Grace OPC Sewickley PA

Sermon Series: Philippians

  • The New Testament Confirms: Christ Is God

    The New Testament Confirms: Christ Is God

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Philippians” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, September 1, 1991.

    About this sermon

    The Gospels, Paul’s letters, and Revelation together confirm that Jesus Christ is God, and the case rests on far more than a single proof text. Mark 2’s healing of the paralytic gives one clear instance. Scripture holds Christ’s divinity and humanity together, and neither crowds out the other.

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    Sermon transcript

    Tonight we are looking first of all at the Gospel of Mark, and we will be reading the first twelve verses of this chapter. This is Mark chapter two, verses one through twelve. Hear the word of God. And when he had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that he was at home.

    And many were gathered together so that there was no longer room even near the door, and he was speaking the word to them. And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And being unable to get to him on account of the crowd, they removed the roof above him And when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying. And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, My son, your sins are forgiven. But there were some of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts.

    Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone? And immediately, Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts?

    Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Arise and take up your pallet and walk? But in order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, he said to the paralytic, I say to you, Rise, take up your pallet and go home.

    And he rose and immediately took up the pallet and went out in the sight of all, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, We have never seen anything like this.” Then turning over to Philippians chapter 2, reading verses 5 through 11 this evening from the New American Standard Version. have this attitude among themselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, also God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

    Now, this evening, we want to finish up what we started this morning. We have been looking at Philippians 2, verses 5 through 11, and considering in these verses the sublime Christology that is set forth here for us, the sublime doctrine of Christ. We have concluded Although there are those who would disagree with us, we have concluded that this text expresses the very highest Christology. And that this Christology or doctrine of Christ so expressed is actually the foundation for the church’s later confession concerning the full deity and the full humanity of Jesus Christ. Now we have concentrated, as we have looked at this passage, we have concentrated upon the clear assertions in it that Jesus Christ is divine. That he is, after all, fully divine. That he is God. That he is God come in the flesh.

    Question that we ask. This evening, although there are some who wouldn’t even grant us this interpretation of this particular text, the question that we ask is whether or not this text is an exception in the New Testament, or is it of a piece with what we find woven throughout. We are moving on then tonight to consider the New Testament revelation with regard to the full deity of Jesus Christ. Having this morning looked at the Old Testament and found in it an affirmation that the Messiah who was promised would in fact be fully divine, God himself coming to save his people. Does the New Testament call Jesus God?

    Well, we have already left the cat out of the bag. From our perspective, absolutely. We have seen that from the text in hand, this passage in Philippians chapter two, As the Apostle Paul makes mention of the fact that this one who is the Son, this one who is identified as Christ Jesus, existed, he says, verse 6, in the form of God, and that he had equality with God. We are convinced that no matter how you approach these words, regardless of how you slice it up, The conviction being expressed here is certain that this one in view is divine. He is God.

    Now you may recall the link up that we made this morning with respect to some other passages. We will not comment on Hebrews 1 verses 8 and 9 tonight because we already spoke of them This morning, as we look at Psalm 45, especially verse six, the writer to the Hebrews sees that text as an affirmation of the character and essence of the Son of God. He then being called in that passage, Psalm 45, verse six, God and nothing less. But we want to look beyond now Philippians two past Hebrews one for further evidence in the New Testament concerning this all important doctrine which the church has embraced.

    Would you call yourself orthodox. Would you. Consider yourself to be in line with the historic confession of the Christian Church throughout the ages. If you would, then you must, I underscore must, acknowledge Jesus Christ, not just as one who comes in the flesh to save through his humanity, but one who is God in the flesh.

    Any savior less than that cannot, will not save. So, what does the rest of the New Testament say with regard to this entire matter, this very important matter? Let’s look, first of all, at the Synoptic Gospels, at some representative texts. Now, when you wander into the Synoptics, you have wandered into an area that contains something of a cryptic character to it. You might recall how Jesus himself in the synoptics is concealing himself and his identity time and time again. He’s giving instruction to this person, to that. Don’t tell anybody who I am.

    And so there is that cryptic character to the revelation that is given to us in the synoptic Gospels, in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The message itself comes to us in that form in which the Savior himself is presented in those Gospels. So you might expect that the affirmation of Christ’s deity, his divine nature, might be a bit indirect.

    And it is. But let’s look at Matthew chapter one as a starter. You have at the end of that chapter Matthew’s description of the birth of Christ or the preparation for it. The marvelous statement that is made, of course, in verse 21, one that I hope that you have memorized. But what I have in mind is his interest in placing before us Isaiah’s prophecy out of Isaiah’s seventh chapter, the fourteenth verse. A verse that we quoted this morning, Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which is translated, God with us.”

    There’s a general way in which you can take that title. Oh yes, the birth of this child is symbolic of God’s presence. God is on our side. There are some interpreters that have approached this matter from that point of view. Matthew is saying something much more in quoting this text from Isaiah. He means it quite literally. Yes, this one is God with us. His presence with us means the presence of God. In himself, he is God with us.

    And now, throughout Matthew’s gospel, that will be the foundation stone upon which the entirety of the Christology of this gospel is built. If you turn to the eleventh chapter of Matthew, you can follow through on this theme. Come unto me, he says. Verse 28 of that eleventh chapter. Come unto me, O you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

    Well, is that an invitation that has ceased simply because Christ has died? simply because Christ has been raised and gone to heaven? No, you see, the impact of this gospel in its Christology is to convince the readers that this one who is God with us is still God with us.

    He continues with us. That’s why in Matthew’s gospel there’s no account of the ascension. There’s no ascension. He’s still with us. And he is with us as God. Turn to the 16th chapter of Matthew. This theme will deepen. That was a punctuation point. In chapter 16, you know that we have there Christ blessing Peter for his confession, but verse 18 says this.

    And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.” Is Christ continuing to build his church? Is he continuingly present to build his church? As such, he is God with us to do that. Turn over to chapter 18, verse 20. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in their midst. Is he still in their midst? Is he there now? Is he here now, God with us? You see the theme of Immanuel.

    Then you turn over, of course, to the 28th chapter, to the conclusion to which Matthew has been pressing all along, where he reiterates his theme of the presence of God with us in Christ Christ is speaking to his disciples, he says, teaching them, that is, the nations, to observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always. I am with you, Emmanuel, as God with us even to the end of the age.

    It is a very high Christology indeed that is presented for us in Matthew’s Gospel. And one, if we are alert to it, one which preaches to us the full divinity of Jesus Christ. He is building to this point throughout his gospel so that in verse 17 of that 28th chapter, you read these words, and when they saw him, that is, the disciples, they worshiped him.

    But some doubt it. Then verse 19, where the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are placed on a line as equals. full divinity of the sun, so that’s Matthew. It won’t linger long over Mark, and that’s why I did read the passage from Mark. It is a common passage. It’s a passage that you find in Matthew 2, Matthew chapter 9, and also in Luke chapter 5. It’s the story of the paralytic let down, but I think you get the point, don’t you? The scribes make their accusation, who is this fellow? who imagines that he can forgive sins, only God can forgive sins. That’s the point. That’s the point. And don’t be misled when Jesus calls himself the Son of Man there. There are those who have suggested to us that the title Son of God pertains to Christ’s deity and the title Son of Man pertains to his humanity. That’s not true.

    The figure of the Son of Man presented to us in Daniel chapter 7 is fully divine. To call him son of man merely says that he is the one who is the heir of the dominion of man. He shall inherit all that belongs to man and rule over it. It does not prejudice the case with regard to his humanity. It is preaching his divinity and glory as well. You must see the divinity of Christ even in the title son of man. So this one who is son of man, forgiving sins in the earth is actually God in the flesh.

    All right, well, we won’t linger long on Mark. Let’s go on to Luke. Luke is the most clever. I want you to turn to the fourth chapter of Luke. The opening of that chapter records for you the temptation of Christ in the wilderness. You know the story. And I want you to notice a particular feature of this story. Verse 4, there. Jesus answered the devil who had tempted him. You know what the devil is all about. If you are the Son of God, said the devil, tell these stones to become bread. Verse 3. But then you have Jesus’ response. It is written, he said, man shall not live by bread alone.

    And Luke stops there. And you say, wait a minute. You say, wait a minute. The rest of that text is that by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, right? Well, Luke doesn’t put that in there. He leaves it out. in order to use it later. Look at verse 22. And all were speaking well of him and wondering at the gracious words, the literal translation now follows, the gracious words that were proceeding out of his mouth. The rest of verse 4 is found in verse 22, and here it’s not ascribed to God generally conceived, but of Christ himself as he speaks. As I said, Luke is the most clever.

    Now I want you to turn over to chapter 8. I want you to look at verse 39. You have here the story of the demoniac cured. Wonderful story, you know it well. But get the conclusion of it in Luke’s gospel, verse 39. Notice verse 38 first, “…but the man from whom the demons had gone out was begging him that he might accompany him, But he sent him away, saying, Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you. Keep reading now.

    And he departed, that is, the demoniac, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him. In the Greek, the words are the same. Jesus tells him, To tell everyone what great things God has done, the demoniac tells everybody what great things Jesus has done. What’s Luke’s point? Jesus is God. Here’s another passage which we won’t well on, but it appears in the trial of Christ. It has a parallel in Matthew’s gospel, but Luke 22, verse 65. Here Jesus is faced with his tormentors. This is Luke 22, verse 65.

    You have them blindfolding him. They were beating him and mocking him. They were asking him, saying, who is the one who hit you.” They were saying many things, many other things against him, and Luke adds the word blasphemy. Now, why should he add that word, blasphemy? Why, in their attack upon Jesus, they are attacking, in Jesus’ person, God himself. Their attacks are blasphemy. Our conclusion? Jesus is God. Let’s move on. Let’s move on past the synoptics. Let’s look at John’s Gospel. We won’t linger here because, you know, what is a bit cryptic in the synoptics is shouted from the rooftop plain as day in John’s gospel.

    There it is. You can’t even get past the opening words, and you’re bombarded with it. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. You move down to the fourteenth verse, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. There it is, the great wonderful matchless statement of the evangelist, John, as he proclaimed the deity of this one who is God in the flesh. There are a number of other affirmations, and many of them you’re familiar with.

    You recall his argument with the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem in the eighth chapter. Read the eighth chapter. Read it again and again. It’s high drama, it’s wonderfully riffing. It moves you right along to the conclusion of the matter as Jesus presses home the case of his identity.

    Verse 58, Jesus says this to these people, truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was or was born, I am or I existed. Now, we all get the point, don’t we? The Jews got the point. Jesus actually, in that instance, used the divine name, I Am, for himself.

    So your teaching of John’s Gospel is that Jesus is God. Jesus says as much in the 30th verse of the 10th chapter, I and the Father are one. You might also know chapter 14, verse 9. He who has seen me has seen the Father. You might also want to take note, especially of that glorious, glorious twelfth chapter of John’s Gospel, that tremendous antidote to the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

    You have John there quoting the prophet Isaiah. You have him quoting from Isaiah’s sixth chapter. For this cause,” verse 39 of that twelfth chapter, “…for this cause they could not believe, speaking of these Jews. For Isaiah said again,” now quoting from that sixth chapter of Isaiah, “…he has blinded their eyes, he has hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and perceive with their heart, and be converted, and I heal them.”

    That is the scene in which the glory of Jehovah appeared to Isaiah in the temple. Now hear what John says. These things Isaiah said, verse 41, because he saw his glory and spoke of him. What Isaiah saw of Jehovah’s glory in the temple was the glory of the Son of God, who is divine in himself. The glory of Jehovah is ascribed to Jesus. Underline that text, and the next time the JWs come and knock on your door, will you please show them that verse? Okay, well that’s John.

    What about Paul? We already know what Paul thinks from Philippians, but there are a couple of other texts that are worth noting, and one is Romans chapter 9. verse. Romans chapter nine. Verse. You might want to pick up from verse three for I could wish that I myself were a curse separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, you are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the temple service, and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever, amen.” Another clear, unambiguous statement from the Apostle. with regard to the deity of Jesus Christ. For one being referred to here is none other than the Christ who has been mentioned. He is over all, God-blessed forever.

    Amen. Truly, amen. Turn over to Galatians. You don’t have to turn very far. It’s the first chapter of the first verse. Now, here’s a salutation to end all salutations. Paul, an apostle. Paul, an apostle, not sent from men. Get the drift of it now. Not sent from men. You understand that language now? Men. Over here. Okay? Not sent from men, nor through the agency of man. Over here.

    But through Jesus Christ, over against man, it is Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead. Now, of course, Paul isn’t denying the humanity of Jesus Christ here, but he is certainly making it clear that as far as his call is concerned, he received it from God, and operative in that call was Jesus Christ as God, as divine.

    You have a number of other statements from Paul and Colossians, of course. You know those texts, possibly. There are some in Hebrews. We’ve already spoken of the doctrine as it is expounded in Hebrews, especially the eighth and ninth verses of that first chapter, but it is throughout. But finally, turning to the book of Revelation, and there are a number of affirmations of this doctrine in the book of Revelation, as you might well imagine, since it is written by John. He is the one who is so clear in his declaration of Christ’s divinity. But you might look at 5th chapter, and the conclusion of it, and the worship that is now given to the Lamb. Verse 12.

    Worthy is the Lamb that was slain. to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing and every creative thing which is in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea and all things in them I heard saying to him who sits on the throne and to the land be blessing and honor and glory and power forever and ever And the four living creatures kept saying, Amen.

    And the elders fell down and worshipped. Now, were they just worshipping God as if He were separated from the Lamb? Or did they worship Him who was on the throne, seated, as well as the Lamb who was present with Him? These things that are now ascribed to the Lamb Are they not ascribed to him because of his divinity, his divine nature?

    The church is right. The church in her confession, in her orthodox profession, is correct. Is it not plain to you from Old Testament to New? The testimony is one. This one who has come, the one who takes the name of the Christ to himself, the one who is called Jesus, this one is God in the flesh.

    God himself judges it absolutely necessary that he become man. If he does not do this, then there is no one adequate to bear the burden of his wrath, which falls upon sin and sinners. Only God Himself can survive that judgment. Only God Himself can be victorious over the grave, death, was not able to hold him down. It was impossible for death to hold him down.

    That is the testimony of Peter. Only by the coming of himself to us could he repair the damage of that ruptured union. that spelled our root ruin. Only by this root could he repair that union and give blessing to us. There was no other way. He had to come himself.

    And only by his coming to us Could He open up for us in a final way His own heart, and make plain to us the extent and depth of His love for us? And likewise, only by coming to us in the form of human flesh could He open up for us our true nature, For we have lost sight of it. And have become utterly confused. If not completely disillusioned.

    So in this act by God. He exegetes himself. He explains himself. And he also explains you. To yourself. Who you are. For as he has proved to be servant for you. So you now by virtue of your union with him. Are to be servant one to another. well. Glorious stuff indeed. God. Become flesh.

    How can anyone question the testimony? Yes, they do. So tragically. If we confess it, do we not And will we not underscore our confession of it by the way we live? Yes. Affirming that God has come to save us, making himself servant on our behalf, will we not then give ourselves with abandonment for the sake of others? That all around might be helped. For Christ’s sake. Amen.

    How rich and diverse the testimony of your word, O God, but how wonderfully it evidences that unity, that common voice, that singular message from Old Testament to new. And in light of the glorious revelation that has come in Jesus Christ, we now bless the view Look upon our Old Testament and also our New Testament and understand the depths that are there. May we marvel, Lord, and may we glory in our God and not boast in ourselves. But help us, Lord, that we might live for you and please you as we live as those who are in union with the Christ who served. We pray, our Father, that we might delight in our service to you, for Christ’s sake. Amen.

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

  • The Poetry of Christ’s Humility

    The Poetry of Christ’s Humility

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Philippians” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, August 18, 1991.

    About this sermon

    Philippians 2:5-11 has a poetic structure, and like other poetry in Scripture it carries theological weight through its form. Christ’s glory before the incarnation, when he was already worshipped, shows how far his humility descended. The whole poem declares salvation by Christ alone.

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    Sermon transcript

    Our scripture reading this morning is from Philippians 1, at least we begin there. Philippians 1, verse 27, and we will be reading through verse 11 of the second chapter. Listen to the word of God. Only let your conversation be as become as the gospel of Christ.

    But whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel, and with nothing terrified by your adversaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation and that of God. For unto you is given in the behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake, having the same conflict which he saw in me, and now here to be in me. If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bounds and mercies, Fulfill you my joy that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

    Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in loneliness of mind let each esteem the other better than himself. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind deem you which was also in Christ Jesus. who, being in the form of God, thought it not worthy to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

    Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

    Pray with me now. Our Father, if we expect others in other parts of the world to heed your word, to be attentive, to listen, we ask, Lord, that we might be. Our Father, we would then humble ourselves before you. We would learn from you. we would be instructed in your word, and that for our own health and well-being. But how mindful we are at the same time of those throughout the world who are being addressed by your word at this time, and how mindful we are of your servants whom you have raised up to declare your greatness and your excellency throughout the earth. We pray, Lord, that you would empower your word and your servants who bear it, and that we might hear of the marvelous things that are done even now by our God in calling many to salvation. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

    I think that we would all admit to the uniqueness of the passage that we have before us this morning, and I have in mind specifically verses 5 through 11 of that second chapter in Philippians. This is indeed one of those unique passages that we find in Scripture. A passage that seemingly leaps off the page at us. A passage that confronts us, and that unmistakably, with certain truths. We are driven by a text like this, in ways we might not be otherwise, to consider the implications of exactly what is declared in those verses. Now the uniqueness for yourself may have been that ordeal that was visited upon you in your youth, when your parents made you memorize scripture. And probably this was one of the tests that they put in front of you and asked you to commit to memory, and I’m sure that there are many here today who could rattle these verses off from memory.

