Part 11
3. _Pray and work with all diligence for your Church that it may be maintained and extended._ Matt. 28,19.
MEMORIZE:--
_The Lord knoweth them that are His._ 2 Tim. 2,19.
_Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it._ Matt. 16,18.
_Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ._ 1 Cor. 3,11.
_If ye continue in My Word, then are ye My disciples indeed, and ye shall know the truth; and the truth shall make you free._ John 8,31.32.
QUESTIONS.
1. Who are the members of the holy Christian Church? 2. By whom was the Church founded? 3. In what way does the Holy Ghost build up and preserve the Church? 4. What is the Church also called in the Third Article? 5. Who are the saints? 6. Why are believers called saints? 7. How are they sanctified by the Holy Ghost? 8. What does the Word "communion" mean? 9. What binds true believers so closely together? 10. Why is the Church called the _holy_ Church? 11. Why is it called the _Christian_ Church? 12. Where do we find the true Church? 13. Why is this so? 14. What is the visible Church? 15. Who also, besides true believers, belongs to these visible churches? 16. Which is the true visible Church? 17. How is the true visible Church called? 18. Why should we belong to this Church and avoid all false churches?
LESSON 36.
The Third Article.
The Forgiveness Of Sins.
Which is the Third Article?
_I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins._
What does this mean?
_In which Church He_ [the Holy Ghost] _daily and richly forgives all sins to me and all believers._
1. We confess in our Catechism that the Holy Ghost forgives all sins to me and all believers. _We believe that there is a forgiveness of sins. God's Word assures us of this. _"There is forgiveness with Thee."_ Ps. 130,4. _How sorely do we need forgiveness of sins!_ You know that all men, also believers, commit sin. A child of God indeed earnestly strives against committing any sin, he tries not to transgress the commandments of his heavenly Father; but, alas! also God's children sin daily and much. _"There is not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not."_ Eccl. 7,20. With our sins we deserve nothing but God's punishment. _"The wages of sin is death."_ Rom. 6,23. _Without forgiveness of sins we are lost.
2. _But there is a forgiveness of sins with God._ He assures us in His Word that by grace, for Christ's sake, He will forgive me all my sins. He will do so _daily and richly._ Whenever we have sinned, we should come to Him and pray to Him: Forgive me my trespasses. Even as a child who has grieved his father by his disobedience penitently comes to him and asks his forgiveness, so we in true penitence should daily come to our heavenly Father, whom we have so sorely grieved, whose punishment we deserve, and ask His forgiveness. _He will not cast us out._ He will hear our prayer, and we will praise Him: _"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits; who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases."_ Ps. 103,2.3. The _publican_ came into the Temple and humbly said: _"God be merciful to me, a sinner!"_ and God was merciful to him; he went down to his house _justified._ He had received forgiveness of his sins. Luke 18,9-14.
3. God forgives us our sins. He is moved to do this _not by our good works or merits._ God does not see anything in us which could induce Him to forgive us our trespasses. We deserve nothing but punishment. _His free grace alone moves God to forgive us all our sins._ Our God is a merciful God. He takes pity on us, His sinful children.--By grace God _forgives_ us our sins, that is, He does not look upon our sins, does not _impute_ them to us, but declares us sinners _righteous._ In the beautiful parable of our Lord which we find Matt. 18,23 ff., the wicked servant asks his Lord to have patience with him, whom he owed so much. And the kind lord, moved with compassion, loosed the servant from his fetters and forgave him all his debts, which he never would have been able to pay. _Thus God, moved with compassion, does not punish us as we have deserved, and declares us free from debt, declares us righteous, or in other words, God justifies us._
4. How can the just and holy God who has threatened to punish all who transgress His commandments forgive sins and declare sinners righteous? He does so _for Christ's sake. In Christ_ we have the forgiveness of sins. _"In Christ we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace."_ Eph. 1,7 Christ fulfilled the Law of God in our stead, He suffered the punishment for our sins, and so made good for us. _He has earned full forgiveness for us; for His sake all our sins are forgiven._
5. Who _receives_ forgiveness of sins? We confess that God forgives all sins _to me and all believers._ It is true, Christ has _procured_ forgiveness _for all men_--Christ died for every sinner. God, in His grace, _offers_ this forgiveness by the Gospel _to all who hear it._ We read: _"God was in Christ, reconciling the world_ [all men] _unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the Word of Reconciliation."_ 2 Cor. 5,19. Yet not all receive forgiveness, but only those _who believe in Christ and thus accept the forgiveness_ which Christ has earned for all men. Without faith in Christ there is no forgiveness of sins. _We are justified by faith alone._
6. We receive forgiveness of sins, we are justified before God, _without the deeds of the Law, by grace alone, for Christ's sake, through faith in our Lord._ This is the _chief article of our Christian faith._ This doctrine is taught only by the Christian Church. _It gives all the glory for our salvation to God and affords true comfort to all sinners._
REMEMBER:--
1. _God has promised in His Word to forgive us all our sins daily and richly. Come to Him every day and with true penitence, with a contrite heart, ask His forgiveness for Christ's sake. He will graciously grant it._
2. _We are justified in the sight of God without the deeds of the Law, by His grace, for Christ's sake, through faith in Him. This is the chief doctrine of the Christian Church and the only one that gives lasting comfort to all sinners._
MEMORIZE:--
_Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits; who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases._ Ps. 103,2.3.
