Grace OPC Sewickley PA

Sermon Series: Philippians

  • From Saul to Paul

    From Saul to Paul

    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 16, 1991.

    About this sermon

    Saul’s change to Paul is a real conversion, and Paul in turn teaches Timothy to keep his focus fixed on Christ and heaven. Paul’s view of predestination shapes that instruction. Our destination is a person, Christ himself.

    More sermons from Philippians · Browse all sermons

    Sermon transcript

    This morning, our scripture reading begins in 2 Timothy 2. We are beginning with the first verse of that chapter, 2 Timothy. Chapter 2, verse 1, hear the word of God. Thou, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also.

    Thou, therefore, endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that woreth entangleth himself in the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet he is not crowned, except he strive lawfully. The husbandman that laboreth must be first partaker of the fruits.

    Consider what I say, that the Lord give thee understanding in all things. Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel, wherein I suffer trouble even as an evildoer, even unto bonds, but the word of God is not bound. Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. It is a faithful saying, for if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him. If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. If we deny him, he also will deny us. If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful, he cannot deny himself.”

    Then, turning over to Paul’s letter to the Philippians, the first chapter, verses 18 through 21. Verse 18, “…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 prayers 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.” Now, the thing that I have been trying to impress upon you as we have worked our way through this first chapter in Philippians is this, that Paul, the apostle, has a profound grasp of the eternal world. Paul, the apostle, has a profound grasp of the unseen. heavenly, eternal, glorious world, that world which is above. In fact, it is this world particularly that informs him at every point in his devotion to Christ. who has seen this in the salutation that he has presented in his letter to the Philippians. We have seen it in the prayer that he offers in verses 3 through 11. And now we come to deal with his missionary report, verses 12 through 26, and here as well we find this testimony that Paul the Apostle is gripped profoundly by the eternal world, the unseen world, by heaven.

    This is as we might expect if we would but give it a little thought. Paul the Jew, think of him for a moment. Prior to his conversion on the road to Damascus, did he believe in heaven? Yes. As a Pharisee, did he believe in the resurrection of the body? Yes. But yet now, it says, if everything is different, And the way in which he is gripped presently is as if he had never been gripped previously. So new, so compelling, so powerful. As this truth come upon him and grabbed hold of him.

    Do you remember Martha at the tomb of Lazarus? That moving story recorded in John chapter 11, if you haven’t read it recently, take it up this afternoon, read it again. Do you remember Martha, full of faith, a good Jew herself, believing certainly in heaven, believing even in the resurrection? Jesus says to her that her brother Lazarus, who has died, will rise again.

    She says, I know that. On the last day, he most certainly will. And then Jesus says, I am the resurrection. What you think is far away and distant, what you even think is beyond your grasp now, is right at hand, is present to you. Consider Paul, or as he was known at that time, Saul, making his way from Jerusalem to Damascus. He is a good Jew, just as Martha was.

    He believes in heaven. He believes in the resurrection of the body. But what happens? He meets Christ. The resurrected Christ appears to him. The one who is the resurrection and the life appears to him, and his whole life changes. It’s as if he really didn’t believe in heaven before. It’s as if he really didn’t believe in the resurrection of the body. But now he sees the resurrection of the body right in front of him, and his whole life is changed.

    It is only grasping hold of that heavenly world in the manner that the New Testament saints are grabbing hold of it. That makes the difference. That is what accounts for regeneration. That’s what accounts for power in life, power in Christian living.

    If heaven does not mean anything to you, There I say it. You are not a Christian. If the eternal world does not mean anything to you, or, let’s put it even stronger, if that eternal world is not gripping you, not that you are aware You want to be in every respect, but if that eternal world is not gripping you and beckoning you and calling you along, then think about the substantial nature of your faith which you profess. To what end do you believe after all?

    The Apostle Paul, then, is one who has been profoundly grasped by that eternal… since it has been revealed to him and in him. And think of the testimonies that are given with respect to the imprint that the internal world makes upon this man, and he would have That eternal world makes such an imprint upon those to whom he writes.

    That is why I read for you this morning from 2 Timothy chapter 2. It’s giving instruction to his faithful son in the faith, Timothy, this man whom he loved and nurtured in the faith and sent out on many, many special missions on his behalf. But note what he reminds Timothy of, as if Timothy needed to be reminded.

    Verse 8, remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David according to my gospel. The focus being then upon Christ’s resurrection and what that resurrection means. For the sake of this Paul is enduring such hardships as he describes in the succeeding verses. And then he comes down to verse 10.

    For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus, Jesus, and with it eternal glory. That’s the purpose of his ministry. That’s the focus of it all.

    It’s not just that he’s been benefited by this vision of eternity, having been confronted by the risen Christ. He is compelled now to present that to others, to make sure that they see that at the very heart of things is this eternal world to which he presses. to which they also must press.

    It is a trustworthy statement, he goes on, for if we die with him, we shall also live with him. That is, we shall be raised with him. You could translate it this way. If we are crucified with him, we shall also be resurrected with him. If we endure, we shall also reign with him.

    The objective in view His glory, eternal glory, as it is stated at the conclusion of the 10th verse there. With regard to this perspective and orientation, we can’t do much better in the writings of the Apostle Paul than what we find in Colossians 3. What a marvelous, marvelous statement is there.

    Verses 1 through 4. where then you have been raised up with Christ. Keep seeking the things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. It is especially that third verse that is so powerful, setting before us that eternal world on which we have now been made apart because of what Christ has done. For you have died already, and your life is hidden with Christ than God.

    That’s the orientation of the Apostle Paul. And if we can grab hold of that specifically, what a help it is to us in understanding the Apostle Paul, but even more in understanding our Christian life, our Orientation is towards eternity. We live as if from eternity, from heaven. A heavenly life is given to us. A heavenly citizenship is conferred upon us. We are aliens and strangers here. Our home is elsewhere. Christ has gone above to prepare a place for us. And if he is gone, he will come again and receive us to himself, but where he is, we might be also.” That’s the orientation.

    And now, as you look at the Philippian letter and you consider the missionary report of the Apostle in verses 12 through 26, you are struck at many points at which this comes out. There is a rigorous consistency that is at work in the Apostle. I stress this because I know that many of you are distressed because of your inconsistencies. There are days in which you hate yourself because you do not live up to the principles or the doctrines which you have embraced and confessed. And your love of Christ is not evident to you. But please, will you not hear the Apostle as he makes his report to these Philippians, and you discern within that report a rigorous consistency.

    It’s not, you see, that Paul is an especially rigorous individual. Oh yes, he was a Pharisee, but he left that life behind. It’s not even that Paul is especially self-disciplined. No, that’s not the issue. The issue is that the life of the apostle flows forth from a region in which there is absolute, utter consistency, where life and doctrine match perfectly. What a person says and what a person does So if you are fighting with yourself, please don’t go to the bookstore and pick up a few more self-help volumes. Please don’t do that.

    Pick up your Bible. Start reading the Apostle Paul and understand Where this man steps off, he steps off from glory. He begins from heaven. In heaven, there is perfect consistency. In heaven, your words match your actions. And that is informing him. And what is heaven? It is a gift of grace.

    It’s not something for which you work. It’s given to you. So what you need, you have. It’s not a matter of you working and laboring for something that you don’t have. It’s a matter of you using what you already have in your possession. Heaven itself, glory has been given to you. You may have wondered about the double rejoicing of verse 18. We’ve spoken about that before. I won’t belabor the point.

    But why is it the Apostle is able to say, in this I will rejoice, and yes, I will rejoice? The attitude and disposition of the Apostle continually is one of rejoicing. Why? Because he steps off from the realm of rejoicing. Is there any grumbling and complaining? Discouragement in heaven? No. You see what he’s doing? He’s bringing this eternal world to bear on every facet of light and Christian experience.

    He has to remind us to do it ourselves as he has to remind himself. He has to tell the Colossians, set your mind on things above. Jesus himself has to remind his disciples, don’t lay up for yourselves treasures on earth. Rather, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. So yes, Though it is our possession, we who believe, yet we must be reminded, and that’s the task of preaching, isn’t it? Preaching to the saints, preaching to the converted, that’s the task, isn’t it?

    To remind you of exactly what has been given to you. What grace has conferred upon you. Wonderful stuff. Well, not only is this eternal world the fountain of Paul’s consistency and the root of his double rejoicing, it is the focus for his commitment to the doctrine of God’s sovereignty and its reality. Now here, We wander into sacred territory when it comes to Reformed and Presbyterian folk. We’re dealing with the hallowed doctrine of God’s sovereignty.

    But let me tell you something. There are many Calvinists who are out to lunch. There are many Presbyterian and Reformed people who are out to lunch. Now, why do I say that? Because you see, for them, the sovereignty of God is a doctrine that is valuable only insofar as it gives them certainty with respect to the things of this life. Do you hear what I’m saying? How many Calvinists have you talked to? How many Reformed and Presbyterian people have you talked to who want to tell you about predestination, but they are so focused upon the things of this world that you conclude that their doctrine of God’s sovereignty pertains only to the matters of this creation?

    Why, it pertains to the fact that things will go well for me. I’m out of job, I’m out of a job, I’ll get a job. I’m suffering for poor health, my health will improve. It has to do with good things and bad things. We chalk it up to God’s sovereignty. Well, you know, unfortunate, but it’s God’s will.

    Only the things of this creation. That is not what informs Paul’s commitment to the doctrine of sovereignty. The Apostle Paul would never take The word destination out of predestination. I know this isn’t like me. But I make the point and I emphasize it.

    The doctrine of sovereignty as the apostle embraces it has squarely in view the goal, the objective, the destination, the eternal world, the heavenly. He also provides a particular angle to his doctrine of the Spirit. He mentions the Spirit in verse 19 of this first chapter, where he talks about the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. What is the Spirit to the Apostle? The Holy Spirit, who is God’s down payment on heavenly inheritance.

    The Holy Spirit comes so as to minister heavenly blessings in you presently. Faith, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, neatness, temperance. He comes to minister heavenly blessings in you presently. He comes and reminds you of your destination, your goal, where you are headed.

    Now, with regard to that goal, and this in conclusion, it’s not so much that I want to place a world in front of you when I speak of the eternal world as if I want to place in front of you things, because you see at the center of that world, which now has gripped the Apostle, that world which he has so grabbed hold of, at the center and at the heart of that world, is Christ. And the objective is to be with Him. You hear how he says it, for to me, verse 21, to live is Christ, to die, gain. Why is it gain to die? Verse 23, for to depart means that I will be with Christ. Jesus says to Martha, I am the resurrection and the life.

    Jesus meets Paul on the road to Damascus and presents himself as the Lord and as the center of that eternal order. And the Apostle Paul knows that as he sets first the kingdom of heaven above all else, he is setting the Lord Jesus above all else and insisting upon that desire within him, that he then would come to be with Jesus.

    When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper today, We are remembering Jesus Christ who died for our sins, that we might be brought to and even presently benefited by that eternal world. But you know, even in this sacrament, there is the communication presently by the Spirit, of the ultimate reality that stands at the heart and center of that eternal world. Is the Lord’s Supper not a communion wherein we commune with Christ before the time whom you are partaking?

    Keep before you the eternal world the heavenly world, the communion that shall be yours forever, a peace of which you are receiving presently. Let’s pray. Hear us, Lord, as we look unto you and would be reminded that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, and that in order that eternal glory might be given us, that heaven might be ours. But even more than that, for it is not just heaven, it is you yourself. And Lord, even here, in this sacrament which you have ordained, we are brought near for by your spirit we commune with Christ and this is of a peace with that communion that shall be ours with him forever help us then Lord to eat and drink aright that you may be glorified by our actions and we might be encouraged by your love We ask it 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.

  • Preaching in Envy and Strife

    Preaching in Envy and Strife

    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 16, 1991.

    About this sermon

    Paul names preaching done in envy and strife in 1:15, and liberal and Reformed readers take 1:19’s promise differently. Job’s affliction shows how God uses suffering to make his people better. Corporate prayer carries believers through both.

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    Sermon transcript

    And as we begin our scripture reading in the book of Job, and we are in Job chapter 13, And we are reading the first 19 verses of Job 13. Hear the word of God. Behold, my eye has seen all this. My ear has heard and understood it. What you know, I also know. I am not inferior to you. But I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue with God. But you sneer with lies. You are all worthless physicians. Oh, that you would be completely silent, and that it would become your wisdom. Please hear my argument and listen to the contentions of my lips.

    Will you speak what is unjust for God and speak what is deceitful for Him? Will you show partiality for Him? Will you contend for God? Will it be well when He examines you? Or will you deceive Him as one deceives a man? He will surely reprove you if you secretly show partiality. Will not his majesty terrify you and the dread of him fall on you? Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes. Your defenses are defenses of clay.

    Be silent before me so that I may speak. Then let what may come on me. Why should I take my flesh and my teeth and put my life in my hands? Though he slay me, yet will I trust him. Nevertheless, I will argue my ways before him. This also will be my salvation. For a godless man may not come before his presence. Listen carefully to my speech and let my declaration fill your ears. Behold now, I have prepared my case. I know that I will be vindicated. Who will contend with me? For then I would be silent and die.”

    Then turning over to Paul’s letter to the Philippians, chapter 1, We are reading again, verses 18 through 21. “‘Let then, only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached, and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that this will turn out for my salvation through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope. that I shall not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness Christ shall even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

    Pray with me now. Our Father, we would pray for ourselves as we would pray for all of your children in the world, that as it would be for us, so it would be with them, we even proving to be examples as best as we can to all who call upon your name. And therefore, Lord, we ask you that we might have a heart for your words, that we might hunger for it, and that it might be a delight to us.

    Surely you have taught us that your word is a light for us. It gives us, then, light for our way. And truly, Lord, that light which shines shines from no other place than the face of Jesus Christ. And the way upon which that light shines is the way that is proved by Him. and proves itself because it leads to Him in glory.

    So, Father, train us by Your Word. Encourage us, Lord, even now, as we with Your people throughout the world would wait upon You and Your Word, and with Your Word be satisfied. We pray this through Jesus Christ. Amen. Tonight we will set for ourselves a little closer look at verse 19 in Philippians 1 and the particular problems that arise in that verse, some of which are hindrances to our understanding. I hope to work a little bit on those this evening in order to dispel what darkness and clouds there might yet be.

    This is Philippians 1.19, then, in which Paul is giving the rationale for the statements that he has just made. He says, for I know that this shall turn out for my salvation through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. There are three issues to be considered in this text. That’s convenient.

    The first one is the specific meaning of the word this. To what does that refer? What is its antecedent? The second is, what is the specific force of the term salvation? And the third, what is the meaning of Paul’s statement when he says that the means of his deliverance will in fact be the prayers of the saints, the prayers of the Christians, in Philippi, to whom he writes that, of course, coupled with what he calls the provision of the Holy Spirit or the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

    So those three focuses for us tonight as we look a little bit more in depth at verse 19. First of all, the meaning of the word, this, and its proper antecedent. We wouldn’t think that this would cause problems, but it has, because the focus has been lost sometimes, at least the specific focus has been lost sometimes. I have been working through a commentary in which that focus is lost.

    There is a certain parallel between this 19th verse and what you read in verse 12, and that cannot be denied. You will note verse 12, with which this section began. I have stressed that this is, with verse 12, the beginning of the section that we are considering. Verses 12 through 26 then giving us Paul’s missionary report. Verse 12 reads, Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel.