    But they are unique. They are wonderfully extraordinary, and that for a number of reasons, some of those reasons we will consider this morning. I think up front, right away, what we can see from these verses is the fact that there is a uniqueness to them just because of their form. Simply because of their form. There is something poetic about these verses. They run very nicely, don’t they? They almost scan, using those terms that poets and literature majors know. There’s a structure, a form to these verses that helps it stand out from the page. helps it to compel our attention. Now the outline of these verses is very simple, almost in poetic form.

    Verse 5, have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus, there it is, verse 5, is an introductory imperative. The imperative is command. So you have Paul giving us this imperative, this command, to have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

    And then, as if perfectly framed, as if perfectly framed, you have the subsequent verses, 6 through 11, that break in two very neatly. The first stanza, if you will, is verses 6 through 8. You may want to look over those verses quickly if you have your Bibles open in front of you. You will see that these verses have to do with Christ’s pre-incarnate glory and his subsequent humiliation. Now, am I speaking English to everyone? And these verses, six through eight, deal with Christ’s pre-incarnate glory and his subsequent humiliation.

    Now, by pre-incarnate, what do I mean? Are you familiar with the term incarnation? As we refer to Christ and his incarnation, what do we have in mind? Well, we have his birth, when Christ was enfleshed. That’s what we mean by incarnation, when he was born of Mary. But this text speaks of his pre-incarnate, his pre-enfleshment state, and the glory attended to it.

    And as you move through these verses 6-8, you end then with the subsequent humiliation of Christ. How Christ moved from this pre-enfleshment state to enfleshment. He came into the world, and he was subjected then to the abuse of men and ultimately to death.

    Then verses 9 through 11. Again, neatly paralleling, matching, somewhat in form and structure, if not in weight, because it’s as if we have two stanzas here running consecutively, the worth of each being equal. And in this latter section, verses 9 through 11, we have God the Father’s exaltation of his Son. So the first stanza deals with Christ’s pre-incarnate state of his humiliation. And then, verses 9 through 11, the second stanza, if you will, deals with God the Father’s exaltation of his Son because of his Son’s obedience. He exalts him to glory and gives him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, every tongue confess.

    Now we could go through the passage, and I’m not going to do that this morning, but we could go through the passage and draw this out a bit to show you just how balanced these stanzas are. We could review them somewhat in terms of their cadence, how they move along poetically, if you will, but instead of that I’m going to move on to the conclusions that some people have drawn from the observation that we have here is something that is extraordinary, something that is truly unique. There are those who have suggested that these verses are actually an independent hymn. The style, the form of it is so poetic that they have suggested that what Paul did was he took a hymn that the church sang and incorporated it into his letter at this point. There are others who have not been willing to go in that direction, in the direction of a unique hymn being incorporated by Paul into his letter, but they have said that Zuhab hears something that seems to have been meant for congregational recitation.

    Being written in this form, it’s particularly well adapted to oral recitation, even congregational recitation, as if people could stand and recite this together as the people of God. Now there are other examples of this in scripture. Have you noticed how wonderfully conducive the Lord’s prayer is to public recitation? I think that that may well be evidence that when Jesus places that prayer in front of his disciples, he does not mean that to be merely a private prayer that we offer by ourselves, but it seems especially well suited for congregational recitation.

    Congregation corporately praying. There are other texts in the New Testament that have been cited for their poetic form, as if they had something of a life of their own. You might turn to 1 Timothy 3. The 16th verse has a very powerful statement there laid out by the Apostle once more.

    This is 1 Timothy 3.16. some marvelous text that just rattles right off, or runs right off your tongue as you’re reading it.

    By common confession, that is the word, common confession, great is the mystery of godliness. And then the apostle says, he was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the Spirit, beheld by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in the glory. That’s marvelous stuff. Just because of its sheer poetry, but of course the content makes it all the more extraordinary.

    Well, could it be that here in Philippians 2 that we do have an example of some form that was used, be it a hymn or be it a confession by the Church in its worship? I know that a lot of people looking into this passage along these lines have run rather rapidly quite far in certain directions.

    They have said, for instance, that here we have New Testament justification for the writing of hymns and the singing of hymns, as opposed to singing only psalms. I think that most of you realize that we Presbyterians have our roots. in the Reclamation, and that our forefathers didn’t sing hymns, they only sang psalms. We’re trying to steer the middle course, you know, we have the Book of Psalms, we also have the hymnal, so we’re moving along with both psalms and hymns. Some have suggested that the biblical justification for the singing of hymns is found in a text like this, where possibly, conceivably, This was a hymn that was sung by the Church, and that Paul is incorporating it into his letter, it being very appropriate to the matter at hand. There are others who have suggested that if this is a confessional form, it would have a difficult justification for liturgies, and for prayer books, and for elaborate prayer books, and so on and so forth.

    Well, I’m not going to deal with these matters this morning, but I’m just pointing out the various issues that have been raised in light of the structural consideration of the text itself. I want to get on then to a second reason as to why this text stands out and this more important.

    This text stands out because of what it tells us about Jesus Christ. Be it a hymn, be it a confession, be it the words of Paul himself, it stands out because of what it tells us about Jesus Christ. For example, here is a direct, clear statement. about Christ’s pre-incarnate existence. Not only is this text unique, taking the form that it does, but it speaks of one who is unique in himself. If the text doesn’t leap off the page, failure, the one of whom the text speaks, should leap for you, presenting themselves to you in all His magnificence, and specifically in His pre-incarnate glory.

    We’ve noticed already that verses 6-8 move from Christ’s pre-incarnate state to His incarnate state, from His pre-enfleshment to His enfleshment. You might note in verse 7 that Paul tells us that he was made in the likeness of men, and he repeats that thought in verse 8. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbles himself. But it’s not as if the Christ comes into existence when he is enfleshed, when he becomes a man. For Paul is clearly teaching us that this one had existence before he became a man. Now, you must be gripped by the uniqueness of this claim, this assertion by the apostle.

    Can what is said here of Christ be said of anyone else? Can it be said of angels? Can it be said of demons? Can it be said of any other human being? I believe that your answer to that question is no, it cannot be said of any other creature. It cannot be said of any other being. The one who is presented here, then, is only unique. He is set apart.

    There are those in the history of the world who have taught some form of pre-life. That is, before we come into this world, we have had an existence somewhere else. Plato, the philosopher, taught the eternality of the soul, that the soul was eternal, and that the souls were placed into bodies so that we had existence, as it were, even before we had form and substance in this creation. That was Plato’s teaching. There were the mystery religions of the ancient world that taught that there was a prototype human being who hovered somewhere in the heavens. And that prototype human being is the key to understanding all of reality. That prototype human being was the one who mediated the eternal to the tantra. But that figure in those mystery religions was nonetheless a creature.

    So there have been those who have taught It is a pre-life form, and what do we say today in light of the New Age movement? What do we say in light of those who teach the doctrine of reincarnation? Certainly we come from somewhere, they say. And we’ve gone to somewhere, have we not? And you’re on the wheel, you’re continually returning, and hopefully somewhere along the line you will come to Nirvana. Well, there are many then who have taught some form of pre-life.

    But even against the background of those who teach such things, Jesus Christ is utterly unique in the presentation of the apostle. What is said of him can be said of no one else. It cannot be said of angels or demons or any other human being. Just how unique is this one who is presented here for us? How unique is Jesus Christ? Not only do we have here then a direct and clear statement of Christ’s pre-incarnate existence, we have here a direct and clear statement of Christ’s essential deity.

    And at the same time, an unembarrassed affirmation of his humanity. We are told right away in verse 6, he existed in the form of God. How do you look at him? A great man? A worthy teacher? Maybe the greatest the world has ever seen? Extraordinary, unique personality? Magnetic in every way? Or do you see him as God? worthy of worship, worthy of your adoration, worthy of your acknowledgement.

    Yes, the Apostle is saying here that the Christ is God. He existed in the form of God. He also says he was equal with God, but he did not consider that equality with God a thing to be grasped, a thing to hold on to, a thing to take advantage of. Therefore, the text goes on to tell us that he emptied himself of his divine prerogatives, and he became man. Not that he was no longer God, he was, although his prerogatives were, as it were, in shadow.

    But here, in this text, underscoring its uniqueness, is the foundation statement that helped the Church so much in the first three centuries of her existence to formulate clearly the doctrine of our Savior’s person and nature. Mostly we confess, we confess that this One is God and man, two natures in one person forever. We, with the Nicene Creed, confess him to be very God of very God, and we approach him as such.

    If he were here today, what would your response be? If he were here in your midst, in his flesh, what would your response be? Would it not be pulling yourself down at his feet and worshiping him and adoring him? Would that not be your response? Well, let me tell you. He is here. He is here in his spirit. And in your spirit, you are to be doing precisely that.

    Yes, I’m sure that many of us may say, without any hesitation, I love Jesus Christ. Let me prod you a bit, so that you might say, I worship Jesus Christ. So here is a direct and clear statement from the apostle concerning Christ’s pre-incarnate existence, and here is a direct and clear statement of Christ’s essential deity, as well as his complete humanity. But moving on, with respect to Christ, in these verses we also have a direct and clear statement about Christ’s inner disposition. Do you think you can know the mind of Christ? Do you think it’s possible for you to know how Christ thinks? Is it possible for you to know the thought processes of Jesus Christ? Can you get inside the man?

    The text says yes. The text tells you that you have in front of you an opening up of the inner disposition of Jesus Christ, both in his deity and in his humanity. And that the inner disposition of Jesus Christ is the same in his deity and in his humanity. Verses 6 and 7 tell us, he did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but voluntarily emptied himself. Here is the affirmation of Christ’s love, even from before his incarnation, even before his infestation. What is set at the center of your Savior is his love.

    He empties himself, and that freely and voluntarily. So in his pre-incarnate state, in his essential deity, as he is contemplating the world, as he is contemplating his mission in it, he does not grab hold of that deity as an excuse to free him from that demand that is now laid upon his heart to come into the world to save sinners. Rather, he gives himself over to it. He empties himself, as it were, of his divine ferocity.

    He enters into the world, taking upon himself our flesh. that he might endure our punishment upon the cross, taking our sins to himself, in order that we might go free. Well, that’s the heart of Christ and his essential deity, but what do we find to be true of him in his humanity? We’re told that he humbled himself by becoming obedient. In his deity he becomes servant, and in his humanity he proves to be servant. He becomes obedient even unto death, and that’s the death of the cross.

    So there is that thread of servanthood that runs through Christ, be he in pre-incarnate state or in incarnate state, be it before his enfleshment or after his enfleshment. There is that line that runs through him, Christ the servant giving himself in love.

    Now, interestingly, this specific text does not tell us explicitly why Christ did this. And you might surmise from reading on to the conclusion of this section through verse 11 that he did it because he wanted to gain greater glory for himself. He got the name that was above every name, didn’t he? Everybody is going to bow down to Him and acknowledge Him in the end, are they not? Why, obviously, Jesus did it because it had the promise in it of greater glory for Himself. But there is an element, there is an element, of Jesus doing these things for the greater glory of his Father, the greater glory of the kingdom of God, the greater glory that would be conferred upon him. Yes, I cannot deny that. The essential ingredient that is assumed in this text is that he did it for you. That’s the way it is.

    Not for himself, not what he could get out of it, but for you. Isn’t that the appeal that’s being made in the context of the passage itself? Paul is saying in verse 3, do nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, that each of you regard one another as more important than himself. Do not merely look on from your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

    And from there he leads into this section that says, have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus. As we are to do good for others, becoming one another’s servants, so Christ has become servant for us. His servant for being indeed, to be true, to be sure. In that by root of His service, we are saved. He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. There’s one other point, and I want to quickly deal with it here in conclusion.

    The third reason why this text stands out is because of what it tells us about God the Father. Are you confused as to what God is all about? God is about the business of exalting his Son. Are you in agreement with God? God the Father says there is an exclusivity to my Son, no one else sharing it. Are you in agreement with God? Is Jesus exclusive for you? Or are there other ways of salvation? Are there many? Are there other names out there? Are there a multiplicity of avenues and roads that we might take?

    This tells us, unambiguously, that the Father has conferred upon the Christ an exclusivity of devotion, worship, and adoration, and we are called to be in agreement with him about that. There is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved.” sets that name before the world and calls for a decision on behalf of the world with respect to that name.

    That is why we are about the business of missions and evangelism. That’s why we are engaged in the work of preaching the gospel to an unbelieving world. But am I speaking to anyone here today who is confused about this matter? who is not convinced, if you are going to be in agreement with the Father, then own the exclusivity of the Son. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man, no man, comes unto the Father but by me. So then the Father would have the peoples of the world honor him by honoring the Son, and he would have his Church honor him by expressing in themselves the very life and attitude and inner disposition of Christ. So not just a message here to an unbelieving world. that a message to a believing church, that there might be found amongst us that servant-mindedness that characterizes Christ. Is it not evident?

    The phone rings, the plea for help comes, the response from so many of you, not just for those who are sick, but for those who are in any trouble. Why is it that I love Grace Church so much? I’ve been away. I couldn’t wait to get back. The reason is, you see, because there is a fellowship here. There’s wonder. There’s a responsiveness. to other people that is so extraordinary. And in that, you see, the mind of Christ is being exhibited. You then, being challenged by these words.

    You, a servant also, in the similitude of Christ, is one you own as your Savior. Let us pray. us deeply, Lord, into your word and into a text like we have before us, which has meant so much to the Church through the ages. May this text be a blessing to us, as it has been a blessing to your people, so that we might affirm Christ’s greatness in all of its particulars. And, Lord, while we love him, we would worship and serve him as he served, and proved himself obedient, even though it carried him through suffering. We know, our Father, that our obedience may likewise carry us through suffering, but as there has been glory for our Savior, so there is glory promised to us. We ask our Lord that we might serve as he served, giving ourselves for the sake of others, leaving our future in your hands, with whom it is well secure. For Jesus’ sake, Amen.

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

  • The Corporate Mind of Christ

    The Corporate Mind of Christ

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Philippians” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, August 18, 1991.

    About this sermon

    Philippians 2:5’s ‘let this mind be in you’ addresses the whole church together. Heavenly citizenship and the three means of grace share that corporate dimension, though readers easily individualize them. Once again the imperative lives inside the indicative.

    More sermons from Philippians · Browse all sermons

    Sermon transcript

    Tonight we begin our scripture reading with Paul’s letter to the Romans, chapter 6. Let us hear the word of God. Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? May it never be. How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death?

    Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death in order that as Christ was raised from the dead, through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. For he who has died is free from sin. Now, if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again. Death no longer is master over him. For the death that he died, he died to sin once for all. But the life that he lives, he lives to God. Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

    Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts. Do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. for sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be.

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

    For the outcome of those things is death. Now, having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Have this attitude among yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus.”

    Our Father, we ask that as you address us, we would be conscious all the more of the scope and the dimensions of your Church. We are asking, Lord, that we would not merely focus upon ourselves. Rather, Lord, may we be concerned about others. Lord, this does not come easily for us. We must be trained in it and that by your word. We ask, Lord, that for our good, then, we would be drawn to your word and disciplined by it.

    We are asking, Father, that we might be also disciplined well within the confines of our church and congregation, that we would respect those who are over us in the Lord. that we would render service to you by giving honor to them. We pray for the elders of this church. We pray for Steve Yonch, for Jonathan Stark. We are asking you that you might mercifully deal with them so that they would be encouraged in their service and that in part that encouragement may come from us. We pray too, Lord, for those who have been called to service. We think of Mr. Keystone. We think also of Mr. Billingsley. We are asking, Lord, that in their service they may be an example to us that we might serve all the better.

    And how we ask you for the well-being of your church universal, that there might be respect for you in the respect that is offered up to those who you’ve put over us. So we ask that your church may see the offices of the church aright, and we pray, Father, that truly your people might be blessed as they are granted good and strong and forthright and perceptive and wise Our Father, we know that the ministry of the Word is a matter of concern all of its own. We would plead with You on behalf of Your Church through the world that there would be servants for Your sake who would love You above all else and be concerned to set forth Your Word before the people. Hear us, our God. We pray these things through Christ, who is himself the living word. Amen.

    This morning, you may recall, we laid out for you the pattern for that passage that has a unique quality all of its own, this passage in Philippians chapter 2, verses 5 through 11. The outline was simple enough, and I expect that a number of you could recall it just off the top of your head.

    We have first of all the imperative thumb call, verse 5. We then have verses 6 through 8, which compose a stanza in themselves. Those verses are dealing with the pre-incarnate glory of Christ and his subsequent humiliation. This is then followed by verses 9-11 that speak of the Father’s glorification of the Son and the exaltation that belongs to the Son, to which then we are invited as we bow our knees and confess with our lips that Jesus Christ is in fact Lord. Well, it’s a marvelous text, and tonight we want to work a little bit more deeply into verse 5, the Apostle’s imperative. That verse reads this way, in the New American Standard, had this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus. Paul’s imperative done tonight.

    Now, in getting a line on this imperative, the question that I want to put to you first of all is this. Which takes priority? Which has the primacy? As far as this text is concerned, the individual or the corporate? Do you understand the question? which has the priority, as far as this text is concerned, the individual or the corporate? Now, by the corporate I mean the body, the community, the church, looked upon as a third Now, I think that it is our habit of mind to almost invariably respond to that without thinking much about it. The individual, of course.

    We are conservatives after all. We are orthodox in our conservatism. And a hallmark of conservatism is that ascendancy of and primacy of the individual. Do we not believe that we must come to Christ one by one, that we must close with him, that we must make personal decisions for Christ, that Christ must come into our heart individually? Yes, we do believe those things. Having said that, we have not concluded the matter as far as this particular text is concerned, for there is fear. the primacy of the corporate.

    Now that might not be apparent to you if you have the King James in front of you. King James reads this way, have this mind in you. It’s not clear whether that you is singular or plural. Have this mind in you. Focus could be quite individually focused. is to move in the direction of the individual even as we have that authorized version in front of us, or have that shore up our individual conviction. So it is the habit of mind, when we come to this text, to approach it in that individual fashion, as we’ve called referring primarily to the Christian individual’s psychological state, or the Christian individual’s inner state. I think that you recognize, however, that the you, even of the authorized version, is plural, not singular. That is, have this mind in you, and not collectively, and not primarily, first of all, individually.

