Sermons Vander Kam on HC Lord's Day 12
Q&A 32 Sermons Vander Kam on HC Lord's Day 12
Q&A 3232 Q. But why are you called a Christian?
A. Because I am a member of Christ by faith, and thus a partaker of His anointing, that I may confess His name, present myself a living sacrifice of thankfulness to Him, and with a free and good conscience fight against sin and the devil in this life, and hereafter reign with Him eternally over all creatures.
Beloved in the Lord, one of the things that ought to be immediately evident in regard to this question and answer is this, that it seemingly is out of place. And that is, that we are here dealing with the second article of the Apostles' Creed and that is, "I believe in Jesus Christ His only begotten Son, our Lord." And that doesn't say anything about us as Christians. That says only something about Jesus Himself, about the Christ of God, the Son of God, and therefore it seems to be totally out of place.
Because we, in our confessions beloved, do not come to manifest anything concerning ourselves, but it is only concerning our God, and concerning what He has done. And therefore seemingly it is out of place that we are here going to deal with a matter of Christians; who is a Christian. That, as far as the confession is concerned, is one of these things to which we would say, "who cares, who cares?" Everyone has his own idea concerning that anyway. And that is precisely the reason why the Catechism has also taken it up, and that it is only seemingly out of place, and that it is not truly out of place. Because the Catechism is always of this nature, that it is very practical, and that it is also going to come to application, and that you are going to be able to say ever so many things concerning Jesus Christ, which we have done in connection with the previous question and answer, and that's why I preached three sermons on it.
But we can say all these things concerning Him, but then the question remains, "and then why are you called a Christian, why are you called after that name too?" Because He is Christ, that is, Anointed. He is Christ, that is, anointed to a three-fold office. And now why are you called a Christian? Because you have a three-fold office. That's the reason, and no other reason at all. And those are the things that we better look at very carefully.
So that it is also a very disturbing question, "but why are you called a Christian?" Why? Do you bear that name correctly, or shouldn't they ever call you that? That's the question, and that is the question that is here placed before us in a very disturbing way. Christ, of course, is prophet, priest and king. But now why are you called a Christian? That is the question. And that is the kind of a question that we ought to look at carefully in order that we will also be able to see ourselves in the light of the Word of God.
We speak to you this morning on, "Our Anointing With Christ." Then we notice in the first place, the importance of that; secondly, its meaning; and finally, its parts.
Now the importance of it beloved, is something that is immediately evident certainly, that we have an anointing with Christ. And that we are going to look upon this question, why we are called Christians? There are those who have gone into this matter that they were first called Christians in Antioch, and that happens to be a historic fact; but that doesn't have any content whatsoever. But it is this, as the Catechism looks into it, why are you called that; do you have it rightly; is that correct when they call you a Christian, or shouldn't they call you that at all. It is also something that we ought to look at sometime, very carefully, that we are not called Jesuits; not after the name Jesus, because we are not saviors, but we are called after the name Christ; Christians, that is, anointed ones. Very important! Because we have certainly an anointing, we are not saviors, but we have received an anointing and that name Christian comes from that, and from no other thing.
And that is so important for us to realize in the days in which we are living because of the fact that everything that is not pagan is Christian today. So that if it is something that is nice, if it is something that is good, if it is something that is moral; that is called Christian. So that we are living in a Christian nation. By what stretch of the imagination are you going to be able to say that. That we are even living in a Christian era; broader yet than a nation. Can you imagine! Everything is called Christian that is definitely pagan. Now that's not the way the Catechism looks at it. And when I say that is not the way the Catechism looks at it, that is not the way that you and I may look at it, because this is our confession. And this is a confession that is rooted in the Scriptures, that is rooted in that to such an extent so that it gives a clear indication of what Scripture teaches on this score. And that it is this beloved, that we will realize that to be called a Christian means a whole lot more than merely that there is decency, and that there is morality, and things like that in this life.
Now Paul has also summed up some of those things, and I read those to you this morning in Romans 12; and there he speaks concerning ever so many of those things that belong to a Christian life. Many of those virtues; many of those virtues are there and those are the things that are preached on rather readily today in ever so many places.
But we are not dealing with the basic question; and that is, "why are you called a Christian?" Is that because you are so merciful? I have known pagans who were tremendously merciful, haven't you. I have met pagans who were indeed loving; not that kind of love perhaps, as Paul has spoken of in I Corinthians 13; but nevertheless a love by which the neighbors would benefit considerably. Is that enough to call them Christians? Are they! Because we must realize that here we are dealing with something that comes from the name of Christ, and that as soon as we say Christian, we are already involving Him. We are involving Him in it and that the name of Christ is already planted there, placed upon them, and that's why they are Christian; that is, they have also an anointing. And that is something that is totally foreign to most people.
