have been struck by the way in which Paul chooses to express himself at this point, driven as he is, controlled as he is by the Holy Spirit.

    Did you note that in verses 6-8 that he never uses the word office? Now, I know that the word office does appear in the King James Version in the earlier verses, but in this particular section, verses 6-8, The word office is never used, nor does he speak about the various office bearers in a readily recognizable way. There’s a sort of mysterious way in which he’s now communicating what he has to say. You know, for instance, in verse 6 he doesn’t speak about profit. those who have the office and are identified as such, instead he speaks about prophecy. In verse 7 he doesn’t talk about teachers, but he talks about those who teach.

    Too many have concluded that this language makes it clear that Paul didn’t believe in office at all. He only believed in activity, charismatic endowment. But such a conclusion completely misses Paul’s meaning. It isn’t that Paul doesn’t believe in office.

    It is that he’s pressing his case for what kind of men office bearers should be. In fact, they must be so unconcerned with office that the whole issue of title is of no moment to them whatsoever. They’re not seeking position. Rather, they are concerned to demonstrate their office in activity that is expressive of their calling.

    In other words, that humility commended by Paul is the type that doesn’t actually stand over against the determined faithfulness leaders must exhibit. Actually, true humility carries through in the labors peculiar to the fallen. Not so much looking to the office, but to the activity by which God is honored and others are served. I have known them. who have wanted to be elders, but simply did not want to serve.

    In my ministry I have known individuals who have aspired to the title with no clear grasp of what was entailed in the calling they wished to have. Office is very much in Paul’s thinking, but he will communicate himself with regard to office in a particular way so as to direct attention away from title and position and directed instead to activity and service.

    And I might just add here that there is absolutely no room, and ironically this letter being directed to the Church at Rome, there is absolutely no room in Paul’s thinking for an enthroned hierarchy. None. Absolutely none. The thought has completely fallen to it. But I might add, neither is there any thought of an armchair leadership.

    You know, over stuffed chairs in the session room? where everybody can be comfortable and pontificate in comfort. As we come to a conclusion, two things remain to be said. First of all, and I think this is obvious to you now, such humble, faithful leaders as Paul speaks of here, as he describes, alone have value for the Church. Other kinds of leaders are worthless. Without the kind of leaders that Paul describes, The Church lacks within it, then, in that visible form and manifestation of the Church, those whom the people can follow.

    It is imperative that we have such leaders in the Church, and even in this Church. Such leaders are those who are especially conscious of what we find in the opening verses of this twelfth chapter. For they are those who are indeed active in presenting their bodies as living sacrifices unto God, who are actively engaged in the renewal of their minds, their minds being set upon the kingdom of heaven, and those things which are above.

    But secondly, such leadership doesn’t just happen. In fact, there’s nothing natural about it. You see, such leadership is found in Jesus Christ, who himself is the humble, faithful leader. whose meekness does not contradict his determined, immovable commitment to the fulfillment of his calling from his Father, the pursuit of which meant the sacrifice of himself for the Church, the pursuit of which meant a mind that was consistently set upon Heaven and the realities that are above, but the pursuit of which also meant even a deliberate veiling of his full greatness, even a delay of an overt declaration of truth, happens in all of his glory. No leader in Christ’s Church renders service of lasting value. unless he has breathed into him the life of his Lord.

    We who would lead in Christ’s Church would do well to meditate long and deeply on these verses. And may it please the Lord, our God, to give to us, even in this Church, such leaders as are described here. Dear Lord, it is not merely our concern for ourselves that causes us to cry out to you for good and strong leadership, leadership in which is found that humility of Christ and yet that determination to stand in the fulfillment of the calling that has been conferred. For our hope, O Lord, is with regard to your Church throughout the entirety of the world. that indeed, Lord, your people would have before them these testimonies of your grace, and that they might be letterite, Lord, even in the spirit of your Son. Do forgive us, O God, we who are leaders, in that we have forgotten these things or even ignored them. that we might, Lord, then, be your servants truly. Living sacrifices for the sake of your glory and the up-building of your people. Minds renewed so that we see clearly the things of the kingdom of God, and that so that we might be able to point the people in the right direction. These things we pray, even making our confession unto you in the midst of your people through Jesus Christ our mediator and our great leader.

    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.

  • Three Meanings of Christ’s Body

    Three Meanings of Christ’s Body

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Considering the Church” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, January 2, 1994.

    About this sermon

    Paul uses ‘the body of Christ’ in at least three senses, and Christ’s own body, now in heaven, takes precedence over the other two. How a congregation approaches the Lord’s Supper, and the church itself, shows which sense it believes. Romans 12 sorts them out.

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    Sermon transcript

    We are reading this morning Romans 12, the twelfth chapter of Romans. Give your attention to the word of God. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

    And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one member is one of another. Having them differing according to the grace that is given to us, Whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith, or ministry, let us wait on our ministering, or he that teacheth on teaching, or he that exhorteth on exhortation, he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity, he that ruleth with diligence, he that showeth mercy with cheerfulness.

    Let love be without distillation, and for that which is evil. Plead to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love, in honor of preferring one another, not flawful in business. Fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation. Continuing instant in prayer, distributing to the necessity of the saints, given to hospitality. Bless them which persecute you, bless and curse not.

    Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

    Avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath. For it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him, if he thirst, give him drink. For in so doing thou shalt be coals of fire upon his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” Let’s pray together.

    Of what value, Lord, are servants of yours if they come before you or before your people elegantly, filled with vanity in hopes of making for themselves a reputation, of building for themselves a great company of followers? O Lord, penetrate the pretense, the pretense of those servants that would so present themselves to your people. And Lord, may you be gracious to this pulpit and to this people in keeping this servant from such attitudes and from the actions that would be caused by them. Lord, be gracious be gracious to those who administer the word in your name, and correct them where they are wrong, and that for the good of your people, for their health, their consolation, and even for their salvation.

    We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen. If I were to ask you, where is the body of Christ, what would you say? If I were to ask you, where is the body of Christ, what would you say? Some of you might say, the body of Christ is right here. Christ’s body is the Church, and we are His Church, therefore we are His body.

    Now undoubtedly, you say this because you have been impressed at some point with passages What we have read this morning in Romans chapter 12, verses 4 and 5, where Paul compares the Church to the human body, and the various limbs and organs of the body with the Church’s members.

    Now, I’m the first to admit that as we look at the language of Paul in this twelfth chapter It seems that the language here is rather figurative. That is, Paul begins with the body and ends with a reflection upon the Church. Therefore, in assessing Paul’s mind with respect to this whole matter, it would be well for us to complement what we find here in Romans 12 with some more direct statements from the Apostle. For instance, 1 Corinthians 12, verse 27. Paul here, speaking about the Church, says this quite straightforwardly, you are the body of Christ. Now, you can’t get more direct than that.

    Or you could turn to Ephesians, chapter 1, verses 22 and 23, where Paul has this to say, Christ is given as head over all things. to the Church, which is his body. So then, in response to the question, where is the body of Christ, some of you may think, first of all, of the Church as the body of Christ. But some of you may think, some of you may think of the liberal body. The actual body of Christ, the body in which the Son of God was incarnated in the womb of a virgin Mary, the body in which Jesus actually lived, ministered, and suffered, the body in which he was raised and is exalted at the right hand of God the Father. For you, therefore, the answer to the question, where is the body of Christ, is simply in heaven. The body of Christ is in heaven.

    Now, it goes without saying that we are at this point at the very center of the New Testament message, are we not? A message that finds confirmation in text after text. You may think, for instance, of Romans chapter 8, verse 34, where Paul has this to say, and that quite compactly, Christ Jesus is he that died. Thinking of the body now, Christ Jesus is he that died, yea, rather is raised, who is even now at the right hand of God.

    So in response to the question, where is the body of Christ, we have the Church. We also have in Heaven. That is where we find the body of Christ. But you may remember, in thinking about this question, that the body of Christ that the body of Christ is also introduced to us in the New Testament in yet another connection. You may recall, for instance, the accounts of the Lord’s Supper. You may think of the telling of the story of that Last Supper in the respective Gospels, or you may think of Jesus’ words in John 6, which were given as an anticipation of that supper when he was in conflict with those in the synagogue at Capernaum.

    Or you may think of Paul’s statements where he, in 1 Corinthians 10.16 says, if not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ, you may think of the that he makes of Jesus and words in 1 Cor. 11.24. Jesus having said in the context of that Last Supper, this is my body which is broken for you. So then, even though we are Protestants, In fact, precisely because we are Protestants and so thoroughly committed to the Scriptures, we must, we are compelled to recognize just how closely associated in Scripture Christ’s body is with the sacramental bread of the Last Supper. We have, therefore, these three ways in which the body of Christ is used in the New Testament.

    Now I ask you a further question. Are you able to see any connection between these various uses? Are you able to see some manner in which they are brought together? Now, in order to answer this question, I propose a further question. I ask you if you can identify in the three uses that we have set out, one of them as having preeminence. Is there one use that stands above the other uses, and by considering that particular use, Must we be given help in understanding the other uses? To which of the three would you give the preeminence?

    To the body of Christ in relationship to the bread of communion, to the body of Christ in heaven, or the body of Christ in relationship to the Church? My choice, and I hope it is yours, is the body of Christ in heaven, or the actual body of Christ in which he lived, died, rose, and presently sits in glory.

    Now, the logic of this choice, it seems to me, is irrefutable. The actual body of Jesus Christ is indispensable to both the Church and the sacramental bread. It does have a preeminence, since without the actual body of Christ there is nothing with which to construct the other comparisons and identifications. There is nothing to which we might relate the Church or connect the sacraments.

    But further, to give the preeminence to the actual body of Jesus Christ over the other two uses of the body of Christ in the New Testament means that we are able to draw closer to the precise force of the comparison which Paul is making. You see, the connection between the various uses of the body of Christ in the New Testament will be in terms of that connection that exists between what is in heaven namely, the actual living, underscore that word living, the actual living, glorified body of our Lord, and what is in the earth, namely the Church and even the sacraments. By designating the Church and the sacramental bread, the body of Christ, the New Testament is telling us that there is now for the people of God a most remarkable interaction between heaven and earth. The glorified body of Jesus Christ, in which resides the power of resurrection life, in which resides the power of eternal life—body, The glorified body of Jesus Christ is coming into contact with the Church and with the sacrament in the most startling fashion.