    The New American Standard, however, attempts to retain the individualistic sense of the passage. This is how it reads in the New American Standard one more time. Have this attitude in yourselves, because also in Christ Jesus, even though the word there is plural, the focus, the force, the direction of that translation tends to be individualistic. But the advantage of the New American Standard is this, it has those great marginal notes. You might note the marginal note, well this particular verse suggests that the phrase could be translated, have this mind among yourselves. A translation then that brings out clearly the corporate sense of the verse.

    Maybe more effectively we could translate the first part of Philippians 2.5 this way. Have this mind in your church, which was also in Christ Jesus. Have this mind in the community of faith, which was also in Christ Jesus. This position which I’m taking, the primacy of the corporate, is reinforced by what we in the context of the passage.

    Paul, in this section, is concerned about the way in which the Philippians are treating one another. It seems as if, from the last part of the first chapter, that situation has developed in Philippi where persecution has overtaken the Church there as it has been visited upon Paul in prison in Rome, parallel between their situations. But in the midst of this suffering now that has come upon the Philippian saints, there has been a turning upon one another. There has been an attack upon the unity of the congregation. So you have, Paul, the beginning of the second chapter speaking this way.

    If, therefore, there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, by being corporately focused again, love for one another, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, with any affection or compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, corporate focus there, maintaining the same love, united in Spirit, intent on one purpose, do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, we each of you regard one another as more important than themselves. You’re not merely to look out for your own personal interests, there’s the individualistic concern against which now the Apostle is in vain. He places over against that these words, but also look to the interests of others. So the corporate focus, the community, the Church, the end of selfishness, the end of self-centeredness, That’s what the Church is all about, as this life is worth us within a community where we are bound together in a common faith. But look at verse 14 of this chapter also, that which follows on the heels of this marvelous text we have before us. In Philippians 2, 5-11, verse 14 says, do all things without grumbling or disputing.

    Now, why is it that Paul has to say that? Obviously, because there was a lot of grumbling and a lot of disputing. So you have, then, the corporate focus to hold the Church in view as Paul speaks. It’s not just my own personal attitude. It’s not just what I feel inside, it’s not just my inner disposition, it’s not just me personally with God and with Christ cultivating a relationship with Him, but it is that corporate dimension as the very life of Christ is coming to expression in the whole body. I might suggest as well that this is confirmed by the larger context for this section of Paul’s epistle. You may recall that when we were dealing with verse 27 of chapter 1, we went to great lengths to draw out in that text the proper dimensions that Paul has laid before us. Those proper dimensions to be characterized under the heading of citizenship. Paul’s concern is for Christian citizenship.

    By that, their citizenship in the commonwealth of Christ, or their citizenship in the commonwealth of the kingdom of heaven. These Philippians, though they may pride themselves in their Roman citizenship, are above all citizens of the kingdom of heaven, to the commonwealth of Christ.

    So that we might well translate that twenty-seventh verse of the first chapter this way. which is centered in heaven by behavior worthy of the gospel of Christ. Demonstrate your citizenship, which has its orientation in heaven, by behavior worthy of the gospel of Christ. Now, this scheme of citizenship will peak In an explicit passage later on in the epistle, you can turn to the 3rd chapter, the 20th verse, where Paul says, “…for our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” This fifth verse of the second chapter there, then where we have Paul writing, have this mind among yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, also claims upon that theme of citizenship.

    These Christian folk belong to the commonwealth of Christ, a heavenly commonwealth. Their citizenship is, first of all, above. Now, just speaking about that citizenship, we have more in mind than just individual considerations. These people are looked upon as a body, as a nation, as a people. They are looked upon as a whole, bound together. Now, I cannot stress this too much. You may feel I’ve stressed it too much already, but I can’t stress it too much.

    There are lots of complaints about the Church. I have heard complaints within our own Church. There’s not enough fellowship. I don’t feel as if People are warming up to me enough. There’s a lot of concern about fellowship and the interaction of peoples. And I would suggest to you that it is particularly this individualistic domination in our thinking that destroys our ability to rightly and properly have fellowship among ourselves, to even cultivate, to even promote it. We may talk a lot about fellowship when it gets right down to it, we want to keep people at arm’s length. Or it may even be worse. We may talk a great deal about fellowship and complain about the fact that people don’t pay enough attention to us. But yet, if the truth were told, we would find out that we are more spongers than we are givers. We absorb more than we give out. We’re not really interested in giving, we’re interested in taking.

    It is the corporate concern of the body of Christ that disciplines us as we think of matters as mundane, at least it has become mundane, matters as mundane as fellowship in our own personal interaction with other people. How do we train ourselves to think about others first, their concerns, their needs? How do we give ourselves to them, rather than thinking about ourselves first of all, rather than glorying in individualism, glorying in the corporate nature of the body of Christ.

    While there is that within our fellowship, I also know and rejoice in the magnanimous spirit of this congregation, the generosity, the kindness, the open-heartedness, the open-handedness. I rejoice in that, wherein the wonders of that heavenly citizenship, that Christ-mindedness, is evident. I could go on with respect at this point a bit further. That is to ask you about the means of grace. Can you name the means of grace? They’ve been traditionally formulated. How many are there? Three. And what might they be?

    What are those ways by which God communicates to us regularly His grace, His blessing? Well, the Word, sacraments, and prayer. Now our tendency is when we come to the Word and we look at prayer, we treat them individualistically. It’s my prayers, it’s my Bible reading and my personal Bible study. That’s not the primary focus of the means of grace. The primary focus of the means of grace is the corporate dimension. We hear the word of God together. That’s why church is so important. The assembly of the saints is so essential.

    Do you think that everybody had their own Bible? Even at the time of the Reformation, they didn’t. Where were they going to hear it? They had to go to church to hear it. Was it one’s mere personal interaction with the Word of God, having their own individual copy of that Bible, that was in view when the means of grace were being discussed? Was the corporate dimension, the people hearing the Word of God in the assembly and taking what they heard, told of them? Committing them even to memory and living by it.

    The same with regard to prayer. As important as our personal prayer life is, the focus of the means of prayer is not, first of all, individual prayer, but it’s corporate prayers, coming together, learning of what needs to be prayed for in the assembly, and taking those needs to ourselves, taking those needs home, and giving ourselves to them for the sake of others. You can’t pray for yourself all the time, you have to pray for other people. So the corporate focus comes out once more. Can it be clear to us, it must be clear to us, if we would consider the means of grace of the Fatherless?

    How many times have I stressed this with you? Our experience with the sacrament is that, first of all, we’re individual. Do we baptize our kids in a bathtub at home? Do we spit a little water in from the spigot out of the bachelors? No! We bring them to church. It’s a corporate experience. We don’t believe in personal, individual, private baptisms. No, we don’t! We stand against them. And what about communion? Well, it’s me with a jug of wine and a loaf of bread in my kitchen. No, it’s not! But Jesus speaks for them! If we’re wrong, that’s exactly what they taught.

    It’s the corporate focus of the means of grace, and we are disciplined by that. Well, each of us in our own way. And that includes me, needs to get out, needs to get out of ourselves and up and out of our small little world into the glorious expanse of the commonwealth of Christ in view of our citizenship in the kingdom of heaven. And we’re not there alone. Now, have this attitude among yourselves within the congregation that was also in Christ Jesus. the corporate focus of the text.

    Now secondly, I put this question to you. Is this verse concerned purely with the ethical, or is it concerned with the redemptive historical? Is the concern of this discourse purely ethical, or is it redemptive historical in nature? Purely ethical would approach the passage this way. This text deals exclusively with the inner disposition of Christ. the inner attitude of Christ, the psychology of Christ, and says, Christ was like this, now you be like him. You might say, that sounds strangely like the sermon I heard this morning. And if that is what you got out of that sermon, I repent.

    The purely ethical approaches the text this way. When it speaks about the mind of Christ, it has in view Christ’s inner disposition and says, Christ was like this and you ought to be like him. What does the redemptive historical approach say? The redemptive historical approach brings in view God’s work of redemption and places that at the center of the text. so that the phrase, in Christ Jesus, becomes a very exacting and technical phrase. The words, in Christ Jesus, then, do not really introduce us to the inner disposition of Christ along an ethical line, but the whole environment procured by Christ in his Satan work, into which we have been introduced. and that by grace.

    Therefore, we would better translate this text as this, have this mind among yourselves, within your congregation, which is consistent with the fact that you are in Christ Jesus. Have this mind among you, within your church, which is consistent with the fact that you are in Christ Jesus.

    Now, I hope that you’re with me here. I want to draw this out a little bit more for you and delineate the difference between the two approaches. The first one, the purely ethical, says this, Here’s Christ, you measure up to Him. In other words, become what you are not as yet.

    It is this position that has led, tragically and repeatedly, even amongst Reformed people, to a legalism and a moralism that has been utterly destructive of the gospel. And why? Because it countermands grace. and transforms our faith into a religion of works. What does the other position say?

    It says this, here is Christ Jesus and what he has done for us, live in him and from him. In other words, be what you are. Be what you have been made to be by the grace of God. You are citizens of the commonwealth of heaven by grace, now act like it.

    There is a completely different psychology at work in this latter position as opposed to the former. And I might say that it is actually the latter position that saves the ethical, for the ethical is not forgotten. Did you hear it? You are a citizen of the commonwealth of heaven.

    By grace, now act like it. There is an imperative there, there is a command, but the imperative is based squarely upon the indicative of God’s gracious action on our behalf. What we couldn’t do, God has done in Christ, and that is what makes the gospel the gospel, and we must not sacrifice that anywhere along the line of our confession, anywhere along the line of our commitment. This latter position then, the redemptive historical that grounds then the experience of the people of God in the reality of Christ’s work on their behalf, is productive of unparalleled praise to God and gratitude to Him for so great a salvation. The weight of it is this.

    Here we are told that we are sons already. We do not need to become sons. We, who have entered into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, are sons. And now, being sons, we are asked to live as sons. It’s not as if we don’t have access to the house. We have access to the house. now live in it and from it. The other position would have it that we need to become sons, that we are not yet in the house.

    We might get it someday if we measure up. The seriousness of all of this is that the one position is the gospel, the other position is not. Have this attitude among yourselves in your church, which you have found to be in Christ Jesus. Live consistently, live consistently that citizenship which has been conferred upon you by grace. Be what you are. Well, Paul’s imperative, an imperative that is well within your grasp and well within your ability because of all the treasures and all the graces that are accessible to you by grace in Christ. 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.

  • Fishers of Men

    Fishers of Men

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Philippians” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, July 28, 1991.

    About this sermon

    The sea carries symbolic weight in Scripture, and Christ masters it again and again, which frames the breakfast on the shore in John 21. Christ and the church together fish for men, and Christ renews that calling for Peter after his denial. Partaking rightly of the Lord’s Supper belongs to the same restored calling.

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    Sermon transcript

    Then our picture reading begins in John’s Gospel, the twenty-first chapter. John’s Gospel, the twenty-first chapter, beginning with verse one. Here is the word of God. After these things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. And on this lie showed he himself.

    There were together Simon Peter and Thomas, called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a-fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth and entered into a ship immediately, and that night they caught nothing. When the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat?

    They answered him, No. And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find They passed their floor, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishers. Therefore, that disciple whom Jesus loved, that saith unto Peter, is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girthed his fisher’s coat unto him, for he was naked, and he did cast himself into the sea. And the other disciples came in a little ship. were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits, dragging the net with fishes. At soon then, as they were come to land, they saw a fire of foals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, a hundred and fifty and three. And for all that, and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.

    Jesus saith unto them, Come, and dine. And none of the disciples thereof asked him, Who art thou, knowing that it was the Lord? Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise. This is now the third time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead. So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than thee?

    He saith unto him, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved, because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

    Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou art young, thou girdest thyself, and walkest with her, thou wouldst But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shalt gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldst not. This spake he, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.” Then from Philippians chapter 2, verses 5-8, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in passion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Thank you.

    The text says, at the Sea of Tiberias. At the opening of John 21, the text says, at the Sea of Tiberias. That sea, that body of water, commonly known by another title, the Sea of Galilee. but here so called because it itself has been overshadowed by Jewish and Roman, Semitic and Gentile politics. Herod Antipas, the ignominious son of a more ignominious man, Herod the Great, has built a new capital city for Galilee along the shores of the Sea of Galilee, and he has called this city, after the name of the present Caesar, Tiberius. And now he is bringing pressure to bear upon the entirety of the territory under his survey, that all in that territory might call the sea, formerly called the Sea of Galilee, by Caesar’s name, the Sea of Tiberias.

    So it is at the Sea of Tiberias in the night, as the darkness deepens, that a group of seven men led by one named Simon Peter, launches out to fish into the night. As if they had nothing else to do, Peter speaking for them all, I go a fishing. They set out then across the waters of the sea of Tiberias in seek, in search of satisfaction. In search of fish that will satisfy, meat that will satisfy, fish to be eaten, fish to be sold. in an affirmation of their lives, taking up a task that has an importance of itself, a confirmation of the creation order, if you will.

    In this creation, men go fishing. They do things that are important, and in pursuing these things, they lend to themselves a sense of well-being. They lend to themselves a sense of value and worth. Men doing fishing are deeply into reality, the stuff of life. So out upon the sea they go. Going out upon the sea there is this marriage of the task of fishing with the enterprise of life itself. So when they embark upon their trip it’s like you see in their little journey something of their journey in and through the world. Men will work. Men will make money. Men will catch a catch of fish for profit and for self affirmation.

    But there is also that which speaks to them of the brooding troubles in and of the waters. Just as in life there are threats, so upon the sea all the threats of life are compounded. The waves themselves dissolve, they rise, they dissolve. There is the uncertainty of the sea. Who knows what the face of the sea will be in the next moment? The sea itself speaks of chaos. The waters may even represent an abyss, a gaping and insatiable mouth that would devour.

    Written in and upon these waters then is the sign of those waters that we read about in creation. The Spirit himself then hovering upon the face of the waters to calm them in order to bring order. With regard to these waters we hear about the Word of God that separates the waters from the waters and causes the dry land to appear. We may even hear within these waters, in the roar of a wave, the voices of those who have gone down into the depths, even those who went down into the depths in the days of Noah. We may see a banner read out across these waters, the Red Sea. there to see the salvation of the people of God and also hear the cries of the Egyptians as they are overcome.

    We may hear the cry of the psalmist as he speaks about a descent into the waters as if he was descending into the grave. We may even hear the voice of Jonah the prophet as he is thrown overboard and swallowed up by a great fish. and is overcome and overwhelmed with the threat of death. Or there may be the intimation of demons themselves. Demons once inhabiting men who are cast into a lot of swine on a hillside. who then rush down a bank and over a precipice and into the gaping jaw of the waters and there drown. Yes, the sea and life itself and as with life all of the threats that are signaled in the waters themselves But Herod says, this is Caesar’s sea. This is Tiberius’s sea. It belongs to him. He rules. He owns. It is his possession.

    And we, who are lesser luminaries, lesser lights in the world, our purpose is to serve these greater lights and bring honor to these greater lights by our accomplishments, the things that we can do in their service, and thus help ourselves, of course. But now we have these seven fishermen who had launched out into the night of such a world. And even though they labor, toil, extend their energies, do what they ought to do, do as fishermen do, though they give themselves over to the realities of life, Those realities demanding hard work, they labor into and through the night, they catch absolutely nothing.

    In the light of the early morning, I see a figure on the shore. He appears distantly. He speaks. He speaks through the distances, through the mists of the morning light. As the light of dawn rises upon the seven and the empty world and their discontent. You went out upon the waters to find that which would satisfy you, that which would affirm your existence and the reality of all things about you, and you end up with nothing. A stranger says, throw your nets on the right side of the boat.

    It’s not just a suggestion, it is a command. As if now there comes forth from this one a command over the sea of Tiberius, imagine it, a command over the sea of Tiberius, the emperor of Rome, and all that that entails. And this one exhibiting a mastery, a supremacy unmatched, almost as if He speaks from a place that is His and His alone, as if the shore belongs to Him. And not only that, the waters obey His commands. They are His as well as that boat and the men who are in that boat. The seven obey. They throw the net on the other side. The sea itself capitulates. It yields up treasure, a net full of fish. And at that moment, the one who loved Jesus says, it is the Lord. It is the Lord.

    That one from whom alone their satisfaction will come, This one who alone rises, no, all rises, as if by resurrection, a resurrection appearance manifestation to reveal himself in the early light of the dawning day for the purpose of disclosing his sovereignty over Caesar’s world and all worlds. It is this one, then, who will send forth the little boat of his church into the world, threatened though it is, for a great catch. It might then be said, if there is an answer to the futility of men, even as they partake deeply of life’s reality, even as they go fishing and engage themselves in common tasks, if there is to be anything that redeems them in the midst of this, it will be in light of the great catch that is being harvested for God, for Christ, for the kingdom of the Lord. Every task will have its affirmation in light of this task and in relationship to it. The emptiness you feel, the frustration you experience, the distress that you know in your jobs, will they not, all of these problems, be dispelled in light of the great task? the commissioning of the Church, as we all are related to the Gospel and its progress.

    But the story is hardly over. Lessons about Jesus’ sovereignty come fast and hard upon the heels of this great display of might Caesar’s sea of power Herod’s complicity and schemes his plot will offer their own Temptations to a little ship adrift as it were upon the waters of this world There are after all advantages to be found in the world and There are advantages, after all, to acknowledging Caesar’s sovereignty. There are advantages to be found even in Herod’s court. We all know that. There are ways in which we might proceed, ways in which we might learn how to exercise power, how to use our influence, how to assert our privilege of position, how to use it, how to manipulate, how to organize, how to structure, how to bring people under our rule, under our thumb.

    There are churches like that, you know. But Jesus on the shore has prepared lessons in grace for his little band. He has already prepared breakfast when they arrive. They’ve labored. They caught fish. Jesus has even invited them to bring some of the catch to lay on the fire. But yet, they are fed by Him, because the sufficiency is found to be in Him alone, and that all of grace. In all that we gain, in all that is given to us, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is exalted.