    We have Paul’s statement there with regard to the progress the gospel is making, how his circumstances are turning out for that and then in verse nine, we read for I know that this shall turn out for my salvation. There is a certain parallel there and noting that parallel. Some commentators have linked the two texts to suggest to us that what Paul is specifically speaking of in verse nineteen is the entirety of the matter that has been under consideration in verses twelve through seventeen. There is an even closer closer parallel for us that leads us into the proper understanding of specifically what the Apostle has in mind.

    For I know that this shall turn out for my salvation. You will note this word, this, parallels what has been said already in verse 18. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached, and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice. In this I rejoice.

    Now, what Paul is speaking of specifically in that 18th verse has to do with what he has been talking about in verses 15 through 17. this narrow matter of the question of those who are taking advantage of his bonds, he describing them then as those who preach Christ out of envy and strife.

    Notice verse 15. Preaching Christ out of envy and strife, not from goodwill. There are some who do preach from goodwill, but he has in mind specifically those who are not He says in verse 16 that, yes, there are those who preach out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. He also notes then in verse 17 that the former preached Christ out of selfish ambition rather than for pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment. Now, it’s not just the matter that Christ is being preached that causes Paul to rejoice, mentioning that as he does in verse 18. Actually, there is a tie between that preaching of Christ and the very circumstance in which Christ is preached. that is presently prevailing, namely that there are those who are preaching out of selfish ambition.

    So, when we come to verse 19, for I know that this shall turn out for my salvation, Paul has specifically in mind this ordeal that has come upon him. It is particularly annoying, it is particularly disturbing, but he knows that as disturbing and as annoying that it is, it will in fact turn out for his salvation. That is the precise, or the specific, or the pointed meaning of his use of the term this in the 19th verse. But now we go on to the matter of salvation. the question of salvation, Paul is saying that this specifically, this annoyance, this disturbance, these insults that have been heaped up upon him from those who hope to increase his burden while in prison, this is turning out for his salvation.

    Now, you may be confused a bit by the use of the term salvation here, because it is obvious that it has a prospective sense to it. It has a future sense and emphasis to it. This shall turn out for my salvation. Now, that has caused commentators a bit of difficulty, because is it not true that Paul is already saved? How is it that these things are going to turn out for his salvation as if his salvation is a yet-to-be-accomplished event or reality?

    In line with this, you have particularly evangelical scholars who will take up the translation of this verse. You can check it out for yourself in the New American Standard or the NIV. Translations of the Bible that have been done especially by evangelicals They’re unwilling to grant the translation salvation here. Instead, they render the term deliverance in the sense of release, release from prison.

    These things will turn out for my release from prison. The word, though, is salvation, not that the release from prison is wholly outside of Paul’s purview. It is Indeed, but Paul is using his language somewhat metaphorically here. There is a parallel situation. Just as he is in prison and being harassed, so in life he is bound and being harassed as well. Just as prison terms Oftentimes come to an end with a release from imprisonment. Life itself will come to an end in the salvation of the soul of that one who is believed.

    So there is a parallel that is being reflected upon in the complexities of the language of the Apostle. There is a metaphorical use here at work. Paul is a very, very clever man. He’s a very, very ingenious writer. So he compounds his terminology, he uses imagery that is helpful in understanding what, in fact, he has in view. But specifically, the prison term becomes metaphorical.

    The real issue is life and deliverance or release or salvation with respect to it. And what might that salvation be? It is the transition from this world to the world to come. That is the salvation that is in view. It is the transition from this world to the world to come. And in that sense, Paul is using the term salvation.

    It’s not to say that he isn’t already saved, that he isn’t confident of his present salvation, that he isn’t confident that he belongs to Christ. You can’t read the opening sections, the opening verses of this epistle without being overwhelmingly convinced that the apostle is certain of his salvation. And not only that, he’s certain of the salvation of the saints of the Lord, those who have been called by God in Christ. Absolutely.

    But there is, as well, this future sense to the whole matter of salvation, which we cannot overlook. Present salvation, to be sure, as we are made children of God, our sins are forgiven, we hold on to Christ, we confess Him, we acknowledge Him, to be our Lord and our King.

    But at the same time, the prospect that our present salvation reaches its culmination inevitably in our deliverance from this world into the world to come, and that is what we all look forward to. And we press on to that mark, do we not? Well, that language sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

    All you need do is turn to Philippians 3, verse 14, and there you have it. set before you this prospective understanding of the matter of salvation, that to which we press. With the certainties of our present salvation at hand, we press on to the fullness of our salvation that is realized when we are delivered, even in our bodies, from this world into the world to come. So, There is the future, the future dimension to our salvation.

    You know, it’s also in view in chapter 2 of Philippians, and that’s specifically, maybe you’ve already thought of the verse, it’s verse 12, So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, here it is, listen to it, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. What are we doing working out our salvation? You see, there’s a comprehensiveness to the language of the apostle where he will not leave you. without that consideration that is pertinent concerning our present circumstance and how we must press on. You might note also that text which we read this morning, 2 Timothy 2, that 10th verse again, maybe you were a bit confounded by it when we read it this morning, but let me Remind you of it, that 2 Timothy 2 verse 10, for this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are the elect, the chosen, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus, and with it eternal glory.

    That they may obtain salvation? I thought they were already saved. Do you remember what is said in the epistle to the Hebrews? I believe it’s the twelfth verse. There we are to pursue holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. What can you then specifically as the apostle speaks in this manner? Is it not salvation that is particularly brought into focus by root of sanctification? Is that not what he has in view? The sanctification of the saints. his sanctification.

    Now the apostle is beautifully laying his foundation here with respect to his own progress in the faith personally, in order that he might speak genuinely, forthrightly, honestly to all he is addressing. The one who is persevering and pressing on towards this salvation is beckoning those to whom he writes.

    You too now. Press on. Persevere. Endure. You too pursue holiness. You too make sanctification, that is, becoming holy in heart and conduct, your goal, your end. All right. We’re clear so far? We’re clear on this? And this isn’t out of heat in what the Apostle says in other places.

    He talks specifically about how sanctification is working itself out even through such troubling, distressing circumstances as come upon the saints. In fact, he tells us that our tribulations actually conspire to make us better. Your troubles are actually means God uses to make you better. Your troubles are means which God uses to save you. Do you remember what it is said of Christ in Hebrews 5, verse 7, I believe it is? He learned obedience through the things which he suffered.

    Well, keeping with what the Apostle says in other places then, you may want to check out For instance, one of those famous texts, 2 Corinthians, here he’s speaking to the Corinthians, 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 17, a famous verse indeed. 2 Corinthians 4, 17, 4.

    Momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. Momentary light affliction producing in us this effect. And what about that classic text in Romans chapter five, beginning with the first verse? present grasp of salvation, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we exalt in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, hearing now, but we also exalt in our tribulations. Knowing that tribulations bring about perseverance, and perseverance proven character, and proven character hope, and hope does not disappoint. Certainly a unique, yet glorious perspective on affliction. Why, the assault of these ambitious and worldly-minded preachers that he’s been referring to is actually producing his salvation, his sanctification unto salvation.

    It’s actually developing his character. It’s actually developing within him the confidence that he is not ambitiously motivated, that he himself is not worldly-minded. And he knows it. Why? Because he glories in the fact that Christ is preached, not in his personal advantage. Magnificent stuff.

    There is discipline here for preachers, from one end of Swickley to the other. a battle for us all, that we would call into account our own spirits and not be subjected to envy and jealousy, selfish ambitions, which are merely generated by worldliness. Me seeking the advantage. Because I want to make a name for myself.

    Now Paul is striving and struggling in his inner self so that he might be of supreme help to those to whom he writes. It’s not just preachers who are in view when it comes to selfish ambition and worldliness. It’s a struggle which we all face. It is not just apostles who in their struggles are looking for their salvation through sanctification. All of us are.

    Most pointedly here, for Paul at this time, Philippians. Philippian Christians. who are, despite the apostles’ love for them, being torn apart presently by grumbling, complaining, and by party spirit. Selfish ambition and worldly-mindedness. Well, As if this weren’t glorious enough, we have yet another chapter slid in on us here in this 19th verse when we deal with Paul’s words here. Not just his thought as it latches on to other places in his writings where he says virtually the same thing, in other language.

    As a matter of fact, this isn’t Paul’s language at all. It’s Job’s. He stole it from Job. And that’s why we read the thirteenth chapter of Job, especially that sixteenth verse. In the King James, it may not be as obvious to you. It’s a little more obvious in the New American Standard. It reads this way, “‘This also will be my salvation.’” If we had the Greek version of the Old Testament in front of us tonight, we would find out that what is said in the opening line of that 16th verse matches what Paul says in the 19th verse of Philippians 1. Paul has taken that text from Job, and he has incorporated it into his message to the Philippians. Now, there is something of a marvel here, as Paul does that. You may note that there are certain parallels between Job’s situation and Paul’s.

    Both are suffering. Both are suffering because of those who should be their friends. Remember Job as being put upon by Zophar and others. Zophar immediately in this context. Both are expressing an indomitable spirit, utterly confident in the face of the assault. Both have a case to present. And they are at work presenting their case. And yes, both long to appear before God. There is a difference.

    There is a difference, as this text from Job moves from Old Testament to New Testament. You see, there’s a certain earthiness to Job, and that earthiness conditions even Job’s hope and expectation. Yes, he wishes to appear before God, but there is this seer continually stalking Job that there may yet be some disappointment for him or some frustration. So as we move through the book of Job, the complaint of Job grows in scope power of his plight and his pain more pronounced. Because as yet, you see, the economy of God stands short of resurrection, glory and the full manifestation of the kingdom of heaven in Jesus Christ through his resurrection from the dead. So while Job comes off well, especially in comparison to his would-be friends, he doesn’t come off as well as he might in light of God’s greater and further work, which is accomplished now in Jesus Christ. So, when Paul expresses himself concerning the fact that this shall turn out for my salvation.

    Is there any complaint heard in his voice? Is there any reservation? Is there any drawing back? Is there any grumbling? Is there any Note of accusation against God. None. None. Now we’ve moved from old world as good as it was to new. We’ve moved from Job as good as he was to Paul. And with Paul, it’s better still.

    Why? Because now, in the fullness of time, God’s Son has been revealed, and the perfections and certainties of glory are guaranteed. Well, there’s one last consideration, which may be worth a sermon in itself, and that’s the boldness of Paul’s speech with which he ends this verse, actually speaking about the means by which these things, or this plight, this present distress, will turn out for his salvation.

    He says, through your prayers. Let me tell you about prayer meetings. Now, I’m not being wholly facetious here. I know that some of you might think I am, but no, I’m not being wholly facetious here. Let me tell you about the corporate value of prayer, that my sanctification and salvation depends on your prayer. Now, you might be alarmed at that.

    You might not be willing to take up responsibility for my sanctification and my salvation, but you should be willing to do that, being bound to me as you are in Jesus Christ. There’s much too much individualism, is there not, in the church of Jesus Christ? My prayers are for myself, for my well-being, for my sanctification, for my salvation.

    It’s me and God, right? Why are we here tonight? Aren’t we gathered together in a body for a reason? Don’t your problems become my problems and my problems your problems? Even more than that, My sanctification is your problem. I could use that as a cop-out. I’m not doing as well as I might because you haven’t been praying for me. I will not say this in order to boast in any respect, but I will glory in Christ and the work of his Spirit in me None of you are forgotten week by week in my prayers. You are prayed for by name. By name. Now it’s not just you adults. It is all of your children too, by name.

    You should understand, as the Apostle concludes this verse, he speaks not only of the prayers of the Philippians, but the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. You must understand that he is speaking of one and the same thing. For the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ is at work in the prayers of the saints as they express themselves in intercession one for another. This is then that which emphasizes grace. Not my efforts in prayer, not even my prayers for you, but the Spirit of God, the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ at work in me on your behalf. Isn’t this how Paul expresses himself in Philippians 2? Even then, that verse that we already looked at, “…work out your own salvation with fear and tremble, for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”

    So, in the end, it is all of grace. It is all of grace. A rich text. A rich text. And I hope, meaningful for you, as you too, in the distresses that you face, the difficulties that come to you, are trained even by those difficulties. In your sanctification unto salvation, the saints around you being of service, through the provision of the Spirit of Christ at work in them for your good. 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.

  • Double Rejoicing

    Double Rejoicing

    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 9, 1991.

    About this sermon

    Paul doubles his rejoicing here, and it reflects the perfection of heaven. That heavenly confidence turns his imprisonment into real joy without denying his circumstances. The call to rejoice like Paul offers believers the same confidence.

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    Sermon transcript

    This morning we are reading again from Paul’s letter to the Philippians, the first chapter. We are beginning with verse 12 and we will read through verse 26. fear the word of God. But I would 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 in 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 shall 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. And having this confidence, I know 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.

    Where would we be without your word, O God? Where would the peoples of the earth be without your word and its power? Our Father, we are asking for your servants who proclaim your word that they may do that with diligence and integrity. And we are praying, Father, for your servants, your people, who are pleased because of the moving of your Spirit in them, to support the ministry of the Word throughout the world. Bless our hearts, give us willing spirits as we are partakers in the preaching and the proclamation of the gospel. May it please you even today, our Lord, to bring forth harvest for yourself, and may we, our Lord, be privileged to see the harvest. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

    We are looking at various aspects of this missionary report from the Apostle Paul as he writes to the Church at Philippi from a prison cell in Rome. Before us this morning in particular are verses 18 through 20 of this first chapter. taken there from his missionary report.

    Now I want you to keep in mind the orientation of the apostle as he writes. He has well in view another world as he pens the words that appear. He has well in view another world. It is his orientation with respect to that other world that then leads him to speak as he does. I want you to note in the 18th verse, something that we’ve spoken of before.

    You have here the Apostle expressing his joy. You may say, extraordinary in that the man’s in chains. Nevertheless, he is expressing his joy, he says He is rejoicing because Christ is preached. There are those in the Church of Rome who wish to take advantage of his imprisonment. He says that they preach out of envy and strife. Still, Christ is preached, he says, and in this he will rejoice.

    He goes on to conclude that verse by saying, and yes, furthermore, I will rejoice, I will continue to rejoice. There is then this double rejoicing on the part of the Apostle, this emphatic rejoicing on the part of the Apostle. I rejoice, and then again I will rejoice.” We’ve pointed out the parallel between what Paul says here with respect to himself and what he says later with respect to the Philippians themselves. Turn to the fourth chapter, the fourth verse. that most famous of all verses from Philippians. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. There again we find a double rejoicing.

    What then the apostle enjoins upon these Philippians later In this letter, namely Rejoicing, he himself is practicing, evidencing early on as he writes. The double rejoicing of the Apostle matches the double rejoicing of the Philippians are to demonstrate as he speaks to them, winding the letter down. Here is something quite amazing, and I wish the full impact of it to register well upon you.

    The man does not lay upon these people something he isn’t practicing himself. He doesn’t come to these people and say to them, rejoice, and again I say rejoice, without there being that double rejoicing in himself. Here is a man who is practicing what he preaches. Here is a man who is consistent. Now is it just that the apostle is a principled individual? That he has some sort of inherent integrity that won’t allow him to be double-minded or inconsistent or hypocritical? Not at all. You see, what is at work in the man is that other world to which he is oriented. Think about that other world. Think about glory. Think about heaven.

    In heaven, do people’s words match their actions? Do their actions match their words? Is there any inconsistency in people who are brought to glory and are made residents of heaven? Well, to ask the question is to answer it. Is there any inconsistency in heaven? Is there any distance between doctrine and life in heaven? Is there any distance between conviction and practice in heaven? No, not at all. As it is in heaven, so now it is for the apostles.