    It is not a mere touching exercise, nor is it that The body of Christ somehow provides a near bridge or a channel between the two worlds, as if we were subjecting then the language of the New Testament to New Age phraseology and philosophy. Now I hope it is clear to all of you that Christ in his glorified body is not leaving heaven before the second coming. Christ in his body is not leaving heaven before the second coming.

    But how, then, are we enabled to speak about his body being present here? At this point, we introduce the Spirit. It is by his Spirit, even by the Holy Spirit, who is at work in the Word and through the sacraments, that Jesus Christ dwells with us, his Church. So if we concentrate on the Spirit at this point, and exalt the Spirit in this ministry by which Christ is brought near to us.

    Why do we need the language of the body at all? Why then go on to the language about the body of Christ? If Paul is concerned to bring home the relationship between heaven and earth, Between what is above and what is here, isn’t the language about the Holy Spirit quite adequate? Obviously, from the Apostles’ point of view, this is not the case. The language about the Spirit is not adequate, first of all because talk about the body of Christ makes it clear that we are dealing here with more than a bare connection between heaven and earth.

    Actually, God, by Jesus Christ, has established a most profound bond. We are talking about contact with the heavenly Christ in the church, which is his body, and through the sacrament which he calls his body, in reference to the bread. But be sure you don’t overlook just how overpowering this truth is concerning the bond. The language about the body of Christ further speaks to us about the identification of the exalted Christ with his church and with the bread of the sacrament.

    The true Christ, that is, the exalted Jesus Christ, who died, rose, and ascended into heaven in his body, now identifies himself with his church and also with the bread of the sacrament. Now, you should all know that this identification does not mean that Christ becomes his Church, as if Christ loses his identity in the Church. Nor does it mean that the Church becomes Christ. as if there is no other identification for Christ than that which is found in the Church. But at the same time, we must also say that this matter of identification cannot and does not mean that Jesus Christ literally becomes the bread in the sacrament, or that the bread becomes him. What this identification does mean is that Christ’s person, his actual living person, is wrapped up with his church and with that sacrament.

    In the sacrament, we do not worship the elements. We do, however, respect them, and we are benefited by them. and we respect them and receive their benefits knowing that to disrespect those elements and the sacrament itself means to not discern the world’s body and thus bring judgment upon ourselves. You must see this, for by root of this principle of identification Christ’s body and glory with that sacramental brand. There is that sense that rises out of our New Testament considerations, that sense in which your treatment of the sacrament is your treatment of Christ. since his body, in fact, is identified with the sacrament. Now, not that the question is too much on the minds of people anymore.

    Namely, how am I doing with the Lord? But if you want a biometer as to how you are doing with the Lord, Maybe you should take stock of how you treat the sacrament, how you approach it. Could it be that the Lord, in his graciousness, has set within the church a barometer by which you might then measure your interest in the things of the kingdom and your concern about him, your God and your Savior? But some of you are ahead of me now, aren’t you?

    If I have said this with regard to the bread of the sacrament and the sacrament itself, what might I then say about the Church, which is also called the Body of Christ, under this heading of identification? as is true with regard to the sacrament, so also, likewise, with the Church.

    We do not worship the Church, even though the Church is identified as the body of Christ. Nevertheless, and once more I underscore it, hear me in this, You must respect the Church with the greatest respect, because you see there is that sense in which your treatment of the Church is your treatment of Christ. I weep for some of you in my prayers, because I know you don’t understand. That agrees with me. You must respect and honor the Church with the greatest respect and honor. Because there is that sense, by God’s own design, that sense in which your treatment of the Church is your treatment of Christ. You shame Christ when you shame his Church, whether by your neglect, your abuse, or your willful sin. But finally, this language about the body of Christ carries us to the depths of spiritual intimacy.

    Look once more at the bread of the sacrament. Think about it. That you eat the bread is of greatest significance. This bread is bonded to and identified with the Body of Christ. What is being signified and sealed in the sacrament when you eat the bread is nothing less than the fact that you are feeding upon him. as he has given himself to you, as he has given his life to you, that you might have him taken into yourself and have life thereby. That is, in the sacrament you have signified and sealed to you the fact that Jesus Christ draws as closely to you as possible in order that you might be satisfied in and within. But I do not want you to be ignorant of this further thought in this regard. The intimacy with Jesus Christ that has become yours to know and to enjoy, draws you on to the depths of spiritual intimacy, not just with him, but with each other.

    You note what Paul says in that twelfth chapter verses four and five, and particularly the conclusion of that fifth verse. We are individually members one of another. Therefore, when we speak about the intimacy that is at play When we consider the body of Christ, we must take into consideration not just the intimacy that we have with Jesus Christ, but also the deep spiritual intimacy that we have with each other. Paul tells us that we are not just members of the body of Christ, he tells us that we are members one of another. Therefore, I will go further. As, in fact, the participation in the sacrament is a means by which you might be satisfied in Christ, I am bold to declare to you that your satisfaction in spiritual communion is found no less in your blessed relationships with one another than it is in communion with your Lord and Savior.

    Satisfaction is a topic of great concern in our world. The commentators have made remarks about our condition, our predicament at this time. All the economic indicators are up. People should be happy. But did you ever see such a gloomy lot in the malls? Have you ever witnessed more stony, unhappy faces in your life? Greater testimony to the dissatisfaction of people generally? And what of yourselves?

    Our satisfaction is found, yes, in intimate communion with our Christ, but at the same time our satisfaction is found in the depths of intimacy that we find in the Spirit with one another in Christ’s name. In this new year, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we all began to live this truth with determination and conviction, even with discipline? Don’t you think it’s time that you began to live this truth. Since you are the body of Christ and members one of another. Our God, the fruit of ministry belongs to you. And I would pray, O God, that you would bless the preaching of your word, that your people would be strengthened and be proved to be your children indeed. O God, help us all. in this coming year to understand better the body of Christ, and how indeed we are related to the body and are the body, and how we are members one of another. This we ask for your glory through Christ.

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

  • All Have Sinned, All Are Shown Mercy

    All Have Sinned, All Are Shown Mercy

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Considering the Church” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, December 19, 1993.

    About this sermon

    Romans 3:23 and 11:32 frame the letter’s scope: all under sin, and all objects of God’s mercy, which differs from universalism. Two false views in the modern church run against that framing. Both exalt race, gender, or class above Christ as the category that finally matters.

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    Sermon transcript

    We begin our picture reading this morning in Romans chapter three, Romans chapter three. And we are reading from verse three. I’m sorry, we’re reading from verse nine, excuse me. Romans three, verse nine. Let us listen to the Word of God. What then are we better than they, knowing no wise? For we have before proved, both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin. As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good, no, not one.

    Their throat is an open sepulcher. With their tongues they have used deceit. The poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their way, and the way of peace have they not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.

    Now, we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

    But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. For there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.” I’m then turning over to Romans chapter 8. beginning with verse 28.

    For we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, then he also called and whom he called, then he also justified, and whom he justified, then he also glorified.

    What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

    Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

    Let’s pray together. We would ask Lord that our lay our lives day by day. Would be a preparation for the reception of your word. Especially as we hear that word in the company of your people. Lord, we would not then be a negligent or forgetful people. Instead, Lord, we ask that you would set before us your word day by day. That we would have the habit of reflecting upon it personally and within our families. And also our God.

    Yet not be nearly a matter of us preparing ourselves for the reception of your word, but likewise, may we also be those who are intent in living out that word, or living from that word, as you have said it before us. O God, we are indeed a people of the word, and ask that we might demonstrate that in all of our lives. We pray for the sake of Christ, who is the Word of God incarnate. Amen.

    It is appropriate It is appropriate that Paul’s letter to the Romans, being that charter document that it is, set before us the membership of Christ’s Church in the broadest terms.

    You see, Paul in this letter speaks to the widest issue. As we said in our message last week, his interest is the revelation of God’s mercy to Gentiles and Jews alike in the gospel events of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to the end that the nations and all Israel might be brought to that obedience of faith that grasps hold of God as its reward, all to God’s own incomparable glory.” Paul’s interest in Romans, one more time. is the revelation of God’s mercy to Gentiles and Jews in the gospel events of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, to the end that the nations and finally all Israel might be brought to that obedience of faith that grasps hold of God as its reward, all to God’s own incomparable glory. I think that it is evident to us all from this summary statement of the teaching in the Epistle to the Hebrews that we are dealing here with a charter document, one that uses the wide-angled lenses, one comparable to an expansive mural setting before us the majestic scope of God’s intentions in salvation history, in which then Paul’s ministry will play itself out. In Romans, therefore, we are presented with the broad and universal sweep of things, the grandest picture, the most comprehensive It is in this light, then, that we do well to take stock of two pivotal statements in Romans.

    And I call your attention, first of all, to Romans 3.23, a brief verse, but powerful, and one that has been committed to memory by many of us. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The second verse that I would call your attention to builds off of what you read in that third chapter, the nineteenth verse. But I have in mind here specifically the eleventh chapter, verse thirty-two. For God shut up all in disobedience, that he might show mercy to all.

    These two verses, Romans 3.23 and Romans 11.32, “‘For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,’ and then in the New American Standard version of that thirty-second verse of the eleventh chapter, “‘For God shut up all in disobedience, that he might show mercy to all.’” These two verses are representative of the scope and tone of Romans.

    They are bold, they are even wonderful statements in which the universal scope of the human condition and of God’s plan of salvation is affirmed. This, very importantly then, Paul here is concerned to emphasize not that which makes humanity diverse, not even that which makes individuals unique. Instead, he is concerned to emphasize what human beings have in common. namely, their sin and their need for redemption. But further, he is concerned to point out what God has done in redeeming his elect, the redemption of whom, from the Bible’s point of view and from Romans’ point of view, is the salvation of humanity. Do you get the equation in Paul’s mind and in his presentation of the truth?

