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, November 3, 1991.
About this sermon
Paul draws a real line between the Philippians and the world around them, deeper than a difference of belief alone. Daniel 12:3 promises that the wise will shine like the sun, and that promise is already and not yet, fulfilled now in the good works Christ does through his people. The shining is already underway, well before any future unveiling.
Sermon transcript
Listen to the word of God. And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of my people. And there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time. And at that time my people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that fleet in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn away many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book. even to the time of the end, many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
Then I, Daniel, looked, and behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river. And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? And I heard the man closed in linen which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and swear by him that liveth forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and a half. And when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.
And I heard, but I understood not. Then said I, O my God, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel, for the worse shall close up and seal to the time of the end. Many shall be purified and make white and tried, but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.
And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days, that go thou thy way till the end of days. For thou shalt rest and stand in thy lot. at the end of the days. And then turning over to Philippians chapter 2, verses 14 through 16.
Do all things without murmuring and disputing. that ye may be blameless and harmless to sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain.
Our Father, your word comes unto us and we are revived. Each of us, our God, could recount times in which your word came to us as salvation itself. Now, our God, we are assembled before you, and your Word comes forth from you, so that we might be strengthened. And, Lord, we are also mindful of the fact that your Word comes forth from you to regenerate the lost. We pray, our Father, that your word may save the lost, even as it is proclaimed today. Hear us, Lord, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
I’m calling your attention to verses 15 and 16 in Philippians 2 this morning. And I want you to note, first of all, how clearly Paul distinguishes these Christian believers to whom he writes in Philippi, how clearly he distinguishes them from the world.
On the one hand, Paul calls the believers, that is the church, blameless. He calls them innocent. He calls them children of God, above reproach. He calls them rights in the world. As I tried to express last week for you, this man is absolutely serious in his worship. He means every word of it. Yes, indeed. Without any kind of glance away from the nature of these Christians who assembled, without as much as batting an eye, the Apostle calls them blameless, innocent children of God above reproached whites in the world.
On the other hand, he calls the world a crooked and perverse generation. A word there in the King James’s nation, but it is better translated, generation. It’s easy for us to see in these descriptions a common theme, and that theme is one of progeny, lineage, and family ties. The Philippian saints are called children of God. The world is called a crooked and perverse generation. Underline the word generation. Thinking of it once more, the believers are the generation of God. That is, they have been generated by Him. They are born of Him. Those of the world are generated from elsewhere. Now, why do you say that? before you.
I want you to move along with me in the Apostle’s description of the Church. So the Apostle, after describing the Church as he does, with words reflecting upon the believer’s generation from God, goes on to add to this theme of lineage or family tie, that of illumination. For these believers are sons of God, but as such are described as lights in the world.
Now this latter description bears some explanation. It is one that we find repeatedly in the New Testament, used by Paul and others, but it has its roots in the Old Testament. And that is why we read this morning from Daniel’s prophecy, the twelfth chapter. It is in that twelfth chapter that we find, then, the root from which this image used by Paul groaned. A word of disclaimer at the beginning. I’m not going to explain to you the entirety of Daniel’s poem this morning, but we will be looking at verse three. When this prophecy is cut short, there are many mysteries and there is great obscurity in everything. This prophecy as a whole demands our attention. As we focus on this twelfth chapter, and particularly on that third verse, certain things should be clear to us. this above all, that the prophet is speaking here about the end.
And in light of that end, the prophet speaks about those who are called the sons of God. The sons of your people, in verse 1, These who have been written down in the Lord’s book. And Daniel is assured in his vision that they will be rescued, even though through the fire of tribulation. The resurrection will come. The vision goes on, verse 2. And in that resurrection, the bodies of the dead will be raised. followed by the glorification of the elect, who will shine as the brightness, that is, as the sun, as the brightness of the firmament, and as the stars forever and ever. Surely the description of our end could not be more wonderful than that. We have here then in this third verse of Daniel 12 a marvelous picture of the coming exaltation of the children of God.
Now what Daniel says in this portion of his prophecy may strike a responsive chord in you because You remember what Jesus himself has said on one of those occasions when he was delivering parables to the multitude in the hearing of his disciples. I have in mind what we find in Matthew chapter 13. Jesus has given the parable of the wheat and the tares in that 13th chapter of Matthew. And that parable of the wheat and tares is like Daniel 12 concerned about the end of the world, the resurrection of the dead, the judgment of the wicked, and the glorification of the righteous.
Well, at the conclusion of Jesus’ explanation of that parable to his disciples, Jesus tells his disciples that the wicked will be burned like hairs. And then he says in the 43rd verse of Matthew 13, the righteous shall shine forth as the sun. in the kingdom of their Father.
Here is not merely a wonderful picture, but a glorious one. But I don’t know how many of you want classical music. But I ask you if you have not heard that the Earl of Hollywood, no, not by Paul McCartney, but by Felix Mendez, called the writing that you would take an afternoon or an evening to soak that idea. Felix Mendelssohn himself was a believer, who was converted from Judaism and embraced Christianity enthusiastically. And his faith comes out when he writes, when he composes.
But of all the members, the wonderful members, that defined the network for me, there is one, a tenor soloist, He says these words of Jesus in Matthew 13, verse 43, to me. Then shall the righteous shine as the sun in their heavenly bodies now. And let me tell you, when you hear it sung, you sing.
So then, we have here as background, Paul’s statement in Philippians 2.15, Daniel’s remarks of his religion as a church father, and that’s also reinforced in the Scripture in Matthew 13, verse 43. But I want you to know, in the 50th verse of the 2nd chapter of Philippians, how Paul answers what is said by Daniel and by Jesus. Daniel and Jesus give us that magnificent and overwhelming description of our future. The present records were both of their remarks in the future.