    He strives, he labors, that the consistency that is found in glory might be found in him presently. So therefore, what he would enjoin upon others, what he would ask others to do, he is about himself. He is busy practicing the very same thing. So if he asks Philippian Christians to rejoice, and doubly so, already you find in him that spirit that is rejoicing, and yes, again, rejoicing consistently. It is heaven, it is that other world that informs him in his practice and in his preaching. But this other world, this heavenly world, is coming to bear upon the apostle in this passage in another way.

    Not just with regard to the consistency of doctrine and life, belief and practice, but also with respect to the rejoicing itself. Is it that the Apostle is just natively optimistic? Is it that he has an effervescent personality and always looks on the bright side of things? Is it that the Apostle is just simply an optimist?

    No, you see, the other world is having its impact on him here. He is determined, in light of that other world, to rejoice regardless of the circumstances. Is that other world a realm of joy? Is there anything in that other world that will diminish joy? Already, So, says the Apostle, the very joy of that realm which is above is expressing itself in him. That which belongs to the higher world is even now triumphing over circumstances in this world. He’s in jail. There is the possibility he may not survive. And yet you have him speaking this way.

    I am determined to rejoice in all of my circumstances. because by so rejoicing I confess my bond with that other world in which there is pure joy.” There is a passage from the fourth chapter, a very famous passage indeed, The eleventh verse, where the apostle says this, in light of the joy and the contentment that is to be found in heaven and with Christ. Not that I speak with respect to want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

    Now, it is particularly with respect to these present circumstances that we are pressed on to understand a bit better the mind of the Apostle so that we would grasp hold of just how it is this other world, this future world, this heavenly world is asserting itself in our circumstance. It is the reality of that other world. It is the certainty of it that transforms our present circumstances, that is, busy transforming the present circumstances of the Apostle as he writes. Is there any doubt in the Apostle’s mind with respect to that world that is above? Is there any doubt In the Apostle, with respect to the reality of heaven, hear what he says.

    Chapter 3, verse 24, “…our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” He has this world in view as he speaks to these Philippians in his prayer. He says, for I am confident of this very thing, verse 6 of that first chapter, that he who has begun a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. And verse 10, so that you may approve the things that are excellent in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ.

    The Apostle Paul is absolutely certain about the reality of heaven. There is no question in his mind whatsoever. There are many people today who want to redefine faith for us, as if faith in its basic definition must take within it doubt. True faith is not faith unless it is mingled with doubt, and God somehow respects doubt. That’s not true. It is faith that justifies. Without faith it is impossible to please God, we are told in Scripture.

    There was that man who had the demon-possessed son He had asked the disciples to cast the demon out. The disciples weren’t able. Jesus came down and ministered to the man. He asked the man, do you believe that I’m able to do this? The man said, Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. That was a prayer of confession. The man wasn’t making excuses for himself. He wasn’t making room for doubt in his definition of faith. He was asking God in Christ to remove his doubt, to free him from it.

    Please, as real as Christ would be to you, so real must be the world to which Christ has gone. After all, you see, that is the world to which Christ will bring us. That was the goal all along. Are you confused? Did you think that Christ came in order to make life here a little more comfortable? Some people concentrate on the forgiveness of sins because they’re interested in a clear conscience. Christ came in order to forgive sins so that I can live with a clear conscience.

    Well, yes. But the clear conscience is unto a greater goal yet, that you might be brought to glory, that you might be brought to heaven. That’s what it was all about. The Apostle knows of the reality of heaven. He knows of the reality of the Christ who reigns in heaven. He met the Christ on the road to Damascus, the risen Christ. He saw him. He’s testified about him again and again.

    There is no doubt in the Apostle about the reality of heaven, nor is there any doubt with respect to the veracity of Jesus Christ. set well then before us, was the reality of that other world, the goal of it, the orientation with respect to it. And it is this other world which informs the Apostle as he writes and enables him to rejoice, and even doubly so.

    Is there anything impermanent about heaven? Is there anything transitory about heaven? Do things waver and fall and crumble and disintegrate and decay in heaven? No. We’re talking about a permanent realm. We’re talking about that which is fixed, that which is eternal.

    And it is this to which the apostle press And he would have others press towards that mark with him, in light of the reality, the certain reality of glory. Do you fight with yourselves about the emotional rollercoaster that is yours too often evident. One minute you’re up, the next minute you’re down. One minute you’re struggling, depressed. The other moment you’re elated and on top of things. Don’t you realize that the answer to your dilemma is found outside of yourself? It is found in a world that is permanent and fixed and stable and indestructible. Well, not only does the Apostle have well in view the reality of this world, and not only is he supremely and absolutely confident with regard to this world, this world is at work in him transforming his view of his present circumstances.

    Now, as you wade into verse 19, if you have a modern translation of that verse, you may be a little confused. The New American Standard reads at the opening of that verse, “‘For I know that this shall turn out for my deliverance,’ or, if you will, this shall turn out for my release.”

    And as soon as the Apostle starts talking like that, we think that he has in mind his release from prison. And there are many interpreters of this passage that approach it precisely along those lines. The Apostle is speaking about a release from prison, one that he is expecting and hoping for. But you see, whether or not that release comes is beside the point from the Apostle’s point of view.

    For in this circumstance, his imprisonment, he is able to see superimposed upon all the conditions he is presently enduring, the pattern of his life generally, and, as he would hope with respect to his release from prison, so he also has hopes and expectations with respect to his eventual arrival in glory itself. He takes then language that could be interpreted as referring to his release from prison, and he applies it to his deliverance so that he might be brought finally to stand in the presence of Christ. And it is by root of this that the apostle actually transforms his afflictions into those things that are conspiring to bring about glory in him and for him. A complete turning around of the circumstances, the events that presently he faces.

    Has he been released from jail? No. Is he still being treated like a prisoner? Is he still suffering? Yes. From an outsider’s point of view, is life all that it should be? No. But yet, in this very circumstance, the apostle is saying, that these afflictions are actually working out for his good and contributing to his eventual arrival in glory. Are any of you in prison for the sake of Christ presently? What about the extremities of your circumstances? How severe are they? As extreme as the apostles?

    If our concerns and our afflictions are less, should we not be doing well with them? so that even in these minor afflictions and these daily trials we would see superimposed upon them the pattern of the Lord’s dealings whereby we are brought to glory.

    Our afflictions, our difficulties transformed. In the end, of course, we shall be transformed, and our vile bodies shall be changed into the likeness of his glorious body. But even before that day arrives, the power of God is at work in us, so that our momentary light afflictions become occasions whereby we might see the very patterns of heaven the glories of that other world which has been granted to us by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

    Amen. Let us pray. Our Father, we pray for such consistency as is found in the Apostle. As he follows Christ, may we follow Christ also. And as the world to which our Savior has gone determines even now the attitude of the Apostle and the way in which he behaves. May that world also be influencing us and transforming us.

    We are praying that in the midst of affliction that we may bear, we may rejoice and even doubly rejoice, confident that all things work together for good. to them that love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose. Our Father, we ask that we might rush to your word, that we might rush to you, and that as we do, Lord, may you set plainly before us our heavenly home, and the wonderful consistency and permanency and eternality of it for the good of our souls. We ask it 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.

  • An Attack More Subtle From Inside

    An Attack More Subtle From Inside

    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, May 26, 1991.

    About this sermon

    Paul rejoices in Christ even while fellow Jews bring real charges against him. The church’s most dangerous attacks come from inside, subtler and harder to name than those from outside. Rejoicing in tribulation bears witness to God’s sovereignty.

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    Sermon transcript

    the Philippians, the first chapter, we are beginning with verse 12. Hear the word of God. By which 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. 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. I shall 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 the faith, that your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.” I suppose that one of the most famous verses from the Philippians is the verse that we find in the fourth chapter, the fourth verse. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.

    That instruction from the apostle is not something that hangs out there in the air. It’s not something detached. It’s not advice that he is giving to these Philippian Christians that does not register well upon him. for the instruction that the apostle gives at that point to these Philippians is something that has been well worked out in his own life. So here is one, if you’re looking for such a one, here is one who practices what he preaches.

    If he’s going to tell others to rejoice, and yes, again, I’ll tell you, rejoice, he’s one who has already drunk deeply of that well of rejoicing and seen the joy multiply in himself. When he gives instructions, then he speaks out of his soul and out of the reality of what he is.

    Did you hear the twofold rejoicing of the Apostle as we read our text this morning? That twofold rejoicing that answers to the instruction that he gives later to the Philippians, rejoice, and again I say rejoice, will you find it there in the 18th verse of the 1st chapter? What then? Only that in every way, whether it pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. And in this I rejoice, yes, and I will rejoice, there it is, the twofold rejoicing of the Apostle that then is enjoined upon these Christians in Philippi.

    Why, the utter consistency of it should enable us just as that, especially when we take stock of ourselves. And we realize that we might speak well, but we don’t act so well. We might mean well, but we don’t do so well. We might say things that don’t find any reflex in our lives whatsoever. Our doctrine is over here, and our lives are over here. And sadly and tragically, too often. The case is, and remains so, that our doctrine is at one level, our life at another.

    Is it any wonder, then, that the apostle, and he does not do this in a spirit of vanity, He is not a man pumped up with himself, but is it any wonder that the Apostle, so energetically and strenuously giving himself to that consistent faith of doctrine and life, can say what he says?

    For instance, in verse 17 of the third chapter, he says there, Brethren, join in following my example.” Who’s this guy? I think it is. Join in following my example. He’s actually holding himself out there. “…and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.” Referring to himself, and also Timothy, who’s joining him in this letter. But then you turn over to the fourth chapter again, and you note the fourth, or rather the ninth verse. After that glorious rhapsody in the eighth verse, finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, etc., etc., Then the ninth verse says, these things, or the things you have learned and perceived and heard and seen and meet, practice these things, and the God of peace shall be with you. That’s bold talk.

    Now, please understand, as I’ve always said, The apostle here is not on some sort of ego trip. At the same time, he’s not intending to lay upon these Christians a burden, further burden, which merely accentuates their weakness and reveals just how pitiful they are.

    Incapable of even lifting their hand to do belief, spiritual good. Why? That’s all. He’s quite a guy, but I guess I’ll never quite measure up. He seems to have it all together. What a wonderful Christian he is, but… I mean, I don’t dare go into wives to that level. I’m never going to give a Christian the fault. Don’t you see, Paul’s serious here.

    He sets himself in front of these Philippian Christians as the example. He’s fully expecting them to follow him. He’s fully expecting them to be able to match doctrine and life as he does. He’s fully expecting them to be consistent. And He’s doing this not in a spirit whereby He might lay further weight upon them, weight they cannot bear. He is doing it in order to encourage them with regard to the strength that is now theirs through Christ and the resources that have become theirs because they are united to Him.

    And it’s true, I have no power in myself. Paul will be the first to say that. He’s about to confess, even to these Philippians, it is God’s work that I’m supposed to do, and the will of His revelation. The strength isn’t coming from me, it is coming from Him. If there is example to be found in me, it is because there is example to be found in Christ. And not only example in Christ, but power, power to follow after him. Power, in fact, to be conformed more and more to what Jesus Christ himself is.

    Rejoice. He says it lovingly. There’s a moment of encouragement in what he says. He’s not being judgmental here. He’s preaching for the encouragement of these things. Rejoice. Can you understand it? Rejoice. Now, marvelously, the Lord has given us in the Apostle Paul one who is face-to-face with all the physical and spiritual extremities that life can heap upon one. You get the point of it. Here’s the guy who’s going through it in the extreme. But this is the guy who rejoices and will rejoice, according to his own testimony in Chapter 118. The man who is in the most extreme circumstances, he is the one who is rejoicing.

    Then we come to our own situation. Then the Apostle Paul isn’t here saying, well, you know, my circumstances are worse than your circumstances, and if I can do it, you can do it. That isn’t his tone at all. His tone, rather, is, if the Lord can be so gracious in me, in bringing me through my predicament and my situation, he’s definitely, for sure, is gracious to you. May my rejoicing then, in my strength, be an encouragement to you in your distress.

    And what about the astrology that the Apostle faces? He has been doing good. Collecting an offering for a poor in Jerusalem during his third missionary journey, carrying the offering with him back to Jerusalem in order to give the gifts of the Church to the saints there that were suffering.

    And while he’s there, you know how it went, he was arrested. What were the charges? He was charged with being a blasphemer. Can you imagine? The knife in the heart. Here’s Paul, transparently zealous for God, and he is charged with being a blasphemer. Not only that, you hear of his pedigree, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, born of the tribe of Benjamin, truly a Jew if there ever was one. But yet, what do the Jews in Jerusalem charge him with? They charge him with anti-Semitism.

    He opposes us and our nation, they say. He is charged with beating Antinomy? What does that mean? That means that he is contrary to, even filled with a hatred for Moses and the law. Rejecting an opponent to the law in that he sees Moses as the enemy. That’s what the Jews charge. And he is an enemy of the institutions of Israel, particularly the Temple.

    They say he defiled it by bringing a Gentile into the courts of it. Those are the charges which must go right to the heart of the man. But the ordeal is not over. Word gets out, the Jews are plotting to kill him. So the Roman police whisk him away out of Jerusalem, down to the seacoast town of Caesarea.

    It’s not a Roman terrifying case, he’s there for two years, for better than two years, in prison. Delegations are coming down from Jerusalem, lawyers come down, they make their accusations, they present their charges before the governors, successively, Felix and Festus. Paul making his defense, and then making his defense before King Herod of Britain. And he, being a Roman citizen, then taking full advantage of his Roman citizenship, appeals to the emperor. So off he goes, and ends the trip. Quite an ordeal on his way to Rome. You can read about this in chapters 21 through 28 of Acts. It’s primitive.

    And in the midst of it, a soul that is being trained to rejoice and to always say, yes, and I will rejoice. So we find him in Rome. And the description of his imprisonment there in Philippians chapter 1, verses 12 through 14, And how, in his view of that imprisonment, he is seeing the positive outpouring of the purposes of God, even through those things which man has intended for him. So great is this God’s service, so certain in Jesus Christ and the victory that is to be found in Him.

    Why, they put me in chains, but the gospel itself isn’t chained. It has access even to my jailers, the Praetorian Guard, who are making progress throughout Caesar’s household. And not only that, why, the ministers, the pastors of the churches, the congregations here in Rome are made all the more bold for playing the word without fear. My imprisonment was meant to intimidate. All that is done is emboldened at that by the working of the Spirit of God.

    There are those extremities, then, that are coming to the Apostle because of the opposition of the world. Those who do not know the truth are opposers, who are enemies of the truth, of the gospel. But it seems as if there are even more severe problems. There is even more severe distress. for the Apostle while in prison.

    The wonderful thing about Paul is not merely the fact that his doctrine matches the advice of Latter-day Saints, but that in this man we have a true realist, a man who’s not deluded with regard to the reality of things, the way things really are in this world, in this seemingly cursed world. That’s a rather loose spin that the modern church puts on things. Wouldn’t they tell us that there’s no distinction between the church and the world, that they are being really foolish, tragically blind, if not corrupt? We’ve talked about the 19th with regard to the gravity and its power. The world opposes the truth. You want to hit the world? Where are you going to find it? Remaking it in your own head? Reconstructing things as you might wish them to be?

    All of that myriad of testimonies of your inability to face God, to reality, to please Him, are, in this world, truth does oppose error, falsehood. Light does oppose darkness. God does oppose Satan and his hosts. That’s the world you find yourself in.

    It’s not just the threat from the outside, as serious as that is. There’s a more subtle threat, and that comes from inside. Is it any wonder that Satan attacks initially from the inside, taking a creature in the garden, making that creature enspoiled so that he can make his assault upon humanity? How naive the Church is when it believes that there is no threat that arises from within the walls of the Church. There are actually wolves dressed up in sheep’s clothing.

