Let the Children Come

God's providence is his continual, fatherly governing of all things in such a way  that nothing comes to me by chance.  This truth is meant to produce patience in suffering, gratitude in blessing, and deep confidence for the future. What is Providence? God's Providence is His almighty and ever present power,  whereby, as with His hand, He still upholds heaven and earth and all creatures.  God does not merely set creation in motion;  He is personally and actively sustaining it at every moment. God so governs creation that  leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years,  food and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty....  All things, come to me not by chance but by His Fatherly hand.  Both the "big" events of history and the smallest details of daily life are included in His wise rule. God's Fatherly Hand Providence is not bare sovereignty  but God's Fatherly hand.  It  pa...

The almighty Creator of heaven and earth is my God and Father through Jesus Christ. Q. What do you believe when you say: I believe in God the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth?  That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,  who out of nothing created heaven and earth and all that is in them,  and who still upholds and governs them by His eternal counsel and providence,  is, for the sake of Christ His Son, my God and my Father.  In Him I trust so completely  as to have no doubt that He will provide me with all things necessary for body and soul,  and will also turn to my good whatever adversity He sends me in this life of sorrow.  He is able to do so as almighty God,  and willing also as a faithful Father. For the Bible Tells Me So... Exodus 20:11 — For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it ...

Q. What is true faith?  A. True faith is a sure knowledge whereby I accept as true all that God has revealed to us in His Word. John 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”  John 17:17 “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”  Hebrews 11:1-3 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.  James 2:19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe; and tremble! At the same time it is a firm confidence   Romans 4:18-21…who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” 19 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own...

Are all men, then, saved by Christ just as they perished through Adam?  A. No. Only those are saved who by a true faith are grafted into Christ and accept all His benefits. grafted — a branch of one plant is inserted into the stem of another where it continues to grow and produce fruit. Here it refers to how we are made part of Christ and so produce the fruits of faith.  benefits — forgiveness of sins, sanctification, everlasting righteousness, salvation, eternal life.  For the Bible Tells Me So... Matthew 7:14 “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”  John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.  John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  John 3:18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does no...

Having considered the requirements of My Mediator, I turn to His identity.  Who is this Mediator?  Jesus of Nazareth,  conceived by the Holy Spirit,  born of the virgin Mary,  legal son of Joseph, the Son of David, of the tribe of Judah.  Christ is my wisdom.   Wisdom could be defined as the best means to the best goal.  Christ is the best (and only) means to the goal of our salvation. Over against the wisdom of the world, Christ is my wisdom.  The world rejects the idea of the crucified Christ as a means of escaping the misery that characterizes this present world  and seeks its own means of healing the brokenness of life.  The world regards as foolish the idea that the crucified Christ is the way of escaping the misery of this present world.  Instead, the world seeks its own way of healing this brokenness. But what is foolish in the eyes of the world is the wisdom of God. Christ is my righteousness .  Righteousness is th...

My Mediator must be True God (that is, real God).  He must have more than just the title of God.  He must have the power and worth of God. My Mediator must possess the power of God.  The burden of God’s wrath against the sins of all the elect is far too heavy for any creature to bear, including man.  Consider this example:  Suppose that the punishment for our sin is forty lashes with a whip.  Now God has chosen “144,000” persons who are to be redeemed (a figurative number).  If a man were to take the punishment of all the elect upon himself, he would receive forty lashes for each of the “144,000” which totals 5,760,000 lashes.  No human being would be able to stand up under such punishment.  He would die long before he fulfilled the payment.  For this reason our Mediator must be more than just a man.  He must be true God so that by His divine power He might bear the full weight of God’s wrath. My Mediator must possess the worth...

In the previous Lord’s Days I have seen that I cannot escape God’s covenant wrath.  Every sin must be paid for.  Neither will I be received in favor again unless I fulfill God’s covenant demand.  I need a Mediator.  A mediator is someone who intervenes, who “goes between” two parties with the goal of bringing the two parties together again. I do not just need any mediator.  He must be special.  He must be man, but not just any man.  He must be a true and righteous man.  Furthermore, he must be more than man; he must be true God.  It would be good to understand that I am dealing with a mystery here. I cannot understand how a person can be true man and true God at the same time.  I believe it because the Bible teaches this to me, and I accept it in child-like faith even though I do not understand it. My Mediator must be a true man, that is, real man,  in order to bear the curse of the covenant.  My Mediator could not be an a...

Since we must make full payment for our sins and since neither we nor any other creature can pay,  a special Mediator and Deliverer is needed.  Q. Since, according to God’s righteous judgment we deserve temporal and eternal punishment, how can we escape this punishment and be again received into favor?  temporal — in this life (in time)  eternal — in the "life" to come  A. God demands that His justice be satisfied.  satisfied — fulfilled, the demands are filled, completely appeased, completely paid off. Therefore we must make full payment, either by ourselves or through another. Q. Can we by ourselves make this payment?  A. Certainly not. On the contrary, we daily increase our debt. debt — that which we owe God.  Q. Can any mere creature pay for us?  A. No. In the first place, God will not punish another creature for the sin which man has committed.  Furthermore, no mere creature can sustain the burden of God’s eternal wrath against sin ...

