Grace OPC Sewickley PA

Sermon Series: Easter

  • The Mountain in Galilee

    The Mountain in Galilee

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Easter” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, April 10, 1994.

    About this sermon

    The chief priests pay the soldiers to deny the resurrection, as the parable of the wicked husbandmen in Matthew 21:38-44 foretold. The disciples go to the mountain in Galilee in 28:16, and it is a heavenly mountain. Christ resides eternally in the heavenly city he has prepared for us.

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    Sermon transcript

    Tonight we are rounding out our messages on Matthew’s declaration of the resurrection, and we are in Matthew 28. We are beginning our reading tonight with verse 11. This is Matthew 28, and we are beginning at verse 11. I’ll give your careful attention to the reading of God’s word.

    Now, while they were on their way, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. And when they had assembled with the elders and counseled together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers and said, His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep, and if this should come to the governor’s ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble. And they took the money and did as they had been instructed, and this story was widely spread among the Jews as it is to this day. But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mouth in which Jesus had designated, and when they saw him, they worshipped him, but some were doubtful.

    And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.

    And, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Pray together. Help us, Lord, young and old, when it comes to your word. Help us, especially we who are young, that we might develop those very good patterns and habits with respect to your word now. Teach us patience O Lord, with your word, that we would read your word for understanding, that we would give our attention to your word that we might understand. And do, Lord, help us in our prayers, for Lord, it is important that we approach your word with prayer. And Father, we ask that we who are older might also demonstrate patience. And if we have not learned good habits when we were young, we pray, Lord, that you might break bad habits now and instruct us so that we would learn better. O God, we who confess that your word is infallible that it is the only infallible rule of faith and practice. May we match our confession with our lives. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

    In Matthew 28, verses 11-15, we have the commissioning of the temple guard, while in Matthew 28, verses 16-20, we have the commissioning of Jesus to the disciples. The first commissioning, that of the temple guard, presents us with the order and the orders of the city of man. The second commissioning, that of the disciples, presents us with the order and the orders pertaining to the city of God. The guards come to the city in verse 11. The disciples come to the mountain of the Lord’s choice in verse 16.

    For is this city to which the gods have come not the hope of Israel? Is it not even the hope of the whole world, according to Jewish doctrine? Will it not be the site of the coming reign of the Messiah. Haven’t the Scriptures themselves engendered this very expectation?

    Take, for instance, Psalm 87, verses 2 and 3. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the other dwelling places of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God.” Was this not understood by the Jews as a reference to their holy city? Was it not understood as a reference to Jerusalem itself, where God had promised His name would dwell forever? And what of Isaiah? He speaks very explicitly. in his sixty-sixth chapter, verses eighteen and verse twenty.

    The time is coming to gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come and see my glory. Then shall they bring all their brethren from all the nations to my holy mountain, Jerusalem.” The guards come into this city, the city of Jerusalem, not just any city, but the city of promise, the city of expectation, the city of glory, the city we would imagine to be poised for the reception of its king.

    The guards come into this particular city to report the events that had transpired during the early morning watch. But the leaders, the priests, and the elders assembled in Jerusalem do not receive the God’s message with either reverential awe or joy. Instead, they blister and burn at the news that comes to their ears. Here is the city of promise. Here, assembled in this city of promise, are those who profess to understand the nature of that very promise. To them, news comes about a resurrection, specifically about the resurrection of Jesus, an event, we would imagine, that would have some connection to the promise as they have conceived of it.

    Yet they do not receive the word that is given them in reverence or with joy. Why is it that they do not so receive this message? From the way in which Matthew tells the story, it would seem that the reason they don’t receive the message in a proper way is not because they don’t believe it. It is not because they do not believe it. In fact, it seems as if they do believe it. They don’t question the gods with regard to their veracity at all. They don’t question them with respect to the story that they tell.

    But if they don’t discount the story communicated to them then, why do they not fall on their faces in acknowledgement of their sin, and then seek out Jesus’ disciples for the purpose of coming to terms with this One who has been raised? Instead, they bribe the guards, they promise to cover for them, and they give them, they supply them, a lie to spread.

    But again, we ask, why? Why do they do this? When faced with the testimony, which seemingly they don’t doubt, about Jesus’ resurrection, why is it that they fail in this situation to demonstrate a proper humility before this momentous event? It goes without saying, as we look at this text a little bit more carefully, and scrutinize it, and even scrutinize these who are here portrayed for us, it is evident to us, is it not, that we are here face-to-face, not only with the enormity, but with the mystery of evil.

    It is possible, you see, knowing the truth, to suppress the truth. It is possible to subvert the truth none better, to co-opt evil even under doctrine, using doctrine to your advantage. It is possible, you see, to perpetrate evil at the same time you’re speaking very glowingly about God and his ways. It is possible to be the agents of evil even though you are meticulous with respect to religious observance and even respectability.

    We are then here face-to-face, as I said, not only with the enormity but with the mystery of evil. What might be the motivation of such evil? Such evil is motivated by things that lay beneath the surface, things for the sake of which the truth itself, the truth itself, will be sacrificed. You begin to come to grips with the incredible power of this evil with which we are here dealing. But what, we may ask, do these men of Jerusalem accomplish by their deliberate, now their calculated, denial.

    This denial which comes in the face of a truth that they have not denied. We make a grave mistake if we do not see in these men a brilliance. genuine genius. You see, these men, and I say it once more, are not denying that Jesus rose. They are merely taking steps now, brilliantly, ingeniously, They are merely taking steps now necessary to assure their assets in light of this remarkable fact. Should I say that one more time for you? As Matthew presents it here, These men are merely taking steps necessary to assure their assets in light of the event that has transpired. They become the real-life outworking of what Jesus has presented in a parable previously.

    The specific parable I have in mind is that of the wicked tenant farmers recorded for you in Matthew 21, verses 33 through 44. Now, I’m not going to review that parable for you tonight, for I believe that you all know it quite well. In that parable, Jesus speaks, however, about an inner motivation. that in the final analysis causes the wicked tenants to rise up against the landowner, and specifically the landowner’s son, and kill, execute, that landowner’s son. But I want you to note what Jesus says in that parable with respect to the objective in view. What, then, these wicked tenants have in mind as they perpetrate this crime.

    Verse 38 of the parable, Matthew 21, the objective is the inheritance. Let’s kill the Son, and then the inheritance will be ours. Now, I suggest to you that Jesus The true genius has exposed the leaders of Jerusalem even before the events transpired here in chapter 28, and that by way of this parable which he is told. You will note that at the end of that parable, the leaders of the Jews who are there listening to Jesus tell the parable recognize that he is speaking this parable about them. But Jesus is getting to the heart of things here as he makes this comment in the thirty-eighth verse of that twenty-first chapter.

    Let’s kill the Son, and then the inheritance will be ours. Nothing less than this is in view as the Jewish leaders now conspire with respect to the truth. They will suppress the truth in the interests of the inheritance. that they believe to be theirs. Who’s ruling in Jerusalem, anyway? The city is the city of Thomas.

    We believe that, do we not? We have the Old Testament to back us up. and who occupies the seats of authority and power presently within this city. Do we not occupy those seats? Do we not rule here? And I will tell you. So may say one of them, I’m not about to give up what I’ve got.

    Indeed, they will wrap themselves in their scriptures while they pursue their wicked ends. For they know full well the bended knee to this One who has been raised means the forfeiture of their dominion. In actual fact, however, Such humiliation before the Ascended One or the Resurrected One means forfeiture to a greater degree than these in their evil genius even imagine.

    For now, Jesus, you see, as we move on to verses 16 through 20, directs his disciples’ attention away from the city of Jerusalem altogether. He directs his disciples’ attention away from the city of Jerusalem altogether, and he directs their attention to an unnamed mountain. an unnamed mountain. Jesus’ intention here is not to tell his disciples that Jerusalem, the holy city, is merely giving way to another holy place, specifically a mountain that belongs to the order of this creation. That’s not his intention at all. You see, his intention, by growing there, eyes away from the holy city is to shatter whatever worldly illusions these disciples have bound up in them. He’s going to give them a lesson in the nature of truth, ultimate truth.

    Now, this mountain is not identified in any other way than as a mountain in Galilee designated by Jesus. It is unnamed, as I have emphasized already. It is unnamed specifically because it must thus be named, since its campus is not to carry our attention away from cities to mountains, but away from this world to another. It is an unnamed mountain, lest you see the disciples of Jesus, the successive generations of the Church might in fact resort to it later on, as if it were a particularly holy place. There is a certain anonymity with regard to this mouth of them, and that of necessity The seat of Jesus’ power and authority, therefore, is neither a city of this creation nor a mountain of this world, but the realm of glory above. Not that there isn’t a city to be perceived even in the pattern of the mountain upon which the disciples gathered with Jesus.

    But that city is of a completely other and different order. It is an invisible city, a heavenly city. As Hall refers to it, it is a Jerusalem to be sure, but it is the Jerusalem that is above. Over against this city, then, which is now to be perceived In the narrative of Jesus’ encounter with his disciples on that mount in Galilee, over against this city stands the earthly Jerusalem, the world in which its citizens live by and for the visible, in which they depend completely upon earthly rewards, and even work for those rewards. It is the city of works. It is the city of worth salvation.

    And in the interests, you see, of the religion that rises out of that city, even the truth itself must be sacrificed. On the surface of things, those who dwell in this city are in fact respectable. even religious, but underneath live the souls driven by an acquisitiveness, controlled by fear, fear of loss, and manipulated by the promise of profit. At the heart, this corrupt city of man, be it called even by the name Jerusalem, knows that suppresses the truth and publishes the lie. The order and the orders of this city are shaded, then, by the darkness of hell. The leaders of the city of man even seem to be the minions of the Prince of Darkness. So insidious, so ominous is this city of man that it envelops even the earthly Jerusalem. the ancient city of promise, hope, expectation, supposed flower of the world.

    Being so insidious and so ominous, then, is it possible for anyone to break free of it, to escape? But there is a king. who was slain, who was slain in the city of man that now is alive, who is himself free from the city of man and all of its evil. A king who came not to grab for himself earthly power or wealth, a king who came not to be served, but to serve, not to take life, but to give his life a ransom for many. This king dwells in his own city now, having been raised from the dead, the very royal city of God, the true city that is above, eternal, yes, as eternal as he is.

    And although this city is in fact invisible to our eyes of the flesh. Although this city is heavenly, this city of God, it is at the same time mysteriously showing itself. For those who have eyes of faith, who have done, because of the workings of the risen Christ in them, the ability to perceive. This city is mysteriously showing itself in an unlikely yet free citizenry, gathered together through baptism and organized under the commandments of the risen Christ.

    They are, from the world’s point of view, powerless. weak, frail, woefully unfit, unfit by the world’s standards. But they are, at the same time, each and every one of them, those who find their strength in this One whom they worship. Far from any promise of profit, any guarantee of empowerment within this world. They serve their king in obedience to his commission, willing even to the end.

