Sermons Vander Kam on HC Lord's Day 2
Q&A 4 Sermons Vander Kam on HC Lord's Day 2
Q&A 44 Q. What does the law of God require of us?
A. Christ teaches that in a summary, Matthew 22:37-40, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second like unto it is this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments the whole law hangeth, and the prophets.
Beloved in the Lord, at the closing part of the ministry of Christ, the ministry that lasted from three to three and a half years while He was here on earth, in the very closing part of it we find that He comes in conflict with the Sadducees and with the Pharisees time and again. He comes in conflict with them because He is bringing the Word of God and bringing it in a way that it has never been brought before, and He is thereby showing to them what the Old Testament demanded. Showing them what the Old Testament demanded and what the Law of God demanded, and as the result of that time and again they run completely stuck. So that here just prior to the place where we began to read this morning for example, the Sadducees had come, and they had said, and it is very familiar to all of us of course, they had said "Look, how is this going to be in the resurrection? You speak of the resurrection of the dead and there is no such thing," according to them. "And it is a total impossibility because look, here in our circles there was a man who took a wife, and he had no children, and he died, and then she took another, and another, and another, until seven; seven brothers. And last of all, the woman died. Now then, in the resurrection, whose wife is she going to be?" This is the kind of a question of course, to which no answer is possible, because of the fact that it is a total non-sensical thing. And they thought that they also had Him completely, that here is another kind of a question whereby they had tripped Him up. That He is no longer going to be able to teach this, that there is going to be a resurrection from the dead, because of the fact that it is impossible; see what happens. Whose wife is she going to be in the resurrection when they are going to rise again, because all seven had her. He said, "You don't understand the Scriptures." That's what it comes down to of course, every time, "You don't understand the Scriptures, nor the power of God. Because in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God. So that that doesn't enter into the matter. Thus He says, "Look, you believe that God is the God of the living, don't you, and not of the dead?" Yah, of course. Well, in the burning bush when God speaks to Moses, then He says, "I am the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob," who lived centuries before that. Now He is the God of the living, so they must be alive, otherwise He is not the God of the living, but of the dead. From that time on they did not dare to ask Him any questions.
No, He has always put them in that kind of a box into which the Bible puts you. Because the Bible comes to us with all of our questionings, and with all of our questionings gives the answer but it has then put you in a box so that you are not able to get out of it, because that answer that comes from the Scriptures is one that is solid. One that you are able to stand on. It is so solid that it is never going to be moved, and that is the way it is also in regards to the whole Word of God and also in regards to the Law. Because now they come also with this question, "what does the Law really require; which is the greatest commandment, Lord? Of all ten of them now, what would you say?" Well, ten; the Pharisees thought that there were a whole lot more, that they had added a lot to them. So that they had added hundreds to them, so that they might also observe these, and thereby also might get an A+. They might go beyond that which the Law required. Those are the things in which the people of that day were taught. So then they come and say, "now which one is the greatest of all the commandments." Hoping of course, that He would say, "Number four, the Sabbath commandment." But He does not. He says "this is the greatest commandment, the whole thing, "love God above all," the first four, "and thy neighbor as thyself," the last six. That is the greatest commandment. And you do it, and that is the command that is demanded by the Law, that is demanded by the whole Scriptures.
So, here we stand before this now; what is the heart of the Law? And the Catechism comes to that too. It may seem very strange to some that the Catechism deals here with the summary of the Law, when you are still dealing with the matter of sin and misery, how great that is. And that it is not until the third part of the Catechism when you deal with gratitude that it takes up each commandment separately. And that will also become clear I think, this morning. There it is going to be dealt with separately, each commandment. And that is going to show us gratitude, while here it is, the heart of the Law, that summary of the Law, "Thou shalt love God above all, and thy neighbor as thyself." We speak to you then this morning on "The Heart of the Law."
Noticing in the first place the need of emphasis; secondly, the content of it; and finally, its importance.
