Sermons Vander Kam on HC Lord's Day 13
Q&A 34 Sermons Vander Kam on HC Lord's Day 13
Q&A 3434 Q. Why do you call Him our Lord?
A. Because He has redeemed us, body and soul, from all our sins, not with gold and silver, but with His precious blood, and has delivered us from all the power of the devil, and has made us His own possession.
Beloved in the Lord, at the time when we come to the Lord's Supper, then we have prepared ourselves in order to come. And then we have looked into our lives and into our hearts and into our consciences, whether or not we are able to come as worthy partakers of the table of His Son. And when we have come to the table of the Lord then we again realize how great is the sacrifice that He has brought, do we not. And then we realize even though the Word also tells us these things, and tells it to us again and again, that it is Christ Jesus that has been given as a sacrifice for all our sins; nevertheless there in the Lord's Supper we again see it before us visually. There we see that He has indeed given Himself so that He says too, that we are to eat His body, that we are to drink His blood, so complete a sacrifice as He has given to us in order that we might be redeemed from sin and from death.
Now as a result of that beloved, then also when we leave the table of the Lord there are certainly somethings that should have taken place. And there is certainly something that should have had its effect, when we have so come to the Lord's Supper. If that has no effect within us then certainly we are dead, then we are dead in our spiritual life, then there is nothing left. Because if these things do not speak to us beloved, then certainly nothing else will either. If the Word of God is not able to penetrate into our hearts and if the sacraments aren't able to penetrate it either by way of the eyegate, then certainly we have fallen deeply into sin.
But when the people of God come to His table, and then leave it again, then they realize that they are indeed called to holiness. That they are called to a life of devotion, that they are called to a life of service, that they are called to a life that He has shown them what is well pleasing to Him in the New Testament. And there it is shown us in virtually every page what is required of us. You see that already in the Sermon on the Mount, you see that in the Pauline epistles, you see that everywhere and it culminates in the book of Revelation, as to what is required of us. And this is required of us, that we are going to love mercy, that we are going to walk humbly with our God, that we are also going to seek our neighbor's welfare. All these things. And those are the things that are also contained in this Lord's Day, in this last name concerning our Savior. That He is Jesus, and we have called your attention to that. That He is Christ, and we have called your attention to that three times over. And that He is God's only begotten Son, to that we have called your attention. And now also, our Lord.
And this is perhaps the most difficult of them all, the most difficult of all for us to assimilate. Because in order to recognize that He is our Lord, it is something that is of course, so common that "there are ever so many who are going to say to me in that day," says Jesus, "Lord, Lord, have we not done this, that, and the other thing in Thy name?" And I will say to them, "I never knew you, depart from me ye workers of iniquity." It is iniquitous to speak of Him in that way. So that, when we are dealing with the Lordship of Jesus Christ, then certainly we are going to do so according to the Scriptures. And then we have to do so in full realization of what it means, and that He is indeed the Lord of our lives.
We speak to you then tonight on, The Lordship of Jesus Christ, the Lordship of Christ. Noticing in the first place, its meaning; secondly, its demand; and finally its purpose.
When it comes to the meaning of this term, that He is our Lord, those are the things that seemingly are very clear. And yet there is always the contrast that is made between the Old Testament and the New in regard to that, and the Old Testament also speaks of the Lord. And that is the meaning that is entirely different from the one that is contained here in Lord's Day 13. Because when the Old Testament speaks of the Lord, then it means Jehovah, Yahweh. And it means that covenant God, that is a proper name, that is a name that is given to Him and that is the name of the Living God. He is the one who bears that name and He bears it in relation to His people.
