Sermons Vander Kam on HC Lord's Day 8
Q&A 23, 24 & 25 Sermons Vander Kam on HC Lord's Day 8
Q&A 23, 24 & 2523 Q. What are these articles?
A.1. I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven
and earth.
2. And in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord;
3. Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary;
4. Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead, and buried; He
descended into hell;
5. The third day He rose again from the dead;
6. He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the
Father Almighty;
7. From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
8. I believe in the Holy Spirit.
9. I believe a holy catholic Church, the communion of the saints;
10. The forgiveness of sins;
11. The resurrection of the body;
12. And the life everlasting.
24 Q. How are these articles divided?
A. Into three parts: the first is of God the Father and our creation; the second of God the Son and our redemption; the third of God the Holy Spirit and our sanctification.
25 Q. Since there is but one divine Being, why do you speak of three, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?
A. Because God has so revealed Himself in His Word that these three distinct persons are the one, true, and eternal God.
Beloved in the Lord, we are going to deal with something that is very difficult this morning but nevertheless, it is found here in Lord's Day 8. It is not only found in Lord's Day 8, but it is of course, found throughout the Scriptures, especially the Scriptures of the New Testament. It is given to us so that we will know the way of salvation, so that we will know our God. And those were some of the things that were also at the very forefront of the church of Jesus Christ of the New Testament age. Because when the New Testament dawns, then the first problem that is before them is this, who is God. So that they may be able to come with the true worship of God, so that they may worship the One who is to be worshipped and not a false god. And that is the first question that came before them. This is a very difficult question to answer because of the fact that the Bible also does not begin with that, and it does not begin with giving us a definition of God, or even a description of Him, but it begins with this, "In the beginning God;" He is already there. And as so many centuries later the author to the Hebrews says, "he that comes to God must believe that He is." He is not going to be proved but must believe that He is, and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
These were some of the problems before the church; they were standing there at the very crossroads, because in the Old Testament of course, everything had been different. And there they also had a revelation of God but nevertheless, it was so unique, and it was also so inadequate. And now when the New Testament dawns there is still that temple worship, there are still the sacrifices, there is still the Sabbath, and it is for some time that they keep both the Sabbath, that is on Saturday, and also the Lord's Day, that is, on Sunday. They overlap, and so it is also with the sacrifices that they bring, that they went into the temple at stated hours. We read of the disciples, "and they brought sacrifices." They were also pure in the temple, they were still keeping the laws of purification, because it overlaps. But now you are entering into the New Testament era; and "who is this God whom we worship?" That is the question. And that is the kind of a question beloved, that has also called for the attention of the church in the beginning, and it took them more than 300 years to come to an answer. It wasn't until the year 325 in the Council of Nicea, that they finally drew up a statement that adequately pictured to them who God really is.
So that for 325 years they were thinking about, they were studying about, they were delving into the Scriptures, to seek to find out who is this God. And when you get home this noon, read the Athanasian Creed, I won't take the time for it now. But read the Athanasian Creek and there you will read of this; how the adjectives are placed one on top of the other, in order to make clear who this God is, because it is almost impossible to describe. That is the situation before us here. And yet says the Creed, that is the Apostles' Creed, that Creed to whom all christendom, before which all christendom bows, which they all agree on; this God is one, in three persons, a trinity.
We speak to you this morning on "The Revelation of God."
Noticing in the first place, that it is not understandable; in the second place, its necessity; and finally, its profit for us.
Now in the first place beloved, and let me also put it as boldly as I possibly can in order to bring it home to you, and that is this, that I am going to preach on something this morning that I don't understand. And I am going to preach it to people who also don't understand it, and that is the mystery of the Trinity. And nevertheless, we are going to deal with it, because the church has had to deal with that from the beginning. And there are also various things that can be said concerning that Trinity, and concerning the way in which God has revealed Himself. So that you and I will realize that this God is great, and that He is greatly to be praised, and that His greatness is unsearchable, says the Psalmist, that it is so great that it cannot be brought into words.
