Sermons Vander Kam on HC Lord's Day 12
Q&A 31B Sermons Vander Kam on HC Lord's Day 12
Q&A 31B31 Q. Why is He called Christ, that is, Anointed?
A. Because He is ordained of God the Father, and anointed with the Holy Spirit, to be our only High Priest, who by the one sacrifice of His body has redeemed us, and makes continual intercession for us with the Father.
Beloved in the Lord, some of the most basic things in life are taken up in this particular Lord's Day. Some of the most basic things are these, that we begin to wonder what man really is and what is his purpose here in this world. And there are ever so many books that are written about that, what is really required of man and who he is, and what he is to have in this life, what he is to aim for; all these things are before us even to the present day. And yet we also find, do we not, in the world about us that they run stuck, that they are not able to find an answer to the basic questions because they have begun at the wrong place. They have not begun with those things that have to be revealed to us because by ourselves we would not know them. And consequently it is this beloved, that we are floundering here in this life because of the fact that we do not know where to turn, we do not know whence to turn, because there are so many of these things of course, that are a riddle, and remain a riddle to us.
What is really the purpose of man, and certainly he does not bring any relationship to the living God. Man believes that he is a person that stands here all by himself and that he will be answerable to no one by himself, or to the whole body. But when we go to the Word of God, we find something entirely different, and that is this, that man is made for this purpose, that He is to glorify God. And that is the one purpose that he is to have in mind and that is the one thing for which he has to live.
Now these are the things that escape man of the present day completely, and then we are trying to put band-aids on the various things that are taking place. And then we see that things are going wrong and that there is no longer the morality that there ought to be and we say, well why not, why can't it be different, why can't it be according to that principle which you and I have. And then they simply tell us well, that is your feeling and ours is different from that and the one is as good as the other.
And it is only beloved, when we come to the Word of God that there is a clear answer given to the various problems that we have. That there is then a very clear answer given to that so that we will also see it very clearly that these are the things that have been made known to us in the Word of God, and that it is a question for example, and the kind of a question that has become so clear to everybody, that it is, Jesus saves. But nobody knows what He saves from, or what He saves to. Nobody seems to know either why it is necessary, and as a result of that, Jesus saves, it has become a given. And that it is a given not only in the church but it is also a given even in the world around us.
And that that has something to do with my work, that that has something to do with my life, that is something that escapes them completely. Because of the fact that these are the things that are not even considered in our day. Now you and I will have to again go to the Word of God and that we have to delve into it deeply in order that we will also come to some conclusions regarding this matter. And Lord's Day 12 is a gem. There that gem is given to us, "Why is He called Christ?" And with a great majority of people that seems to be His second name. It is Jesus Christ. Now He is Savior, but now why is He also called Christ? In order that we will realize why He is Jesus, and how He can be Jesus. Therefore He has to be Christ, that is "the Anointed One of God" to a triple office. And that is something that has escaped not only the world but also the church to a great extent.
So that the next question is going to ask for example, "but why are you called a Christian?" That is a question that is a conundrum to most people. Why not? Everything is Christian, everything that is not Jewish at least is, or perhaps, everything that is not Jewish or Muslim; certainly is Christian. When you live in a Christian nation then you are Christian, aren't you! Not according to what is given us in this prior question and answer; "Why is He called Christ?" And we are called Christians because He is called Christ.
We speak to you this morning on, "Christ's Priestly Office."
Noticing in the first place, the need; secondly, the manner, and finally, the comfort of that Priestly office.
Now this is a priestly office beloved, that He clothed besides the prophetic office as we saw two weeks ago. And that He is also clothed in a kingly office, as we hope to see next week. And that it is that triple office that He clothed and that is the thing that is necessary because Jesus saves. Indeed!! And He has given His live as a ransom for many; indeed! But what does He do it for? To what purpose. In order that the image of God may be restored. He is not only saving us from something, but He is also saving us to something. And that is that we were made in such a way so that we were to be priests to God, that unbeliever, that drunk in the gutter; he was made in the image of God. And he has completely turned his back upon it. And he is answerable to that God. He was to be a priest, and what is he, he is one that calls down upon God, the blasphemy of other men. And those are the things that we must realize.
Man was made a priest unto God, so that he was to give to Him the devotion of his heart. That he was to give to Him all the praise of his life, that he was to give Him all the honor that was due to His name so that he would be a living sacrifice, of which Paul speaks in Romans. That he would be a living sacrifice to God every day. That's how close he stands to the living God. He lives out of Him, and he lives unto Him. He is a priest, a priest of God. Now those are the things of course, that have been completely darkened. They have been completely obliterated, and as a result of that beloved, we are no longer able to see and that we grope around in this world in which we live. We don't know why we are here, we don't know why we were made, or what we were made for. And as a result of that we are groping around, and then you have some of the best minds in the world writing book after book, and article after article, trying to figure out what is really man's purpose. And when you begin to study these things then you become aware of this, that they are to be pitied.
