Part 8
4. For this purpose Christ has redeemed and won me, that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and _serve Him,_ who has become my Lord. Before Christ became our Lord, we had other masters. We served our enemies, sin and the devil. We could not but serve them, and we served them willingly, even joyfully. How miserable to be a servant of Satan and sin, to do their will, to obey them! _The wages of sin is death,_ eternal, death and damnation. Our Lord has delivered us from sin and Satan, He has won us as His own. _"That we, delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life."_ Luke 1, 74.75. We live in the kingdom of our Lord under His care; we need not fear our enemies if we do not serve them. We serve Him who has delivered us. In His kingdom our Lord gives us strength to serve Him by living according to His commandments, by doing His good and gracious will. To serve this Lord is a _noble_ service. Can there be a nobler service than to serve God, the highest Lord, to serve the highest King, who has bought and won us out of the hands of our enemies, of sin and Satan? _Gladly_ and _joyfully_ will we serve Him, our Savior and our Lord.
5. We serve our Lord _in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness._ The kingdom of our Lord is, indeed, a glorious kingdom. In His kingdom we serve Him in _righteousness._ We are not righteous in ourselves, but our Lord has gained a perfect righteousness for us. He has fulfilled the Law in our stead. Clothed in Christ's blood and righteousness, we serve our Lord, and therefore our poor service is _well-pleasing_ to God.--We serve our Lord in _innocence._ We are free from the guilt of our sins. Sad to say, we daily sin in the service of our Lord, we deserve nothing but punishment; but God forgives us our sins_ daily and richly for Christ's sake, and so we are _innocent_ in His sight. In holiness and righteousness we will serve Him all the days of our life.--We serve Him in _blessedness._ It is blessedness to serve this our Lord. He blesses His servants with all His rich gifts. He blesses them here on earth and leads them to eternal blessedness in heaven. It is _everlasting righteousness and innocence and blessedness that our Lord gives us. He leads His servants to _His kingdom in heaven._ Here in this world His kingdom is a _Kingdom of Grace;_ in heaven it is the _Kingdom of Glory. "The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom; to whom be glory forever and ever! Amen."_ 2 Tim. 4,18.
REMEMBER:--
1. _Through His sufferings and death, Christ has become my Lord, and therefore I am His own. I am living in His kingdom, under Him, my King, being delivered from the hands of all my enemies. He cares for me and protects me._
2. _In His kingdom I am serving my King in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, which He bestows on me. For my Lord's sake God forgives me all my sins and accepts my poor sinful service._
3. _Our Lord's kingdom is a twofold kingdom, the Kingdom of Grace here on earth, in which our King reigns with His grace, with forgiveness of sins, and the Kingdom of Glory in heaven, in which we shall reign with our King, freed from all evil, in His glory forever and ever._
MEMORIZE:--
_I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed; it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise His heel._ Gen. 3,15.
_Pilate, therefore, said unto Him, Art Thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest, I am a King._ John 18,37.
_That we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life._ Luke 1,74.75.
_The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom; to whom be glory forever and ever! Amen._ 2 Tim. 4,18.
QUESTIONS.
1. From whom has our Lord won me? 2. To whom do I now belong? 3. Recite the first prophecy of the promised Messiah. 4. Who has no power over me since Christ has won me? 5. In whose kingdom may I live? 6. What does it mean to live under Him? 7. What will our Lord do as our King? 8. Why are we safe under His rule and protection? 9. How do we call His kingdom here on earth? 10. Because Christ is our Lord, what should we therefore do? 11. Whom must we serve when we are not in our Lord's service? 12. Why is this service a miserable service? 13. Why can we now serve our Lord? 14. Why is His service a glorious service? 15. who has given us the righteousness in which we serve our Lord? 16. Why are we innocent before God? 17. Why is it blessedness to serve the Lord? 18. How do we call His kingdom in heaven?
LESSON 25.
The Second Article.
Review Lesson.