God righteousness is revealed in his wrath against sin. Q. But does not God do man an injustice by requiring in His law what man cannot do?  A. No,  unjust — unfair, unreasonable, unlawful, not righteous for God so created man that he was able to do it.  But man, at the instigation of the devil,  instigation — influence, encouragement, prompting in deliberate disobedience   robbed himself and all his descendants of these gifts. gifts — those things man was created with Q. Will God allow such disobedience and apostasy to go unpunished?  A. Certainly not.  apostasy — desertion, backsliding, to abandon the faith. He is terribly displeased with our original sin as well as our actual sins.   original sin — the sin and guilt that we inherit from Adam  Therefore He will punish them by a just judgment both now and eternally, as He has declared:   Cursed be every one who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, an...

God did not create man wicked and perverse, but rather, our sinfulness comes from the fall into sin of our first parents.  Q. Did God, then, create man so wicked and perverse?  A. No, on the contrary,  God created man good and in His image, In his image — man's character was created righteous and holy: good, right and pure.  Man's task was to be God's regent on earth and so was to be servant of God,  guardian of his neighbor and steward of creation. that is, in true righteousness and holiness,  righteousness — in a right legal relationship with God  holiness — set apart for service to God  so that he might rightly know God his Creator,  heartily love Him,  and live with Him in eternal blessedness to praise and glorify Him. Q. From where, then, did man’s depraved nature come?  A. From the fall and disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve, in Paradise, For there our nature became so corrupt that we are all conceived and born in...

We need to know our sins and misery from the law of God.  Q. From where do you know your sins and misery? misery — unhappy, dissatisfied, lonely, alienated — man separated from God, from others, from creation and from himself. A. From the law of God. law — the standard, norm, the demand, that God has revealed in his Word and has given to us to live by. Q. What does God’s law require of us?  A. Christ teaches us this in a summary in Matthew 22:  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. love — That devotion to someone which describes more than just feelings or emotions. It describes an attitude of heart towards God and man that leads to obedience and right action.  heart — commonly identified as the seat of emotions and affections.  soul — with the will and moral character.  mind — with mental abilities and activities.   This is the great and first commandment.  And a second is like it, ...

My only comfort is that I will always belong to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ. What is your only comfort in life and death?  Comfort — it is a knowledge which comes from placing something good over against something bad.  Considering the good, we can endure the bad patiently. The worse the bad is, the greater the comfort need to be.  Our comfort is in the context of the greatest evil; sin and death. Comfort is not simply support in the face of uncertainty but it is the assurance of faith which we receive from the gospel.  This Gospel teaches us that: First—that my sin and misery are enormous; Second— That God sent His Son to remove sin and death; Third—That I am to live in thankfulness to God.  That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.  not my own — The believer confesses that his life is not his own. "The Father preserves me, the Son redeemed me, the Holy Spirit sanct...

Q. How do you conclude your prayer?  A. For Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.  That is:  All this we ask of You because, as our King, having power over all things, You are both willing and able to give us all that is good,   all this — everything we asked for in the 6 petitions  King — our king is the almighty creator of heaven and earth. He upholds everything as if by his hand. and because not we but Your holy Name, should so receive all glory for ever.  not we — It is not us who stand in the center of our prayers but God.  all glory — the aim and purpose of our existence is to praise and glorify God in forever.  Q. What does the word Amen mean?  A. Amen means:  It is true and certain. For God has much more certainly heard my prayer than I feel in my heart that I desire this of Him. Amen — This does not mean "it is finished" but it is a confession that what God promises will surely and certainly come to ...

God's children ask their heavenly Father to strengthen them by His Holy Spirit so that they can resist temptation.  Q.  What does the sixth request mean? A. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.  That is:  In ourselves we are so weak that we cannot stand even for a moment. Moreover, our sworn enemies - the devil,  the world, and our own flesh do not cease to attack us.  sworn enemies — the enemies we face are not minor, easy going enemies. They are out to destroy you.  devil — our main enemy and the source of all evil  world — that part of creation that is temporarily under the domain of the evil one.  our own flesh — the enemy is also within us; in our sinful nature Will You, therefore, uphold and strengthen us by the power of Your Holy Spirit, so that in this spiritual war we may not go down to defeat, but always firmly resist our enemies, until we finally obtain the complete victory.  spiritual war — ...

God's children ask their heavenly Father for the forgiveness of their sins.  Q. What is the fifth petition in the Lord's Prayer?  A. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  forgive -- take away the sins our debts -- we should be praising God and obeying him. When we do not, we are in his debt. That is:  For the sake of Christ’s blood, do not impute to us, wretched sinners, any of our transgressions, nor the evil which still clings to us,  Christ's blood -- this is the ground, the basis, the reason, that Father forgives our sins. impute -- charge to our account, deposit to our account  wretched sinners -- unhappy, dissatisfied, lonely, alienated — man separated from God, from others, from creation and from himself. evil which clings to us -- our fallen nature; original sin, and also all those sins which we still do in the weakness of our human nature. as we also find this evidence of Thy grace in us that we are fully determined...

