Part 2
1. _"Thou shalt sanctify the holy-day,"_ that is the Third Commandment. We Christians have a _holy-day._ We celebrate as our holy-day the first day in week, Sunday. We do not do this because God has commanded us to keep this day or any other day holy, more sacred than the rest of the week. In the Old Testament, before Christ came into the world, God had given His people a certain day as a holy-day, the seventh day of the week, the _Sabbath._ In the New Testament, after Christ was born, God has given no such commandment. _The Church, the Christians themselves,_ has chosen a holy-day. The Church chose Sunday, because it was on a Sunday that our dear Lord, our Savior and our King, arose again from the dead. Every Sunday should remind us of the resurrection of our Savior, of His victory over sin, death, and the power of the devil.--We also keep other days holy, for instance, Christmas, New Year's Day, Easter, and other festival days. Can you name some other Christian festival?
2. _Why do we Christians celebrate certain days as holy-days though God has not commanded us to do so?_ It is God's will that His children should come together for services of _preaching and hearing His Word,_ that they should come together in their churches for public worship. In order to do this, it is necessary to set aside a _certain day._ That is the reason why the Church celebrates Sunday and other feasts. _We celebrate them not by divine command, but in order to have time for public worship,_ for going to church, for services of preaching and hearing the Word of God. To the question, "What does this mean?" namely, to sanctify the holy-day, our Catechism rightly answers: _"We should fear and love God that we may not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred, and gladly hear and learn it."_
3. _We should not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred,_ that is the will of God according to the Third Commandment. Remember, it is _His_ Word, the holy Word of our _heavenly Father,_ whom we should fear and love. It is God Himself who speaks to us in His Word, in the Bible, when we read it. It is God Himself who sends His messengers to us, our pastors and teachers, to preach His Word that we may the better understand it. Our Savior says concerning His messengers: _"He that heareth you heareth Me; and he that despiseth you despiseth Me; and he that despiseth Me despiseth Him that sent Me."_ Luke 10, 16. In despising His Word, we despise our Lord, yea, our God and Father Himself. A child does not despise the words of his respected and beloved father. How deeply would we, then, offend our heavenly Father by despising His Word!--If we really fear and love God, we shall not despise His Word, but hold it sacred. We shall not forget that we are hearing our dear Father's voice when we are reading our Bible. When God's Word is preached to us in our churches, we shall hear and receive it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the Word of God. 1 Thess. 2,13.
4. _When is this done?_ When do we not despise God's Word, but rather hold it sacred? God's Word is _preached to to us in public worship._ We despise the preaching of His Word when we do not go to church at all, or only now and then, at long intervals, because we prefer to stay at home to do our work or to amuse ourselves. We despise preaching when we go to church, but hear the sermon carelessly when we do not pay attention to the pastor. He that will not hear God's Word is not of God; such a one cannot remain God's child. John 8,47.--If we keep the preaching of God's Word sacred, we shall go to church regularly every Sunday, unless sickness, or something else that we cannot avoid, hinders us. We shall go to church in order to hear the sermon, to listen attentively to it. We shall hear the Word willingly and gladly and rejoice that we may again hear the dear Gospel of the love of God in Jesus Christ, our Lord. We shall rejoice and say: _"Lord, I have loved the habitation of Thy house, and the place where Thine honor dwelleth."_ Ps. 26,8.--God's Word is also preached and taught us in our _day-schools_ and _Sunday-schools._ Come to your school regularly, hear the lessons from the Word of God diligently and attentively and you will hold His Word sacred; you will do the will of your Father.
5. God's Word is not only preached, God has also given us the _Bible, His written Word._ He wants us to read His Word in our _homes. "Search the Scriptures,"_ John 5,39, our Savior says. We should not only read it, but read it carefully and often, read it with prayer to God that we may more thoroughly understand it. The Word of God should dwell among us _richly, abundantly._ Col. 3,16. If we do not read and study our Bible at home, we are despising the Word of God.
6. We should not only hear and read the Word of God, and hear and read it gladly; our Catechism also tells us _that we should learn it._ Like Mary, the mother of Jesus, _so we, too, should keep all these words and ponder them in our hearts._ Luke 2,19. We should try with the help of our Lord to live more and more according to God's Word. _"Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path."_ Ps. 119,105. If we do this, we are holding God's Word sacred and shall be blessed by it. _"Blessed are they that hear the Word of God and keep it."_ Luke 11,28. Remember _Hannah,_ the mother of little Samuel, 1 Sam. 1,2; _Mary_ sitting at Jesus feet and hearing His Word, Luke 10,39. Remember especially how our _Lord_ loved His Father's house. Luke 2,41-52.
