Part 6
4. Whatever God does for His children, He does _"purely_ out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy." His fatherly goodness and mercy-- nothing else--moves Him to show us goodness and mercy. He provides and protects me _"without any merit or worthiness in me."_ When a man performs some work for another man, he has done something for him and thereby earned, or _merited,_ payment for such service. We have not given anything to God, so that He would be in duty bound to reward us for it. We have not earned His fatherly love, nor can we ever do so.-- When a rich man bestows a free gift upon a poor man, this poor man has certainly not merited this gift, but he may be _worthy_ of the help. His worthiness may have moved the rich man to take pity on him. We are _not worthy_ of anything that God bestows upon us; we do not deserve His fatherly love and kindness. We have transgressed, and daily transgress, His holy commandments. We are sinners. We so often misuse God's kindness and His gifts. If God were to treat us according to our merits and worthiness, He would not be able to bless us, but he would have to punish and condemn us. In us God does not find anything that might move Him to love us and to care for us. It is _purely_ out of His fatherly, divine goodness and mercy that He loves me and provides for me, an unworthy sinner. We must confess with Jacob: _"I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which Thou hast showed unto Thy servant."_ Gen. 32,10.
REMEMBER:--
1. _In bestowing all His blessings on me God is moved only by His goodness and mercy, not by any merit or worthiness in me. All I am and all I have and receive is a free gift of His love and kindness._
2. _God's goodness and mercy are a fatherly and divine goodness and mercy. He daily shows that He is my Father indeed, who loves me and cares for me with a most perfect, never-failing, never-ceasing love._
3. _To believe in God the Father Almighty means to know and be assured from Scripture that the almighty God is my Father, and with all my heart to trust and confide in Him who is my Father for Christ's sake._
MEMORIZE:--
_The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works._ Ps. 145,9.
_Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him._ Ps. 103,13.
_I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which Thou hast showed unto Thy servant._ Gen. 32,10.
_I believe in God the Father Almighty, that is, I know and am assured that the almighty God is my Father; with all my heart, therefore, I trust and confide in Him who is my Father for Christ's sake._
QUESTIONS.
1. Who has made you and still preserves you? 2. What moves God to do this? 3. Whom among His creatures does God especially love? 4. How does He show His goodness and love toward His children? 5. What furthermore moves God to care for His children? 6. What does it mean that God is merciful? 7. How are His goodness and mercy called in our Catechism? 8. What do we read Ps. 103,13? 9. How does God daily show His fatherly goodness toward you? 10. How are His goodness and mercy furthermore called in our Catechism? 11. Why is His goodness called a divine goodness? 12. What do we therefore confess because God daily shows us His fatherly love and mercy? 13. What does this mean, "I believe in God the Father Almighty"? 14. Why may and should we trust and confide in God as in our Father? 15. What does not move God to love us and provide for us? 16. Why do we not merit God's love and kindness? 17. Why are we not worthy of His goodness and mercy? 18. What have we sinners merited? 19. Recite what Jacob said to the Lord. Gen. 32,10.
LESSON 18.
The First Article.
For His Goodness And Mercy I Will Thank And Praise My Father, And Serve And Obey Him.
Which is the First Article?
_I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth._
What does this mean?
_I believe that for all this it is my duty to thank and praise, to serve and obey Him. This is most certainly true._
1. Great are the blessings which we daily receive from our heavenly Father. It is He who preserves our bodies and souls. It is He who provides us with all that we need for our lives, and who defends us against all danger and guards and protects us from all evil. And He does all this without any merit or worthiness in me, moved purely by His fatherly, divine goodness and mercy. When we consider all this love and kindness, we ask, _What, then, is our duty toward our Father in heaven? "What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?"_ Ps. 116,12. Our Catechism answers: _"For all which it is my duty to thank and praise, to serve and obey Him."_
2. For all His benefits we should, and, most certainly, every child of God gladly will, _thank_ our Father. When somebody has shown us a kindness and given us valuable gifts, we certainly thank him. How we do look down with contempt upon an ungrateful person! If we give thanks to our human benefactors, how much more should we thank God, our greatest Benefactor, from whom we receive every good and perfect gift! It is _God's will_ that we thank Him. _"O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good, because His mercy endureth forever."_ Ps. 118,1. Remember how well pleased our Lord was with the _grateful Samaritan_ who alone of the ten came back to thank Him for the gift of his health. Luke 17, 17-19. To be able to thank God we must _believe in our hearts_ that everything that we are, have and enjoy is God's gracious gift. Yet many do not admit this. They boast that they themselves provide for their life by their daily work, that they themselves defend their bodies and souls from danger and evil, and so they do not consider it their duty to thank the Lord. We are assured that all we have is a free gift of God, and therefore we must and will thank Him in all our prayers. Do not forget to do this, especially in your morning and evening prayers, as well as before and after meals. (See the prayers in your Catechism.)