(1) 1. In whom does every Christian believe according to the Second Article? 2. What do we mean when we say: I believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord? 3. What two things does our Catechism teach us about our Lord Jesus Christ? 4. What do we confess in the Second Article concerning the _person_ of our Lord? 5. Prove from Scripture that Christ is God's only Son, the only-begotten Son of the Father. 6. If Christ is God's only-begotten Son of the Father, He must be true God with the Father. How can you prove this from Holy Writ? 7. How did the apostles confess Jesus Christ as their God? 8. What do we confess about our Lord in the beginning of the explanation of the Second Article? 9. Together with whom is Christ true God? 10. In what respect is there no difference between Jesus and His Father? Christ is coequal with the Father. He has the same divine majesty, glory and honor.
(2) We confess that Jesus Christ is God's only Son and therefore, together with the Father, true God from eternity. 1. What do we furthermore confess concerning our Lord? 2. How can you prove that Christ is true man? 3. Christ is indeed true man, born of the Virgin Mary. But there is one great difference between Him and all other men. Which is it? 4. Why was Christ conceived and born without sin? 5. Christ is true God and true man; there are, however, not two Christs, one true God and the other true man; there is but one Christ. What is He? 6. The Son of God became true man, but He did more. What kind of a man did He become? 7. How does the Second Article describe the lowly life of our Savior here on earth? 8. Why did Christ humble Himself so deeply? 9. What does the name Jesus mean? 10. Why is He called Savior? 11. Why was Jesus called the Christ?
(3) We learn from our Catechism not only who Jesus, our Lord, is, but also what He has done for us to become our Lord. 1. What does our Catechism say concerning the work of our Lord? 2. Christ has redeemed me; how do we therefore call His work? 3. Why was it necessary that I should be redeemed? We are by nature lost and condemned creatures. 4. From which parable of the Lord can you learn what it means to be lost? 5. Why are we also condemned creatures? 6. Who had pronounced judgment upon us because of our sins? 7. What was this punishment? 8. We were under the power of sin, death, and the devil. Who alone could help us in this distress? 9. We confess that Christ redeemed me, a lost and condemned sinner; but I am not the only one whom He has redeemed. Whom did He also redeem? 10. Prove from Scripture that our Lord redeemed all men. 11. What conclusion may and should I draw from this truth?
(4) Our Catechism says that our Lord has redeemed and purchased us. 1. What is the meaning of the Word purchase? 2. Christ has bought us with a price. What is the price our Lord paid for our redemption? 3. Why could we not be bought with gold or silver? 4. We have been purchased with His blood. How did Christ purchase us with His blood? 5. It is, indeed, a high price which our Lord paid for us. Why do we call His blood a holy blood? 6. Why is it called a precious blood? 7. What does Christs blood do for us regarding our sins? 8. Christ has purchased us with His suffering. Why do we call His suffering an innocent suffering? 9. In whose stead did Christ suffer all the punishment of sin? 10. What is the punishment of sin?--11. Christ has purchased us with His holy blood and His innocent suffering. From whom did He purchase us? Christ redeemed us from the power of sin, and death, and the devil. 12. How did Christ redeem us from all sins? 18. What did He fulfil in our stead? 14. Why are we also free from death? 15. Being free from sin we are also free from the power of the devil. Why are we free from his power?