    It is extolled so that we must never think more highly of ourselves and our efforts than we ought. And note him who speaks here. He is among the seven as one who serves Indeed, he comes to them by the root of his service. So while it is true that he commands the church, that he commands Caesar’s sea, while it’s true that he commands the realm of Herod’s various intrigues, while it’s true that he even commands the chaotic world and the abyss of death and hell, he is among us as the one who serves. The Lord is the servant. And now he pursues a course with the seven that is designed to press them into his service so that theirs matches his.

    He loves his flock so much that he became a lamb, that through the sacrifice of himself upon the cross, he would become the source of their forgiveness, as they would stand before their Father in glory, in righteousness. And by such a route, he has become the source of eternal life, which he has prepared for them in his Father’s house above. for them who are savingly trusting in Him. Peter is engaged directly now by this One, the servant who is also the Lord.

    Peter, that One, who before the Jewish scorn and Roman power had melted in cowardice, who before the presence and in the knowledge of all the evidences of the resurrection can find no comfort or direction But for him, it’s as if the world goes on as usual. After seeing the empty tomb, he goes home. And after being visited by the Christ, the risen Christ, twice, he says, I’m going fishing. But now Christ commands this one. to tend lambs, to feed sheep, and is even promised an inglorious death as the price of his service.

    Peter ate with Christ that day. On that day Jesus took bread and blessed and broke it, and gave the bread to those who were there. And Peter ate with Christ. But to eat with Christ means, you see, to partake of Christ and to participate in Him so that the life of that one who would partake would be remade after the image of Christ Himself.

    In Luke’s setting of the Lord’s Supper, you may recall the disciples get into an argument about who’s greatest. Jesus says to them, the kings of the Gentiles, think of Caesar and the sea of Tiberius, the kings of the Gentiles lord it over their subjects. But it is not to be so among you. Rather, let him who is to be leader among you become your servant. Why? Because that’s what I have done.

    And in another setting, for the night before Christ’s death, the setting related to us by John himself in his thirteenth chapter, there we have no record of the distribution of the bread or the sharing of the cup. John doesn’t tell us about those things. It’s not as if those things aren’t important to John, but his focus is elsewhere.

    He tells us about Jesus, who actually gets down on his knees, wrapped with a towel, in order that he might wash the disciples’ feet. And then he says to his disciples, Do as I have done. such service as you have seen in me, you are to imitate.” Will you celebrate the Lord’s Supper? Do you not tend to concentrate on the question, how is Christ present with me here in the sacrament? That is a fundamental and most important question, but it is matched by a corollary question. And that question is, what is the significance of my partaking of the supper?

    For the supper to be a blessing to you, you reaching out to take the elements, You must realize that you are taking Christ to yourself, not simply so that you might be benefited personally, but so that you might become a benefit to others. For the supper to be a blessing to you, you in receiving Christ in the sacrament, Then take Christ to yourself in the posture in which He offers Himself, and that is the posture of a servant, a servant for others. Will you not then concern yourself with others? Will you not think of them? Will you not give yourself over to others and even sacrifice yourself for their sake? Isn’t that what you see in Christ? Will that not be the completion of your salvation?

    But certainly this is not meant merely for a little band of apostles in a ship on the Sea of Tiberias in the first century, nor is it meant for preachers standing in pulpits in the third or eighth or 18th or 21st century. century alone. It is also for all who would be called by Christ’s name. Is that not the significance of the fact that you are then welcome to the table? It’s not just for priests. It’s not just for preachers. It’s not just for apostles. It’s for the people. So then apostles and preachers, so then elders and deacons, they are not servants alone in the house of God.

    You are kings who demonstrate your service and priesthood through ministry one to another. a kingdom of priests you are to serve in God’s presence and to serve one another have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus who although he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied himself taking the form of a bond slave and being made in the likeness of man and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on the cross.

    Therefore also God highly exalted him and bestowed upon him a name that is above every name. Let’s pray. Set us free our father into service for you in such service Wherein we are not intimidated and by the powers of this world May well be father that we are called by you to honor those who are over us and have authority with respect to us But yet Lord we pray that we may not fear them in the sense that We are threatened with the undoing of our lives because of their power. Rather, we are servants of the Lord. And I ask, Lord, that each of us here may prove to be servants indeed as we partake of the supper now and demonstrate for all to see that we love Jesus and we wish to be like Him. Dina.

    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.

  • Corporate Personalities in Scripture

    Corporate Personalities in Scripture

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Philippians” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, July 28, 1991.

    About this sermon

    Soteriology needs a working definition, and Scripture offers many examples of corporate personalities, figures who represent a whole people at once. Christ’s finished work does concrete things for the believer. His humility works both for us, outside us, and in us, reshaping how we live.

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    Sermon transcript

    Our scripture tonight begins in Philippians chapter 1, verse 27, and we will be reading through chapter 2, verse 13. Hear the word of God. Only express your citizenship in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.

    In no way alarmed by your opponents, which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you and that too from God. For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now here to be in me. If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete, by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, let each of you regard one another as more important than himself. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this mind in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of men.

    And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore also God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

    For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to do, for his good pleasure. Our Father, we ask of You that we might be given strength by Your Spirit to fight against every bit of laziness within us, that we might strain our nerves and exercise that strength, in fact, that energy which You have granted us in Christ, in order to be attentive to be about Your work. We ask, Lord, for Your forgiveness wherein we have fallen asleep in our pursuit of those things that are right and true. We ask, Lord, that we might be zealous for the things of the kingdom as You stir us up, making us willing by Your Spirit and deed. We do pray with confidence, knowing that You are able to grant to us those things which we ask And we pray our Father in faith, through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

    A few messages back, we talked about the Apostle’s anthropology. That is, the Apostle’s doctrine of man. You may recall something of what we said on that occasion. On the one hand, it seems as if the Apostle had a very low view of himself. Yet, on the other hand, it seems that he had a very high view as he looked upon himself in light of Christ, in light of his union with Christ.

    Tonight we want to consider another word. It’s one of those big theological terms once more, and this term is soteriology. Soteriology. If you’re taking notes and you’re Wondering how to spell that, you can ask Jonathan after the service. Now that’s s-o-t-e-r, s-o-t-e-r-i-o-l-o-g-y, soteriology. That comes from a Greek term that means savior or savior. refers to salvation itself.

    So here we are dealing with the apostles doctrine of salvation. The doctrine of salvation and we will want to look especially as we bring things to a focus by and by. You will want to look at it as we bring things to a focus. We will look at Philippians chapter 2, those verses that had become so important for us. But let me put in front of you something of a basic structure of Paul’s approach, and I think that you will find that this is not extraordinary to Paul, that if you were to look in the Gospels with a discerning eye, if you were to look at the epistle to the Hebrews, at Peter’s letters, In fact, anywhere you may turn in the New Testament, you would find evidences of this approach to the whole question of salvation, the approach which, in fact, the apostle puts before us so powerfully. Now, I might say that there is a dimension to the apostle’s presentation of the doctrine of salvation that grips us grips us indeed.

    I mean, he’s the one who’s able to say things like Philippians 1.21, for to me, to live is Christ, to die is gain. the personal element that is intertwined in his doctrine there that is very powerful, very helpful.

    You may recall Galatians 2.20, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Well, if you’re not gripped by those verses, I have to judge you’re made of stone, and you’re not really with me here as we’re wading into the matter of Paul’s soteriology, or his doctrine of salvation.

    Well, first of all, as you think of the apostles’ doctrine of salvation, I want you to think of the phrase, Christ for us. You can personalize that a bit, be even more specific, Christ for me. Use that as something of a motto. Christ for us. Now, this teaching comes out in a number of places in Paul’s writings. Now, you may recall some of those places on your own. I’ll give you a little help here.

    If you were to look, for instance, at 1 Corinthians 15, that’s a marvelous text. I know you realize that. It’s marvelous for many reasons. not least of which is fifteenth chapter first Corinthians is the great resurrection chapter and if you want a little bit of encouragement for your life just pick up your Bible and read that thing from beginning to end and if you’re not floating by the end of it well again you may well be made of stone. Right first Corinthians fifteen but at the outset of that chapter, the Apostle is concerned to set before his readers, or his hearers, the gospel which he considers to be of all importance.

    He says, for instance, in verse 3, For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins. There it is. Christ for us, or Christ for me. All right, Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. All right, there’s an encapsulation of the apostles’ doctrine of salvation as it pertains to this fundamental matter of Christ for us. Christ in our place.

    Now, there are other places in Paul’s writings where this comes out. In part, it comes out in 2 Corinthians chapter 5. You may just want to turn over to that and note the marvelous statement that the apostle makes in the fifth chapter there as he’s speaking about God’s work in Christ by which we have been reconciled to God. Now, you find that in verse 20 of that fifth chapter in 2 Corinthians, but if you look at verse 21, You have this marvelous declaration, he made him, that is God made Christ who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf.

    There is Christ for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Now the latter part of that statement is going to carry us a little further and a little deeper, but at least there at the outset of that verse you have this rather direct statement concerning the fact that Christ is for us, that he has been set for us as a sacrifice, that by root of him we have had our sins removed, and through him we are reconciled to God.

    Marvelous stuff. This is the gospel. This is the stuff for which Paul will himself give his life. You can turn over to Galatians chapter 4. Right at the outset of that letter, you have another statement there in Paul’s salutation. where he’s speaking about the grace and the peace that comes from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 4, “…who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of God our Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” Well, some marvelous statements with regard to this focus in Paul’s doctrine of salvation.

    Christ for us, Christ for me. Are you convinced of it? Are you convinced of it yourself? Can you speak as the Apostle does with respect to these matters? Christ on the cross for me, dying there for me, in my place. Christ rising again, that I might live through Him. All right. Simple gospel fare. At least so far, we’re straight on the Apostle’s doctrine of salvation. But I want you to go on now and consider the depths of Paul’s doctrine at this juncture.

    For not only is the Apostle concerned about Christ for us, he is also concerned about our relationship to Christ under this heading. Yes, Christ for us, but also Christ in us. Christ for us, but also Christ in us. Now, there is a reciprocal relationship that we must keep in view as we consider this matter of Christ in us, because it’s not going to be just a matter of Christ in us, it’s going to be a matter of us in Christ. So, there’s this union that exists between Christ and his own, and thus, as it pertains to the matter of soteriology, we are moving into the doctrine of union with Christ. Union with Christ. Christ for us, but us in Christ. Now, this is where we have to put a little effort into matters. We have to think a little bit. We have to work at it.

    Do you understand the notion of corporate personality? Hey, there we go. Corporate personality. Do you know what I’m speaking about when I say corporate personality? Can you name some obvious corporate personalities in Scripture? I mean, those who appear to be living there and standing in the stream of the history that was recorded for us in Scripture, indicating realities and truth that pertain to more than just them, in obvious ways.

    They have a larger larger realm scope of operation than just for themselves. Now, who might you suggest? Would you, for instance, think immediately of Adam? Well, I hope so. Being Presbyterian and being convinced of the doctrine of the covenant, You have come to understand the figure of Adam in a rather unique way. You see him in Pauline terms. He’s a corporate personality. All of his posterity are in him. Isn’t that what we learn in the catechism, the little kid’s catechism? He represented all his posterity. All of his posterity were in him. Yes, okay.

    So, we have the corporate dimension of personality, As it comes across to us in the pages of the Scripture, and let me say this to you, the Reformed people are the ones who have worked hardest on this issue and done the greatest amount of justice to it in their own theological and doctrinal formulations. Adam, a corporate personality, more than just an individual, an individual to be sure, historical in every sense of the term, but more than just an individual. His people, his posterity, are in him. As you go through the Old Testament, there are other figures that just step out of the page at you, and you’re able to see the corporate dimension of their life. You think of Abraham. Have you ever reviewed the life of Abraham from this standpoint? Here he is called out of Ur of the Chaldees.

    He goes to the Promised Land. He isn’t there very long. He goes down to Egypt. He doesn’t stay there. He comes back to Egypt. He’s not in the Promised Land too long before there’s a division between him and his nephew Lot, and then the king from the east comes, the king of Shinar, king of Babylon, if you will, takes his nephew and company away into captivity, and Abram goes after, rescues, brings him back.

    Hey, this sounds familiar. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? It’s almost as if the history of Israel is in the man. Well, and you think about the kings of Israel, and you might get a little upset about the way the Bible tells the stories. The king was good and the people prospered. The king was bad and people were judged. That’s not fair. It’s not fair, is it? The king ends up being a corporate personality, for good and ill amongst the people.

    Well, lots of other examples of this throughout the Old Testament. We come to the New Testament, and what do we find? We find Jesus Christ. Is he just, individual, portrayed as such? Oh, no. Oh, no. His people are in Him. He carries them in Him. Now, how do you read the Gospels? Biographies of Jesus? Well, yes. along a certain line, the biographies of Jesus. But are they more? Yes, they are.

    You see, you are drawn into the story because you are in Christ. So, as Christ’s story is told, as it unfolds, your own life is being unfolded. For you are in Him. The gospel is about you, just as it is about Christ. For Christ has included you in Himself. over against, then, Adam.

    In that classic formulation of this doctrine, over against Adam there is, then, a second Adam, Jesus Christ. We could point to statements in Paul’s letter that make that claim. Romans chapter 5, the end verses. Again, in 1 Corinthians 15, just take a look at verse 22. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

    The corporate dimension of these respective personalities, covenantal heads, who include within them their posterity. All right. So then, We are in Christ. We are in Christ. Now, it’s important that you keep in mind here that we are specifically speaking about Christ’s humanity.

    Do we really believe that we are in Christ, in that Christ is essentially deity? That he is equal with the Father and the Spirit from all eternity? That we are actually participating in his divinity? But that’s the dimension of our relationship to him? No, not at all. We are not becoming divine. We are not becoming gods, as it were.

    If you wish to embrace that kind of doctrine, then join some New Age movement, or go and join up with the local Mormon church. May teach that. You see, it is specifically in His humanity that we are united with Christ, that we are in Christ. Christ then becomes the focus for us in our understanding of the full range of redemptive experience, the full range of salvation. That may sound a bit mysterious. Let me unpack that a little bit for you. In our relationship with Christ, is there to be something called adoption? Well, yes, there is. Let’s run through the order of salvation. Is there not to be something called adoption? We are adopted into the family of God, are we not?

    There is also justification. We are justified, that is, we’re declared to be righteous. In God’s sight, for the sake of Christ, whose righteousness is imputed to us and received by faith alone. We are to be sanctified, are we not? We are to be set apart for Him. We are looked upon then. as holy and progressing in holiness. We are glorified, are we not?

    That is, we are raised up with Christ, we ascend, do we not ascend with him? We share in his session, his heavenly session, and we even share in his second coming. So, the full range of the redemptive experience is grounded in Christ himself and becomes ours because of our relationship to him.

    You might be a little confused at this point. You’re thinking, well, when was Christ adopted? I thought he always was the Son of God. The point that I am making to you is this, that everything that you hope to experience in your redemptive experience is already experienced in Christ and is found by virtue of your union with Him. If your hope is adoption, you must find adoption in Him, for your adoption is by virtue of your relationship to Him.

    Now I want you to look at a verse. Acts chapter 13. Paul is preaching. in Antioch of Pisitia. I want you to look at Paul’s message as it begins there. I want you to look at it at verse 32 and following. This is what Paul says. And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that he raised up Jesus as it is also written in the second psalm, thou art my son, today I have begotten thee. Now you tell me, when did God beget the Son? According to this statement, that is made by the Apostle as he makes appeal to the 2nd Psalm. When was it that the Son was in fact begotten? Thou art my Son, today I have begotten thee. What day was that? Was that the day of the Incarnation? Was it some day in eternity hid from us? Not according to the Apostle. He tells us that it was the day in which Jesus was raised from the dead.

    You see, there is a sense in which Christ becomes the Son. Even though He has been the Son from all eternity, He becomes the Son for us, for we are in need of becoming sons. And this One who undergoes this experience through death and resurrection is making Himself available to us. We, by union with Him, are then being adopted. The adoption is found in Him, and that’s why that adoption is unmovable. It cannot be shaken.

    Christ’s own adoption is certain and secure, and you by faith are united to that adoption, and therefore your adoption is certain and secure. We can do the same thing with justification. Was Jesus justified? I want you to look at 1 Timothy 3.16. There’s a phrase in that statement that says that Jesus Christ was justified in the Spirit. That is, he’s justified when he comes in contact uniquely with the realm of the spirit, and that’s nothing less than when he was raised from the dead.

    Sanctification. All we need do is turn to the passage that we have been looking at, Verse 8 of Philippians 2, “…and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death.” There’s the sanctification of the Son. He became obedient. He learned obedience through the things which he suffers. That’s how it’s put in Hebrews 5, verse 7. So there is a sanctification that is experienced by Christ before there’s any sanctification experienced by you.

    And glorification, we know all about that. We know about ascension, we know about session, we know about heavenly life, we know about second coming. We are told by Paul that we are actually seated with Christ in the heavenly places, that that is the realm of operation with regard to us by virtue of our union with Christ. So wonderful is this union with Christ as we turn over to Colossians 3, and we are told that we died and our life is hid with Christ in God. Verse 3 of Colossians 3, and we’re told that history itself will bring to a conclusion the full manifestation of this union that exists between us and Christ. In verse 4 of that third chapter of Colossians, when Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him and glory. You are going to participate in the Second Coming.

    Well, the full range of redemptive experience of your salvation is found in Christ. And that is why it is important for Paul to emphasize the fact that we are in him. This exalts grace. It excludes work. If you are looking for adoption, it’s found in Christ. If you’re looking for justification, it’s found in Him.

    Sanctification, the same. Glorification. In fact, that’s why Paul is able to speak about our sanctification and our glorification in the past tense, as already accomplished facts. We are in the One who has been. finally and fully adopted, justified, sanctified, glorified, ascended, who sits in glory, whose second coming shall mean the reign over all that is.”