That is not the way the word Lord comes to us in the New Testament. No, there it comes to us with an entirely different meaning. It comes to us in this way, that He has purchased us, as we will see in a moment; and that as a result of that He bought us and as a result, we're His. Whatever you buy is yours, and then you have the lordship over it, then you have the say-so over it. And that's what He has done, and therefore it is different from that word Lord in the Old Testament. And those are the things that we ought to keep clearly in mind because otherwise we become confused in ever so many respects. That we learn to see beloved, that the words in Scripture are used very carefully, and that the names of our Savior and the names of God are used very carefully. And that the word and name of God is used so economically, that it is used in such a way so that we are not going to run wild with it. But that it is used in such a way so that it is going to come to us with the fullest and the clearest meaning that is ever possible.
And so it is also with the name Lord as it is given to Jesus Christ. His name is Jesus, and that means this, that He is Savior. And as I mentioned at that time, if His name is Savior, if His name is Jesus, then my name is sinner. And so likewise, if His name is Lord, then my name is slave. You see the contrast and the same thing at the same time. You see there that it is given to us in contrasts, and that it is given to us in such a way so that it is going to be unmistakably clear. That He is Lord, and that is the meaning that is attached to it by Scripture itself. And that is the kind of a meaning that is here given to it, and that is given to it at all times already in the Gospels and certainly in the epistles and later. And He had on His thigh written that name, Lord of Lords, and King of Kings, says the apostle, when he sees Him in the book of Revelation. That is the Lord; that is the One who is to be bowed down to, that is the One who is to be served, that is the One who is to be worshipped. And that we do that of course, as those who are servants.
And in that regard let us also realize, because we look over these things so many a time in such a way so that we are very superficial. And that, as you may also know, that the name of Jesus, and the person of Jesus is much closer to people than the Father, much closer. And there are ever so many who are now praying to Jesus, who don't pray to the Trinity; that is so far removed; but pray to Jesus. That looks a lot closer, and seems a lot nicer. The Bible never does that, you notice. But it is rather this beloved, that the Scriptures reveal to us that He is our Father, that is, He has adopted us, so that Christ is the only begotten, but we are also sons; which brings me very, very close to the Father. So that I am going to have the same legal rights as Jesus Christ has. Because I am a child by adoption, as I mentioned last week, how much farther that adoption goes then it does even with us. So that it is an adoption as such, whereby they have also received a rebirth; they are born into the family of God. So that they assume the divine nature, partakers of the divine nature.
That brings me very close to the Father. And the relation to the Son is much farther, farther removed. Because He is my Lord and I am His servant. The Father is my father, the first person of the Trinity is my father, and I am His child. The second person is my Lord and I am His servant. These are the the things that we may well emphasize in order that we also get away from so much of this so called American Christianity of the present day, which is so superficial that they have made their own, they have their own kind, and they have poured their own content into it, and it sounds good, and if it sounds good it must be right -- and the Scriptures say that's not so. And there will be ever so many that will say to me in that day, "Lord, Lord, we even cast out spirits in Thy name; don't you know us?" And I will say to them, "I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity." You sinners, you have sinned by doing it; even though you were successful. You healed in my name, and that was iniquitous.
Now then we realize that you are dealing with a name that is going to bring you into the very presence of the living God. That when we look at the meaning of this, that He is our Lord, the Lordship of Jesus Christ; that is, that He is the One who is to be honored, who is to be feared, who is to be adored, and that we are servants. That we are those who bring obeisance, that we are those who bring obedience; that is the thing. And to be obedient to the Lord, that is something quite different than to love Him.
Now that love of Jesus and that love of the Savior is something that must go on of course. Of course that is something that must always be there, and that we are going to love Him and serve Him, and that we are going to believe on Him. But it is first of all this, that we are going to be obedient; "if ye love me, keep my commandments." Now that is something that modern Christianity doesn't want to hear of. I want to love Him, and then I'm not going to even listen to what He has to say. I'm going to love Him because He has done such wonderful things. But no, it is this, if ye love me, keep my commandments, for I am not only Jesus, that is, Savior, but I have also received the anointing of the Holy One to be prophet, priest and king. And I am Lord; the Lord of your life, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord who is to be feared and honored; the Lord who is to be obeyed. That is the meaning.