_In Christ we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace._ Eph. 1,7.
_God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and has committed unto us the Word of Reconciliation._ 2 Cor. 5,19.
QUESTIONS.
1. Why do we so sorely need daily forgiveness of sins? 2. What do we deserve with our sins before God? 3. Of what does God assure us in His Word with regard to our sins? 4. What should we therefore do every day? 5. How did the publican in the Temple ask for forgiveness 6. How did God answer his prayer? Luke 18, 13.14. 7. Why cannot our works and merits induce God to grant us forgiveness? 8. By what is God moved to forgive us our sins? 9. God forgives us our sins--what does that mean? 10. What do we also call this act of God by which He forgives us our sins? 11. For whose sake does God forgive, or justify, us? 12. Why do we have forgiveness of sins for Christ's sake? 13. Who only receives forgiveness of sins? 14. Why is faith in Christ necessary if we wish to receive forgiveness? 15. How are we justified before God? 16. Why is this doctrine the chief doctrine of our Church?
LESSON 37.
The Third Article
The Resurrection Of The Body And Life Everlasting.
Which is the Third Article?
_I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting._
What does this mean?
_He_ [the Holy Ghost] _will at the Last Day raise up me and all the dead and give unto me and all believers in Christ eternal life. This is most certainly true._
1. _We believe the resurrection of the body,_ so we confess. We believe that _God will raise up me and all the dead,_ so that our bodies which have died shall again be made alive and come forth from their graves. Our bodies _die_ and are buried, and in the grave they decay. _These same bodies_ will live again. It is true, we cannot _understand_ how this is possible. To unbelievers it seems ridiculous, they laugh and mock at this doctrine. Still we _believe_ it; we are assured by the Word of God that our dead shall live again. And _"the Word of the Lord is right."_ Ps. 33,4. Our Lord says: _"The hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice and shall come forth."_ John 5,28. Our God is _almighty,_ with Him nothing is impossible. Luke 1,37.
2. God will raise _me and all the dead. All_ that are in the graves shall hear His voice and shall come forth from their graves. Christ will not only raise His own, His believers, but all men, those, too, who did not believe in Him, but died in their sins.--_"The hour is coming,"_ our Lord says: it is coming on _the Last Day_ of the world. On that great day, when our Lord will come again to judge the quick and the dead, all the dead shall hear the almighty voice of the Son of God and whether they will or not, shall come forth from their graves to meet their God and Lord at His judgment-seat.
3. All the dead will be raised from death and the grave; _but there will be a great difference in their resurrection._ Our Lord says: _"They that have done good_ [shall come forth] _unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation."_ John 5,29. Those who here on earth believed in Christ, and by the power of His grace served Him in His kingdom, and died in the Lord trusting in Him, will come forth to life everlasting and go with their Lord to His eternal glory. _They that have done evil,_ those who rejected their Savior and died in their sins, will rise unto _the resurrection of damnation._ They will be thrown into _hell,_ into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. Matt. 25,41. May our heavenly Father keep us steadfast in the true faith and preserve us from hell and damnation!
4. _They that have done good,_ those who believed in Christ and died in the Lord, shall come forth unto _the resurrection of life. At the Last Day the risen Lord will raise all that fell asleep in Him, and will give them life everlasting, life without end._ We confess that the Lord will "give _me_ and all believers eternal life." The Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, by His grace I believe in my Savior, by grace He has kept me in the faith, and so _I am assured_ that He will give _me_ eternal life. _"Whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life."_ John 3,16. To me and all believers the Lord will give eternal life, but _to believers only. "He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him."_ John 3,36.
5. God will give us believers _eternal life._ Christ will lead His own, His believers, soul and body, into His heavenly kingdom, there to live and reign with Him in everlasting joy and glory. In heaven there will be _no sin;_ in perfect holiness we shall serve our Lord. There will be no more _death,_ nor _sorrow,_ nor _crying,_ nor _pain._ Rev. 21,4. All these things shall have passed away. There will be pure and _true joy and happiness forever and ever._ We shall be _with God:_ we shall see Him, our heavenly King and Father, and His wondrous ways. _"We shall see Him as He is."_ 1 John 3,2. We shall _see our dear Lord and Savior,_ whom we love now even without having seen Him. We shall see Him _in His glory,_ in the glory which His Father has given Him. What unspeakable joy to see God, our Lord and Savior, to be and live with Him! _"In Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore."_ Ps. 16,11.--Our _bodies_ will share this joy. They will come forth _glorified, freed from all sin, sickness, and infirmity, fashioned_ like unto the glorious body of our risen Lord.