Now this is something beloved, that has to have emphasis, especially in our day, but it always has had to have that kind of an emphasis. It had to be emphasized time and again that there was a heart of the law, and that they were not going to lose themselves in all the various commandments. That they were not going to lose themselves in all manner of trivia. That they were not going to lose themselves in all kinds of details, but that they are going to go the heart of it. And what is the heart of it; love. That is such an awakening for everybody because the Law of God is usually looked upon, and has been in the past, and still is today, that is, that law that demands revenge. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. You see it in the secular press, that is the way in which it is looked upon in the Old Testament. That is the Law of God, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, now we don't have that anymore today. No, says Jesus, you have misunderstood the Law because the heart of the Law says, "Love God and love your neighbor." That's quite different. So then it is not in the area of harshness, not in the area of wrath, but it is in the area of love, and of grace, and of mercy. And that, people can't understand. They can't understand that in the secular world about us. They are not able to understand that in the Reformed world either to a great extent today, but there they also look upon it in this way, as though it is very harsh. An eye for an eye, that's what the Bible says; and what a blessing, not a bite for an eye, but an eye for an eye. It is a punishment according to the crime. That had never been heard of before. There were ever so many people who were slaughtered in days gone by, in the early days of the history of the world, that were slaughtered because of very small offenses. For the very small offense that a person would do he would lose his life, and God says that that is not to happen among His people. There it is to be an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, which today is looked upon as being terrible. Which was a gigantic step ahead and it is also the basis for all law, rule and regulation, and without that we would have nothing in the world to hang onto anymore, and that is one of the great troubles today, the thoughtlessness. But the emphasis has to be on this, that it is that love of God that here comes to the fore in His Law. And that we have to realize that it is not something whereby He is laying great burdens upon people, but that He is hereby freeing them, setting them free completely. That He is setting them at liberty, by means of the Law of God. Now this is one of the strangest things that has to be emphasized, and that is, that emphasis in our day as well as in all those that have gone before, and in all those that will follow us. That emphasis, that the Lord is speaking to us in that Law, and is revealing to us the heart of the Law, and that is, thou shalt love. So that, whenever you are dealing with this thing beloved, it is always this, that that Law requires of us love which we are not able to bring.
So that you see of course, how great our sin and misery is. I have never stolen, I have never committed adultery, I have never murdered, and consequently I will also look up to Him and say, "I thank Thee God that I am not as my fellow men, and as this publican." No, that is not sufficient, because the Law says, "Thou shalt not, not thou shalt not murder, but thou shalt love his life." Not only thou shalt not steal, but you are to love the fact that your neighbor has those things that are necessary. That is an entirely different slant that He gives us on the Law. So that, here He comes with that kind of a summation, with that kind of a summary of the Law, and that of that summary He gives another summary. He says, there are two commandments and the one is, "Love God above all, with heart, soul, mind and strength; and your neighbor as yourself," but that can be again summarized in this, "Thou shalt love." That needs emphasis, and if that doesn't receive the proper emphasis beloved, then we have placed the law outside of ourselves and then we have placed it in a category where it doesn't belong, and where it is also no longer of any effect. Because then we have placed the Law in the place where we don't want it, where we would have no use for it, and as a result of that they read the Law yet in some places and immediately look for a passage of Scripture that also shows us that there is salvation because that Law certainly doesn't have it, and then Jesus comes and says, the whole Scripture hangs on it. Law and prophets all hang on it, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind and strength, and thy neighbor as thyself."
So there is no deference, they are not at variance, they are not in our position, the Law and the Gospel, not at all. They are not such that they are in complete harmony, and the one lies at the basis of the other. How are you going to have the Gospel if you don't know how great your sin and misery is. That, according to a previous question and answer, was the fundamental thing; you have to know first of all, how great your sins and miseries are. Now in order to know that, where do you go then. Then you go to John 3:16 and see; "God so loved the world," NO, you go to Exodus 20. And there you find it, because says Paul in Romans 3; "through the Law is the knowledge of sin." And that's where you have to go then. So that you have to go to that Law in order that you may there find out what sin really is. That you may find out what is the sin of sins. What is the basis of our misery. And that's the place where it is found. And that needs emphasis, because when we have not that kind of an emphasis, then you will also find that the Law and the Gospel are separated, and as a result you have no law and you have no Gospel. Neither the one nor the other. You cannot say to one and cast the other one away. You can't do that. They come together; this is one piece, without seam, from bottom to top. Seamless throughout, this is the Law, and this is the Gospel, and they are in perfect harmony, and we need both so desperately. That's the emphasis we need, and therefore we may well be happy that this scribe comes and says, quoting Deuteronomy; "Don't you see! They don't know the way back," all the way back to the days of Moses; he was already preaching this. So it is not only found in Mark 12 and Matthew 22, but it is also found already in Deuteronomy. "Our God is one Lord and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, etc." So that has always been the Word of God. And now even in this enlightened 20th century, they are not able to understand that, but the Law perisheth. Let it go, because that is of no value, and give us the Gospel. And then we find out we have no Gospel of course, because it has no foundation, there is no underpinning to that Gospel, "and it is like a morning cloud," as the Scriptures say. It is something that dissipates when the sun rises upon it, and it is gone, because it has to have that underpinning. You have first to know your sin and misery and then you come to that glorious salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ.