    We build on these universal categories, these things which human beings have in common, namely their sin and their need of redemption, but also then what God has done in redeeming His elect, the redemption of whom is the salvation of humanity. When God saves His elect, humanity is saved. That’s the equation in God’s mind. When the elect are saved, humanity is saved.

    In God’s estimation from his point of view. Here, then, is the only proper biblical universalism. Now note, note particularly But I did not say that Romans teaches the salvation of everyone. It most clearly does not teach the salvation of everyone. Rather, it teaches that God’s purposes in saving humanity are fulfilled in the salvation of His elect.

    Therefore, that text that we quoted this morning, Romans 11.32, that he might show mercy to all, must be balanced by a text like Romans 9.15, where Paul is quoting from the book of Exodus and God’s statement there, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. But even further, it must be balanced with what we have read in Romans 8, verse 29, for whom He did foreknow He also did predestine to be conformed to the image of His Son. God’s electing grace operates then in the interest of His universal design that in the saving of his elect, God judges within himself that he has, in fact, saved humanity.

    But this message from Romans about the universal human condition, about universal human depravity, about universal salvation in the salvation of the elect, has steadily lost ground within the Church since the seventeenth century, to the point that, in our present circumstance, it has become the minority position.

    What is the majority position? The majority position on the conservative side is the Arminianizing tendency of evangelicalism. On the other side of the balance is liberal universalism. A liberal universalism that, in its boldest forms, has not hesitated to tell us the Church that we must, in fact, disagree with Paul in his estimations of God’s electing grace. Liberal universalism has gone on to tell us that we must not accept as gospel everything that Paul says. After all, Paul is most certainly not infallible. And we, being enlightened, are his betters. But what is it, specifically, that the Armenian evangelicalism and liberal universalism have said?

    First of all, that humanity is either partially or wholly good. disagreement, then, with Romans 3.23 and its implication in the widest extent of that implication. The conviction of Arminian evangelicalism and liberal universalism is this, that humanity is either partially or wholly good.

    And secondly, insofar as we can speak of salvation, God, in his love, is bound in some sense to save every individual. In the case of the Arminian, God intends to save all, but his intention can be thwarted and frustrated because the individual has the right, in the end, to veto God’s election. In the case of the liberal, rejection or no, it makes no difference, since all are blessed eternally, whatever that might mean. Whatever that might mean.

    According to these positions, then, the sovereign electing God of Paul in Romans not only violates the inalienable human freedom and autonomy to which the modern Church, both conservative and liberal, has erected its altars, but further, such a God as Paul presents us in Romans is nothing less than a fiendish bully who arbitrarily satisfies himself in the salvation of some, and then deceptively and cruelly passes this limited salvation off as if it were salvation of all. Such a God, so say these then. is obviously the product of the vestiges of a Jewish pro-primitivism lingering in Paul, which we, in our modern world, are well rid of. We, therefore, of the Armenian Evangelical Church and the liberal Universal Church, are happy to declare to you that no such God as Paul presents in Romans exists. And this is the gospel.

    But as if things weren’t bad enough, we have now moved beyond the blasphemies of Arminianism and liberalism. You see, these approaches, we who have now become the modern of the moderns, we who have become postmodern in our consciousness, we who have moved through deconstructionism to constructionism presently, we judge that even these Armenians and liberals were naive, since their approaches were still weighted down with the staid and static ideology that viewed universals in terms of a philosophy that overcame and disregarded, if not negated, individual distinctiveness. Furthermore, these positions—the Arminian, the liberal position—had not moved sufficiently beyond an idealist morality. That is, a morality that attached ethical value to behavior. particularly behavior that supported and enhanced the life of all.

    Such positions must be rejected. They must be rejected because they do not see that the only universalism of which we might rightly speak is that which is found in the universal experience of our diversity and our individuality, and that the only morality is that which operates out of and in terms of our individual distinctiveness, that which makes up our personalities, our personages, our color, our sex, our social situation.

    Now some of you are ahead of me, and you know what I’m talking about. Others of you will need further explanation. In order to be explicit, with you. I am speaking about that post-modern position that exalts a new holy trinity of political and theological correctness. And that new holy trinity is race, gender, and class. As this new Trinity has taken shape, it is made blatantly clear that the older Trinity of Paul and of historic Christianity is reprehensible, oppressive, and chauvinistic. But further, The advocates of the New Trinity have declared that past theological formulations, be they of Calvin or of James Arminius or even of Harry Emerson Posvick, are merely universal projections of those individuals, inherently tainted, suspect, and in the end, dismissible.

    Why? because these individuals are merely giving voice to European, white, male, elitist, heterosexual attitudes. These individuals, then, by definition, are incapable of either speaking about or for anyone but themselves. their imagined universal range of speech is in fiction. I say that these, by definition, are incapable either of speaking about or for anyone else but themselves because the idea that their perceived identity or values could be or should be universal is both preposterous and heretical.

    How then can any white, male, bourgeois, heterosexual European be in any sense, in any way representative of humanity? How can he speak in a representative fashion for all of humanity? What does he know, for instance, about the indigenous consciousness of the Native Americans? What does he know about the indigenous consciousness of the African, or even of the European female, or of the underclass, or of the homosexual? all of whom have identities and values inherent to themselves that in fact arise out of their race, gender, and class.

    But this being the case, we must push the point further still. For having asked these questions about the ideologies that were expressed in evangelical Arminianism or liberal universalism, having made these judgments even about what someone like Calvin may have come up with, how do we avoid the conclusion that we must apply the same criterion to those who are most strategic and fundamental and foundational to our faith. We have to ask questions then about the author of Romans.

    It won’t be merely then that Paul is wrong in his theological formulation. Paul is wrong because he’s Jewish. How can a Jew speak to the universal condition of man? It’s impossible. It’s not right, and it is not possible. Paul is male. He is limited. He is pro-heterosexual, which means he is homophobic. He is a Pharisee convert. How can this individual have anything to tell us unless we subject him to radical, that is, deconstructed interpretation, stripping him of all of his pretentiousness? The pretentiousness by which he presumes to speak to all of us.

    We aren’t done, are we? Because if we apply the criteria to Paul, we will also have to apply the criteria to Jesus. Will we not? In the balance, then, is not just Paul and Paul’s gospel of universal sinfulness and universal salvation and the salvation of God’s elect. There is, of course, behind Paul that other Jew. What are you going to do? Behind Paul there is the other Jew, a Galilean, male, born to a trade, a friend of heterosexuality.

    Jesus of Nazareth. Not only will there be the claims of this one Jesus, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men to myself. There will be the restricted, limited, frame of reference that this Jesus applies, even to himself, to call himself the Son. Well, we’ve graduated from that, have we not? The inclusivist version of the liturgy now suggests to us that we call him the Child. We have then, behind the Apostle Paul, this other Jew, this Galilean, this male, born to a trade, this friend of heterosexuality, Jesus of Nazareth. Not only do we have then Jesus as He expresses Himself, that in the balance, that we have the claims for him, claims made for him by Paul, that in Jesus there was one who is universal, representative. in his identity, with respect to the entire range of humanity, so that neither Jew nor Greek, neither male nor female, neither bond nor free, nor repentant sinner of any strife, find in him any deficiency whatsoever. And that is the confession of faith. And if you are not willing to say that about him, you are not his.

    Indeed, the politically and theologically correct church of our day must not only declare Paul’s gospel to be a fiction, a pure invention, it must declare to be a lie the incarnation by which God came into the world a Jew, a male, a tradesman, pro-heterosexual. to save all of God’s elect. Paul’s letter to the Romans is a charter document. It is posted at the bow of his gospel ship. Though there have been great and mighty efforts to sink that ship, That ship sinks no more than the vessels in which the storm-tossed disciples rode out the waves.

    Having as it did within it, that Jewish man, chaste, devout, pious, the very son of God, God incarnate, whose presence means the salvation of all God’s elect, whomever they may be. Jew, Greek, black, white, female, male, free, bond, repentant sinners of any strike.

    Our God. Let us stand before the wonder of your word as those who would stand before the wonder of the heavens. May we be breathless before the expansiveness and the comprehensiveness that is set before us in your word. And, O Lord, may we affirm that you are the God of all. May we affirm the manner in which you have revealed yourself and be jealous for that revelation. May we be insistent upon the particulars of that revelation, even the particulars of the incarnation of your son in human flesh. All to the end, our God, that we will be most appreciative of the universal sweet of your intention and the universal sweep of your salvation. Indeed, as Jesus Christ is in fact representative of all your elect, bringing them wonderfully and gloriously into your presence. Here is then our God May you minister to us through the word that we have heard today.

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

  • Christ’s Story Before Our Own

    Christ’s Story Before Our Own

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Considering the Church” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, December 12, 1993.

    About this sermon

    Justification by faith is first a corporate reality before it is a personal one; Christ’s own story takes priority over any individual believer’s story inside it. The phrase ‘the obedience of faith,’ framing Romans at both its opening and close, describes Christ’s obedience as much as ours. The church benefits from an obedience it did not itself perform.

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    Sermon transcript

    We begin our reading this morning in Paul’s letter to the Romans. We are reading at the first chapter, beginning with verse one. This is Romans chapter one, verse one. Let us give our attention to the Word of God. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, which he had promised afore by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead, by whom we have received grace and apostleship for the obedience of the faith among all nations, for his name. Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ to all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And then turning over to Romans chapter eleven. And we are reading from verse twenty-five.

    For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits. Blindness, in part, is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the deliverer and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant unto them when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes, but as touching the election, they are beloved for the Father’s sake.

    For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief, even so have these also now not believed that through your mercy they might also obtain mercy. For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

    O the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord, or who hath been His counselor? For who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto Him again? For of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever.

    Amen. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies as living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.”

    Pray with me. Give us, Lord, strength and be pleased to give us strength with respect to your word. We might not neglect it. Lord, help us then to be filled up with your word. Encourage us, our God, so that we be not discouraged in our confrontation with your word. Truly, we hear its warnings and its threatenings, but we are also consoled in the promises and the assurance that is afforded us from your word concerning our relationship to you through Christ. May we honor your word, O God. May we receive it as that which is infallible. truly inspired by you. Father, from the certainties that are set before us in your word, may we have truly certainty about our relationship to you. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen. You may not be aware of it, but there has been intense debate over the years concerning the message of the Book of Romans.