(5) Christ, our Lord, has redeemed and purchased us. He has also _won_ us. He has won us after a severe fight with sin, death, and the devil. 1. Which is the first prophecy of this conflict between our Savior and the devil? 2. Christ gained the victory in this conflict. He won us. To whom do we now belong? 3. We are Christ's own; we live in His kingdom. To whose kingdom do we belong without Christ? 4. Christ has won me from the power and the kingdom of the devil; Christ now is my King. Who belongs to His kingdom? 5. What do we call His kingdom here on earth? 6. Why do we call it the Kingdom of Grace? 7. In His kingdom we live under Him. What does this mean? 8. Not only do we live under our King, under His care and protection, we also serve Him. How do we serve Him? 9. Out of whose hand has our Lord delivered us? 10. How do we serve our Lord? 11. Without Christ we had to serve sin and the devil. Why is this service such a degrading service? 12. Why should we gladly and willingly serve our Lord in His kingdom? 13. We serve our Lord in righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. Which righteousness is here meant? 14. In what respect are we innocent in the eyes of God? 15. Why does His service bestow blessedness upon us? 16. To what kingdom does our gracious Lord lead us after this life? 17. Why is this kingdom called the Kingdom of Glory?
Let us give thanks to our dear Savior, who has become our Lord, that we may be His own and in His kingdom live under Him and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. Amen.
LESSON 26.
The Second Article.
How Our Lord As Victor Descended Into Hell And Rose Again From The Dead.
Which is the Second Article?
_I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord.... He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead._
1. We believe and confess in the Second Article of our faith that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, became also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, that He suffered, was crucified, died on the cross, and was buried. All this our Lord has done to redeem us lost and condemned creatures from all our sins, from death, and from the power of the devil, that He may be our Lord, that we may be His own and live under Him in His glorious kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness and blessedness. Our Lord died and was buried for our sakes to redeem us. Is, then, our Lord still in death and in the grave? Do we believe in a dead savior? Do we serve a dead and helpless king? Thank God, we do not! _We know from Holy Writ that our Lord came to life again, that our living Lord descended into hell and on the third day after His death rose again from the grave._
2. We confess in the Second Article: _"He,"_ our Lord Jesus Christ, _"descended into hell."_ When our Lord descended into hell, He was no longer dead. It is true, when they took Him from the cross and buried Him, He was really dead. Nobody, indeed, had taken His life from Him, He had laid it down of Himself, of His own free will, laid it down for us that we might not suffer eternal death; _but in His grave Christ, the Son of God, took His life back again. "Christ was put to death in the flesh, but quickened_ [came to life again] _by the Spirit."_ 1 Pet. 3,18. As our living Lord He went down into hell, into the place whither the evil spirits, the devils and condemned men, have been banished. Christ did not enter the gates of hell _in order to be punished there for His sins;_ for our Savior was without sin and blemish. He did not descend into hell _to suffer the penalty for our sins;_ this He had already done on the cross. He descended into hell _to show that He had won the victory over the devil and all his hosts._ "He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them." Col. 2,15. As the triumphant Victor over all His enemies Christ entered hell, the abode of Satan. Now we are certain that the old Evil Foe cannot keep us in his power, that _we are free from hell and damnation._
3. _On the third day our Lord rose again from the dead._ You have often heard the Easter-Gospel, the joyful tidings of Christ's glorious resurrection: Our Lord is not dead, but He lives. When, very early in the morning, the women came to the grave to anoint the body of their Master, they did not find Him, the grave was empty, and an angel of God brought them the message: _"Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen."_ Luke 24,5.6. After His resurrection our Lord showed Himself to His disciples as their living Savior. They saw Him, they spoke to Him, and ate with Him. _The Lord convinced them that He was risen._ They are the witnesses of His resurrection. Even the _soldiers_ whom the enemies had placed around the grave as a watch, lest His disciples might come by night and steal the body, could not deny that the grave was empty, that the Lord had risen. Matt. 28,4.11-15. _We are sure that Christ, our Lord, is not dead, but lives; for God Himself tells us in His Word that Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father._ Rom. 6,4. Joyously we confess: _"I know that my Redeemer liveth."_ Job 19,25.
4. Christ is risen. He came forth from His sepulcher with _the same body_ that was laid in the grave. _The tomb was empty._ The disciples knew Him when He showed Himself. They saw the print of the nails in His hands and His feet and the wound in His side. He let them touch His body in order to convince them that He was not a spirit. Luke 24,39.40. But after His resurrection His body was _glorified;_ it was free from all human weakness and sufferings, free from death.