7. There is one thing we should not forget: to keep God's Word sacred. God sends His messengers to us, our pastors and preachers. We should _honor and esteem and love them_ for their work's sake. We should obey them when they preach God's Word and _pray_ for them. We should help that the blessed Word of God may be preached to all nations, to all men, that all may hear it and be saved by it.
8. In the First Commandment we learned that throughout our life we should fear and love God and trust in Him with our whole heart; in the Second, that we should not misuse His holy name, but use it to the praise of God and the salvation of our neighbors and ourselves; in the Third, that we should diligently hear and learn God's Word, so that all our actions, our entire life, may be ordered according to it. _These three commandments relate to God. They teach us the love of God._ Now follow the other seven, which relate to our neighbor, _whom we should love as ourselves._
REMEMBER:--
_1. We sanctify our holy-day when we fear and love God that we may not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred._
_2. The fear and love of God will induce us to hear and read God's Word, not carelessly, but diligently and gladly, to learn it and to live according to it._
MEMORIZE:--
_He that heareth you heareth Me; and he that despiseth you despiseth Me; and he that despiseth Me despiseth Him that sent Me._ Luke 10,16.
_Lord, I have loved the habitation of Thy house, and the place where Thine honor dwelleth._ Ps. 26,8.
_Let him that is taught in the Word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things._ Gal. 6,6.
QUESTIONS.
1. Which day did God institute in the Old Testament as the holy-day of His people? 2. Did God in the New Testament give us a certain day as our holy-day? 3. Why does the Christian Church choose a holy-day, though God did not command us to do so? 4. What is God's will concerning His Word? 5. What is necessary that Christians may come together to preach and hear God's Word? 6. How do we, therefore, sanctify our holy-days? 7. Why should we not despise God's Word, but keep it sacred? 8. How do we show that we do not despise the preaching of His Word? 9. Whose voice do we hear in the sermon? 10. As whose word should we, therefore, hear and accept the sermon? 11. Where do we also hear the Word of God? 12. In which book do we find the written Word of God? 13. How should we us our Bibles, the written Word of God? 14. What does it mean to learn God's Word? 15. How must we, finally, show our love of God's Word? 16. To whom do the first three commandments relate? 17. What does the First Commandment teach us? 18. The Second? 19. The Third? 20. What is the sum of these commandments? 21. To whom do the other commandments relate? 22. How should we love our neighbor?
LESSON 5.
The Fourth Commandment.
Which is the Fourth Commandment?
_Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother, that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth._
What does this mean?
_We should fear and love God that we may not despise our parents and masters, nor provoke them to anger, but give them honor, serve and obey them, and hold them in love and esteem._
1. _"Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother."_ Go has given us a commandment in regard to our _father_ and _mother,_ our _parents._ This is a very important commandment for all children. It is God's will that we not only _love_ our parents, but also _honor_ them. We honor those who occupy a higher position than we, who have been placed above us, who have a right to command us and demand our obedience. By commanding us to honor our parents, God places them above us. He wants children to regard their parents as being in God's stead, above them, as His representatives, whom for His sake they should honor. Never forget that your dear parents have been placed over you by God. Never forget to honor and respect them for God's sake.
2. What does it mean to honor father and mother? _"We should, fear and love God that we may not despise our parents ... nor provoke them to anger."_ We should not _despise_ our parents. We despise them when we do not respect the high station in which God has placed them over us, when in our hearts we do not esteem them as God's representatives, when we act as though we were their equals or even stood above them.--We should not _provoke them to anger,_ that is, we should not by word or deed excite them to just anger or cause them pain and distress, by being unkind, stubborn, disobedient, even insolent towards them, or by wicked deeds and sins which dishonor them. Remember _Absalom,_ who despised his father David and caused him bitter grief by rebelling against him and making himself king in his stead. 2 Sam. 15. Remember the wicked sons of Eli. 1 Sam. 2,12.--God is displeased with this sin. _"The eye that mocketh at his father and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it,"_ says the Word of God. Prov. 30,17. God will severely punish all bad and disobedient children, very often in this life, as He did with Absalom, and if they do not repent, in eternity.
3. We must not despise our parents, but should _give them honor,_ that is, we should regard them in our hearts as God's representatives; we should respect their station, even if they are lowly, or poor, or even queer. They are still our parents, and therefore should not be deprived of their honor because of their failings. It is _God's will_ that we honor them.
4. We should show in words and deeds that we honor our parents. We should _serve_ them, we should do for them whatever we can, even if they do not ask for it, and do it gladly. When they become old or sick, we should do all in our power to help them, and so try to repay the love and care which they have shown us when we were young and weak and so much in need of their kindness. Your dear parents did and still do so much for you that you will hardly ever be able to repay them. _"Let them_ [the children] _learn . . . to requite their parents_ [to repay their love]; _for that is good and acceptable before God."_ 1 Tim. 5,4.