    I speak out of my own experience and the conservative setting in which I was raised. I grew up in an evangelical environment. made much of the doctrine of justification by faith. Now the approach to that doctrine of justification by faith in this conservative evangelical environment was deeply personal and focused generally on selected passages in chapters one through seven. of Romans. Passages like chapter one, verse seventeen, where Paul quotes the prophet Habakkuk, setting before his readers, his hearers, those great words from the prophet, the just shall live by faith. And I was led to believe that the emphasis of that text was purely and completely individual. The focus was the individual man shall live by his faith.

    Also, this was the approach to the famous text in the third chapter, the twenty-first verse. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Sure, there is an inclusiveness there, but as I was pressed with respect to the setting in which I was raised, I was to understand that in the most personal and individualistic sense. Further, famous text at the end of the sixth chapter, the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. These texts and many others from those chapters in Romans were pressed home to me in the interests of a very personal and individual interpretation of my faith.

    Then came the eruption of my teen years when I was introduced to Reformed theology. At that point, there was a shift, yes, in emphasis, but I must confess now, not in terms. Under the Reformed faith, My interest began to shift from chapters one through seven, to chapters eight through eleven, and specifically those verses that had to do with election and predestination, which are many in those chapters. But as I said, there was a shift in emphasis, but not in tone. So again, the tone that pervaded my consideration of even these chapters and these topics was deeply personal and individual.

    In the balance was always the issue of my own election, my own predestination. Now, if your experience has been somewhat similar to my own, you know that when that reform faith hits you, yes, There were the engaging aspect with respect to the doctrine set before you, but at the same time there were the quandaries were raised in your mind. Am I truly elect? Am I one of those predestined? Something of a crisis of faith followed.

    Now, of course, personal justification and our own individual election and predestination are doctrines and realities of the greatest weight which we cannot in any sense minimal. And they do can they do command our attention as we consider the official to the Romans. The problem was however for me that these interests the personal and individual interests were allowed to eclipse the wider concerns of the Apostle Paul in this particular letter. Not that we would dismiss these matters in any regard, nor minimize their importance. But as that tone, that personal and individual tone, persisted, there was that tendency to allow that tone and my approach to these specific doctrines to eclipse the wider concerns of the Apostle in this particular letter. So much was the personal and the individual made the focus that I wasn’t able to see Paul’s more comprehensive, far-reaching intention. The scope of Romans is grand. The scope of Paul’s letter to the Romans is grand, and I mean that in the most sublime sense of that word.

    It is not without reason in the providence of God, then, that it appears first among Paul’s biblical epistles. since it serves as something of a charter. It serves as something of a charter for the Christian enterprise in the world to the coming again of our Savior. Now, some would limit the scope of this charter by restricting it to the issue of missions, as if by it all the Apostle intended was a master plan for world missions. But Paul’s interest goes beyond that, beyond even the glorious matter of world missions. His intent, rather, is to set before you the full purpose of God in its widest sense. Here is how, then, we might understand that purpose as it is set before us in this epistle.

    I take my cue from the thirty-second verse of that eleventh chapter, that God might show mercy to all, that is, to Gentiles, but also to Jews. through the gospel of Christ’s death and resurrection to the end, that the nations and also all Israel, chapter 11, verse 26, might be brought to that obedience of faith. Remember that phrase, the obedience of faith. struck for you in the fifth verse of the first chapter, but also struck again for you in the twenty-sixth verse of the sixteenth chapter. To the end that the nations and also all Israel might be brought to that obedience of faith in Christ Jesus. for the purpose of having God as their only true inheritance. Chapter eight verse seventeen to the glory of God of whom it can be said from him and through him and to him to him or all things to whom be the glory forever and ever. Verse thirty six of chapter eleven.

    Then. is a setting before us. What we have here in the Epistle to the Romans is a setting before us of God’s purpose in its widest sense and its most comprehensive sense. That God might show mercy to all, that is, to Gentiles but also to Jews, to the gospel of Christ’s death and resurrection, to the end that the nations and also all Israel might be brought to the obedience of faith in Christ Jesus, for the purpose of having God as their only true inheritance, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Not that my personal justification, not that my personal and individual election and predestination, not that world missions are lost from view in any sense, but rather now all of these matters are placed against the background of the great vista of God’s great redemptive program and plan. a plan that just doesn’t concern me. All those. Now immediately we ought to be able to see the difference.

    Between this approach to the message of Romans. and that which would see Romans as essentially a tract about personal salvation and security. First of all, this wider sense of things sets before us, unequivocally, the glory of God. As the chief concern, this is set before us most clearly as the supreme interest of the apostle.

    On the other view, the view that tends to see Romans as a tract about personal salvation and security, there is the danger that these matters that pertain to me individually will intrude upon this greater matter and issue. and the glory of God itself be obscured.

    Me, rather than God. My problems, rather than God’s will. My circumstance, rather than His great redemptive plan and program. But secondly, this approach which we set out to Romans also sets before us the central events of salvation history. In a most clear fashion, those central events being the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and these then maintain their rightful place On the other view, it is my individual conversion and my own personal experience that are likely to rival, if not surpass, the central matters of God’s redemptive work as being of the greatest importance.

    I am reminded of a rather severe argument that erupted in the Presbytery of Ohio a few years ago. for licensure, thought tenaciously on the floor and in committee for his view, that Romans 1.17, when it says, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, must mean, can only mean, a personal, internal revelation in the experience of conversion and justification. Now, I don’t know whether you caught that. This candidate for licensure fought tenaciously for his view that Romans 117, when it says, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, can only mean, must mean, a personal, internal revelation in the experience of conversion and justification. The Presbytery rejected that position, countering to its credit that these words must first of all refer to the objective revelation of God’s righteousness in the death and resurrection of Christ, historical events that took place nearly two thousand years ago. And as I have said many times from this pulpit, as important as my own personal conversion is, it is not my story. or the story about what has happened to me that defines the gospel.

    It is rather the story of Jesus Christ and what has happened to Him. Furthermore, in this regard, we are forced, when we give God’s grand purpose that comes to light in His saving acts its due, to appropriate, or to appreciate rather, our justification and salvation in connection with what has transpired specifically in and to Christ.

    Here we must not miss Paul’s intention in Romans 1 verse 4. He describes in this verse a justification to Jesus. who was declared with power to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead. We of a Reformed faith, we of an honest Protestantism, have always insisted upon the declaratory nature of justification.

    Jesus, for our sake, has undergone a justification. He has been justified himself. having given himself up unto condemnation in the cross, that he might then be justified in the resurrection. The resurrection is God’s act of declaration with regard to him. It is a justification for Christ himself.

    Our experience of justification, then, is found in Christ’s experience of justification. It is not alongside of Christ. justification. It is in Christ’s justification. And here we are brought to the deeper meaning of that famous verse Romans four twenty five. He was delivered up for our sins. He was raised for our justification. The meaning of that being played out for us more fully in Romans six.

    Paul’s point in Romans six verse six where he says, our old man is crucified with Christ, is not that our conversion is like Christ’s crucifixion. Rather, his meaning is that our conversion is a participation in Christ’s crucifixion. Furthermore, when Paul tells us in Romans 6, verse 11, that we are alive to God in Christ Jesus, he means that we have now come to participate in Christ’s resurrection. Not simply that we have been renovated, not even that we have been renewed in our conversion, but we have actually become participants in the resurrection of Christ.

    We then are justified by faith. because by faith we have been made participants in Christ’s justification, which has taken place in his resurrection. That is what faith does. It binds you to Christ, so that what has taken place to him takes place to you, and in you, and for you. So then, God’s glory and the magnification of the importance of the gospel events, these things set out for us more clearly in this grander approach to the theme and message of Romans.

    This approach that sees Romans as Paul’s charter for God’s grand, redemptive, historical plan better grasps the corporate and church-centered character of Paul’s message. On the other view, the one that so emphasizes the personal and the individual, the corporate and the church-centered character of Paul’s message never comes to its own. We are not in a position even to appreciate God’s corporate and ecclesiastical design. But now you will note, as you look at things in terms of the wider considerations of the that the corporate and church interest of the apostle permeate Romans in its entirety, from the opening address to saints at Rome, members of the Church of Rome, to his zeal for all the churches of the Gentiles, he making mention of that in chapter sixteen, verse four, and in the following verse, making mention of the church that meets specifically in the home of Priscilla and Aquila.

    But this then brought to the foreground, we are able to understand more perfectly that when Paul speaks of justification, when he speaks of election, when he speaks of predestination, he doesn’t have anything else in view but the church. Our justification is not a reality apart from the church, and neither is our election and our predestination. setting before you the famous verse from Romans 8. For we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. That is a statement about the Church. When he goes on to speak about us not being able to be separated from the love of God or from the love of Christ, Those considerations arise in connection with our relationship to the Church, our identity as the people of God.

    But even more to the point, as Romans would itself be completed Life in the Church is not brought specifically into view in chapters 12 through 16. We started with 1 through 7, we moved on from 8 to 11, and now we have 12 through 16. But now, as we move on to these chapters, we’re able to understand how closely bound these chapters are to the scheme of Romans in its entirety, to the overall thought that is developed throughout. No, these chapters at the end are no tack-on. They are not an appendix, but integral and essential to the epistle’s overall message.

    They tell us about the society, the society of Gentiles and Jews that finds its life in Christ as his body. Chapter 12, verse 5. This body is blessed by gifts of His grace. Those in it are pledged to one another. They are gracious to outsiders. That is what you hear as you move through that twelfth chapter. They are patient and submissive to government, chapter thirteen. Concluding chapter thirteen, they abstain from fleshly indulgence. This is the life of those who belong to the Church of Jesus Christ. And within the assembly, they forbear with the weak,” chapter 14.

    But here, most specifically, finally, and fourthly, is the deeper range of that phrase that I pointed out to you earlier. The phrase, the obedience to faith, that stands so centrally to Paul’s message mentioned at the beginning, chapter one, verse five, mentioned again at the conclusion, chapter sixteen, verse twenty six.

