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 31, 1992.

The scripture reading this morning begins in 2 Corinthians 4. This is 2 Corinthians 4, verse 13. We are reading from the 13th verse, and we will be reading into the 5th chapter through verse 10. Listen to what God says through his servant Paul. We, having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed and therefore have I spoken, we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus and shall present us with you.

For all things are for your sakes. that the abundant grace might, through the thanksgiving of many, redound to the glory of God, for which cause we faint not. But though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day, for our light affliction which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God and house not made with hands eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven, if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened, not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for this, for the selfsame thing, is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.

Therefore, we are always confident, knowing that whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore, we labor that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” Then turning over to Philippians 3, reading verses 8-11, Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but done, that I may win Christ and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through faith, through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may know him.” and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings being made conformable unto His death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

I’m wondering if you have ever noticed the beautiful symmetry to the shorter Catechism. That symmetry, that wonderful development and balance, is a matter which in itself makes the study of the Catechism worthwhile, rewarding. Now, with respect to this symmetry and balance, this morning I have in mind the first part of the Catechism. namely questions 1 through 38. If you need to refresh yourself about those questions, you can look them up in the back of the Trinity Hymnal. I think the Catechism begins on page 666, that’s not a hard number to remember. Questions 1 through 38 are the questions I have in mind, and of course, I don’t need to introduce you to question and answer number one. You know that quite well, I’m sure.

What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. But it is specifically question and answer 38 that I want to call your attention to this morning. We have the question, what benefits do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection?

And the answer is this. At the resurrection, believers being raised up in glory shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment and made perfectly blessed to the full enjoying of God to all eternity. You pick up the symmetry and the balance as we move from question number one to question number thirty-eight. You see how these two questions and answers go together. Answer number one speaks about our chief end.

That chief end being to enjoy God forever. And then Answer 38 speaks about that glorious end in these words. It speaks of that glorious end as the full enjoying of God to all eternity. To enjoy God forever, the full enjoying of God to all eternity. Our goal Our purpose, our chief end, is the enjoyment of God. The means now by which we shall attain that goal is the resurrection, the resurrection specifically of our bodies from the dead.

There is no other route by which we then can enjoy God forever. Now, this is the doctrine of glorification, the doctrine of glorification, this doctrine pertaining to the glorious transformation that shall be effected for our bodies at the last day, so that our bodies so that our bodies will be fit for the enjoyment of God forever.

We read, with respect to this doctrine, a general reference in a familiar text to us from Romans 8. There are many here this morning who can rattle off the concluding verses of Romans 8 from memory, but you remember one of those verses, a very important verse, because of the lengths and the pattern, the flow, the cadence of it all, and whom he predestinated. These he also called, and whom he called. These he also justified, and whom he justified, these he also glorified.”

The doctrine of glorification given general reference in that verse, the eighth chapter of Romans, verse 30. The more specific reference is found in Philippians chapter 3, verse 21, a bit beyond where we have read this morning, verse 21. where Paul speaks of Jesus Christ. Notice the end of verse 20, where he speaks of Jesus Christ, who will himself transform the body of our humble state, the King James says, our vile state, into conformity with the body of his glory. by the exertion of the power that he had even to subject all things to himself. Here is then the doctrine of glorification spelled out more fully, more explicitly for us, and you will note in this that as it has been for Christ, so it shall be for us. There is this bond that exists between the Savior and the saved, between those who have been redeemed and the Redeemer himself. He has been raised to glory, his body has been transformed, he has been glorified, and we will be glorified too.

Now, it is specifically glorification that Paul has in mind in the 11th verse of Philippians 3, backing up a little bit from that 21st verse. If by any means, so writes Paul, I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Now this is wonderful, this statement by Paul, this is wonderful in many regards. You see, what Paul has given us here in this eleventh verse is the filling out or the completion of his three-verse doctrinal seminar, as we have called it.

Remember, verse nine dealt specifically with the doctrine of justification and the question of Paul’s right standing before God. By extension, our right standing before God. Verse 9 then, justification. Verse 10, dealt with sanctification and the question of Paul’s personal holiness and the holiness, the specific holiness of his life.

By extension, one more time. By extension, one more time, we too are imbued, verse 10, dealing with sanctification not just for the apostle, but he expressing that doctrine as we too are related to it. Our personal holiness, our holiness in life. Now consider this for a moment.

Justification, verse 9, stands most proximate spiritual birth, that is, being born again, that is, regeneration. You know the terms. Verse 9, in speaking about justification stands most proximate spiritual birth and regeneration than sanctification stands most proximate to the ongoing Christian life. Verse 9, the beginning. Verse 10, the continuation.

But this means then that verse 11, and the glorification of which it speaks, stands most proximate the conclusion of life, the conclusion of life in this world, and even the end of the world itself, bringing into view Paul’s life in the world to come.