Then we come to Lord's Day 12, question and answer 31, "why is He called Christ?" Yah, I wonder, I wonder! Because He is the Priest of God, as well as Prophet and King, to restore that priesthood, that priesthood of believers to which the reformers again referred. That the priesthood of believers was to be restored and if that priesthood of His people, of believers, is not restored then there was never full salvation. Now that is the purpose for which He is made, that He was to bear testimony to God so that He was to be a Prophet but He was also a Priest. To live unto the praise of His God, to live in holiness, mind you, that is the very opposite of sin. See, the word holy comes from the verb 'to cut.' And that means to separate from sin, so that to be holy, "be ye holy." Yah, we can never do that completely, but that is our calling. "Be ye holy as I am holy." Be separated from sin, for ye are priests unto God. And that has been restored through Jesus Christ. Because that is the way in which He has been made; and I am also going into these things a little bit more because, let us hope, that the last part of Hebrews 5 does not pertain to us so much. That is, that we are in need of milk, that we are indeed of the elementary things, but certainly that we have proceeded a little bit on the way of sanctification and that we are also able to understand some of these things.
And that we may realize that man has fallen away from that; he has fallen away from that priesthood to which he had been called, and as he falls away from it, the purpose of his life is gone. And that he is groping around blindly, trying to find a way, and he doesn't find it, of course. They despise the Word of God, and that is the only salvation there is for them, to return to that Word.
And now sin comes, because He is a priest unto God even apart from sin. That that sin comes into the world later is something that has changed things but certainly has not changed the purpose of man. And that he is still called upon to be a priest to God, but now it has changed so much and now he can't even do his priestly work, because there is now a barrier between him and his God, and he is not able to pierce that barrier. So that now he must come with a -- notice, and it is something that ought to speak to everyone -- that he must now come with the blood of bulls and goats to expiate the sins that he himself has committed. He who is the crown of creation has to stoop now to that animal blood to bring that an expiation of his God, because he is no longer able to do his priestly work. It's a shame, but it had to be done, and it was done only as a type of something that was to come; not as something that was real in itself; no... it was only a symbolism, it was only a type, and something far more had to be done.
Because, as the prophet has also said time and again, that the blood of bulls and goats is not able to cleanse us from sin. Of course not! That cannot do it, but it was a type of something that was to come but it showed to man his utter bankruptcy. That he is not able to come to God, he must reach down into the animal world to take his blood and to bring it; to try to break through that barrier between God and himself. That is the tragedy, the tragedy of sin.
And now, why is He called Christ? Because He is our only High Priest. He is the one who has again taken up the cudgels for us. He is the one who has become our Priest to bring us to God. See, He is not only a prophet, who makes known the way of salvation, very important, and that is something that we are to cling to with all our might. But at the same time, that is not enough. Sin is not merely an error that has to be clarified, so that we have to be taught better; as a lot of people think today. It's an error but as soon as we know, then of course, that error will be overcome -- that's not true! It is something a whole lot deeper than that, and therefore He gives His life. Therefore it is a matter of priesthood and not only the prophetic work; that prophetic work in the final analysis beloved, is never able to save us. And yet at the same time that is the only way in which Jesus is recognized in this world, that He is a prophet. That He is a great teacher; they will all agree with that; practically all. That He is a great teacher who has come and that He stands even perhaps above men like Socrates and Plato and Aristotle and others. That the mind of Jesus was so tremendous that He was able to teach the people things in that day that had never been heard before, and then we say to all of that, "beautiful, beautiful, and I'm so glad we got it. But that doesn't save me, that doesn't save me."
I need even more than that because there is even so much more gone than that. It is not only that my mind has been darkened; it is not only that I have fallen into error, but it is this, that I have become totally vile; and now must have a priest.
And now He has become our Priest. Why is He called Christ? Because He is our only High Priest. He is the Priest that stands between us. As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, Moses stood in the breach. As the Psalmist says, "Stood in the breach between God and man to bring the two together." He couldn't do it, he was but a man. Christ does it, does it. He brings them together; there is salvation, and He does that through His blood.
Now that is the need for it, the need that is so bitterly necessary, so absolutely necessary for us. In order that we may again realize what is our relationship to our God, but that we may also even realize who we are, and why we are here. And that we may see beloved, that it is only that we are standing in a living relationship to the living God. And that He is to bring to God the praise due to His name. And that has to be restored, and that's why He is our High Priest. We aren't dealing here with things that are minimal, that are minor, by no means. We are dealing here with a foundational matter, with those things that are of signal importance, with those things whereby we live, or die. And consequently, He is here in His Priestly office. And in that Priestly office He operates.
