This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of “The Holy Spirit” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, March 5, 1995.
I can’t tell you how happy I am to have my mother here when we sing that. We are reading from Matthew chapter 1. And we are beginning at verse 18. Give your full attention to the reading of God’s Holy Word. This is Matthew 1, verse 18. Now, the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows.
When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph before they came together, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, desired to put her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he it is who will save his people from their sins.” Now, all this took place that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which translated means God with us. And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took her as his wife, and kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a son, and he called his name Jesus.
Then turning over to Luke’s Gospel, chapter 1, we are reading here from verse 26. Now, in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth. To a virgin engaged to a man whose name is Joseph of the descendants of David and the Virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming in, he said to her, Hail favored one, the Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at this statement and kept pondering what kind of salutation this might be. And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.
And Mary said to the angel, How can this be, since I am a virgin? And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, and for that reason the Holy Offspring shall be called the Son of God. And behold, even your relative, Elizabeth, has also conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called Baron is now in her sixth month. for nothing will be impossible with God. And Mary said, Behold the bond slave of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her.
Let’s pray together. Father, we are refreshed by your word. Your word comes to us, blessed by the Spirit, and that in such a way as to work in us new life. We ask, Lord, that we would be alive to all that you have to say, that we would be drawn to the deep things of your word, in order that our understanding might be deepened and our delight in you enhanced. Father, we would also delight in those things that are so simple that a child can understand them. Encourage our children in the knowledge of this your word, and may all our prayers on their behalf be effectual. Pray this for the sake of Jesus. Amen.
We are moving in our consideration of the Holy Spirit to the New Testament. And this is an interest, a subject that will occupy us for some time. After we have spent some time dealing with this matter of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, it is my hope to move on to consider as well the way in which the Holy Spirit has been treated in the history of the Church, even bringing us up to date with reflections upon our present state in the Church and the interest in and the concerns about the doctrine of the Holy Spirit in our time. Truly, even the Orthodox Presbyterian Church has been affected by the upsurge of interest in the person and work of the Holy Spirit. don’t have to say this, I think that it is clear to all of you, but we will not be able to treat comprehensively the person and work of the Holy Spirit as his person and work are set forth for us in the New Testament, because such a study would merely take us too long. My intention, therefore, is to look at three main areas, and these in themselves are quite extensive.
We will be looking at the Holy Spirit in the Gospels, the Holy Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles, and also the Holy Spirit in the writings of Paul. Now I might add that in our reflection upon the Gospels in relationship to the Holy Spirit, we will have to deal with the Gospel of John separately. This means that as we begin our study tonight, we will be focusing upon the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and more particularly for our study tonight, the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. As we turn to the Synoptics, our eyes immediately fall upon the birth stories that are set forth in the first and third Gospels. Now we may be taken back when we look at these two Gospels with the person of the Holy Spirit in mind. Luke, for instance, contains more references to the Holy Spirit in his gospel than does Matthew.
Now, this is not to minimize the importance of the Holy Spirit in Matthew’s account. How could we say such a thing? After all, Matthew’s gospel is the one that ends with that magnificent Trinitarian formula for baptism. Matthew 28, 19, as Jesus gives instruction to his disciples on the Mount in Galilee, that they are to baptize the nations into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. So no, We cannot say that Matthew, in any sense, wishes to minimize the importance of the Holy Spirit in his gospel.
Nevertheless, the Holy Spirit does have what seems to be a special prominence in Luke. A special prominence in Luke. Now, there may be a few reasons for this that occur to us right away. First of all, with his gospel, Luke is in fact preparing his readers for what he will continue to put down on paper with his hand. He is preparing his readers for the acts of the apostles to follow. A book that you know full well is filled with testimony about the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit’s great work. In fact, so much is that the case in the Book of the Acts, that it has been suggested that we would better entitle the Book of the Acts, not the Acts of the Apostles, but the Acts of the Holy Spirit.
Secondly, another reason as to why we find this prominence for the Holy Spirit in Luke’s writings. is very much, in his writings, taken up with the theme of journey. The theme of journey. In Luke’s Gospel, you may recognize, of course, and understand very well, and that immediately, in Luke’s Gospel it is Jesus who journeys. And it is Jesus’ journey from Galilee to Jerusalem that stands as a centerpiece to this gospel, particularly as you have the account from Luke moving us from the ninth chapter of his gospel to its conclusion.
In Acts, the journey is apostolic. Specifically in view is the Apostle Paul as he makes his way from Palestine, particularly from Jerusalem, even to Rome. You will notice, then, that there is this parallel between the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. You will note that with the Acts, the Apostle or the Church in the Apostle follow after Christ. In other words, as with Christ himself, so also with his people, or so also with his Church. The emphasis, therefore, falls upon journey, or pilgrimage, both for Christ and for his Church.
