September 16, 2007 - Morning Sermon

Heidelberg Catechism

LORD’S DAY 2

3 Q. How do you come to know your misery?

A. The law of God tells me.

 

4 Q. What does God’s law require of us?

A. Christ teaches us this in summary in Matthew 22–

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. This is the first and greatest commandment.

And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.

All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.

 

5 Q. Can you live up to all this perfectly?

A. No. I have a natural tendency to hate God and my neighbor.

 

The Catechism begins its short look at our Misery… Sin… Guilt. And boy are we deep in it.

We learn about our misery through God’s Law. And then we see the summary. And then we’re told we can never live up to it perfectly. That I will always put God out of the picture, that is I will hate Him.

What’s the use…

What can we do?

Nothing!

What can we pay?

Nothing!

How hard should we work at obeying?

Hard. But it won’t get you anywhere.

 

What’s the use? Again!

Why should we go on living if we can never rise up to following God’s Law and obeying Him?

We should go on living in order to bring glory to God. To know that we are His children. The sheep of His pasture. We were bought at a price. Christ died for us. He delivered us from our misery, sin, guilt. And because of that, we are to try to live a life that obeys the commands.

There’s the catechism… and my sermon in a nutshell.