He has not negated the Law, NO, He held to it as no one else ever has. And thereby He has shown us the way. What is the greatest commandment; all of them. All of them together; love God above all, and your neighbor as yourself.
Secondly then, notice the content of it.
And that content of course, is found in this, that we are to love God above all. And those are the things that, may I say, that is something that has immediate acceptance by you of course. Because we are to love God above all, but that is not such an easy matter. Psalm 73, in the last part of it of course, goes into that and says we are to love Him above all. That there is none that I have on earth beside Thee, and there is none in heaven that I desire beside Thee. Oh! You have sung that, and you have sung that from the heart time and again I imagine, that we have nobody on earth nor in the heavens beside Him. And when it comes right down to it you know, there are so many. There are those who, oh I love my God, but, is there no one on earth that I desire beside Him? When we are bound together in bonds of love, bonds of blood, and then say so easily, there is nobody that I desire beside Him. That is the confession of the child of God and that is the confession that must stand. But at the same time, you will also see that it is not so easy to come to. It is not so easy to come to because every time that we stand at an open grave for example, and then sing "There is no one in heaven above besides Thee, and on earth I desire none beside Thee." Try it. But we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength. We are to love Him with all our heart. There is no other place that may be given to anyone else, He demands all of it. He is always so inclusive of everything. He wants everything, or nothing. It's not this way, that we are able to give Him the devotion of our heart to a certain extent. Ninety-nine percent; He rejects. He wants 100% or nothing. So with all your heart and soul, we understand that, at least we understand that intellectually.
When it comes right down to it of course, it becomes a tremendous problem; how we are going to be able to do that; to love Him in that way. But nevertheless we do it. But then it is also not only with a heart and soul, but it is also with a mind. Now we are defending to that which is here below. So that also, my whole thought life is simply enveloped by Him, and I think about so many other things. My thoughts are everywhere, in dealing with the problems of life, yah, that's alright, but I am to love Him with my whole mind, so that He is not absent from any of it. Really people, there is only one group that does justice to it, and that is the Reformed faith. That recognizes the sovereignty of God in every realm, because we are to love Him with all the heart and soul and mind, so that our minds are filled with Him, and they are completely filled with Him. So that His Word, and His wisdom is also brought to bear on all the problems of life. That's what we need. That's what we need so desperately, that we will have thinkers who will open to us the various vistas that lie before us, to open them to us and to see what is the bearing of the Word of God upon them. With all my mind, and with all my strength; He is even going lower, even into the body. That the strength of the body is also to be given to Him. Well, I give the strength of my body to my family, to earn a living, and then He demands, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and soul and mind and strength." With everything. Everything that you have is to be made chargeable to Him. Everything is to be laid at His footstool. That is the demand of the first table of the Law. And secondly, there is another one, and that is, "you shall love your neighbor as yourself." Now we immediately realize there and we are going to have more problems, and nevertheless that is the Law of God, and that is the Law that He is here giving to us and that He is giving to us precisely in this order, that we are to love God above all, and our neighbor as ourself.