3. _We should praise God, our Father._ With glad and rejoicing hearts we will _tell_ others, our fellow-men, of the great and wondrous things the Lord has done for us. We will _make know_ to them what a mighty and wise as well as gracious, merciful, and loving Father our God is, and thus _glorify_ His name in the world, also in the presence of _unbelievers. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits!"_ Ps. 103,2. "To God, the Father of all love, the God of earth and heaven, the mighty God who reigns above, be praise and glory given! With healing balm my soul He fills and every pain and sorrow stills: To God all praise and glory!"
4. _It is our duty to serve the Lord._ God, it is true, is not in need of our poor services, for it is He who gives us day by day everything we have. But He has told us in His Word that what we do to our brethren for His sake _we have done unto Him._ Matt. 25,40. _In serving our brethren we serve God._ We serve Him by not using the gifts we receive from Him merely for our own benefit, much less for sinful purposes, in the service of sin and Satan, but _by using them to help our neighbor in distress._ We serve Him by using our worldly goods _to further our Father's kingdom here on earth, by laboring and giving for His Church, for Foreign and Home Missions, and for all purposes pleasing to God._ In this manner our whole life will be a service and a thank-offering to God, our gracious Father. "O grant that I may through Thy grace use all my powers to show Thy praise, and serve and help my neighbor."
5. _Finally, it is my duty to obey Him, my Father._ I know that God is my Father, and I am His child. How can a child show his love and his gratitude toward his father better _than by obeying him?_ So will I render my thanks unto my heavenly Father by cheerfully and willingly obeying Him and by doing according to His commandments. Above all, I will, according to His First Commandment, _love Him and trust in Him,_ my Father, in every need and danger, firmly believing that He will never leave nor forsake me.
6. _"This is most certainly true."_ With these words we conclude our First Article. These words are the explanation of the word _Amen_ which we find at the end of our Creed. _Amen_ means: "This is most certainly true." We declare it to be most certainly true what we have confessed and what we believe. It is most certainly true that God has made me and still preserves me. It is most certainly true that God has given me my body and soul, that He provides for me and defends, guards, and protects me. It is most certainly true that He has done all this purely out of His fatherly, divine goodness and mercy. It is most certainly true that God is my almighty Father whom I, His child, am in duty bound to thank and praise, to serve and obey. _From God's Word we know that all this is most certainly true._
REMEMBER:--
1. _God is our heavenly Father, our greatest Benefactor; therefore we should thank and praise, serve and obey Him. Let us never forget all His benefits._
2. _We thank God when we believe and acknowledge it to be true that all we have is the gift of God's goodness and mercy, given us without any merit or worthiness in us.--We praise Him when we glorify Him and His gracious deeds also before our fellow-men._
3. _We serve our heavenly Father by devoting all the powers of body and soul, all of which are His gifts, not to the service of sin and Satan, but to the service of our fellow-men and of the Church of God.--We obey Him by fulfilling His will, by keeping His commandments, especially by loving Him and trusting in Him._
MEMORIZE:--
_What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?_ Ps. 116,12.
_O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good; because His mercy endureth forever._ Ps. 118,1.
_Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits!_ Ps. 103,2.
QUESTIONS.
1. Which are the great blessings we receive from God, according to the First Article? 2. What do we ask when we consider these blessings? 3. How is this expressed in Ps. 116,12? 4. How does our Catechism answer this question? 5. Why is it our duty to thank God? 6. How can you prove from Scripture that God is pleased with our gratitude? 7. What must we admit in our hearts in order really to thank God? 8. Most men do not admit this; what do they believe regarding their worldly goods? 9. At what time especially should we thank God for His benefits? 10. What does it mean to praise God? 11. Before whom also should we glorify Him? 12. Recite Ps. 103,2. 13. What, in addition, is our duty towards God? 14. How can we serve our Father? 15. How do you know that you are serving God by serving your neighbor? 16. What should I also do to serve God? 17. What finally, is our duty towards our Father in heaven? 18. When do we obey Him? 19. How should we obey Him, according to the First Commandment? 20. What do we express in the last words of the First Article? 21. How do we know that everything we have confessed in this article is most certainly true?
LESSON 19.
The First Article.
Review Lesson.
1. We have begun to study the Three Articles of our Creed. These articles contain all that we believe and confess regarding God and His works, all that He has done and Will do for us, His children. Where did God reveal Himself and His works to us? What do we call all the doctrines of Scripture that teach us who God is and what He has done for us? What is the meaning of the word _Gospel?_ There are two chief doctrines in the Bible. What are they called? What does the Law tell us? What are the good tidings brought to us in the Gospel?
