This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Christians & Their Vows” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, January 28, 1990.

Chapter 10. And we are reading the first 14 verses. Your older brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all did eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ.

But with many of them God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day twenty-three thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents. Neither murmured ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed by the destroyer.

Now all these things happened unto them for examples, and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Therefore, let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man. For God is faithful. He will not suffer you to be tempted above what ye are able, but will with the temptation also make a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from the darkness. The Lord, you have prepared our hearts. You have brought us to this time. Your Spirit is at work in us, so that we might receive your word. Lord, we ask with humility and readiness of mind that we might receive it now. Before our Father, we pray that you would save us, save us completely, so that we may be found to be most useful to you, you being the God whom we love, whom we adore. Amen.

Vows, oaths, promises—these mark life.

Essentially, Christianity, from beginning to end, is life bound by vows, bound by promises. Birth itself, and what lies behind it, involves vows and oaths made between people. The birth is accompanied by a vow, solemnized in baptism. There are also oaths of maturity. When we are ready to take upon ourselves the responsibilities of adulthood, these are solemnized in the Church, when we confess our faith, profess that faith before the people of God, receive our first communion, and become communicant members of the body of Christ. There are the vows of marriage, the exchange of oaths and promises at that time. Within the Church, there are vows of office, vows corresponding to the calling within the assembly of God’s people.

And at death itself, we are also confronted with vows, oaths, and promises made. It is in connection with death, oddly enough, ironically enough, that we are faced with one of the dominant features of an oath, a vow, a promise, and the oath-bound character of life, of existence, of reality as a whole. At death, we have oaths and vows, promises made, which are spoken of under the heading of the last will and testament. When we think of the last will and testament, we are reminded specifically of the legal side of the whole matter—the law of the entire arrangement of life. There is that law side, which is unavoidable, that legal side, which is unavoidable.

For what are vows and oaths and promises, but truly contracts—private and public—that are then enforceable by law and by institutions? You see how the whole matter is moving now? You see with what seriousness we are compelled to take the matter of oath, vow, and promise? It is as if the entire structure of law is attached to the making of a vow, an oath, or a promise. We may, in the course of life, give our promises or make our vows very insincerely, flippantly, as if they mattered little. But you see, in the end, as we face death, there comes to us at that moment the truth concerning the whole character of life and reality as bound by vow, oath, and promise. Life itself is bound by law, just as it is bound by oath. And you cannot avoid the obligation of oath-taking in life any more than you can avoid the legal character of life.

We flee from the law. The legal side of life does not sit well with us. We judge it to be a restriction on our freedom, an inhibitor. But we cannot avoid it. There is then this reminder of the legal side of vows, oaths, and promises. No longer are they words spoken irresponsibly. But in our private and public vows and oaths, we understand them to be contracts enforceable by law, with the law standing behind them. Then we can review life in its entirety from this vantage point.

The oath, the vow, the contract—on the legal side—what about an arrangement we enter into with an employer? Is it not an oath, a vow, a promise? Is it not bound by law? Is that not what we strive for when we are endeavoring to negotiate or renegotiate a contract? The legal side. What of a purchase—whether the purchase of life insurance, an automobile, or a home? Perhaps even the renting of a home. Is it not a contract? Is it not an oath or a vow? Enforceable by law. You cannot avoid it. All of life is oath-bound, vow-bound. You cannot escape this any more than you can escape life itself. You would have to stop living to escape the oath character, the vow character of existence.

So it is then: oaths, vows, promises, contracts enforceable by law—a legal arrangement into which two or more parties enter and agree to uphold. What of the breach of the contract, the breaking of the vow, the violation of the promise? If there is a breach from either side of the arrangement, it leads to serious consequences. We know that. That is the character of life.

You can look out at the public and secular arena of the world. You can consider the oaths and the vows that are taken there. They are no less covenants made, established, within the world. And they are as they are because Reality is as it is. The oath, vow, promise, and covenant character of public and secular life is as it is, because it testifies to the God who has made all things. That God Himself is an oath-making God, a vow-making God, a promise-making God, a covenant-making God, and a covenant-keeping God. All of reality bears that stamp. You cannot avoid it. Even in the public and secular world, there is this testimony to the fact that all of reality has been made by Him. And as there is this element in all public or secular covenants, so there is this same element in God’s covenant.

And so it is that we have what may seem to some a great emphasis, even an over-emphasis, on the law in Scripture. God Himself is bound by His covenant, by His oath. He is bound by His promise. He binds Himself by His law, and we are bound in the law by Him. The law’s purpose is to guard that arrangement, those oaths and vows and promises made. Its purpose also is to enforce the stipulations, the various features of the oaths and vows. So close is the bond between covenant and law that it is as if the two were one. As if you cannot have one without the other.

Therefore, when we enter into God’s covenant, when we are brought into that covenant by His grace, when we respond to His covenantal initiative by accepting the covenant for ourselves, it is not just some sort of light or casual arrangement in which we merely associate with one another. There is an actual binding of ourselves here, willingly, on the basis of oaths taken, promises made. And when we enter into those arrangements, when we accept God’s covenant, when we respond, we are saying that we accept for ourselves the consequences if, in fact, we break that covenant. Now do you want to think carefully before you take another vow?