Q. What is the fourth petition?  A. Give us this day our daily bread.  That is:  Provide us with all our bodily needs  We ask the Lord to give us our daily bread because these things are really firmly and ultimately in his hand.  So that we may acknowledge that You are the only fountain of all good,  Bread is a product of nature, yet it does not come from nature, nor from the creature, but from the Creator.  And that our care and labor, and also Your gifts, cannot do us any good without Your blessing.  Care here is not "worries" or "anxieties" but careful and thoughtful attention to our calling.  Grant, therefore, that we may withdraw our trust from all creatures and place it only in You. We must not place our confidence and hope in luck or chance or other creatures, nor in ourselves, but only in the Lord our God. For the Bible Tells Me So... Psalm 145:15,16 -- The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. Yo...

  God's children ask their heavenly Father that they might always do his will. Q.  What does the third petition mean? "Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" means: Help us and all people  to reject our own wills  and to obey your will without any back talk.   Your will alone is good.   Help us one and all to carry out the work we are called to,  as willingly and faithfully as the angels in heaven. For the Bible Tells Me So... Matthew 7:21 — Not every one who says to me, "Lord, Lord," shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Matthew 16:24 — Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."  Luke 22:42 — "Father, if thou art willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.  Psalm 103:20, 21 — Bless the LORD, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, hearkenin...

God's children ask their heavenly Father for the coming of His kingdom in the world and in their lives. Q.  What does the second petition mean? A.  "Your kingdom come" means: Rule us by your Word and Spirit in such a way that more and more we submit to you. Preserve your church and make it grow. Destroy the devil's work; destroy every force which revolts against you and every conspiracy against your holy Word. Do this until your kingdom fully comes, when you will be all in all. For the Bible Tells Me So... Psalm 143:10 — Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God. Let thy good Spirit lead me on a level path.  Psalm 103:19 — The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all.  Psalm 119:5 — O that my ways may be steadfast in keeping Thy statutes.  Matthew 6:33 — Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.  Romans 16:20 — The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your f...

God's children ask their heavenly Father that they may always honor His Name. Q.  What does the first petition mean? A.  "Hallowed be your name" means: Help us to truly know you, to honor, glorify, and praise you for all your works and for all that shines forth from them: your almighty power, wisdom, kindness, justice, mercy, and truth. And it means, Help us to direct all our living - what we think, say, and do - so that your name will never be blasphemed because of us but always honored and praised. For the Bible Tells Me So... John 17:3 — And this is eternal life, that they know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.  Jeremiah 9:23, 24 — Thus says the LORD, “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practice steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth; for i...

God's children address their heavenly Father with reverence and trust. Q. Why has Christ commanded us to address God as Our Father?  A. To awaken in us at the very beginning of our prayer what should be basic to our prayer - a childlike reverence and trust that through Christ God has become our Father, and that just as our parents do not refuse us  the things of this life, even less will God our Father refuse to give us what we ask in faith. Q. Why is there added, Who art in heaven?  A. These words teach us  not to think of God’s heavenly majesty in an earthly manner,  and to expect from His almighty power all things we need for body and soul. For the Bible tells me so... Luke 11:13 — If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!  Matthew 6:25 — Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor a...

What has God commanded us to ask of Him?  All the things we need for body and soul,  as included in the prayer which Christ our Lord Himself taught us.  What is the Lord’s Prayer?  Our Father who art in heaven,  Hallowed be Thy Name.  Thy kingdom come,  Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread;  And forgive us our debts, As we also have forgiven our debtors;  And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.  For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever.  Amen. For the Bible Tells Me So... Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. The Heidelberg Catechism Lord's Day 45

Prayer is the main part of the thankfulness which God requires of us. Why is prayer necessary for Christians?  Because prayer is the most important part of the thankfulness which God requires of us.  Moreover, God will give His grace and the Holy Spirit only to those who constantly and with heartfelt longing ask Him for these gifts and thank Him for them.  What belongs to a prayer which pleases God and is heard by Him?   First,  we must from the heart call  upon the one true God only,  who has revealed Himself in His Word,  for all that He has commanded us to pray.  Second,  we must thoroughly know our need and misery,  so that we may humble ourselves before God.  Third,  we must rest on this firm foundation that,  although we do not deserve it,  God will certainly hear our prayer for the sake of Christ our Lord, as He has promised us in His Word.  For the Bible Tells Me So... Psalm 50:14,15 — Sacrifice than...

In the tenth commandment the LORD requires me to keep all his commandments with my whole heart. What does the tenth commandment require of me?  That not even the slightest thought or desire contrary to any of God’s commandments should ever arise in my heart.  Rather, I should always hate all sin with all my heart, and delight in all righteousness. But can those converted to God keep these commandments perfectly? No.  In this life even the holiest have only a small beginning of this obedience.  Nevertheless, with earnest purpose they do begin to live not only according to some but to all the commandments of God. If in this life no one can keep the ten commandments perfectly, why does God have them preached so strictly?  First,  so that throughout our life we may more and more become aware of our sinful nature,  and therefore seek more eagerly the forgiveness of sins and righteousness in Christ. Second,  so that, while praying to God fo...