And secondly, therefore notice also the method, or the manner in which He does it.
The way in which this is done beloved, is this, that He has given Himself as a ransom. As the apostle says, "He has given Himself as a ransom for many." That He has given Himself as a ransom for you and for me. That He has given Himself as a ransom for His people, He bought them. That's what it means, redemption, you know, redemption. He bought us, He bought us out, we were gone, we had been sold, but He bought us.
And He comes in order that He may redeem us completely; He does that with His own blood. So that," yea, that He allowed His blessed body to be nailed to the cross, that He might fasten to it the bonds written in ordinances that was against us," says the form for the Lord's Supper. That was it! He gave Himself in order that we might have life, in order that we might have it completely. And therefore He rises before us as the great High Priest. Now as soon as you mention the priestly office of Christ of course, there is ever so much of this, that they reject it, rejection of that, because this reveals to us our own weakness, it reveals to us our own poverty. It reveals to us that we need more than that, we are merely instructed. Because that instruction of course, is great, and that instruction is something that is needed. But it doesn't help us much if we can't walk in the way in which we have been instructed.
And He makes it possible to walk in that way in which He has instructed us, that prophetic and priestly office come together. And they always go together, and He proclaims the Word and then fulfills it. And those are the things that we see clearly in the New Testament. Because the people under the Old Testament of course, were already pointed in that direction. And they realized too that the blood of animals was not going to expiate sin, but at the same time it revealed to them that there was more to it than merely being instructed. That there was a lot more necessary. That somehow that sin had to be blotted out. And now He comes and He gives Himself, He gives Himself completely. And the Priest becomes the sacrifice; that, the Old Testament could never understand.
That we have a priest, yah, great, "but where, father is the lamb," says Isaac. "The Lord will provide," says Abram. Yah, He did, but that the priest was also the lamb; that, they could never understand, that that would happen. And that is the genius of the New Testament. That great High Priest took Himself and laid Himself on the altar, and slew Himself in order that He might expiate sin. That's it. That's the Priestly work. That was the method, that was the way in which He did it. That was the way in which salvation could be wrought, and only in that way. There is no other!
See, concerning all of the other religions in the world there is nothing that even approaches this. Because it is something that has never even arisen in the heart of man, it is something that must come to us only by revelation. And that revelation has to come from the living God because we do not really know what sin is. But it is this beloved, that it has left such a stain, that we are so far gone, that it is only the blood of His own Son that is sufficient to redeem us, to uphold us, to bring us back so that we might be bought back by Him and that we might thus become His people.
That is the sacrifice that has been accepted, that has been accepted of God. That is the sacrifice that He has accepted completely because it was perfect, the perfect sacrifice. So that the perfect Priest comes with the perfect sacrifice, and that is acceptable to God, so that then there is no longer any condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, says the apostle. Because that sacrifice has been accepted, and I'm not looking for this anymore, whether or not I am also able to bring sacrifices that are sufficient. No, no... The one sacrifice has been brought once for all; sacrifice for the people.
And not only that, but when you look at the method, says this Lord's Day, it is this, and there it is rooted again in the Scriptures completely; that He also makes intercession for us. Now, that sacrifice has been brought once and will never be repeated. That intercession goes on and on and on to the end of time. He lives to intercede; He stands between God and His people, and He brings the needs of that people to their God. He is the voice of His people before the throne of God. And therein He shows again His prophetic work as well as His priestly, and they come together now, and they compliment each other and they are completed, that He has spoken to them and now He comes and brings the response of His people back to the living God. That is His Priestly work. And that is an intercession that goes on constantly so that even when you and I do not pray; we're going to look at that once more yet today, as some of these things that are said in the Scriptures concerning prayer; and sometime we cannot pray. There comes a time that somebody else has to pray for us. There comes those times when we are physically so weak that we can't pray anymore. Have you ever experienced that -- I have. You can't pray. It's an awful situation, but it shows man as to where he really is. That he is so dependent, and now there is an intercessor. There is One who prays for us; that's an intercessor. He prays for us, He prayed for you already this morning. Did you realize that? And He is praying for you all the time. And He's praying for your children, all the time. Do you realize that?
That's what this confession is, that we realize, even when I don't pray; because I can't, or because of neglect. He prays, He never ceases, never ceases to pray for us.