It is not just a matter of pleasant words, you see. It is not just a matter of fine sentiment. We are dealing here with matters of life and death. There is a young lady who is involved with love, who is involved with the idea of being married. The vows that she is about to take are not insignificant. They become meaningless. They become empty words. This is life and death we are talking about.

Are you really, are you really willing to accept the vow, understanding that you are willing to suffer the consequences if you break that vow? You see, the covenant made with God, especially, is of the most serious kind. In the balance of life itself.

We have the covenant that was made with Adam. The terms are life and death. Obey me, and you shall live; disobey, and you shall die. God makes His covenant with Israel. Again, the utter seriousness of the covenant is evident. The people stand outside and say, “All that the Lord has commanded, we will do.” They accept the terms of the covenant, they make a vow, an oath.

The covenant is unmistakably, unavoidably a legal arrangement. It brings before our eyes stipulations and benefits, but also a promise of punishment if we do not keep our vow, if we do not obey. Obey, and you shall live, as Scripture says. Disobey, and you will die.

There are two major Old Testament experiences for the children of Israel that mark the character of the oath-bound relationship between God and His people. These experiences come from the pages of Exodus: the experience of the Passover, and the experience of the crossing of the Red Sea. In the Passover, we witness a covenant rite. In the Passover, we witness an oath rite, a vow rite.

As the homes of the Israelites are sealed with blood, the command is given to slay the lamb, to take the blood of the lamb, and to smear the blood on the doorposts and on the lintels of the houses. The promise is given that the angel of death will pass over those homes marked by the blood.

But you see, the people themselves must accept the covenant. They are involved directly in this oath ceremony, in this covenant rite. For they must make the sacrifice, and by making that sacrifice they must indicate their acceptance of the word of God, their acceptance of this oath ceremony that is clear and visible to them. But not only that, they must mark the doors of their houses.

But in marking the doors of their house, they must also pass through the door in order to enter the house and the sanctuary where they are protected. Does that sound familiar? You remember the service, the sacrifice recorded in Genesis 15, where the animals of sacrifice are cut in two and laid side by side, creating a passageway between them. Now there is a passageway at the door of every Israelite house. He must pass through the signs of the sacrifice in order to enter the house, into the sanctuary, for safety. And in passing through that entranceway, he is invoking the sanctions, the penalties of the covenant, upon himself.

If I do not keep the covenant, if I leave the house, then I will be slain. I will be slain like that lamb. I will be destroyed as that beast. I invoke the curse of the covenant upon myself if I do not keep the covenant. The sign of the slain lamb is therefore a sign to me of my acceptance of that covenant. I accept the blood of the covenant. And if I treat this word lightly, if I show disrespect to it, if I trample it underfoot, then I am invoking the curse of the covenant upon myself.

I am handing myself over to death. Do you see why Paul is able to say in the New Testament that some of you who are suffering under the Lord are bringing condemnation upon yourselves? You are invoking the wrath of God, because you do not understand what you are doing.

What about the crossing of the Red Sea? You all know the story. I do not need to tell it again. The people pass through. The passageway is formed between the divided parts of the animal in Genesis 15. The way of passage is present as one enters the houses of the Israelites during the Passover. Now the water is parted, and they pass through the sea.

What are you doing when you go through the water? You are saying, by accepting God’s covenant and His redemption, that if I do not keep the covenant, the consequences will come upon me and destroy me, just as they destroyed the Egyptians. Are you baptized? Are you baptized? Did you go through the water? Did you say, in the midst of the water, that if I do not keep the covenant, I will come upon you? My friends, this is life and death.

But there is another side to this, is there not? It is not only the voice of the law speaking about the legal requirements of the agreement. It is specifically with regard to the biblical covenants that we understand the greater and more profound dimension. So beyond the law there is the bond. Beyond the law there are the ties that bind people to one another, and God to His own. How marvelous is this binding! Will you consider the significance of this binding?

If you are placed under oath and under vow, and if there is a promise laid upon you that you are obliged to keep, then the One who has been bound to you by His grace has entered into this reciprocal relationship in such a way as to take upon Himself those oaths, vows, and promises.

In the end, He will be the Lamb that is slain. His blood will be on the door. His flesh will be the one through which you partake. Such is His love, and such is the nature of His binding to you, that you may know that even when you stumble and fall, even when you fail, you have an advocate with the Father. If you are called to be baptized, He will be baptized as well. And with the greater baptism, He will pass through the water for you in order to fulfill all righteousness. And in the greatest baptism of all, the cross.

He will be submerged beneath the waters for you, so that the punishment you deserve will be placed upon Him. And now, if there is an oath to keep, a vow to keep, a promise to keep, or a covenant to keep, you will be enabled to do so in direct proportion to your love. Do you not love Him? The one who took upon Himself your vow, the one He could not keep. And suffered dismemberment for you, death itself, the terrors of the cross, in order that you might live. Do you not love Him? And will you not serve Him?

Truly, as He enables you to make a vow and to keep it today and tomorrow and every day by His power, which works within me. But then, Lord, we also hear the voice of Your Son, that marvelous token through which we are bound to You, tied, knit together, our lives wrapped up in each other. Now, by His root, we who are baptized, and we who would come to the Lord’s Supper, and we who would take part in the sacraments and make our vows, oaths, and promises, do so through and in Him, understanding that the judgment is past and that life and glory have come. Lord, in our love for Him, in our faith toward Him, we live and rejoice. Praise be to the Lord 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.