So that when we look upon that Lordship of Jesus Christ, it is not something that is attached; has now another name. And if you want more, there are more. As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, there are approximately 250 that are mentioned in the Scriptures. But the confession says, look, this is enough, that we will only look at these four, and that we will then see the totality of that which is given to us in the person of Jesus Christ. Because this is the second article of the Apostolic confession, you know; "I believe in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son." That is the One who is Lord; that is the One who has the Lordship over everything.
I read Psalm 33 to you tonight as a selection of praise, and there that He called everything into being by the voice of His mouth. By the word of His mouth it was brought, as though it already was. And that is the miracle before which we stand. And He is Lord, He is the Lord of my life; see, it is not only this, that I love Him somehow or other, and that I am therefore also going to believe on Him somehow or other. But rather this, that I bow the knee before Him and ask, "what wilt Thou have me to do?" That's the question, because of the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
And that Lordship beloved, must be emphasized again today. It always was necessary, but in our day perhaps more than at any time, that Lordship of Jesus Christ must be exercised and otherwise you are not going to have a Savior much longer either. Nor a Christ who has been anointed to that three-fold office, nor an only begotten Son who has brought us into the presence of the Father, if you have not a Lord who receives the obedience of His people.
And secondly, notice also the demand. And when we speak of the demand of the Lordship of Jesus Christ then remember that you are already dealing with some of those things that I have already mentioned. And that in this day of peripheral things, in this day in which we look upon all things in such a way so that you never go into its depths. And that they speak of Jesus in ever so many contexts of course, and in ever so many relationships, and Jesus is usually the one who is favored, Jesus is the one who is still adored by ever so many, because of the fact that there you are dealing with someone who is great, and gracious, and there is one who is to be honored, there is the one who is to be respected, there is the one who is to be listened to. But now when you come with the Lordship of Jesus Christ, you realize immediately that you are already closing the doors in ever so many places. There is not a day that goes by perhaps, that in the secular press you don't hear of this, that whose morality, whose view of truth, which is the one you accept. Yah, that's precisely the situation people. He is the one who says, "I am Lord." And that is the one that you are to receive, that's the one you are to respect, that's the one you are to honor, that's the one you are to obey. And otherwise, you have no Savior.
Because He is placed before us in that way of course, already at the time of His death. And Pilate is to be honored for this; that he begins to look into this matter, and begins to see that there is more connected with it than what he thought on the outside. And that he finally says to Him, "Art Thou a king, then?" It's almost impossible to imagine that He is, but, "Art Thou a King, then?" "Yes," says Jesus, "but King in the realm of truth." "Oh now," says Pilate, "what is truth?" And what is truth is the question that it still comes down to today. They still don't know. The secular press of the present day doesn't know what truth is, and now what is the truth to you, or what is the truth to someone else, and what is the morality that you uphold, and what is the morality that someone else upholds? The Lordship of Jesus Christ is something on which they have wiped their feet. Because they don't recognize it; and yet they speak in glowing terms of Jesus. Speak in glowing terms of a great teacher, of a great moralist, of a great man, of a person who is indeed greater than all of us.
For, as I mentioned it before but, some years ago they had a contest to see once who people thought was the greatest man that ever lived, but they might not choose Jesus Christ, because He would win going away. So they had to choose between all others, but not Jesus, He was left out. You notice that not one of the other religious leaders, not a Mohammed was left out, none of the others; no, but it was only Jesus who was left out, because that is not a fair, fair contest anymore, if He is included. And then it became this, that it was either Napoleon or Shakespeare.
But this is the one whose Lordship is ignored. This is the one whose Lordship is flaunted. This is the one whose Lordship is despised. And it is denied on every side. And the trouble of it is, not only in the secular world around us, but also today in the church. What does the Word say; well, that makes difference when. In 1850 it said this, but in 1950 it said something else, and 1993 still something else. So you can never keep up with it, because the truth changes. And as a result of that, this is now speaking the language of the majority of the churches of this century. That is the way in which it is looked upon, that it may go in any direction. And that Lordship of Jesus Christ, that He is supreme, is something that is denied on every side.