5. We should, furthermore, show the respect we owe our parents by _obeying them._ We should do what they tell us, carry out their commands, and do it without a murmur, willingly, quickly, fully, and gladly. In this manner you, at your age, can best prove that you honor your parents. _"Children, obey your parents in all, things; for this is well-pleasing unto the Lord."_ Col. 3,20. _"Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old."_ Prov. 23,22.
6. _"We should hold them in love and esteem."_ God has given us our parents as a most precious gift. Through them our heavenly Father bestows upon us numberless other gifts and blessings. Our parents provide for us; they give us all we need in this life; they shelter and protect us. They try to lead us to our Savior by teaching us the Word of God, by sending us to a Christian school. They bring us up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Eph. 6,4. Should we not love and esteem them as a precious gift of God? Should we not thank Him with all our heart, thank Him by doing His will in regard to our parents? Do not forget: _We honor our parents because we fear and love God, who has given us this most precious gift._
7. Our Catechism not only says that we should honor our parents, but it adds the word _"masters."_ God has placed other persons besides our parents over us, in _home, school, and state._ Our parents are also those who take our parents place, _who take care of us and protect us_ if our parents are dead or otherwise unable to take care of us. God has placed over us our _teachers_ in our schools, who instruct us in our parents stead. There are many persons in our country, in our cities and towns, who have been placed above us, such as the President of the United States, the governor of our State, the mayor of our city, etc. It is God who has placed also these rulers over us. He commands us to hold all these in honor and esteem, to serve and obey them in all things in which He has placed them over us.
8. God has added to the Fourth Commandment a _special promise: "Honor thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise: That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth."_ Eph. 6,2.3. This shows how well-pleasing it is unto God if we keep this commandment, if we honor and love our parents and masters. Our gracious Lord will abundantly reward all children who honor their parents and masters, and do it in the fear and love of God. He will bless them here on earth in a way which is good for them, and He will bless and reward them more abundantly in heaven. The most beautiful example of the fulfilment of this commandment is our _Lord Himself,_ of whom we read: _"And He went down with them_ [His lowly parents], _and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them."_ Luke 2,51. He even remembered His mother when He was nailed to the cross. John 19,26.27.
REMEMBER:--
_1. Parents are a most precious gift of God. God has placed them over us that through them He may provide for us, protect us, and lead us to Himself, our Savor, and to eternal life._
_2. We should therefore highly honor and esteem our parents, serve and obey them in the fear and love of God, our heavenly Father._
_3. This is well-pleasing to God, who will graciously reward us._
MEMORIZE:--
_Honor thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise: That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth._ Eph. 6,2,3.
_Children, obey your parents in all things; for this is well-pleasing unto the Lord._ Col. 3,20.
_Let them learn ... to requite their parents; for that is good and acceptable before God._ 1 Tim. 5,4.
QUESTIONS.
1. What is God's holy will regarding our parents? 2. What place does God give our parents by commanding us to honor them? 3. Whose representatives are they? 4. When do we despise our parents? 5. When do we provoke them to anger? 6. Give examples of children who despised their parents. 7. How will God punish children who despise their parents? 8. What does it mean to hold our parents in honor? 9. How do we show in words and deeds that we honor our parents? 10. When do we serve them? 11. At what time especially can we repay their love? 12. What does it mean to obey our parents? 13. How should we carry out their commands? 14. Why should we love and highly esteem our parents? 15. Who are the "masters" whom God has placed over us? 16. What has God added to this commandment? 17. What does God teach us by adding this special promise? 18. Who is the most beautiful example of the fulfilment of this commandment?
LESSON 6.
The Fifth Commandment.
Which is the Fifth Commandment?
_Thou shalt not kill._
What does this mean?
_We should fear and love God, that we may not hurt nor harm our neighbor in his body, but help and befriend him in every bodily need._
1. You all know what it means to kill. It means to take our own life or the life of our neighbor, our fellow-man. This is what God forbids in this commandment. _God is the Giver of all life._ He alone, therefore, has the right to take it away. God made man in His image. How dare we destroy the image of God! Our neighbor's life should be _sacred_ to us. God will punish him who takes his neighbor's life. _"Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God made He man."_ Gen. 9,6. Remember _Cain_ and _Judas._
2. God forbids still more in this commandment. Our Catechism explains it by saying: _"We should fear and love God that we may not hurt ... our neighbor in his body."_ In the story of the good Samaritan we learn what this means. The man who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho fell among thieves (robbers), who wounded him and, leaving him half dead, departed. Luke 10,30. These robbers hurt the Jew in his body, they brought his life into danger. But for the Samaritan he certainly would have died. The life of our neighbor may be hurt in other ways. Pharaoh of Egypt endangered the lives of the Israelites by compelling them to do labor that was too hard for them. We should not wound our neighbor in his body, or in any other way bring his life or health into danger and thus shorten his life.