But, of course, you know that Jesus’ journey, as it is recorded for us in the Gospel, doesn’t end with Jerusalem. It is set out in front of us in terms of the movement from Galilee to Jerusalem, but it doesn’t end in Jerusalem any more than the Church’s journey, represented in the movements of the Apostle Paul, ends in Rome. The journey of both Jesus and his church ends in glory. They end in heaven, and that through resurrection.
Luke’s message is extremely powerful to anyone in need of refocusing his sights. The temptation is to allow some earthly stopping-off place to become the true and only heaven, thus bringing the journey or the pilgrimage to a premature end. And that with the liability of such people, to such people as do such things or think in such a way, a liability for them to amass for themselves pleasures and treasures in this world without much further thought about glory whatsoever. Luke, in telling the story of Jesus, in telling the story of the early church, in putting before us the journey of Jesus and the apostolic journey, movement from Galilee to Jerusalem, then from Jerusalem to Rome, is setting before us sermonic materials, preaching extraordinary. As I said, the message of Luke is extremely powerful, whether you are in the Gospel or in the Acts. It is extremely powerful to anyone who is tempted to allow for themselves comfort in some sort of earthly stopping-off place short of glory.
Now, the Holy Spirit is important to this entire scenario. The Holy Spirit in Luke is a reminder of that other world. He is the Holy Spirit. He has come from that other world. He has come as a reminder about that other world to those who are in the midst of the journey.
The Holy Spirit is also endowment. The Holy Spirit is meant for empowerment in order that those who are in the journey may persevere. The Holy Spirit comes as inspiration, inspiration to the guides who would direct us to our heavenly home. And the Holy Spirit, yes, here in Luke Acts, Luke himself, being dependent upon the Apostle Paul in this regard, the Holy Spirit is down payment on the heavenly glory for all those who are journeying in faith.
Now, by contrast, in Matthew’s Gospel, The Holy Spirit is almost, and I must be careful here, set before us in the most unobtrusive manner. I won’t say casual, I can’t dare say that. But at the very least, the Holy Spirit, in contrast to the way in which He is set forth in Luke’s writings, is presented to us in the most unobtrusive manner. He is most definitely less dominant, or so it would appear.
We may find this strange, given Matthew’s interests in writing his gospel. If the Church that Luke addresses is somewhat prosperous, approaching or having contact with the establishment. If the church to which Luke writes is captured in the figure of Theophilus, this one who is described as most excellent at the beginning of Luke’s gospel, if Luke’s church, or the church that is in view, is somewhat prosperous than approaching establishment, much in need of a reminder of that true destiny, Matthew’s church is poor and persecuted, and much in need of comfort. But what better comfort could be given to those who are reading Matthew, than that which would come by way of the introduction of the person and work of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew, however, in the interest of extending just that comfort, and this by way of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit himself, sets before his readers that which the Holy Spirit will convey and give. namely, the kingdom of heaven. This is what receives such emphasis in Matthew’s gospel, the kingdom of heaven. And the emphasis here is not so much the kingdom as such, since Luke also emphasizes the kingdom. Rather, the emphasis here is heaven, thus the kingdom of heaven. Matthew’s interest, then, is to superimpose the realm of heaven, the realm of glory, upon the present sufferings of the Church to whom he writes. By so emphasizing the kingdom of heaven, so stressing it, the intention of Matthew is to superimpose the kingdom of heaven upon the present humiliation that the Christians are experiencing. those whom Matthew addresses.
This means, then, that Luke’s gospel could be viewed as the not-yet gospel, with the Spirit ministering, and that prominently, in the interests of the journey, the end of which has not yet been reached, at least by us, personally. Matthew’s gospel, in contrast, could be viewed as the already gospel, in which the journey’s end, namely heaven, mysteriously functions in the Church’s present situation to communicate comfort and to underscore grace.
For Luke, the journey dominates. You are on your way. You have not yet arrived. The Holy Spirit’s ministry is to work for you in the midst of that journey, to strengthen you, to encourage you, to empower you. The Holy Spirit functions as a down payment for you in the midst of that journey, of the journey then.
But in Matthew’s Gospel, the interest of the Gospel writer is to communicate to you by the Holy Spirit, through the Holy Spirit, the end in view as that which is yours already, that which you already possess, as it were, and you then live in its power and in its strength and in its comfort. Luke’s gospel becomes a warning to all of those who are self-satisfied, and reminds them that they have not reached the journey’s end yet. Matthew’s gospel becomes the gospel of supreme comfort to those who are suffering, to those who are afflicted, as it communicates the message that even in your present affliction and persecution, you are experiencing glory—heaven itself. as far as the birth narratives are concerned. Taking them in order, Matthew first. Matthew presents the miraculous conception of the Christ in a direct, but also what seems to be a rather matter-of-fact fashion.
There isn’t much elaboration, there isn’t much adornment. It’s a straightforward statement. I have in mind here verses 18 and 20, where the Holy Spirit is specifically mentioned in Matthew’s first chapter. Both these verses simply tell us that the child in Mary’s womb has been generated by the Holy Spirit. Again, not much adornment, not much elaboration.
Matthew here, of course, is telling us that this child is supernaturally conceived, that he is a miracle child, that he is God’s Son, and that he is the Messianic King. But with all of that in view, we’re taken back a bit, are we not, by the unobtrusive and unspectacular way in which Matthew reports the conception. Now, our Victorian forebears would tell us that Matthew did this because of the delicacy of the matter.
That’s not the case at all. Matthew’s manner here is in the interest of establishing the mood of his gospel. He reports the most stupendous event in the history of the world in commonplace terms. The most stupendous event in the history of the world is reported in commonplace terms. Why would he do that?
Because, you see, the Church must know that it is to her, in the common world in which she lives, that God himself has come. Superimposed upon the common world in which you live is this stupendous event, this miraculous this conception of the miracle child, the Son of God, the Messianic King. Into this common world, this humdrum world, God has entered, and that for the sake of salvation, even salvation from sin, death, and hell. Heaven itself has intruded upon this wicked, perverse, pain-filled world.
Turning to Luke, could there be contrast more startling Matthew is stark bare in his presentation of the events. Luke is elaborate and extensive and expansive in his description. The birth narrative here, with its interest in the Holy Spirit, is set before us, yes, at the very outset of the gospel for the purpose of squashing vain and proud estimates. For the purpose of squashing vain and proud estimates.
Now think of it, first of all, in terms of the Jews. It’s difficult to read these opening chapters of Luke, is it not, without your mind racing to Old Testament parallels. As we consider the birth of John the Baptist, it’s a miracle birth, is it not? Do we not find similarities between that birth of John the Baptist and the birth narratives that we have in the Old Testament with regard to Isaac, Samson, Samuel.
All of these Old Testament miracle children are those in whom Israel can boast. Because of them, they can think very highly of themselves. And just as Israel is liable to boast about these divine gifts in these miracle children, so Israel is liable to boast in all of that which she considers to be glorious about herself. She is liable to boast about Jerusalem and the entirety of her order, her religious order. But the truly extraordinary child comes upon the scene. No ordinary child not even an ordinary miracle child. This child is virginally conceived. We are beyond Isaac. We’re past Samson. We’re far beyond Samuel. We are even beyond John the Baptist.
John the Baptist presents a providential foil for the appearance of the Son of God. in Luke 1. The truly extraordinary child, then, makes his entrance, virginally conceived. This one, yes, in a way no other child was, generated by the Holy Spirit, causing all others in whom Israel might boast to pale by comparison. The Holy Spirit-generated Son of God is the one in whom we must boast, as it is He and He alone who leads us to our eternal home, something that Isaac Samson and Samuel, even John the Baptist, could not do. This one will lead us past even the most extraordinary glories of Israel and its capital city, Jerusalem.
But it is no less the case for Gentiles. Their boasts will also be addressed by Luke 1 and 2. For they have their own heroes, those in whom they might glory. What about Augustus himself, the emperor? What about others? who had come down to them in their mythology, supposed to be supernaturally generated.
But now there is set forth before Luke’s audience this Holy Spirit-generated child who contrasts these from amongst the Gentiles, as he has contrasted those whom the Jews might set forth. The glories to which these supposed miracle children from among the Gentiles would bring the Gentiles is not set before us in the city of Jerusalem, it is rather set before us in the city of Rome. But we have already seen that this was an end beyond which the Holy Spirit is determined to bring all of God’s children. No, not Jerusalem, not even Rome, not even if Rome be called the holy city, not even if Rome be claimed to be the seat of the vicar of Christ. Luke, therefore, in his Gospel and throughout his Acts of the Apostles will remind us, by the Holy Spirit, that we are brought beyond Jewish and Gentile ambition, and that in and through Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit-generated Child of God, truly God’s Son, God in the flesh, who himself from glory gives to his children the Holy Spirit, that we who are his children, spirit generated in our own way, might live all our days in this world in the calm possession of the down payment upon our inheritance.
An inheritance that far exceeds in glory anything of which Jerusalem and Rome might boast. if in fact, O God, we would boast in the flesh. Even if, Lord, we would boast in the flesh that has been set before us even in the stories of Isaac and Samuel and Samson and John the Baptist. If we would glory, O God, in the things of this creation and world, be they as excellent as the beauties of Jerusalem and its temple order. If we would boast in heroes and semi-gods who strut upon the earth. If we would boast in emperors and mythological figures and cities that are made by men and epitomize political and cultural strength.
Then Lord, we plead that you would deal with us, for such boasting shall end in our destruction. We would glory in you, and in your Holy Spirit, and with your Holy Spirit train our souls, Lord. May our boast be of Christ, our confidence because of him may it be directed towards the holy city which is above in glory. It is the Spirit’s intention to bring us there, and we have received him as a down payment upon our inheritance. Bless us, O God, with your Spirit. We who are made alive in him, may we walk in him now. 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.