    It’s true. And Paul is speaking about these in Philippians. And there’s the one group, spoken of in the third chapter, who are out-and-out heretics. Paul calls them dogs. He says, they mind earthly things. They parade under the name and the title of Christian, but they are anything but, for they have developed their own doctrine. And that doctrine in that area is the truth. There’s a second group that really focuses on verses 15 through 18 of the first chapter. These people aren’t heretics, they’re Orthodox. Paul is able to say that they preach Christ in the 18th verse, but what their problem is. The problem is that they do not have Christ at the center of their lives. They don’t have Christ at the center of their ministries.

    Paul says that they’re motivated by envy, by jealousy. He says, in verse 17, that they’re motivated by selfish ambition. Their own agenda has displaced the agenda of the God. Paul has appeared in Rome. And it is generated in them envy and jealousy and strife. What is true of them at the most fundamental level now comes to expression. These are men who are self-centered.

    Now, it’s not as if we have to go around the world looking for people who take advantage of apostles who are in prison, as if we could conjure up such a situation in our present day. The point isn’t to say that there are apostles being taken advantage of while they are in chains in prison by other religious opportunists. The point is that there are some who preach the gospel on the basis of selfish ambition. That’s the point.

    And in listening to them, you may not be able to discern it, because they sound so orthodox. In fact, they might be recognized as believers of evangelical work. But interestingly, buildings are named before them, and organizations And when you give your money, you give your money to their name and to their operation.

    People of God, we are facing a tragedy. And one of the reasons why we are facing that tragedy is because we today cannot line up what we read here in these verses with the atrocities that are taking place in the name of Christ. You may even give your life to such operations as that.

    But for all that is said, he is not poised to murder us. It is selfish ambition. And what is our reaction? We may be distressed, and rightly so. We may take exception, and rightly so. But even though we are distressed and we take exception, and even at times outraged, may we also respond, disciplined as we are, by the spirit of Jesus Christ at work in the Apostle, to rejoice in the fact that Christ is risen.

    The message goes on. People mend, even through unfit servants. He will triumph even through unworthy preachers. The extremities, then, of the Apostles’ situation. In the midst of it, assaulted from without, assaulted from within, yet He is rejoicing and He will rejoice because He is so absolutely confident of the triumph of Christ. What impact has this among Philippians in the first century? That they might be resilient in coming to supper, to learn in the midst of their pain through the joys, their affliction coming to them through the cross of Christ?

    Oh, yes. but that they might also be on the lookout for any selfish ambition and vanity, an egocentrism that is rising in them so as to obscure Christ and to exalt themselves. The centerpiece will be, will it not, have this mind in you, which is also in Christ Jesus. For although he existed in the form of God, he did not regard the equality with God of things to be grasped, but emptied himself and took the form of a bondservant, being made in the likeness of man. Denying, says the apostle, out of selfishness and empty conceit, but with humility of mind, let each of you regard one another as more important than himself. in the Astronomy Institute than of our situation. Will we not be disciplined after the pattern of the Apostle to rejoice, and again to rejoice, So I’m really confident in the triumph of Christ, and not that, not generally, but specifically in regard to myself in our own lives.

    Here’s our moment. And you bless us, Father, richly with knowledge of your will. May our hearts learn the lessons of faith, provided we are more and more able to rejoice in the circumstances that come to us. Rejoice, because Christ is exalted. Rejoice, because Christ is the victor. and your kingdom will in fact have its way in all the affairs of this world. O God, may we not be so vain as to put our own selfish ambitions between us and you, so as to eclipse your goal So as to eclipse that which is rightly yours, may we not seek the praise of others, but may we seek to be servants for the sake of our Savior, and therein find our joy and laughter. We ask this in our Savior’s name.

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

  • Tribulation Advancing the Gospel

    Tribulation Advancing the Gospel

    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, May 19, 1991.

    About this sermon

    God’s sovereignty takes different shapes across Paul’s letters, and in Philippians Paul’s own tribulations become the means God uses to advance the gospel. Persecution of the saints points directly to God’s rule. What looks like a setback is sovereignty in action.

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    Sermon transcript

    On Paul’s pledge to the Philippians, the first chapter, we are beginning with verse twelve. Hear the word of God. By which he 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 in me preached Christ even of envy and strife, and some also of goodwill. 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. 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. I shall 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 the faith. That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.”

    It’s too often overlooked by well-intentioned and reformed and Presbyterian people. Now, we who are Presbyterian and Reformed have definite preferences when it comes to Paul’s letters. We might watch to what are called the pastoral epistles, 1 and 2 Timothy, and also Titus, because we find in them a statement with regard to the order and structure of the Church. Being known as that people who like to do everything decently and in order, we oftentimes rush to those epistles for help. But we also prefer those letters from Paul that demonstrate a strong theological mind. We know the letters. I have in mind. Paul’s letter to the Romans, his letter to the Galatians. We love also his letter to the Ephesians and his letter to the Colossians.

    Now, these latter epistles each have their own powerfully well-crafted statements about God’s absolute authority and sovereignty. There are those statements that are unmistakably explicit, in which God in all of his power and strength and magnificence is set forth. Those statements that are unmistakable and explicit with regard to God’s predestination and even His electing grace.

    We who are Reformed and Presbyterians, that is, we who are Calvinists and Protestantian, have designated ourselves, or, if you will, by Father and Son have been designated as those guardians of these greatly ignored, if not muchly maligned, doctrines from the word of God. But we certainly do ourselves a disservice If we are looking at those cherished doctrines of the Reformed faith, the doctrines of God’s predestination and His sovereign election, we do ourselves a disservice if we bypass Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Now, I will admit, it certainly is true that we do not find in Philippians the obvious, the well-marked statements that we find elsewhere from Paul. You know, those ones like we find in Romans, the eighth chapter. Think of verses twenty-nine and thirty.

    For whom he foreknew, that is, for whom God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son. And whom he predestined, he also called. Predestination precedes calling. That test stirs our blood. We might well think of another test, one from Ephesians, the fourth chapter, the sixth verse. We heard it read from this pulpit last week.

    There is one God and Father of all who is over all, there is His sovereignty through all and near all. Now, while the letter to the Philippians doesn’t have statements like these, in its own way, forcefully yet subtly, it sets forth the truth concerning God’s absolute, unquestionable, unshakable side. God is such a Lord that nothing, absolutely nothing, can come to pass apart from Him. Now, investigating this matter sets before us, well, now, Paul’s missionary report, which we have read in the first chapter. Paul’s report to these Philippian Christians presents his present circumstances in a very personal, yet in a very wonderful way.

    He in these verses is setting forth an affirmation of God’s sovereign control over the affairs of his life. And not only that, God’s sovereign control of the affairs of the life of the world. And most particularly, God’s gracious, omnipotent oversight of the lives of His elect. Our God who sovereignly disposes all things to His own glory, and for his own people’s good.

    Even in these verses we will then read words that remind us of that marvelous truth that is set forth in Romans 8 verse 28, where we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. So great is God’s power. You must consider it now. You must be impressed with it.

    So great is God’s power, and so perfect is His sovereign authority that He is able to take the devices of wicked men and turn those devices upon their head. Will God be thwarted Will God be denied? Will it be proved in the end that God was not God, that He was powerless, that He was powerless to save, that He was powerless to do anything for the sake of the world? Or is God all-powerful, and is His sovereign will being worked out in the course of human history? It’s one or the other. So great is God’s power, so perfect is His sovereign authority, that He takes the devices of wicked men and He turns those devices upon their head.

    It is precisely in this man that we find the Apostle rejoicing. Oh yes, later on in Philippians, He’s going to call upon those Philippians to rejoice. People say, again I’ve made the choice, but now they listen to some rejoicing from the Apostle himself, as he gives an account of his circumstances. He wants these Philippian Christians to know how things are going for him, and he wants these Philippian Christians to know how he is handling those things that are taking place. in and around him. He says in the twelfth verse that he wants these Philippian saints to know how his circumstances are turning out for the greater progress of the gospel. Maybe I should remind you exactly what the circumstances are that Paul has in mind.

    He is presently awaiting trial for submission. The charges that he faces are trumped-up charges from a group of Jerusalem Jews. After a long wait and a number of preliminary investigations and interrogations in Palestine, Paul has been shipped off to Rome for burial. And currently, as he writes to these Philippian Christians, he is awaiting in prison, in chains, the resolution of his case.

    Can you hear it from his words that how beautiful, how wonderful the sovereignty of God is confirmed even in these circumstances? The wicked devices of men to oppose the truth Obviously, Paul’s enemies had intended his arrest and his imprisonment to end his effectiveness, to bring to an end his ministry, to silence the message that he was preaching. But Paul tells us here that the gospel has not been hindered at all, rather it has advanced. But just how far has the Gospel advanced? Paul tells us that the word of the Gospel has been echoed throughout the corridors of the whole palace. If you have a modern translation, rather than the authorized this morning white note that some have offered for the translation, that the gospel is progressing amongst the Praetorian Guard. Who were the Praetorian Guard? They were the military elite. They were the special corps of imperial guards who were set by the emperor himself.

    And these have been given responsibility in Paul’s case. This group is especially charged with Paul’s oversight, and not only that, the gospel we are told is being echoed not only through the Praetorian Guard, but all those who are related to them in every place. God and all who are connected with them are fully aware,” says Paul, of the reason for his imprisonment. They know the charges are trumped up. They know that he is on trial for the truth of the gospel, and the gospel is having impact, it is having an effect upon those who are even in high places. Later on in this very epistle, in its conclusion, Paul will mention to the Philippians that those in Caesar’s household breached him. Chapter 4, verse 22. I want you to note the irony here. The Gospel is advancing, that’s what Paul says.

    Wickedness devices are being turned on their heads. The Gospel is advancing, though, through an enchained and imprisoned creature. And it is gaining victories amongst those who embody the world’s greatest strength militarily and politically. Those who are the most powerful are actually being overcome by that which is the weakest. and apparently the most ineffectual. But there is something here more than that which is merely ironic. There is something here quite profound.

    We might think that Paul’s point with regard to the conquest of the gospel is certain and guaranteed conquest. That his point with regard to that predestinated end unto which all things are pressing, according to the sovereign power of an almighty God, We might think that this gospel is progressing in spite of the circumstances that he describes here. That the gospel is actually going forward in spite of the fact that Paul is in prison, that he is in chain. But we should note that Paul here is saying something quite different. No, it’s not that God triumphs in spite of the distress that’s experienced by the Apostle present.

    Rather, God triumphs particularly in and by that distress itself. We judging the circumstances, the Philippians judging the circumstances, would say that they signal a severe setback. Paul is in prison. The circumstances spell out things that are contrary, negative, distressing in themselves. If Paul is telling us that these things are not to be viewed as setbacks, They’re not to be viewed as contrary, they’re not to be viewed as negative. Rather, they are to be viewed precisely as the means of God’s triumph. God is triumphing through one who is changed. God is proving himself victorious through one who is in prison. And the victory of God is manifest in the one who is weak.

    Now, this will help us understand much better Paul’s words of the 13th verse, where he speaks about the bonds, or my bonds, in Christ. I liked the King James rendering at that point. I thought it was accurate. The phrase of the King James is, my bonds in Christ, Paul speaking about his enslavement.

    He’s stating that the progress of the gospel is not in spite of his bonds, but because of and through his bonds, precisely through his chains, through his humiliation, through his suffering, through his affliction, the gospel goes forward. His bonds then, his chains, become powerfully part of it. But how can it be otherwise? They are, after all, bonds in Christ. What does bond mean? Bonds in Christ.

    It means more than the fact that he has come into these chains because he has preached Christ. He needs to relate his bonds, his chains, specifically to Christ and what has happened in and through Christ. These bonds that he has are bonds and chains that bind him to Christ in that Christ himself was bound. And where was it that Christ was bound? He was bound with respect to God and God’s will and God’s purpose as it was fulfilled in Him when, in fact, Christ suffered. And that cross upon which He suffered became a positive statement, not a negative. The bodies found then in Christ are those that led him to the bar of human justice, and eventually to the place of execution upon the cross.

    And now, as Paul himself is bound in chains and takes to himself this affliction, he sees a binding between himself and Christ, a union effective in their afflictions. Do you understand then how Paul was able to rejoice while in chains? How he’s capable of praising God when he’s bound, even though it looks like it’s all over? Paul faces the affliction with a confidence that is born of one who has believed that Christ’s cross is positive and issues in life, and the Christ who suffered there upon the cross was vindicated and raised from the dead.

    Just as then the cross of Christ proves to be the means of God’s triumph, so also do the chains of Paul. God’s sovereign power then triumphs not in spite of the cross, but because of the cross. And God’s sovereign power now shows itself in Paul, this apostle, not in spite of his plight, but because of it and through it.

    Is it any wonder, is it any wonder that we find this man expressing himself as he does at the conclusion of this epistle? Do you remember what he said? I have learned that whatever state I am in, there will be contentment. That you could say that. That you could say that. where there are those who are saying it. With Paul, in Rome, he makes that claim in the fourteenth verse.

    Once more, God is demonstrating His power and His sovereignty. His enemies, Paul’s enemies, have counted on the Christians in Rome being intimidated by Paul’s harassment and imprisonment. They wouldn’t dare open their mouths, they thought, lest a similar fate befall them. They’d be in bondage, they’d be in jail. Paul, however, says that it is just the opposite that is taking place. They are more bold. speak the word of truth.

    These preachers in Rome are encouraged by Paul King to proclaim the word without shame. One can’t help but be reminded of horrible ordeals suffered by the people of God throughout history, and sometimes at the hands of those who claim the name of Jesus Christ.

    You think about those English Reformers from the 16th century who stood up to the reign of Mary Tudor, otherwise known as Bloody Mary, the years 1553 and 1558. How many did she execute? Two hundred and eighty-eight. Fifty-five women and four children included. Burned all at the stake alive. How do we, to face that death, face it? God is sovereign, they said. I will not give up the truth. I will hold on to the word of God. It’s the word of everything. I would rather die than deny the gospel.

    One memorable page in that whole affair is October 16, 1555, on that day Hugh Ladder and Nicholas Ridley made their way to the battle. Did you know that they used to tie a bag of gunpowder around their necks when they strapped them to the stake? Neither of these gentlemen are fearful, but strong and firm in their faith.

    It is in that context that Ladler uttered his famous words to Master Ridley. Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, play the man. We shall this day attend by God’s grace in England that I trust shall never be quit. whether or not the candle is lit by burning brightly today. Yet the affirmation of His glory is set in the Spirit of the Apostle. That’s how it’s been.

    For apostles, for preachers, for martyrs, And what about the patriarch Joseph? You meant it to mean for you that God meant it to mean for you that much people might be saved. That not just apostles and pastors and martyrs and patriarchs, but God’s people all that you too may face life with confidence in the knowledge that your sovereign God is over all, and that he is disposing all things for your good and for your benefit, regardless of the affliction, and even in the affliction, turning that affliction and that pain into triumph. Will you not take heart? Don’t be fearful, little flower. Don’t you know it’s your father’s will to give you the kingdom?

    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.

  • Approving What Is Excellent

    Approving What Is Excellent

    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, May 5, 1991.

    About this sermon

    Paul’s prayer for the Philippians differs in emphasis from his prayer for the Colossians, and the difference is instructive. ‘Approving things that are excellent’ in 1:10 means far more than vague moral discernment. New Testament Christians pray with that same discernment.