3. _We should not harm our neighbor in his body,_ that is we should not by spiteful words or wicked deeds embitter his life and in this way shorten it. Remember how Joseph's brothers embittered his life by selling him into slavery, how they embittered the life of their father by telling him that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal They made life a burden both to their brother and to their father.
4. _We should fear and love God that we may ... help and befriend our neighbor in every bodily need._ Our neighbor is in bodily need when he is in danger of losing his life and health. Look again at the story of the good Samaritan. There you will learn what it means to help and befriend our neighbor in his bodily need. The poor Jew fell among robbers, who stripped him of his raiment, wounded him and carelessly departed, though that poor man was nearly dead. The Jew certainly was in bodily need, being in great danger of losing his life. A Samaritan passed, and, seeing this poor man, he took compassion on him. He went up to him and helped him. He bound up his wounds, set him on his own beast brought him to an inn, and took care of him. He helped the poor Jew in his bodily need and saved his life.--But the good Samaritan did more. The next day, not being able to stay any longer with his afflicted brother, he gave money to the host of the inn, and asked him to take care of the wounded Jew in his stead after his departure; he even promised to give the innkeeper more money if it should be necessary. The good Samaritan befriended the Jew, he acted as a friend to him. Not only did he save him from death, he also assisted him until he was no longer in bodily need. _"Go, and do thou likewise,"_ our Lord says.--That Jew, like all the Jews at that time, most probably, was an enemy of the Samaritans. The Samaritan knew that, and still he helped and befriended him. We should help and befriend not only our relatives and friends, or those who are able and willing to repay us and help us when we are in need, but also our enemies, those who hate and despitefully use us, _"If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink,"_ Rom. 12,20. _"Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you."_ Matt. 5,44.
5. The Samaritan _took compassion_ on the Jew, therefore he helped him. The compassion, or pity, was in his heart. All our good works and all our sins issue from the heart. _We should watch over our hearts, over our thoughts._ No anger and hate against our neighbor should be in our hearts. And even if our neighbor does us wrong, if he injures and insults us, we should not revenge ourselves, but love our brother. _"Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer; and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him."_ 1 John 3,15.--We should always be kind, merciful, and forgiving to our neighbor, even to our enemy. _"Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy."_ Matt. 5,7. And above all, we should _fear and love God,_ then we shall help and befriend our neighbor, him whom God has made in His image.
REMEMBER:--
_1. Life is God's gift. Only He who gave it has the right to take it. The life of our neighbor should be sacred to us._
_2. Therefore we should not kill or hurt or harm our neighbor, our fellowman, in his body, nor hate him or be angry with him. God has made man in His image._
_3. We should help and befriend our neighbor whenever he is in bodily need, always be kind and merciful to him and forgive him when he wrongs us._
MEMORIZE:--
_Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God made He man._ Gen. 9,6.
_Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer; and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him._ 1 John 3,15.
_Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink._ Rom. 12,20.
_Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy._ Matt. 5,7.
QUESTIONS.
1. What does it mean to kill? 2. Why should we not take our fellow-man's life? 3. In whose image did God make man? 4. What does God, furthermore, forbid in this commandment? 5. What does it mean to hurt our neighbor in his body? 6. What does it mean to harm him in his body? 7. From whom may we learn how to fulfil this commandment? 8. How did the good Samaritan help the Jew? 9. How did he befriend him? 10. When, even, should we help our neighbor? 11. What does our Lord say Matt. 5,44? 12. Where do all our good works and all our sins rise? 13. What kind of thoughts should not be in our hearts against our neighbor? 14. What does the Bible tell us of him who hates his brother? 15. How should we be disposed towards our neighbor if he wrongs us? 16. When will we fulfill this commandment? 17. What does our Lord say about the merciful?
LESSON 7.
The Sixth Commandment.
Which is the Sixth Commandment?
_Thou shalt not commit adultery._
What does this mean?
_We should fear and love God that we may lead a chaste and decent life in word and deed, and each love and honor his spouse._
1. _We should lead a chaste and decent life,_ that is the demand of our God and heavenly Father according to the Sixth Commandment. Our hearts must be chaste to make our lives chaste and decent. Our _hearts_ should be _chaste,_ that is, free from evil lusts, free from unclean and lewd thoughts and desires. When our hearts are chaste and pure, our lives will be decent and modest and clean. The chastity of our hearts will show itself in all the acts of our life. _"Keep thyself pure,"_ says the Word of God. 1 Tim. 5,22. Keep your heart pure and chaste.