This is the God who is un-understandable, and this is something of course, that modern man and also man already for many ages has overlooked completely, because what we don't understand, why bother with it. Then let us get down to those things that are really important, you know, we read that so many times today; let us get away from the discussion of ever so many of the doctrinal truths, and let's get on with the work of the church. Which is what? Well, the work of the church is evangelism, and they are correct: and the work of the church is this, that we are going to feed the poor, and they are in part correct. And these are the kind of things that are very much with us today and they were also throughout the history of the church, that if you can't understand it, why think about it, why bother yourself about it. But those are the things that are nevertheless before us. And that we will also have to deal with those things and we will have to delve into them to the limit in which the human understanding is able to do it.
That we will have to delve into the mysteries that have now been revealed, says the New Testament. That's what the term "mystery" means in the New Testament. They were hidden but are now revealed. That's the mystery; not that it remains a mystery, but are now revealed in the New Testament age. These are the things beloved, that were there from the very beginning, and nevertheless, they were not revealed from the beginning. And the more of a study that is made of the Old Testament the more one comes to the conclusion, it is not found there. That whole doctrine of the Trinity is not found there, because of the fact that people are not able to understand and all of the emphasis rests upon this, "Hear O Israel, the Lord thy God is one, one God." Over against the polytheism that surrounded Israel on every side.
Now the very fact that there was only one God was already something that was unique. This was different than any other; nobody had that in those days. They had ever so many, so that Augustine speaks of it in the city of God, that in his day there were no less than 33,000 gods whom the Romans served. Because they had adopted the gods of every nation that they conquered, and they had added them to their pantheon. And they served them all now, 33,000 gods. And then Israel comes, or, the Word comes to Israel rather, and that is, "hear O Israel, the Lord thy God is one, one God," and you are not to serve any others. And I know that the attention has also been drawn to this time and again, and it was yet heard from this pulpit only a few weeks ago, that there is a plurality that is spoken of already in Genesis 1, and of course that is correct. Let us make man in our image, and since when, this is the question, since when did plurality mean three in one? Never -- that's the point.
Their plurality, plurality of majesty, that is a plural; the Elohim that the Hebrew uses. But it does not mean three in one. And that is the revelation to which we have to come, and that is the import of Lord's Day 8 of the Heidelberg Catechism. That we have to come to the realization that He is three persons in one Being. This is totally beyond the understanding. And if it is totally beyond the understanding, then why bother about it. Because, and this is something that is most beautiful, the way it has chosen its words; that's the way He has revealed Himself. That's why. I had never come to that kind of a conclusion, nobody had come to that kind of a conclusion, no people of God, no church, no theologian. No one comes to the conclusion that God is three in one; this goes totally contrary to all human thinking and all human logic. But that's the way He has revealed Himself, and when he has so revealed Himself, then you better do justice to that revelation. That's the import.
So that that revelation has come to us unmistakably clear, and it has come to us in such a way beloved, so that there is also no one in all christendom that doubts it; that God is three persons, but that there is still only the one God. And there is no, no example of it, don't look for any, don't look for any. In the whole world there is no example of it, because the Trinity is unique. It is not in a class, and that's where you first have to put it. I mentioned some of these in another connection, in teaching here this spring, but nevertheless it is this, that He cannot be put in a class. So that it is this, that He has revealed Himself. There is the Father, and there is the Son, and there is the Holy Spirit, and that is one God.