    More sermons from Philippians · Browse all sermons

    Sermon transcript

    Here is the word of God. Israel is an empty vine. He bringeth forth fruit unto himself according to the multitude of his fruit. He hath increased the elders according to the goodness of his land that they have made goodly images. Their heart is divided. Now shall they be found faulty. He shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images. For now they shall say, we have no king, because we feared not the Lord. What then should a king do to us? They have spoken words, swearing falsely and making a covenant. Thus judgments bring us up as hemlock in the furrows and fields.

    The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Beth Adam. For the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof shall rejoice on it for the glory thereof because it is departed from it. It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present to King Jeroboam. Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own temple. As for Samaria, her king is cut off as the foam upon the water, the high places also of Aden.

    And the sin of Israel shall be destroyed. The thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars, and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us until the hills fall on us. O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeon. There they stood, the battle in Gibeah against the children of Iniquity did not overtake them.

    It is in my desire that I should chasten or chastise them. And the people shall be gathered against them when they shall bind themselves in their two furrows. And Ephraim is a heifer that is taught and loveth to tread out the corn that I pass over upon his bare neck. And I will make Ephraim to ride, Judas shall prowl, and Jacob shall break his claw.

    Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy, break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord till he comes and reigns righteousness upon you. You have plowed wickedness, you have reaped iniquity, you have eaten the fruit of lies, because of this trust in thy way in the multitude of thy mighty men. Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled, and shall men be spoiled as shall men spoil Beth Arba in the day of battle. The mother is dashed in pieces upon her children. So shall Bethel do unto you because of your great wickedness.

    In the morning. Of Israel. Turning over to the Philippians. One. Nine eleven. And this I pray that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment, that she may approve things that are excellent, that she may be sincere and without offense to the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God. Let’s pray together.

    Our Father, exalt Yourself here with us, that we might be impressed with Your glory and know that You are the true and only God. We pray that we might rejoice in the revelation of Yourself that You are Father and Son, Holy Spirit. We ask that we might marvel at Your Word and be benefited by Your Word. We are praying, our Father, that we might be found obedient to You and that to defend us. We may hear if You speak to us. May peace surround us as a fortress. May we be quieted within, knowing that our God holds all things together for our good. We pray these things through Jesus our Savior. Amen.

    Now we have been working on Paul’s petition proper in Philippians chapter 1 and that petition proper is found in verses 9 through 11 which we have just read. We have identified the drift, the center, the substance of this from Paul on behalf of these Philippians in this way. But Paul in praying for these Christians is concerned for their sanctification and their service for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Set back as the cornerstone for the prayer of the apostles.

    We have tried to encourage ourselves with respect to prayer in light of this petition. We have asked ourselves, how do we pray? What is our concern? Are we preoccupied with ourselves when we pray? Or, in our prayers, even for others, are we taken up with matters of health and wealth? while the Apostle is taken up with matters of sanctification of service preoccupied with those matters. So as we think of the Apostle’s prayer we want to do so taking into consideration our own prayer matching ours with his taking our cue from him, learning something about prayer for our benefit and our spiritual good.

    So here it is. He has set out then the substance or the drift of the Apostle’s petition. His request of God for these Philippian Christians’ progress in sanctification and service for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, the Apostle prays, this is what he prays, that your love may abound more and more in all knowledge and in all discernment.

    Now those just aren’t pious words from this man. They are filled with substance. But as we reflect on these sentiments from the apostle, these words which he speaks now as the summary of his prayers, we might find ourselves a bit mystified. We have to do some translating. from interpreting.

    What, after all, is this love that he wishes to see abound more and more in these people? What is he talking about? What is he speaking of when he talks about this real knowledge and this discernment that is to accompany the love? What does he have in mind?

    We’ve been working our way through the positions in order to open up the statement by the apostle for our benefit. He speaks about these Philippians’ ability to approve those things that are excellent. Verse 10. He talks about their sincerity and their blamelessness. The same verse. until the day of Christ. He speaks to them about being filled with the fruit of righteousness, which comes through Jesus Christ, through the praise and the glory of God. Now, in order to understand the Apostle a little better, it might be well for us to check in on what he has said.

    During the same period in his life when he was a prisoner in Rome, and he wrote to the Colossians. You turn over to the official to the Colossians, the first chapter, you will note there that there is a prayer from the apostle, particularly verses nine through fourteen. in which the apostle then gives us the substance of a prayer prayed on behalf of these saints in Colossae that parallels well the prayer that he has offered up on part of the Philippians in his epistle to them. You’ll note the progress of that prayer, and it’s almost a one-to-one correspondence, as if you could place the prayer from the letter to the Philippians, compact as it is on one side, and the expansive version of it, the form that you have of it from Colossians on the other side of a piece of paper, go right down, as if you were making a list and see the parallels that match up cross page. Paul says this to the Colossians, for this reason also since the day we heard of it, not cease to pray for you, and to ask,” this is verse nine, “…ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding.”

    So you note that in the Philippian epistles, there is this prayer that there might be increase, that the love of these Philippians may abound more and more. Well, there’s increase here, too. that these people in Colossae may be filled with the knowledge of his will. As that love in Philippians was joined to knowledge and all discernment, so this knowledge that is spoken of in the letter to the Colossians is matched with all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

    And there’s a purpose statement. so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord to please him in all respect. You can match that up with the purpose statement that appears in the Philippian prayer, verse 10, so that you may approve the things that are excellent in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of trial. And then in that tenth verse of the first chapter of Colossians, you have a statement speaks about bearing fruit, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. So it is in verse 11 of Philippians 1, having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ.

    The Colossian prayer progresses, strengthened with all power, verse 11, according to His glorious might for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience, joyously giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in life. And that statement there, Verse 12 matches well with what Paul has in mind when he says at the end of verse 11 in Philippians 1, to the praise and the glory of God.

    So if we are mystified by the language of the apostle in Philippians, something that we can do is to turn to his letter to the Colossians and try to understand better the substance of his prayer in light of what he says there, matching these phrases back and forth.

    So even at that, we might remain in a trance. We might still be mystified after we have done all the matching we can do moving from Philippians to Colossians. Not exactly sure that we’re getting at the root of what the Apostle is speaking of. We must keep in mind that the context with which we work is much greater than that which is simply apparent at the surface of things in Philippians and in that prayer specifically. The Apostle Paul is speaking out of a greater context.

    And it is that context that is bringing to bear upon him and the formulation of his prayers these particular sentiments, these particular expressions, these particular words. So it won’t be merely a matter of matching Philippians with Colossians, it’s going to be a matter of matching Philippians with the entirety of the history of salvation.

    Then you’re going to be able to grasp hold of something of the weight, significance, and meaning of what the Apostle has in mind. You bring the entirety of your knowledge of the Word of God to bear upon this particular text, these three verses. That, you say, may be quite a task. But to give you a few clues, I want you to note what the Apostle says in that 10th verse of Philippians 1, and the purpose clause that he has there at the opening of that verse.

    He wants their love to abound more and more in real knowledge and in all discernment, so that they may approve the things that are excellent. It’s a phrase, actually, that appears elsewhere in Paul’s writings. So that you may approve the things that are excellent. Now, you may know where that is, if you have one of those nice, convenient, proper reference systems in your lodging.

    If you turn over to Romans, the second chapter, you’ll find the phrase there. It is in the second chapter that the apostle is setting out God’s justice in judging, and he’s speaking about what advantage the Jew may have, or at least what advantage the Jew may think he has, or what prize the Jew takes in his credit category. You start at verse seventeen there, and Romans two, and this is what you hear the apostles say.

    But if you bear the name Jew, and rely upon the law, and boast in God, and know his will, and approve the things that are excellent or essential, same phrase, being instructed out of the law, and are confident that you yourselves are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having the law, the embodiment of knowledge, and of the truth? You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one should not steal, do you steal, etc., etc.?

    The claims that he uses here, with respect to the Philippians, appears in that Roman context as he applies it to the Jews. Now hold on to that for a minute. Let’s move on in the prayer, one more step. Move on to verse 11 in Philippians 1. Here you have the statement, having been filled with the fruit of righteousness, Again, the Apostle Paul isn’t just grabbing words out of the air, he’s speaking out of the background in which he has been framed. He’s been brought up in Judaism. And if the Jews have been framed to think in terms of their approval of the things that are excellent, the Apostle Paul has been framed in that as well. But here, with respect to this matter of being filled with the fruit of righteousness, the Apostle Paul is actually reaching back into the Old Testament Scripture for a text, and now he is bringing it out of that context and placing it here for the benefit of these Philippian Christians.

    What text might it be? Well, your cross-reference may not help you here, but hopefully the morning Scripture lesson did. Hosea chapter 10. We read it this morning. See, I didn’t have a reason for reading it. And I’ll bet you know which verse it is. It’s that verse that stands out so wonderfully, so marvelously, in this chapter. God brings his case to bear upon Israel, upon Ephraim, the northern nation, which is under judgment, and then gives this appeal, brings to bear upon them this command, verse 12 of that tenth chapter, So, with a view to righteousness, reap in accordance with kindness, wake up your fellow brown, for it is time to seek the Lord until he comes to raise righteousness on you. That’s the task. Now, what is the apostle saying in all of this?

    He is saying, that in which Israel prided itself, the ability to discern those things which were excellent, and to approve of them, and that which God expected of Israel, these two things are coming to expression now in the Philippian faith and in the Church of Jesus Christ. The pride and the vanity and the boast of Israel which fail, which fall, is now being brought to fruition in the Philippian Christians and in the Church of Jesus Christ. And Paul is praying that whatever Israel wants might, in fact, appear gloriously amongst these things. what God expected of Israel of old.

    He expects of her no more. But he expects that of his people, his church. Israel has been judged. The focus of God’s activity now is his church, and she is the apple of his eye. This Jew called prayer. And there’s a certain Jewishness about his prayer. But as there is this prayer, it is a marvelous translation of the things that he prayed for. As much as his view and our history stand in the background of this, are us focusing now upon the Church of Jesus Christ. that in which Israel prided herself, her ability to discern those things excellent and approvable, and that which God expected of Israel. These two things are coming to expression in the Church of Jesus Christ, and that becomes the focus of the prayer of the Apostles.

    When you pray as Christians, you do not disregard the Old Testament. For the words and the phrases and the sentiments you find there even now inform your prayer statement. Why is the Psalter still a prayer book? for the people of God in our day? Why is it that you turn to the Sons, to the Sons themselves, when your heart is crying out to God, or you are setting yourself to prayer?

    Why, these are people from olden times. These are archaic prayers and songs, that are laid aside. My friends, the Reformed Church has been right all along. You find patterns of prayer and praise in the Psalter, and that’s why we sing so many psalms in this church. And that’s why so many of the prayers in this church have formed after the parody of the psalms. Apostle Paul is not ignorant of the Old Testament Scriptures as he prays. It’s not just the Psalms and the Psalter, is it?

    It’s the whole Word of God is abused to direct us in prayer. Not just New Testament, not just our circumstance today, not just what I learned this morning, but the whole Word of God is abused to direct us in prayer. How do you work at your goal? Are you reading through a portion of the Old Testament? Can you not see the applicability of that text from the Old Testament as you pray after you’ve read in your personal devotions?

    Here is a man then that seeks out of the reservoir of the entirety of the revelation that God While the Apostle is speaking out of his Jewish background and out of that Old Testament background, he is not praying as one who is part of the old situation and former circumstances.

    He is praying as a new man. And if this process of demystification with regard to the Apostles of Prayer is going to be complete, we’re going to have to understand what it means to be a new man, a new creature, to find ourselves in a new world, to find ourselves as participants in a new age. Because while is informed by his Jewishness. He does not pray as a Jew. He prays as a Christian.

    So what are these things that are excellent that we approve of? What is this fruit of righteousness with which we are to be filled? It is that which is found, says the Apostle Paul, in Christ Jesus. He says it comes through Christ Jesus. Those things which are excellent, which are approved of by us, are the things that are mediated unto us by Christ out of His glorious kingdom. Those things that are true in His kingdom. Those things that are now made to be true for us because we are in His kingdom. Do you hear what the Apostle says in that Colossians prayer? Do you read it to the end? It’s marvelous stuff. Look at that Colossians 4, chapter 1.

    He says, giving thanks to the Father, verse 12, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in life. He’s glorified us. To share in that inheritance. And then he goes on to say, As if to say, it’s not something that you merely must wait for, it’s something that’s already asserting itself in your life presently. For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and He translated us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

    You have been placed in a new environment. That is the exaltation of grace. It’s not something that you did. It’s not something that you could work for. It’s not something that you could go to God and say, you owe it to me, God. It’s something that he has done sovereignly and graciously for you. He has made you new and he’s placed you in a new world. And now you pray as one to fade out of that new world and with respect to it.

    The things that are excellent are the things that belong to me and God. So some of the language may be old. But listen to how it becomes me. When spoken by those who have been made me. Regenerated. Even your words are an expression of your regeneration. even more prayer on expression of their new birth. You have been born from up above. You are a citizen of heaven and now you pro-life them.

    Well, the sanctification and the service that take shape in thinking of the Apostles Prayer in the lives of these saints and in our lives too are expressed in words like love, knowledge, discernment, saying excellency, sincerity, blamelessness, truthfulness, unrighteousness, and all of these terms are a multiplicity of description of eternity and the regions of time which now are expressing themselves in all the strength of God until the day comes. God will give us a heart to bring you forward to bear upon our prayers, but also may there be love to bear upon our souls. That state of regenerative, our regeneration, our rebirth in Christ, whereby we have been glorified to share in the impermanence of the saints in life. So is it not true, then, that we have been translated out of the domain of darkness and into the kingdom of your beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, where forgiveness is gained? We glorify you in Christ, knowing that our prayer, as all our lives, are unto the praise and glory of our God. Amen.

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

  • Love Connected to Discernment

    Love Connected to Discernment

    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, April 28, 1991.

    About this sermon

    The Philippians form a necessary part of Paul’s work, and that shapes his prayer for them in 1:3-8. Paul ties love directly to wisdom and discernment, so love never turns sentimental. Christ’s love for the church, read beside Colossians 1, grounds both.

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    Sermon transcript

    For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will with all wisdom and spiritual understanding. that she might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.

    Strengthened with all might according to His glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering, with joyfulness giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us these to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in Christ, who hath liberated us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son, in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.

    For by Him are all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or divisions or principalities or powers. All things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. He is the head of the body, the Church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He might have the preeminence. For it pleads the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself.

    By Him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated, enemies in Her mind by wicked works, yet now have been reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, present you holy and unblameable and unapprovable in His sight.

    If ye continue in the faith, rounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven, whereinof I, Paul, am made a minister, do now rejoice in my sufferings for you. fill up that which is behind the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the Church, for of I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you to fulfill the word of God, even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his face. to whom God would have made known what is the richest of the glorious, this mystery of all the Gentiles, which is Christing in the hope of the world, whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus, whereunto I also labor, striving according to his working, which worketh in me.” I thank my God upon every remembrance of me, always in every prayer of mine for you all, making a quest with joy for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing. that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Even as it is neat for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my arms and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of my grace.

    For God is my record, and how greatly I long after you all in the affections of Jesus Christ.”

    I think that it is apparent to you, if you have been here for some of these messages, if not all of them, on Philippians thus far, it is apparent to you that Paul is full of surprises. Paul is full of surprises. There are surprises for us as we look at his prayers. We have noted, for instance, the way in which he gives thanks. The opening of this Philippian letter is a prayer. And you have Paul’s thanksgiving in verses three through eight of that opening chapter. But the surprise for us here in these verses is the manner in which this man gives thanks. Do you know this? Has it settled in upon your conscience yet? Are you carrying it about in your heart? In fact, are you carrying it with you when you are praying?