    On the personal and individual reading of Romans, the obedience is liable to become separated from the faith. The phrase is the obedience of faith. that on that personal and individual interpretation of Romans, the obedience is liable to be separated from the faith. Even the title of that grand old hymn, Trust and Obey, is a little too artificial for Paul. As are those approaches to Paul’s letter to the Romans that keep chapters twelve through sixteen too far removed from the letter’s chief interest. No, not trust and obey, but the obedience of trust is Paul’s approach.

    And such obedience of faith. as is plainly expounded in chapters 12 through 16. That which comes to expression in the body, in the Church, and from the Church. Such obedience of faith being specifically and pointedly worked out within the Church as it is found to be in Christ Jesus who himself cannot be separated any more from his church than he can from his body. Yes, there is a more comprehensive, a grander, way in which to read Paul’s letter to the Romans, and that which I had embraced when I was younger in the faith, and for the benefit of our own faith, that we might indeed be those who are concerned for the obedience of faith, as that is expressed within the fellowship of Christ’s Church.

    May we give the Apostle our full attention. Our Father in heaven, we would learn from you by your word. We would not be ignorant of those things that you would put before us through your servant, the apostle. In fact, Lord, we would come to embrace that message in its full range, in its depth and in its richness. Lord, we would see your grand purpose and intention, your glory above all else.

    The corporate nature of our identity carries us beyond even our individual concerns. We are in fact members of the body of Christ. to which the Apostle drives, and to which, Lord, your purpose and plan would bring us. We ask, our God, that we would not then minimize your Church, that we would not think less of it than we ought. And by doing that, our Father, by thinking of it less than we ought, so dishonor you. and particularly your son, whose body the Church is. Instead, Father, give us hearts that are filled with peace. Heal for your glory. Heal for the Gospel. Heal for the Church. Heal for obedience. The obedience of faith, by which we are justified. for Jesus’ sake. 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.

  • Indicative Before Imperative

    Indicative Before Imperative

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Considering the Church” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, December 12, 1993.

    About this sermon

    Romans 6:14 offers no license for antinomianism: the command to resist sin only makes sense after the prior fact that grace, not law, already rules the believer. Indicative always precedes imperative in Paul’s argument. Christ’s own resurrection life, pictured as a house believers now inhabit, is what actually does the work the command describes.

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    Sermon transcript

    Tonight we are reading again from Paul’s letter to the Romans, and we are reading from the sixth chapter this evening. First of all, from the sixth chapter. And we are beginning at verse one. Let’s give our attention to the word of God. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? May it never be. How shall we who died to sin still live in it?

    Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death? Therefore, we have been buried with him through baptism into death in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin, for he who has died is freed from sin. Now, if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ having been raised from the dead, is never to die again. Death no longer is master over him.

    For the death that he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life that he lives, he lives to God. Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey its lust. Do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace? May it never be.

    Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves to obedience, you are slaves to the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death or of obedience resulting in righteousness? The thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed. And having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.

    Therefore, what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? The outcome of those things is death. Now, having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

    And then turning over to Romans chapter 12, verses 1 and 2. I urge you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Let’s pray together.

    Father, You draw us to Yourself in worship, and Lord, we mark our worship with the presentation of ourselves to You. Your Word truly is that which gives us instruction, marks out our life, shows us, indeed, the boundaries which we are to live in order to glorify You. Father, we treasure that Word and rejoice in it all the more as the glory of that Word is made more evident to us in our worship experience. So Lord, as we would offer ourselves to you, we would not do that in ignorance, but in keeping with what your word has said, what you have declared to be true, and in light of the glorious gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We pray these things through him. Amen.

    Allow me this evening to continue along the lines of the message that I delivered this morning, along the lines of the message that I gave this morning on Romans. This morning, I attempted at the conclusion of my message to speak out against those approaches that would break apart the phrase we find repeated in Paul’s letter to the Romans namely the phrase, the obedience of faith. You can find that phrase, again, I remind you, at the beginning of the epistle in the fifth verse of the first chapter. You can also find it in the 26th verse of the 16th chapter. These phrases, then, acting as sort of bookends to the entirety of the letter, the frame in which, then, a letter is written.

    So then I have attempted, in light of this, to speak out against those approaches that would break apart and artificially divide faith and obedience to the detriment of obedience. But that is only a half thought at best. There is also that danger that comes from the other side.

    There are those who would divide this faith-obedience connection that we find in Romans, not to the detriment of obedience, but to the detriment of faith. Let me explain. We all know that some To artificially divide faith and obedience, do so in the direction of what would be called an antinomianism. What is antinomianism?

    Well, popularly, it is that movement that has focused on Romans 6.14, a verse that we have read this evening. The statement there that you find in that verse, we are not under law, but under grace. And it is understood, this verse, in such a way that it removes the Christian from obligation to the law. The movement is therefore antinomian, anti, against, nomos, law, anti-law, against the law.

    Usually, the dispensational theology has been pegged by reformed people as antinomian. Recently, I read a letter to the editor in Expressions magazine. The writer was bold to suggest that some of the blame for the present lawlessness in our society must be placed at the feet of the Church, specifically the Church which for a hundred years has promoted dispensational antinomianism. for, in this writer’s estimation, dispensational lawlessness. The writer of the letter was calling the readers back to a position that promoted a positive view of the law and its use within Christian society, within the church. Now, we are aware of the dangers of antinomianism. As I have suggested already, there is the danger on the other side.

    If there is a depreciation of obedience in the thinking of some, there is the depreciation of faith in the thinking of others, especially in the thinking of many of those by their emphasis on obedience inadvertently reintroduce salvation by works of all things. Or even a legalism or a legalistic frame in which to understand or appropriate the faith.

    I remember sitting across the table from a woman a number of years ago tears streaming down her face as she described the deep frustration that she had experienced in much of her Christian life. She spoke of going to church year after year only to have what gospel had been given her during the worship service taken away from her by the service’s conclusion. Be sure, and she recognized this, during the service, the gospel had been presented in the true sense of that word.

    Namely, Jesus Christ had been held forth as crucified and raised from the dead on behalf of sinners so that they, sinners, might have eternal life in the present world and in the world to come. Somehow, during the service, These great truths of the gospel and the gospel of grace, procreated as they are by faith, became detached from the response that the worshipers were then called upon to offer to God. Duties, responsibilities, obedience, all of these things detached from faith, separated from faith and from the gospel foundation, as if they had a life all their own, as if they were to be considered in their own right. And in this matter, then, these considerations keeping up upon the worshiper in such a way, by the service’s conclusion, that those worshipers felt as if a mountain of obligation A mountain of obligation had been laid upon them, but a mountain of obligation by which they then were to gain God’s favor. I have often observed in the course of much Reformed worship, while there is a proclamation of the gospel to the extent of driving away the doctrine of salvation by works, in fact driving it out the front door, By the service’s conclusion, that doctrine of works is brought in by the bank. And the worshipper does not then leave the worship experience, realizing afresh the glories of the gospel and the hope that it be found and realized in that gospel. Instead, the worshipper leaves with a tremendous sense of depression and distress.

    It was much that way for this woman of whom I spoke earlier. This woman, being the good Protestant that she was, knew that it was impossible for her to gain God’s favor. So when works were reintroduced by the back door and she was confronted with this mountain of obligation, this laid upon her. She thus felt extreme despair. false phrase, the obedience of faith, would not have us lose either aspect of that of which it is composed.

    It would not have us lose the obedience, it would not have us lose the faith. But in considering the relationship between the two now, the obedience of faith, neither would Paul have us to be moved off in any sense that foundation of grace grasped by faith, specifically in the realization of the priority of faith. We, insisting upon that from beginning to end, from the start of the worship service to its conclusion, from the beginning of our consideration of our God in relationship to us to the conclusion of us. The Apostle Paul then would not in any sense have us to be moved off the foundation of grace dressed by faith, nor away from the priority of that faith, even as we consider the phrase the obedience of faith. It is, after all, the obedience of faith, not the reverse that the Apostle sets before us.

    Paul’s commitment here, therefore, is truly expositional of his gospel. And it comes to expression again and again throughout the entirety of Romans. And we’re only going to note a few instances of it here. Of course, we turn to Romans 6, the passage that we read this evening.

    There will not be any minimizing of obligation. There will not be any lessening of the call for response on the part of the apostles. But neither will there be any relaxing of his grip with respect to that faith that he would have us hold onto. We note the opening of that sixth chapter, verses one and two.

    Paul’s famous words at this point, what shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may increase? May it never be, or God forbid, how shall we who died to sin live in it any longer?” The faith of that obedience of faith is honored in these words in which Paul emphasizes that we have died to sin. He speaks of that in the past tense. We have died to sin.

    It is literally, then, out of the priority of faith that latches onto this reality, its most glorious, positive, gospel reality, that Paul then asks the questions that he does with respect to our continuance in sin. You see what has the priority. It is the realization of what God has done in Christ that forms the foundation that grabs hold of my faith, thus establishing the priori of faith. And the foundation then, out of which then the Apostle can go on to ask his questions about our continuing in sin, if in fact we will live in sin any longer. Now, the way in which The theologians have spoken of this, and I know when theologians begin to speak it becomes very confusing for many of us. But I will set in front of you one more time the way in which the theologians have considered to communicate this to us.

    They have told us the best of them and the best of the Reformed tradition, that the indicative always precedes the imperative. The indicative being the thatness of gospel reality and accomplishment in and by God, which is definitive and objective, historical and irrefutable.

    It is out of that foundation, then, that command rises. Only against the background of that accomplishment does obligation rise upon us. to us so that grace is never lost sight of, no, not for a minute. For is it not grace that has accomplished these things that the gospel declares to us, these historical truths that are set before us in the message of the gospel? Yes, grace is multiplied, and faith is the only means which God has established for appropriating the grace of the gospel, not works, but faith. So then, the indicative of God’s accomplishment always precedes the imperative of obligation. And obligation and duty rise out of the foundation of the indicative base laid in the Gospels. The theologians will go further in speaking to us particularly about this. It’s not a matter of becoming what we aren’t. When we consider the gospel as it is presented by the Apostle Paul, it is a matter of us being what we are.