Now that is the thing that we have to remember; those are the ABCs, those are the elementary things, those are the bases upon which we have to proceed. And that is the way in which He has revealed Himself so now we have to give an account of it. Now that He has revealed Himself in that way beloved, is so great because, as we will see later on, because I am even going to speak of the profit of it at the close; that it is profitable for us that He has so revealed Himself, in other words. But that we may also see that over against ever so many of the things of today, and throughout history; this revelation of God is so important that we will understand what is revealed to us here. For example, there are those who believe that God is transcendent, that He is above, that He is there in the heavens, and that He has nothing to do with this earth. Many of the leaders of our country at the beginning, such as a Madison, and a Jefferson, and a Franklin; these were deists. Some of you high school students may have heard some of these things. They were deists; God is in the heavens, and has nothing to do with this world. It is like a clock-maker, that has made a clock, and he winds it up, and then he sets it down and lets it tick away, but he has nothing to do with it, you don't touch it anymore. And then finally it says, "tick, tick --", that's it, that's the end of the world.
He has nothing to do with it, so that all of the things that happen in this world of the present time is totally out of His reach. And that is the way He has made all things, but still, He is the maker; that's not sufficient. Then there are others, and we have so many of those in our day, what they call the New Age, a Shirley MacLain and her ilk; these are the ones who are now preaching that God is everywhere, everything. That is, that He is not above, but that He is eminent, that He is here in this world. And a little child was killed; did you notice that in the paper just the other day here in this area; and the mother said, "Now, yes, that child has again returned to what it was, part of God, part of God." You are a part of God, I am a part of God, this furniture is part of God. All is God -- pantheism. God is eminent, He didn't make it; no, that came about with the 'Big Bang.' But now that it is here, He is in control, He is somewhat guiding things. He doesn't do a very good job of it, but He is somewhat guiding things and that little child was killed, now returns to God, whatever that is.
And then theism is this, that it believes in both a transcendence and the eminence of God. Both that He is both above and that He is also here below. That is the biblical position. He has made all things, He governs all things, He is in control of your and my life, and He is the one who has the destiny of the world in His hand. That is the God, the God who has revealed Himself. And that is something that we must understand, that we must worship, that is the God who is to be praised, that is the God who is transcendent and eminent, He is greater than all gods, and He is very close to everyone that calls upon Him.
Those were the things that had to be made known to the people of the early New Testament period. So that Paul goes to Athens, the seat of learning, and he says to the philosophers there, "you with all your ontology you have to realize that He is very close to every one of us, it is as one of your own poets has said, 'in Him we live and move and have our being.'" Yah! And He has made everything. We stand amazed at all His works, and we stand amazed at His ways. That's why we come together to worship, and that's why that Word is so valuable, that we won't let a part of that fall to the ground; that Word must stand. "You are going to let that Word stand," says Luther. You may not touch it, and that Word has revealed to us, God; three in one. Ununderstandable -- if you had a God whom you could understand, you could have stayed home this morning. It would have been better, because there would be nothing to worship. It would be a god of your own imagination over whom you had complete control and whom you could manipulate. But this God is our God forever and ever. He will be a God even unto death; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Secondly, notice therefore also the necessity.
Now the necessity beloved, is already given in this of course, that He is so revealed as the Catechism says. And that is, that we are dealing with this matter not because we are able to understand it so well, but because of the fact that it is so revealed. And it is revealed in this way because Jesus Christ has come and that is the big problem. See, the whole revelation of God finally ends in Christmas. Ah, that is not a slip of the tongue; it ends in Christmas, Jesus comes, now who is He? And the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the scribes and all the leaders of the Jews are not able to understand Him and they come to the conclusion that He blasphemes, when He says that He is the Son of God. Son of God! God has no son. "Hear O Israel, the Lord thy God is one. And I and the Father," says Jesus, "are one." "That's blasphemy," say the leaders of the Jews. That is not the way in which we were brought up, that is not the way in which we have been taught, that is not what our Scriptures say, that is not what the Old Testament has taught us. And of course, they are entirely correct. That even though, and I know these passages; don't forget; I know these passages in Psalm 34 and Isaiah 60s, where there is an allusion to this, pointing in the direction. And remember, that the Jew of that day would never, never have come to the conclusion this means three-in-one. And let that be clear. So that we will also understand the people of that day, at the close of the Old Testament, at the beginning of the New; they had no idea that there was a possibility that there was a Son of God.