2. We confess in the First Article that God is the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. God is the Maker of heaven and earth. What do we call this great work of God? What is the meaning of the word create? What do we call all the things that God has made? What does it mean to say: God created all things _by His word?_ In how many days did God create this world, heaven and earth?--When we thoughtfully consider this great work of God, His creation, we can learn from it how wonderful our God is. What does creation teach us about God? When we say, God is almighty, what does that mean? How does creation teach us that God is an all-wise God? How does creation show us God's great love and kindness toward His creatures? How were all creatures when God had made them?
3. God is the Maker of heaven and earth, He created all things. Therefore He also created man. How did God create the first man? Man is the foremost of all the visible creatures. How do we prove this? In whose image did God make our first parents? In what respect did God make man in His image? How were our first parents when God had made them? Whom did they know and love? How did they live?--God made all men; whom, therefore, did He also make? What did God give me in making me? It is true that God did not make me in the same manner as He made our first parents. Through whom did He give me my body and soul?--Consider how wonderfully God has made you. Why did God give you eyes and ears? What can you do because God endowed your soul with reason? All this proves that we are God's foremost creatures.--God has made you, but what do we furthermore confess? What does this statement mean: God preserves me? What do we read Heb. 1,3? In whom do we all live and move and have our being?
4. We confess in the First Article that our heavenly Father has made me and all creatures, that He has given me my body with all its members, my soul, my reason and all my senses, and that He still preserves me, so that in Him we live and move, and have our being. How does God preserve me? from whom do we receive all things to support our body and life? Recite Ps. 145,15.16. In what manner does God, as a rule, provide us with all the things that we need to support our body and soul? Why is it that we, nevertheless, must say that God provides for us? What must God also do to preserve my body and life? Whom does God often use to protect His children from danger and evil?
5. God has done great things for me. He has made me, He has given me my body and soul. He still preserves me by providing daily and richly all that I need for my life and body, by guarding and protecting me from all evil. What moves God to give me all these great benefits? Recite Ps. 145,9. What does that mean: God is good to all His creatures? Whom especially does God love? What does that mean: God is merciful? How are God's goodness and mercy called in our Catechism? Why is His goodness called a fatherly goodness? Why is it called a _divine_ goodness? Why do we say that it is _purely_ fatherly and divine goodness that moves God? What have we merited by our conduct toward God? Why are we unworthy of all the benefits of God? What must we confess with Jacob? Gen. 32,10. What do we say by confessing: "I believe in God the Father Almighty"?
6. Great are the blessings which we have received, and daily are receiving, from our heavenly Father. And He gives all His blessings out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. What, therefore, is our duty over against God? We should, in the first place, thank our Father. What do we think of an ungrateful person? What do we read Ps. 118,1? With whom was our Lord well pleased? Why are so many men not thankful to God? When only shall we be truly thankful? --In the second place, we should praise our Father. What does it mean to praise God? Before whom also should we glorify God?--In the third place, we should serve God in order to show Him our gratitude. How can we serve God although He is not in need of our services? How ought we to use all the gifts of God in order to serve Him?--Lastly, we should obey our Father. When do we obey Him? Which commandment, especially, should we keep? What does this commandment require of us? Why do we close the First Article with the words: "This is most certainly true"?
We all believe in one true God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Present Helper in all need, Praised by all the heavenly host, By whose mighty power alone All is made and wrought and done.
LESSON 20.
The Second Article: Of Redemption.
I Believe That My Lord Jesus Christ Is True God.
Which is the Second Article?
_I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord._
What does this mean?
_I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, ... is my Lord._
1. _"I believe in Jesus Christ, our Lord"_ thus the Second Article of our Creed begins. Every true Christian, every child of God, confesses: I believe in my Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that Jesus Christ is my Lord. We do not only believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, but likewise in our Lord Jesus Christ. You know what it means to believe in Jesus Christ. It means, I know and am assured by God's Word that Jesus Christ is my Lord, and with all my heart I trust and confide in Him as in my Lord. Our Catechism teaches us _two things_ about our Lord Jesus Christ: 1. _who our Lord Jesus Christ is,_ and 2. _what He has done for me to become my Lord._
2. _Who is our Lord Jesus Christ?_ We confess _"I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son,"_ that is, God the Father's only Son. Many are called, and in truth are, God's children. _"Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus."_ Gal. 3,26. All who believe in our Lord Jesus Christ are sons and daughters of God. How, then, can we say that Jesus Christ is God's only Son? Our Catechism says: _"I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, is my Lord."_ All those who believe in Christ are God's children; God has _adopted_ them as His children for Christ's sake. Christ, however, is God's _own Son, begotten, born of the Father from eternity._ Before God created heaven and earth, Christ was God's Son, begotten of the Father. God Himself says to this His only Son: _"Thou art My Son; this day_ [that is, from eternity] _have I begotten Thee."_ Ps. 2,7. _"God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."_ John 3,16. Christ is God's Son, begotten of the Father from eternity, and it is for this reason, too, that in the First Article we call God the _Father._ He is the Father of His own only Son, through whom He is also our Father.