    Our king, who presides in the city of God, is the risen Christ. His city, you should know, is the heavenly Jerusalem for which you are destined, that city which already shows itself in the church of Jesus Christ, that edifice which he is at work building, into which he gathers his elect from the nations of the world for an eternal preservation in the presence of God, the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And that, for a time, when all the cities of this world, even those cities that bear names such as Jerusalem, are exposed to the final judgments of God. and are dissolved, and are no more. Of which city are you a citizen? The city of man, or the city of God? Who is your leader? Religious pretenders? Or the Lord Jesus Christ, the emissary of truth?

    Our Father, we are aware of your judgments and we know of the truth that you have raised your Son from the dead. We pray that we might stand at a distance from those who would know this truth and yet suppress it, even deny it, to their own advantage within this world. Instead, O God, may we sacrifice this world in order that we might be found in the truth. in the judgment that is coming, true and genuine citizens of the city of God. Bless us then, O God, with integrity, and help us with respect to that form of things that we observe, with respect to this city, the city of God. that we might be faithful citizens. We ask this in order that you might be glorified, in order that we might have our proper place and role within the Church of Jesus Christ unto the day of the coming of our God. We pray these things through Christ who has gone before us and even now continues with us by His Spirit. 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.

  • After the Sabbath

    After the Sabbath

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Easter” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, April 3, 1994.

    About this sermon

    Matthew 28:1 begins ‘after the sabbath,’ as the two Marys come to the tomb. The chief priests and Pharisees stand against them, guarding the grave. The two Marys waited for the resurrection, and we wait for the second coming.

    More sermons from Matthew · Browse all sermons

    Sermon transcript

    We are reading this morning from Matthew’s Gospel. We are beginning in the twenty-seventh chapter at verse fifty-seven. This is Matthew, chapter twenty-seven, verse fifty-seven. Give your attention to the Word of God. there came a rich man of Arimathea named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple. He went to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered.

    When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out of the rock. and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre and departed. And there was Mary Magdalene and the other Mary sitting over against the sepulchre. The next day that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together under Pilate, saying, Sir, we remember that That deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Command, therefore, that the sepulcher be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead, so the last heir shall be worse than the first. Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch, go your way, make it as sure as ye can. So they went and made the sepulchre, sure sealing the stone and setting a watch. In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

    And behold, there was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him, the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye, for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.

    He is not here, for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay, and go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead. And behold, he goeth before you into Galilee. There shall ye see him, lo, I have told you.” And they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy, and did run to bring the disciples word. And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail! And they came and held him by the feet and worshiped him. Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid. Go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.”

    Let’s pray together. Our Father, who work by your Spirit and by your Word, your Word and your Spirit agreeing, so, O God, You have worked in us by your word, in the Spirit, we have been made alive. Lord, we are preserved in our life by the ministries of your Spirit through your word. O God, we love you for your word, and we would give our attention to that word. We would fear, and we would obey. this in our love for you, O God. We pray it through Christ, through the one by whom all of these things are possible. Amen.

    After the Sabbath, after the Sabbath. That’s how we should best read that opening line in Matthew’s account of the resurrection. Verse 1, chapter 28. Not late on the Sabbath, as the New American Standard renders it, but after the Sabbath, as the New International Version renders it. That is, when the Jewish Sabbath had ended, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary come to look at the tomb.

    It is Matthew’s purpose that these two women shine brightly, shine brightly in the light of the early morning sun. They rise like the sun itself, as if like the sun keeping an appointment that neither the early hour nor the lingering darkness can hold back. Such is their piety, such is their genuinely true godliness, that its brightness stands out so marvelously over against the darkness in those with whom they are most immediately contrasted. I have in mind the chief priests and the Pharisees. Now, Matthew has set us up for this contrast by mentioning these very same women earlier.

    Did you note verse 61 in chapter 27? There they are, and only they, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, sitting opposite the grave. So we have the two Marys mentioned. first in that sixty-first verse of chapter twenty-seven, and then once more in verse one, chapter twenty-eight. But in between, we are given this exposé of the chief priests and the Pharisees, verses sixty-two through sixty-six of chapter twenty-seven. But notice now what interests Matthew as he sets these two women over against these Jewish leaders, these chief priests and pharisees. Chapter 27, verse 62, begins Matthew’s description of the exchange between these leaders and Pilate.

    We are told that this exchange takes place on the day after Christ’s crucifixion. Now, as we all know, Jesus was crucified on Friday, making the day on which the priests and the Pharisees conferred with Pilate Saturday. or the Jewish Sabbath, nor is this just any Sabbath. This is the Sabbath of Passover week. This is the Paschal Sabbath, heightened all the more in its sanctity because of its relationship to the High Feast. What do we find these Jews, these Jewish leaders, doing on this high, holy Sabbath? Not only do they convene a council among themselves, for how else would they decide on their course of action? But they gather at Pilate’s palace, the home of a Roman.

    A Gentile, no less. All of this on the Sovereign. But even more, as Matthew states it in the last verse of that twenty-seventh chapter, stating it in such a way so that you do not miss the point, these priests These Pharisees are actually those, then, that go out with the armed guard on the Sabbath for the purpose of sealing the tomb, and it is as if they are involved in the actual sealing of that tomb. Sounds like work to me.

    The picture given us, therefore, is of these leaders, these leaders of the Jews, these teachers of the law, these definers and defenders of the law, these who insist on meticulous observance of that law, who are merciless in their judgments upon others who violate that law, these who have attacked even Jesus and his disciples for their Sabbath-breaking. and attack Jesus himself for blasphemy, violation of the law, and the trials in which Jesus was subjected. These are themselves violators of the law. They are Sabbath breakers.

    But what of the women? As I said, their piety and genuinely true godliness radiates against the dark background of these with whom they are so strikingly contrasted. Note the time in which we first see them. Late on the day, Friday, they are specifically mentioned as the two women following Christ’s death and entombment, who now sit opposite the grave. That’s late Friday afternoon. But then, you see, they are deliberately removed from the narrative.

    Next time we hear of them, it is Sunday morning, specifically after the Sabbath. Today, with respect to them, about which we hear nothing, is the Sabbath. And what might these women be doing on the Sabbath? The clear suggestion of Matthew is that while the priests and the Pharisees are breaking the Sabbath, These women are keeping the Sabbath. Here’s the beautiful irony. The followers of Jesus, the so-called Sabbath breakers, are keeping the Sabbath, while the self-professed Sabbath keepers and Sabbath defenders are actually breaking the Sabbath. at an even more deeper level. These two women, the two Marys, will not even use their magnificent devotion to and love for Jesus as an excuse to break the Sabbath. But the priests and the Pharisees will in fact use their hatred for Jesus as an excuse to disregard the Sabbath and the law to boot.

    Matthew is preaching here. Matthew is preaching to his audience. Matthew is not preaching to unbelievers. He’s preaching to the Church, and he’s saying, yes, those who love and follow Jesus are keepers of law. They are law-abiding. While those who reject Jesus, despite what they might say about themselves, are actually lawbreakers, and in the final analysis, hypocrites, because in fact, these who break the law are themselves broken by the law. Still, Matthew is saying, he is proclaiming, he is preaching more than this.

    And here I call your attention to the subtle communication employed by Matthew with respect to the disposition of the women, their posture that speaks to us of their attitude of soul. I love these women. They are magnificent. These women are remarkable in their persistent patience. These women are remarkable and sublime in their humble faith.

    You see, Matthew presents them as those who wait. Those who wait. In chapter 27, verse 61, once more, They sit opposite the grave, but you must read into that. They sit opposite the grave in expectation. They don’t understand everything about the hope that is even presently bearing witness in their souls that they can’t suppress it, they can’t deny it. They sit opposite the grave in expectation. Then we have their mention again, 28 verse 1, and here they come not just to see the grave as it is stated in the King James, or to look at the grave as it is stated in the New American Standard, but to consider it. to contemplate it, to ponder it.

    Their very posture and behavior communicates hope and speaks, yes, ever so gently, yet persistently, of that faith that is in them. But what is the character of the faith that these women have? And what is its substance? In the most general sense, you see, they are poised, as are the faithful people of God of old, in expectation of the fulfillment of God’s promise with respect to salvation and nothing less, which they at this time cannot disassociate from this Jesus recently laid in the tomb.

    But we can go further. It won’t be merely some general hope with respect to God’s promise of salvation. They are at a tomb, after all. They are sitting in front of a tomb. So the faith that is taking shape in these women is moving on, you see, to grasp hold of what is central to that general promise with respect to salvation. That faith in them is laying hold of nothing less than resurrection, whatever that may mean. For there is something in them born of the by the word itself that has convinced them that death cannot be the end. So here they are. Yes, there’s confusion. They are, to be sure, befuddled, but they are feeling after the resurrection. They are groping for the resurrection.

    In this, the women become those visibly expressing what lies hidden within the disciples, who out of fear have retreated and presently are nowhere to be seen. But again, drawing through our contrast between these women and the Jewish leaders, here once more they strikingly contrast those priests and Pharisees, the reputed defenders and interpreters of the hope of Israel. The Pharisees, being the party of the resurrection, they’re the ones that preached it. distinguishing themselves from the Sadducees, as you well know. This being the case, where might we expect these Jewish leaders to join the women, to see if the prophecies of this prophet from Galilee would in fact come true? But of course, as the events themselves prove, Not only don’t these men believe their doctrine, which they hold in theory, they then go on to positively deny their doctrine and suppress the truth when the truth is facing them.

    Learn the lesson from this, dear friends. in Christ. Belief that God has made promises with respect to salvation, belief that he can raise the dead, belief in the resurrection itself, is not inherently commendable. Simply because you have some confidence that God has made promise and will keep his promise Simply because you say that God raises the dead, this is not especially commendable in God’s sight.

    Even the chief priests and Pharisees believed in a resurrection. What is blessed by God is evident in His treatment of the women. What is blessed by God is patient, humble faith. Yes, object faith. that confidently waits for him, that is God and the salvation that he shall accomplish. This faith is poised and ready to receive that salvation when it is revealed. And it is no different for us at this critical point than it was for these women. For there are the common operations of true faith.

    Faith is the assurance of things hoped for. It is the evidence of things not seen. For these women know less than for Abraham, or Noah, or Moses, or any of the Old Testament saints. Know less than for us, who live presently. Without this kind of faith, it is impossible, impossible, to please God.

    Their faith is of the same stripe as ours. And our circumstances, you see, despite the distance between us time-wise, the similarity between them and us, despite the time difference, is striking in its own regard. For as these women wait in faith, this kind of faith which we have spoken about, before the tomb in the face of death for the sign of life, for the vindication of Christ, this One in whom they have placed their confidence. So we now wait for His appearance in the clouds of glory, and consider the character of His coming.

    He will come bringing a final shaking to the earth and to the heavens and to all things. more than merely a local earthquake as took place on that first Easter morn. And on his coming, there will not be merely one angel who comes descending out of heaven, but the entirety of the angelic host. And it won’t be a few men standing around a sealed grave. But to come as dead man, no, his coming again will mean the undoing of all his enemies, that is, all who have not had a stating faith in him.

    And most positively and gloriously, the story moving on, we who wait for him in faith, faith like unto that faith. in these two women. We’ll, in fact, meet Him. We will cross-pray ourselves before Him. Will we not? We will take hold of Him. He will allow us to touch Him, and we will worship Him. Don’t let the future aspect of what is laid within that ninth verse of chapter 28 to allude you.

    But consider this also just as the priests and Pharisees in all of their power contrast these women in their weakness. The world and its religious power-mongers contrast the true Church of Jesus Christ in that Church’s weakness and apparent powerlessness. And this is as it must be. For those of the world, even though they claim God on their side, have a power that is of the world and of the world alone. It is of their own making. It is devoid of any genuine faith. It is filled with self-righteousness.

    But our power comes without. It comes from heaven, it is found in the risen Christ, who abides with us as the very presence of God. In this gospel he is identified as Immanuel, God with us, unseen but present, perfecting his reign in us by a righteousness that is by faith in him, that expresses itself by way of humble imitation of him, and conformity to his image. Such power then as we have, though we have it in earthen vessels, though we are seen as those who are weak and powerless, knows enough not to boast in its keeping of the law. And these women did not do that. But neither will such power as we possess boast of its patient, humble faithfulness.

    But rather, such power as we possess is, in fact, of God, from whom our salvation has come to light in the resurrection of his Son. The Church which the living, risen Christ presently builds, could not do better than live in quiet, expectant, patient faith.

    In other words, with the faith evidenced in these two women, the two Marys, even to the close of the age. Is this your faith? Is this your faith? Are you tried, even here, by these two women and the marvel of their devotion? Isn’t your faith being proved presently, even as you sit in this congregation today, listening once more to the story of the resurrection?

    If you believe it, do you not know that such faith as you possess is presently preparing you to greet the risen Christ upon his return. With that very faith of the same kind with which these women greeted him on that day near the tomb. O God, may we be ready. Help us, O God, in our believing, if we draw back, if we are overcome with doubt, if we are terrorized by fear. Lord, draw us through these things in faith, that we, with patient expectation and humble faith, might await the appearing of our Savior. and the fullness of our salvation. In that day, O Lord, we shall see him, and we shall be like him. And he will welcome us to touch him, and we, Lord, will worship before him. Bring that day, O God. Bring it. We know it shall come as certainly as we know that you have raised him from the dead on the third day.

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

  • The Two Marys

    The Two Marys

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Easter” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, April 3, 1994.

    About this sermon

    Matthew names the two Marys at the tomb, and their name, their gender, and their number all carry meaning. We stand with them in the history of salvation, as the first witnesses of the risen Lord.

    More sermons from Matthew · Browse all sermons

    Sermon transcript

    Tonight we are reading from Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 28, and we are beginning with verse 1. Give your attention to the Word of God. Now, after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.

    And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning, and his garment as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men.

    And the angel answered and said to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen. just as he said, Come, see the place where he was lying. And go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you into Galilee, for there will you see him. Behold, I have told you.’ And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to report it to his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them, and they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. And Jesus said to them, Do not be afraid, go and take word to my brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see me.

    Now while they were on their way, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. And when they had assembled with the elders and counseled together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers and said, You are to say his disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep. And if this should come to the governor’s ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble.’ And they took the money and did as they had been instructed, and this story was widely spread among the Jews and is to this day.” in relationship to your word.

    Bless us, our God, as we would be benefited by all that you say. May we receive, O God, your commandments with fear, and in love, O God, prompted by your Spirit, may we obey. Help us also, our Father, to give to your word that proper respect, that we might honor you by honoring it, realizing that that word has come forth from you, that it is inspired, that it is infallible in all that it teaches, and our faith is to grasp hold of it submissively in every respect. Now, Father, may we profit from your word as we hear it. We ask, Lord, that this may be the same for your children throughout the world. We ask it in Jesus name.

    It is important that we complete our thoughts on these two women that we considered in our morning message. This evening, we want to reflect specifically on their name, their gender, and their number. their name, their gender, and their number. Now, each of these considerations has implications for the other two, which makes any systematic analysis of any one of them quite complex. We are not going to be able to avoid these complexities all together. However, my hope is to be direct this evening and as simple as possible. First of all, then, with respect to the name.

    Both women bear the same name, Mary. We have them mentioned for us as was set before us this morning. We have them mentioned, first of all, in verse 61 of chapter 27. Spoken of there as Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. Now mentioned again for us in the opening of chapter 28, verse 1. there once more Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. Both women bear the same name. This common name does two things.

    One, it lends to this gospel a sense of completion. It lends to this gospel a sense of wholeness, as we are brought back through the name to the gospel’s beginning. The name Mary ties, then, the conclusion of this gospel to the gospel’s opening. The Mary who gives birth to Jesus at the beginning of the gospel now is complemented by these Marys in whom the gospel closes. The Mary who gave birth to Jesus gives way to these Marys who become witnesses to his rebirth, if you will, in the resurrection. Now, interestingly, there are corollary features that link beginning and conclusion in this gospel.

    For instance, in each story, beginning and conclusion we have a Joseph. At the beginning, of course, the Joseph to whom Mary is betrothed. At the end, we have another Joseph, specifically Joseph of Arimathea. Taking things even a step further, and I don’t want you to laugh at this, For I have such authorities on my side as Ambrose and Augustine and Jerome.

    There is a drawing together of the strands of the gospel’s beginning and conclusion as the new tomb. The Virgin too, if you will, of Matthew 27 parallels the Virgin’s womb in Matthew 1. Now, lest you think this is too far-fetched, there is the common thread that moves through both considerations. a constant theme, that theme being human impossibility. The theme of human impossibility and of divine supernatural power, punctuating then the gospel from beginning to end.

    The birth of Jesus, then, linked decidedly with the resurrection of Jesus, even to such an extent that in later reflection by biblical writers, the resurrection of Christ can be described as a birth—in fact, as his birth. Do you remember the New Testament commentaries on those wonderful words out of Psalm 2, Thou art my Son, this day I have begotten thee. Do you remember to what specifically those words are applied by the New Testament writers? No, not the incarnation of Christ, not his birth by the Virgin Mary, but rather to his resurrection. Do you remember our exposition of Revelation chapter 12, verse 5, and the birth of the child in that passage, in which we said it could not simply be linked to the birth of Christ in Bethlehem, but had to be linked to the resurrection of Christ from that tomb outside of Jerusalem.

    And nothing less than this is in view when Paul preaches his sermon, his great sermon, at Antioch of Pisidia, Acts 13, verse 33, where Paul takes those lines out of Psalm 2 and specifically applies them to the resurrection of Christ. The resurrection, then, is seen specifically in light of birth, a birth for the Christ.

    Also emphasized in this regard, joining the tomb with the womb. Emphasized also in this regard is the utter uniqueness of Jesus. No other child is so generated from Mary’s womb, with whom Jesus then might be confused. And no one, you see, has as yet been laying in Joseph’s tomb. It is a new tomb, freshly cut. Jesus is the first to be laid there. So the first thing the name does, this common name, Mary, is to bring the beginning and the ending of the gospel together into a common testimony.

    From beginning to end, then, we are assured, are we not? We are confronted by the facts, are we not? Declared to us, is it not? This gospel is about supernatural generation. Beyond human capability, supernatural generation and even resurrection, the resurrection of the Lord’s Messiah, the unique Son of God.

    But the second thing the name does is that it sets before us a particular mood in which this gospel is set. a mood which we dare not miss, for it is instructive concerning our own deportment, the way in which we conduct ourselves, even see our lives as the people of God.

    You see, the name Mary means tear. The name Mary means tear. And this name, especially then, is associated with pathos and with sorrow. Now, one may want to think about tears of joy, and even relate those tears of joy to the birth of the Messiah or his resurrection.

    However, these tears that are specifically in view are related to the sorrows of the people of God, to which they, even though visited by the gospel, even though drawn to faith in the gospel, even though regenerated by the gospel are subjected. Specifically in you, then, are the many sorrows, even the many afflictions of the righteous. Do you recall that famous line in Psalm 34? Verse 19, many are the afflictions of the righteous, out of all of which the Lord delivers them. In the name Mary, the sorrows of the people of God are particularly set before these sorrows, especially defined by Christ’s cross, to which they, as God’s people, are called. According to Jesus himself, we, believers in the gospel, we who have received gospel continue to be defined as those that mourn. The second beatitude, Matthew 5 verse 4, we continue to be defined, described as those that mourn.

    And that’s specifically because of the evil to which we, as the people of God, are subjected in a hostile world. Now, mention of this hostile world and its evil leads us even deeper into our considerations and takes us to our next. consideration, namely the issue of gender. We move now from the name to the gender. Obviously, the Marys are women.

    But consider now how appropriate they are as vehicles for the revelation of Christ They are particularly appropriate because of their inherent weakness, because of their inherent powerlessness. They are of service to the Lord even in, and specifically because of, their frailty. They speak then to us once more of a native human inability. Lack of strength. You see how this is communicated as in the scene at the tomb, they must sit before the seal upon that tomb. In Mark’s gospel, you may recall, they specifically are asking the question, who will move the stone for us? this weakness, this powerlessness, even this native human inability. They speak to us about the general condition, do they not? By their own words, humanity represented in these women cannot bring about humanity’s redemption. It is impossible for them. That’s the appropriateness of the vehicle of the women.

    So it is also that these women, from the vantage point of their gender, take us back beyond Mary, the virgin mother of Jesus at the gospel’s beginning, to the mother of us all, to Eve, and the collapse of the covenant of works. These women then offer to us a window through which we see the entirety of the plan of redemption That plan tied together, not just then a matter of us bringing together the opening and the conclusion of Matthew’s gospel, but the opening of the human story and its conclusion.

    The meaning of their name is not extraneous to this consideration, as the people of God’s sorrow over their sins and lostness apart from the gracious supernatural intervention of God. Humanity’s condition as reflected in these women, however, is answered in our story by the appearance of two other figures, these supernatural figures. The first, the angel of the Lord, who comes and then the risen Lord himself, the angel serving as messenger to the final solution, that solution being the Savior himself who brings with him the power of an indestructible life, that his life in glory to which humanity would have been brought in the first place had Eve, the mother of us all, with her husband, not father. The angel of this story stands in contrast to the angel from the other story, specifically the angel with the flaming sword. the angel here in the resurrection’s story directing us to that one who is in himself the tree of life.

    So much then for the gender. What about the women’s number? We have here two women presented to us. If you are reading along in Mark, parallel text, chapter 16, verse 1, there you will see that another woman is mentioned as being a part of the company, Salome. Mark says three, Matthew says two. Why does Matthew set in front of us simply the two? Is there an answer to that question?

    Well, here things become unavoidably complex. These two women, sat before us by Matthew, having the same name, the same gender, are speaking to us about a continuity. A continuity. However, the doubling now, woman to woman, the two, the doubling serves the purpose. At the same time there being this affirmation of continuity, this doubling serves the purpose of representing the people of God under a double aspect. Now hang with me, don’t give up.

    Matthew’s intention with the two women will be to circumscribe the entirety of the history of God’s people. There will be this doubling for the women, useful to Matthew in declaring the resurrection as it serves the purpose of representing the entirety of God’s people under a double aspect.

    That double aspect has to do with the transition that is taking place in the story. As you are moving from one situation to another, as the people of God are moving from one to another, as we see them under one Mary moving to consideration under a second Mary. A transition that is taking place now, climatically, in the history of redemption. specifically as we move from the pre-resurrection world to the post-resurrection world. Thus we see in these women the embodiment of God’s people as they, in faith, move toward resurrection, and the embodiment of God’s people as they, with faith in what God has done, move past that resurrection even unto consummation. The entirety of God’s people are wrapped up in these two women, set before you here at the transition of the agents.

    Now, Matthew communicates this to you. He communicates this to you with the opening line of chapter 28. The line of demarcation that he sets before you there is that which separates two periods of time. those periods of time then spoken of in such a way as to be reflective of or representative of two administrations. They are here considered under two successive days. After the Sabbath, that’s the one administration, you see.

    That’s reflecting the law and the prophets which were unto the appearance of the Christ in the flesh, and the realization of the kingdom of heaven in him. But then that day, the Sabbath, which is over, and in a sense completed finally, with respect to its intention, is complemented by the next day, the first day of the week. as that day is indicative of the dawning, not just of a new day or a new week, but of a new creation.

    The women then, in their doubling, the two Marys are representative, are comprehensive figures in whom we see the whole of God’s people, old and new, faithful. in their devotion. With a common piety, with a faith that binds them, together saved, yet at the same time distinct with respect to their positionings in the plan of God, their intersection being the resurrection. The resurrection of Christ.

    Now, this being the case, Do you understand just how thoroughly comprehensive these women are? You see, they can speak to us in their actions, in their demeanor, in their posture, of that faithful piety that characterized those who lived before the resurrection occurred. back through the exile, back through the days of the kingdom, back through all those who heard the songs of David and responded with genuine faith, back through the days of the judges, back through the conquest of the land, back through the wanderings in the wilderness through Moses, the Patriarchs, Abraham himself, Noah, all who truly believe. They’re all in the women.

    But not just those who preceded the resurrection, of all who come after, is your piety to be any different than theirs? They waiting for the coming of the resurrection, you waiting for the return of Jesus. Is your piety to be any different than theirs?

    We too, then, are found in them. We too respond with fear at the greatness of the resurrection. We, too, respond with great joy at the triumph of God’s Messiah. We, too, move in obedience to Heaven’s command. We, too, bear the message about the risen Lord. We, too, worship Him and move toward a rendezvous with Him, which He has told us will surely take place. just as surely as he rendezvoused with his disciples in Galilee shortly after the resurrection.

    You are in the women. They speak to you about your piety. your godliness, your response to the risen Christ. Learn the lesson of the two women. Bless us, our God. Help us, Lord, with the simple things from your word. We would be benefited by them to the full measure. But, Lord, help us also, even with the complicated and complex matters of your word, that we might be benefited by them also to the full. Help us, Lord, in relationship to your word, and draw us into it, that we may see our life there. And seeing our life there, may we benefit, O God, wonderfully, from the warnings that are uttered, but also, O God, from the comforts that are extended. and the assurance that is ministered to us, even in our faith. As we believe. Those things which are true concerning your son. As surely as he has been raised. So surely shall he come again. And Lord, we ask. That in the day of his appearing. May we be prepared. 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.

  • The King Comes Meekly

    The King Comes Meekly

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Easter” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, April 12, 1992.

    About this sermon

    Luke follows Christ’s final journey to Jerusalem from 9:51 to 19:27, and on Palm Sunday the King arrives. Christ is prophet, priest, and king, and he confounds the world by ruling meekly and in humiliation. He is the eternal King.

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    Sermon transcript

    Taking note of the fact that this is Palm Sunday, we are turning tonight to Luke chapter 19. And we are reading from verse 28. After Jesus had said these things, he was going on ahead, ascending to Jerusalem. And it came about that when he approached Bethphage and Bethany, near the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, saying, Go into the village opposite you, in which as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one yet has ever sat.

    Untie it and bring it here. And if anyone asks you, why are you untying it, thus you shall speak, the Lord has need of it. And those who were sent went away and found it just as he told them. And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, why are you untying the colt? And they said, the Lord has need of it.

    And they brought it to Jesus and they threw their garments on the colt and put Jesus on As he was going, they were spreading their garments in the road, and as he was now approaching near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, saying, Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest.

    And some of the Pharisees in the multitude said to him, Teacher, rebuke your disciples. And he answered and said, I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out. And when he approached, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace, but now they have been hidden from your shall come upon you when your enemies will throw up a bank before you and surround you and hem you on every side, and will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.’ And he entered the temple and began to cast out those who were sowing, saying to them, It is written, and my house shall be a house of prayer. to have made it a robber’s den. And he was teaching there in the temple that the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people were trying to destroy him, and they could not find anything that they might do, for all the people were hanging upon his words.

    Our God, we would not forget in our prayers those offices of ministry and service and rule that you have given to your Church. We do ask, Father, that you would grant many to your Church who would love your word and proclaim it without hesitation. We are asking our God, even for our own assembly, that you might grant to us strong leadership, wise counsel from those who rule. We do thank you, our Father, for those who have granted us what a gift they are to this church. We praise you for that. We thank you as well, Lord, that you have granted us those who would lead us in service to the poor and those who are without enough. May we learn from their example, may we follow their lead, and may their humility speak volumes to our souls. So may it please you throughout your church in the world to grant such offices as these in abundance, so that your people might be well-ruled and well-served. We ask it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

    Some of you may know that one of the distinctive features of Luke’s gospel is the long that some have described a rather tedious, drawn-out account of Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem. In this, Luke is unique amongst the Gospel writers. His account of that last journey to Jerusalem by Jesus stretches over ten chapters and takes up a large portion of the Gospel.

    It starts in the ninth chapter, the 51st verse, and concludes in the 19th chapter, the 27th verse. As it comes to a close, we are given then three very, very powerful but brief glances at Jesus’ relationship to that city, the city of Jerusalem. These come in rapid-fire succession. and what revelations they are, revelations of our Lord, as they wonderfully present to us his significance, specifically in terms of the offices that he has within himself, but also in terms of the marvelous revelation that these instances make of his inner life, of the emotional life of our Lord. So it is that in verses 41 through 44 of this nineteenth chapter, we are told about Jesus’ tears, the fact that Jesus weeps for Jerusalem. His grief inspired lament over the city and his prediction with regard to that city. Here, Jesus appears as that heartbroken prophet the fulfillment of that long line of prophets, most notably Jeremiah, who is known for his lamentations for Jerusalem and the people of God. In this story, then, that we have of Jesus’ tears, his weeping over the city of Jerusalem, set before us is the figure of our Savior in prophet form, as if he were the culmination the culmination of the line of the prophets whose hearts had been broken over the state of God’s people, and specifically over this gem of a city, the city of David, Jerusalem itself.

    We move on to verses 45 through 47, and if the previous verses had presented us Jesus the prophet, these verses present us Jesus the fearless priest.

    The priest who in his righteous rage clears God’s house of wickedness and then sets about to teach clearly the word of the Lord. We know about the services of the priests in the Old Testament. We know how Committed to them was that specific ministry whereby they were to see to it that the Lord’s law was implemented faithfully within the precincts of the Lord’s house. Not only that, but the word of the Lord was faithfully taught to the people of God.

    Here, once more, Jesus appears as the culmination of the line of the priest. He reminds us specifically of Ezra. Recall Ezra’s ministry in the days of the Restoration, when he specifically took to his ministry that task of purifying the people of God and calling them back to a faithful walk. Here, Jesus reminds us of such a ministry, the ministry of Ezra, as if Ezra were finding his goal in the ministry which Christ now performed.

    As we look towards the end of the chapter, we have these successive stories. Christ is presented to us as the prophet. He is presented to us as the priest. We see, as it were, his soul opened up for us, his tears, his weeping, also his rage as he is concerned for God’s righteousness and for God’s law. falls upon the opening story in this section, the opening story in this series of stories, the story that appears in verses 28 through 40. And this story, as you can see, brings before us most specifically not Jesus’ office as a prophet or as a priest, but his office as a king, and sets before us as well the inner that certainty that Christ had with respect to this specific office, that of his Lordship. It could be remarked, I suppose, that this story of Jesus’ triumphal entry evidences something of his prophetic office as it does his kingly office. After all, in this story we have set before us Jesus’ predictions.

    He does state to his disciples that they will find thus and so in a certain village to which he sends them. He predicts what they will find there as he sends them on this errand to secure for him the colt upon which he is to ride as he enters the city. verse 32, qualified as things. So that whatever prophetic interest we find in this story, it gives way to the major consideration, namely the fact that Jesus is the King. You will note verse 32 ends with the statement that the disciples found everything just as Jesus had told them. It is clear from the statement that more confronts us here than just Jesus’ predictive ability. The fact that Jesus has the ability to forecast the future, to predict what is yet unseen, what has yet not happened.

    The one presented to us in this text is the one who identifies himself and is recognized by others as the Lord. The disciples carry this message with them, and with this message they secure the cult. The Lord, they say, the Lord has need of it. In view is specifically Jesus’ authority as the Lord and the King.

    And as the Lord, he does more than just predict events, even these specific events as the disciples go into this particular village and find things as he has predicted them to be. In fact, as Lord, Jesus’ power and authority far exceeds that of any human Lord, any other Lord.

    His ability to command men, such as these disciples, such as these owners of the cult, is his thoroughly supernatural ability to command and order events, to command and order circumstances. He is literally controlling the events in that city, in that village, into which he sends his disciples. They are as he has said they will be because he himself is controlling them. He is ordering them.

    Because this is true, we gain no small encouragement and instruction from what is played out in front of us here in this text. register well upon you. You see, Jesus is bodily absent from that village to which he sends the disciples. He is physically absent from the village to which he sends his disciples. He commands and orders men and circumstances while physically, bodily removed. Physically distant.

    Physically removed. Jesus faces no barrier for the kind of Lordship that he is exercising in the village. You see how this matches things with respect to our specific circumstance? You see, presently Jesus, in his body, is removed from us. He is removed from this world. In his body, Jesus is presently in heaven at his Father’s right hand. Jesus, in his body, is distant from the villages, all the villages, all the cities, all the communities of this world.

    Yes, he commands men and their affairs. He commands people and their circumstances for the sake of his glorious kingdom and its realization. You see then why We should glean great encouragement and great instruction from even this dimension, from this particular story. What kind of Lord is it that we have? One who, although he is physically removed from us, is still controlling the events, the circumstances, the affairs of mankind. He is controlling our lives and our destinies. He is sovereign over all of our personal affairs. He is directly involved in all that takes place with respect to his people. as they find their place in his kingdom.

    What a comfort. What a marvelous, marvelous comfort. You don’t see him, do you? Yet you know he is Lord and confess him to be so. And you are certain, are you not? that he is directly involved in all of the circumstances of your life. There is something else here too for us in this story that helps us and encourages us, instructs us.

    You will note, interestingly, that in verse 33, the owners of this particular cult are identified with the word that in the New American Standard that has been translated, owners, but in actual fact is the word for Lord. These owners of the cult are themselves spoken of as if they were lords. So the Lord is directing the lords. The Lord is sovereign over the lords.