Because that is its demand. He demands this, that we are going to obey, that we are going to bow the knee to Him, and that we are going to obey Him in every realm of life. That we are not only going to obey Him in the realm of religion, but that we are also going to obey Him in every other realm. It doesn't make any difference where you are, Jesus Christ is Lord. And as Abraham Kuyper says, ""There isn't one inch of this life of which that King, that potentate of potentates doesn't say, "It's mine."
So that His Lordship has to be acknowledged, it has to be respected, and it has to be obeyed. And this is the great task that we have, but that is the demand. And it demands this beloved, that we will also have the proper attitude and the proper relationship. And that we will recognize the Lordship of Jesus Christ and thereby at the same time acknowledging also and respecting our own place, which is, that of servant.
Paul, you know, whenever he is writing to the churches of that day writes, and it is too bad that it is translated that way and mistranslated in virtually every version; a servant of Jesus Christ. Now some come a little bit farther, and they say the bondservant of Jesus Christ; no, that's not it; it is this, the slave of Jesus Christ. That's who he is.
See; when I have been redeemed, says the apostle, then it is this, that I have become the slave of Christ. Or in Romans 6, which I read to you tonight, he shows that there was a change of masters. I was the slave of sin; I was the slave of the devil. And now of course through redemption I have become the slave of Jesus Christ; slave. Son of the Father, our elder brother; and as I called your attention to it already last week; that is not found in Scripture. He does speak of 'my brethren.' But He is never called elder brother. But He is my Lord, and I am His slave; I am His servant. And that relationship has to be acknowledged. That as soon as we say, Lord, then we have also said slave to ourselves. And that in slavery we give ourselves completely into the service of Jesus Christ. This is not a minor matter, people. And that you make profession of faith and, yah, we love the Lord, and we love Jesus, and everything's going to be alright, and everything else. No, you become a slave of Christ. A slave of Him in the classroom, a slave of Him in the workplace, a slave of Him everywhere. Because I acknowledge and I confess the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
And as the result of that, what is found here in this last question and answer of Lord's Day 13, is something that goes to the very depths, to the very depths of our being. And it means this, that He is going to be Lord over willing subjects. Read Psalm 110 for example, and that makes it very clear. He is not master over vicious beasts; no one masters those. But He is master over those who are willing subjects, who want it, who want His Lordship, who do not feel that it is a burden, but who feel that that is precisely the proper relationship. That's what we see. And therefore Thy people shall be gladly Thine, when Thou shalt come in might, they will be gladly Thine. They're all volunteers, there is no draft in the army of Christ, but they are all volunteers, and they are all slaves to one master, and that master is Jesus Christ, our Lord. The One who is enthroned and who will be enthroned and will judge all men and all things. That is the demand that He places on us through His Lordship.
And finally, the purpose. Notice, this Lord's Day in this short question and answer puts it so beautifully, "Why do you call Him our Lord?" Because He has redeemed us body and soul; oh, you're almost back to the first question and answer of the Catechism. Has redeemed us body and soul from all our sins, not with gold or silver, but with His precious blood, and has delivered us from all the power of the devil, and has made us His own possession. In other words, He is the one who has purchased us, He has purchased us unto God, and this is the way in which it is to be left also, and it is not to be pressed to the ultimate extreme. But He has purchased us, and He did not purchase us with gold or silver, that wasn't the bounty that had to be brought. No, there was not the sentence that was given that there was a certain amount that had to be paid. No, then the rich would be ahead of those who are poor, and they are not. But it is this, that I am not bought with silver or gold because I was bought, body and soul, and there is no price that can be given for that. That is no monetary price, but with His own precious blood He bought me.