5. _The resurrection of our Savior is full of comfort and consolation for us. "If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable."_ 1 Cor. 15,17-19. This would be our sad lot if Christ were not risen. All our faith and hope in Him would be in vain. But He _is_ risen, and now we know _that He is the true Son of God._ We know that Christ _has gained the victory over all our enemies,_ sin, death, and the devil, who could not keep Him in their power. We know that Christ _has paid the penalty for our sins,_ that our sins are forgiven. We know that we have a _living_ Savior, _who is with us alway,_ to govern and protect us in His kingdom. We know that we shall not perish when we die, that our risen Lord will not leave us in the grave, but will _raise us again unto eternal life. "Because I live, ye shall live also."_ John 14,19. Our Lord is risen, and so we put our trust in Him both in life and death. "Jesus, my Redeemer, lives! I, too, unto life must waken Endless joy my Savior gives; Shall my courage then be shaken? Shall I fear, or could the Head Rise and leave His members dead?"
REMEMBER:--
1. _Christ descended into hell to show Himself as Victor over our enemies, over the devil and all his hosts._
2. _Christ is risen. We know that our Redeemer lives. We have a living Savior, our sins are forgiven. Our King lives forever; under Him we live in everlasting righteousness and innocence._
3. _Christ is risen; He has conquered death. Though we must die, He will recall us from our graves and raise us to eternal life and everlasting blessedness._
MEMORIZE:--
_I know that my Redeemer liveth._ Job 19,25.
_If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished._ 1 Cor. 15,17.18.
_Because I live, ye shall live also._ John 14,19.
QUESTIONS.
1. Where did Christ go after He had come to life again in the grave? 2. Why did Christ not descend into hell? 3. What was His purpose in descending into the abode of Satan? 4. When did our Lord rise from the dead? 5. What message did the angel bring to the women at the grave? 6. Who are the witnesses of His resurrection? 7. How did our risen Lord convince His apostles that He was alive again? 8. Who even could not deny His resurrection? 9. What makes us perfectly certain that Christ is risen and lives forever and ever? 10. How was Christ's body after His resurrection? 11. What does that mean, Christ's body was glorified? 12. What do we know regarding our sins since Christ is risen? 13. What consolation does His resurrection give us for our Christian life? 14. What consolation does it give us in the hour of death?
LESSON 27.
The Second Article.
The Triumphant Ascension Of Our Lord.
Which is the Second Article?
_I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord.... He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty._
What does this mean?
_Even as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity._
1. After His resurrection our Lord _remained here on earth for forty days._ During these days He repeatedly appeared to His disciples; He showed Himself alive to them by many proofs. He convinced them that He was not dead, but lived. He spoke to them about the kingdom of God, _His_ kingdom. He finally gave them His great command or commission, to go out into all the world and preach the Gospel of their living Savior to all men. Acts 1,3.
2. On the _fortieth day_ when the apostles were assembled in Jerusalem, the Lord appeared to them again. He told them: _"Behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you; but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high."_ Luke 24,49. He commanded His disciples to remain in Jerusalem until they had received the gift of the Holy Ghost, that in His power they might be His witnesses unto the uttermost parts of the earth. Then our Lord led them out to _Mount Olivet,_ as far as to _Bethany._ And there He lifted up His hands and blessed them. _While He blessed them, He was parted from His beloved apostles and carried up into heaven._ While the disciples looked on He was taken up higher and higher, until a cloud received Him out of their sight. Luke 24,50.51; Acts 1,8.9. In this manner our Lord was received up to His heavenly glory _Visibly,_ before the eyes of His disciples, He ascended on high and entered into the glory of His Father.