    Jesus’ lordship constrains events and men, even if those men be the world’s masters, and this to the end that his authority, namely Christ’s authority, would survey and encompass the entirety of the created order. We may well think that there are lords in the creation whose power and authority seemingly rivals or even eclipses authority and power of our Christ. Not so. Jesus’ lordship is over all, and even this world’s masters rise and fall according to his So from a distance, from heaven, the glorified, exalted Christ reigns as King. But now, as the story progresses with respect to Christ’s triumphal entering, the specific form of his reign in the world becomes more pointed and more poignant. This one is the Lord, who can constrain events and circumstances, who can constrain every man be as high as the world can make him to bow the knee. Yet this one who is Lord reigns. In a way, the world itself finds particularly troublesome. He appears, you see, as one who is meek and lowly. He confounds the world by the type of rule that he exercises. He comes, this lord, this king, in the form of a servant.

    The king approaches the city mounted upon the colt. as one meek and gentle, thus exemplifying the manner in which his body, that is the Church, is to communicate his sovereign disposition within this era. Not with force, but with meekness. Not with might, but with an appeal. Not with a sword, but with humility. even with humiliation, humiliation that ends in Christ’s cross.

    By root of this manifestation of Christ’s kingship and lordship, the Church of Christ will find her life defined and her ministry outlined. How tragic when the Church turns to force. How tragic when the Church coerces. How tragic when the Church takes up the sword, forsakes humility and meekness, and the gospel as well. The ministry which the Church bears As in the case of Her Lord meets a mixed response, there are those who welcome it, there are others who scorn it, there are those who violently reject.

    As we see Jesus’ approach to the city, this scene played out, telling us something of Jesus’ present reign, lordship. As we see as well the Church brought into view, and the way in which the Church matches Christ, His meekness matched with her meekness. His humiliation matched with her humiliation. We are driven on to consider as well the climactic element that appears here as well in the text.

    We are driven beyond the provisional nature of Christ’s approach to Jerusalem that day so many years ago, and even beyond our approach as the Church of Christ to the city of this world. We are driven beyond these to the ultimate approach which Christ makes to this world in the judgment that brings everything to a conclusion. Beyond that day When Jesus entered the city in Jerusalem, beyond this present day when the Church makes her appeal to the world, comes the day of Christ’s return.

    And in that day, all those truly who love Him will praise God, rejoicing as never before because of all of the wonderful displays of His kingly might, those which they have beheld. Our songs will proclaim His worth as the King. the one who comes not just in the name of the Lord, but truly with the name of the Lord. In that day, the angels’ song will receive its appropriate reply, that song sung by angels at Christ’s birth about peace on earth. Here, in the last day, the earth will answer back with the refrain, Peace in heaven, just as appears in verse 38. as the interest of the Lord’s own is directed consistently and perfectly to the regions above. And even though that day will be marked by the tragic exposure of unbelief and rebellion as God’s judgment comes justly upon those who have rejected the gospel, its superlative nature will satisfy the souls of the elect as they hear the very stone and together with the rocks and the mountains and the trees and the stars and all the posts of the created works of God, sing in exultation to their King. Angels and saints praising the King, proclaiming peace in heaven through Christ’s efficacious work upon the cross on their behalf, for the entire creation as that creation reaches its goal in seeing the saints arise in glory before their Lord.

    Amen. Our Father, how wonderful that day was when Jesus entered the city How wonderful this present day, Lord, as your Church, the very body of Christ, takes with all humility and meekness the message of Christ’s Lordship to the nations. But how glorious the day, Lord, to which that day so long ago and these days point. Father, what a privilege. that we shall participate in that day within the embrace of our Savior, singing praises to him that shall never end. O God, bring the day in which our Savior will appear, he coming in triumph upon the very clouds of heaven with all of his holy angels with him. 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.

  • The First Day of the New Creation

    The First Day of the New Creation

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Easter” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, April 15, 1990.

    About this sermon

    Jewish women from Galilee are the first to see the empty tomb. The law and the prophets find their fulfillment in Christ. His resurrection is the first day of the new creation.

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    Sermon transcript

    I have to tell you, I don’t think I was made for this age of electronic wizardry. I can’t quite work out the choreography of the thing. This morning we are in Luke’s Gospel, the 23rd chapter, and we will begin at verse 55. and read through the tenth verse of chapter 24. This is the word of God.

    And the women also which came with him from Galilee followed after and beheld the sepulcher and how his body was laid. And they returned and prepared spices and ointments and rested the Sabbath day, according to the commandment. Now, upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher. and they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments, and as they were afraid and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?

    He is not here, but is risen. Remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and the third day rise again. And they remembered his words and returned from the sepulcher and told all these things unto the eleven and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and other women that were with them which told these things unto the apostles. Pray together.

    Lord, your word is prepared and that from before the foundation of the world, it is spoken in time, it brings to pass those things which you have ordained. And Lord, in light of those things you have performed, your word now inscripturated gives us the sense of the thing, the meaning, the right and proper interpretation as we observe how all things you have revealed hold together, indeed hold together in and through Christ. We know too, Lord, that you have prepared us, that we have been begotten again by your Word but also brought to this point in time where we might receive from you your Word’s intention. So, Lord, we pray that we may not run in place, stand still in our faith and not move forward or increase in our sanctification. Rather, Lord, may your Word work well within us perform that which pleases you, and we, Lord, being sanctified, may we be a delight to our God. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen. The women. The women. First, the women.

    Why the women? Why the women? their sex, setting them apart, the company of them, coming as they do, coming now to this tomb to give their attention to, to attend the consequences of corruption. They come then to the grave, and there they face the harsh truth of their ancient mother’s seduction. They are all Eve’s daughters, testifying now, en masse, to the tragedy of Eden. Why the women? It must be the women. It has to be the women. Two Marys are among them. Verse 10, chapter 24. The name means tear. Teardrop. Sorrow. Not one tear, but two.

    One shed for those dying and those who have died, and especially now this one who has died, Jesus of Nazareth. And the other tier, it falls for the sake of the grievous state that all now find themselves in. The fall of man, the bonds of iniquity, and the horrifying consequences, the wages of sin, is death. So the tears flow. And that not without the weight of a stricken conscience born through the ages, through the centuries, through the millennia. The weight of a stricken conscience and the knowledge that woman is not only so utterly vulnerable, but so very much responsible.

    So another death. One more child born of woman succumbs, dying to another casualty as we all are casualties of the fall. Even this one who seemed so promising, this one in whom there had been placed such hope, Even this one, greatly revered, is now dead, as all die. And day passes into night. Another Sabbath comes and it is bound to go, and thus it continues. unendingly.

    Why the women? Who else but the women? But these women are not any women. These are Jewish women. And if there is to be hope grasped, kept in sight, if there is to be devotion and love demonstrated, it would be in these women. These are Jewish women, but more, these are Galilean women.

    Galilee lies to the north, but sets its sights southward upon the great city And the eyes of the faithful in Galilee look unto the hills from whence cometh their help. And these women in Galilee are as expectant women as those pregnant, awaiting deliverance. Thus these women have joined themselves to Jesus in hope, as all Israel, in the entirety of that older administration from the Old Testament, has joined herself to her prophets in hope, looking for salvation. So while there are in the group of women those who bear names reminding us of grief and sorrow, there are also those women who bear testimony to God’s greatness and his grace and his power as he has demonstrated these things to Israel.

    One of the women’s names is Joanna. Her name means gift or grace of God. Her name speaks for this company of Galilean women who are not strangers to God’s grace or His gift. And though these events have transpired in the week gone by, Yes, hopes have been raised, but now Jesus is dead. These women will continue to be Jewish women, Galilean women, filled with hope, expressive of grace. And one of the Marys is Magdalene. out of whom Jesus had cast seven demons. You can read of that in Luke 8, verse 2. Jesus healed her.

    And even though he is now gone, even though he is dead, we will expect of this Jewish woman, this Galilean woman, healed, that she will continue to demonstrate her devotion to him in keeping with that activity in which she is presently engaged, namely anointing his body with the spices and the ointments. These women then, though they remind us of things in the garden, circumstances there and Eve herself, also remind us of Israel, faithful Israel, upon whom has been visited God’s grace, those who have been privileged to see the miraculous activities of God. And these then remain expectant of deliverance, a deliverance which will come at last when God will act to fulfill all his promises. But obviously, so it seems to them presently as they march out to the tomb, God has not yet acted nor will he so act soon. As high as they may reach in their grasp of hope, as great as their expectation may be, as marvelous as their devotion may seem to be, they now will work the dead Jesus within the fabric of their theology and doctrine.

    And day passes into night, another Sabbath comes and it will go, and thus it continues unendingly. Nothing changes. Nothing changes. These women, one more thing needs to be said about them. We can see their devotion and we’ve spoken passingly about that devotion, but there is something more to be said about their devotion. Their devotion is focused, is it not?

    Verse 56 of chapter 23, and on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment. resilient in hope, none better, even though they are surrounded by the testimony of humanity’s dire condition, even though they might be crushed, resilient in hope and persevering, determined in their devotion, obeying the law, obeying what God has revealed. Through the ordeal, then, of Jesus’ death beyond his burial, these women will not abandon their expectant posture, nor will they abandon the law, the commandments. They will prove to be faithful Old Testament Israel, indeed, observing the law and maintaining that hope as best as they can. So this is the end of the matter. The cursed weight of conscience for sin and its consequences afflicts and abuses these daughters of Eve. And as daughters of Zion, They will continue to be expectant and hopeful in their circumstances and obedient as much as their strength will allow them to God’s commandments.

    But so it is and so it will continue. For Jesus, even though he was an astounding and exceptional servant of God, has himself come and gone as all others before him. and everything is the same. Day passes into night, another Sabbath comes and goes. And thus it continues. But does it? But does it?

    It is now the first day of the week. It is now the first day of the week. And on this day of days, unlike any day since the world’s first week, A rising light of the spreading dawn breaks forth and is now enhanced by the dazzling apparel of two men. They are called men. Verse 4 of chapter 24. They are called men, not angels. We’ve asked, why the women? Why not? Why the men?

    You know, every other account has the angels, and you might note in verse 23 of the 24th chapter that the men there turn into angels. So Luke knows about the angels, but here he calls them men. Why the men? so that you might link these two men here with two others that appear earlier in Luke’s gospel.

    Can you go back in your mind through the gospel, the last of the greatest events in Galilee before Jesus sets his face towards Jerusalem, sets it as flint. Do you remember the Mount in Galilee where Jesus took a select group of his disciples and there was transfigured before them? And we are told that two men, two men appeared.

    Verse 30 of chapter 9, Who were the two men, Moses and Elijah? The reason why now Luke wants you to see here two men is in order to link these two men with those two men mentioned previously, Moses and Elijah. What was Moses and Elijah’s purpose on the Mount of Transfiguration? Yes, to give encouragement to Jesus with respect to his task which he would accomplish at Jerusalem, but also, also, to give this joint testimony that the law, Moses, and the prophets, Elijah, are unto Christ.

    And the fulfillment of all that was said by Moses and all that is embodied in Elijah comes to its realization and fulfillment in this world. So these two men then, or angels, represent the law and the prophets to the women. Let both the law and the prophets find their fulfillment, not in the dead Christ, not even in the crucified Christ, not even Christ as sacrificed, but in Christ risen. resurrected.