That we have an anointing with Christ, that we have therefore a very definite place in life, and that we have a definite calling, and that there are certain things that have to be done, and that there are certain positions to which we are called. These are the things that escape people completely.
Now that is the reason why we have to get back to Lord's Day 12, and there have a clear exhibition of that which is meant by the name Christ. And having a clear presentation of what is meant by the name Christ, then we will then also be able to see what it means to be a Christian. It means this, that we are like Him, that we have also received an anointing, which He has received. And those are the things beloved, that we must recognize and that we must see, that we have a calling in this world, and a calling that is indeed important.
The importance of this question is one that cannot be over-emphasized. That we will realize that is the way we are known, we are Christians. Aw, then they don't know yet what church you belong to, and as I am told nowadays, that doesn't make any difference either; nobody's going to ask you when you stand before the throne of God -- what church did you belong to? And I always thought that might be one of the first questions. Yah, but that's merely a matter of opinion. But certainly we have the name Christian. We belong to the Christian church too, and then we are Christian, that is, that we are like Christ. Because that's where the name comes from. And then we have to see what we mean of course, by that name Christ. And we have seen that in the last three weeks that He is our prophet, and that He is our priest, and that He is our king.
Now that is the reason why you and I must also look into it clearly. And that we have to come to real clarity of mind in regard to that, and also clarity of heart in thinking into this matter, what belongs to this, that we are Christians.
Now there are ever so many other things of course, that might also be said in connection with this, but that may be enough already in order to show to us the importance of it. The importance is one that cannot be stressed enough, it is something that must be there. Everything is termed Christian today, and that is not Scriptural; not at all. Only that is Christian which belongs to Christ; that has him imprimatur on it, and otherwise it is not Christian. And that's what the very disturbing question comes, "but why are you called Christian?" That's what everybody will have to face.
Secondly, notice also, what is the meaning of that? Well, the meaning of it is this beloved, that we have an anointing, as I mentioned already. That we have an anointing with Christ, and that is the kind of an anointing of course, that we have received and that is something that is so difficult for people to imagine. That we have received an anointing right at the beginning. We have received an anointing when we came into this world, when we confessed His name. We have an anointing with Christ when He has accepted us. This is something quite different than accepting Christ, by the way. Yah, quite different. It is this, that we are part and parcel of Him. It is this, that we are, as it were, part of that Christ who has come, who has been anointed, and that we also have a triple office.
Now that whole idea of office of course, is something that is very much divorced from the thinking of the English speaking world in our day. The continentals know a little bit more about that in Europe, but in the English speaking world, office is only something that is specific, that is special offices. Now here we are dealing with an office that is a little bit different, offices. And that is, that we have an anointing to that. We have an anointing to this, that we are prophets, and priests, and kings. And that we have received that from the beginning. That's the way man came forth out of the hand of his Creator; he was anointed prophet, priest and king. That belongs to his humanness, and otherwise he isn't human. That belongs, see, that is part and parcel of that image of God to which I referred in Lord's Day 3.
And so many times; aw, not as many times anymore today; but in the past, you would have these programs, these question programs on radio, for example; what is really man? And the best definition that most people, and most learned men would come to is this, that man is a thinking animal. That's about the best you can do; thinking animal. There is an animal world with which he has so much in common, but besides that, he is able to think. And that an animal cannot do. An animal can be programmed, but he cannot think original thoughts. Pretty good definition? No... The Bible asks, what is man, and says, he is the image of God. That is it, that is the kernel, that is the heart of the matter; that he is the image of God. And that image consists of those three parts, that he has knowledge, and righteousness, and holiness. And to that corresponds the three-fold offices that he has received.
So that that is the way in which man has come forth out of the hand of his Creator, that he has that three-fold office. That he has lost, to a great extent, lost to a great extent; not completely. That image of God is not completely obliterated; that is still there. But it has been; what they call it in theology, vitiated; it has been spoiled. So that now you have to have other offices that take over in order that the office of man may still attain to its purpose. Now that why you have this beloved; I can't go into all these things this morning because then we would be for several hours; but that's the reason why you have this for example, thou art the priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, but you also have Aaron. Aaron answered because Melchizedek failed. Aaron answered because the original priesthood failed. King David comes because the original kingship failed. And so it goes on with the prophetic office, with all three of them.