    And if you can’t see it, then there’s a problem. If you can’t respond to what you are hearing from the Apostle, then there is a problem. Now, do you understand? Do you understand what has happened so tragically, even in many Reformed circles and in many Reformed prophets? And why it is that works, having been driven out the front door, invariably come in by the back.

    Because by the end of the sermon, and by the conclusion of the service, you are being told it is not a matter of being what you are, but becoming what you’re not. And since you’re not, you don’t have the will with all to become. It’s not a matter of you being a son. It’s not a matter of you becoming a son, or becoming the son that you are, realizing within yourself your sonship. It is a matter of you becoming what you are not. You are not a son and you must become one. So how are you going to become one if not by any other method than by your works?

    So is it any wonder that companies of churches and congregations are left in a tremendous state of distress and depression when it comes to their spiritual life. If not, supreme disinterest. I can’t become it anyway, so why should I worry? No one takes this stuff seriously, so why should I? It’s all religious rhetoric. The pastor is under obligation to throw some duty on me that I can’t perform anyway, so why should I even listen to him? That is not, that is not the apostle’s approach.

    He approaches his readers in terms of what they have become by virtue of the indicative action of God in the gospel. All of grace. Even now, if they are to perform any work, if they are to respond to any duty, it is literally that grace which is in them which is responding. It is also utterly and thoroughly positive and glorious. It is truly gospel indeed. It is nothing less than exhilarating. It is good news to you all, if in fact faith is yours. It does not leave you dormant then. It does not leave you inactive. It does not leave you in a state of presumption with regard to your soul and your future.

    He is literally energizing you, because you realize that you are in Christ, who has the very power of resurrection life in Him, and that is what is at work in you. The Son has made you sons, and now the power of sonship is at work in you, that you might be what you are.

    I have heard it compared to a house. You have been given a wonderful house. This is what your salvation has done for you. Now you are exploring all the rooms and appreciating its every feature and living in it and from it to the full. You are not in the process then of getting the house. The house has been given to you. of grace. And now you are learning to appreciate it to the very depth of your soul. So, of course, Romans 12 says nothing less than this. And I think that some of you were ahead of me. realizing that belief from 6 to 12 would indeed prove the same thing.

    When Paul goes on to urge his readers, note the first verse, I beseech you, therefore, brethren. He calls them brethren, note. He is treating them as such. I beseech you, therefore, brethren. You are brethren. His urging of them is not irrespective of their identity through the graciousness of God. Their identity conferred through the grace of the gospel. And when he makes appeal to the mercies of God, it’s not an aside. It’s to bring before his readers the very heartbeat of his message.

    By the mercies of God. Now you want to understand the mercies of God, then I challenge you to go back and read chapter eleven in Romans, and pick out all the times in that chapter that Paul speaks about mercy. And how that mercy has already been displayed to the world in what God has done in Christ.

    Definitive. Indicative out of which now then arise obligations, duties, responsibilities, obedience itself, indeed the obedience of faith. Working itself out here in terms of the presentation of our bodies as living and holy sacrifices acceptable to God. Working itself out here in terms of our unwillingness to be conformed to this world, but our willingness to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. That in keeping with the definitive, indicative work of God on our behalf. Minds renewed in terms of the accomplishment which God has done, brought forth.

    The wellspring, then, out of which Paul then expects these Romans to respond to him is, in fact, the open display of God’s mercy in the gospel. Here, then, this pattern that is set before us by Paul in Romans, the obedience of faith, the two together, but always considering the priority of faith as a graspful of the reality of the gospel of God’s accomplishment in Christ of ourselves. At every point, then, might we not be a people that magnify God’s grace? Might this not be a pulpit that is consistent in its proclamation of that grace, so that as you have heard the gospel at the beginning of the service, you might also hear it at the conclusion? for your good and God’s glory.

    Our Father, we realize that there are many things that we do not understand Presently and there are many things that we will never understand But our father we are praying in so far as we might understand the wonderful message of our redemption in terms of this phrase used by the apostle the obedience that we might grasp hold of the full range of his intention and and the intention of your spirit who caused him to write those words.

    Father, we would glory in you and what you have done. We latching on to that by faith to be sure. And help wonderfully our God because of what you have done. Now, to obey you out of parts and souls, out of lives, that do not diminish in any respect that faith and the grace that you have shown to us. Lord God, we ask that we would not live in frustration or in despair, but in delight, rejoicing in that glory which is revealed in the gospel, but also in that obedience which you bring forth from us upon the foundation of that gospel.

    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.

  • When Calling on the Lord Means Confessing Jesus

    When Calling on the Lord Means Confessing Jesus

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Considering the Church” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, December 5, 1993.

    About this sermon

    Paul’s argument in Romans 10 quietly turns Joel’s ‘call on the name of the Lord’ into calling on the name of the Lord Jesus, and turns calling itself into confession. That shift is not incidental wordplay; it is the whole structure of the gospel compressed into two verses. What it demands is a heart that actually matches what the mouth confesses.

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    Sermon transcript

    This morning we are reading from Romans, Paul’s letter to the Romans, and we begin with verse one of chapter ten. This is Romans ten, verse one. Let’s listen to the word of God. Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved.

    For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God’s righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law, for righteousness to everyone that believeth. For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, that the man which doeth those things shall live by them.

    But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise. Say not in thine heart who shall ascend into heaven, that is, to bring Christ down from above, or who shall descend into the deep, that is, to bring Christ again from the dead. But what sayeth it, the word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart? That is the word of faith which we preach, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

    For the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek. For the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him in whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent?

    As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. But they have not all obeyed the gospel for Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing. and hearing by the Word of God. But I say, have they not heard? Yes, barely. Their sound went into all the earth and their words unto the ends of the world. But I say, did not Israel know?

    First, Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you. But Isaiah is very bold and saith, I was found of them that sought me not. and was made manifest unto them that ask not after me. But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and namesaying people.”

    As you look at this 10th chapter in Romans, I call your attention to that 9th verse. Indeed, a very famous verse, and I’m sure one that many of you have committed to memory. But to underscore the importance of this verse, I want you also to drop down a bit to a parallel text, verse 13, and what Paul says there. And I want you to consider the way in which these two texts complement each other. Underscored, as you look at these texts now together, is the grave seriousness of what the Apostle is indebting to say. That’s certainly set before us by the concluding words in each of those verses the promise laid therein, you shall be saved.” There are weighty matters, then, to be considered as we think about what the Apostle is saying here.

    Just how weighty is understood if we See verse 13 in the context from which it is drawn out of the Old Testament. Paul here in the 13th verse of this 10th chapter is quoting from the prophecy of Joel. Joel 2 verse 32. Joel’s interest in that text is the great and terrible day of the Lord, the coming day of wrath. So specifically what is in view as Joel then goes on to speak about salvation is salvation specifically from the wrath that is impending, the wrath that is coming in the great and terrible day of the Lord. Is there anything then more weighty than this? Can we conceive of anything more serious than this? In view is the judgment, and here, in light of the judgment, is set before the people of God this promise, Thou shalt be saved. From what? From unfortunate things that may well overtake us in the ordinary course of our lives, Saved from what? Periodic unhappinesses? Disturbances to our equilibrium? Saved from what? Saved from the wrath of God. From His judgment. and its eternal consequences.

    We see then, as we match Romans 10.9 with 10.13, that the most serious matters are most definitely in view. as Paul builds off of Joel 2, verse 32, to bring before his readers, before his hearers, the seriousness of God’s wrath and judgment.

    But also laid within that prophecy and statement from the prophet Joel, is Paul’s doctrine whereby we might be saved. For nothing less than justification by faith is present in Joel, no less than in Paul. And you then, when Joel would have us call upon the name of the Lord, It is not with respect to some sort of worthiness that we have inside ourselves, some sort of merit that we can claim, some advantage that we can set before God and say, on the basis of this advantage, you are obligated, God, to save us. No, not at all. What is specifically in view here is the fact that this individual must cast himself in faith completely upon the mercy of God. We are called upon then by Joel to cast ourselves in faith upon the name of our God. who by that name is bound in covenant to save those who put their trust in him.” This means, then, that this thirteenth verse acts as a summary statement, pulled out of the Old Testament, even. A summary statement of Paul’s doctrine, of his teaching, even in its most comprehensive sense.

    Judgment and wrath, but also justification of the sinner who casts himself in faith upon the Lord. that we will do well to push beyond the fact that Joel 2.32 serves as a summary statement of Paul’s doctrine, because it can hardly be denied that Paul has Joel 32 in mind already when he writes verse 9, that he frames that ninth verse, which is so important to us, so well-known by us, against the background of that statement in Joel, which he quotes later on in the chapter. This means, then, that Paul, even before he sets that Joel statement before us, is, as it were, providing us a commentary, an explanation of his understanding of that Joel prophecy in light now of what has transpired in and through Jesus Christ. Do you want Paul’s commentary on Joel chapter 2? Here it is. in Romans 10, verse 9. Now, I ask you to note the changes that Paul, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, works throughout this ninth verse. First of all, with regard to the name.

    Note the 13th verse again. and Joel’s prophecy. Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord, well, we understand who that is, do we not? Why, that’s the covenantal Lord Jehovah, God of Israel. But you back up to the ninth verse, and how is it that the Lord here is described? At the end of that first line of the ninth verse, it is not simply the Lord, but the Lord Jesus. I don’t have to spell it out for you.

    Here is one of those texts in which Paul is very deliberately, however subtly, laying before his audience his conviction that Jesus is himself the Lord, the Lord in the sense that he is the visitation of Jehovah, the God of Israel, to this earth, come in the flesh. Jesus is Lord and He is God. If there then is to be any calling upon the name of the Lord in light now of what God has recently done, it must be a calling upon the name of the Lord Jesus. No other approach will do. But I want you to note also the further change which Paul makes in this ninth verse. Very important.