And that's the reason why Jesus comes always to the people of His day and says to them, "What think ye of the Christ?" Heh, that is, I don't care what you think of Him as a teacher or miracle-worker or whatever but, "What think ye of the Christ -- whose son is He?" Then you are dealing with the fundamental problems, see. Then you are dealing with that which is fundamental to everything else, and that is, this is the Christ, the Son of the living God. He has a Son. So that the whole concept, the whole God concept has changed, and that God concept beloved, is that which is the most important thing in all of our theology, in all of our belief. What think ye of God, who is the God whom you serve; that God concept means everything. If you have the God concept of the deists, then finally you end with a Benjamin Franklin or a Thomas Jefferson that believes in nothing. If you believe in pantheism then you finally end with the New Age that also finally believes in nothing; they have nothing left. And it is only those who bow before the God of the Bible, who is Trinity, Triune God; then you come to the realization that you are dealing with the true God. Because of course, it is elementary to say that those who do not worship the true God are worshipping falsehoods. And this is the true God as He has revealed Himself, and that comes to mind especially when Jesus Christ comes into the world; now you have to give a place to Him; who is He?
Now it has to be revealed, and therefore I read to you the last part of Matthew 28 especially for this purpose of course that, "Go into the whole world and disciple all nations and baptize them into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." And the Holy Spirit hadn't even been given yet, but Christ is paving the way. For there is only a short time and the Spirit is also going to be poured out on Pentecost. And when the Spirit is poured out on Pentecost then they are also again going to be faced with a problem. And we should never lose sight of that, the throes through which the people went in that early period of the church, that which is depicted in the book of Acts for example. That they are bombarded on every side, here comes the Christ; who is He. And then comes the Spirit; who is He. And this is the Triune God, finally revealed in His fullness. And now go into the whole world and disciple all men, and baptize them into that name, of the Triune God. There's no mistake about it, the Scriptures teach it. And that is the Scriptural teaching concerning the Godhead, concerning the Deity. And that is the blessing, that is the benediction upon the church in the name of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That is the true God. The Father of Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God. And therefore it is necessary.
It is also necessary from another point of view, for our salvation. You see, salvation is something that is very murky in the Old Testament time. Oh, there was a feeling of salvation, that's why they brought their sacrifices, but really what does it mean. And the Psalmist can rise to great poetic heights when he is so guided by the Spirit, but otherwise he is mute. What is salvation? I really don't know. Because there is, and you find that, let me put it this way, you find that also in all other religions, for example, Buddhaism, Hinduism, Shintoism; where is their salvation? There isn't any. There is no salvation if there is no Triune God. God did it Himself; He did not have the work of salvation done for Him by another -- He did it Himself. He does not entrust the work of fulfilling that salvation to another, but He does it Himself. And consequently, there has to be three, in order that salvation be made a possibility.
And this is not something beloved, that is far removed from us, this is very close. If you have no Christ, there is no salvation -- you know that. You have to have the Father who so loved the world, who gave His only Son. And then the Spirit comes to make it effective. He does the whole thing, from beginning to end. You think sometime, and I can say that now because it is a long time before we come up to that in the Heidelberg Catechism where we have to deal with it again, and that is, that when it comes to the whole matter of sanctification, that we think sometime, well we can do that pretty well ourselves! No...You can't, and that's why He sends His Spirit to sanctify, to make us holy. Not only in the future, but now. To separate us from sin, to separate us from death, and to give us the life that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
It's necessary, therefore, that necessity of this revelation of God; you cannot do with anything less. Any other god is an idol. Israel thought they could picture God under the Old Testament. It's just not for nothing that they say, "Make us, make us gods that can go before us." I think it can be done, says the Hebrew, I think it can be done. Make it of gold of course, of the very precious. But it can be done. And then the New Testament says, "of course not." He cannot be pictured, He cannot be pictured either with gold or anything else; because our God is a Spirit, and He is three-in-one.