REMEMBER:--
1. _It is most certainly true that the Holy Ghost by the Gospel has called me to Christ, my Lord, and enlightened me with His gifts, with true faith in my Savior._
2. _It is most certainly true that in Christ I have forgiveness of all my sins, that I am justified before God without the deeds of the Law, by grace alone, for Christ's sake through faith._
3. _It is most certainly true that the Holy Ghost will keep me in the true faith, and at the day of my Lord raise my glorified body and give to me and all believers in Christ eternal life. I am assured of all of this by the Word of God. This is what I firmly believe and hope for in life and death._
MEMORIZE:--
_The hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice and shall come forth: they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation._ John 5,28.29.
_We shall see Him as He is._ 1 John 3,2.
_In Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore._ Ps. 16,11.
_He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him._ John 3,36.
QUESTIONS.
1. "We believe the resurrection of the body"--what does this mean? 2. What happens to our bodies when we die? 3. Why do we believe that God will raise our bodies? 4. Why do we firmly believe that God can do this though to us it seems impossible? 5. Who will hear the voice of the Son of God when His hour has come? 6. When will His hour come? 7. What difference will there be in the resurrection of the dead? 8. Who are "they that have done good"? 9. Who are "they that have done evil"? 10. To what kind of resurrection will these come forth? 11. What will the Lord at the Last Day give unto me and all believers? 12. Why am I assured that He will give eternal life also to me? 13. What does our Lord say John 3,36? 14. What will there no longer be in eternal life? 15. What will give us everlasting joy and happiness in eternal life? 16. How will the bodies of the believers rise at that day? 17. Like unto whose body will they be fashioned? 18. Why do we believe that all we have confessed in the Third Article is most certainly true?
LESSON 38
The Third Article.
Review Lesson.
1. God the Holy Ghost has called me to Christ, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. Besides me He has called and calls others. What does the Holy Ghost also do in regard to all that He has brought to Christ? What does it mean that He gathers them? What does Scripture call the whole number of all true believers?--What is the Christian Church also called in the Third Article? Why are the believers called saints? What does the word _communion_ signify? Who only, therefore, belongs to the one true Christian Church?--Why is this Church invisible? The true Church is invisible; still we know and are convinced that it is always here on earth. Why are we certain about this? What does our Lord say concerning His Church Matt. 16,18? We call the Church the _holy_ Church; why do we do this? Why is the Church called the _Christian_ Church? Christ is the Foundation of the Church, what else?--We cannot see the Church, still we know where we can find it. Where is it to be found? Why can we be certain that the Church is where the Word of God, the Gospel, is preached and used?--There is one true Church of Christ, the congregation of all believers on earth. But Scripture also speaks of visible churches, visible congregations. What do we mean when we speak of visible churches? To these churches not only true believers belong, but who also? Of these visible churches, or denominations, there is quite a number. What difference exists among these churches? Which is the true visible Church? What is it called? To which Church should we belong?
2. In the Third Article we also confess the forgiveness of sins. Why do we so sorely need forgiveness of sins? What have we deserved with our sins? What will be our fate if we do not receive forgiveness of sins?-- Of what does God assure us in His Word concerning our sins? We daily sin much and deserve nothing but punishment; what should we therefore do every day? How did the publican in the Temple pray to God for forgiveness? How do you know that God answered his prayer?--God forgives the sins of all who come to Him in true penitence. What does not move God to forgive us our sins? Why cannot anything He sees in us induce Him to grant us forgiveness? What moves God to forgive us our sins? What do we mean when we say that God forgives sin? For whose sake does the just and holy God grant us forgiveness? In whom have we redemption, the forgiveness of sins? What has Christ done to earn this forgiveness?--For whom has Christ procured forgiveness? How does God offer this forgiveness? What, however, is necessary if we wish to receive this precious gift of God? How, therefore, are we justified in the sight of God? Why is this doctrine of justification so important? We should by all means hold fast to this doctrine: We are justified without the deeds of the Law, by God's grace alone, for Christ's sake, through faith in Him, our Savior.