This being the case, then, these three verses are even more glorious than we thought originally, for not only do we have in them a compressed doctrinal course of instruction from the Apostle, we have in short compress, then, in these three verses, a survey of the entirety of the Christian existence. from regeneration to resurrection, from grace to glory, from rebirth to the consummation of the age. You would do well to memorize these three verses. They are a diamond a gem of incomparable value, of greatest worth, all pouring so much into so little space. But now, this all being as we have suggested, We, with this eleventh verse, have come face to face with the end of the matter, that to which the other verses were present, that to which the Apostle himself was present. This eleventh verse becomes not just important, it becomes most important, in itself the goal, the end. to which the apostle has written the end to which he in his life is pressing. Justification, we can say then, is unto this end, unto the end of glorification. Sanctification also, it is to this end, it is to the end of glorification, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection from the dead.

Here is the grand, grand objective. How comprehensive, how comprehensive it is. We have read from 2 Corinthians this morning, starting in that 4th chapter towards the end, but then moving on into the 5th chapter, the 2nd verse, notice what the Apostle Paul says in that second verse of the fifth chapter of 2 Corinthians, for indeed in this house, namely in our body, we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven. How earnestly, how zealously the Apostle Paul sets this as the end point, the objective of his life. It was all, every bit of it, for the sake of the resurrection.

Did you catch the force of the fifth verse of that fifth chapter in 2 Corinthians? I hope you didn’t tune out at that point, but caught a little bit of the force and power the Apostle intends, the fifth verse of that fifth chapter in 2 Corinthians, now he, that being God, who prepared us for this very purpose, is God. Now he who prepared us for this very purpose is God who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. The Apostle here isn’t speaking about many possible purposes of which this is one. This is the purpose. There is no other purpose. You understand now why the resurrection itself, the historical event of the resurrection of Christ, is so utterly indispensable to the Apostle Paul. He can’t do without it.

Here is the goal. and for those to come along in the 19th and 20th century within the Church of Jesus Christ and suggest to us that the resurrection of Jesus Christ as a historical event never occurred. How ludicrous! How absolutely ludicrous for them to go on and suggest that they can retain the gospel and deny the resurrection. How absolutely ludicrous!

Remember what the Apostle Paul says in Romans 8, prior to that 30th verse, the 22nd chapter, I’m sorry, the 22nd verse is the one I had in mind. There he tells us that the entirety of the creation, the entirety of the creation groans for this very thing, namely the resurrection of the sons of God and the redemption of their bodies. So it’s not just we who groan, the creation itself groans. It is not just we who have this purpose, the creation as a whole, in its entirety, has this purpose.

How sad it is. How sad it is. But this most important point is lost, cited so easily, by too many Christians. The resurrection is too nebulous, they say. They can’t get any proper fix on it. It doesn’t conjure up in their mind any real images that they can hold on to, they say. It’s too remote. It’s too abstract. It’s too far distant.

It relates to things that are far beyond what concerns me here. For I am pressed on every side with concerns and worries and problems and difficulties And these things seem to me to be more important than something as remote as the resurrection. Much better I focus on these other matters rather on something that is too far away for me to be concerned with a great deal. Of all this understanding, I am interested in the resurrection, I do want to be raised someday, but that’s way down the road somewhere.

But to suggest to me that this is the very center of my life, that this is the most important thing for me, I can name a thousand other things that are more important to me. Just give me an opportunity here. I’ve got a house table due tomorrow. I need a job. I’m worried about my kids. The economy is a mess. This is an election year. What’s the feature of democracy? The state of the church. All of these things, they’re important, are they not?

Then the remote, distant subject of the resurrection. how different the Apostle Paul is since it is his unshakable confidence in the resurrection fact and the resurrection hope that molds and shapes his existence now. The prospect of that resurrection and its realization in Jesus Christ compels him to define correctly, honestly, the issue of justification and right standing before God. It compels him presently to live a holy life knowing that in his body he will appear before the judgment seat of God. Far from being impractical and remote, the resurrection becomes the most practical and the most proximate for the informing of a Christian with respect to current life and thought. The resurrection informs Paul, glorification informs Paul, not only of his hope, but also of his present duty.

Remove the resurrection and nothing remains to the Christian message or to the Christian life. There is no reason for it. If you want an example of a resurrection-less theology, I encourage you today to pick up the book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament and read it. And it is specifically the resurrection of Jesus Christ that supplies us the answer, the divinely given, the graciously given answer to the despair and the confusion of the book of Ecclesiastes.

And came then glory, glorification, resurrection, and the gospel which you have embraced stands. You yourself shall stand. that message from God, that by way of the resurrection of his Son in the body, the gates have been opened for the full enjoyment of God to all eternity. May your life, may my life, be a credit to that goal and may we press toward it with all deliberate determination. If by any means I, we, might attain unto the resurrection from the dead, Our Father, we would glory in you, for while we celebrate and remember the death of our Savior, how great it is for us to remember the sufferings of the Christ for our sin. We rejoice, Father, that you have raised him to newness of life and to glory in your presence. and we shall certainly follow. May this, in fact, be the content of our faith, that not only did our Savior die for our sins, he was raised for our justification. Hear us, Lord, we ask in Jesus’ 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.