    Well, that’s the we-in-Christ dimension of our union with Christ. There is one other dimension, And that is Christ in us. Not only us in Christ, but Christ in us, or Christ in you. You see then why we said at the beginning of the message we were going to focus finally, by and by, on Philippians 2? Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Here is the completion of the Pauline circle, of Paul’s circle of salvation. We preach here that already our lives, being so united to Christ, are positioned actually in the heavenly places.

    But do you see what’s happening? For us, who have been so exalted, so positioned, we are in the heavenly places, but who is the one we observe there? Who do we see, having been so privileged by faith? Do we not behold Him who gave up His place in glory and humbled Himself and came down and made Himself servant of all? The one we behold in glory is the one who has the nail prints in His hands and feet, the wounded aside, the marks of His humiliation. and observing Him by faith, being united to Him by faith, even though we are exalted into the presence of God and have a seat in glory. We now humble ourselves after the fashion of His humiliation and make ourselves servants in this world as long as God the Father is content to have us live here.

    That’s the power of it. Now, I said the Pauline Circle because I want you to think of a circle in your mind. The circle begins down here. Your union with Christ through justification, your union with Him in His resurrection places you above, in glory. But you beholding the one to whom you have been united constrains you than to humble yourself after the fashion of his humiliation, so that you are in the world for the sake of service in his name, his life coming to expression in you.

    For to me, to live, is Christ. So when we talk about Paul’s soteriology, his doctrine of salvation, it will be fundamentally the message concerning Christ for us. But it will also be the message of Christ in us, or our union with Christ, so that we are seen to be in Him, as He also is coming to expression in us. So grateful is Paul that he is consumed by the person of Christ.

    For him to draw a breath, for him to utter a word, for him to lift his hand, he is at work disciplining himself so as to see Christ at every turn and to bring Christ to expression. why this is the testimony of a man not only beloved of God, but of a man who loves God with all of his heart. You are the people called by Christ’s name. You say, Christ died for me, but you also say, Christ lives in me. Do you not? 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.

  • Contention Over Doctrine

    Contention Over Doctrine

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Philippians” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, July 21, 1991.

    About this sermon

    Philippians has a depth that its warm tone makes easy to miss, and in 1:27-28 Paul addresses real contention over doctrine head-on. Unity in the church and intimacy with Christ belong together. Philippians 2:1 opens the door to the Christ hymn that follows.

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    Sermon transcript

    Scripture this morning is from Philippians chapter 1 and 2. Philippians 1 and 2. We are beginning at verse 27 of the first chapter, and we will read through verse 11 of the second chapter. Hear the word of God. Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ, But whether I come and see you or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel, and in nothing terrified by your adversaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition, but the ewe of salvation and that of God. For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now here to be in me. Let there be therefore any consolation in Christ, with any comfort of love, with any fellowship of the Spirit, with any bowels and mercy. Fulfill ye my joy that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done to strife or gain glory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than himself. Let not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

    Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a serpent, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

    The prophet is there for us in your word. Would thee not confess, O God, that from your word you have given us life, and in your word we find life indeed. And, O Father, refresh us in the knowledge that you have planted within us by your Spirit Now truly, there is no nourishment for us but that nourishment that comes from your Word. We would not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of our God.

    And not only us here, Lord, but surely we pray in light of those who are calling upon you throughout the world, we are asking that in the service of praise that is performed today, your people may hear your word clearly, they may respond obediently and with thanksgiving.

    We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen. Well, the moment you’ve all been waiting for. that is to make you all feel cooler. Which means, of course, that I can go on internally this evening. There is something very unfortunate about Paul’s letter to the Philippians. It’s too common. Now, hear me out. Maybe your experience has been something like mine. No one that I have heard waved into Philippians expecting to wave into it in order to mine its depths.

    I mean, this is the epistle that is usually used on the conference circuit. This is the epistle that is usually turned to at summer camp. But nobody goes into Philippians for heavy theology, you know what I mean? For heavy doctrine, except possibly a portion of the second chapter that we read this morning, and usually that’s left to scholars and lots of preachers who can’t speak this.

    But the letter to the Philippians is deceiving. It is very deep. It is very profound. It does take a little patience, though. So we are liable to read it quickly, just grabbing at portions of it, especially those portions that talk about joy, about happiness, about good feelings. Paul’s letter to the Philippians is more than an inspirational tract. It is a weighty letter.

    And I might say, following on the heels of Ephesians as it does in the lineup within the canon of Scripture, I might say that it carries on from Ephesians and is even deeper still. And that may come as a shock to you because in reading through Ephesians you have become convinced that that is probably one of the more steady letters of Paul.

    Now here in Philippians we are faced with something that may well startle us if we grasp the judgment. We are moving on then in Philippians as we are now at that section that begins where verse 27 in the first chapter. There is a shift here. There is a marked shift as we move here into the 27th verse from what has preceded. We might describe the shift this way.

    In the verses that preceded, Paul was somewhat indirect in his references to the Philippians and their circumstances, but now, with the 27th verse, he becomes very direct. Now, it’s not in a shocking way, it’s in a subtle form, and the way in which he carries it off is couched in love, gentleness, and patience. He’s very gracious about the whole thing. He comes to talk about these Philippians, about what is upsetting them. So, as to the indirection of what he has said previously, there aren’t, for us, In the salutation, verses 1 and 2, there are hints for us in the prayer that he has offered on behalf of these Philippians, verses 3-11. There are hints for us in verses 12-26, the missionary report that he has supplied now these Philippians while in chains in Rome. His comments thus far have been general and they have been vague. But now, as we come to the 27th verse, he turns to these saints in Philippi whom he loves so dearly, and he speaks to them now directly. The problem? The problem? What would you judge the problem to be, as we’ve read through those verses this morning? What is the issue? The issue is unity. Unity.

    Now that’s why I say that Philippians signals something of an advance on Ephesians, because usually when we mention the word unity, we turn to Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. But here In his letter to the Philippians, we are finding something also about unity. In fact, we are finding something here that will carry us beyond Ephesians, if you will. As to the situation amongst the Philippians that has generated this problem, you might surmise that, from what Paul says at the end of that first chapter, it seems that opposition has come to the saints in Philippi.

    There are troubles. There are those who oppose the gospel. And now, as opposition has come, there is a division rising within the congregation. Now, specifically, this division that is arising is because of the opposition that is coming from without.

    Later on, we will find out that there are threats, definite threats, within. The third chapter tells us about how there is the threat of doctrinal declension amongst the Philippians. He warns them, beware of God, in that third chapter. Beware of the circumcision. But here, opposition has arisen. 28 in no way be alarmed by your opponent. Opposition has arisen. And in light of this opposition, Satan has taken advantage of the Philippians, and there is now a threat to the unity of this church.

    Think then through the verses that we have read this morning in light of this observation. What receives the emphasis in verse 27? Paul tells them there that he wants them to stand firm in one spirit. He goes on, “…with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.” One spirit, one mind, striving together, the emphasis upon uniting. Then if you move down to the second chapter, the second verse, he says to them, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit and chant on one purpose.

    This theme then struck once more there. He’s mentioned the mind among the Philippians in verse 27 of the 1st chapter. He’s mentioned the mind once more in the 2nd verse of the 2nd chapter, and now he will expound upon that mind with the 5th verse of the 2nd chapter and the verses that follow. Have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus. And that is one mind, a unified mind, which is to characterize the Church at Philippi.

    But isn’t this what he has been addressing all along in his general, even veiled, manner? Do you remember his salutation? Look above. It’s a unique salutation in many respects, but note how it comes across from the Apostle. He is joined with Timothy. They are both bondservants of Christ Jesus.

    And they are writing to all. He adds the word there specifically, all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi. Why should he add that? Because it’s likely, you see, that there are some saints in Philippi who don’t think that other saints in Philippi belong amongst the saints. The Paul addresses them all. To all the saints who are in Philippi, including the overseers, or the bishops and the deacons.

    That addition, unique to that salutation, as we pointed out previously, possibly divisions arising around the officers of the Church, and Paul then specifically addressing them, making sure that those who hear this letter understand that the elders, the bishops, The ministers of the Word, the deacons, are included in his address.

    Note the emphasis as you move into the prayer. Verse 4, he always offers prayer with joy. In my every prayer for you all, he stresses, again, the all. And moving down to verse 7, it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, he says. And towards the end, he tells them that they have all been partakers of grace with him. stressing once more, the All. It is a common expectation, then, that the Apostle has when he prays as he does in the ninth verse, that your love, that is, the love of all of you, may abound still more and more in real knowledge and in all discernment. The emphasis upon the unity of the Church, what is good for the one is good for the all. What blessings have come to the one, come to the all. Paul, an apostle, addressing all the saints.

    The letter still has implications presently. The apostle still speaks to the Church, does he not? Does he not speak to congregations such as this? Are not all the saints here addressed by the apostle? During his missionary report, verses 12 through 26, and there again he will stress unity as he comes to the conclusion of it, verse 25, and convinced of this he says, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, leaving out no one. Leaving out no one.

    So then that which has been somewhat indirect and general and to a degree veiled, comes to expression now as the apostle becomes pointed with verse 27 and following, directing his attention to these saints and the issue at hand, namely the unity of the Church.

    What I’ve said so far is just conference stuff, it’s just camp meeting stuff. So you know what I’ve done. You need to push on, dig a little deeper, and understand the complexities of the unity that the apostle has in mind. It is this complexity that we have been working at. that we might begin to understand a little bit better the kind of relationship that the Apostle has to those he serves. Can I put it in these terms? The Apostle Paul is the preacher, not just of unity, but of intimacy.

    Life flows into life. All of the protective mechanisms come down. All of the barriers All of the devices that we use to keep ourselves at a distance, all of those things come down. That is why I say, if we concentrate merely upon Ephesians and hear the note of unity, and don’t go on to Philippians and hear the note of intimacy, then we haven’t pressed on to the point to which we should come. Life flows into life. so much so that one life becomes indistinguishable from the other. Such is the heart of the apostle. And it is this, then, that comes to bear upon the life of these Philippian saints.

    They must know, then, that in their circumstances they cannot allow this unity to improve, because if it does, it will destroy intimacy. There are those churches in which there is a superficial unity, but there is no intimacy at all. In some churches, in fact, they go to great lengths to create an environment of unity and fellowship where there is literally no intimacy whatsoever. People go to those churches and have some sort of vicarious experience of fellowship, but there’s no real communion, and by that I mean life flowing into life. people inseparably bound together because of their love for one another.

    Yes, the defenses come down. All the reservations are removed. I am with you and you are with me. We are together. We rise and fall together. We live and die together. Is that not what we have been pressing as we have moved through Philippians thus far? No more this! This!

    Listen to the Apostle. as he would push you, as he pushed these Philippians with respect to the matter of unity, as he lays out before them a complexity that becomes a constraint upon them. Not just a unity amongst themselves, but a unity between them and the Apostle himself. That’s important, because you see, the Philippians all take pride in their relationship to Paul. They all feel bound to him, even though they don’t feel bound to one another. So that’s why Paul speaks, as he does, about unity with them. Hear him out.

    Verse 5 of the first chapter, he talks about their participation with him in the gospel from the first day until now. What does he mean by that? He means that he carries them with him as he goes and proclaims the Word. How is that possible? He carries them in his heart. And his view of them is that they are participating with him in his ministry. They are participants with him in his service to Christ. So open-hearted is he. So magnanimous is He and His Spirit. Listen to Him.

    Verse 7, it is right for me to feel this way about you because I have you in my heart. There’s the explicit statement. I have you in my heart. That becomes paradigm for you, friends. That you might have one another in your hearts. Since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of grace with me, a common lot for us all,” Paul said.

    Why does he go to such great lengths to spell out his circumstances in Rome? He’s in jail. He’s in chains for the sake of the gospel. That missionary report becomes quite detailed, verses 12 through 26. But that then lays the foundation, you see, for his call for sanctification that follows in verse 27. That the very pattern observed in him as he goes through his ordeal might then prove to be the pattern for them, those who are claiming to be bound to him.

    You’re bound to me? Well then, how are you bound to me? Are you not bound to me in my chains? Yes, okay, you’re willing to accept that. Are you not bound to me in your sufferings? Yes, you’re willing to accept that. Then, what about the convenience of a thousand miles? thousand miles away from me. It’s mighty convenient to be bound to me in my chains when you’re a thousand miles away. But now you see, problems have come to you. Opponents have arisen within Philippi. They’re persecuting you. You’re liable to be in chains and in prison.

    What about your circumstance? The apostle is so bound to these Philippian that what is transpiring in him he sees as transpiring to them, and thus as he goes on to speak about their circumstance and their need, he places well before them that pattern that is seen in him.

    Did not Paul stand firm Did not Paul strive in his mind for the faith of the gospel? Verse 27. Was Paul alarmed by his opponents? Verse 28. Did he not understand that the opposition of those opponents was a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for him, and that that had come from God, even though it was hard to bear? It is working out for my salvation, he said.

    For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his name’s sake.” And then the explicit reference, “…experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me when I was originally with you, and now here to be in me.” You are bound with me. And as I have reacted to my circumstance, So you are to react to yours, you who are bound to me.

    What about your hardships? Are you claiming to be united to the apostle? Do you claim him as your own? He’s your apostle? Does not this apostle speak to you and for you? You know less than these Philippian saints than being instructed by the Apostle and his ordeals. But does the Apostle simply want to present himself as the model? Is it just unity with me? That’s what Christianity is all about? By no means, that’s why you have to go deeper still.

    Yes, there’s the problem of unity in the Philippian church, one member of the church with another. There’s the problem of unity with the Apostle Paul and these Philippian saints. But at ground level, what we are dealing with ultimately, according to the Apostle, is unity with Christ. We will not stop until we reach that point. Not just a fraternity. not just an organization, but a holy assembly, a holy convocation, assembled for God, in the midst of which the very unity of the people of God takes shape around and through that union that exists between Christ and His own.

    How thorough is it for the Apostle In chapter 2, verse 7, Paul will call Jesus Christ a bondslave. He has already called himself a bondslave. Verse 1, chapter 1, there at the very outset of the epistle, Paul identifies himself as a bondslave of Christ Jesus. There is a unity that exists between Paul and Christ, where the very characteristics of Christ are now taken on by Paul. Paul is a born slave making himself last for the sake of others.

    And notice, also, his continual intercession, verse 4. Always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all. Where does Paul get the pattern for this continual intercession that he offers up on behalf of these Philippians? From himself? From the fact that he thinks prayer is a good idea and he ought to do it? It’s nice to pray for other people? No!

    Christ, at the right hand of God, continually intercedes. And Paul takes his cue from Christ, that one to whom he is bound. As Christ continually intercedes, so Paul also styles his own ministry to continually intercede. And how will you explain the suffering of the apostle and the giving up of himself unto the will of God?

    It may seem as if he is impervious to it all. Not at all. He realizes that even the suffering and the pain are ultimately for the purposes of God and to his praise. That’s why. And how is that possible? He is joined to Christ, is he not? Did not Christ go through the great agonies of the cross? Did he not die? Self-consciously, then, the apostle molds his own ministry. around the pattern that we find in Christ, and how thorough it is that he gives the Philippians a promise of a second visit. Aha! I’m not stretching things. I’m not stretching things. So thoroughly does the apostle read his own ministry in light of Christ that he views his coming again to the Philippian saints in the light of the second coming of Christ. It is pervasive.

    And there’s one more dimension to it that we’re liable to miss, and it comes in the second verse of that second chapter. Make my joy complete. If in fact we are to relate Paul to Christ at this point, we can say that there is a completion of joy also in view for the Savior. Now, he’s realized how. And when? When we all come to the unity of the faith, to the full stature of the presence of Christ. Truly, for the Apostle Paul, as far as he is concerned, To live is Christ. And to die is gain.

    You see what’s happening to Paul and Christ? For one life is flowing into the other. We’re talking about intimacy. We’re not just talking about some sort of superficial unity, where no one disagrees or no one has any problems. We’re talking about innocence.

    Paul has given himself up to Christ, and now Christ comes to expression in him, thoroughly. It is to be like that for the Philippians. Are they not in Christ Jesus? Isn’t that what Paul has told them in the very first verse of this epistle? You are in Christ Jesus. Does he not tell them in verse 29 of the first chapter that they are suffering for Christ’s sake? They don’t quite see it that way. Does he not then implore them to have this mind? You men. that was also in Christ Jesus.

    A mind that expresses itself in such a way that the very life of Christ then flows into them, and their life is bound to Him, and they begin to look like Him. There’s one other dimension here, and we would conclude with it. Yes, the intimacy, and I plead with you with regard to intimacy. The world looks for intimacy in all sorts of places other than Christ.

    Was it not Augustine who said, Our hearts are restless until they come to rest in thee, O God. But consider, finally, the importance of this message. Look at verse 1 of chapter 2. Have you ever been confused by this verse? Did you ever wonder what it’s talking about, why Paul speaks as he does here?

    If, therefore, there is any encouragement in Christ, as if there weren’t? If there was any consolation of love, as if there were any doubt about it? As if there were any fellowship of the Spirit? You’re contradicting that, possibly? If any affection or compassion? You see what Paul’s doing.

    He’s saying, if this unity doesn’t come to expression in you, then Christ is of no value to you. Absolutely not. In other words, there is no encouragement in Christ if, in fact, the unity of the body is destroyed. There is no consolation of love if, in fact, Christ himself and that unity that is found in him is removed. There is no fellowship of the Spirit if, in fact, that unity amongst the saints is not improved on and perfected. There is no affection, there is no compassion worth calling affection or compassion. if in fact this unity does not come to expression in the intimacy of which the apostle has been speaking. Now you may treat church unity as a casual thing, something that only theologians and churchmen get excited about.

    I plead with you, Paul’s writing to a congregation. Work at it. And how might you work at it? I mean, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling by having this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Don’t bode yourself, do you? Well, maybe you ought to think again. Verses 3 and 4 of that second chapter. Humble yourself. And when you do in the likeness of Christ, this posture will dissolve. This posture will take over. And it will be heart to heart, soul to soul, life to life.