    The very example of this man, this apostle, this emissary of the Lord, as he prays. Well, the surprise in his thanksgiving is that he gives thanks for others, and he starts with others. as if those others have a priority, and thanks for them has a priority.

    It is marvelous to watch the discipline at work with him, the apostle, as he prays, and in his prayer gives thanks for others. I’m thankful for you. This could help greatly many a minister, many a servant of the Lord in his approach to the Church. If he too would learn that discipline from the Apostle, opening up his prayers with thanksgiving for others. And not only for ministers of the Word, but for the saints, as they would learn from such examples. You too, starting your prayers with thanksgiving for those who are about you. Even the folks that are here with you in this congregation.

    Well, I think that you have noted with me some of the dynamics of this unique, remarkable thanksgiving from Paul. His thanksgiving has the effect of elevating those for whom he gives thanks. He says, in the process of the Thanksgiving, those for whom he is thankful are actually elevated, exalted.

    He expresses it in this text in terms of their participation with him in the proclamation of the gospel. Verse five, they are exalted to the level of participating with him in the proclamation of the gospel, as if they were raised to the level of apostleship themselves. So magnanimous is he, so generous is his spirit, And not only so, this participation by them he views as indispensable. It is a necessary participation, a mandated participation, an essential participation on their part.

    He wouldn’t be without it. There is also the measure of this thanks as it comes through in this thanksgiving from him for these Philippians. So much is Paul bound to these thanks. He says and carries them about in his heart. They are so intertwined. His thanks for them, then, is no less for them than it is for himself.

    How thankful, you imagine, the Apostle Paul would be for the grace that he has received, the grace which he has received in the Gospel. He is thankful to God, surely, for his own salvation and for the grace that has been showered upon him. But he is no less thankful for these Philippian sayings, with the thanks that he is thankful for God, thankful to God for his own salvation, with precisely that same thanks he is thankful for these Philippians.

    We are well instructed by this man in proper prayer. But as we say, Paul is full of surprises. There is this unique twist that he instigates that is so very instructive, so powerfully instructive. But then we come to the matter of that for which he prays. Not only is there the question of his thanksgiving and those for whom he is thankful, there is also the issue of the prayer itself, the petition that he makes, verses 9 through 11. We pointed this out previously. Do you see what’s of concern to you?

    He prays for the Philippians that their love may abound more and more, that their love may abound more and more. The focus of his petition, therefore, is the sanctification and service of these Philippians for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. That’s the focus. And this is what he’s praying for with regard to these people. Not only Not only is he then in his prayers focusing upon others, not himself, but in his prayer for others, he’s focusing specifically on those things that pertain to the spiritual well-being of the saints. I believe that our habit of mind, and I know this is true of myself, is to be primarily concerned with the health and general well-being of those for whom I pray. Now, surely those issues are important, and they cannot be laid aside.

    But the matter of primary concern when the apostle prays is the sanctification and service of the saints, as they live for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. If there is anyone that stands over against the contemporary health and wealth gospel, it is this. The Apostles’ prayers. For most laity, he is praying for their sanctification and service, not their health or their wealth.

    As important as those matters may be. The Apostle is full of surprises, and even his prayers of surprises come through. Now, as we look further at the content of this prayer, we are surprised again. And this, I pray, says that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge, real knowledge, and all discernment. We are surprised here because the Apostle joins love to knowledge and discernment. Apostle Paul, therefore, is not merely praying that love may abound, but love is now joined to these other factors, and it is appropriate to see this love expressed then in terms of these factors as they come to expression in the lives of the people. The reason we may be surprised by the apostles’ formulation at this point is because we tend to put love to one side and knowledge and discernment on the other.

    We almost treat them as if they are mutually exclusive. You can’t have both at the same time. You can’t be exercising love and exercising your intelligence simultaneously. In fact, you have to shelve your mind, you have to leave your brain at the door when you enter the house of prayer.

    We’ve talked about what happened in the Church with respect to fellowship in the fifties. We know what happened. Fellowship was ushered out the door of the sanctuary into the special building that was built for house fellowship. We had fellowship halls. The same thing was done with regard to edification, or education, or matters of the mind. Intelligence left the church and was sequestered by the Sunday school, when? And if there was going to be anything intelligent that took place in the church, it was going to take place in the Sunday school hour.

    It would not happen in worship. Don’t ask me to exercise my mind or my brain in worship. That’s work. And I don’t come to worship to work or to expend any energy. I don’t come to church to worship to work up a mental sweat. I come to church to relax, to lay back, to have it done smoothly. Love’s on one side, brain on the other.

    Neutrally exclusive, they cannot be brought together. And how well this plays into the spirit of our age. We are living in an age of manifest ignorance. And the spirit of our age is being encouraged by the Church, for the Church itself has been overtaken by a cloud of anti-intellectualism. How serious is it?

    Let me tell you. There is not one world-class theologian in the Christian Church today, anyways. Now, it may not be your habit to sit down and meet world-class theologians. That’s fine. But it is a tragic and desperate day for the Church when there are no world-class theologians for the people of God. There are no hajis. There are no burfis. There are no mages. There are no vampires. There are no bosses. There are no prophets, there are no lawyers. They are all gone, and there are none seeming to take their place. Some have now suggested, in their approach to the faith, Christianity equals ignorance, and they’re happy with that. We believe in ignorant bliss.

    Well, that pertains to the knowledge aspect, as it’s related to love. Paul is asking God that these folks may abound in love more and more, but that this love may be informed by knowledge. At the same time, he adds discernment, all discernment, or, in the King James, judgment. And here we go.

    Just as it is true that in the minds, functionally, of a number of Christians that are pious, Christianity equals ignorance, Christianity also equals gullibility. It is a virtue to be gullible. Our love that abounds more and more is to be characterized by discernment, the ability to make proper and good judgments, to know the truth from falsehood, to recognize a whole human being, to not be deceived by sheep’s clothing, To not be taken in by words that sound good, by rhetoric. To not play fast and loose with wickedness. Isn’t this how it goes for the modern church in our time?

    On the one side is set love, On the other side is set discernment or judgment, or, if you will—let’s go this far—discipline. You can’t have both. If there is anything that is doing the Church of the twentieth century more than the fact that ignorance has been turned into a virtue, it’s the fact that gullibility has been turned into a virtue, and discipline has been chased right out the door of the congregation. Discipline does not exist. Dissent is evaporating. It’s gone. I plead with you.

    Listen to this apostle who will not allow himself to juxtapose love and godly knowledge, nor will he allow godly discernment to be chased out the door of the Church. Rather, he sees the love for which he prays on behalf of his saints, filled full of knowledge and of discernment, the ability to make critical judgments. Don’t be fools. Don’t be fools. He is wise as serpents. The pharmacist does, but don’t be fools. Well, I think that you realize that there are those times, in Paul and elsewhere, where he goes to town and goes to people who are insulted, toughed up in their knowledge.

    And in her case, knowledge is no virtue. I think you’re well aware of how he ridicules those who boast in their knowledge in 1 Corinthians. In fact, you could read the entirety of the letter of Paul, the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians, and see it as entirety from the Apostle against vain, empty, conceited knowledge. Those who are priding themselves in knowledge, and we can also find those texts in Paul and elsewhere in Scripture that invade against the hypercritical spirit, being judgmental just for the sake of proving yourself right and exercising your power. Nothing is more antithetical to the spirit of New Testament than that.

    I know that you’re fully aware of that. Here we have knowledge and judgment, critical judgment, matched with love, hand in glove, going together, in fact, inseparable in the apostle’s mind. There’s over a step now in this whole analysis that we have to take if we’re going to get a hold well of what the Apostle is saying for us. I think you realize full well the Apostle doesn’t have common, ordinary knowledge in mind here.

    He’s not just interested in cognitive ability, and he’s not merely interested in you being shrewd in your dealings within the Church. That isn’t what he has in mind when he’s talking about moral discernment. Is that religious and that ethical direction to the knowledge and the discernment that he has in view? This is what he prays for on behalf of these Bolivians.

    But just settling down into the ethical and mere religious connotations of the words that the Apostle Paul uses here will not settle the case for us, nor bring us full circle, bring us into the heart of what the Apostle was giving us. The real knowledge and the discernment that the Apostle has in view here is grounded well in his commitment to the God who has acted mightily in and through my Jesus Christ. The knowledge that he has in mind has in view that knowledge that comes to us specifically through the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. And this discernment that he has in view comes to us through the revelation that God has made of himself in and through Jesus Christ the Son. Thus, if knowledge and discernment are to grow in keeping with love within us, they must grow in our appreciation of God’s actions in His Son for us. that at this point Paul has merely an ethical vision in mind, that he is relying upon his Old Testament background, and the exposition of these words would be exhausted by some sort of detailed analysis of the law that had been given to Israel.

    But that’s not the case. In fact, That’s why Paul’s prayer here is expressed in such a compressed manner. He’s not interested in doing case studies with regard to special instances in the lives of particular Philippians. He’s not interested in sitting down and telling you rules, giving to you rules of thumb for your behavior. How are you supposed to do this or that, or in this situation or that situation, discern the will of God? No, that’s not it at all.

    The knowledge and the discernment that comes to expression here, in keeping with this love for which he prays, is that which is consistent with what God has done in Christ, in manifesting Him to His people. It is the broader issue that is the greater concern. And at the heart of it, you see, is what Paul then goes on to express and expound in the Philippian Epistle, that you might have, if you knew, that Mark, which was also Christ Jesus, that you, regardless of the exalted state which has been conferred upon you in Christ, might, in imitation of your Lord, humble yourself for the sake of others, and give yourself a servant. The love that abounds more and more in knowledge and in all discernment is virtually Christ himself coming to expression in you. You being appreciative now of those depths and ridges of grace manifest in and through Christ on your behalf.

    That we would pray like this. That we would give ourselves discipline by a short three verse prayer, a petition. Pray for these things with regard to others. You know, I think that’s happening here. I enjoy Wednesday night prayer meetings. Now, I know there are a lot of health and well-meaning prayers that are prayed on Wednesday night, and sometimes I pray myself. At the same time, there is an incredible magnanimity expressed within that small group as it comes together to pray. Great concern for us. And truly, at the heart of it, There is that desire all around that Christ would be more perfectly formed in each one of us. To the praise and the glory of God.

    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.

  • Peace Before Prayer

    Peace Before Prayer

    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, April 14, 1991.

    About this sermon

    Peace comes before prayer as its presupposition, the reverse of what most people assume. Paul’s prayer holds supplication and thanksgiving together, a combination Christ’s coming makes possible at new depth. Christ shows himself in the very shape of Paul’s prayer as well as in its subject.

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    Sermon transcript

    The first chapter and the first eleven verses of that opening chapter in Philippians. So we are reading there again this morning as we begin. Here are the words of Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ and all the saints in Christ Jesus, which are Philippians, with the bishops and deacons.

    Praise be unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God upon every remembrance of me, always and every prayer of mine for you all, making a quest with joy for your fellowship in the Gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing. that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Even as it is neat for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my bonds and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of my grace. For God is my refuge. How bravely I long after you all in the affections of Jesus Christ. This I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment, that ye may approve things that are excellent, that ye may be sincere and without offense for the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

    Then turning over to the 4th chapter of Philippians, verses 4-7. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The war is at hand. Be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known unto God, and the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” PRABHUPĀDA So anyway… I think that it goes without saying that all Christians are interested in prayer. All Christians are vitally interested in prayer.

    We can think of those various patterns for prayer that have been given to us in Scripture. We can think of the prayer book of the Old Testament disciples. We can think of particular prayers that were uttered by servants of God. We can think of prayers uttered by Moses, by Hezekiah, by Nehemiah, and by a host of others. We can think of the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples, or his prayer as it is commonly called. Paul is a man of prayer. He gives to these Philippians in the fourth chapter Something of a pattern for prayer. We’ve read that passage, a very familiar passage for you. It’s a favorite text of many. Verses 4 through 7 of Philippians 8. There’s something about this text that draws us not merely attracted because of what is said here about prayer, but also because there is attached to false statements on prayer a message concerning peace.

    I dare say that if there is something that Christians are more interested in than prayer, it’s peace. And I’m not talking about world peace, I’m talking about personal peace. Oh, that we have that tranquility. Oh, that we have that peace of mind. Oh, that we were at rest with ourselves. that we weren’t continually in a turmoil, distraught, strung out by worry, by anxiety, eaten up, in fact, by those very things.

    So you hear what the Apostle says here in the fourth chapter as he speaks about prayer. Sixth verse, famous, favorite of many. The New American Standard translates this way, “‘Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God and the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” I want to say something at the outset of this message this morning about peace.

    You see, I think that there is a mistaken notion about peace in relationship to prayer. Not that peace isn’t a byproduct of our prayer at times. Not that at certain times in our lives we throw ourselves upon the mercy of God, and the result of it is we are overwhelmed with a sense of peace and well-being, convinced that God in His Spirit is blessing us. That’s precisely what Paul has in mind here as he speaks about prayer and its relationship to peace in this context.

    He doesn’t have in mind here some sort of by-product, something that is produced as a result of your praying. He’s actually talking about something here that is made application in and through your prayers. In other words, it’s not a matter of you getting something you don’t got. It’s a matter of you using something you have.

    Now, I think that that would help a great many people in their prayers just to grab hold of that truth. We may be praying for the wrong reasons. We may be praying, expecting the wrong thing. We may come to prayer, and more often than not, we don’t have that flood of peace, and we’re disappointed. Because, after all, that’s why we were praying. We were looking for the byproduct, and we thought that peace would be the product of our prayer.

    Paul is saying that peace is the presupposition of your prayer. Paul is saying you have peace. Peace is established. He’s not speaking about peace here as the by-product of your prayer, but that peace which is made efficacious, when in fact you are at prayer because the peace is already your possession. Let the presupposition of peace inform you as you come to her.

    Rather than merely looking at peace as the by-product, grab hold of the peace that is already yours in Christ. Do I need conviction on this matter? Should we talk about Romans 5 verse 1, having therefore been justified by faith, we have peace with God? Do I need remind you of who Jesus Christ is, the very Prince of Peace? In Him we have peace, He is our peace. Your prayer does not make him the prince of peace. It does not establish the free peace of the kingdom. The peace of the kingdom is already existent, apart from your prayer. It precedes you.

    That peace then becomes efficacious in prayer. in guarding their hearts and minds, which are already in Christ Jesus.” Well, that much, this talk, with regard to prayer and hope. We started out talking this morning about patterns for prayer. And we said that this text in Philippians 4 is setting forth a pattern, and it’s the simplest of patterns. Can you pick up the others? For it’s a simple, two-fold pattern.

    You don’t have to remember any elaborate scheme. You don’t have to take a course. You don’t have to put any money down. You don’t have to send away for anything. It’s something very simple he puts before you here. He lists for you, as a matter of course, the substance of prayer, or the pattern of prayer, if you will, in that sixth verse. in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.” Then you have the components. First of all, prayer and supplication, they go together, to which he adds, then, with thanksgiving. Let me point out another pitfall in prayer.

    Not only assuming, as we said formerly, that peace will be the by-product of our frenzied astigme, thinking that, but just as much, thanksgiving being wholly absent. I’ll ask him, but I won’t thank him. I won’t thank him till I get it. And if I’m not satisfied with what he gives me, I’m certainly not going to thank him anyway. Do you see how deceptive the heart can be? Do you see how perverse we can be even with matters like prayer?

    A two-fold path, very simple. Prayer and supplication, two ways of expressing the same thing, but then the second ingredient, with thanksgiving. Prayer merely means requests. Supplication merely means a humble petition. Another way of saying it is the same thing. Humble petition.

    Adam and Eve dimension to it, at least to me. To call attention to in this pattern of prayer, laying out for us here, is the mood. Is the mood of the worshipper, of that one who would pray as he approaches God, yes, reversed, but in humility, humble edition, realizing that they are cast upon the mercy of God. Has the mood extended then? Why words with thanksgiving? Think of yourselves in your prayers. Think of how needlessly difficult they become because they, at lack of humility, there is that absence of thanksgiving. We are here, then, talking about not only the presupposition of peace which comes from God, but the presupposition of humility and thanksgiving that are resident in those who would pray.

    This pattern we observe here from the Apostle Israel down in the Scripture. Do we need to rehearse the entirety of the Book of the Psalms if you look at prayers that are recorded there? What do they amount to? Yes, requests of God, humble positions, bathed in thanksgiving. Why, there’s a joy that just erupts from the Psalter. even when the psalmist is at his worst, when he is most depressed, that note of hope is being heard, it is being sounded for.

    The pattern is there in the Old Testament, and the pattern is likewise found in Jesus himself. Jesus prays. We have some of his prayers in Scripture. Can you think of some of the prayers of Christ? Turn to Matthew 11. You’ll find one there. Again, it’s a very famous chapter that many may not realize that it is a prayer uttered by Jesus. The end of that chapter, verse 25.

    And at that time, Jesus answered him and said, I thank thee, O Father.” There’s the thanksgiving. It’s the very first words out of his mouth. I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and the intelligent, and didst reveal them to me. Yes, Father, for thus it was well-pleasing in thy sight. All things have been handed over to me of my Father, etc. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone whom the Son wills to reveal Him.

    We have the marvelous invitation then given by Jesus at the conclusion, verses 28 and 30, calling to me, etc. And here’s an instance in which we find the pattern well worked out, even from Jesus. And then, in John chapter 11, the story is the resurrection of Lazarus. Before Jesus calls Lazarus out of the tomb, verse 41 of that 11th chapter in John, Jesus says, Father, I thank thee that thou hearest me. that knew that thou hearest me always, because of the people standing around thy senate, that they may believe that thou didst send me.” So, the thanksgiving, the mood that we find here expressed by the apostle Paul and set before these Philippians is expressed by Jesus himself. There’s something else here that you want to take note of, that you need to be aware of.

    That is, insofar as this pattern of prayer is somewhat continual, it comes to us out of the Old Testament, we hear about it again in the New Testament, yet in the New Testament that very pattern has achieved new heights in and through Jesus Christ. A new day. A new day of humble petition has arrived in and through Jesus our Savior. It is Jesus who says, Ask, and ye shall receive. Almost as if no one had asked before, or when they did ask, they had no real guarantee or confidence that they would be heard. A new day has come. A new day of access has come. Jesus says, in fact, in John 14, verses 23 and 24, that formally, you ask nothing in my name. Now ask! Ask in my name, and ye shall receive. Whatever you want, ask, and ye shall receive.

    A new day of humble petition has arrived because of the activity of our God in and through Jesus Christ our Savior. Our petitions humbly presented before our God are now heard as never before, because the one to whom we are bound, Jesus Christ himself, has the ear of his Father.

    But not only is this a new day of competition, it is also a new day of thanksgiving. There are many places throughout the New Testament in which this is brought out, its power, the power of thanksgiving, the overwhelming power and magnitude of thanksgiving that is now available. It’s almost as if it were unprecedented. There is praise in the Old Testament, but that praise is more when compared to the praise that comes forth in the New.

    There is that text, that wonderful text, written by Peter in his first epistle, the very first chapter, and I’m sure that you know this text as well. The following marvelous beatitude, in which Peter blesses God, the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, verses three through five, and then begins to speak about this remarkable joy and thanksgiving that is available now to the saints of the Lord.

    In this you greatly rejoice, he says in verse 6, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to resolve in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And though you have not seen Him, you love Him. And though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full glory. The day in which you live is the day of unprecedented thanksgiving and joy. because of what has been accomplished for you in Jesus Christ, his death, resurrection, his ascension into glory, the promise of his return, and at his return, the blessings in nature poured out upon you in all their reality. In and through Jesus Christ, a new day of humble petition in which we approach the Father, a new day of unprecedented thanksgiving, but also a new day of confidence. This confidence because, you see, there is one who intercedes, who lives. Who lives? Romans 8, 34? Who intercedes? For us, 1 John 2, we have an advocate before the Father.

    What about those texts from Hebrews, where we hear this message repeatedly? In Hebrews 4, verses 14 through 16, “‘Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been counted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” A new day of humble petition, an unprecedented day of thanksgiving, And a day in which we can exhibit remarkable confidence, even approach the throne of God with all this. Not doubting. Well, the great thing about the Apostle Paul is that not only is he a good preacher, he practices what he preaches.

    So we move back from the fourth chapter of Philippians to the first. And would you notice the pattern of prayer worked out there for you in the opening of this epistle? Verses 3 through 8. What would you call that? Verses 3 through 8 in the first chapter being nothing less than the Apostle’s thanksgiving. When he prayed, he gives thanks. Now, you may want to also remember taking into consideration false circumstances. The man’s in jail. The man’s in jail. He’s in chains. And he still gives birth.

    There is also a humble petition, verses 9 through 11, and you will know that Paul isn’t praying for himself, he’s praying for others. If the cross has made any impact If there has been any value of it in the lives of the believers, it is to this extent that now no longer do they look upon themselves as the center of the universe, as the center of existence and life itself. They look at others. And even in his prayers, Paul proves to be the servant, because he is the servant of the servant, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for others. Why is the very life of Jesus coming to an expression in man? While he lays out the pattern for prayer for Philippians, he is a man of prayer himself. And the very pattern of prayer that he enjoins upon others is one that is practiced by him. That is given. Humble petition. What lessons are here for us to be learned?

    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.

  • Praise as the Remedy for Addiction

    Praise as the Remedy for Addiction

    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, April 14, 1991.

    About this sermon

    Thanksgiving is a real remedy, and praise to God answers addiction. The Philippians shared in Paul’s gospel work, and they also struggled with envy and selfishness, and Paul does not pretend otherwise. Measured against the Old Testament’s prayers, Paul’s show thanksgiving working in a new way.

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    Sermon transcript

    Here are the words of God. Paul and Timothy, the servants of Jesus Christ, and all who stay in Christ Jesus, which are fillified with the bishops and deacons. Praise be unto you in peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God upon every remembrance of me, always in every prayer of mine for you all, making a request with joy for your fellowship. In the Gospel, from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Even as it is neat for me to think this of you all because I have you in my heart. In as much as both in my bonds and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of my grace. For God is my record. How greatly I long for you all in the affections of Jesus Christ.

    This I pray that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment. that ye may approve things that are excellent, that ye may be conceived without offense of the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are thine, O Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.”

    Now, we spent some time on Paul’s last year. A few words at this point may be helpful, as we move into the request, the prayer proper, if you will, verses 9 through 11. I think it should be a paraphrase to our level that thanksgiving is not something that can easily be overlooked. It is joined into prayer and supplication in that fourth chapter, the sixth verse, and you would have to say that there is something here much more than a simple connection, a superficial connection. We can say that what is given is an indispensable part of prayer. In other words, where there is prayer, we should expect there to be thanksgiving. We should expect there to be that kind of coming request. We might even go further.

    As with prayer, so is life. The Christian life is one that is cast in the mode of thanksgiving. The Christian life is one that has thanksgiving woven into true conscience. And as prayer does not be devoid of thanksgiving, neither is the Christian life devoid of thanksgiving.

    Our prayer, being reflective of our life, being of a peaceful living, as we move from life to prayer, they’re being met with symptoms. You may be at the stress of your own prayers. too much of an incongruent. Your prayers take on a certain shape and have a certain character. But your life isn’t consistent with your prayers. What we’re aiming at is that consistency. As with our prayers, so with our lives. Thanksgiving in life, so with thanksgiving in prayer. Vice versa. From prayer to life.

    I’m struck by this because of my exegesis of Genesis chapter 9. Some of you have heard that exegesis in former messages. Genesis 9, the latter part of it, is the passage the preachers often turn to in fact. It’s not uncommon to have preachers, if they are preaching through the early chapters of Genesis, skip right over the last part of the ninth chapter, and you get on a drift and you recall what’s taking place in that ninth chapter. It’s the story of Noah. It’s the story of Noah’s drunkenness. It’s sort of an embarrassing story. It’s not the kind of story that people like to have read, in fact.

    But, see, one of the things displayed in that text is that you have here a harvest situation. No one has planted vineyards. Harvest is thought. One is apparently absent. What is conspicuous in its absence, as you have this harvest theme presented to you, what is conspicuous in its absence is thanksgiving. There’s absolutely no thanksgiving. You have a harvest, and there’s no thanksgiving of presents. We know what happens. are the same soon degenerate into a scene of brokenness. Where there is no thanksgiving, there is supply.

    I wish I could get this point across to people who are having trouble. People who are having trouble with self-discipline services. People are having trouble with it all. I shared this message with a number of folks who have been struggling with that issue. Struggle to communicate it to them.

    The fact that if Thanksgiving is part and parcel of their life, there will be no room left for the problem at play. A thankful knower is not a drunk knower. A thankful Christian is not a man or a woman who is given over to those kinds of tendencies. As with prayer, so with life.

    Let’s take the alcohol. We all realize the affliction of the will, the problem that the individual is having. What if that individual were just praying with thanksgiving as he’s faced with his difficulties? How difficult would it be for him then to proceed to do what he contemplates doing? And if that prayer is but part of his life, a life that’s filled with thanksgiving to God, then increasingly, more and more, there’s less and less room for his problems and his dependence.

    You see, I think that Paul has clearly that story in Genesis 9 in mind when he writes Ephesians 5. You remember how it goes in Ephesians 5, verse 18, powerful text? It’s almost as if you can hear statements arising out of Genesis 9 as Paul pens these words. He says in verse 18 of that fifth chapter of Ephesians, Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.” It’s one or the other, he says. You have two courses laid out in front of you, there it is. Be filled with the Spirit.

    Then he goes on, verse 19, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Why does he say that? I know how that passage is ordinarily interpreted. It’s interpreted as being pertinent to a worship context, not so. Paul here is talking about life. This is the kind of conversation you have.

    This is what we aim at, conversation that is overflowing with praise, praise that is expressed in terms of psalms, hymns, spiritual psalms. Yes, a true biblical effervescence. I’m not talking about the mindless escort. Singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord.

    That characterizes your life. But notice now verse 20. How powerful this is. All things giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God you will love. There it is. There is a remedy. There is a remedy. Thanksgiving. Indispensable to proper Christian living. Indispensable to proper Christian prayer. If you’re going to open your mouth, constrain yourself. If you’re going to voice prayer, constrain yourself with respect to Thanksgiving. learned lessons from the man he’s in charge of in prison, who has every reason to grumble and to complain, but instead his heart is overflowing in thanksgiving.

    Well, that’s a bit of a sad life, I know. back on course here with respect to the thanksgiving of Paul specifically, as he directs his thanksgiving toward the Philippians. He is thankful to God, he tells us in verse 3, that’s predictable enough, we know, to whom Paul is thankful. He says, I thank my God At verse five, he tells us why he is thankful. For what reasons? He is thankful because of the participation or the fellowship, or the poinonea—that’s some Greek word.

    The participation, the fellowship of these Philippians in the gospel from the first day until now— we’ve written something about that, statemented it pretty well in our previous messages. The thing to keep in mind is what Paul is doing as he expresses this thanksgiving. It is a thanksgiving that brings the Philippians into view as they are looked upon by him as participants in his ministry.

    This means exaltation for them. They are actually participating in his ministry and service. He looks at them that way. Now, you ask the question, why? Why does he express himself in these words, in this manner? He expresses himself in these words, in this manner, because his objective is to involve these Philistines with a sense of their own participation in his ministry, and thus demonstrate his own magnanimity, his own generosity with respect to them. He is so open-hearted that he is not selfishly holding on to his claims, his variety, his office, saying, I’m very careful, I’m the apostle, I hope they understand that, I hope they’ll recognize that, I hope they’ll give me my due in having this office. Not at all. He looks upon them addressably. as those who are participating directly in his ministry. Exaltation for them. This participation, this fellowship, is spelled out even more.

    Verse 7 talks about how he has them in his heart. to toss about their participation with him in the grace that he has experienced during his imprisonment, during the defense and confirmation of the gospel which he has set forth before the Romans. There is a fellowship now, this union that exists between Paul and the Philippians, which he is spelling out. And not only so, as it is with regard to Paul, he has confidence with regard to what lies ahead of him, namely, the Lord himself speaks similarly with regard to the Philippians. I am confident of the very thing that he was together with working you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ, verse 6. So, as it is with the impartial soul of the Philippians, they in union with him, they share him in the very things that are true of respect to him.

    Now, it all builds, it’s all conspiracy. Paul is using deliberate language here. He has a method in the whole thing. He has an objective. Such thanksgiving as he is expressing for these people precludes all selfishness, all jealousy, all envy, all murmuring, and all grumbling. The man is willing to share any benefit that comes to him with them. He isn’t saying, it’s mine, it’s not yours, you don’t have any part in it. Your place is to serve me, don’t you forget it. I’m the most important one here, isn’t it obvious?

    So he’s thankful, he’s thankful. to God for these Philippians in such a way that the union that exists between him and them is made clear. The Philippians are having problems. They turn to the second chapter, the fourteenth verse, Paul has to chide them. He says, do all things without grumblings and disputings.

    Why did he say that? Because there are grumblings and disputings, that’s why. People are at each other’s throats. Why? Because some think they’re better. Some aren’t willing to share. Some are very selfish. And when they don’t get what they want, or when they think that their life has been trespassed upon, what do they do? They grumble and they complain. It ain’t fair.

    Turn to chapter four, verse two. I urge you, O Nebuchadnezzar, and I urge Siddiqui to live in harmony with the Lord. Obviously, they’re not giving you along. You might go further. It might be so bad that they can’t stand each other. You know, things do get like that in the church.

    Well, we all know the answer to that problem in this day and age is to leave the church, don’t you? One of those events we go, right? Pack your bags, out the door. It’s awesome, isn’t it? I’m not leaving this. You’re not leaving me, are you? Why should you be leaving one of us? God’s not leaving you. He’s begun a good work in you. He’s going to complete it until the day of Christ. You’re not leaving God, are you? Then why would you be parting from one another over matters like jealousy, envy, This is one of those points where you want to say, great stuff. Great lessons. Great lessons. The depths of this man’s Thanksgiving.

    You want early on, verses 9 through 11, don’t you? Well, maybe, maybe not. When we get there, verses 9 through 11, we’re face to face with a few surprises. I mean, if we pass over Paul’s salutations, They’re so perfunctory anyway, aren’t they? They all read the same, not much there. We get to one of his threads, and wait a minute. All this sounds like is a bunch of language with an overload of piety. The whole APSK series wanted me to pray for something significant. Sounds like a bunch of religious language heaping up here. passing in front of us to prove once more how religious he is.

    First of all, note that, as we pointed out this morning, Paul’s prayer at this point is pointed, it is directed on behalf of us. He’s not praying for himself. Now, that is not to say that Paul doesn’t pray for himself. He does. But here at the forefront, in this prayer, as he gives expression, is his prayer for others.