That's what salvation means, young people. That He bought me with His own precious blood, and what does that make Him? My Lord! And what does that make me? His servant, His slave! Because He has purchased me unto Himself, and then if He has purchased me, He bought me and paid for it, then I'm His. There's no doubt about that, there's no doubt about that in all the kinds of commissions that we have in this world. All the kind of transactions that we have, it is always this way; if you purchase something and pay for it, it's yours. He purchased us unto God, He bought us, not with silver or gold, but with His own precious blood. He purchased us and paid for it, and He says, "They are mine." And there's no one that can dispute it.
And then He is Lord. He is Lord over all that He possesses. Lord over all that which He has redeemed. He has bought them, and He has paid the price for them. And now they are His, and that's what He demands, that they will then also give Him that obedience. Now that Lordship of Jesus Christ therefore has this purpose in order that we will see things again in the true light. In the true relationship in which we are to stand to the Godhead. The true relationship in which we are to stand to our Redeemer, that it is not something which is emotional, that it is kind of an emotional bond, that we love Him so, and all things like that. But no, that it is simply this; and the Bible is so down to earth with these things all the time; He bought me, He bought me. He paid the price, He even tells me what the price was, how much He paid for me. I never knew I was worth that much. But He paid, and now, what is the relationship then. Of that purchased item to the purchaser. Well, it is this, of servant and master. Very clearly.
So that we are to bring Him that obedience that is required, that obedience in body and soul, because He has purchased us body and soul. And that is my only comfort that I belong to Him body and soul, according to the first question and answer of the Catechism. And here it comes out again, He did, He purchased us, and bought us body and soul, so that now that full comfort comes full circle. That is my only comfort, that I am His. And now He tells me that I am indeed His, and that He has bought me, and that He has paid the price. Now then, that is my only comfort, and that it is not something against which I strive or against which I rebel, that I am now standing in a relationship of slave and owner, slave and master. But no, it is rather this, therein I rejoice, and otherwise of course, your confession from the beginning was a lie; when you said, this is my only comfort that in life and death, with body and soul, I belong, belong to my Savior, Jesus Christ.
Here it is, here it is spelled out, and that makes Him my Lord. My Lord, who is seated above the universe, my Lord who is seated above all powers, my Lord who has all things under His control, and my Lord who is going to be sitting on the throne of the universe at the end of time. That is the One to whom I bring obedience. That's the One who bought me. And then to come with this confession, of this second article of the Apostolic confession; "I believe in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord." That's it. But then recognize that Lordship, and realize what that does to you. Realize that it does this, that then you are a slave of Jesus Christ. But therein, as I mentioned, the apostle Paul rejoices, that He will have him as His slave, and that he is now able to live for Him, that he is able to do all things for Him, that he is allowed to do that. Because this becomes thematic, becomes the theme of life. "What wilt Thou have me to do," says the apostle as soon as he is stricken to the ground at the time of his conversion. "What wilt Thou have me to do?" Because he sees, this one is Lord. You are not dealing here with someone less, but you are dealing here with the One who has almighty power. And now the question arises, what wilt Thou have me to do? And the Lord says, "You go, and it will be told you what you will do." Because He says to Ananias, "he doesn't realize yet how much he is going to suffer for my name's sake, but that I will allow him to do."
And therein says the apostle later on, I rejoice in tribulation for Jesus' sake. Because of the abundant goodness of Jesus Christ. Because of the abundant greatness of Him, to be a slave of Jesus Christ is the greatest honor in the world. I confess His Lordship. Amen....
Unto Thee our Father, do we come with thanksgiving for the Word wherein Thou hast spoken. That Word of love and that Word of grace, that Word, Father, wherein Thou hast revealed Thyself. And we pray that that Word may then also be applied unto our hearts and lives by Thy Spirit divine. That we may thus be led ever closer to Thyself, and that in Thee may be our refuge, and that we may realize how great is the blessing that is ours, that Thou hast purchased us unto Thyself. Forgive our sins and hear us in Jesus our Redeemer's name. Amen....
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