    Let us pray. Fill us, Father, in all of our distress and with respect to the problems that overtake us. Yet, Lord, may our minds be well focused upon Christ Himself. May we see our predicament in light of what You have told us about Him and what is surely true. May we have confidence and faith that we shall in fact triumph in and through Him. that our God may we not be afraid, oh, not afraid of death and not afraid of the torments of Satan, but may we, Lord, not be afraid of one another. May we not draw back, reserved, needlessly, building barriers and walls, being the enemies of that intimacy that is found in Christ and through Him. with life, as we, in fact, blend and flow into one another, others, their lives taking on the shape of ours, and ours taking on the shape of theirs, as we all take on the shape of Christ. Let us then, Lord, confess with the Apostle that as far as we are concerned, to live as to God’s game. 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.

  • Adam’s Fallen State, Christ’s New Creation

    Adam’s Fallen State, Christ’s New Creation

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Philippians” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, July 14, 1991.

    About this sermon

    Paul’s anthropology in this section assumes Adam’s fallen state as the honest starting point rather than a pessimistic exaggeration, and Romans 7 supplies the fullest description of what that state actually feels like from inside. Several passages describing believers as a new creation in Christ answer that same diagnosis directly. Paul’s own instruction to imitate him, in 1 Corinthians 11:1, only makes sense because he first points past himself to Christ.

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    Sermon transcript

    We begin our scripture reading this morning in Romans 7. We begin reading at verse 18. For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would, I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law that when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.”

    Turning over to Philippians, the first chapter, beginning with verse 27. Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, and in nothing terrified by your adversaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation in that of God. For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake, having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now here to be in me.”

    Pray with me now. Our Father, we recognize that all things are in your control, even our appearance here today. We ask that we might be strengthened in the knowledge of true worship That is the communion of our hearts with you, the hidden God, by way of the Word and by the Spirit. And now, Lord, as we would give our attention to your Word, we pray that we might be profited, that we might be well satisfied also, seeing that you give us eternal things, those things that last forever. Help us, our God, that we might focus well in Your Word, and upon our duty, our responsibility, which we ask You to make our joy. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

    I’d like to tell the story of one of my seminary friends, who was a very astute fellow, very bright young man, much brighter than I. He was taken during his seminary years with the Apostle Paul, so taken that one night he decided that he would sit down and read all 13 of Paul’s letters.

    Well, he did it. It took him quite a bit of the night to accomplish that, but yet he came in the next day to class and he was wide-eyed as I had ever seen him. He was just electric. He said to me, I read all of Paul’s epistles last night. It was great, but I didn’t understand a word I read. Well, of course, he was being a bit facetious there. He did understand a great deal that Paul can certainly have that effect on people.

    They read him and they’re confused. They read him and they become upset. They even feel guilty about how upset they get. They say, after all, Paul is an apostle. He’s writing the inspired Word of God, and here I am getting upset with him. Well, there are a number of things in Paul that have caused confusion and left even the saints a bit befuddled.

    We are focusing on one of those matters this morning as it comes to bear on the latter verses of Philippians chapter 1. But I did begin my reading in Romans 7, and I know that maybe some of you are thinking, aha, he’s going to wade into Romans 7 and he’s going to resolve all the complexities and difficulties of that text, and that’s something I’ve been waiting for all my life.

    Well, I’m not going to do that. I’m not going to do that for you this morning. But I did read Romans 7 for you as a prelude to Philippians 1 for a reason, and that’s because I want to lay before you this morning something of a survey, an analysis of Paul’s anthropology. Don’t check out on me just yet. We’ve all heard the word anthropology. I know it’s not one that we use ordinarily. We don’t use it commonly. You have to go to university to study it, right?

    Well, in this case, all that it means is Paul’s doctrine of man. Paul’s doctrine of man. Romans 7 gives us something of an introduction to that matter. You may recall the opening of that 18th verse, where Paul says, For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.

    So here you have one of the sides of the dilemma that I am setting before you this morning, one of these conundrums in Paul, the fact that it seems that Paul has very low self-esteem. Now, I know that each one of you have been delivered from that curse, just as I have. In our day and age, entire corporations and businesses have been built around the idea of self-esteem. Whole educational philosophies have been constructed around the notion of self-esteem.

    Here comes the Apostle, and he says, For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. Obviously that man needs a couple of sessions with Dale Carnegie or Robert Shuler. So on the one side you have Paul speaking this way, rather disparagingly, of himself. It’s not very flattering when he considers himself.

    On the other hand, if you were to turn to a passage like 1 Corinthians 11.1, you would find Paul there saying something like this, Be ye imitators of me. Wait a minute. On the one hand, he doesn’t seem to think much of himself. On the other hand, he seems to think too much of himself. I think that you can see how this is going to come to bear on Philippians chapter one.

    Immediately after the Apostles prayer, which ends in verse eleven, he begins a mission report or a missionaries report to the church in Philippi. We’ve noted before just how full of Paul that missionary report is. There’s a lot of first-person singular pronouns as you run through that missionary report. There’s a lot of I in that missionary’s report. It’s not going to end as you get down there towards the end of that chapter. There’s going to be a lot of reference or reflection upon Paul’s person as he presents his case to these Christians in the city of Philippi.

    So here’s the problem. On the one hand, you have Paul speaking disparagingly about himself, seemingly a victim of low self-esteem. On the other hand, you have him making statements that sound as if he thinks an awful lot of himself. The imitators of me, he says.

    Paul’s doctrine of man, which is not played out theoretically, I might add, is Paul’s doctrine of man, something that is working itself out well within him. There’s not this bifurcation in the man between doctrine and life. Doctrine is life to him. There is this resolution and working itself out for the Apostle in his anthropology.

    Now what shall we do with this first statement, this low view of the self that Paul expresses? I’m not going to elaborate on this at length, but just to make the statement, this low view of the self expressed by Paul emanates from his conscious awareness of his union with fallen Adam. He sees himself in union with Adam. Now, if you doubt that, all I do is challenge you to go back to the fifth chapter of Romans and read the end of that chapter from the twelfth verse on.

    I might say that given this point of view, it’s not merely a matter, then, of Paul’s estimation of his own transgressions. We might hastily come to that conclusion from a superficial reading of Romans 7, where it seems as if the Apostle was concentrating on his own personal consciousness of sin brought to his attention because of the transgressions, the sins which he has committed. That certainly is serious, and that is impacting the apostle as he speaks.

    He is certainly aware of that dimension of the reality of sin. But it’s something even greater than that. You see, this low view of self emanates from his conscious awareness of his union with fallen Adam. Even greater than any particular sin that he has committed, there is this relationship that he sustains to fallen humanity.

    Do we need a lesson here? Are we having problems with regard to our own sins and personal transgressions? maybe simple faults, deviations here and there. Our awareness of sin, no greater than our personal experience with sin. And therefore, because we haven’t done this or that, or we haven’t been guilty of this particular sin or that particular sin, somehow we congratulate ourselves and declare ourselves innocent.

    And the apostle’s sense of sin, expressing itself then in this low view of himself, is because of his awareness of his relationship to fallen humanity, to fallen Adam. And that carrying him beyond his own personal transgressions to the transgressions of all humanity, as if those transgressions were his own.

    Now, how in the world are you going to save yourself from that burden? You can’t. Is it any wonder, then, that as the Apostle reflects upon his condition, he cries out at the end of that seventh chapter, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of his death?

    The whole matter of sin and offense is much wider and more comprehensive than just personal transgression, as serious and as indicting as those personal transgressions are. Being a Jew, you might think that the Apostle Paul would find some relief in the law, but he tells us he doesn’t. It just makes matters worse. The coming of the law is not able to resolve the problem that is in place for Adam. Thus, the whole of the matter cries out for further resolution. And that further resolution then works to the advantage of the apostle in conferring upon him the high view that becomes expressed when he speaks well of himself.

    You have to go down to go up. In fact, you have to go down so low that there is no lower to go. You have to descend with Adam. You must see yourself under the weight of the sin of humanity before there can be rescue. Not just your own transgression. but the full weight of the potentiality of evil. That’s why it’s a very dangerous thing to begin to throw stones. Well… to ascend then with the apostle in his consciousness of sin, because of union with fallen Adam, but then ascend with him in that conscious awareness of his union with the second Adam.

    As it was with sin and our assessment of sin, our personal experience with sin being no gauge by which to judge its seriousness, so also now with righteousness. Our righteous deeds, our righteous works, our particular acts of devotion know. They know measure, the measure found elsewhere in the second Adam to whom we are joined. That is what is operative in the apostles’ anthropology, in his doctrine of man. There is only then one who can fully answer. the seriousness of the circumstance that has come upon us because of Adam, and that is the second man, the second Adam, the new head who is given to us of grace. That one does not come by the law. He comes by grace, gift from God.

    Now it is, as new man is operative, as the new atom is at work in his administration, that we ourselves are renewed, that we ourselves are becoming new men and women ourselves. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. And to Ephesians chapter 4 verse 24, put on the new self which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Think of Colossians chapter 3 verse 10. Put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him. There is that new man that is coming to expression then in us.

    Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul says in Romans 13 verse 14, and make no provision for the flesh. 1 Corinthians 15 tells us about the order that particularly belongs to the new man, the second Adam. It is essentially a heavenly administration. That is what is coming to expression now in the newness asserting itself in Paul and in those who are saving rejoined to Jesus Christ.

    In other passages it is related, this newness, to the Holy Spirit, so that the new man is the spiritual man. This new man in whom is coming to expression the heavenly and the spiritual dimension of that world which is above in the Holy Spirit, That new man who is expressing himself in the world, expresses himself as Christ Himself expressed the very realities of the Kingdom of Heaven while He was present among us. This means then, insofar as any man will speak well of himself, it will be by root of the work of Christ, by that re-creation that has occurred only through the power of God. The Apostle Paul will speak well of himself only insofar as he is related to Christ, only insofar as he can call attention to Christ’s life in him, only insofar as that life of Christ is coming to expression in him. He is determined that this will be the case.

    So his anthropology is capped off with the statement in Philippians 1.21, for to me to live is Christ. Christ Himself coming to expression in me, and that is the end of the old man and his ways.

    If you are looking for value, if you are looking for biblical esteem, It will be through Christ, and insofar as Christ is coming to expression in you. That is the seat of your self-worth and your value. Christ, the seat of the new humanity, and that new humanity now being expressed in you.

    That, then, being the positive, the excellent, the marvelous features, for our lives. When the apostle then speaks well of himself, it is an expression of self-denial. That sounds like a contradiction, but it’s true. There is that union that exists for him. with his Savior, with Christ, so that for him to speak of himself now, in any way valuable to the Church, is to speak of Christ, to give expression of Christ. Christ is that which is of value in the man. The Apostle trains himself with respect to this matter, to the instruction of us all.

    You see what he does at the end of Philippians 1? This is, only let your citizenship be worthy of the gospel of Christ, verse 27. So whether I come and see you or remain absent, I hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel, in no way alarmed by your opponents, which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too from God. Now, if you’re listening carefully to what the Apostle is saying there, it’s merely a compressed view of what he has already said with respect to himself.

    What he is expecting in these Philippians is what is being worked out in him. He is matching them with himself. He is setting himself and his experience before them as the standard, and he’s asking them now to measure up. Is it not Paul, after all, who is standing affirm while he is in prison, in chains? Is it not he who is contending, striving for the faith of the gospel? Is it not he who is not being alarmed in any way by his opponents, saying, in fact, that this is a sign of destruction for them, but a working out of his salvation and his glory to his benefit? Isn’t that what he has been saying in the previous verses?

    Yes! He’s established himself as a benchmark for them, and now he’s asking these Philippians to be conformed to his image. But that’s precisely the relationship that Christ bears to all that are His. Are we not called to be conformed to the image of Christ? Paul is calling these Philippians to be conformed to his image. How can he do this? He can do it because he is so utterly sensitive of the presence of Christ in him. And in calling attention to himself, he is calling attention to Christ.

    Shall I complete 1 Corinthians 11.1 for you? Be ye imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ. But it’s deeper yet. For not only will Paul present himself as model and standard before the Philippians insofar as Christ is coming to expression in him, but he will actually see his ministry as conformed to the very pattern of Christ’s ministry, and that in all of its particulars. Did Christ suffer? Yes. Will Paul suffer? Yes. Will Christ come again? Yes. Will Paul come again? Yes.

    He says, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, the very pattern of Christ’s relationship to the Church is the pattern that the Apostle employs as he looks at congregation. And as there is to be for certain a second coming of Christ, the apostle now sees himself so united to Christ that he speaks of himself in language that applies the very categories of Christ to himself in that relationship to these particular people. So thorough is the identification of this man with Christ that all aspects of Christ’s life and ministry are being applied by Him to His own ministry. It is no wonder that the Apostle Paul remains a mystery to many, confusing. But I say to you, to the extent that you will follow Him this far, you will understand, it will be made plain to you. To the extent that you will grab hold of the fact that for Paul, Christ is absolutely central. For to me, to live, is Christ.

    Death only reaps advantage for me, since then I will be with Him. It will not merely then be for apostles and ministers in relationship to congregations, it will be for congregations as they are in relationship, one with another, or within themselves. Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bond slave and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Then, you, be incapable of saying, for to me to live is Christ, which means Christ-like service and sacrifice.

    Let us pray. Oh Lord, help us in our struggles. If we battle with the word day in, day out, and we are confused by it, if we struggle with the apostles’ doctrine of man, we ask Lord for your help. May we see with him our union with Adam in his fallen estate And likewise, with the Apostle, may we see our union with Christ, which is full answer to the condition that is ours in Adam. And do bless us, our Father, insofar as we would speak well of ourselves, that it would call attention to Christ and to Christ alone. And let there be upon our lips, Lord, those words from the Apostle, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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

  • Citizens Who Stand Firm

    Citizens Who Stand Firm

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Philippians” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, July 7, 1991.

    About this sermon

    Ephesians 4:1 charges ministers to walk worthy of their calling, and Philippians 1:27 tells believers to live as citizens of heaven. The Puritan account of man’s fourfold estate shows what that citizenship costs. Believers stand firm because heaven stands firm, and never because of any stability in themselves.

    More sermons from Philippians · Browse all sermons

    Sermon transcript

    We begin our scripture reading this morning in Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4. And we begin reading at verse 1 and we will read through verse 16. Hear the word of God. I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, even as ye are called, in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all.

    But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ, Wherefore, he saith, when he ascended, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? Be that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens that he might fill all things. And he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

    That we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slightest men and cunning craftiness, whereby we lie and wait to deceive, but speaking the truth in love, may we grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.”

    And then turning over to Philippians, the first chapter, at verse 27. Finally, let your conversation be as if you cometh the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit and with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, and in nothing terrified by your adversaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation and that of God. For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake, having this same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me.”

    Pray with me now. Our great God, you have surveyed all of time, you have surveyed the course of the nations, and Lord, you are sovereign in the affairs of men. You look over the terrain of this world, and you are calling to yourself, your people, And you have determined to do that through the cross of Christ and by the proclamation of the same.

    Our Father, we pray that there may be faithful preaching from this pulpit and from all pulpits throughout the world where Christ is named. We pray, our Father, where your Church has deserted the truth, that it would be corrected, that it would repent and be restored. And where there is yet strength, Father, we pray that there would be no self-righteousness or haughtiness, but only that humility that is to be characteristic of those who are citizens of the kingdom which you have established. We ask, our Father, that you would profit those who preach, no, not in material things, only giving them that which is needful, but we pray, our Father, that you would profit them with that deep sense of satisfaction that they know that they are doing your will and sowing your word, leaving the harvest to you.

    We pray, Father, that you will bless us here as we give our attention to the things of the kingdom and to your word. We ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen. Now, I know that this is bad form, and it’s not very polite, but I am going to talk about another preacher this morning.

    Recently, I heard a minister deliver a message on Ephesians 4.1. Well, at least he used that as his centerpiece to his sermon.

    That was Ephesians 4.1. The text reads, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.

    I’m very hesitant to criticize another minister from the pulpit And there are a couple of reasons why I hesitate to do such a thing, of course, one being the fact that there may have been people in the congregation that evening that profited greatly from what the man had to say. It wasn’t that the man was a heretic, that he was spouting anything less than orthodoxy, and certainly those who were there could have profited from the things that he said. There’s another liability when you’re taking up the work of another man who is preaching, and that is, of course, that you yourself, in critiquing him, will come off a bit arrogant. You have the answers, you know what’s right, you know what the text is all about, he doesn’t, the poor benighted fool, you know, those kinds of things.

    But I’m trying to avoid that. My interest is not to call attention Specifically to the man, my interest is rather to use the man and his message to bring to our attention the difficulty that many of us are having. The trouble that many of us are having. I would judge that the difficulty is not just for preachers, it’s for God’s people generally. It’s not just in the matter of preaching or teaching, but in the matter of living.

    The simple fact is that we have lost our grasp of the proper orientation of the Apostle when he makes a statement like he does in Ephesians 4.1.

    We have lost our grip on the orientation of the Apostle when he makes the statement that he does in Ephesians 4.1. Specifically, we have lost our orientation with respect to the call of which he speaks, the call with which we have been called, in terms of which, so he says, we are to walk worthily.

    Now, it could be that we would approach this text somewhat classically. It could be that, for our benefit, we could expound it in terms of the specific work of God’s call in us. We could expound the text along those lines. We could latch hold of the word call or calling in the verse and then latch on as well to the summary of the catechism with respect to God’s effectual call. In that, there would be a valuable message that could be pursued to our benefit.

    You remember Question and Answer 31 in the Catechism, what is a sexual calling? A sexual calling is a work of God’s Spirit, whereby convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ and renewing our wills, he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ freely offered to us in the gospel. And had the minister that evening in the message In question, pursued that course, I believe that I and many others that night would have profited greatly, we would have been encouraged and walked away partly satisfied. An emphasis upon the sovereign activity of God, his ministry to us by which we are regenerated, taking us out of a state of sin and misery and delivering us from that into the embrace of Jesus Christ himself.