    A different stroke has now been struck. The change has come. The chains have been broken. The die-cast has been shattered. And that Old Testament Sabbath and all that was contained in it, exemplary of that way of life, though it is fine, it gives way now to a better day, the day of resurrection and power, for the law would leave you impotent. It couldn’t save you.

    And that Old Testament expectation It is not that which asserts itself within the daughters of Zion as something yet to be realized. For the fulfillment has come. And what of that sad story for humanity rising out of Eden and the unbearable burden borne by Eve and her daughters.

    You see, it is the first day of the week in the new creation of God. And the light comes When the resurrected Christ, the stone is rolled away, the body slain by sin is not there, the living is not found among the dead, he is risen. He is alive. Right now, he is alive.

    Tuesday will be utterly different for these Galilean women. Monday, excuse me, will be different for these Galilean women. Tomorrow will not be the same for them for the wheel, the wheel that has gone round and round through the ages and crushed all in its path, lies in pieces. Tomorrow cannot be the same for you if you in faith pass with these Galilean women into the wonderful new world of life from the dead through Jesus Christ the risen Lord.

    It is truly a new day. The world has begun again. Life has started over. And this new day does not pass into night. The old Sabbath and former devotion to the law has come and gone. That oppressive cycle has indeed been broken. And you are walking testimonies to that fact.

    Have you not been born again? Have you not been raised up with Jesus? Is not the former life of sin and despair a thing of the past? Even if you had hope as radiant as these Galilean women, or demonstrated devotion as wonderful as theirs, Even that has passed! For Christ, who is dead, is alive. He has been raised. And now you are alive, you who believe and trust in Him. Fill us, Lord, with the light that shines from Christ the risen Lord, that we might be illuminated throughout, understanding the greatness of our God, understanding how precious our Savior is, for He is not like all others. who are born and live and then die but he has been raised he is alive and by him Lord we live not only today but forever we bless your name for we are not deserving Yet you in your mercy have kindly dealt with us for the sake of your Son whom we love. 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.

  • The Two Men at the Tomb

    The Two Men at the Tomb

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

    About this sermon

    The bodily resurrection of Christ is fundamental to the faith. The ‘two men’ at the tomb in 24:4 echo Moses and Elijah at the transfiguration in 9:30-32, as the law and the prophets bear witness to the empty tomb. ‘He is not here, but is risen.’

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    Sermon transcript

    This morning, our scripture is taken from Luke’s gospel, and we will be looking at Luke 23, verse 55, and reading from that verse through chapter 24, verse 12. This is Luke 23, verse 55, through 24, verse 12. hear the word of God. And the women also which came with him from Galilee followed after and beheld the sepulcher and how his body was laid.

    And they returned and prepared spices and ointments and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment. Now upon the first day of the week very early in the morning. They came unto the sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.

    And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher, and they entered in, and found it not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, Two men stood by them in shining garments, and as they were afraid and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen.

    Remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and the third day rise again.” And they remembered his words, and returned from the sepulcher and told all these things unto the eleven and to the rest, all the rest. And it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James, and the other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles. And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not. Then arose Peter, and he ran unto the sepulcher, and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which had come to pass.”

    Oh Lord we are laid low yet you have raised us up We are taught, we are instructed by you and all of God through your word and that always with your spirit. So it is for your people everywhere. And with your people we have this common bond. The word, your spirit, and that great salvation which you have brought for us. We ask you, our God, as we come now to your word that we might be filled and that you might satisfy us with the very deep things of our faith. We pray this in Christ’s name. Amen. It does us good at times to return to the basics.

    And if the word wasn’t so misused today to the fundamentals of our faith, return to the basics to those quite elementary principles of our faith in order to be refreshed by the clear and uncluttered message of the word. What would you judge are the essential features of the gospel? If someone were to ask you, what are the essential features of the gospel, what would you say?

    Well, naturally, and I hope quite naturally for you, you would speak about Christ’s death. We are here getting down to the basics. here to the fundamentals, rehearsing them one more time. Hopefully, you would speak of Christ’s death. You would talk of his crucifixion.

    You would tell me, if I were that person you were speaking to, that the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is essential, indispensable to the gospel. Can the gospel be the gospel if the crucifixion of Christ is ignored, left out, grossly distorted or denied? No, you would say. No. Why? Why? Why is that the case?

    Because, so you tell me, the cross of Jesus Christ is that appointed means by which God has brought about the forgiveness of our sins. Basic stuff. It should thrill us. It should be readily upon our lips and definitely. We’ll see you on our hearts. This cross, then the appointed means by which God has brought about the forgiveness of my So if I’m to speak about that gospel, I cannot do so without speaking about that cross. I, you, we together then, having deserved God’s wrath and his judgment because of our sins, have been spared. And Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has taken our judgment. He has stood in our place.

    To hear it again, to speak of it again, that our delight, regardless of how basic it is, He is, then, as the Apostle has said, he was delivered up for our transgressions, Romans 4.25.

    And thus it is that this cross of Christ is an indispensable feature to the gospel that we embrace. Without it, the gospel is no longer the gospel. And those then denying this cross, ignoring it or perverting it and its message, though they claim to be followers of Jesus Christ, are nothing of the sort. It was for these basics, then, for something as basic as the cross, that men did take a stand in this century, in our time. You know what was affirmed in 1923, the Auburn Affirmation? It is not essential for a gospel of the ministry, for the minister of the gospel, to hold to the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross that is merely a theory and quite dispensable in affirming the truth. That is why I do not hesitate to say to Those that deny this cross, those that ignore it, those that pervert it and its message, though they claim to be followers of Jesus Christ, are nothing of the sort. There is a sorting out that is taking place in our time. between those who see that cross as indispensable and those who do not.

    But let us press a bit further. Is there any other essential feature to this gospel which we believe Well, think of that passage which I quoted for you this morning, Romans four twenty five. It not only says he was delivered up for our transgressions, it goes on to say he was raised for our justification. Romans four twenty five puts it together. I judge as well as it can be put together. He was delivered up for our transgressions, and he was raised for our justification.

    In this gospel, then, we hear not just about Christ’s death, but likewise of his resurrection. And as essential as is that crucifixion, equally essential is the resurrection. Could we remind ourselves of just how essential that a resurrection is? Listen to the Apostle one more time from another passage, 1 Corinthians 15.

    If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain and your faith is vain also. He goes on to say that if Christ has not been raised, then you are still dead in your sin. Can the resurrection be ignored, denied, grossly distorted, and the gospel remain the gospel? You tell me, no. I ask you, why?

    Because, you go on, the resurrection of Jesus Christ means true life, life of the Spirit, and the achievement of the original goal for mankind, namely, the realization of that unbreakable fellowship with God forever. We then, who were the sentenced to death, for the wages of sin is death, have now been described as victors. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Isn’t that the point to which 1 Corinthians 15 presses? We are the victors, then, by way of Christ’s resurrection from the dead. Death is denied. Its bands are broken. life, eternal life, is given, and that graciously.

    And as much as the message of Christ’s death should thrill us, even as we recount it and think of it, basic as it is, so Our recounting of our thinking of the resurrection. That, too, should thrill us. Isn’t it interesting what the Apostle Paul says in Romans 10, verse 9? He says, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart, you see, the affection are brought into view, believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. The affection bound to that event. I love the resurrection. I love the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I set my affections upon that. I am bound in my heart to it.

    Those then denying this resurrection, ignoring it or perverting it, turning it into something else, suggesting that it is only metaphorical language, that we have to get beyond and above the mere happenstance of history, ignoring the event itself. Those who suggest such things, though they claim to be followers of Jesus Christ, are nothing of the sort. 1923, once more this century, the Auburn affirmation, 1300 ministers of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America signed that document that said that the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is unessential. It is merely a theory. It is not essential to be held by those who would minister in this church.

    Now I would judge that for the majority of you here today, you were not raised in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. You’ve come by various routes. But you understand why you are here. You are here for the basics, for the fundamentals. The cross is indispensable. The resurrection is indispensable. And there are those as there were those who have said and do say that they are expendable. But let’s press a little further. We’re not done yet. Is there for this gospel which you have embraced.

    Of which an essential feature is the resurrection. Still further and and essential ingredient of that resurrection without which the resurrection would no longer be. Are we holding to something here in affirming the resurrection? That if we remove it. The resurrection is no longer. Now, if there is any gospel.

    Judged as addressing this particular issue. The gospel of Luke. in the account of the resurrection, and what follows clearly does. Note, if you will, particularly in that twenty-fourth chapter of Luke, those stories that do follow the one that we’ve read this morning. Verses thirty, I’m sorry, verses thirteen through thirty-five. gives us that wonderfully told story of the two on the road to Emmaus. And note what is underscored as you move through that passage. Everything conspires to convince the reader, as well as to convince those two on the road to Emmaus, that the one that they were dealing with there on the road to Emmaus was in fact really present in his body. really present in his body. The risen Christ walks with these two, though they don’t recognize him. He talks with them. He sits down to supper with them. He actually takes bread and he breaks it.

    Everything is conspiring to convince you that you are dealing here with a real body. move on to the next story versus thirty six through forty three. The story tells us of Jesus meeting with his disciples and again we find the same message you’re dealing here. with an account that conspires to convince you that you are dealing with a real body. Jesus invites the disciples to touch him, to observe his hands and his feet. He says, A spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.

    Verse thirty nine. And in order to establish his claim, he asks for some food and then he eats it in their presence. verses forty one through forty three. Now you can move back, you can move back to verses one through twelve, and the story, the account of the resurrection, and we find here precisely the same message. Is it not clear to us? That’s why I began with the fifty-fifth verse of the twenty-third and its references to the body of Christ.

    Yes, Jesus body, the crucified body, that one laid in the tomb, came out of the tomb. Is that your doctrine of the resurrection? What went in came out. Now, there are many people who don’t have that doctrine of the resurrection. Jesus’ body, his crucified body, the one laid in the tomb, came out of the tomb.

    So Luke goes on to tell us quite deliberately that when the women come to the tomb and they find it open, they coming in hopes of caring for the body, verse three, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. They did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. Our gospel, our doctrine of the resurrection demands the empty tomb, regardless of what others may say.

    Note what the two messengers from heaven say to the women. Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here. He is risen. The body was gone, and that by the working of God the Father through the spirit of his power. But not everyone, and as I’ve already suggested to you, not everyone, not even all of those who claim to follow Jesus, accept this doctrine of the resurrection. can accept the empty tomb, can accept the fact that the body came out. And there are many, you see, who think that they can have Jesus without the resurrection, without this specific kind of resurrection, if the resurrection is necessary at all. a widow. I understand her grief. It’s not a matter of the cold-hearted doctrinaire Christian surveying the grief of someone without any pain of heart. But there was a woman, a widow, who once told me about her husband, her late husband, an elder in the Presbyterian Church and a medical doctor.