And that beloved, is our only comfort, "That I with body and soul, belong unto my faithful Savior Jesus Christ," Prophet and Priest; He is the one who prays for me. And that is a prayer that goes on, and will go on to the very end of my life. Now therein is given to us whatsoever is necessary because the method that this One uses is so much greater of course, than all those that have preceded Him. There are so many difficult things in connection with that because He is not a priest after the order of Aaron, see, He is not a priest because of the fact that sin has come into the world; Aaron's priesthood roots in sin, that's why that priesthood arose. He is a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, that is, one that is rooted in creation. That is, as man was supposed to give his priestly work to God, He restores that and thus restores that image of God that we are prophets, priests and kings unto God. That was that image of God that we confessed earlier, and here it is restored. And that is the blessedness of that salvation. And then we realize what he have been saved to. We realize how deep is that salvation, how great it is. That now we have been restored to that pristine beauty, that we were to be prophets and priests of God, and that we will also reign with Him as we shall see later.
And finally, notice therefore also that comfort.
That comfort that is given to us beloved, is already evident from the foregoing of course, and that is, that we have again such a High Priest. Hebrews puts it so beautifully, "We have such a High Priest." We have been discussing this matter now, this is the kind of a high priest that is needed. And then he comes to the conclusion, "We have such a high priest." And then because we have one, then let us also come boldly to the throne of grace. Let us then come to the throne of grace with all of our needs, with all of our trials, all of our troubles. And that 'boldly' means this, that we are to come with freedom of speech. That's what it means. It means this, in our younger days, for example, my study was somewhat restricted territory, but not for the children.
They could always come, they could always come. As I said, Dr. Collane, when he was prime minister of Holland, the door was closed. Yah, the man had many things to do, but when his father came, he had freedom of speech. He could come with anything. That is the way we come now to the throne of grace.
And we have such a High Priest. We have such a One who is the only High Priest, and that is emphasized in this Lord's Day several times. He is the only one. Notice, He is our Chief Prophet because there are various others. He is the only High Priest because there are no others. We do not have to come next Sunday with sacrifices here to His house, nor may you, nor may you. Because the sacrifice has once been brought and that was sufficient, and He is the only High Priest. There is no other, He does not share His position with anybody else. He does not share His honor with anybody else. He is the only High Priest, but also the only one that we need. Because of the fact that He has done the work completely.
Now in the Old Testament it was always this, and these are the things of course, that are also so clear to these Hebrew Christians to whom the writer is writing here in the chapter that was read to you this morning. And it was very clear to them that the high priesthood was a very important function in the midst of Israel. And it was this, that a high priest would live unto that end of his life; that was never, he never retired; but upon his death then his son would take over, and he would again live unto the end of his life, and so on. But this is the only High Priest, and that they will realize that there is not going to be a successor, and that there also was no one previous to this like Him. That the others were only types, and that they came into that holy of holies once a year. He goes directly into the presence of the living God because even that holy of holies here on earth was only a type. But He goes right into the presence of God; He has boldness. He comes before the throne of grace with our petitions, with our prayers, and He corrects those prayers, because we also sin in our prayers. He corrects them, and then He brings them, and they are united with His prayers as they are brought before the throne of grace above. That is the beauty.
The beauty of what is given to us here, that He is our only High Priest. And that is the most comforting thing that there can ever be for His people. That that High Priest keeps praying for us, that we will attain unto that stature of the fullness, of that full manhood in Christ. That we will come to that realization of our purpose, that we will come to the recognition of our only Savior, Jesus Christ, and that we will put all of our trust in Him, and in Him alone. That is the purpose, and that is the comfort. Because, to reiterate, and these things must be reiterated I guess, again and again; and that is this, that Lord's Day 12 is not a doctrinal statement, but Lord's Day 12 is a statement of comfort. There are so many people who think that the Catechism is dry. Comfort isn't dry. And that is the glorious truth that is here made known to us. Our Savior has given His life in order that we might be redeemed, that we might not be punished forever. But He has redeemed us to this, that we can live for our purpose, that our purpose can be realized, that we are children of God, that we have received that adoption. And that is the glorious salvation through the blood of Christ.
For why is He called Jesus? Because He saves us. And how does He do that? Because He is Christ, anointed with the Holy Spirit directly. Not in any symbolic way, not through oil, but anointed with the Holy Spirit directly, to be our Chief Prophet, and our only High Priest, who lives to intercede for us. We have an advocate above, as the apostle John says, "there is a comforter that is given to us who dwells within us, and we have an advocate above, and the two together, the Spirit within and Jesus Christ above." This is our advocate here below, and that is our advocate above. Beloved, you and I cannot lose. Amen....
Father we thank Thee for the Word wherein Thou hast spoken. We thank Thee for Thy glorious way of salvation which Thou hast revealed. We thank Thee for the gospel of Christ Jesus. We thank Thee that He is our Prophet, that He is our Priest, and grant heavenly Father, that we may take a refuge in Him alone. Grant us Thy blessing further on this day that we may keep this day holy to Thee. Wilt Thou bring us into Thy courts again in this evening. And forgive our sins, for Jesus sake. Amen....
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