    But of course, even preaching Ephesians 4.1 from that perspective could not leave us completely satisfied. And the reason for that is because this text itself is not so much focused upon God’s call as the sovereign working of God’s Spirit, as true as that is, as it is upon that call’s origin and its goal.

    The call of God originates with God himself. It originates with the God of glory, and it ends there with God in glory. Therefore, when Paul entreats these Ephesian Christians to walk worthy of their calling, he is reminding them to keep always before them the origin and the destiny of the call of which he is speaking. That call is from the God of glory to God in glory.

    Now, to blur out this interpretation of the text, let’s focus on it. You should note some things in the immediate context. For instance, if you look above in chapter 3, verse 19, there you find the apostle speaking to these Ephesians about being filled to all the fullness of God. In view is the goal, the destination of these people to whom he is writing.

    And when speaking to them about the calling in chapter four verse one and walking worthy of that calling. Paul has clearly in view that end point and they ought to press on with respect to it. It is that orientation, then, that is to inform them in their walk, keeping clearly in view the glory of God and our destiny in glory with God, the fullness of God as it is spoken of in that 19th verse of the 3rd chapter.

    You’ll note in verse 4 that Paul there matches hope with calling. He says, there is one body and one spirit, just as you also were called in one hope of your calling. And you specifically is the hope that is attached then to the calling. You might note down later in that fourth chapter, What Paul says in the 13th verse, he speaks about the goal one more time, this time in different words, in different language.

    He has in view the attaining of that fullness of the stature of Christ. The words that end that 13th verse, then, bringing in view once more the orientation which the Apostle has in mind. We are called to a heavenly destiny, and we are to walk worthy of that heavenly calling. Everything that the Apostle says, then, in this fourth chapter will be explicated in terms of that heavenly point of view.

    Would you ask about the humility and gentleness mentioned in verse 2, the patience, the forbearance with one another in love, the unity of the spirit of verse 3, the bond of peace that is spoken of there, the one Lord, the one faith, the one baptism, the one God and Father of us all, the graces that have been bestowed upon us all to that end, all to be understood in light of that heavenly destiny, the heavenly calling. Is it not the very humility and gentleness of heaven that is flowing forth from heaven for us now that is of benefit to us? Is it not the very patience of God that has become a blessing to us, the patience of heaven expressed in us while we live in this world?

    This is very clearly brought out in the first chapter of Ephesians. You might remember that Paul makes an extended and magnificent prayer there for the Ephesian church. In the 18th verse, he says this, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened.

    To what end? So that you may know what is the hope of his calling. The hope of God’s calling. That is to say, what are the riches of glory? The riches of the glory of his inheritance among the saints. Well, if that doesn’t draw you heavenward, then nothing will. The Rock. The centerpiece for the epistle to the Ephesians. And that walk expounded in terms of its heavenly orientation. As I said at the beginning of this message, it’s not that all of us are doing all that well with the orientation that we ought to have with respect to those verses. I think of one thing in particular.

    You know, in our era, the Puritans aren’t doing all that well. We would do well ourselves to go back and take one more look at the Puritans. Even those who claim to be spiritually descended from the Puritans would do well to go back and look once more at the Puritans. It seems as if The Puritan perspective has been truncated.

    What do I mean by that? Well, the Puritans were famous for oppressing at all times the fourfold estate of man. You know what I’m speaking of when I talk about the fourfold estate of man? Fourfold estate of man. First, man in his innocency. Then man fallen, subject to sin. Third, man regenerated. And fourth, man in glory. The fourfold estate of man. The Puritans pressed that in their writings. They pressed that in their treatment of the covenant. They pressed that in their theology and in their doctrine. At every point, they pressed that in their interpretation of Scripture. But many of the children of the covenant, many of the children of the Puritans today, or at least those who are claiming spiritual descendancy from them, have blinked.

    And rather than there being a fourfold estate of man, there’s only a threefold estate of man. Man in his innocence, man in his sin, man as redeemed and restored. Restored where? In glory? No, restored here. And that is that to which we press. That is that for which we work. And we are told that that is God’s work, and only that is God’s work. My friend, it is the renovation of creation. It is the restoration of the world. It is the recovery of the garden.

    No Puritan ever taught that. No Westminster Divine ever taught that. But interestingly, many who claim spiritual descendancy to the Puritans are teaching that. And I might say, that I do believe that the man who did preach that message that night had that perspective, if not explicitly, at least implicitly, at work in his message.

    The value of Christ, the value of Christianity, is somehow to remake the world here. To somehow improve our personal lives. That is the objective, so we are told. From the Bible’s point of view, from the Apostle Paul’s point of view, nothing could be further from the truth. It is then that heavenly perspective, that orientation that informs Paul as he speaks about walking worthy of our calling. How do you walk worthy of your calling? You keep heaven in view. You bring heaven’s life to expression here. That’s how you walk worthy of it.

    I might say that the minister that evening would have been greatly helped if he had worked on a few parallel texts in Paul’s letters. There are a couple that are worth noting. For instance, in 1 Thessalonians, Paul’s early epistle, 1 Thessalonians, chapter 2, verse 12. This is what Paul has to say, 1 Thessalonians, chapter 2, verse 12, “…so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the God who called you into his kingdom and glory.” There it is, laid out right in front of you. That’s the goal. so that you may walk worthy of the God who calls you into his kingdom and glory.”

    The language here in 1 Thessalonians 2.12 matches well the language of Ephesians 4, verse 1, and clearly brought out is the God of glory himself who calls us to the end of participating in fully that kingdom and that glory. And I might say that this orientation is also very much in view in Paul’s letter to the Philippians, in the passage we read this morning, the first chapter, the twenty-seventh verse. And maybe you noted the King James translation of that text. This is how it went in the King James.

    Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. The New American Standard translates this passage this way. Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Now, I might say that the New American Standard seems to be more intelligible, but in actual fact, the King James is more helpful.

    Now, why do I say that? Because you see, what the King James does is it uses a word, and he uses it peculiarly there, the word conversation, and matches that again in this epistle when Paul uses the word, or a word similar to it, in chapter 3, verse 20. Paul says in 3 verse 20 in the King James Version, for our conversation is in heaven. The King James at least keeps the continuity of the word as you move from 127 to 320. And you would pick up the fact then, reading the King James, that these two texts have something to do with one another, and that’s exactly the conclusion that you are to come to.

    It’s the same word, or a derivative, one of the other. Now, how is the new American standard translated 320? It says, for our citizenship is in heaven. Well, back up then to 127. Work citizenship into 127. The citizenship of heaven. That’s really what’s in view.

    We can translate that 27th verse then along these lines, only demonstrate your citizenship in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ. Demonstrate your citizenship in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ. And here, specifically, in Paul’s use of that word, is the whole notion of citizenship, a life that is circumscribed in terms of the way in which one behaves so as to betray where he is a citizen. You can even translate this 27th verse of the first chapter, as one commentator has, What really matters is that you behave as citizens of heaven, that is, in a manner worthy of the gospel.

    And I know that that’s a pretty roundabout way to get to the point. We’ve touched Ephesians, we’ve touched 1 Thessalonians, we’ve touched Philippians now. We’ve done a pretty thorough job with the teaching of the Apostle Paul so as to demonstrate that the orientation that he has in view when he speaks of our calling is a calling unto glory, a calling unto heaven. And when we are called upon by Him then to walk worthy of that calling, we are to bring to expression in our lives those attitudes and dispositions of life. We are to perform those actions and those works that are consistent with our citizenship.

    Now, I know the criticism that is raised against this particular point of view when it comes to the Apostle Paul. It is that you so emphasize heaven that you diminish the importance of the world and the earth. You are saying, you are suggesting that Paul was thoroughly heavenly-minded, but I ask you, Is his heavenly-mindedness of no value? Does it not work itself out in concrete ways so as to demonstrate its effectiveness and to proclaim the grace that is inherent to it?

    Of course it does. Read on in the Epistle to the Philippians of what value is this heavenly-mindedness that the Apostle puts before these Philippians. He tells them that it has the capability of making them stand firm. Why? Because heaven is unmovable. It has the ability of fixing them. Why?

    Because heaven itself is fixed. You all wrestle with the inconsistencies of your life. This epistle by Paul to the Philippians is a master lesson in consistency, and the origin of that consistency that flows forth out of the apostle is from heaven. It’s not because he is especially principled and tenacious, and he holds on to the very end, persevering regardless of what. That’s not the reason. It’s because he’s drinking deeply of the well of heaven. He’s fixed as heaven is fixed. He’s fixed as Christ is fixed at the right hand of glory. He’s as fixed as glory itself. This heavenly-mindedness is capable of making one standing firm. It is capable of encouraging one to strive for the faith in unity, the unity itself coming through, mediated by heaven and the realities of it. not being alarmed by your opponents.

    Why? Because they’re destined for destruction. You know that from a heavenly point of view. You know that. And even the troubles that you are experiencing are working themselves out for your salvation. You know that and are assured that from the vantage point of heaven.

    You are also certain that it has been granted to you not only to believe in Christ, that being very positive, but also to suffer for his name’s sake. And just as Christ passed through suffering into glory, into heaven, so shall you. Of that you must be absolutely confident, thoroughly convinced, and unshakable in your own faith.

    Well, glorious stuff here for you. New exposition of Christ’s words, if you will let the world go, you will actually have the world. If you lose yourself, you will actually gain yourself. Walk worthy of your calling, your heavenly calling. Unto Christ’s glorious reign, God’s kingdom, and His glory. Amen.

    Our God, we pray that we would be mindful of that which orients the apostle and informs him as he speaks earnestly to Christians in the first century, how the heavens opened for him he being addressed by the Son of God, the Risen Lord. The realities of that world above confirmed to him, knowing that he was destined for that, then through Christ. And how we observe him laboring energetically, feverishly, how we observe him working diligently, tirelessly for the kingdom, that the very power of Christ might be manifest in him, and that for the service and well-being of others. O Lord, his heavenly-mindedness did not make him useless in the world or for your service, and it will not make us useless either. Help us then, Father, as we would think on these things, and keep before us the goal of our calling, the very hope of it, Your fullness. 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.

  • Vanity Without Christ’s Triumph

    Vanity Without Christ’s Triumph

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Philippians” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, June 30, 1991.

    About this sermon

    Paul’s remarkable consistency flows from heaven itself. God uses even human wickedness to further the gospel, and Ecclesiastes’ preacher faces nothing but vanity because he does not yet know Christ’s triumph. Philippians 1 has already moved beyond what Ecclesiastes describes.

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    Sermon transcript

    Our scripture reading this morning begins with the book of Ecclesiastes, the first chapter. Fear the Word of God. This is Ecclesiastes chapter one. The words of the preacher, the son of David, king of Jerusalem, “‘Vanity of vanities,’ saith the preacher, “‘vanity of vanities, all is vanity.’ What profit hath a man of all his labor which he taketh under the sun?

    One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh. But the earth provideth forever. The sun also arises. and the sun goeth down and hasteth to his place where he arose. The wind goeth toward the south and turneth about unto the north. It whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full. Unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.

    All things are full of labor, Man cannot utter it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be, and that which is done is that which shall be done, and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there anything whereof it may be said, See, this is new? It hath been already of old time, which was before. There is no remembrance of former things, neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.

    I, the preacher, was king over Israel and Jerusalem, and I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven. This sore travail hath God given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith, I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. That which is crooked cannot be made straight, and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.

    I communed with my own heart, saying, Lo, I have come to a greater state and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem. Yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge, and I gave my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceive that this also is vexation of spirit, for in much wisdom is much grief. And he that increases knowledge increase of sorrow.

    And then, turning over to the New Testament, to Paul’s letter to the Philippians, chapter 1, beginning with verse 21, Philippians 1, 21, “…for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh This is the fruit of my labor, yet what I shall choose I know not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having the desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith, that your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.

    Pray with me now. Our Father, there is a richer meal for us than those meals that we would partake of from this creation. There is that meal that is prepared for us in and from glory. And Lord, by your word and in your spirit, we would partake of that meal and be blessed by it. Help us, our Father, that we may serve you truly, obediently, because we have feasted well upon the word which you have sent. Amen.

    I want you to think a little bit this morning about integrity. I don’t simply have in mind the matter of truthfulness. I have in mind as well wholeness, completeness, consistency. So when I speak this morning about integrity, I want you to think of whole matters, complete matters, perfect matters, those things that testify of a consistency. First of all, I want you to think about the consistency of the Apostle Paul. I have pled with you before not to think of this consistency in the Apostle as being something that he has generated because of a particular strong disposition.

    He’s an especially determined individual. No, the Apostle Paul is consistent because he is vitally in touch with a world that is absolutely consistent. Have you despaired at times about your own lives? Have you fought often with yourself because you know all too well your own inconsistency? That is, you say one thing, you do something completely the opposite. The Apostle Paul is marvelously consistent because he is well in touch with that absolutely consistent world. Heaven is absolutely consistent. In heaven, your words match your actions perfectly.

    Now, here in the first chapter of Philippians, we have Paul coming to the end of what has been called his missionary report, verses 12 through 26. And in this missionary report, he is giving an account of himself to a church in Macedonia that congregates at Philippi, a city there, And Paul is writing to this church in Philippi while in chains in a Roman jail.

    He says at the conclusion of this matter, verse 26 to be specific, that he has in view a ministry to these Philippians so that they’re rejoicing, as it is called in the King James, or you might say, so that their boast in Christ may abound through Him. So that their boast in Christ may abound through Him. Now, this language about Their being something in these Philippians that is to abound matches up with what the Apostle has said earlier when he spelled out for them his prayer for them. Verse 9 of this ninth chapter gives us Paul’s prayer, his prayer proper. He says, and this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in true knowledge and all discernment.” So, in his prayer, he is praying for an abundance of their love, and in his ministry, he is laboring so that this boast of theirs in Christ might abound more and more.

    And there is absolute consistency between the man’s prayers and his ministry. Do you know the Church of Jesus Christ could be turned around if pastors’ prayers matched their ministries? If people are looking for power in the Church, or ministers are looking for power in their ministries, if they would just take cue from the Apostle Paul and labor with respect to that consistency that is so obviously at work in him, a matching up of words with actions. As the man ministers, so he prays, and vice versa.

    With precisely the same objective in view His prayers being for the furtherance of these saints in their love for Christ and His ministry to the same end, that their boast in Christ might excel all the more. What might we say about the content of Paul’s prayers and the content of his ministry?

    At the center of both, unmistakably, is the person and the work of Jesus Christ. Isn’t it amazing? that as you read the Apostle Paul, work through his letters, that you never, never, I say, find him preoccupied or concerned about the numerical response to his ministry. Numbers don’t seem to interest the man. What does interest the man is Christ, and how well Christ is received. How well Christ is honored amongst those whom he serves. Well, there is an integrity here for the Apostle Paul, a consistency that is at work, a wholeness.

    But I want you also to notice the integrity of his report, the missionary report that he has laid before these Philippians now, verses 12 through 26. Pick up on the language of verse 25 as he concludes this section of his epistle. And convinced of this, he says, I’m reading from the New American Standard, and convinced of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith. Now, that concern about progress and even joy is not introduced at that point in the missionary report. In fact, you can find that very concern at the outset of his words to these Philippians in verse 12, as he gives an account of himself. He says in verse 12, “‘Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel.’” Match up the progress of the gospel mentioned there and the progress now that is mentioned in verse 25, as the Apostle speaks about the progress and joy in the faith for which he labors amongst these Philippians.

    As he began, so he concludes. The theme of the report seems to be of a piece, of a common theme. It is related to the whole matter of progress, the progress of the gospel and the progress of the faith amongst those who have embraced it, as Paul would move from Rome to Philippi, the city to which he is presently writing. Now, that progress has run into some barriers or roadblocks, ditches in the road, You know how he gives an account of his circumstances at the opening part of that report, verses 12 through 14.

    He says that the gospel is progressing amongst these Roman Christians, even though there are those who oppose the gospel, and have fought that by Paul’s own imprisonment there in Rome, the gospel and its power would be overthrown. Now, it’s important for us at this point to grasp hold of specifically Paul’s point. He is not saying here that the progress of the gospel amongst these Romans working itself out in the development of their faith and their joy is something that is coming about despite the opposition. Rather, it is coming about precisely because of the opposition.

    So sovereign is our God that not only do regular circumstances of life work to the progress of His ends and means and gains, but as well, you see, now you have in front of you the fact that these things that men conspire to do actually work out for the progress of the gospel itself. So sovereign is our God. that it is not merely a matter of him circumventing or rising above the wickedness of men, but of literally passing through the ordeal that wickedness brings upon the Church, and in that circumstance, God exploiting the particulars of it to his own glory.

    Can there be anything more clear than this when we look at the cross of Christ? Can there be anything more clear than this when we look at the cross of Christ? Men in their wickedness conspiring against the Son of God, but God taking that wickedness and making it the very instrument of trial. So it now works itself out presently for Paul in chains in Rome. His chains no less than the cross. His afflictions no less than Christ’s afflictions.

    These, too, shall prove to be for the purpose of God and to the advantage of the gospel. So, the gospel progresses even here at Rome, where men in their opposition to that gospel had conspired against it in hopes of blotting it out. The Romans themselves are making progress in the faith and the joy that belongs to those who own Jesus Christ. And as Paul progresses in his description, it becomes apparent to us that the apostle is not merely concerned for the progress the gospel has made amongst the Romans, but that progress which the gospel has made in his own case.

    Yes, there are those who have opposed the truth, who are responsible for Paul’s chains presently. But there are also those in the church at Rome who are especially upset about him and even hostile to him. And they have taken advantage of Paul’s imprisonment now to make matters worse for him by generating dissent with respect to him amongst the Christians that are gathered in that city. That is, Paul overcome Is he distraught because there are those, even within the church, who are taking advantage of his change? Not at all.