    She said to me that he could not, he could not, to the day of his death, believe in the resurrection of the body. Her husband, she explained, was a man of science. And you couldn’t expect him to believe in such things. Now you know what this woman was doing, she was comforting herself with such excuses for her husband, because you see, if the resurrection is essential to the gospel, her husband did not believe that essential, and thus he did not believe the gospel. And if he did not believe the gospel, he was lost. So this poor widow had to construct a Christianity in which the resurrection was unnecessary and dispensable. And as much as our heart may go out to her, she was wrong. The excuse this widow made for her husband, I might point out, none of the women present on the first resurrection morn would have subsequently made for any man that they ever knew.

    Now it may be judged as you survey that one chapter story resurrection. It may be that as you survey that story. You become impressed as I have with just how much is being said about the resurrection and the essential character of that resurrection the indispensability of it to the faith. for just as the empty tomb is central, so also is this apologetic with regard to the women. It’s not merely an apologetic with regard to the empty tomb, it’s an apologetic with regard to the women themselves.

    For what are people liable to think? These women are just given over to hysterics. It’s a matter of private, subjective opinion. That’s all. And that’s precisely what the disciples to whom they reported. But last you think that survey the passage once more.

    There is that empty room to be sure, but you see, these women are not standing there alone. They are confronted by two others, two messengers. We might expect that these messengers would be called Two angels, they are not called angels, they are called two men. We are struck by that. Why? Why should they be called two men, rather than two angels? They appear in dazzling apparel. Are they not angels? They are not so identified. Well, the answer to the puzzle is found earlier in the Gospel of Luke.

    If, for instance, you were to turn to the ninth chapter, the thirtieth and the thirty-second verses, you would find there verses that appear in the context of the story of the transfiguration. Two men are mentioned there as well, and they are identified for us as Moses and Elijah, giving comfort to Jesus as he sets now his face to his appointed task, his appointed end. Jerusalem and the crucifixion.

    They then representative, Moses and Elijah, of the entirety of the Old Testament revelation, the law and the prophets. The two men in Luke 24 correspond to the two men in Luke 9. It’s not just a group of women who are excited about a robbed tomb, it is the law and the are now bearing testimony to the fact that this was the goal. The law and the prophets then stand in these two men, bearing witness to the resurrection and the empty the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the point to which they were pressing all along. This is where the law and the prophets were going. But note what the two men do. Interestingly, they don’t call attention to themselves.

    Rather, they point the women to the words of Jesus. Once more, You have law and prophets, words of Jesus. They remind these women of the things that Jesus had said while he was yet in Galilee, so that now their witness has added to it the witness of Jesus himself. And when the women then go and tell their stories, To those who think it nonsense, they do so not as a group of women who are emotionally upset and distressed, utterly confused, but as those who come bearing witness not just to what they have seen, but to all that the law and the prophets have said, and more than that, all that Jesus has said.

    And in this. The women become the paradigm, the pattern. For all proper gospel preaching. Not so as to confer ordination on them. They nearly become a picture of the church. In that church’s movement and in her proclamation of this gospel and its indispensable elements. What are those indispensable elements? The cross, the resurrection, the empty tomb. Testified to by the law and the prophets. and seen by the words of Jesus himself. I tell you, it is irrefutable. It is utterly and completely irrefutable. the testimony then, our own, of the gospel which we embrace.

    Truly, we who believe it, not because we’re better than others, but because of the grace of God, we who believe it are the redeemed. And we live with the certainty that as Christ has been raised in his body, so we too will be raised in our bodies on the last day, so that we might be with him in glory forever. Now Lord, we would not forget the basics of our faith, and our heart would be warmed by those basics as they are rehearsed for us and by us, and our spirits would thrill in the knowledge of their truth. Our God, we pray that we might understand the foundations that have been laid for us and those indispensable elements to the proclamation of your word to the ends of the earth. May we truly be those who have embraced Christ’s cross, his resurrection. That we might be, Lord, those whose bodies are raised in glory at the day of his appearance.

    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.

  • Death Is Swallowed Up

    Death Is Swallowed Up

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Easter” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, April 19, 1987.

    About this sermon

    The modern world treats death as natural, and Scripture calls it the consequence of sin. Christ wept at Lazarus’s tomb, and Moses and Samuel faced death in their own ways. Christ has vanquished death, and ‘the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.’

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    Sermon transcript

    Our Scripture this morning is from 1 Corinthians 15. We are reading from verse 35 to the end of the chapter. Hear the word of God. But some man will say. How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come? thou fool. That which thou sowest is not quickened except it doth, and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain. It may chance of wheat or of some other grain, but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. All flesh is not the same flesh, There is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial. But the body of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon, And another glory of the stars, for one star differeth from another star in glory.

    So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption. It is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. It is sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. As so it is written, the first man, Adam, was made a living soul. The last Adam was made a life-giving spirit. Albeit, that was not first, which is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterward, that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy.

    The second man is the Lord from heaven. And as is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy. And as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

    Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal shall have put on immortality, men shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

    Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. and verse 26, the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. Truly, Lord, for your servants who declare your word this day, there is no room for vanity whatsoever. Therefore, I beseech you that you will clothe your servants with humility, the humility that comes from Jesus, that humility that is the fruit of the Spirit. And may it please you, Father, to use the word of your servants throughout the world. in order to encourage and strengthen your saints and to call your elect from the four corners of the earth. Through Jesus Christ, Amen. Is death Is death as one. Prominent figure from Pittsburgh said on national TV this last week. Nearly. The gate to the unknown. Sort of a frontier for a greater and new adventure. Or is it As the apostle Paul described it, the last enemy.

    Is death, as some have suggested, but a mildly intimidating hurdle that we all must pass something like our driver’s test or is it an awesome torturous terrifying reality filled with the threat of torment and anguish of soul. Is death closer to Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem, in which Fauré deliberately removes what he considered to be the medieval myths about misery and eternal damnation. is death closer to Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem, in which Verdi, to be sure somewhat melodramatically, impresses upon his audience the overwhelming sense of dread with his recurring chorus, Dies Irae, the Day of Wrath and its imminence. Our approach to death has become one of calculating denial of what the Bible tells us. Even amongst those who say they believe the Bible, when it comes to death, they may well find themselves acting and thinking more like unbelievers than believers. For example, it is not uncommon to hear professing Christians talk as if death were the most natural thing in the world.

    It is inevitable. It is to be expected and accepted because it is expected. Also, as a natural thing, so these people seem to suggest, it has nothing to do whatsoever with the moral order of things and our relationship in righteousness or unrighteousness with God. In other words, Death is completely unconnected to sin and its consequences. Well, despite what some folks might say, despite what they may think, the Bible is perfectly clear.

    Death is not natural. It is unnatural. Death is an intrusion, a vile and malicious intrusion into the experience of mankind. We are not meant to die. But death has been visited upon us. and it has come as the consequence of sin. God said to Adam, in the day you disobey me, you shall surely die. God said through one of his prophets, the soul that sinneth, it shall die. And the apostle, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, has told us the wages of sin is death. Could anything be more clear?

    But it seems in our day and age, our attempts to deny these truths are now approaching the ludicrous. Bear with me in a bit of foolishness. A Texas pastor described a funeral he recently attended. It wasn’t the encounter with death that he found terribly. It was the funeral itself. There was little in that funeral to direct his attention to the riches of the gospel and the promise of the resurrection. for all who place their trust in the risen Savior. Instead, he found himself in an atmosphere closer to a social event, much more proximate to a wedding or anniversary celebration than a wake or a funeral. He found himself in an atmosphere in which he was confronted with gaudy displays by the living.

    And as he heard it over and over again during that funeral, it was all so natural, life and business as usual. and I’m serious, from the people with the Instamatics to, believe it or not, the one with the video recorder. From the so-called mourner who raised her dog for one final farewell to the deceased to the one who asked about the deceased’s shoe size. To the minister who badgered the widow about the tithe on the inheritance to the relatives ruminating about insurance payoffs. He heard it all.

    From the well-dressed, upperly mobile crew that circulated, unable to pass up an opportunity to network for Amway, Neolife, Herbalife, Tupperware, and the PTO’s treetop tennis condos at Heritage Village. To the ever-present, ever-wanting-to-make-an-impression, youth-filled family fool whose car, I am not lying, whose car’s horn actually plays the Eyes of Texas.

    What would we do? with our funerals. More like a social outing than an opportunity to extend real comfort. An opportunity to think about the brevity of life, the eternality of God, and the prospect of our own eternal destiny. Now, you will recall that Jesus attended a funeral. That of his dear friend, Lazarus. And at that funeral, Jesus exhibited a range of emotions. Two seemed to take center stage. Emotions that may well help us in formulating our own responses to death.

    Those emotions are recorded in the space of three verses in John 11, verses 33 and 35. The first spoken of has been a bit controversial because people have not known what to do with the proper, appropriate translation of the Greek at this point. That first emotion described in verse 33 of John 11 is certainly that of anger. The translations invariably say, Jesus was troubled, or he was troubled within himself, or he was deeply moved.

    Actually, the word used here denotes rage. It certainly is not rage directed toward God, but rather a rage that Jesus vents against the persistent, ever-threatening, debilitating enemy of all of his friends, death. Now, Jesus, in this response to death, is not extraordinary in Scripture. We have in the Old Testament a similar rage displayed, a rage displayed towards death, the last enemy of the friends of God. In the Old Testament, death is actually personified.

    It’s turned into a people, a particular enemy of Israel by the name of Amalek. and the Amalekites. You will recall how God declared perpetual war against Amalek, because Amalek and those of his tribe preyed upon the stragglers, the weak who lay behind during the wilderness journeys of the children of Israel.

    And you will recall that it was when Moses was set up upon the hill and Joshua took the warriors of Israel out against Amalek, that Moses would hold up his hands, and when his hands were held up, Israel would prevail. And when they dropped, because he was tired and weak, then Amalek would prevail. So Moses called to stand with him, one on either side, to hold up his arms, that the forces of Amalek know even deeper the forces of death would not prevail against the Church of God. Does the form of Moses in that posture remind you of the form of another? Surely it does. the extended arms of our Savior, he ran the one by whom the enemy, the last enemy, is to be defeated.

    But you also will recall more about Amalek in the Old Testament, during the days of Samuel For Saul is commanded as the first king, Christlike, to go out against the Amalekites and strike them, destroy them, show no mercy, for they are the personification of the greatest enemy facing the people of God.

    And you recall Samuel’s rage, and here the rage once more asserts itself. The rage exhibited by Samuel when he finds out that Saul has failed to carry out the command of God and has saved the life of the King of Death, Agath. And despite how offensive people, how offended people may be by what appears in that story of Samuel and Saul and Agath. Please understand what the Lord is telling you. Samuel, use a guide to pieces in holy rage against that personification of the greatest and fiercest enemy of the people of God. not just the man Agag, but what he represents, for Agag is the prince of death. The anger we see in Samuel before Agag appears again in Jesus before the tomb of Lazarus. Death preys upon the people of God, those beloved of the Lord, the friends of Jesus, and it preys upon them in their weakness, their weakness compounded by their sin, which is a reality.

    But as Jesus has been enraged, note also, note also the second emotion. that shortest of all Bible verses. Jesus went. His rage baptized with tears. These tears hardly sentimental, but rather tears generated by the deepest perception and understanding of the human predicament. reaps its harvest, and that harvest is death. Sin and its reward, threatening, devouring, even the elect, those closest to Christ. His tears are to the end that every friend of his would be spared. And as a sign that that goal is within his grasp, he stands before that hole in the earth and the vanquisher, death.