And finally, notice the profit for us.
Because there is still more that is given to us in this Lord's Day, and that is this, it says for example in the very first question and answer of it, and how are these articles divided; first, of God the Father in our creation; second, of God the Son in our redemption; and third, of God the Holy Spirit in our sanctification. That is the way the articles of the Apostles' Creed are divided. There are three parts, and the three are the three persons of the Trinity. Yah, there is all of that concerning the church, and concerning the forgiveness of sins, and the resurrection of the body, and all that is added at the end. But that all comes out of the Holy Spirit.
You have this situation, that it is speaking to us concerning our God and our making. He has made us, our creation. And then you notice here, because, let it always be emphasized that we are here dealing with the book of comfort, and that that first question and answer throws its light over the whole Catechism. And every question comes to stand in that light and that is, "what is your only comfort in life and death." Now also this, that I believe in God the Father and OUR creation; not only God the Father, and creation -- that of course, we believe. Even though there are ever so many more today who have questions concerning that, who have questions, "Has our God made everything?" They also have questions whether He is still in control over everything; and Lord's Day 10 is going to deal with that. No, our God is in complete control beloved, He has made everything, and He has made everything out of nothing. And He spoke, and it was. That goes so far beyond us. We speak of high technology today, I tell you, this is far higher. He spoke, and it appeared. We stand amazed, but in this confession it speaks of God the Father and our creation. He created us, and He created the whole thing for us. It's our creation; this is my father's world, and all things are yours, says the apostle; all things are yours; through Christ Jesus, through whom the worlds were made. All things become yours.
So it is first of all, God the Father and our creation; secondly, it is going to speak to us in this confession, in these twelve articles concerning God the Son and our redemption. It is again, ours -- it is not something out there that is far removed from us; that well, we are able to speak of it objectively, that it is something that is going to happen, or has happened; but no, it is something that takes place within, that is now. And consequently it is one of these things beloved, that it is our redemption. That redemption in its fullness, sin blotted out, totally cleansed, and that He has done it all for us. He does not leave it to another, He does it Himself. God comes in the person of His Son, and brings redemption.
And then the final part of it is of course, God the Holy Spirit and our sanctification. So that the work that Christ the Son has done is not going to be overthrown, nor is it going to fall short. But the Spirit of God is given so that it is going to be made effective. That it is going to be made so effective that new men and women are born. So that it becomes so effective that we have that assurance, that assurance of faith, that not only unto others, but also to me has that grace been given. That is the Gospel. So that, you see, when we come to this Lord's Day, Lord's Day 8, that revelation of God is basic. If you don't have this, then forget about the others.
Because Lord's Day 8 through 22 are going to deal with the twelve articles of the Apostles' Creed. And it is going to take them one by one, and it is going to show to us all these things that are here given as a synopsis; that are here given in summary. And it is going to show us these things, but this one is basic. "I believe in God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit." That is our God, that is the God in whose name you and your children were baptized. That is the God who welcomed you here this morning in the invocation. And that is the God who sends His blessings with you with the benediction. We are always standing before that God, that Triune God, and that is the God who is worthy of all honor, of all praise, of everything we have, everything we can do. He is God, and He alone. Amen.....
We give thanks unto Thee, heavenly Father, for the grace and for the mercy Thou hast sent. For the blessing Thou hast given us in Thy Word. For in that Word Thou hast given us all the things that we need for this life and for the hope of eternal life. We thank Thee for the blessing Father, Thou hast again sent in this hour, that we might delve into that glorious truth which Thou hast made known to us concerning Thyself. We pray that it may be sanctified unto our hearts by the operation of Thy Spirit Divine. Bless us further on this day and grant that we may keep this entire day holy to Thee. Bless us, and bring us back again in this evening so that we may again bring worship to Thy name. And forgive our sins, for we ask it in Jesus name. Amen.....
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