3. Whoever is born of human parents is a true man; he has a human body and a human soul. Our Lord Jesus Christ is born of the Father from eternity, and therefore _He is true God._ We confess that we believe in Jesus Christ, true God. He is true God in the same sense as the Father is true God. _Together with the Father He is the one true God._ He himself has said: _"He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father."_ John 14,9. _"I and My Father are one."_ John 10,30 The Father is the _almighty_ God; likewise the Son, our Lord, is the _almighty_ God. _"All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth."_ Matt. 28,18. God the Father is always with us wherever we are; likewise the Son, our Lord, is with us always. _"Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."_ Matt. 28,20. God the Father has created all things; likewise the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. _"All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made."_ John 1,3. He tells us that we should _honor_ Him as we honor the Father. _"All men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father."_ John 5,23. He tells us that we should believe in Him as we believe in the Father. _"Ye believe in God, believe also in Me."_ John 14,1.
4. Jesus Christ is true God from eternity. When our Lord was dwelling here on earth among men, He _showed_ that He was true God. His apostle John tells us: _"We_ [the apostles] _beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father."_ John 1,14. With His almighty word He healed the sick, He made the blind to see, the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, He brought the dead to life again: the daughter of Jairus, the son of the widow in Nain, and Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha. Remember how the winds and the sea obeyed Him, how He stilled the storm and walked on the sea as on dry land, how He changed water into wine.
5. _Our Lord Jesus Christ is true God, the only-begotten Son of the Father._ His disciples confessed it time and again. Simon Peter confessed regarding the Lord: _"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."_ Matt. 16,16. Thomas said to Him, _"My Lord and my God."_ John 20,28. And Jesus was well pleased with their confessions and accepted them. _"This_ [our dear Lord] _is the true God and eternal life," is what John the Apostle tells of Him._ 1 John 5,20. And St. Paul writes: _"Who_ [Christ] _is over all, God blessed forever."_ Rom. 9,5. _From our Bible, from the Word of God,_ we know it to be most certainly true that our Lord is true God, begotten of the Father from eternity.
6. Never forget that our dear Lord, together with the Father, is the one true God. _Therefore I believe in Him and trust in Him with all my heart._ In every need and trouble, in every danger, I lift up my hands to my Lord and God and _pray_ to Him. He will not forsake me, for He is _"Jesus Christ, the same yesterday to-day and forever."_ Heb. 13,8.
REMEMBER:--
1. _Our Lord Jesus Christ is the only Son of God the Father, His own Son, begotten of the Father from eternity._
2. _Our Lord Jesus Christ is true God, with God the Father the one true God in whom we believe, and to whom we pray._
3. _This we know and believe because God Himself has revealed it to us in His holy Word. Our confession is and always will be: "I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son." I believe that Jesus Christ is true God, begotten of the Father from eternity._
MEMORIZE:--
_This is the true God and eternal life._ 1 John 5,20.
_Who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen._ Rom. 9,5.
_Thomas answered and said unto Him, My Lord and my God._ John 20,28.
_For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life._ John 3,16.
_All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth._ Matt. 28,18.
_Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world._ Matt. 28,20.
QUESTIONS.
1. What does it mean to believe in Jesus Christ, our Lord? 2. What two things does our Catechism teach us about our Lord Jesus Christ? 3. Whose only Son is Jesus Christ? 4. Who also are God's children? 5. Why is Jesus called God's _only_ Son? 6. Where in the Bible is Christ called the only-begotten Son of God? John 3,16. 7. Christ is the own, the only-begotten Son of God; what must He therefore be? 8. What is Christ together with the Father? 9. Where does our Lord Himself say so? 10. Where does our Lord say that He is almighty? 11. Where does He promise that He will always be with us? 12. What great work of God the Father is also done by the Son? 13. How should we honor the Son? 14. How did Christ show, when He was dwelling visibly on earth, that He is true God? 15. What did Peter confess of the Lord? 16. What did Thomas say to Him? 17. What does the Apostle John write about the Lord? 18. What does St. Paul write? 19. How do we know that it is most certainly true that Christ is true God? 20. What must our confession regarding Christ always be?
LESSON 21.
The Second Article.
I Believe That My Lord Is True God And True Man.
Which is the Second Article?
_I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried._
What does this mean?
_I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord._