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The Heidelberg Catechism (38) (Explained for Children)

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The Heidelberg Catechism (38) (Explained for Children)

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This Lord’s Day speaks about the fourth commandment, namely, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” In Israel the Sabbath day was the seventh day of the week, and that day was to be kept holy. It was the day of the Lord, the day of rest, the day which was set apart for the Lord. On that day in particular the Lord desired to be served, and therefore this day received a special place among the days of the week. After the resurrection of the Lord Jesus the Sabbath was changed to the first day of the week, thus, on Sunday.

Question 103: What doth God require in the fourth commandment?

Answer: First, that the ministry of the gospel and the schools be maintained; and that I, especially on the Sabbath, that is, on the day of rest, diligently frequent the church of God to hear His Word, to use the sacraments, publicly to call upon the Lord, and contribute to the relief of the poor, as becomes a Christian. Secondly, that all the days of my life I cease from my evil works, and yield myself to the Lord, to work by His Holy Spirit in me, and thus begin in this life the eternal Sabbath.

This commandment speaks of two things. First, on that day church services must be held, and the Word of God must be proclaimed. The preaching must be from the Bible, and, therefore, it is necessary that there be preachers. They are servants of God whom the Lord calls for this work. They must first be instructed for several years, for it is a difficult work. They always need the help of the Holy Spirit.

There must also be Christian schools, in which children are told about, and taught from, the Bible. This teaching is necessary, for the Bible is the Word of God. In it the Lord speaks to us.

On Sunday we must go to church. How often? We must go as often as possible. The Lord desires this. Actually, we could better say, we may go to church! That is the place where the Lord desires to bless sinful people. There the Holy Spirit works, and there He always uses the preaching of God’s Word for this work. Must you not then always try to be there? Before going to church we must pray that the Lord grant His blessing upon His Word and that He will use it for our conversion.

In church the sacraments are also to be used. The Lord’s Supper is administered regularly, and from time to time we have the baptism of children. But what more takes place in church? There God, the Lord, is publicly called upon in prayer. Is this by the minister or by an elder? Yes, but all the people, in their hearts, should pray along with the minister or elder. It is a prayer unto God from the entire congregation.

During the church service also collections are always taken by the deacons for the church and for benevolence. Church buildings are expensive, the heat and light bills must be paid, and the minister must also be provided with means to support himself and his family. Then, too, the deacons must be enabled to help poor people. Often there are also other collections, such as for mission work or for people in other places who are in need.

In the second place, God commands us in the fourth commandment that we work six days but not on Sunday. Then we may rest from our daily work, putting aside everything with which we are busy during the week. But do you know from what we must cease? It is from our evil works! These are our sins. We may not do evil any time in our lives. How is that possible, for we have such evil hearts? The answer tells us that we must yield ourselves to the Lord to work by His Holy Spirit in us. Indeed, He alone can teach us to forsake the evil works, to hate all sins, and to strive against them.

The Holy Spirit also desires to be in the church, for there He desires to work in the hearts of sinful men. For that reason we must always pray before we go to church. We must ask the Holy Spirit to come into our hearts, for we are so much in need of Him. Our evil hearts desire to do evil works; indeed, our hearts even desire to work against the Holy Spirit! That happens, for example, when you are not willing to pay attention in church, do not try to understand the sermon, or sit there thinking about other things.

It is a blessing that the Holy Spirit is almighty. He can remove all that opposes Him, and He is stronger than our evil hearts.

The answer says something more. It says that after this life there comes an eternal Sabbath, for then one may be forever with the Lord. Then a person never does any more evil works. Then he will always love, worship, and praise the Lord. This eternal Sabbath actually begins here on earth, for the Lord at times gives something of that rejoicing which always exists in heaven. That is the beginning of the eternal joy which was mentioned in Lord’s Day 22, question 58. You, therefore, can see that the one who answers is a child of God.

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Bekijk de hele uitgave van vrijdag 1 december 2006

The Banner of Truth | 24 Pagina's

The Heidelberg Catechism (38) (Explained for Children)

Bekijk de hele uitgave van vrijdag 1 december 2006

The Banner of Truth | 24 Pagina's