3. Christ ascended into heaven, _and He did so for our sake._ He ascended up on high as _the triumphant Victor_ over all His and our enemies. His entrance into heaven assures us _that He has opened heaven again for us through His sufferings and death._ Before His death He gave His apostles the promise: _"In My Father's house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you."_ John 14,2. This promise He has fulfilled. He went up to heaven to prepare a place in His Father's house for all who believe in Him, their Savior.--Our Lord ascended into heaven, _and where He is, there shall we, His friends and disciples also be._ He will not leave us behind in this world. As truly as Christ went up to heaven, we, His own, will follow Him to His and our Father's house. _"Where I am, there shall also My servant be."_ John 12,26. Our Lord prayed for us before His death upon the cross: _"Father, I will that they also whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me."_ John 17,24. "Mighty Lord, in Thine ascension we by faith behold our own."--Remember: _Our Treasure, our Lord and Savior, is in heaven, and where our Treasure is, our hearts and hopes should also be._
4. _"He was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God,"_ thus we read Mark 16,19. We, therefore, confess that our ascended Lord now _"sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty."_ What does this mean? It does not mean that in heaven, at the right hand of God the Father, there is a special throne, prepared for our Lord, the God-man Jesus Christ, upon which He is now seated in divine glory, adored and praised by all the heavenly hosts, and that, because He is sitting on that throne, He is _far away from us, His own._ It means--and so our Catechism explains it--that our dear Lord, after being raised from the dead, _"lives and reigns to all eternity."_ It means that Christ, though He was dead, lives and is alive forevermore, that our living Lord is with us and reigns over us as our gracious King to all eternity. He is, and will be, according to His almighty power, our King forever and ever.
5. Christ, indeed, ascended into heaven. He now is in heaven, in the glory of His Father; _but He is not far away from us. He is with us._ We cannot see Him, as His apostles saw Him, but He is with us _invisibly in His Word, His Gospel._ When we read or hear His Gospel or think about it, our Savior is always at our side. He Himself has promised us: _"I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you."_ John 14,18.-- _Our Lord lives and reigns to all eternity,_ that is, He rules and governs us, His own, His disciples. He leads and protects us against all our enemies. Out of His almighty hand no enemy can pluck us. Our mighty Lord on God's throne is our Good Shepherd, who leads us in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Ps. 23.--Christ's resurrection, His ascension, and His sitting at the right hand of God assure us of the fact that He is indeed our Lord, and will be our Lord and King to eternity; and in His kingdom we shall live and Him we shall serve in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.
REMEMBER:--
1. _Christ, our Savior, ascended into heaven as the triumphant Victor over all His and our enemies. He entered into heaven, into the glory of His Father, there to prepare a place for us._
2. _His ascension assures us that the gates of heaven are open to all who believe in Him, that we shall be where He is to see His glory._
3. _Our Lord sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, that is, He, the God-man, lives to eternity, lives, and is with us in His Word, and reigns over His own with His almighty power forever and ever._
MEMORIZE:--
_In My Father's house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you._ John 14,2.
_I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there ye may be also._ John 14,3.
_Where I am, there shall also My servant be._ John 12,26.
_I will not leave You comfortless; I will come to you._ John 14,18.
QUESTIONS.
1. How long did our Lord remain on earth after His resurrection? 2. What did He do during these forty days? 3. Where were His disciples assembled on the fortieth day? 4. What promise did the Lord give them? 5. Why were they to be endued with the power of the Holy Ghost? 6. Where did Christ lead the apostles? 7. In what manner was the Lord taken up into heaven? 8. Who were the witnesses of His ascension? 9. What has Christ prepared for us in His Father's house? 10. What does our Savior say John 12,26? 11. Since our Lord is in heaven, who also shall be there? 12. What does the sitting of Christ at the right hand of the Father not mean? 13. With what words does our Catechism explain it? 14. How is our Lord with us after His ascension? 15. What does it mean that our Lord reigns over us? 16. Of what does His resurrection, His ascension, and His sitting at the right hand of God make us certain?
LESSON 28.
The Second Article.
Christ Will Come To Judge The World
Which is the Second Article?