But as you look at the 15th verse of Philippians 2, you notice that Paul is here not speaking about the future, rather he is speaking about the present. It’s not that these saints in Philippi will become knights in the world, People like the sun shining forth brightly, he is saying that they are lighting already. They are already shining. They are already so to fly.
Paul Hill on Daniel. Paul, in building upon Daniel, is perfectly aware of the future reverence in Daniel’s prophecy. But having that as his foundation, nevertheless he says to these Philippian saints that they are right present. Now it’s important for us to understand, so that we can get to the bottom of Paul’s thinking here, just what Paul doesn’t have in mind.
He is not saying that we will be white in glory then, and we are also white presently. No, that’s not what he’s saying. What he is saying is What we will do, we have already begun to do now. He is saying that the future glory that is promised to us has already begun to shine in us and through us.
Even before we come to the end, Even before the literal resurrection of our bodies, the light of resurrection glory has already broken out upon us and is shining in and through us. which would be the greatest blessing to us, now has an effect, an impact upon the world. Is it not clear to us that Paul encases The superlative blessing meant for us in heaven above, and speaking about it in this context, we understand how we are to be of service in the world while we are here. We have the blessing then. The promise and the certainty of the sons of God, those who shall shine forth brightly as the sun in the kingdom of heaven, we then are a blessing to the world precisely because of our relationship to that light that is promised to us. We are a means by which God then conveys his word to the world. Do you see what he says in verse 16? Our being life in the world means that we hold forth the word of life unto the day of Christ. Is the Apostle Paul here coming up with his own doctrine? Is he being inventive at this point? Is he being imaginative? Is he even romantic in his explanation to the saints of their relationship to God and life in the world?
Well, possibly you’re already ahead of me, and know that our Lord, Jesus Christ, has said the same thing, the very same thing. Pharaoh twice in Matthew 13, 43 speaks about our future glorification in terms of our becoming white. He also speaks about our already having been the light of the world, so designated and so defined. If you remember this word, in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, verse 14, we are the life of the world.
The 16th verse of that fifth chapter of Matthew explains further what Jesus has in mind. Let your life so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father. which is in heaven. It is at this point, then, that we have a match to what we find in Paul. For Jesus, like Paul, features at the coming future glory, of which he and Daniel speak, is in present reality in the vines of the same tree. But Jesus tells them again and clarifies what precisely is meant by being a light in the world. His words have to clarify even what Paul means when Paul says that we are to hold fast the word of life since Litman’s series 16.
Jesus has specifically in mind when he speaks of the saints as being like the light of the world, he has specifically in mind those good works which they, the saints, perform. But once again, to understand more deeply the character of those good works which Jesus has in mind, we have to do a little bit further. What are these good works of which Jesus speaks? What are the good works that come before you as you survey what Jesus has said in the sermon on the Mount to that day? where the good works specifically as they come before in the Beatitudes and in what Jesus says about the want of the righteous in the world in relationship to the world that is hostile to the gospel. Look at those Beatitudes for a minute, if you will. The first four Beatitudes, verses 3 through 6, express the lot of the faith of the Lord in relationship to Christ.
Because he is bound to Christ, he is therefore described as one who is poor in spirit, he is one who mourns, he is one who is meek, he is one who hungers and thirsts for righteousness. and each one of those descriptions are as they are because the people of the Lord are beset upon by those who are the enemies of God and the enemies of the gospel.
Why are you described as the poor in spirit? Because you’re the victim of those who are rich in spirit. Why are you those who are mourned? Because you are the victim of those who laugh and scorn. Why are you described as to meek? Because you are the victims of those who exploit themselves at your expense. Why are you the hungry and the thirsty? Because you are the victims of those who are fat and poor. What is your response to those who treat you in that way? Verses 7 through 9. You are merciful. Even to those who abuse you. You are pure in heart. That is, you do not lose your focus. And you persist in being a peacemaker. Even though others are making war on you.
And when you come to verses 10-16 of Jesus’ message there in Matthew 5, what do you find but Jesus’ commentary on the Beatitudes themselves? You first of all have verses 10-12 which talk about the persecuted lot of those who belong to Jesus. And Jesus’ words to them, who are being reviled and persecuted, His word to those against whom all kinds of evil are being spoken, evil is being spoken falsely on account of him. The final words to them, Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
That is what then corresponds, verses 10-12, that is what corresponds to verses 3-6. in the Beatitudes themselves. Jesus then goes on to say in verse 13, and that’s this chapter, you are the salt of the earth. Verse 14, you are the light of the world. And verses 13 through 16, then next, verses 7 through 9, they are explained by what Jesus has said about the merciful, the pure in heart, and the faithful.
The specific words of kindness, the specific good works which Jesus has in mind are those that are performed precisely in response to the hostility and the cruelty of the world. Now why is that so important? Because that is exactly what Jesus did. which we are going to do this society, we have to be conformed to Jesus. We were ones that are enjoying the colonospora of a peace with Christ’s own, who when abused and insulted persisted in showing mercy, demonstrating purity, and persevering in the mounting of peace. For him who is the light of the world, for Jesus himself, who is the light that is to shine in us, by which we stand over again a crooked and perverse generation. By which, in the words of Daniel, you return money to righteousness. And in the words of Jesus, money runs free in these good works that glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Our God, how we thank you for the marvelous promise that we will shine as the sun in glory. But Father, we are also called the light of the world. And Lord, may the light shine wonderfully in us as we hold firm the word of life. May it be obvious to us that the Word of life is found in Jesus. And O Lord, that we will be performed to Him. Bless us, then, Lord, when we are persecuted. Bless us, then, Lord, as those who are enemies to the world that despite the hostility, we might persist in mercy, that we might be pure in heart, that we might insist upon the making of peace. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.