We are to be prophets, priests and kings unto our God, and then we are Christian. That is, then that sin is overcome that has spoiled it, and then we are restored to that original purpose, we are restored according to its pristine beauty. That's the purpose, and that is the meaning of that which is given to us here. That we will realize that it is not merely putting a label on something or someone, and calling him a Christian, but that it indeed has content. And that the content of it is this, that he has been restored to that original position that he had, that he was to be a prophet and a priest and a king unto God.
Now this is so important in order to understand ourselves, in order to understand humanity. So it is not something that we can simply lay aside and say, well, this is philosophy, this is theology, no, this is something very practical; the Catechism always comes with those practicalities. Otherwise it would never have gone into this matter. It would simply have gone from this, why is He called Christ, to this, why is He called God's only begotten Son? And then it goes into it again; but if He is God's only begotten Son, then why are we also called sons of God? It does it again. So it does it here, and that is, He is Christ, but if He is Christ, then who are you? See, I said a few weeks ago, if His name is Jesus, that means that my name is sinner. If He is Christ, that means that my name is Christian; has to be! And if it isn't, then I have never embraced Him, and then I don't know Him. But only when I have embraced the Christ of God, in His triple office, am I also restored to that place that He had intended for me from the very beginning.
Now those are the things that are here made known to us, and that is the meaning of it. That we have an anointing with Him, that we are anointed to a position. The special offices were anointed ones. David was anointed by Samuel. The priests were anointed. Sometimes even prophets, but always the priests and the kings; anointed. And now we have received an anointing. Now, there again enters into this whole matter concerning the relationship of that office to the special offices, for example, in the church. We have the office of prophet, priest and king. And we have also those offices, those special offices, in the church of prophet, priest and king; of minister, elder and deacon. Why! These offices of course, are here for a purpose. The offices had been completely obliterated, the office of believer had been completely obliterated in the Roman church prior to the Reformation. That's the reason why you hear of the Reformation again as restoring the priesthood, or the office of believers; the office of all believers. And they didn't have it anymore. Because the clergy had taken over. That was the only important thing, and the clergy was the church. No, says the Bible, that's not so. And therefore our confession says, that's not so. But the church is made up of those who have received an anointing, and then for the wellbeing, not for the being, but for the wellbeing of the church, there are also to be the special offices.
Now they have played around with these things, and I just want to mention that in order that you may be on the alert. We speak so often of Report 44, of 72, concerning the nature and extent of Biblical authority which has done great damage in the church, but there was another report, also 44, of 73, dealing with office and ordination, which, in my estimation, has perhaps even done more damage in the church. Because it has mixed it up, it has obliterated, and the offices are now functions, and the anointing to office is simply appointment. That's not what the Scriptures teach. And as a result of that of course -- who cares about the offices -- the office of minister is still held in some regard. The office of elders and deacons; not much, not much. They say with the people of Jesus' day, "are not His brothers and sisters here, don't we know them; we know them from the start; who does He think He is now." The office in the church, what is that relationship.
The offices in the church are based upon the office of all believers. But the one is not to take over for the other, and these offices are going to stay until the end of time. And God has made it very clear in the days of Moses, when Cora, Dathan and Abiram come and say, "the Lord has spoken to all of us, we have the office of believers and therefore the special offices of Moses and Aaron; who do they think they are!" God says, "separate yourselves because I am going to show them who you are, and that is, I have chosen you." It's important. These are things that are given for our interpretation and for our instruction, that we may know also concerning the offices in the church. Why has there been so much debate in regard to the matter of office? Largely due to the fact that we have not taken Lord's Day 12 seriously, and we better.
And finally, notice also, its parts. It means this beloved, that I am anointed of God as prophet, as priest, and king. And that is, that I am a prophet of God. What does it mean for each one to be a prophet. To many it means this, that I made profession of faith. Notice what it says concerning it in question 32. That I am a member of Christ by faith and thus a partaker of His anointing, that I may confess His name, confess His name. That's all! So that I may now confess His name and I made profession of faith; number one is taken care of. Now there are still two and three, but nevertheless those are also taken care of in due time. That is not it! And what the Scriptures have to say concerning that is ever so much, so that we will have to realize that we are always going to confess His name, everywhere. And that I confess His name in this world in which I live, and that I confess His name in the family that I represent, where I'm head of the house. And I am to teach, and teach, and teach some more, because that's my prophetic office.