    Even though there are those who preach out of envy and strife, who are motivated by selfish ambition, he says he will rejoice because Christ is preached, the gospel is proclaimed. And what a work this is affecting within his own life. For Paul here gives testimony to the fact that the gospel is making progress in him as he is trained with respect to the purpose of this life and its end in glory. Does it really matter, in the end, what other people think of me and even what they do to me? What if they do their darndest? What if I am executed for the cause of Christ? For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

    That is what he says. In the midst of this, his confidence has been built and strengthened. He is all the more certain with regard to his circumstances. He will be brought through it, and that unmistakably, to an end glorious, for he shall be brought to Christ. He is confident that whether he lives or dies, he will be magnifying Christ in his body.

    Therefore, the progress that he has noted amongst the Roman Christians is a progress that is observable in him, and now he is commending that progress to the Philippian saints as he concludes this little mission report to them. It will not be, then, a matter that merely concerns Romans, who are immediately at hand, or he himself personally. It is something, then, that branches out to the Church as a whole, and his hope for them, that they might also progress in the joy that is found alone in faith.

    But there is one other matter here. that speaks to us about integrity. Thus we have the integrity of the Apostle as his prayers match his ministry, his words match his actions. There is also the integrity of his report as he moves these Philippians through an account of his present circumstances making it plain how everything is working out for the further progress of the gospel, and that God’s purposes will not be thwarted or overthrown. But on a much grander scale, brought in view here is the marvelous integrity of God’s purpose as a whole.

    I don’t want you to be content with the little picture. The little picture would present to you an apostle who was preoccupied with having meaningful tasks in life, a man who was interested in finding something useful to do with his time, to fill up his hours, a worthy pursuit, a profession, something that he could give himself to for a time, looking to a better end, you know, retirement. a seaside villa in Macedonia, maybe, overlooking the Aegean Sea. Something comfortable. That’s the apostle of the little picture. We can thank God that the apostle Paul did not embrace the little picture.

    He saw things with a wide-angled lens, the good picture, and the integrity of God’s purpose and intention. How wonderful it comes out in his testimony concerning the development of his faith, which he would hold out to every one of us as a pattern that we are to pursue.

    What about the threats? that seek to confound us in life, to confuse us, to throw us off the track. Are you concerned about injustice, injustice with regard to yourself? It simply isn’t fair. It isn’t fair what’s happened to me. Life isn’t turning out the way I expected it.

    But in verse 19 of this chapter, the apostle quotes a text from Job, where he says, I know that all of this shall turn out for my salvation. That text is lifted right out of Job 13, verse 16. You know the story of Job. And in this circumstance, the apostle is doing Job one better.

    For as grand as Job was, there remained in Job, by the end of that book of Job, a voice of complaint and grumbling, a questioning of the Lord. Now, because of what has transpired in the big picture, Paul will not even allow complaint to enter his vocabulary. If there was any complaint justifiable in the case of Job, that has been completely removed now in the case of the apostle Paul, and he will have none of it. What about the threat of death? as marvelous as the testimony of the Old Testament is with respect to death and the confidence of those Old Testament saints. Still there is a question. Hezekiah the king turns his face to the wall and he weeps when he is told by the prophet Isaiah that his days are numbered. But do you hear the apostle? Do you hear what he says?

    For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. There’s no loss for me, even in death. The question that was still there on the pages of the Old Testament has been summarily removed in the New. And that, by virtue of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, you have been ushered into a new day. And what about the threat of failure? Does that not stalk the saints of the Old Testament? Repeatedly you hear them crying out in the Psalter, O Lord, do not allow our enemies to put us to shame. That is, don’t allow us to fail.

    You hear the Apostle in verse 20 of this chapter saying, according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I shall not be put to shame in anything whatsoever. that man simply isn’t threatened by those things that threaten people who are looking for the comfortable life and live within the little picture.

    He sees things on a grand scale and in keeping with the integrity of God’s purpose and intention. But there’s something here even more profound, and that is why I read for you this morning the opening chapter of Ecclesiastes. That book that deals with the king, face to face, with the utter futility of life. This is an Old Testament Jew speaking this way. Wouldn’t you expect better from him? Are there any people wandering around in the ancient world that had hope? Certainly it was the Jews. What justification can we give for this man talking like this?

    Vanity of vanities, all of them, because he’s short of a resurrection. And because he’s short of a resurrection, there’s still the threat of nothingness that overshadows his existence. Unless Christ is raised, there is no hope. even for an Old Testament Jew. The Old Testament economy then, falling short of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, must express itself as the preacher does.

    Vanity of vanity. It’s all vanity. The threat of futility, then. And which one of you, in your integrity, have not faced the futility of life? I can’t get ahead. Nothing I do turns out. It all seems so meaningless. I just get through one ordeal and ten others take its place. I’m a mental wreck. I’m an emotional basket case. I can’t cope. And when I look for meaning and significance, a sense to it all, I’m at a loss.

    Do you not then call upon God? Do you not then remember the resurrection, that even though one hung on a cross, it was not in vain, it was not futile? That His act and work and person confers meaning upon the totality of our life and our labor. That’s where you must begin. If the voice of nothingness and futility and emptiness has been raised within your soul, it will find no ultimate answer or resolution apart from Jesus Christ. And it is that specifically now, it is that specifically which the Apostle places before these Philippian saints as he would have them progress in their joy in the faith. Won’t you follow? No answer like it. Insolation against the threat of injustice, the threat of death, the threat of failure, the threat of futility. Let us pray.

    O God, we would pray that we would be taken by the Spirit that dwells in the Apostle to our good and your glory. We are praying, our Father, that your mercies may abound for us as we look to you for strength. But, our God, we are asking that before the various threats of life that were well experienced even by the saints in the Old Testament we might live fully in the glories of those benefits that are given to us in the new. And thank you especially for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ by which we are delivered. So now we with confidence, our Father, would face life with such assurances as are found in the Apostle himself. The assurance that we in living, are bringing Christ to expression. And that in dying, we are actually gaining for your glory. These things we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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

  • Unafraid Because Christ Was Raised

    Unafraid Because Christ Was Raised

    This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Philippians” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, June 23, 1991.

    About this sermon

    “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” When Paul seems to speak of himself in Philippians 1, he is speaking of Christ, so closely are the apostle and his Lord joined. Because Christ has risen, Paul does not fear death; his deepest desire is to depart and be with Christ, yet he stays on for the Philippians’ sake. Christ has also delivered him from the fear of failure. Every believer united to the risen Christ shares that freedom, and missionaries most of all need it.

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    Sermon transcript

    Chapter 1, beginning at verse 12. Hear the word of God. But I would that ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel. so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace and in all other places, and many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

    Some, indeed, preach Christ even of envy and strife, and some also of goodwill. The one preached Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds, but the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the gospel. What then? Notwithstanding every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached, and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.

    For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

    But if I live, In the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor. Yet what I should choose, I know not. For I am in a strait betwixt two. Having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better, nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. Having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance. and joy of faith, that your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.

    Pray with me now. Our God, make your church strong. Revive in us your work. Our Father, may our hearts be alive with your Spirit. May we stir up our zeal for the things of our God. O Lord, may this day be a delight to us. May this assembling be especially precious. May your ways, your words, be a treasure for our heart that we might delight in them. And Father, make us glad in view of your saving mercy and your work of redemption made plain in Christ. Oh Lord, we would love you and we would confess our love for you this morning as we worship here and also as we hear your word to the end that we would obey you and serve you with diligence. In Jesus name, amen.

    I have a confession to make this morning. You may not consider it a very serious confession, but I do acknowledge that I have a very hard time listening to missionary newsletters. And maybe you have the same problem. Maybe you had a difficult time identifying with the missionary, paying attention to all the facts and features that are being described.

    I’m not especially disturbed with myself because of an impatience with regard to the chronicle format. I do enjoy hearing about the events in the missionary’s lives, and about the events on the field. I am interested in the people that they are involved with, and I am interested in the developments that have taken place in the family of the missionary since the last time they wrote. But still, I must confess, I don’t like missionary newsletters. Now, it’s not that in these missionary newsletters we don’t have a sincere effort made by the missionary to communicate to us some vital scriptural or doctrinal truth. And I appreciate that.

    Trying to relate the Bible to things that are taking place on the field or in the life of the mission or in the life of the missionary. I think my problem is this. There is an inadvertent failure on the part of many missionaries to communicate themselves. Now, you may be a bit confused. You may be saying to yourself, hold on a minute. Why, I remember my grade school writing classes where the teacher told us to sit down and compose a letter. I remember being marked down for using the personal pronoun, I, too much. Remember that. It usually isn’t a fault in letter writing to avoid speaking about oneself. extensively and needlessly, but still I say that there is this inadvertent failure on the part of the missionaries to communicate themselves.

    And I say this in light of what we have set before us in the Apostle Paul. Here is the missionary par excellence. If anyone would be training us as to what a missionary newsletter or report should look like, it should be the Apostle Paul. And yet the Apostle Paul doesn’t hesitate to speak very directly, very deliberately about himself.

    In fact, we can say there is a communication of the self of the Apostle’s self when he writes. It’s just not a matter of ink on a page. It’s as if the man himself was being put down on the page or conveyed by the communication, by the letter. There is an earnestness here. a directness. There is an engagement here that takes us beyond the ordinary missionary newsletter or report.

    A powerful communication of the person who’s writing, so that you are engaged with them. Paul then, the master missionary, communicates himself when he goes about communicating. And I will say this, though some have contradicted it, I will say this, that there is nothing self-centered, nothing egotistical about the man. I say this with confidence because there is that certainty that if it worked in the Apostle, and the clear eye sees it, there is that certainty that if it worked in him to reveal himself as one upon whom the revelation of God is having full impact. Here is not only the missionary par excellence. Here is the Christian extraordinaire. The Apostle is communicating himself, and as he is, he is at work revealing himself.

    But as he is revealing himself, opening himself up to his readers, he is exhibiting precisely what impact the revelation of God has had upon him. Now, as we make our way through this little labyrinth, it is well for us to keep in mind precisely the nature and the content of that revelation which has made its impact upon the Apostle. And that he never loses sight of. If we are going to consider, then, the Apostle’s concentration upon himself, we will have to gain a grip on that which has focused his attention primarily, and that is the objective revelation that has made such impact upon him.

    It is assumed In this missionary report of his, verses 12 through 26, it is spoken of as the gospel. He tells these Philippians that there are those in Rome who are preaching out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. That gospel has content. Paul speaks about this revelation objectively when he says in verse 18 that he is glad he was rejoicing, in fact, because whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. As to the content of that gospel, the content of that preaching that is in view. You can look at other portions of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, especially verses 5 through 11 of the second chapter, where you have a description of that gospel.

    God’s eternal Son making himself a servant coming in the likeness of human flesh, being found in the appearance as a man, humbling himself and becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Yet God has highly exalted him and raised him up and bestowed upon him a name which is above every name, and at that name every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess. that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Well, there is the content of this gospel, this gospel which in fact is now making progress in Rome itself.

    Paul tells us in the twelfth verse of that first chapter that even the things that are taking place to him presently are working out for the further progress of that gospel which he is set to defend. The content then of that revelation is assumed, and that content focuses in Jesus Christ, in fact, what God has done in and through the person of Jesus Christ. But now we move across the room from the objective to the subjective consideration. And as Paul then speaks of himself, as he opens himself up, as he engages in something of a self-revelation, Paul there, no less than in the objective point of focus and concentration, sets before us Jesus Christ. His language about himself, then, is conditioned by his relationship to this Christ, who stands objectively at the center of the gospel that he proclaims. Paul tells us that he is bound to this Christ. In verse 13, the language is quite explicit.

    He says, so that my imprisonment, or my bonds in Christ. The New American Standard Version translates it a bit improperly there, adding a few words. It says, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known. Well, take out the words, the cause of. and read it as the authorized version has put it, as the King James, so that my bonds in Christ had become well known.

    It is not just that he is bound in chains in Rome, but that he is bound to Christ, that he is in union with Christ. And it is this union with Christ, then, that is coming to expression even as Paul speaks of himself and back quite deliberately. Paul will speak more and more as he progresses through this missionary report about this relationship that he sustains with Christ. He tells us with confidence, for instance, in verse 20, that Christ will be magnified or exalted in his body, whether in life or in death. In verse 21, that incomparable of all passages from Paul, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. this union with Christ coming to expression even as he speaks of himself, directing our attention to Christ and the value Christ is for those who are united to him. In verse 23 he tells us of his supreme desire. His personal desire is to depart and to be with Christ.

    And so thorough is this intermingling, if you will, of the Apostle and Christ, that when we come to verse 26, we hear Paul using language that is strangely reminiscent. For there, Paul talks about his second coming. I’m going to come to the Philippians. I’m going to come to you again.

    So thoroughly is this mix between Apostle and Christ. that Paul is now discerning the Christ in him, the Christ who is at work through him, the Christ that he is endeavoring to project for the benefit and value of others. For me, or for to me, to live is Christ. Not only does Paul then communicate Christ when he preaches Christ, Not only does Paul communicate Christ when he lives for Christ, but he communicates Christ by living. By the act of living itself, he communicates Christ. He cannot separate one breath that he draws from Christ. He cannot distance one moment of his life from Christ.

    Now, as you think about this, it is very well for you to take note of the salutary effect focus of Paul’s personal appropriation of Christ, Paul’s union with Christ as it pertains now to this letter and these saints to whom he writes. Do you realize what has happened? And here the objective gospel is going to flow into those subjective categories in a way that is utterly mysterious. The objective accomplishment of God will be determinative for the subjective response of the people, and they will glory all the more because they see precisely what is in you, what has transpired in and through Jesus Christ. Paul is a man who is completely unintimidated by death. Paul is completely fearless when it comes to death.

    Why? Why? Do you know your own fears? Do you still tremble a bit? I’ve been shaken this week. The call Monday night about Betty Cornett’s passing. The trauma that involved Roger Ramsey, a friend of mine, his wife Carol this week. The fact that on my way to the hospital, entering Presbyterian Hospital yesterday morning, I heard shrieks. And I looked near the door and there was a man, prostrate, on the pavement, his wife on her knees beside him, screaming at him, Why? Why did you try it?

    And as I put the picture together, the man had been brought by an ambulance and he had tried to walk into the hospital in his own power and he collapsed in a cardiac arrest at the door. Now these things can shake you, but I want you to grab hold now of the attitude and the mindset of this man who is writing. He is completely unintimidated by death. He is not afraid of death.

    Why? Because Christ has been raised. Is Christ dead? You answer me. Is Christ dead? If He is not, then you cannot fear. The Old Testament saints were afraid. There lived before the coming of Christ. Oh, it’s not in the Old Testament that we don’t have marvelous affirmations of the coming resurrection and the promise of the resurrection of Christ.

    We have Psalm 16. When thy presence is fullness of joy at thy right hand, there are pleasures forevermore.” What a glorious affirmation. We have Psalm 23. Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. But we also have Psalm 6. Is there any remembrance of thee in the grave? We also have Psalm 88. Is there any praise of thee? Can those who go and are no more? We have the cry, the desperate cry of King Hezekiah when he was told that his days were numbered by the prophet.

    He turned his face to the wall and he wept because there was that nagging uncertainty short of the resurrection of Christ. And ambiguity overlaid the entirety of the Old Testament revelation. It was not resolved until Christ came and was raised himself. Paul was an Old Testament Jew at one time. He knew the ambiguity of that Old Testament hope, even though he confessed the resurrection. He was a Pharisee. He believed in the resurrection. But now it’s as if he never believed in it before, in light of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

    What confidence is his? No! Christ will be magnified in my body. The dissolution of this body will not have a last word in my body, whether by life or by death. and I am absolutely certain of it, why I have seen the risen Christ. Now do you believe it? You step out the door today, you’re hit by a car right out there, you’re killed instantly. What happens? The way to live is Christ. To die is gain. You don’t have to be afraid. Don’t be afraid.

    Now this is not the only thing that’s at work in the Apostle. As he’s in vital union with Christ, yes, triumph over the fear of death, he’s no longer intimidated by it, it’s a new day! With the resurrection of Christ, even for this old Jew. But likewise, Paul has been delivered from the fear of failure. Boy, what welcome news that is! Paul has been delivered from the fear of failure.

    Here, listen to it in verse 20, “…according to my earnest expectation and hope that I shall be put to shame in nothing.” That is, in the end, I will not fail, I will not be embarrassed, But my end is success.” Now, in the Old Testament, there was torment with regard to this particular subject. For you have the psalmists repeatedly crying out to God, Oh, let me not be put to shame!

    But here Paul says, I will not be put to shame! on the basis of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the accomplishment of redemption, these things being at the center of that gospel that Paul proclaims. Well, as when Paul speaks about himself, You’re confident, are you not, that this man is not self-centered, nor is he egotistical, but in opening up himself, here is a means also by which he might then communicate Christ, whom he serves. And how wonderful this communication, because it ends up being then a communication of the self, of the apostle, and that after the very similitude of God’s communication to us. For how did God communicate to us?

    By just sending us letters? Paper on ink? Or words engraved in stone? No, He sent Himself. His communication is the communication of Himself. So the next time you go to write a letter, Think about it. Even there, think about Christ. Well, marvelous stuff. And my wish and prayer is that missionaries that I love would take a lesson from the Apostle Paul and open up themselves a bit more and reveal to us just how much Christ is at work in them and how much they are bound to him.

    And that will certainly be medicine to our souls, won’t it? As we hear missionaries who in their letters tell us they’re not afraid of death and neither are they afraid of failure. O Lord, strengthen us now by your Word with your Spirit. Set well before us the visions of glory and the certainty of everlasting life. Set well in our purview the risen Christ whom we serve. that One who is bound to us and we to Him. May it be that as we live, this One to whom we are bound is coming to expression in us, and that, Lord, clearly, effectively.

    We ask for our missionaries. Bless them, Father, with the Spirit of Your Word. Encourage them in all of their labors. And may they, then, Lord, be encouraged by your word to open up and show us clearly and unmistakably how they, in their extreme circumstances, are not afraid of death, nor fearful of failing, because Christ has died and has been risen again. We pray this through Christ, our reigning Lord. 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.