3. In the Third Article we furthermore confess the resurrection of the body. How does our Catechism explain these words? How is the doctrine of the resurrection of the body regarded by the unbelievers? Why do we nevertheless believe it?--God will raise the dead. How many of them will He bring to life again? All shall hear the voice of the Son of God and come forth. When will Christ raise all the dead? What is this "Last Day"? All the dead will rise again at the Last Day; but there will be a difference among them. What will this difference be? Who will come forth unto the resurrection of damnation? Who are they that have done evil? What will be their punishment on that day? May our heavenly Father preserve us from hell and damnation!--Who will come forth unto the resurrection of life? Who are they that have done good? What will God give to me and all believers on that day? From what shall we be free in eternal life? With whom shall we be? Not only shall we be with Him, united with Him by faith, what, too, has He promised us? 1 John 3,2. Whom also shall we see in the heavenly kingdom? What do we read Ps. 16,11? How will our bodies be after the resurrection? Like whose body will they be fashioned? What do we mean by adding: "This is most certainly true"?
And we confess the Holy Ghost, Who from both fore'er proceeds, Who upholds and comforts us In the midst of fears and needs. Blest and holy Trinity, Praise forever be to Thee!
LESSON 39.
The Lord's Prayer.
The Introduction.
Which is the Introduction?
_Our Father who art in heaven._
What does this mean?
_God would by these Words tenderly invite us to believe that He is our true Father, and that we are His true children, so that we may with all boldness and confidence ask Him as dear children ask their dear father._
1. We have thus far considered the _Ten Commandments,_ the holy _Law_ of the Lord, in which our heavenly Father tells us what we should do and not do, how we, as His children, should live according to His will. We have considered the Law, which teaches us that we have not kept it, that we have sinned against God and therefore deserved His punishment, eternal death and damnation.--We have considered the _Three Articles of the Christian Faith,_ which teach us the _Gospel,_ the glad tidings of what the Triune God, our Redeemer, has done and will do for us to save us from sin and death, that we may live in His kingdom in everlasting innocence, righteousness, and blessedness. In its Third Part our Catechism explains to us the _Lord's Prayer,_ that is, the prayer that our Lord once taught His apostles.
2. We read (Luke 11,1) that, at a certain time, the disciples saw and, probably heard their Master praying, speaking with His Father in heaven. This made so deep an impression upon them that one of them asked the Lord: _"Lord, teach us to pray."_ The Lord gladly complied with this request and said: _"When ye pray, say: Our Father who art in heaven,"_ etc. The Lord Himself gave His disciples this prayer, and therefore we call it the Lord's Prayer. We say this beautiful prayer _very often, daily,_ and we should do so. Our Lord gave it to us. When we use this prayer, we know that we pray according to our Master's will. But reciting this prayer is not enough, we must also understand what we are praying. We should ever better learn _what the words of this prayer mean._ Let us see how our Catechism explains them.
3. _"Our Father who art in heaven,"_ thus our Lord teaches us to address _the true God, the Triune God._ What love God has bestowed upon us that we are called His children, and that we are permitted to call Him _Father!_ 1 John 3,1. Christ might have chosen different names to address God; but He teaches us to call God our _Father._ Why does He do so? _"God would by these words tenderly invite us to believe that He is our true Father and we are His true children."_ When we come to God to speak to Him in our prayers, we should always believe and remember that God is our true Father, and that we are His true children. _You know that God is indeed your Father and you are His child._ It is true, we are all sinners, and the holy God hates sin, but our dear Lord has redeemed us from all sins and has earned for us forgiveness of sins and righteousness in the sight of God. _Through Christ, my Brother,_ I have become God's true child, and God has become my true Father. _In Christ's name_ I come to God and call Him Father, believing that for Christ's sake God really is my Father and I am His child. _"For this cause"_ (because Christ is my Brother) _"I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named."_ Eph. 3,14.15. Remember that only those who believe in Jesus Christ may call God their Father. _Only children of God, through faith in Christ, can really pray to God._
4. We pray to God, our Father. How _tenderly_ does this name _invite_ us to come to Him in our need! How this name does give us courage, _"so that we may with all boldness and confidence ask Him as dear children ask their dear father"!_ A child is not afraid to come to his beloved father, to tell him with confidence all that he wants and needs. He knows that hie dear father will gladly listen to him and help him. So it is with the children of God. They do not fear to come to their Father, for He loves them. They do not doubt, but confidently believe that their dear Father _will hear their prayer and help them._ Our Father promised to do that. By the endearing name Father, God reminds us: I am your Father, you are my dear child. Come without fear and doubt; pray with ail confidence. I will hear your prayer.
5. _"Our Father who art in heaven."_ This Father of ours to whom we pray is not a weak, not an earthly father. God is the _heavenly Father;_ He is the almighty God, the Lord of heaven and earth. He can do whatsoever He wills. With all confidence we come to Him and believe that He not only will hear our prayers, but _is also able to help us in every need and trouble._