    You see how the Joel prophecy reads, whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. There’s a certain liability to that prophecy. Now, by that I’m not suggesting there is an error or in terms of the inspiration of Joel the prophet, but there is a certain liability. For, can you imagine the Israelites standing before that text in the days of Joel, thinking, well, yes, judgment coming on Israel, but if I trust in the Lord, I, by myself, personally, individually, then I, personally, individually, will be saved. And the focus is liable to be deflected from a people to purely the individual. But note now the alteration given by Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

    As he reflects on that sure prophecy, he sets it down, if you confess with your mouth, the Lord Jesus.” The calling upon the name of the Lord here is translated into a confession. And what is this business of confession? What is a confession? We hear about it in the Old Testament. In fact, we sang of it as we opened the service this morning from Psalm 40, as the psalmist speaks about confessing the wonderful works of God before His people. There’s the line of it. We hear of it also in the 51st Psalm as David speaks about confessing his sin.

    You might recall what took place in David’s confession of his sin. It wasn’t just him privately making his confession. He actually goes to the tabernacle and, in a public display, confesses his sin. Adding weight to this understanding of confession, we have the words of Jesus Himself from the 10th chapter of Matthew, the 32nd verse, where He speaks about His disciples being willing to confess Him before men.

    Again, a public act. Now, granted, in the Matthew passage, in view is persecution, and the fact that we must be bold to confess our Lord when our life is on the line. Here, as we move now to the tenth chapter of Romans, something else is brought into view.

    Oh yes, it is public. Isn’t that clear? Don’t the words, by your mouth or with your mouth, make it clear to you that this is a public act? Here is something that is done so that other people can hear it. A confession, then, is a public act. But we push a little bit further in understanding this notion of confession.

    If we were to translate the word literally, it would mean to say the same thing as. To say the same thing as who? Well, to say the same thing as God Himself, for instance, with respect to His Son, that in fact, Jesus is Lord, and God, by raising Him from the dead, has made Him to be Lord, and worthy of that name. But also, to say the same thing as all other people who acknowledge that Jesus is Lord, and that in a public declaration.

    You see what Paul is thriving at here? laid beneath the lines in this statement in Romans 10-9 is the public act of confession by which people come into the congregation of God’s people and declare themselves for the Lord. And that, in the presence of others who can scrutinize what they say, and even hold them accountable for what they say.

    Am I out of bounds, then, to suggest to you that in this text, Romans 10.9, the Church is very much at the forefront of the consciousness of the Apostles? Do you understand, then, the seriousness of what you have done when you confessed Jesus as Lord, even in the presence of this congregation?

    Read the verse again. In the balance is your salvation. If you will confess with your mouth in the presence of God’s people, before God himself, that Jesus is Lord, and if you will maintain integrity in that confession, if you will persevere, you will be saved. From what The wrath of God. The wrath of God. Paul isn’t naive. He knows, as we all do, that words can come very easily. So he adds to this statement, which begins the ninth verse, that other parallel statement. Not just that you confess with your mouth, but that you believe in your heart that God has raised Jesus from the dead. O, that our hearts would match our mouths, and our affections our confessions.

    Won’t you give yourself fresh, you who have confessed Jesus as Lord? to the full power of what you see and read here in this verse for your internal well-being. And those of you, those of you who haven’t, in fact, will you think about that matter in light of what we’ve said? And then those of you who struggle because you suspect your heart doesn’t match your words. Won’t you think again? Meditate on the verse. Come to appropriate conclusions.

    Mend your life and live for God’s glory. Give us grace, our God. Give us grace, indeed, through your means of grace, that even the word which we’ve heard today would prove beneficial and effective in us. That our prayers might not be hindered, but heard, your grace communicated to us through them. And also, as we have the word set before us in the form of the sacrament, may we be instructed by it. And in this, our God, may we know that this matter of our salvation is not just a private and individual concern, but indeed we are called into the fellowship and communion of your people. And may we honor that relationship that you have established for us in the midst of the assembly, and give you glory. We pray in Jesus name, who presides over his church, who saves his

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

  • Acts Is Not Still Happening

    Acts Is Not Still Happening

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Considering the Church” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, November 21, 1993.

    About this sermon

    Whether Acts describes a pattern still normative for the church today, or a unique founding history, is the question behind the rise of Pentecostalism, the Peniel movement, and similar claims to continuing revelation. Acts itself is read instead as evidence for an ordered church with three offices and multiple, connected local assemblies. The extraordinary in Acts served the ordinary that followed it.

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    Sermon transcript

    This morning we are beginning our scripture reading in Acts chapter 6. This is Acts chapter 6, and we start at verse 1. Let’s listen to the Word of God. And in those days when the number of the disciples was multiplied, There arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.

    Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. that they will give, but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.

    And the saying pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parnimus, and Nicholas, the proselyte of Antioch, whom they set before the apostles. And when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. The Word of God increased and the number of disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly, and the great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.” Then turning over to Acts 15. Again, reading from verse 1.

    And certain men, which came down from Judea, talked to brethren and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question. Being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles, and they caused great joy unto all the brethren. And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them. But there arose uncertain of the sect of the Pharisees, which believed, saying, that it was needful to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses. And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter. And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up and said unto them, Men and brethren, you know how that a good while ago God made choice among us that the Gentiles, by my mouth, should hear the word of the gospel and believe.

    And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us, and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.” Then all the multitude kept silence and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had brought among the Gentiles by them.

    Let’s pray together. Help us in our hearing, Lord. Help us, Lord, we who are young. May we hear, and hear with understanding, and with faith, that even at a young age we might treasure these things, and also see them increasingly played out in our lives. You’ve left us all, oh God, young and old alike, that we all may prove to be your children. For we know the kingdom of heaven belongs to children and those who are like them. In Jesus’ name, amen.

    Is the Book of Acts normative? Is the Book of Acts normative? That is, can we look at the Book of Acts in order to find, for the Church’s and the Christian’s life, the norms for behavior, for experience, and even for the church’s structure and organization. Now, some of you who are well acquainted with the Book of Acts know that when this particular book is discussed, that this matter, namely the normative character of this book, is always one of the hot topics for discussion.

    But let me focus things a bit for you this morning, for all of us, with a few examples. On January 1st, 1901, Agnes Osman, O-Z-M-A-N, was having her evening devotions. She was a student at Bethel Bible College in Kansas City. This particular evening, she was meditating on the Book of Acts and noticing the practice of the Apostles, they laying hands on people in order that those people might receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

    She then, following her devotions, sought out the leader of that institution, a man by the name of Charles Parham, P-A-R-H-A-M, and asked him to lay hands on her so that she might receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Well, at first he was taken back, and he refused. But then he relented. And according to her testimony, as soon as he laid his hands on her, she began to speak in different unknown languages.

    She then, she said, experienced the filling of God and interpreted these experiences which she had as a revival of Pentecost. the experiences of Pentecost written about in Acts chapter 2. Now, this event is a very important event in modern church history, believe it or not, because it is this event that is recognized as the beginning of the modern-day Pentecostal movement. a movement which claims that the Book of Acts is particularly and specifically normative for the church, and that the church should expect the various phenomena associated in the Book of Acts with the baptism of the Holy Spirit, particularly the speaking with tongues and even gifts of healing and miracles, if not a revival of the office of the apostle itself.

    But you should know, you should realize, that the Pentecostals are not the only one that makes special appeal to the Book of Acts as being normative. Down the road a bit here, there is a monument to another group that believed that the Book of Acts was especially normative. I have in mind the Economites, who made their home in present-day Cambridge. The Economites were part of a movement in the last century that included a number of perfectionists and socialist cults, all of which were appealing to portions of that, particularly Acts 2 and Acts 4, as texts that mandated the sale of all private property and the common ownership of all things by the community. There have been others still, including a great number of Congregationalists and even Presbyterians who have looked to the Book of Acts as normative when it comes to specific interests.

    For instance, there have been those Congregationalists and Presbyterians who have used an argument from silence as they looked at the Book of Acts and claimed that since the Church in Acts gives no evidence of organizational structure beyond the local assembly.

    The church presently should not have any superstructure whatsoever. There should be no centralized office, no centralized administration for the church at large. Some of these go further. specifically with respect to missions fighting at thirteen verses one and two and they say that the church here the church at Antioch which is specifically in view was but a single congregation in that city it was a single congregation in that city that is very important and it was the single congregation that sent out missionaries remember what’s taking place there Paul and Barnabas are being set apart by the church at Antioch. But in the reading of some, it is a single congregation in Antioch that is operative here, sending out missionaries, thus establishing the pattern for missions forever after. Only individual congregations can send out missionaries. That is what some have concluded. Thus, there can be no boards of missions. There can be no committees for missions. There can be no superstructure, no centralized administration.

    And within the Orthodox Presbyterian Church herself, as many of you learned this past Friday night, a movement developed within our denomination in the 30s and 40s called the Penile Movement. That movement cited Paul’s experience in Acts 16. where the Holy Spirit specifically directed his travels. No, not into Asia, not into Bithynia, but over into Macedonia he was to go.

    And the Tenilus then said that as Paul was directed in his travels directly by the Holy Spirit, we should expect the promptings of the Holy Spirit with regard to all the particulars of our lives. We have a right to expect the Holy Spirit’s intervention directly into our lives. to that end, and this in keeping with what the Book of Acts specifically prescribes.

    And so it goes, and on and on it goes, people appealing to the Book of Acts as normative, in a very special sense with respect to the way in which the church and individual Christians should act, think, and behave in our present circumstance. Groups, movements, entire churches building their cases on a belief that the Book of Acts is in fact then normative and prescriptive. It prescribes for us what our life should be. Now, here we have to take a deep breath, because, of course, it will never do to say that the Book of Acts isn’t normative, since we recognize that this Book of the Bible, like all the books of the Bible, is given by the special inspiration of the Holy Spirit and is an infallible rule for faith and practice.

    But this being the case, how then do we justify not rushing after the conclusions of those whose opinions we’ve just outlawed? If, in fact, The Book of Acts is normative and even prescriptive. How do we justify not rushing after the conclusion of those whose opinions we’ve just outlined? Well, first of all, we must keep in mind the full purpose of the Holy Spirit. That person of the Trinity who is so central to this book. We must keep in mind the full purpose of the Holy Spirit.