And in this world in which you and I are living, in this whole sociological situation in which we find ourselves, there is also an attempt to love our neighbor as ourselves. And it ends up in complete humanism, because it is not perceived as far as "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God above all." See, and that's the only way you can love your neighbor as yourself, when you love Him above all. But if you don't do that, if you have cancelled the first four commandments then you can't keep the second table of the Law. You can't do it. Then that second table becomes something totally foreign; why shouldn't I murder, why shouldn't I steal, you tell me that. Who says I mayn't? It is the Lord your God who has laid this Law upon man and has said, "Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not steal." Why not — because I said so. And it is not up to the moral character or the moral views of the children of men. Now that is the way it comes to us, so that we must love our neighbor as ourself, and that is a tremendously high standard to come to. Paul says, when he is writing to the Corinthians, "No one has ever hated himself." Oh, you hear that once in a while, you hear some young people, "Oh, I hate myself." Don't believe it. They never do, they love themselves more than anything else, and this is the way in which we were born, and if you didn't, you wouldn't take care of yourself. There is no sweeter name, no sweeter sound in the whole language than your own name. And this is the thing that you find all over. And now, you are to love your neighbor as yourself, so that a standard is set for people, that is tremendously high. Unattainable, yes, it is now. Because then we see how great our sin and misery is. But at the same time, that we will also see a standard that is not out of place because there are certain restrictions. There are certain ones whom I love more than myself. You see that time and again, don't you, you see that a man gives his life to rescue a child; to rescue his wife; loves them more than himself. He jeopardizes his own life for that. Now you don't have to love your neighbor that way. There's a difference, despite all the articles that you see on it nowadays that you are to love everybody alike; that's nonsense. That those whom I love beyond myself, but you are to love your neighbor as yourself. That's a high enough standard. And if we can even approach that, it would be utopia. Because we see immediately, how far we fall short, fall so far short that we see how great our sin and misery is; that's what it's all about.
So that here we are dealing with this matter that we are to love our God above all and our neighbor as ourself, that is the content; that is the content that Jesus has poured into it, that is His interpretation of the Law, because that is the Word that He has given already so many centuries before by the mouth of Moses. That God is one Lord, the other nations around you have all kinds of gods, there is polytheism. But Israel is not to have that. "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one." And that underlies the whole Old Testament. Consequently, that one God has spoken and that is the One that you are to love above all. And then on the basis of that, if you would even approach that, then you might also approach even the possibility of loving your neighbor as yourself, but never apart from that. The one depends upon the other, and if you don't love God above all, then you will never love your neighbor as yourself. These are the things that spoiled everything in our society today. That is, that we have a system for example, to help the poor; why, why? There is said, why should I help them, let them do their own work. Let them get off welfare, and let them work; I have to do it and why can't they. That is the spirit of this world. But at the same time, when you are moved to this world, let us give them a sop. That is humanism, through the whole thing, because there is no love to God. That is out, that is forbidden by the government. To love God above all is a monster. You are finally to love the state above all, and here it is this, you are to love God above all and your neighbor as yourself. That is the summary that he has given us, summary of the Law of God, summary of the ten commandments. And when we look at these things then you are able to see how far we fall short not only, but how we go contrary to these things. Sin is never a matter of just falling short, no, no; it is this, that we go exactly in the opposite direction.
The next question and answer is going to speak about that. Are you able to keep all this perfectly? In now wise, for I am prone by nature to hate God and my neighbor. That bad! Now we are to love God and our neighbor, so that we see how great our sin and misery is. You can only do that when you look deeply into the Law of God and don't lose yourself in all the commandments, say the compilers of the Catechism. But wait with that until the time of gratitude, and then we will look into that because after all, you know, it is this, if you love me you will keep my commandments. And that is the text. But now first, to give you the whole view of it, to let the searchlight of the Law fall upon all of your life it is this, "thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and soul and mind and strength, and thy neighbor as thyself."
And finally, notice its importance.