How important! Well, He has given us just a little bit of an insight into it. That that prophetic office has to be total, that is, not only of the special offices, but also of the office of believers. That it has to be a total commitment; He makes that clear to His prophets, for example, Hosea. If called upon to marry a totally immoral woman; yah, to show what is the relationship of God and Israel at that particular time. And that Israel has apostasised from Him.
Ezekiel is called upon, that when his wife dies, not to shed a tear. Not to show any emotion; he is not to grieve, as an example to Israel. And then we say, well we made profession of faith and that takes care of our prophetic office. Hardly!
What do you do with your children. That we have also promised again this morning at baptism, that we will instruct, and cause them to be instructed to the utmost of our power. Ah, that's prophetic work, people, that's prophetic work. We have to do that, we have to instruct our children, and most people are more in favor of this; cause them to be instructed, let somebody else do it. We are first of all called to it ourselves, we are prophets unto God. Secondly, we are also the priests of God. That is, that we are to give ourselves as a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Paul starts with that in Romans 12; "I urge you therefore brethren by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God which is your spiritual service of worship."
You are a thank offering. He has given the offering of atonement, you and I couldn't that. But we are priests, we bring the thank offering. And that priestly work goes on, and that goes on to the end of life. That goes on as long as you and I have a place in this world, that we are still able to speak, are still able to function. That is the priestly work that goes on. And that we give, and that is so easy when you have made yourself a thank offering, then to give of that which you have becomes rather easy.
I always have said to consistories in the past when I still was on active service, don't ask me to preach on giving, per se. It shouldn't be necessary, and there are so many places where it comes up. So that there it is also going to be made unmistakably clear. That, for example, when you're dealing with the eighth commandment, oh, there's no way of getting around it, is there! "Thou shalt not steal." No, you shall give, instead. And so it is here, that we are priests unto God, so that we deal with all the things that He has given to us priestly. Yah, priestly. Then we give ourselves and everything that we have as a thank offering to God. That is our calling. It's not only this, that we give something, and then they ought to be happy, no, no. That it is this, that we give it as a sacrifice of thanks, that we give it out of the heart, that is beating in tune with His; that we give ourselves and everything that we have into His service.
And finally, that we are also kings. And concerning that kingship also, the Catechism has this to say, "and with a free and good conscience, fight against sin and the devil in this life, and hereafter reign with Him eternally over all creatures." So that we have to rule ourselves. The roots of this, and you feel already, I think, that I am hurrying because there is too much; but the roots of this are everywhere. Later on when it speaks for example, concerning the discipline of the church, then it mentions this, you know. And that is so necessary to emphasize, that it is the church that disciplines, not the special offices. You would never think that, because there are so many people that say, yah, and the elders have never done anything about it. Have you! I am a king, to rule, and that means this, that I rule against sin in my own life, and everywhere where I see it. So that that discipline is also to come out of the church, of the whole church. In other words, it is to be this, that you and I are to discipline ourselves. See, you are always going to have great difficulty with people who are undisciplined. They have never disciplined themselves and then nobody else can discipline them. Then there will be no mutual censure, and then church discipline will also become very difficult. But discipline themselves as kings who are in complete control, who rule their lives, who rule their families. That is the calling.
"Why are you called a Christian?" do you think. Because that's your calling. Because that's what you have to do, and then hereafter reign with Him. We are going to sit in His throne with Him, ruling over the twelve tribes of Israel, ruling over the entire world. That's going to be our future. And now you can't rule yourself? And there are so many, you know when it comes into all kinds of practicalities, well, I'm just that way, I, you know, when I become angry, I just lose all control, I, that's the way I am. Now, I'm sorry that He made me that way, but I can't help it. And then you're kings? We are to be in control, we are to have dominion. We are prophets, we are priests, we are kings. And that's why you and I are called Christians. You think we're worthy of that name? You think you are? Think you'd bear that name in such a way that it brings honor to the One after whom you are named? That is Christ, our Prophet, our Priest, and our King. Amen....
We give thanks to Thee, heavenly Father, for the Word wherein Thou hast spoken to us. For that Word of grace, that Word of love, that Word of comfort, that Word of instruction, that word of discipline. And we pray wilt Thou graciously apply it unto our every heart, in order that it may lead us ever closer to Thyself, in order that it may guide us on our life's pathway. Be with us the remainder of this day, bring us together again into Thy house this evening. We ask it in Jesus name. Amen....
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