    And he says, Lazarus, come forth! And Lazarus does. Lazarus, alive again, is but a sign. For he has been brought to life again in a world in which he must again die. What he and all Jesus’ friends need is a resurrection by which they will enter a world in which it will be impossible to die. Such a world.

    Jesus opens. He opens for us. beyond his rage and tears, and because of them there comes his own resurrection, the sure and certain promise of our resurrection. For as Jesus is now, so shall we all become. We who trust in him. Here, then, is the power of Paul’s wonderful words. We will put on imperishability. We shall all be changed. We shall put on immortality. And when our bodies are raised in that moment, in that twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, death will have been finally, consummately defeated. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our risen Lord, Jesus Christ.

    Therefore, we do not, we cannot deny death reality, nor even its horror. We, like Jesus, are enraged at it and weep because of it. Nevertheless, we are overwhelmingly confident in the face of death. Its sting, namely our sin, has been dealt with in Christ’s cross. Its strength has been broken by Christ’s resurrection.

    Death itself is doomed, death itself shall die. There is the death of death, the final enemy. And certainly this death of death shall come about on that day for which we all long. to which we all look, the day when Lazarus and all of Jesus’ friends will be raised up to meet him and to live with him in glory forever. Amen. Our Father, we are those who look to you in faith to be buoyed by the knowledge of the One Risen. The last enemy is death. And the death of death is certain. And the life in a world in which death is impossible that world is at hand through Jesus Christ, the Risen Lord.

    May each of us here have open hearts, may we have receptive minds to the truth of the resurrection, and Father We pray that by the power of your spirit we may live as those who have in fact believed that Jesus is alive and that the last enemy death is doomed. Hallelujah and 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.

  • I Have Seen the Lord

    I Have Seen the Lord

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Easter” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, April 7, 1985.

    About this sermon

    John 20 opens in darkness, and the resurrection answers the first creation with a new one. Peter, John, and Mary Magdalene each come to the tomb. Mary goes to the disciples and says, ‘I have seen the Lord.’

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    Sermon transcript

    Jesus said unto her, Mary. She turned and said to him in Hebrew, Rabona, which means teacher. We have read this morning a story that you all know, the story of John’s account of the first Easter morning. But did you notice John’s mention of the darkness? Only John, among the gospel writers, tells us it was still dark. When it was dark, that is, when darkness still enveloped everything, including those most devoted to Jesus.

    Now, it’s not as if the light hasn’t shined forth. the magnificent light that bursts forth in the resurrection of Jesus. Light much like light bursting forth once before, early on, at the very beginning of time. For you see, this first day of the week reminds us of that very first day in the very first week of creation. And now, as then, God performs a hidden work In the creation, no one but God and his holy angels witnessed what took place. Who was there to hear the Almighty say, Let there be light? And now it is the same at the resurrection of Jesus. It is a hidden work And in this hidden work of God, he brings to life this dark world’s light.

    It being a hidden work, it focuses our faith. We might recall what is said about that original creation later on in the New Testament. We are told, since we weren’t there, by faith we understand that the worlds were made by the word of God. And as it was with that first creation, so it is now with the new creation. And there are other parallels. The testimony of God’s original great act, calling forth the light, was set finally before his creatures, the man and the woman, our first parents, whom he made as the crown of his creating work.

    But why them? Unfortunately, we think of Adam and Eve as indiscriminately personality-less and character-less. as if they aren’t the consequence in God’s creative activity of his sovereign, electing, creating power and disposition. Why them? Why those particular bodies? Why those brains? Why those particular features? I am astounded that so many do not believe in God’s election, for you cannot get beyond the first chapter of Genesis without being confronted by it.

    But here in the new creation, this marvelous work of God in which a later-day light bursts upon the scene, a new creation to be sure, there are once again chosen witnesses before whom that light then, the testament of what God has done, is displayed.

    In John’s account, we have three. We have Simon Peter, we have that special disciple known as the one Jesus loved, and we also have, most importantly here, Mary Magdalene. We want to look at each of them in turn, but we want to look at them in keeping with what we have said at the very beginning, calling your attention to the fact that it is John who says, and while it was still dark, Jesus has been raised from the dead. The light has come for the nations, and yet John says, while it was still dark. The three mentioned here then will be related to that darkness. Our understanding of the darkness, and also our understanding and comprehension of the light.

    Simon Peter, called a rock by Christ himself, he an early follower of Jesus. You know of his admirable loyalty and fervor when many were deserting Jesus Jesus then asked the twelve that they would leave him, too. And it was Simon Peter who said, To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of Israel. But we also know of Peter’s, how shall we call it, proud humility, best expressed when he drew back from Christ’s attempt to wash his feet. You’ll never wash my feet, Lord, he said, only to be ashamed by his Lord’s rebuke to such an extent that he explained that the washing of his feet would hardly be adequate.

    Lord, not my feet, but my head. No, all of me. Please. But there is an ambivalence in Peter. There is frailty. There is that bold boast, the bravado I will die with you, Lord,” he said, only to have that remark answered in his cowardice by, Know him? I neither know him nor revere him. His response, then, to those who had associated him with Now, before you are too hard on Peter, I want you to consider him in light of what John says in verse 1 of chapter 20. While it is yet dark, even though the light has come, while it is yet dark, To be fair to this man, we have to penetrate him at a much deeper level than we have so far.

    For you see, Peter is more than a solitary figure. He is more than just an individual man. He is that one disciple in whom we are struck at one and the same time with, yes, amazing resilience and even faithfulness, and then amazing bewilderment to the point of offensiveness. understanding Peter for all that he is, for all that he is.

    We are compelled to see in this one man the deep, agonizing struggle of all within Israel who are longing for their Savior, but yet frightened by the prospect that this Jesus might be the one. Shall we follow Jesus as God’s Messiah, or will we hold back in uncertainty? For in seeing him, I am face to face with the cost of it all.

    In this one man, then, Israel is struggling with itself. Because you see, even among the faithful in Israel, the hope of that people is so tied to the land. And this Messiah has come and said, my kingdom is not of this world. To give up Palestine? I don’t know if I can do it. For that has been my life.

    But what other demands are made by this Messiah, the one who says that when he is lifted up in coronation, he will draw all men, all nations to himself? What then of the indigenous character and purity of the Jewish people? And I don’t know what he’s doing with the law, but he certainly isn’t handling it like our rabbis. It’s as if, with his coming, there’s been a marvelous transformation, an amazing, a bewildering transformation of even the law. How can I give these things up? Am I able, for the sake of this Jesus and his gospel?” So in the figure of Peter, even though the sun has risen, it is still dark. He is caught in his ambivalence. Now, if Peter speaks to us about uncertainty and ambivalence in Israel, what might we say of the beloved disciple?

    How fresh he appears in the passage. He outruns Peter. He arrives first at the tomb. and after giving place to Peter, certainly the older, he answers and we are told he believes. If Peter is hesitant, uncertain and ambivalent Israel, then in this beloved disciple we find here One who is a picture of an almost naive, naive belief, confidence. He is a picture of unhesitancy, unambiguity. As we have said, he arrives first at the tomb. As we have said, having seen what Peter saw, he believed.

    But yet, yet, this one who is poised, ready, willing, even for him, it is still dark. He doesn’t realize everything, he doesn’t know what it all means, he doesn’t know how it all fits together, much less what to do about it. We learn then in these two men about the nature of the true Israel of God, those faithfully waiting for the arrival of the Messiah. In Peter we have one holding on to the old, even when the new has come. In the beloved disciple we have one quick, poised, ready to believe and obey, yet not knowing what to do. So it is that both of them are hesitant, as it were, and walking, groping, if you will, in the darkness as yet. For they both return to their homes as if nothing had happened.

    How great is this darkness of which John speaks? What is the magnitude of it? We get a glimmer of it in Peter and in the beloved disciple, for you see, that darkness is so great that it overtakes even the best that Israel has to offer. Not even the best of Israel can avoid the shadow. There is no ghost even for them.

    But in order to grasp better the greatness of this darkness, we move on to the figure of Mary Magdalene. For she will not merely take us back into the bosom of Israel. She will take us back to the very foundations of the earth. She is the one then through whom we are confronted with the awesomeness of the darkness.

    So great is that darkness that apart from God’s sovereign and gracious mercy, it envelops and vanquishes Israel’s best. It is as awesome as the kingdom of darkness and as fierce as that kingdom’s dark prince. Its history is as old as creation and as ancient as the Garden of Eden.

    For this woman, will stand over against another woman, the very first woman that ever lived. So it is, then, that we are brought in John 20 to a garden. If in that first garden man died, being disobedient as he was. In the second garden, man is made alive, bringing the woman into perspective. If in that first garden the woman succumbed, in the second she triumphs. If in the first garden the woman found no one, not even her husband, to stand in her place, to die for her in order that she might be reconciled to the life of the glorious knowledge of the true God, in the second garden now she finds the resurrected Christ. who has not only offered himself up for her, but now confesses to her, naming her by name, eliciting from her her own confession that he is Rabboni, my future. He it is, then, who will instruct her perfectly in all of the purposes of God. He it is, then, that remedies the deceit to which she originally fell prey.

    The darkness once chased on creation’s first day. invaded the earth through sin, bringing with it its dreaded fruit, death. Even the best of Israel lived under the shadow of death. But now, on the first day of the week in the new creation, darkness is chased again. The light shines in the darkness. The darkness will never be able to put it out. It is chased from the Israel of God. It is driven back from the borders of the nations, from those called of God, as they are ministered unto by the resurrected teacher, Rabboni, the Lord Jesus Christ. His word brings light.

    All of us then, with Mary, must learn as she did from that teacher. Notice how the darkness still holds her as she looks at Christ. Initially she wants to hold on to him, as if in finding him she has found a true husband. a new and second Adam. As if in holding him, she, by holding him, can bring to pass a new paradise here upon earth. For his instruction to her and through her to us is that the paradise for which she and we long is not found in any garden in this creation, but rather is above with God in a place unthreatened by any darkness at all.

    And that is the place to which Christ presently ascends. In him was life, and that life was the light of man. And now with the instruction that Jesus Christ gives, based upon his resurrection, he chases darkness from the souls and the hearts of men, who up to this time have vainly believed that the real objective is some kind of permanent residence in this world. It is not.

    It is his life, his resurrection life then that brings to light all of the purposes of life itself and the reason why you are here. That in the end He who has gone to prepare a place for you might come again and receive you unto himself that where he is there ye might be also. Now in the day that that happens you will be able to say exactly what Mary said to the disciples. After having left this scene, I have seen the Lord.

    Here is our life. the light that dispels our darkness and our perpetual hope. Let us pray. The darkness continues even though There has been that resurrection, a dark shroud over the hearts and minds of men and women. Be they the best that the world has to offer, and it is only the risen Christ who is able to dispel that darkness and bring the clear, bright instruction of heaven to bear upon us here. that we may not put our trust or our hope in the things of this world, but in the one who was raised again, who is preparing a place for us, who comes a second time to receive us, that we might be with him forever. Even so, come Lord Jesus, quickly come. Good night.

    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.