Now from the foregoing of course, it has already become very evident I suppose, that it is very important. That it has an importance that is not to be found anywhere else. That it has an importance that is so great that it is immeasurable. That it is so high that no one can attain to it. That is an importance that is really bound upon the heart of every child of God. But nevertheless, He has not left it with that, but He has also come to us with this saying at the very close of it and that is, that "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, on these two commandments the whole Law hangeth and the prophets." Strange things. The whole Law hangs on this, He says. All the laws are assumed under this, so that the various commandments that He has given can be summarized in this way, and you already stand amazed do you not, that that can be summarized, that Law of God. It is spoken of as the Ten Commandments but the Bible usually speaks of it as the ten words. Very brief. Ten words. That's about all they are, ten words that He has given, and those ten words are the ones by which we are to live, by which Israel was to live, and we are to live on that until the very end of time. And now He summarizes those ten words, or let me put it this way; when we deal with some things as these ten commandments that He has given, wherein He has given us this summary of all that which He has given to us, what is required of us. And now summarizes that — unbelievable, isn't it, that you can summarize those ten words. And that once more, that He summarizes that summary and says, thou shalt love. And that is the heart of the Law. "Thou shalt love." And then when we hate, as the next question and answer will show, then you realize that we are going, not falling short, but are going in opposite directions. Completely opposite to that which He has commanded us. But this is that upon which the whole Law hangs, and the Law is also spoken of time and again of course, in the Old Testament as being far broader than the Ten Commandments. That Law of God also encompasses not only the moral law, but also the civil law, and the ceremonial law. It encompasses all the things that He has spoken to Israel, so that it was a body of laws that was indeed enormous, but it was also assumed under the ten, and these are the ten with which they are to deal. And now here is the summary of it. And that is the thing upon which the whole Law hangs, says Jesus, the whole Law hangs on it. So that you not able to touch the Law in any part or it rings with that love to God and to the neighbor, the first four of our love to God, and the next six of our love to the neighbor. It rings with that all the way through it, vibrant, it's alive, and the whole Law hangs on it, and the prophets.
Now there is no more. See, the Old Testament is made up of the Law and the prophets. Yah, you can speak also of the Psalms and Proverbs, the wisdom, the literature; sure. But nevertheless that is also spoken of being prophet. David was a prophet, Samuel was a prophet, so that on these two commandments the whole Law hangeth and the prophets. The whole Old Testament, the whole Word of God; that's all we have. Because we are dealing here yet with the Old Testament. It is so obvious, and yet nevertheless, it usually is not recognized. That John the Baptist and Jesus were really, Jesus according to the flesh, Old Testament characters. We begin the New Testament with His birth, or just before. At the time when He institutes the Lord's Supper, He says, "This is the New Testament." So that everything hung on it up to that time, on these two commandments. Law and the prophets, and the prophets always had to call the people back to that Law. Had to call them back to it because they would so easily wander from it, so easily wander away. They would find themselves tripped up by all the various ceremonial things. Have I done enough of this, have I done enough of that, did I go too far in this, or in that. No, it is also under this, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God," and the prophets had to call them back to this, call them back to that again and again. The priests were the ones who tripped up the people. And this is so obvious, so you bring your sacrifices, and then everything is alright, and you could bring your sacrifices of course, with a heart of stone, but you still brought your sacrifices. And then the prophets called them back to the Word; you are to love God, and your neighbor. That beloved, is the heart of the Law. That is the heart of it. That's also the heart of the Gospel; to love God.
And then we have salvation. Because here has come the One who has kept the Law for us not only, but who also loved for us. He has kept it all. Then that salvation begins to shine most beautifully when you see it against this background. Then He has brought us there Himself, what is the greatest commandment, Lord? The whole Law, the whole Law, you are to keep every part. Later on the Catechism will ask, "What must you believe in order to enjoy this salvation?" And the answer really comes down to this; everything, everything that He has said. We have to believe that, that Word of God stands, that you are not to pick and choose, but that Word of God in its entirety. And that is the Word that comes to us, as the heart of the Law, as the heart of the Gospel, as the heart of the Word of God. Amen.....
We thank Thee Lord our God, for Thy Word, for Thy Word of promise, for Thy Word of grace. That Thou hast instructed us in that Word and hast shown unto us the way of life. We thank Thee for it, and we pray Lord God, that Thou wilt apply it unto our hearts in order that we may live by it. That we may indeed love Thee above all, and that we love our fellow man as ourself. Wilt Thou bless us further, bless the Sunday School and Catechism as they meet. Bring us together in Thy house again this evening. Forgive our sins and hear us, in Jesus name. Amen.....
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