    In his prayer, he is being molded and shaped by Jesus Christ, who gives himself for others. You know how he puts it, verse 3 of chapter 2, do nothing from selfishness or empty discontentment, verse 3 rather of chapter 2, 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 you, which was also the Christ Jesus.

    So he goes on. We know what follows. Paul is Christ-like in his prayers. Even in his prayers he is being conformed to the image of Christ. If you wish for help in your prayers, consider Jesus. He makes intercession now for you from heaven. Even now He is praying for us. Your prayers are in His hands.

    But this prayer control has a limited purpose. And he started examining the content of her. He says, “‘And if I pray,’ verse 9, “‘that your loves may abound still more and more.’” He may be a bit put off by that. You might come up short with regard to it, with respect to it. You may ask the question, why can’t Paul pray about more practical matters?

    I mean, I know how I pray. Even when I pray for others, I pray that they might get a job, they might go to a well-known school, they might work out. I pray that the economic matters may be resolved for them. They might have better health, they might be healed of diseases. That’s how I pray. When I pray for the Church, I pray in terms of numerics. You pray like that, God, give us a bigger Church, give us more people.

    I don’t pray for increased love, I pray for increased amendment. But I know more matters means more money. And more money means I get paid better. And the better I’m paid, the better I feel. I feel like I did a success. I’ve achieved something. I’ve made it.

    Come on, Paul, let’s get practical here. Let’s pray for some important things. We’re wasting away in jail there. Aren’t there some more practical things you can pray for in this particular situation? How about a release? Why doesn’t Paul’s prayer have done more work? However, this is to say that Paul isn’t concerned about the economic well-being of Philippians. But he’s not concerned about their health. He’s especially concerned about one Philippian’s health. You might recall Aphrodite’s.

    It’s a driven guilt. If you come to visit Paul, you can read about it in the second chapter, the twenty-seventh verse. It says, “…for indeed, Epaphroditus was sick to the point of death, that God had mercy on him only, but also on me.” I think Paul was praying for Epaphroditus’ health, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. So yes, Paul concerns. about these common matters, these matters that concern us so much. But you might say even further, well, why doesn’t Paul pray like a number of those fellows, those figures in the Old Testament?

    Want to hear a few of those prayers? to Deuteronomy, Chapter 1. Here you have, in verse 11, a prayer uttered. By Moses, may the Lord, the God of your father, entreat you a thousandfold more than you are and bless you just as he has promised you.” Get the drift of that prayer? Understand what Moses has in mind?

    More Jews, more money. More wealth, more outward prosperity. Turn over to Psalm 115, the psalm we read this morning, or we sang at least. We sang the psalm this morning, Psalm 115. There’s language about bounding there. You want to hear what the psalmist wants to go down more and more in. Psalm 115. Verses 14 and 15.

    May the Lord give you and increase you and your children. May you be blessed with the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth. What’s in line there for the psalmist? Is it not prosperity and plenty and abundance in this creation? Turn over to Psalm 144. verses 12 through 15.

    Let our sons in their youth be as grown-up plants and our daughters as cornfields and sashings as poor cows. Let our gardens be full, furnishing every type of produce. Our crops bring forth thousands and tens of thousands in our fields. Let our cattle bear without mishap and without loss. Let there be no outcry at our streets. How blessed are the people who are so situated. How blessed are the people whose God is the Lord.”

    Why doesn’t Paul pray like that? Well, the prayer is relative to the imperative. Want to know about the imperative? Look at verse 20 of chapter 3. Our citizenship is inherent of all things, from which also we eagerly wait a Savior. Lord Jesus Christ. Check what he says in verse 19 of chapter 4 in Philippians. And may God supply, and my God shall supply all your need according to the riches, to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Inform the Apostle Paul in his prayer.

    If that transitions, as in you, when Jesus speaks, as He does in Matthew chapter 6, no one’s a traitor to the earth. Do you understand what it means for Jesus to say that to a bunch of Jews? Do not lay up to yourselves, traitors upon earth. Pardon, brothers, the hopes for Israel were traitors upon earth. That’s what it was all about, the land. Prosperity and plenty in the land. Jesus says, don’t lay up for yourselves treasures on earth. Lay up for yourselves treasures in hell. And in light of this inheritance that is in view now, that which the inheritance in the Old Testament could merely form.

    Paul is no longer interested in success in the earth, but sanctification and service for the sake of heaven. He is no longer interested in success in the earth. He’s no longer interested in being a rich man. and having plenty of property, having his estate well guarded in a corner of the Mediterranean world.

    What he is interested in is the sanctification and service for the saints of heaven. Paul’s primary concern, therefore, is as God’s primary concern. that we found decent fear and blameless in the day of promise, fitted for an eternal invitation, a dwelling place of the Father.” Paul requests that love may abound more and more. is in the interests of sanctification and service to the saint of heaven, the kingdom of heaven. And it has special force as it comes to have its impact upon these politicals. Because, you see, love is diminishing. It’s not abounding. It’s diminishing. It’s declining, not ascending. Oh, as we look out upon the Church and as we look to each other, may there be a priority in our prayers for the sanctification of all the saints, of which we are a part, that in us, as in Philippians, love may power more and more. 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.

  • True Fellowship

    True Fellowship

    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, April 7, 1991.

    About this sermon

    Trouble in the mainline churches shows by contrast what church fellowship should mean, and Philippians 1:5 describes real fellowship in the gospel. Tithes and offerings express that fellowship concretely. Fellowship requires giving ourselves for the good of the gospel.

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    Sermon transcript

    We are reading the same portion that we have been reading, that is, the first eleven verses of that opening chapter. Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ, and all the saints in Christ Jesus who are so high with the vicious and deacons, grace be unto you and keep from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

    I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all, making requests with joy. For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Even as it is need for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my bonds and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my prayer.” For God is my record, and how gratefully I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment, that she may approve things that are excellent, that she may be sincere without offense, till the day of Christ being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God.”

    Now, some of you will remember earlier days, earlier days in this century, when various things had overtaken the Church, at least the mainline Church. You may recall that after the Second World War—we are combative, aren’t we? After the Second World War, the Church became preoccupied with the matter of Christian education. It was not out of the ordinary to see churches of the mainstream, the mainline then, embarking on tremendous capital improvement campaigns, putting up buildings, large Christian education wings. Remember how that took hold in the church at the end of the 40s as we moved into the early 50s. But then, it seems as if we shifted gears We moved from that concentration upon the Sunday school wing to the Fellowship Hall.

    The big word in the mainline church was koinonia. Do you remember those days? It was where everybody lived. Now, the word is Greek, means fellowship. And the way in which this translated itself in the May 1 Church was that we started moving from capital investments in the county school wings to fellowship halls. Fellowship, or koinonia, was the Bayesian word. It was the dominant idea.

    And all those liberals Among liberals, this had to do with the whole notion of social bonding, not only for the betterment of social relations in the church, but also in the community at large. The objective was social betterment. The liberal is going further than this. He wasn’t thinking here just some tack-on, some advantage, some extra to the Christian life. He was talking about the Christian life itself. He was talking about the core, the meaning of the Gospel. In fact, this is what the Gospel was.

    Leave off the doctrine. Forget about that. Concentrate upon social relationships to the exclusion of doctrine. In fact, we are into social relationships as the meaning of the gospel. That’s what the gospel is. It then defined the Church as calm. The Church’s cause was for the sake of bettering social relationships, not only within the congregation, but throughout the world.

    Fellowship is moving, as you can see in this setting, into a purely social context. Even more seriously, fellowship is being separated from worship. As has happened with education, in that the Church now had an educational wing, so that education didn’t take place in the worship service. And far worse in the past, he would try to educate his congregation during the message, give them anything intellectual, anything meaning to think about or chew on, because, you see, every day it took place someplace else. It took place in the education wing of the Church. Now, the same with regard to fellowship.

    Fellowship wasn’t part of worship. It’s not something that happened when you congregated before God. It’s something that happened after worship in the fellowship hall, or it’s something that happens in connection with some program for social betterment in the community and in the world.

    We have the liberal approach to the situation. The conservatives are not immune. But the one thing you can say about conservatives, they seem to catch up with fads about ten to fifteen years later than the liberals in Memphis. So here we are at the end of the fifties and the beginning part of the seventies, and suddenly the big word amongst conservatives is, sure enough, fellowship.

    Quite a deal, I remember. Sitting at my dining room table, having that extensive, if not heated, discussion with a young woman about this very thing. She was a part of an Orthodox Presbyterian Church. And she was expressing her frustrations, and the only way that she could express them was in terms of this word, fellowship. I don’t feel as if I’m getting enough fellowship, she said. And when I questioned her as to what fellowship meant, invariably she had in mind some sort of social connectedness that took place outside of worship. She was expressing her desire that there would be more warmth in the congregation and more fraternity.

    Conservatives then began to latch on to the term fellowship because they thought that with that term they could stand against those unfriendly atmospheres of cold and dead orthodoxy that they felt were inhibiting their lives and the development of the Church. Well, fellowship has been a faddish term in this century, a trendy word.

    But it is precisely this word, koinonia, fellowship, that Paul uses in the fifth verse of the first chapter of Philippians. He says that he is thanking God in all his remembrance for these saints, verse 5, because of their fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. And I think as we take stock of exactly what the Apostle Paul is saying here, we will find out how impoverished the approaches to koinonia, or fellowship, have been in various circles in the Church in this century. Now, note first of all that Paul here is expressing his reason for thanksgiving.

    He says, I am thankful because of your fellowship in the gospel. Now, what does he mean? What does he mean? Here’s the reason for his thanksgiving, but what does he mean? He means more than that he has found friends. in the gospel, or that these people have found friends within the fellowship that has been created around the gospel.

    Actually, Paul is thankful because of what these people share with him in the gospel. See, another translation for this word, koinonia, or fellowship as it has been rendered, even in King James, another translation could be, as the New American Standard Version renders it, participation. I’m thankful because of your participation in the Gospel from the first day until now.

    But how much does that help us? What does the Apostle Paul mean when he says he’s thankful because these folks that still apply have participated in the gospel? Does he really mean to say he’s thankful because they have become Christians? No, it’s deeper than that.

    He is thankful because there is something that they share in the gospel itself, and it’s something that Being peculiar to Paul, Paul is now staging that they have a pardon. They are participating in the gospel. They have a fellowship with him in the gospel, insofar as he is related to that gospel. Paul means to say here, is that these folks are actually viewed by him as having a fellowship with him in his proclamation of the gospel, in his preaching of the gospel.

    Now, how can that be? Have these people all been ordained to the office of apostles? Do all of them carry an office within the Church? Are they all bishops? So, no, all of them haven’t been ordained, all of them haven’t been called as ministers of the Word, all of them haven’t received somehow the office of apostleship, but yet Paul’s talking about them as if they are participating with him in the proclamation of the gospel. How so?

    How did they arrive at this level of exaltation? They lifted up to the level of the Apostle as he himself was going about his ministry and proclaiming the Word. Well, you’ll be disappointed in the answer. Possibly, because what Paul has in mind is the fact that these people have been contributing to him and his ministry since the time he arrived in their city to proclaim the Word.” Well, how long then? You mean just by giving their money? They have conferred upon them this exaltation? Paul then looking at them and treating them as if they are your fellows with him, as if to confer upon them some sort of ordination in the proclamation of the gospel.

    It’s no small thing to get your money. It is no small thing to support the gospel with your offerings. That is the conviction of the apostle. He does not look at that as if it was some minor aspect of the Christian life. Something that is virtually an afterthought, something that is inconsequential. He looks at it as if it were direct participation in his ministry, and those who contribute, he carries with them in the outworking of his own calling as a preacher of the Word. Now, the apostle uses the verbal form of this word, koinonia, in the fourth chapter, the 15th verse. So in reading that first chapter, that verse, you complete the book, or fill it out, by turning to the fourth chapter, the 15th verse, where Paul has something to say about the outworking of this fellowship, or this koinonia. This is what he says.

    And you yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me, that’s the word, no church pledged with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone. No church fellowshiped with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone. No church participated with me in the matter of giving them this teaching but you alone.

    So, the force of the statement in verse 5 of the first chapter, the reason for the Apostle’s thanksgiving is the fact that these Philippian Christians have given and given generously and given selflessly to the proclamation of the gospel, and that is obedience of the first order, commendable in the sight of God, and the Apostle is grateful to the depths of his soul.

    But while that is true, the thought goes deeper still and accounts for the way in which the Apostle expresses himself. Well, you could say that there is certainly an ambiguity in the Apostle’s phraseology connected first to his chapter. Yet, we fill it out by comparing scripture to scripture, and we find out that the participation, the fellowship, the poignania that the Apostle had in life is the contribution that had been given by these Philippian saints. But the way in which the Apostle threatens himself is this. It’s a fellowship in the gospel, which is working itself out subjectively in the lives of these believing Christians.

    Well, if you turn back 2 Corinthians, chapter 8, you see exactly what the Apostle has in mind. He’s there talking about offerings that have been received from the churches in Macedonia, some of which have been given, even though it has cost them a great deal, going beyond their ability, giving sacrificially. So he comes to the fifth verse of that second chapter, or rather that eighth chapter in 2 Corinthians, and this is what he says. And this, not as we had expected, but they first, that is, the Macedonians, including the Philippians, they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God. This fellowship in the gospel, this participation in the gospel, this koinonia of the gospel, means then a literal identification of those folks with Paul in his ministry.

    So that it’s not just a matter of them giving their money, it’s a matter of them giving themselves. Their money, their offerings are merely an indication of the offering that they have made of themselves, to the point that their lives are now bound up with that one to whom they have given. So much is this the case that when he suffers, they suffer, and when he rejoices, they rejoice. Now, why is it working out that way?

    What are these dynamics, the dynamics of things as Paul speaks of his relationship to these living things? It’s obvious, isn’t it, to us? that the pattern which is working itself out between the Philippians and Paul is precisely the pattern that is worked out between Christ and us. The Philippians are not merely participants in the gospel. They are participants in the one about whom the gospel is. They are participants in Christ. And what does it mean to be a participant in Christ?

    Paul will use the word koinonia in the third chapter, Fellowship, in the third chapter, the tenth verse, that I might know him, the power of his resurrection, the koinonia of his suffering, being in for of his death. He will use the word koinonia in the first verse of the second chapter. If there, therefore, is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any koinonia of the Spirit, any affection or compassion, he goes on then to complete his thought in verse 5 of that second chapter, The whole notion of participation, fellowship, and koinonia is found in Christ, so that these Philippians are not just giving their money, that they’re giving themselves.

    And to what extent? Into that being’s suffering. I will endure it. Because in the end, not even that suffering can separate me from you. In fact, I am determined, through that suffering, to maintain this bond that exists between us. How superficial, then, the whole fellowship of Paul enterprise is. How impoverished. How diminished. How weak, how ineffectual.

    For in this point, in the end, in fellowship with Christ, we are participants in suffering and also in glory, and that not only with regard to Christ himself, but with regard to those who are theirs. How do you pray for the folks who suffer? As one who participates in their suffering, that their suffering might be born? Do you give yourself over to them?

    I know that you do. How your heart longs for Elvira. How you’ve prayed for Nell. How you’ve interceded for a woman you don’t even know, Carol Manson. How you ache inside hearing about Christians who have been killed in the Middle East for their faith. How your heart has gone out for servants of the Word who suffered in places like Oxnard, California, where congregations are in the balance.

    And how you rejoice when you hear of the victories the grand and glorious friends that come about, you participated, and not just because you give your money. That, surely, an act of obedience of the first order, but because you have given yourself. Christ gave himself. And He is your Lord. And now you give yourself for Him. Let us pray.

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