    It is this the writers of the Westminster Confession of Faith were getting at when they The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself, and therefore, when there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture which is not manifold but one, it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly.”

    Now, the writers of the Confession, by this statement, didn’t have in mind merely the comparative study of texts within the Bible. by which, for instance, they might build their case for a particular doctrine, say, the doctrine of the Trinity. No, they also had in mind the grand sweep of God’s redemptive and revelational program. Not just then a comparative study of individual tasks, But they had in mind the grand sweep of God’s redemptive and revelational program, which comes to bear upon the particular meaning of any test. It is on this basis that they were able, earlier in this document, earlier in the Westminster Confession, to tell us that God’s former ways of revealing his will unto his people have now ceased. That is, God no longer communicates with his people presently as he did in biblical times.

    The writers of the Confession were convinced of this And I will add, as have been all others who have confessed historic and orthodox Christianity. I am not going to back down from that. As have been all others who have confessed historic and orthodox Christianity. I think you get my drift. Those who are contending for the continuation of revelation are outside of the boundaries of historic and orthodox Christianity, whether they be Catholic, Protestant, or cultic.

    The writers of the Confession were convinced of this God’s four ways of revealing Himself has now ceased. Not because they were able to find that single Bible verse that says as much, but because they were very much alert to the pattern and the progress of God’s grand redemptive and revelational program. To compare Scripture with Scripture, therefore, means more than just stacking Bible verses on top of each other or having the appropriate proof text. It means looking at individual texts in light of the whole of the Word of God. And in the case of further revelations, it means grasping the overall design of God’s Word. by never allowing God’s revelation to be separated from His work of redemption.

    And that is the fundamental flaw in the estimations of those who continue to propound a doctrine of continuing revelation. And I am bold I am bold to set before you this morning this statement. The pattern of God’s word bears out this conclusion. God’s mighty acts of redemption have ceased. Are you going to contend to the contrary? Is there going to be another crucifixion? Are you looking for another resurrection of the Son of God? Are you looking for another ascension? Are you looking for another coming of the Holy Spirit?

    It’s not going to happen. It won’t happen. God’s mighty acts of redemption have ceased. and His revelation, by which He declares those mighty acts and interprets those mighty acts, have ceased as well. They go together. The Church, therefore, presently lives in and by the record of God’s revelation with respect to His mighty deed, That record preserved for us all uniformly in the Bible. I am bound by this, not by what you imagine God told you at 3 a.m. this morning. The church now lives in and by the record of God’s revelation in the scriptures, not by recent visitations from heavenly beings, not by sightings of the Virgin Mary, not by voices at midnight, not by bleeding statues, not by people speaking in languages that we ordinary Christian folk can’t understand.

    So the Book of Acts, yes, is normative, and it is prescriptive, but it is normative and prescriptive within the limits which the Holy Spirit has set for it. The Book of Acts is normative and prescriptive within the limits of its own development. And this is also quite important—within the limits of its own development.

    You see, Acts does not give us a fully developed picture of the Church’s life or worship. The Book of Acts is not even interested in what we might call pure definition. What is worship? What is the Christian life? Nor is it a manual on church life. It is not a book of church order.

    Instead, it is a book of history, breathing out the dynamics of that history It has in view. And as we read, we watch that history set before us a church which is in development, in process, coming into focus. Things are not settled. Things seemingly are quite liquid. There is development. so that the Church and her order and her life take shape piece by piece as we move through this great biblical book. The Book of Acts, then, yes, is normative, prescriptive, but it is also suggestive of the directions in which the Church will go, in fact, must go.

    Let’s take the complicated issue of church governance. Now, you try it. I know I have. You try it. You read through the Book of Acts, and you tell me if you can put together in what you read there a compact clearly defined, well-organized understanding of the government of the Church.

    It’s no easy matter. And the reason is, you see, because the Book of Acts is recording the history of the process by which the Church is coming to a maturity, a maturity that even stands beyond what the Book of Acts tells us. We are driven in certain directions. by the book of Acts. All the answers aren’t given to us. For instance, as we look at the book of Acts, along the lines of church government, we notice, first of all, in the early chapters, the church in Jerusalem seems to be overseen by the chosen disciples.

    There are eleven of them to begin with. The chair of Judas has been vacated. As you know, Matthias is chosen to sit in that seat. We’re back to twelve, and they are the ones then, these specifically, responsible for the ministerial and the ruling functions that take place within the church. These functions are carried out by the twelve. Then we come to Act VI. The twelve here enlist the aid of seven others. These seven others are ordinarily thought of as the first deacons.

    But here’s a wrinkle for you. Here’s a surprise. These so-called deacons do un-deaconly things. I think I just coined a word. undefeatedly things they they end up preaching and teaching. We’ve got Stephen the magnificent fellow who preaches as he does in Act 7 and then we have Philip going out as an evangelist in Act 8. These aren’t the ordinary tasks of so-called deacons.

    It seems that the picture is somewhat hazy, somewhat fuzzy, as the offices are somewhat In the center, they’re only coming into focus. It isn’t until the 11th chapter of Acts that we hear any mention of elders within the church. All we hear about the elders of Israel, they’re spoken of repeatedly, but it isn’t until chapter 11, verse 30, that we hear about the elders in the church. And how are we to understand these elders that are spoken of there? These elders in the church of Jerusalem that stand alongside of the apostles.

    Do they have ministerial function? Are they ministers of the word alongside of the apostles? Well, that’s one of the questions. It’s not clear. Or do they have simply ruling function? Are they the prototype for the contemporary ruling elder that we honor within the tradition of Presbyterianism? By the time we come to chapter 14, verse 23, we find elders again mentioned here as Paul is determined to appoint elders of all of the churches in the cities that he’s visited on his first missionary journey. Who are these elders? How would we describe them? Are they ministers of the word? Some have concluded that. The interpretation then of elder being broadened, to be sure. Are they that only? We can’t tell. Did they have other functions? It’s not clear to us.

    And then we come to Act 20. marvelous chapter that tells us about Paul’s meeting with the elders from Ephesus before he returns to Jerusalem, and once more we are introduced here to the elders that come down to meet him before he goes off to Jerusalem.

    But these elders here are specifically spoken of as bishops. Now, if you’re not confused, Amongst those who have been honest in their reading of the book of Acts, you’re the first one. It is a very complicated picture that is being set before you. But by the time we’re done with Acts, it seems that the direction in which we are being pushed with regard to office is along the lines that Presbyterian and Calvinist people at pursuit.

    They are the temporary officers. We know about them. We read about the apostles. That’s a temporary officer. We hear about prophets. That also is a temporary officer. But there are these other officers. There are deacons. The responsibility it is to care for the poor, those who need help and assistance. There are those who assist the ministry of the Word. in a ruling capacity supportive of that ministry. There is a ministry of the word that seems to be distinct from the ruling function. This is not to obviate the fact that elders in the book of Acts are also joined together with those who are described as bishops. The force and direction of the record seems to be pushing us towards a three-office point of view. Deacons who serve the poor, administrators, rulers who decide cases, and those to whom is committed specifically the ministry of the Word. And I added this point.

    If you think that the tradition of which you are part is not doing very well these days, I suggest to you that this is precisely the pattern of church, government, and order that has been honored in historic Calvinism and Presbyterianism. and he is in place in this congregation. And what might we say about the church as a whole? Again, the picture slowly unfolds. How are we to identify it? It seems the church is all those who gather in Christ’s name in a particular city. That’s what’s set before us.

    First of all, as the Christians are gathered together in Jerusalem, Acts 5.11, Acts 8.1, Even though there’s too many of them to gather in one place, so it seems there are multiple congregations in the city of Jerusalem. But this is treated as if it is one church. Then the church is described as such. as those who are gathered together throughout an entire region or seem to be part of or spread out over an entire region. Act 931, the church in Judea and in Galilee and in Samaria. These facts which we note here put before us the connectedness of the church. that carries us beyond the definition of a church as being merely a local assembly. Don’t ever fall for that. Don’t ever fall for that.

    The church is not simply the local assembly. A fair reading of the Book of Acts pushes you precisely in the opposite direction because The word church is used to describe not just local congregations, but churches in cities made up of many congregations in entire regions, and then when you get to Acts 20, 28, it seems as if the broadest description of the church possible, the church of God, devolves upon an individual congregation in Ephesus.

    Once more, I would say that the pattern that we see evolving in the Book of Acts is precisely the one that has been honored by historic Calvinism and Presbyterianism. The Church is called Church at various levels. I’m not here to suggest to you that Acts 15, which we read this morning, is putting before you the first general assembly of the Church. I’m not that foolish. But the one thing that is obvious from Acts 15 is the interconnectedness of the church. Here is a church court, and I will go so far as to say that about what took place there. And this church court has the right, it seems, to expect that its pronouncements have some effect on congregations elsewhere. As it makes a decision with respect to the whole issue of circumcision, in its relationship to the gospel.

    So as I say, it seems the direction, the force of the Book of Acts pushes us towards the conclusions to which Calvinism and historic Presbyterianism have come. Is the Book of Acts normative, prescriptive? No, not in the sense that many wish to make it normative and prescriptive, but yes, of course, just as the Holy Spirit intends. Always according to the overall program of God’s redemptive and revelational purpose, and always according to the internal development of the history which Acts itself records. All of this is confirmation of the things I believe. we hold dear.

    So the next time you’re tempted to run off and join a commune, or the pressure is on you to adopt the charismatic and Pentecostal conclusion, or to embrace congregationalism, I hope you’ll draw back If you’ll think again, read the book of Acts, alive to the very spirit who wrote it.

    Our Father, who art in heaven, be those who, even though convinced we are right, would brag in ourselves, boast of our own ability and even our own position. For we know that the Lord Jesus Christ extended himself for those whom he loved, and we realize that those whom Christ loved are part of many assemblies and many churches throughout the world. But as he was servant, as he was servant to you for their sakes, for the sake of his people, that they might know the truth. We pray our God that with all humility and with the weakness of Christ, We too may be servants, even to the churches that don’t agree with us. And may we prove to be of help. We ask this, our God, to the end that we all may come to that full maturity.

    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.